Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars

[Mendrugo]

----- The Next Day -----

Date: May 15, 2820 [See Notes]

Location: Devin

Title: The Way We Die

Author: Joe Judt and Lance Hampton

Type: Graphic Novel

Synopsis: Captain Gideon Frost returns to his lance's barracks at 0600 in the morning, and finds Gene, Roger, and Loeb demonstrating substantially more spit and polish than before.  Gene tells Gideon, however, that respect has to be earned.  Frost orders the men to the drill grounds.  Once they've left the room, he looks at the picture of Gene's girl, and says he'll try to make sure he gets back to her.

At the drill grounds, the crew look admiringly at a top of the line Stinger Mk. 4800, then turn to view their dilapidated, filthy Wasps with dismay.  The MechWarriors mount up and walk their Wasps through a 'Mech sized wash'n'go (the original Mech-it-Lube), complete with hot wax.  During the procedure, the Kuritan agent who attacked Gideon the previous day climbs up the back of Gene's Wasp and enters through an unsecured rear access hatch.

The three sparkling clean Wasps line up abreast, but then Gene's topples over, knocking the other two down like dominoes.  Gideon barely manages to avoid being crushed.  Gideon secures the 'Mech bay and tells the others there may be an intruder.  Inside Gene's (surprisingly roomy) Wasp cockpit, the Kurita assassin apologizes to the Lyran MechWarrior as he garrotes him.  Gene manages to judo flip the assassin (inside the Wasp cockpit) and the two struggle.  The assassin manages to get ahold of the Wasp's controls, and points the laser arm at Gideon.  Before he can fire it, Gene gets the garrote around the assassin's neck.  In the struggle, the Wasp's aim shifts and it shoots itself in the leg, then topples to the ground. 

Gideon and the rest of the lance run to assist Gene.  Gideon wonders if the commander will believe him about Kurita now.

Notes: This chapter has additional elements that point to First Succession War timing.  The MechWarriors are surprised when they see their rides, indicating that the LCAF had sufficient resources to assign 'Mechs to pilots, and the whole "MechWarrior family/Dispossessed" culture hadn't yet come into being.  Also, they see a brand new, top of the line 'Mech.  Since "Mk. 4800" doesn't correspond to standard BattleTech model designations, I'm guessing it would have to be a STG-3Gb "Royal" Stinger, acquired by the LCAF in the post-Civil War chaos.  Visually, the main difference is that the cockpit seems too small to hold a person (which tracks with the TRO:3025 notation that the cockpit is so cramped MechWarriors must squeeze themselves in, and need help to get out), and is elevated on a long "neck."

The extra-roomy Wasp cockpit is similar to what we see in the BattleTech animated series, with enough room for a fistfight.  The rear access hatch is also something of an anachronism, since something in the location shown would be crawling into the fusion reactor, rather than entering the cockpit.

One wonders what the assassin's mission statement was.  He didn't kill Frost, probably because a dead officer could lend credibility to Gideon's claims about Mozirje.  A death in a 'Mech bay accident, however, wouldn't be questioned (especially not by Commandant "cafeteria menu.")  So, were there ISF agents in every LCAF base in the Tamar Pact keeping an ear out for wild claims about Mozirje, with orders to suppress it, or had Frost's reports come to ISF attention, resulting in the assassin's dispatch to Devin to silence the warnings?

[Mendrugo]

A note on canonicity:

A large volume of official fiction, scenarios, and plot have been developed by FASA, WizKids, InMediaRes, FanPro, and Catalyst.  This constitutes core canon.

And yet there are also numerous non-canon works that were intended to be official tie-ins when produced.  This includes works by Pacific Rim (BattleTechnology), Blackthorne (comics), Malibu (comics), Activision (MechWarrior), Infocom & Westwood (Crescent Hawks), MicroProse (MechWarrior, MechCommander), and Microsoft (MechWarrior, MechAssault). 

For these products (but not for fan fiction or unlicensed fanzines), as long as the elements in these stories and scenarios don't contradict core canon and generally make sense, I will try to find a way to fit them into the BattleTech universe, and review them as such.

[Mendrugo]

----- Six Weeks Later -----

Date: June 29, 2820

Location: Mozirje

Title: The Mozirje Experiment!

