Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Star League Era

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Month Later -----

Date: August 26, 2729

Location: Fallon II

Title: St. George Strikes Again

Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson

Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)

Synopsis: With SLDF forces (including a young Captain Aleksandr Kerensky) now keeping a lid on the DCMS with Operation SMOTHER, the AFFS has launched a renewed effort to retake worlds lost during the first four years of the War of Davion Succession.  In this Track, the 1st Avalon Hussars hit the 4th Sword of Light on Fallon II in order to retake the Olympus XL fusion engine production facilities there.  The Hussars field 2-3 lances, and the Sworders match them ‘Mech for ‘Mech.

The fight takes place in a heavy urban area, with an option to include a dust storm (for blowing sand modifiers) and initiative-modifying observation satellites.  The Hussars are tasked with taking out the heaviest Sworders by turn 6 and knocking them below 25% strength before falling below that threshold themselves, and avoiding civilian casualties (since this is an occupied FedSuns world). 

Notes:  No published design makes use of an Olympus brand-name XL fusion engine, so perhaps the Olympus company made XL engines under license (keeping the original brand names), or both production plant and the designs that relied on it vanished into the crucible of the Succession Wars.  It’s of interest that an entrepreneur chose to site a high-tech industrial plant on a world still undergoing active terraforming.

If the atmosphere is tainted and being terraformed, one would assume that the buildings are environmentally sealed.  They can’t be in an environment dome, or the dust storm wouldn’t be an issue.  Fallon went on to become one of the Federated Suns’ main administrative centers in the Draconis March, despite the terraforming having been left incomplete by the onset of the Succession Wars.

The scenario introduces a number of House-specific variant designs upgraded with advanced weaponry for use by each side’s commander.  This implies that the House militaries largely were equipped with familiar 3025-level equipment throughout the 2600s, while the SLDF got the TRO:2750 advanced stuff, and the Royal units hogged the “optimized” upgraded units.  Upgraded designs only started to trickle into the House armies starting in the first half of the 28th century, when shadow wars began to heat up.  It’s possible that the TRO:2750 stuff got more general distribution in the 2700s, and that the variants herein represent House attempts to replicate “Royal” standards.

The SLDF’s delay in launching Operation SMOTHER had a number of serious consequences.  Up to this point, the Combine had been the only faction cheating on its House army size with its “ronin” workaround.  Following the War of Davion Succession, the Federated Suns decided it couldn’t rely on the SLDF for assistance, and decided to ramp up its levels of stockpiled armaments and planetary militias while keeping the number of active duty House soldiers under the cap.  Thus, the legendary Davion “magic warehouses” were born.

[St.George]

I couldn't help but give prop's for this write-up,,,,,nice work,good sir.  ;D

[Wrangler]

I couldn't help but give prop's for this write-up,,,,,nice work,good sir.  ;D

Indeed! Mendrugo, your weaving the Era Reports, BattleCorp Stories, and other sources together into one Review has been eye opener and Amazing!
 
I look forward to this everyday now.  Era Report:2750 was one my favorites since scenarios were also glimps of history and action happening in time no one has alot detail on.  Amazing.

I do have request:  If possible, could the author (if its known) be listed when you put lay down your Boiler plate description of story/subject your going be reviewed?

[Mendrugo]

More than doable.  I'll go back through and add them in to ones I've already done, as well.

[Mendrugo]

----- 13 Years Later -----

Date: March 1, 2742

Location: Waldorff II

Title: Waldorff Warfare

Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson

Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)

Synopsis:  The Third Shadow War (aka the Pirate War) is well under way, with state-sponsored “pirates” and House militaries false-flagged as bandits frequently hitting industrial concerns in rival states in order to secure a competitive advantage for their state’s domestic firms.
 
In this scenario, Combine-backed mercenaries - The Rabid Coyotes - have hit a copper mine on Waldorff II, and are trying to make it back to their LZ before the 1st Donegal Guards can catch them and get conclusive evidence that the Combine is sponsoring the “pirate” attacks.

The Donegal Guards field 1-2 lances, and the Rabid Coyotes match their numbers.  Optional adjustments include fighting the battle at night under a full moon and giving the mercs 150% of the Donegal Guards’ strength.  The Guards need to capture as many mercs alive as possible for interrogation, and knock out 50% of the merc band before its own numbers drop below that level.  The Lyrans get to upgrade its equipment with advanced tech, while the mercs run with ‘Mechs from the Periphery RAT (often stuff that saw action in the Reunification War).

Notes:  The Donegal Guards have to balance the traditional Lyran desire to field nothing but 100-tonners [Hogarth’s ears perk up] against the need to catch the mercenaries.  However, looking at the setup and the stated objectives, there doesn’t seem to be any real reason for the two forces to have to fight.  The Rabid Coyotes just want to break contact and get to their DropShips.  So, why would they stop and fight the Donegal Guards, rather than simply turning and running off the board on round 1? 

The victory points note that the Donegal Guards don’t get their bonus points for merc units that leave the battlefield, and the Guards have to destroy 50% of the Coyotes to get the other bonus – withdrawn units aren’t counted as destroyed, because Forced Withdrawal rules are in effect.  If I were playing the scenario “in character,” I’d have the Coyotes flee immediately, rendering the scenario a 0/0 tie on Warchest Point awards.

