I am just as biased but in the other direction (Battletech!). I would argue that if the Mad Cat stayed at long range it’d win because the Gauss Rifles and LRM’s give it the edge…but when the Alpha closed it’s flip to the Alpha’s advantage.

My 2 cents.

I’ve always been slightly confused at the difference between Robotech, and Macross.

The alpha fighter has a definite advantage in terms of speed, with a max speed of 3000-3250 km/h (although, this is in jetplane mode),whereas the Mad Cat has Max speed of 95.

In terms of missiles, A-fighter has 60 short-range heavy missile, whereas Madcat only has 32 (although, that number is only from the picture, and doesn’t show how powerful they are comparatively)
A-fighter also has a three-barreled beam cannon, whereas Madcat only has one barrel on each arm (same comment as missiles).

But overall I think the A-fighter would win because of its better speed and agility.

The Alpha has kind of an unfair advantage because with Robotech technology it’s max half the weight and carries twice as many missiles. Well, it can fire twice as many at once, although the Madcat has enough for at least 10 barrages of 30 (those are actually LRM 15s, not 16s). It’s designed for high-speed aerial/spacial combat and fighting at ranges from up-close and personal to beyond sight. If you built the Alpha according to Battletech rules it’d be a greasy stain on the ground within 4 turns, but as it is it’s way over-powered for its size. Even in Robotech terms though, if the Alpha was hit with one of those Gauss rifles, it’d be instant death. Assuming we’re talking about the stock Clan version (the MadCat-A), if I recall correctly it comes with a built in AMS (anti-missile system) which would slightly degrade the Alpha’s missile barrage. The Madcat also has the armor to take at least one salvo of missiles. I’m not really into the technical specs of Robotech mecha, but just thinking of what I know of the Palladium rules, I’m not sure the Alpha could withstand a full barrage of missiles. Final verdict: without translating one or the other into the other’s terms, the Alpha would just fly all over the place taking potshots at the MadCat until it scored enough hits to disable it.

Alpha wins it 5 out of 6.

Mad cat is simply too sluggish to keep up with a veritech and doesn’t have the armor to run the fighter’s guns dry.

There is still a chance, albet small, that the madcat will get lucky and nail the alpha with it’s guns, but that would take signifficant skill and uncanny reflexes.

Meanwhile, the Alpha can dance around the turret-with-legs, easily staying out of the line of fire. The alpha fighter mode can rapidly close distances while the guardian, aka gerwalk, mode is functionally a helicopter gunship.

On a semi-related note, why does the madcat have a completely exposed cockpit?

Armorwise even for a fighter jet the alpha figter is practicaly a flying tank i dont think one guess rifle shot can take it down and not to mension the speed and even in batlliod mode the mad cat will have alot of problem give it in an urban setting the mad cat is practically dead even in batlliod mode and with a beta attach i dont think any clan mech can take it down one on one .