Authors: John Stephenson and Pat Zircher

Type: Graphic Novel

Synopsis:  The story opens with Captain Gideon Frost sitting in the ravaged hulk of his Crusader and dictating a log entry.  He reports his lancemates Loeb and Roger killed in action.

He recounts that his lance arrived aboard the LCS Sphinx (a spheroid DropShip carried by a WarShip of an unidentified class) and landed on the perimeter of a Kurita compound on Mozirje's surface.  The lance is understrength, having left Gene back on Devin to recover from injuries sustained in his struggle with the Kurita assassin.  Although Frost's lance was preparing to use Wasps on Devin, the lance deploys with a Crusader (Frost), a Locust (Roger), and a Wasp (Loeb).  (Perhaps some of the toppled Wasps were too damaged to use on short notice.)

As they approach the compound, they come under artillery fire, and the Crusader responds with an LRM barrage.  At the Kurita base, a Sho-i (ensign) complains to Dai-i (Lt. Commander) Yoshikawa that the experiment could be ruined if the Steiner 'Mechs aren't stopped.  Yoshikawa orders the research station's four Land-Air 'Mechs (LAMs) to engage.   

Shen Lung Flight (four Stinger LAMs) launches as Frost's lance reduces the Kurita installation's defenses to flaming rubble and tears open the wall.  Loeb points his Wasp's rifle at the DCMS officers inside, and demands their surrender.  When Yoshikawa refuses, Loeb guns the entire research team down.  Frost dismounts and explores the wrecked lab, finding frigidraulic fluid (used to coat heat sinks) in plasma bottles. 

Outside, Roger and Loeb engage the attacking LAMs.  Roger's Locust take out two while Loeb's Wasp is overheated from his massacre of the scientists.  A third LAM executes a kamikaze strike, sending both the Locust and the LAM up in a fireball.  An enraged Loeb, with his weapon still overheated, jumps his Wasp into the flight path of the final LAM, again destroying both machines. 

Frost gets back into his Crusader and emerges from the research station to find his lancemates dead.  As he views the carnage, an armored 'Mech-sized form emerges from a silo behind him and introduces itself by hurling a boulder - demonstrating its hostile intentions.  Frost blasts the charging figure with both lasers and machine guns without apparent affect.  The armored figure pounds the Crusader with bruising punches and lashes from its armored tail, knocking the battered Lyran 'Mech prone under the surface of a river.  However, Frost tricks it by remaining immobile, and the armored figure loses interest.

As the Crusader surfaces, unfortunately for Frost, the armored figure strikes it with the tip of its tail and delivers a massive electrical shock, frying several of the Crusader's systems and briefly rendering Frost unconscious.  Before he loses consciousness, he sees the figure's cockpit unfurl into a mass of armored tentacles and a circular, tooth-filled mouth - demonstrating that there isn't a pilot in the experimental 'Mech.  When Frost awakens, the armored figure continues to pound the Crusader.  He rights himself and flees back to the compound, with the experimental 'Mech in hot pursuit.  It corners him in front of the outpost's power generators, and stabs at the Crusader with its tail.

Frost dodges, and the tail discharges into the generators, creating feedback that overloads the primitive, unstable power plant.  While the 'Mech screams, Frost escapes from the facility and just barely manages to survive - being knocked senseless by the blast wave.  When he awakens, he files his log, reporting his theory that House Kurita created a purely robotic 'Mech with an artificial intelligence, and worries that if the Combine had created an AI with free will, it could have been the beginning of the end for humanity.

He finishes his report by noting he plans to sell his Crusader when he gets back to Devin and hopes to take early retirement.

Notes:  It seems like overkill to use a Union to deliver a recon lance, though that's the closest design, visually, to what we see in this chapter.  It's possible the LCS Sphinx is the similar-looking but smaller Confederate-class vessel, which would be more appropriate for Lance-sized deployments.   The WarShip isn't an exact match for any existing design, but its sharp prow recalls the Kigamure Pursuit Cruiser, which is described as a "distinct" feature of the class, so this may be a Kigamure that was decommissioned by the SLDF and purchased by the LCAF during the Star League era. 