To address this, I’d recommend requiring the Coyotes to enter one map edge and exit the opposite one, forcing them to run a gauntlet of ticked off Donegal Guards in order to make it to safety.  Otherwise, there’s no raison d’guerre.

Waldorff is one of the few systems where multiple settled worlds in the system have been detailed in various sources.  Waldorff II has a population of 875 million and is well developed technologically and industrially, but lacks natural resources.  By comparison, the lush jungle world of Waldorff V is a popular vacation world (it’s the site of the final battle between the Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers in the late 3050s).  In addition, Waldorff VII hosts a major mining operation to extract high-quality hydrocarbons, though the entire planet gets accidentally destroyed by Adam Steiner in a battle against the Jade Falcons in 3050.

As an in-joke, the mining site on Waldorff II is named Astoria (after the famous Waldorff-Astoria hotel).  Given that, I was actually surprised that the moon wasn’t named Statler. 

[FedSunsBorn]

How does Adam Steiner destroy the world? I don't remember that...

Wait, was that in the TV series...maybe?

[Mendrugo]

How does Adam Steiner destroy the world? I don't remember that...

Wait, was that in the TV series...maybe?

Got it in one.  Per the sourcebook writeup, Waldorff VII was filled with volatile interconnected hydrocarbon deposits.  Mining efforts tapped into it during the 3rd Succession War, but it was determined that it was too dangerous, because a single spark could ignite all the deposits, and the mining facility (and the planet) was abandoned. 

Then along came Adam "Information is Ammunition" Steiner...

[Wrangler]

As far i know, the 1st Somerset Strikes source book is treated as canon fiction in-universe, meaning Waldorff VII "destruction" never accrued, least not what sourcebook had indicated. Striker's actual exploits were differient from what I understand..(this early morning, not going remember what sourcebook say... :P)

[Mendrugo]

I know that the show itself has been cast as FedCom propaganda for children loosely based on the exploits of Adam Steiner and company, but I believe that the sidebars in the actual sourcebook reflect canon commentary attempting to tie the actual missions of the Strikers to BattleTech continuity.   (For example, one sidebar features an AFFC commander complaining that Rhonda Snord has requested permission to go hunting for Camelot Command, but that he can't tell her not to bother without spilling the secret that the Strikers already found it years earlier.  Plus, the Franklin Sakamoto/Black Dragon episode has been confirmed via the novel "Black Dragon.")

Sarna.net has the following, which draws on Masters & Minions and Era Report:3052 references:

Shortly after the Battle of Tukayyid, the Tharkad Broadcast Company would release a semi-fictionalized holoseries based on Adam's exploits during the invasion, mixing in the battles on Barecelona into his initial raid and recapture of Somerset. Intended as a morale boosting exercise, the poorly reviewed series would successfully help to instill national pride in the Lyran youth and sell trillions of S-Bills of merchandise in the process.

So Waldorff VII may have gone boom, or the event may have just been the creation of a TBC staff writer.

[Gravedigger]

As an in-joke, the mining site on Waldorff II is named Astoria (after the famous Waldorff-Astoria hotel).  Given that, I was actually surprised that the moon wasn’t named Statler.

My working title for that track was "Waldorff Salad Days".
Yes, groan away. Puns are bad.

Aaron "Gravedigger" Pollyea

[Mendrugo]

----- 6 Months Later -----

Date: September 26, 2742

Location: Rasalhague

Title: Rasalhague Rumble

Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson

Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)

Synopsis:  Following massive damage to agricultural facilities and transport infrastructure on a Lyran border world, the LCAF has hired its own pirates - a mercenary band known as the Terrible Twenties - to raid Rasalhague.  They’re facing off against Combine-contracted mercs known as the Alpha Ophiuchi Brigade on a glacier field.  Both sides are equal in strength and have Regular skills, though an optional modification is to boost the Terrible Twenties to Veteran.  The battle may also be fought in blizzard conditions.

The Alpha Ophiuchi Brigade gets bonus points if it operates according to the Combine’s dueling code, which operates in a fashion akin to “High Honor” Clan rules of engagement.  (Similar to the one-on-one duels fought by the Ryuken and Genyosha in Wolves on the Border and Warrior: Riposte.)

Notes: If you’re looking to wreck something, Rasalhague is a target rich environment.  The world produces manufactured goods in its large industrial complexes, as well as exporting iron ore, exotic fruits, and majarfisch.  Though the location of the battle isn’t specified, given the option for blizzard and the stated intent of wrecking some industries, it’s likely that the Terrible Twenties were aiming for Rasalhague’s largest industrial city – Ymir – which lies on the flat and icy arctic southern continent of Hammerfest.  This is further supported by the recommendation of flatlands and light urban maps for terrain.

[SCC]

For Waldorff Warfare I'd suggest taking Tear Gas SRM's if your op takes anything other then 'Mechs

[Mendrugo]

For Waldorff Warfare I'd suggest taking Tear Gas SRM's if your op takes anything other then 'Mechs

The setup has the Coyotes roll half their force on the Periphery RAT, and half on the Draconis Combine RAT.  Since the vehicle table isn't faction specific, it would appear that the mercs/pirates are intended to be an all 'Mech force.

