Mammoth Mk. II

The Mammoth Mark II, or MM2 for short, is a quadrupedal heavy walker used by GDI in Tiberian Sun and Firestorm.

Background
The Mammoth Mk. II was the successor to the Mammoth tank. It was still in its prototype stage during the Second Tiberium War, but already proved itself to be one of GDI's most powerful weapons during the war. It was armed with two railguns and back mounted anti-aircraft missile launchers. The railguns were capable of reducing most units to slag in a matter of seconds, while the AA missiles protected it from enemy aircraft. It also boasted an experimental self-repair system.

Due to limitations on the technologies involved, each GDI commander was only able to deploy one Mammoth Mk. II at any time.

History


A Mammoth Mk. II prototype underwent testing at a GDI facility in the United Kingdom, where it demonstrated its effectiveness against structures, vehicles, and aircraft. However, the area was infiltrated by a Nod strike team led by Anton Slavik, who was able to destroy the Mammoth prototype with a squadron of Banshees from Kane's elite guard. The destruction of the prototype delayed the production of the new walker.

The first known combat deployment of the Mammoth Mk. II was during Commander Michael McNeil's attack on a Nod Banshee production center. The Mk. II proved its effectiveness when it singlehandedly demolished the manufacturing facility, shrugging off laser fire from Nod defenses and downing Banshees before they could take off. Despite its impressive performance during the war, however, the Mark II was a highly unreliable beast, requiring extended maintenance on a regular basis. As such, despite the protest of many, including retired war hero Nick Seymour Parker, production of the walker was discontinued in 2039 due to cost and reliability concerns, and Mark II production lines, including GDI's San Pedro war factory, were shut down.

Legacy
The Mammoth Mark II's direct successor, Mammoth Mk. III, was a more traditional tank design similar to the original Mammoth tank. Despite controversies surrounding it, however, it proved to be a capable vehicle in its own right during the war.

Following the Third Tiberium War, pro-military elements on the GDI Council repeatedly argued that had the Mk. II been kept in service, GDI would have seen more success at repelling the Scrin invasion. These so-called "hawks" believed that preparation for the inevitable Scrin invasion should be GDI's foremost concern, but although attempts were made to revive the Mk. II, most military funding had already been redirected to Tiberium containment and would eventually be funneled into the Tiberium Control Network.

Several years later, with the TCN construction effort well underway and a significant increase in military budget, an assault walker in the vein of the Mk. II was finally developed. The new walker, named Mastodon, entered service exactly thirty years after the discontinuation of the Mk. II.

Game unit
The Mammoth Mk. II's railguns are extremely deadly against ground forces, and can pierce through multiple units. However, they can be blocked by terrain, and have a relatively low rate of fire. The Mk. II is extremely slow, making it vulnerable against artillery units. It can also be hijacked by mutant hijacker.

At $3000, it is the single most expensive unit in the entire game, so losing a Mk. II is extremely costly. Therefore, it should always be accompanied by an escort force.

Changelog

 * Tiberian Sun patch 1.17: railgun force fire no longer damages buildings multiple times.
 * Tiberian Sun patch 2.03: hit points increased from 800 to 1200 (hardcoded, does not appear in INI files).

Trivia

 * The Mammoth Mk. II was likely inspired by the AT-AT from the Star Wars franchise.
 * The Mammoth Mk. II's in-game sprite is far smaller than what the cutscene suggests. This is likely due to technical limitations.
 * Due to engine limitations, the Mammoth Mk. II cannot crush smaller vehicles like in the cutscene.