The garrison could consist of elements of the Proserpina Hussars, assuming the decoration on Yoshikawa's lapel is actually a Proserpina Bar.  Field Manual: DCMS notes they are "floating regiments" without any specific duty station, and that they regularly test experimental technology for the DCMS.  However, the officers refer to each other as Dai-i and Sho-i, which are ranks for the Draconis Combine Admiralty, rather than the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery - meaning the Combine navy is running this research project (perhaps explaining why the garrison consists of LAMs instead of regular 'Mechs).  Yoshikawa could have served with the Proserpina Hussars before transferring to the Draconis Combine Admiralty's skunkworks.

The "Mozirje Experiment" could have been, as Frost surmises, an experimental BattleMech with a fully robotic control system.  Smart robotic control systems were introduced for Aerospace units in 2600, so it's entirely feasible that the Combine (the Draconis Combine Admiralty, no less) could have been looking into adapting the technology for use in ground-based units.  We know such a thing is possible, since the Word of Blake unleashed their Revenant-class drone quad and its sister designs in 3075.  The current rules require that robotic units be quads for stability.  Perhaps the Combine engineers were able to achieve bipedal stability by adding the taser-tail.  With the destruction of the research facility and the general loss of knowledge in the conflagration of the Succession Wars, the Combine advances in robotic 'Mechs were lost and forgotten.

On the other hand, it may not have been an AI at all.  Given the presence of talons, a mouth, and a tail on an otherwise humanoid 'Mech, and the lack of any direct-fire weapons, the Mozirje Experiment may have been a Combine attempt to graft cybernetics onto an aggressive species of megafauna that could be bred and trained/conditioned to serve the Dragon.  We have game rules for training megafauna to serve as infantry mounts, and we have rules for grafting cybernetic weapon systems and other enhancements onto humans, so there should be no logical reason why you couldn't graft cybernetic weapons onto megafauna (Come to Hunter's Paradise and test yourself against our new MechaGodzilla).  The Combine has demonstrated a propensity for this sort of experimentation, such as when a Combine research team on Solaris VII turned a docile aquatic creature called a Vodnik into a horrific tentacled killing machine called a Toorima and lost it in the sewers under Solaris City.

I've done what I can to work up an A Time of War stats for the cybernetic "BioMech" variant:

Name: BioMech
Homeworld: Unknown (probably not Mozirje, since the physical characteristics of such a specimen of megafauna would have been on file for this recently-Lyranworld)
Environment:  Unknown.  Creature observed in temperate climate.  Armor may have had built-in climate control.
Body Shape: Bipedal humanoid with a five-meter (est) tail.  Each foot has three talons.  Hands may have claws, but were armor-sheathed.
Coloring: Unknown
Measurements:
- Length (head to base of spine): 6 meters
- Height (4 meters when on all fours, 10 meters when standing erect) (eye-level with a Crusader)
- Weight (50 tons, est.)

Cybernetic Enhancements:
Reinforced musculature (myomer? genetic engineering?): Increases strength sufficiently to carry a grafted-on suit of BAR 10 armor plating.
Enhanced speed: Outran a 4/6 Crusader, so moves at least 5/8
Offensive adaptation: Talons
Offensive adaptation: Fangs (the mouth is a circular aperture surrounded by eight large triangular teeth and eight tentacles for drawing prey into the mouth).  The tentacles may be cybernetically enhanced.
Armor: The creature has been fitted with a suit of BAR 10 armor that withstood two Medium Laser hits, two Machine Gun hits, and a club attack without breaching.  Guesstimate 12 tons of standard BattleMech armor.
Enhanced Prosthetic Tail: The tail appears to contain a BattleMech Taser that discharges upon contact with a target.
Secondary Power Supply:  Powers the tail taser.

Statistics:
STR: 140 (cybernetically enhanced to the level needed to have a walk of 5 BattleTech MP)
BOD: 75 (it's 'Mech sized, but not "Monstrous" - just "Very Large" with cybernetic enhancements)
DEX: 10 (able to outfight a Crusader with AniMelee)
RFL: 10 (able to outfight a Crusader with AniMelee and outrun a Crusader)
INT: 5 (fooled by a Crusader playing dead)
WIL: 5 (average default)
EDG: 5 (average default)

[Wrangler]

I wondered if that thing from the comics could have been done in Battletech stats.  Thats impressive to see in ATOW rendition.