[Mendrugo]

----- 9 Years Later -----

Date:  February 17, 2751

Location: Star’s End

Title: Pulsar

Author: Steve Mohan, Jr.

Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Era Report: 2750)

Synopsis:  First Lord Simon Cameron continues his round-the-Sphere goodwill tour designed to knit the Star League back together as the Third Shadow War continues to escalate.  Simon tells his aide Sally McKenna-Croft that the trip seems to be working on the public, at least, despite opposition from the House lords.  To celebrate, he pours a squeeze-bulb of champagne and proposes to Sally, who has been his lover as well as his aide since the death of his wife (Richard’s mother) a year earlier.  She says yes.

Simon’s security chief, Major Carolina Devalis, updates him on the security sweep of the New Silesian asteroid mine he’s scheduled to tour.  On the way to the shuttle, however, Devalis is struck by a powerful vision of the Cameron Star exploding, and begs First Lord Simon not to go to the asteroid.  She says that the women in the Devalis family have a history of receiving visions.  Simon reassures her that the Cameron Star will burn bright and steady for a thousand years, and has her rest while he continues on to the asteroid mine.

In the mine, Simon is invited to try out the controls for a 30-ton Digger 500 mining robot, which is harvesting ilmenite.  After a ten minute briefing, he takes a seat at the control station and halts the machine’s labors.  Without warning, it turns and races down the tunnel towards the command station, ignoring all further input from the command station.  Even the emergency power shutoff fails, and the robot crashes through the viewport, blasting Simon and his entourage (including Sally) into the void.

Notes:  The Devalis name may be familiar to Nova Cat fans as one of their bloodnames – tying in with that Clan’s penchant for mystical visions.  Carolina is the mother of Isabella Devalis, one of the founders of the Nova Cat Clan.  Devalis’ vision was of a Cameron Star going supernova and leaving behind a pulsar – a rapidly spinning neutron star of degenerate matter, screaming out its rage and pain at the universe.  As Simon realizes at the moment of his death, the pulsar is his son Richard.  (Despite the official explanation that “the Nova Cats just smoke a lot of strange stuff,” this would seem to add to the anecdotal canon for the Nova Cat visions having something to them.)  One would assume that Devalis is part of the Royal Black Watch, just as Tanya Kerensky was when she was assigned to the First Lord's security detail.

The Third Hidden War was an escalating series of “pirate” attacks on industrial facilities that were, in fact, military operations intended to allow domestic industries a competitive advantage by sabotaging or destroying foreign competitors.  As many of the “bandit” raiders were escorted by WarShips, Great House involvement was a given, but they maintained the pretense in the interests of plausible deniability.  Simon Cameron’s goodwill tour was an attempt to force the House leaders to call off their tit-for-tat raids through public pressure for renewed peace and unity.

Of course, since this is the BattleTech universe, failure was the only option.

Recent products have moved from calling Cameron's death a "suspicious accident" to an "assassination."  There are a number of suspects, but the leading candidate is House Kurita - given Star's End's proximity to Kuritan space, the long history of animosity between the Camerons and Kuritas, and the Coordinator's fear that Simon's scheduled trip through the Combine would create the same swellings of pro-Star League/anti-House Lord public sentiments that followed in the wake of his swings through the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth.  Of course, Star's End was a Rim Worlds system, but various accounts give me the sense that Amaris was a skilled opportunist who made the most of this unexpected opportunity, rather than engineering it outright.

[Mendrugo]

Date: September 14, 2733 – May 5, 2734 [See Notes]

Location: Alpheratz

Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap

Author: Jason Hardy

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  An Alliance Defenders Limited skunkworks team is frantically attempting to create a working Locust prototype, relying heavily on battlefield salvage, black marketed parts, and baling wire.  ADL CEO Emma Jacobs and head technician Caleb Murphy doubt that the OAM will be charitable when it sees it in action.  When OAM General Bashere observes a field trial, he glowers at its wobbly movement, sub-standard armor, electronics reverse-engineered from Tortugan equipment.

Bashere tells Jacobs that he understands that the lack of government and popular support has made the firm’s progress difficult, but that if they can’t come up with something better than the cobbled-together Locust in six months, he’ll demand her resignation.  Jacobs and Murphy discuss their options, noting that no matter what they do, the Locust can’t be brought up to the level of the tech being used by nearby pirates within six months. 

A month later, Jacobs meets with a mysterious contact, “Jerome,” to discuss her new initiative.  He tells her that they’ve managed to pinpoint the location of a number of pirate gangs operating near Valasha and made contact with several, and negotiations are in progress.

However, two months later, Jacobs is on the run from security teams.  She is captured and placed under arrest on charges of treason, piracy, and conspiracy against the Alliance.  Four months later, still in detention, she meets with her lawyer, Brinson.  She seems much calmer than usual, and asks him to make sure that her trial is pushed back beyond May 5.

On May 5, Brinson meets the OA prosecuting attorney, Velma Crawford, arriving at the prison at the same time.  She got word that Jacobs wanted to make a plea deal.  They’re interrupted by Caleb Murphy, who tells them that their questions will all be answered shortly.  Seventeen minutes later, the prison commandant summons them and asks them to explain the BattleMech looming over the north wall of the prison.

