Battletech easter eggs.

[Auman]

I was reading The War of Reaving and on page 53, I noticed a reference. A very clever reference... Galaxy Commander Armin Tamzarian laid a whooping on his fellow Clanners. As I am sure we are all aware, Armin Tamzarian is also the real name of principal Seymour Skinner. The episode for cross reference is The Simpsons "The principal and the pauper".

Now, this makes me wonder if the Battletech writers have managed to slyly insert other obscure references into their work.

[Col.Hengist]

I think some one pointed that out right after the WoR book came out. Very funny!

[Nerroth]

The Babylon theatre in Operation SABLE SUN (the effort to establish space superiority in the Pantagon systems prior to Operation KLONDIKE) is one such candidate.

[Kitsune413]

There is a Planet Serenity. It isn't colonized during the reunification War. It dies in the succession wars. But in the Periphery uprising the Taurians and Star League Defense Force have it out in Serenity Valley. :)

[Psycho]

Armin Tamzarian's presence long pre-dates the WoR. He was a Star Colonel in Delta Galaxy back as far as FM:WC.

There are many hidden references, ranging from GI Joe characters to variations of the real-life names of contributors to the BT universe... Too many to list really, unless someone has kept a cheat sheet for that sort of thing. My favourite is still Rosencarl and Gildenlenny.  :)

[Hersh67]

Let us not forget Luthien.  Borrowed from JRR Tolkein.

[Auman]

You know what? I do remember a lot of Babylon 5 references in Operation KLONDIKE, now that I think of it.

[YingJanshi]

Let us not forget Luthien.  Borrowed from JRR Tolkein.

And don't forget the FedSuns planet Numenor. There is also a colonel named Gandalf in (I believe) FM: AFFS.

Also the whole Team Banzai thing...

[ClarkeMarek]

Not to mention the various "Russian Reversals" that snuck their way in years ago.... :P

[Stormlion1]

Don't forget Zippo made flamethrowers and Kiva from Megas XLR made a appaerance in one book as a reporter.

[Nav_Alpha]

And don't forget the FedSuns planet Numenor. There is also a colonel named Gandalf in (I believe) FM: AFFS.

Also the whole Team Banzai thing...

"Colonel! They're coming through the pass! THe Snakes are coming!"
"they shall! Not! Pass!"

There's also both a planet AND a Liao colonel named Jordan Weismann after the orginal creator. Plus I seem to remember at least one Precentor named after Donna Ippitio (incorrect spelling I know!) after a long term editor who was around for most of the early material

[WarHammer Willy]

Don't forget Colonel Hans Gruber of the 25th Acturan Guards around 3062.

He is descended from the famous Hans Gruber that took the Nakatomi Towers hostage.

[glitterboy2098]

it is probably easier to make a list of thing in battletech that weren't done as an injoke/callout to something else.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Kiva from Megas XLR made a appaerance in one book as a reporter.

Reporting that the Pop TV station had been destroyed! ;D

[Diplominator]

Don't forget Colonel Hans Gruber of the 25th Acturan Guards around 3062.

He is descended from the famous Hans Gruber that took the Nakatomi Towers hostage.

Those Grubers.

Always descending.



It's funny because he fell out of a building.

[Sigma]

Notable pilots and unit dossiers are a goldmine.

Profile art is as well.

[Yeti]

Operation Klondike mentions some spacers from the pentagon system settle on planet Fasa  :D

They later get conquered and resettled by the clans

[ColBosch]

it is probably easier to make a list of thing in battletech that weren't done as an injoke/callout to something else.

I actively tried to avoid references, but it's not like my volume of work was that large. I will cop to originally naming the Dark Crow as the "Deep Crow" as a shout-out to Penny Arcade, but it made either Herb or Randall giggle too much.

[MadCapellan]

I actively tried to avoid references, but it's not like my volume of work was that large. I will cop to originally naming the Dark Crow as the "Deep Crow" as a shout-out to Penny Arcade, but it made either Herb or Randall giggle too much.

I did love your use of the term "Confederated Suns" in a canon sourcebook. It still makes me smile.

[ColBosch]

I did love your use of the term "Confederated Suns" in a canon sourcebook. It still makes me smile.