Mendrugo did you use ATOW Companion to make the biomech?

[Mendrugo]

I wondered if that thing from the comics could have been done in Battletech stats.  Thats impressive to see in ATOW rendition.

Mendrugo did you use ATOW Companion to make the biomech?

Yep.  (Tried to, at least.)  The construction rules assume that something that big shouldn't be able to outrun a 4/6 'Mech, so I applied both the ATOW creature construction guidelines and the Manei Domini cyber-enhancement rules from Jihad Hot Spots 3072 (3074?), assuming the cyber-tech would be the tipping factor to give it the extra strength to carry BAR-10 armor and to move that fast.

I could see Combine scientists adding myomer muscles for extra land speed, carry weight, and AniMelee damage, adding a secondary power source to charge the tail-mounted 'Mech taser (the tail may be an armored natural part of the animal or purely artificial - I'm leaning towards natural, since it seems pretty adept at using it), heat sinks to keep the critter from charring when the taser discharges (similar to the way a vehicle needs enough heat sinks to fully absorb all the heat generated by its energy weapons), and a pain-based behavioral conditioning system more or less functionally equivalent to a neural lash implanted in its cortex. 

The primary reliance on physical attacks and the taser-tail, to me, implies that this thing was intended to capture enemy equipment intact.  Unleash a pack of them into an enemy battlefield, and you'll more than likely be able to take significant numbers of enemy 'Mechs functionally intact, as long as you have friendly infantry moving in behind the beasties to pry open the cockpits and liquidate the former owners.  Plus, without direct fire weaponry, you get significantly less collateral damage to your newly occupied planet.

[Frabby]

It is refreshing to see a competent pair of fresh eyes look over all these stories again. You see a lot of details or contextual information that I overlooked.

I agree with you on the general timeline for this story, and the nature of the big vessel as a WarShip.
It is not a Kimagure, however. The bow section looks too different and the ship in the comic lacks the signature "beard" structure.

I took the LAMs at the Kurita base to be Phoenix Hawk LAMs, not Stinger LAMs. But truth be told I can't tell you anymore how I reached that conclusion. They resemble none of the three classic LAMs very much. In particular, the images of the three standard LAMs didn't have vertical fins but those in the comic do (but those in the comic have no arms). Actually, they are closer to a Shadow Hawk LAM in this respect.

The monster/BioMech catching up with the Crusader can be explained by the fact that the Crusader was pummeled earlier. It may simply be overheated or slowed by leg damage. Under floating crits rules it could even have suffered internal leg damage without an actual armor breach, and thus would remain mobile even after being submerged and playing dead in the river.

[Mendrugo]

The art's a trifle inexact - in one panel the BioMech has ten head tentacles instead of eight.  (One thought I had was that the body might be like a ProtoMech, with the cyber'd animal tucked inside the torso.  Notably, the Matsuidan denkaika (aka "electrosquid") has eight tentacles and a lethal electrical discharge, opening the possibility that there's a mutant cyber-electrosquid piloting a 'Mech-sized exoskeleton.)

I acknowledge the unknown WarShip lacks the jutting "chin" spike, but it does have a protrusion on the underside.  It's blocky, and further back than the Kigamure's (plus, the Kigamure doesn't have all the turrets seen on the mystery ship), but given the cosmetic differences between the TRO: 2750 and TRO: 3057 WarShips (which have been explained as cosmetic shifts over the centuries), it's close enough to have at least started out as a stock Kigamure.  Or it could simply be a design lost to history in the Succession Wars.

(Reading the Kigamure description, it says the prow is distinctive - meaning no other WarShip has it - but I'm not sure if it's referring to the pointed nose, which this one has, or the beard, which is sort of there, but shaped different and further back.)

I assumed the LAMs were Stingers because the Combine has LexaTech, so its products would presumably dominate in the Combine TO&E.

[Mendrugo]

----- At the Conclusion of Operation KLONDIKE -----

Date: May 26, 2822

Location: Dagda

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Hours after the fall of the Brotherhood of Donegal's Black Brian, Jade Falcon warrior Adam Calbot stands alongside his fellow surviving Charlie Star members, Mathieu Jae-Hyouk and Lisa Buhallin, as they listen to a speech by Nicholas Kerensky, Jennifer Winson, and Karen Nagasawa.