Murphy introduces them to the captured AFFS Stinger, which is “the most powerful weapon in the entire Outworlds Alliance.”  He informs them that, if Emma Jacobs is released and allowed to continue as CEO of Alliance Defenders, Ltd., she’ll reverse engineer it and build more for the Alliance.  If not, the Stinger will trash the prison, free Emma, and then she'll scrap the ‘Mech and leave the Alliance at the mercy of pirates and other enemies.  After three days of negotiations, Emma gets all of her demands.

Notes:  The only way that this story can work as written is if the date is shifted back 50 years from the given timeframe of 2783-2784.  The main point of the story is that bandit activity is rampant, and the Outworlds Alliance lacks BattleMechs of its own.  This perfectly describes the 2750s, when the Third Hidden War had just ended, but mountains of military supplies remained in the hands of the formerly state-supported bandits and shady mercs.  The profile of Alliance Defenders Ltd. in Handbook: Major Periphery States notes that ADL was founded in the 2730s and has made 'Mechs for the Outworlds Alliance ever since.  H:LoT1 notes that the Outworlds Alliance Military then consisted of a scrawny five conventional regiments and four WarShips.  However, H:LoT1 notes that the Secret Army brought the OAM up to 72 conventional regiments and 100 BattleMech regiments by 2765, backed by 15 WarShips.  I can accept a stolen AFFS Stinger being the most powerful unit [WarShips: Harrumph!]…ground unit…in the Outworlds Alliance circa 2733, but not after nearly 11,000 other ‘Mechs have emerged from secret bases in the Deep Periphery.

If we reset the timeline to the 2750s, then that begs the additional question – was Emma part of Amaris’ pan-Periphery independence conspiracy?  That would explain the sudden urgency for Alliance Defenders Limited to start making homegrown ‘Mechs for the Outworlds Alliance, despite the “lack of governmental or public support.”

A further question is, what exactly did the Outworlds Alliance conventional regiments have that was so vastly outclassed by a lone Stinger?  Odds are, just rifle infantry and a collection of APCs, because any Age of War-era combat vehicle worth its salt could slaughter a Stinger.  Heck, even the legendarily awful Capellan Suvorov could probably best a Stinger, one on one.

[Wrangler]

Jason Hardy's story "The Top of the Scrap heap", most likely predates the H:LoTv1 & 2 in writing stages, right?  Hardy won't have had the hard data to write his short-story to reflect military situation of the AO.

[Mendrugo]

Jason Hardy's story "The Top of the Scrap heap", most likely predates the H:LoTv1 & 2 in writing stages, right?  Hardy won't have had the hard data to write his short-story to reflect military situation of the AO.

The Top of The Scrap Heap predates H:LoT by years, and it worked fine at the time.  However, given the new details we have, some adjustments have to be made.  This actually comes up a lot with the fiction and scenarios set during the Star League Civil War period.  They were fine when the period was a blank slate, but often conflict with Historical report details.

My intent in suggesting changes isn't to take Jason or any other author to task about it, just to suggest how the narrative could be adjusted to more seamlessly fit into the overall storyline, now that more details are available.

[Mendrugo]

----- 8 Years Later -----

Date: April 12, 2762

Location: District of Donegal

Title: Greater Than Yourself

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Field Manual: SLDF)

Synopsis: SLDF Lieutenant John Hampton is being interrogated by the pirate band that wiped out his lance.  He’s not sure where he is, and is sure that the pirates will kill him regardless, so he banters with them instead of giving them any information.  He identifies one of the pirates as being a native of the city of Howell on Garrison (by his accent), and needles him about its reputation for prostitution. 

Hampton tells the pirates that his SLDF comrades will hunt the pirates down and exterminate them, and this knowledge is a comfort to Hampton, who faces death knowing that he’s a part of something greater than himself.  Realizing that no intel on SLDF operations will be forthcoming (or perhaps unsettled by the remark about prostitutes), Hampton’s captor shoots him in the face.

Notes:  It’s interesting to speculate on the identity and motivations of the bandit group.  Circa April 2762, there was a fair amount going on in the Star League.  The Federated Suns’ war with the Capellan Confederation over the nuclear attack on Demeter ended in January.  Richard Cameron had turned 18 on February 9, and had immediately tried to ram through a ban on any weapon more destructive than a grenade or laser rifle with the failed Executive Order 156.  The Star League council was subsequently disbanded, and Richard began to rule by decree from Amaris’ “Star Palace” in the Canadian wilderness.

Given Archon Richard Steiner II’s outspoken opposition to Executive Order 156, and the fact that most of the “bandits” operating in the Inner Sphere had Great House backing, my guess is that the group holding Lt. Hampton is also “part of something greater than itself” – namely, the LCAF (or Loki/Lohengrin).  It’s unlikely that they’re Rim Worlders, given the one bandit’s origins on the Lyran world of Garrison and their base of operations being in the District of Donegal.  Their desire to learn the orders of Hampton’s unit may reflect Archon Steiner's fears that the First Lord might have ordered the SLDF to carry out his plan to disarm the Great Houses by force.

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Year Later -----

Date: June 24, 2763

Location: Canopus IV

Title: Self Defense

Author: Jason M. Hardy

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: Loon Resort is a prime example of the Magistracy of Canopus’ leisure economy.  The lakeside resort boasts casinos, buffets, shows, music, dancing and drinking, and an amusement park 2 kilometers down the road for the kids (and soundproofed suites for the adults – this is Canopus, after all).