Smile twice, I see. Yes, okay, that was another in-joke, but more of a shout-out to the forums rather than pop culture.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Now, this makes me wonder if the Battletech writers have managed to slyly insert other obscure references into their work.

My own username is a homage to one of these references.  The ISF was VERY concerned about a nonconformist group emerging inside the Combine.  Headquartered somewhere in the Brocchi Cluster, their base of operations is thought to be called "Terrapin Station".  The cult is very musical and has a penchant for wearing colored clothing.  The ISF believes the 'Tai Dai' cult may have connections with another similar group that calls themselves 'Dead Heads'.

Another good easter egg is when Takashi Kurita killed striking air traffic controllers on Luthien.

There's a TON of them lying about.  They're quite fun when discovered.

[Charlie Tango]

Gannon's Cannons still warms my heart, and is probably my favorite Easter Egg in BT literature.

[JadeHellbringer]

Quint's Olympian Groundpounders (FM:Mercs Revised)- after Capt. Quint, the three remaining officers listed (Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison) were the legendary top line of the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team at the time of publishing. I can still see the marks on the edge of the pages of my copy from where I literally did a spit-take upon seeing that.

[ColBosch]

There's a TON of them lying about.  They're quite fun when discovered.

Keep in mind that for others, pop culture references are the opposite: they break immersion and thus devalue the writing. I don't like them myself, but can accept most of them...except for the aforementioned Babylon campaign. I can't read that chapter, as it's so jarring to see such blatant references to the TV show. If they'd been more subtle than using the main character's name, I wouldn't mind.

[MadCapellan]

Smile twice, I see.

Once for the Capellan fan in me, and once for the little known Davion fan in me? ;D

Yes, okay, that was another in-joke, but more of a shout-out to the forums rather than pop culture.

Yeah, but those are the best kind...spontaneous Battletech culture!

[Stormlion1]

Almost forgot that in the old Wolf Dragoons book several Gundam characters show up as mechwarriors and that the planet Lum has a city on it named Rumiko. Both referances to a old anime called Urusei Yatsura.

[Stormcrow]

Quint's Olympian Groundpounders (FM:Mercs Revised)- after Capt. Quint, the three remaining officers listed (Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison) were the legendary top line of the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team at the time of publishing. I can still see the marks on the edge of the pages of my copy from where I literally did a spit-take upon seeing that.

Anything written by Camille Klein will have loads ofrefernces to NHLers of the period in which it was wrote. If theyre Hurricanes/Whalers or Newfies, there's a chance they made it into something she wrote. Check the Marian Hegemony Legion officers in FM: Periphery, the writeup for the Wilson's Hussars in FM: Mercs.

[StoneRhino]

Keep in mind that for others, pop culture references are the opposite: they break immersion and thus devalue the writing. I don't like them myself, but can accept most of them...except for the aforementioned Babylon campaign. I can't read that chapter, as it's so jarring to see such blatant references to the TV show. If they'd been more subtle than using the main character's name, I wouldn't mind.

Yeah, I agree. I was hoping for something more when I clicked on this thread. A few cryptic references, okay, but not being so lazy as to rip the names off a hockey team's roster. For all we know, and I shouldn't say this because someone will probably decide to go and use it, is a reference to small remote planet named island on some forgotten map of known space where a we would find coconuts plentiful and a marooned dropship with a crew of 2 where one of them has a knack for destroying any chance of being rescued, after a disasterous 3 hour tour.

[Jal Phoenix]

Keep in mind that for others, pop culture references are the opposite: they break immersion and thus devalue the writing.

That's exactly how I felt reading the Capellan Solution books.  Reading about Captain Nintendo running around with his Arcade Rangers caused me physical pain.  I was actively waiting for one soldier named Po Ke Mon to show up so I could see if I could actually throw the book through the wall. 

Some of my favorites included the 25th Arcturan Guards in FM:LA, whose officers were all named after the terrorists in Die Hard, and Dirk Gently's detective agency in the House Davion sourcebook.  Heh.  Dirk Gently worked for Interconnectedness Unlimited in that book, and the Douglas Adams character was obsessed with the idea of interconnectedness.  I guess that makes the entire Interconnectedness Unlimited section in that IP book one big Easter Egg?

[MadCapellan]

Look at it this way, at least they didn't defeat a St. Ives force of Great Turtles using Death from Above!