Kerensky announces the end of Operation KLONDIKE, and appoints Karen Nagasawa as senior khan of Clan Sea Fox.  He then announces he has chosen a Clan to receive his personal allegiance and bloodright.  Calbot anticipates it will be Clan Jade Falcon, and is shocked when Kerensky chooses the Wolves instead. 

The other Falcons take the rejection better than Calbot.  Jae-Hyouk anticipates other honors, promotions and commands.  Buhallin tells Calbot not to sully the solemn event. 

Notes: Historical: Operation Klondike notes that Nicholas' original operational plan called for all four Clans on Dagda to launch a joint assault against the Black Brian, but the Mandrills were running behind schedule due to in-fighting, the Goliath Scorpions had suffered excessive losses, the Widowmakers were busy massacring civilians, and the Burrocks had proven capable of only a "slow and steady" advance.  Nicholas called in his two best Clans - the Wolves and the Jade Falcons - to break the Black Brian. 

During the battle, Lisa Buhallin led Charlie Star against the Black Brian in hit and run operations that successfully cleared all the Brotherhood of Donegal's weapon emplacements, earning praise from Jade Falcon Khan Elizabeth Hazen and ilKhan Kerensky.  The Wolves then led Operation FERRET on April 2, breaching a gate and granting the Jade Falcons access.  Over the course the next 54 days, the Falcons systematically cleared the cache of all surviving Brotherhood of Donegal members. 

[Mendrugo]

----- One Year Later -----

Date: July 4, 2823

Location: Eden

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis: At the Yakut Spaceport on Eden, Alpha Provisional Galaxy Star Colonel Adam Calbot meditates on the increasing lack of discipline among the Jade Falcon clan.  He is worried that Beta Provisional Galaxy Mathieu Star Colonel Jae-Hyouk is failing to stop warriors from questioning the wisdom of the khans. 

A Beta Galaxy technician comes running to him and reports that Star Colonel Jae-Hyouk is holding a meeting in the main square of Fort DeChavilier, discussing the possibility of breaking away from the Clans with warriors from Alpha and Beta galaxies.  Calbot mounts his ATV and races for the fort, finding its gates abandoned and half open.  He finds the parade ground full of Beta warriors, with many Alphas mixed in, including KLONDIKE veterans, auxiliaries, graduates of the Strana Mechty academy, and bondsmen from Pentagon factions.

Star Colonel Mathieu Jae-Hyouk tells the assemblage that Nicholas Kerensky abandoned honor when he chose to join Clan Wolf, and calls upon his followers to answer Kerensky's rejection of the Falcons by rejecting Kerensky's society.  He proposes boarding JumpShips and venturing into the void to find a new future among the stars.  Still unobserved, Calbot calls Alpha Galaxy HQ on his communicator and orders his loyal troops (those not at the rally) to go to Condition K.

Back at the HPG complex that serves as Alpha's HQ, Calbot finds his senior Star Captain Geoffry Ustone alone in the command center.  Ustone pulls a needler pistol on Calbot and tells him he can either join the renegade Falcons or get out of the way.  Calbot takes a third option, and hurls a coffee mug, knocking Ustone's aim aside and allowing him to charge the renegade.  He seizes the needler and kills Ustone, then uses the HPG to inform Khans Elizabeth Hazen and Lisa Buhallin about the uprising.  Hazen orders him to destroy or capture the malcontents.

Calbot mobilizes Alpha Galaxy loyalists and promotes Star Captain Kseniya Helmer as his new second-in-command.  She reports the renegades have 71 Points, including 3/5 of the Falcons' on-planet forces.  Calbot warns Helmer to neutralize the HPG so Jae-Hyouk's forces can't rally supporters on other worlds, then calls Jae-Hyouk and condemns his actions.  The renegade commander tells Calbot his frequent complaints about Kerensky's rejection of the Falcons were what convinced him to break away.  Calbot challenges his friend to a Trial of Possession for loyalty of the Jade Falcons on Eden.  Jae-Hyouk refuses, and cuts the signal.