Star League Regional Deputy Consul Ronald Ekkers is a regular visitor to the resort, and believes that he has covered his tracks so as to be able to visit anonymously.  However, a shift in the POV reveals that he has been identified by mysterious underwater watchers as a Star League tax collector.  They resolve to “get rid of him” and do so by blackmailing him, since his companion in the room wasn’t the one on his marriage certificate.  Ekkers resolves to execute his long-planned contingency against just such a blackmail attempt.

Said contingency, once approved by his superior at the Star League’s embassy, turns out to be an airstrike against the resort using a Cormorant WiGE seconded from the local SLDF garrison (the 219th BattleMech Division).  Unexpectedly, the Cormorant crew picks up six inbound bogies.  After warning the SLDF raiding party off, the bogies open fire, bringing down the WiGE with Eckers and crew aboard.

The POV shifts back to the blackmailers, who tell an out-of-the-loop compatriot that the aerospace fighters that took out the WiGE were mercenaries who had been on R&R at the Loon Lake Resort and had volunteered their services.

Notes:  It’s telling that Eckers views Canopus as being a backwater, low profile posting – both for diplomats and military personnel.  He views any Star League officers stationed there as weak/incompetent for having been exiled to the Periphery. 

He may have a point.  FM:SLDF notes that the 219th BattleMech division (the Bull Run Division) – assigned to garrison Canopus IV – became lax and lost discipline, to the point that a “Bull Run” has become the name of the unit’s regular 18-hour pub crawl through downtown Crimson.  (Notably, the unit is one of the few not to get any special modifiers in the Rules Annex.)

Chronologically, it’s significant that Eckers is a Star League tax collector, because one of the most far reaching edicts issued by Richard Cameron (still in isolation with Amaris at the Star Palace) was his Taxation Edict of 2763, which placed an even heavier tax burden on the Periphery.  When the Periphery states refused to comply, Richard ordered Kerensky to reinforce the periphery garrisons and personally take charge of enforcement.  One would presume that the Loon Lake resort’s management is hostile to the League’s taxman because of well justified fears that he’d try to use force to enforce Richard’s edict.

The willingness of the Periphery people to engage in combat against the SLDF (even if this is an isolated incident) shows that the Periphery people have begun to cross a key threshold.  The full-scale uprising is just two years away, and the SLDF's aura of invincibility is already tattered.

[Kojak]

Has the Cormorant WiGE ever been mentioned outside of this story?

[Mendrugo]

Has the Cormorant WiGE ever been mentioned outside of this story?

It's on p. 88 of TRO: Vehicle Annex, which notes it debuted in 2690 and was used as a cargo transport throughout the Federated Suns.  Aside from the TRO entry and "Self Defense," I don't know of any other products that feature the design.

[Mendrugo]

----- 2 Years Later -----

Date: April 4, 2765

Location: New Vandenberg

Title: An Ill-Made House

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: SLDF Captain Aaron Dane, a graduate of the Gunslinger program, discusses secessionist propaganda being broadcast by Taurians on New Vandenberg with his CO, Major Talbert.  Talbert informs Dane that General Kerensky is personally monitoring the situation from Fort Gorki, on the other side of the planet from Dane’s duty post at Fort James Miller in the city of Haganau.  Dane would like to get to the task of breaking heads and gunning down revolutionaries, but Talbert cautions restraint, seeming to empathize with the Taurians.  He orders Dane to take his company out for a patrol.

Dane’s company, uniformly comprised of Thugs, heads out on patrol and discusses the news that fighting has erupted at Fort Gorki, with a battalion of Taurian rebels attacking General Kerensky.  Dane wishes he were there.  The patrol encounters three TDF hovertanks, which pace them across the Elbe river.  On patrol, Dane discusses the dismissal of the company’s former CO – Lt. White – who was arrested for conspiring with Taurian rebels.

Dane’s company is very multinational, including troopers from the RWR, OA, and the Great Houses.  Accordingly, perspectives on the Reunification War and the current tensions vary.  The discussion continues until the patrol unexpectedly runs into a reinforced force of Taurian ‘Mechs – mostly older designs, but headed by a cutting-edge Emperor.

Dane attempts to negotiate with the Taurian commander, setting the river as a red-line boundary.  The Emperor’s pilot, having lost a daughter in the fighting around Fort Gorki, isn’t in the mood to parlay.  When the Emperor lights his Thug up with its active targeting array, Dane issues a dueling challenge to the Taurian commander, despite the Emperor’s edge in armor and armament.

The scene shifts back to Fort James Miller, where Dane’s XO, Lt. Thomas Brake, reports to Major Talbert.  He sees the battalion’s infantry complement geared up and standing by in their APCs.  However, instead of riding to the rescue, Talbert orders Brake’s detention, and reveals that he’s a New Vandenberg native who has decided to back the Taurian rebels.

Dane wins the battle, targeting the Emperor’s XL engine, and finishing it off with a punch following a failed Death-From-Above attack.  The Taurians withdraw, with a promise to be back the following day, and Dane begins to wonder where the rest of the battalion is.  As the company returns to base, Major Talbert orders the fort’s perimeter defenses (quad-PPC turrets) to open fire.  One of the Thugs takes heavy damage, and Dane moves to engage the turret after Major Talbert informs him that the fort is now a TDF installation.

Inside the fort, Lt. Brake disables his distracted guard and takes his rifle, attempting to assassinate Talbert with it, but misses as he is tackled by infantrymen.  Talbert returns the favor by shooting Brake between the eyes with his own laser pistol, then pitches Brake’s body over the fort’s walls.  Trapped between a rock and a hard place, Dane pulls back, intending to get to a communications center in Haganau and contact the large SLDF naval contingent in the system (four McKennas and a host of frigates and support craft).  Half the company battles the Taurian ‘Mechs they faced down earlier, while Dane heads for the transmitter.

The communications center turns out to be hidden in a multi-faith chapel at the Bureau of Star League Affairs Civic Center – a secret resource intended to be used by troops during the post-Reunification War occupation in case of an uprising.  Successfully contacting the fleet, Dane is given coordinates to rendezvous for resupply.  The remaining ten Thugs move back across the Elbe, then destroy the bridge to prevent the Taurian ‘Mechs from following.

At the rendezvous point, an SLDF Union arrives to repair and rearm the Thugs.  Intel reports that Taurian rebels are overrunning SLDF positions in Vandenberg City and all across the planet, with nearly 2,000 BattleMechs onworld.  The company’s new orders are to reduce Fort James Miller to slag, clearing the way for the rest of the battalion to be dropped in to form a bridgehead.

Back at the fort, Major Talbert is running into problems getting the base’s technical staff to cooperate.  With the Thugs laying waste to the fort’s fixed defenses, he orders his Taurian-loyalist infantry to evacuate in their hover APCs.  Backed by a flight of TDF Cyranos, they try to shoot their way clear to the river.  Despite taking heavy damage, Dane manages to blast the APC carrying Talbert.  Only three APCs escape, each carrying one platoon of rebel infantry.  As the rest of the battalion arrives, Dane readies his command to join the fight for New Vandenberg.

Notes:  In addition to the Emperor, the Taurians in Haganau are packing a Guillotine, a pair of Sentinels, unnamed hovercraft (probably Maultiers, though possibly Condors or antiquated LTV-4s, given their use by the TDF during the Reunification War), and 12 Cyrano VTOLs.  Fort James Miller’s turrets appear to consist of LRM turrets supported by AC/5 turrets (described as “light autocannon” hitting at shorter ranges than the LRM turrets), with each wall of the fort anchored by a single quad-PPC turret packing an estimated 10-13 tons of armor (it takes 21 PPC hits to destroy it).  Based on the turret illustration in the Star League sourcebook, I’d guess that each missile turret is an LRM-10 or SRM-6, while each support turret packs an AC/5. 

Given the description of Talbert’s vehicles as hover APCs capable of carrying a whole platoon, I’d guess they’re either Maultiers or Maxims.  Probably Maultiers, since we know it was a design fielded by the SLDF in the Concordat.  Each facing on a Maultier has enough armor to take one PPC blast, so either the Thugs scored two hits each against the APCs they took down, or managed to tag them with enough SRMs to blow the hover skirts on the Motive Damage Table.

Per FM:SLDF, New Vandenberg plays host to the SLIC’s Taurian HQ, the LVI Corps, the 95th Royal Jump Infantry Division, and the 329th BattleMech Division.  Circa 2764 (when FM:SLDF was set), the First French Regiment was stationed on Paf, so their change of station to New Vandenberg must have been pretty recent.
 
Reference is made to the Fort Gorki fighting.  TDF militia were stationed at Fort Gorki, and mistakenly fired on elements of the First French Regiment (an independent regiment attached to the LVI Corps).  Fearing a counterattack (which wasn’t actually planned) the militia eventually decided to launch a pre-emptive strike, touching off the Periphery Uprising.  Though no date for the incident beyond “2765” has been given in the sourcebooks, the immediacy conveyed in this narrative places it on or about April 2nd or 3rd.

[Mendrugo]

----- 2 Months Later -----

Date: June 1, 2765? [See Notes]

Location: Taurus?

Title: Living Legends

Author: Diane Piron-Gelman, Chris Hartford, and Bryan Nystul

Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Living Legends)

Synopsis:  Major James Cromwell faces a court martial over his actions in the defense of Camp Somerset.  Cromwell defends his decision to disobey orders as having been vital to retaining control of the planet.  Kerensky responds that Camp Somerset was of little strategic value, and that Cromwell wasted hundreds of lives in pursuit of glory.

Cromwell argues that the media made the SLDF victory at Camp Somerset into a major propaganda victory for the Star League, and taunts Kerensky that his resulting status as pubic hero makes it impossible to prosecute him, as it will look like Aleksandr is making Cromwell a scapegoat for the failures on New Vandenberg.

Kerensky acknowledges that he can’t afford to court-martial Cromwell, and offers him a choice – either step down quietly, or be busted down to Captain and given command of a new “hero unit” full of glory hounds and discipline problems that will be sent into the teeth of the toughest and most hopeless battles Kerensky can find.  Cromwell accepts the command, and vows to "live to see you all in Hell."

Notes:  The background notes in the book state that in one of the early battles of the Periphery rebellion, Cromwell disobeyed a direct order from Kerensky to fall back to a stronger position.  His unit was massacred as a result.  Though he richly deserved a court-martial for his actions, General Kerensky knew that the public regarded Cromwell as a hero and that disciplinary action against him would have caused trouble that the SLDF could ill afford.  Unable to prosecute Cromwell for his misdeeds, and unwilling to give him real command again, Kerensky chose to exact justice in another way.  He placed Cromwell in nominal command of a new unit made up of misfits and disciplinary problems.  Kerensky then proceeded to send this new unit on suicide missions, with the intent of allowing Cromwell to die in battle.

No date is given for this scene, though Cromwell’s jab at Kerensky indicates that the New Vandenberg fighting (which began April 3rd) is still recent.  Giving time for the first wave of fighting to run its course and a tribunal to be convened, I've guesstimated it to be two months later, though that's pure speculation on my part. 

The location is also unclear, though likely somewhere in the Taurian Concordat or in a Federated Suns border system.  Though Cromwell's battle involved the defense of Camp Somerset, it can’t have been on the planet of Somerset, which was a Rim Worlds Republic colony at this point, and had neither rebels nor an SLDF garrison.  Early in the course of the Uprising, Aleksandr Kerensky was on New Vandenberg, so I would guess that both the battle and the court martial would have taken place somewhere in the Taurian Concordat, and that “Camp Somerset” is named after something other than the RWR world.  (After all, neither Fort Gorki nor Fort James Miller were named after New Vandenberg.)  Cromwell's statement to Kerensky "your failure on New Vandenberg" implies that they're not on New Vandenberg in the tribunal.

The fact that Cromwell’s unit was later referred to as “The Lionhearts” may be a clue as to the unit they were in.  FM:SLDF shows that the 328th Royal BattleMech Division (XLVI Corps, 19th Army) was stationed on Taurus, and was known as the Lion-Hearted Division.  H:LoT1 notes that the 19th Army was “well prepared to face the Concordat troops when the tensions exploded into war, withdrawing from some hotspots but contesting others,” and that “the presence of General Kerensky in their midst kept the Nineteenth’s morale high.”  Cromwell, therefore, appears to have contested a hotspot he was ordered to withdraw from.

If this is the case, H:LoT 1 & 2 shows Cromwell’s band of  troublemakers earning their glory with the Nineteenth Army on Rio, Tybalt, Hean, Sirius, and finally hitting Terra, assigned to the Mongolia/China border region where they faced the brutal fighting for Xi’an and then tried to keep a lid on civil unrest in India.  They led the landings in Victoria, Canada and pushed inland to Vancouver and Unity City.  The 328th itself was part of the taskforce that went with Kerensky to besiege Amaris’ Imperial Palace and bring the war to an end.  Unfortunately, a search for "Cromwell" in H:LoT 1 & 2 doesn't bring up any references.

[Nerroth]

I don't know if it's just a coincidence or not, but it's ironic that the commanding officer of a ship with experimental new technology has the same name as the actor who portrayed Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact.

[Mendrugo]

Based on his characterization in Living Legends, Cromwell bears a striking similarity to Futurama's Zapp Brannigan, though Living Legends was published in 1995 and Zapp didn't come to screens until 1999.

(When Aliens Attack - Zapp: "When I'm in command, every mission's a suicide mission!")

[Mendrugo]

----- 8 Months Later -----

Date: February 15, 2766

Location: Mirach

Title: Infestation

Author: Ken' Horner

Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  A detachment of the 7th Crucis Lancers, responding to a bandit raid on a FedSuns settlement on Mirach, attacks Jade’s Rangers – Royal HAF veterans who now serve as the personal guard of the a local Terran Hegemony baroness – mistaking them for the bandits.  Seven of the AFFS troops are put down by the elite lance, while the Feddies only manage to destroy one of the Baroness’ ‘Mechs and force another to retreat.  The skirmish led to mutual recriminations and further retaliatory raiding over the following months.

Notes:  The 7th Crucis Lancers’ presence in this scenario is an anachronism, since the entire Crucis Lancers brigade was only formed after Kerensky’s Exodus out of SLDF regulars that chose to swear allegiance to the Federated Suns.  More likely is that they were elements of the Crucis March Militia.

The scenario is designed to showcase just how much better the HAF Royal troops were than the House militaries.  Though the AFFS pilots have some decent skills, their equipment is fairly weak, offensively.  They’ve got Riflemen (with the paper-thin rear armor), Blackjacks (AC/2s!  Wheeee!), JagerMechs (More dakka!) and Shadow Hawks (AC/5, Med Laser, and SRM-2? Be still my heart!)  On the other side, the Baroness’ lance has fairly good skills (averaging 2.75 for gunnery, vs. 3.25 for the AFFS pilots)  and pilot a Marauder, a Catapult, an antiquated Kyudo, and a Thunderbolt. 

[Update: The Crucis Lancers aren't the only anachronism in this scenario.  The RFL-3N Rifleman didn't debut until 2770, meaning these should be the hotter-running -2N variant, and the JaegerMech wasn't invented until 2776.  Those should also be swapped for RFL-2Ns]

The attackers enter from the east and have to cross a standard BattleTech map and a mountain river map to get at the defenders.  Both sides have substantial amounts of ranged weaponry, but with better gunnery and the ability to use the water, trees, and ridges of the mountain for cover while the Feddies advance means that the defenders will connect more often and more powerfully than the Davion company. 

The optimal AFFS strategy would be to cluster together and advance as a group.  That way, all the units will enter the firing zone of the defenders at the same time, giving them too many targets to cover while maximizing return fire.  If the AFFS units just charge in as fast as possible, they’ll get spread out, and the defenders will be able to concentrate their fire on the leading units and destroy them piecemeal.  Since both sides operate under forced withdrawal conditions, all fire should be concentrated on one or two Hegemony units at a time, in order to force a withdrawal.  (Plus, with the pop-guns the AFFS ‘Mechs are packing, concentrating firepower is the only way they’re going to do more than mar the paintjobs.)

For the defenders, concentrating fire and forcing withdrawals is also a good strategy, but hard to pull off if the AFFS troops rush their positions en masse.  Given the large mountain they have to hide behind, the Hegemony troops could park the Thunderbolt (LRM-15) , Kyudo (LRM-20) and Catapult (2 LRM-15s) behind the ridge and have the Marauder get in the best cover possible and serve as a spotter, hopefully softening up the Feddies with a sustained missile bombardment while allowing three of the four defenders to come out with completely fresh armor once the engagement gets to close quarters.

[Wrangler]

Notes:  The 7th Crucis Lancers’ presence in this scenario is an anachronism, since the entire Crucis Lancers brigade was only formed after Kerensky’s Exodus out of SLDF regulars that chose to swear allegiance to the Federated Suns.  More likely is that they were elements of the Crucis March Militia.

Well, we'll know for certain if Crucis Lancers were accidently retroconned into existence prematurely when the Field Report 2765: Federated Suns comes out.  I hope scenario that you reviewed was fluke/typo on arthur's part.  I'd hate see another part Battletech history throw out because someone forgot to read about the unit's background.  This already happed with the Sword of Light regiments in one of BattleCorp's story of a regiment hadn't existed yet attacking Hesperus II.

[Mendrugo]

If you're talking about "Broken Blade," I did some research on the appearing-nowhere-else 18th Algedi Regulars.  The DCMS officer in the story specifically mentions that she and her comrades got their high-tech equipment from SLDF defectors who'd opted to join the Combine.  Whatever promises the Dragon made them, their equipment was seized and reassigned to more trustworthy DCMS regulars. 

Looking over the "whatever happened to" table in the Star League sourcebook, it appears that a maximum of 29 'Mech regiments could have joined the DCMS in that fashion.  It's possible that, while the AFFS took their SLDF defectors and formed a new Crucis Lancers brigade, the DCMS used their windfall of SLDF 'Mechs to outfit 18+ regiments in a new Algedi Regulars brigade, which was subsequently wiped out in the Succession Wars.  (When you say the regiment in question didn't yet exist - you may be thinking of the Alshain Regulars.)

For me, "Broken Blade" only really has continuity problems with its set piece battle around a Hunter Light Support Tank assembly line, since the Hunter is fluffed as having been introduced during the "tech starved days" of the Succession Wars, rather than in the tech-rich days of the early First Succession War.  The tank's about 200 years too early.

[Wrangler]

If you're talking about "Broken Blade," I did some research on the appearing-nowhere-else 18th Algedi Regulars.  The DCMS officer in the story specifically mentions that she and her comrades got their high-tech equipment from SLDF defectors who'd opted to join the Combine.  Whatever promises the Dragon made them, their equipment was seized and reassigned to more trustworthy DCMS regulars. 

Looking over the "whatever happened to" table in the Star League sourcebook, it appears that a maximum of 29 'Mech regiments could have joined the DCMS in that fashion.  It's possible that, while the AFFS took their SLDF defectors and formed a new Crucis Lancers brigade, the DCMS used their windfall of SLDF 'Mechs to outfit 18+ regiments in a new Algedi Regulars brigade, which was subsequently wiped out in the Succession Wars.  (When you say the regiment in question didn't yet exist - you may be thinking of the Alshain Regulars.)

For me, "Broken Blade" only really has continuity problems with its set piece battle around a Hunter Light Support Tank assembly line, since the Hunter is fluffed as having been introduced during the "tech starved days" of the Succession Wars, rather than in the tech-rich days of the early First Succession War.  The tank's about 200 years too early.

If you look at Sorenson's Sabres, it has extensive history of the 5th Sword of Light.   Unit's formation was 2796, the battle accrued 2787.  Thats the problem.

[Mendrugo]

Dates on the SoL are all over the place.  FM: DCMS says they were all formed during Kerensky's regency period, so the 5th should definitely have been around for Operation BROKEN BLADE. 

Moreover, the House Kurita SB says that one of the Sword of Light regiments fielded the Combine's first 'Mechs on Nox in 2475 (so much for them all being formed during the Regency).  A HKSB sidebar notes that there have been twelve Sword of Light regiments over the course of history, and that there are currently (circa 3025) five. 

Given the pasting the Combine forces took during Operation BROKEN BLADE, it's entirely conceivable that the SoL regiments there were so mangled they were disbanded, and then the modern 5th SoL was reformed in 2796.