Notes:  Khan Hazen tells Calbot she'll bring reinforcements, while Khan Buhallin remains on Strana Mechty.  The Jade Falcon sourcebook indicates a grievous wound taken in the battle for the Black Brian ended Buhallin's military career.  She also wrote a history of the Clans and was a trusted councilor to Kerensky, implying that she was one of the principal architects of Kerensky's sterilized version of the Clans' founding. 

"Sorrow of Eden" is a fleshing out of p. 15 of the Jade Falcon sourcebook, which states that Khans Buhallin and Hazen made little effort to stop the growing discontent for more than a year, only acting when the malcontents declared they would strike out on their own. 

[Kojak]

Very interesting to see the infamous "Culling" event that's always alluded to in Jade Falcon histories actually play out. I didn't realize it involved a full-on military rebellion from part of the Touman.

Given the date, Geoffroy Ustone must be the freeborn son of Tom Ustone, one of the original forty Falcon warriors. The Ustone Bloodname is still in use by the Falcons at least up to the time of Revival, since there are two Ustones in the Jade Falcon phonesourcebook. I can't find any Jae-Hyouks, however, so it seems likely Jae-Hyouk's legacy was Reaved (especially since he was one of the founding forty). Given the Clans' history of re-writing history to suit their ends, it begs the question: was Geoffroy Ustone's involvement in the rebellion covered up by the Falcons' leadership?

PS: It's not Cabot, it's Calbot. You seem to switch back and forth between them in the two entries, but it's definitely the latter, per H:OK (pg. 36).

[Jaim Magnus]

Given how hazy things are about the early Clan period, it had to be more interesting than just a civilian quibble.  The Culling had to have some sort of military rebellion, IMHO, because there were executions - '2 officers and 10 enlisted'.

Geoffrey Ustone is a freeborn, as are all Clanners at this point, and could be a son or nephew... whichever tickles your fancy.  The same can be said for Kseniya Helmer, she's either a daughter or niece of Samuel Helmer.  Heck, they could even be grandkids, you never know ;)

I suspect that the Jae-Hyouk line was phased out of use as quickly as possible, but I'd be truly satisfied if there were still some Jae-Hyouks out there.

The other interesting thing is the Calbot line.  The only named Calbot we have prior to this is Tanner Calbot, a 'Logistics Overseer' mentioned once in the Jade Falcon sourcebook (p. 21).

[Mendrugo]

----- The Next Day -----

Date: July 5, 2823

Location: Eden

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  At the Yakut Spaceport, a technician alerts Star Colonel Adam Calbot that the forces led by renegade Jade Falcon Star Colonel Mathieu Jae-Hyouk are simultaneously attacking the loyalist headquarters at the spaceport and the Eden HPG.  Calbot scrambles to his Thunderbolt and moves to engage the rebels, who are charging the ring of grounded DropShips at the port.  He orders the DropShip gunners to target the fire support 'Mechs only, and leave the close-in work to the 'Mechs. 

The first 'Mech Calbot dispatches is the Flea piloted by Thora Jae-Hyouk, Mathieu's daughter and Calbot's own goddaughter.  With precision shooting, he severs a leg, crippling the 'Mech without killing Thora.  Calbot's XO, Kseniya Helmer, charges past in her Lancelot to slaughter a rebel Locust pilot, as he downs a Shadow Hawk piloted by MechWarrior Helena, one of his students from the Strana Mechty academy, vaporizing the cockpit with her inside.  As the battle rages, Calbot seeks out Star Colonel Jae-Hyouk, hoping he can end the slaughter by defeating the rebel commander.  He broadcasts a challenge over an open frequency, and is answered by his friend, who comes forward to face him in a Guillotine.   

Even when training for KLONDIKE, practice skirmishes between Calbot and Jae-Hyouk had been legendary, and this, their final battle, is no exception.  Hard pressed, Calbot manages to surprise Jae-Hyouk with a precision strike from his PPC, combined with a short range missile strike, breaching the armor.  He follows it up by pushing the barrel of the overheated PPC into the breach and pulling the trigger, forcing his 'Mech to shut down even as the Guillotine collapses.  With the end of the duel, Calbot offers the remaining rebels a final chance to surrender.  As his troops round up the defeated rebels, Calbot begins organizing his troops to go after the remaining rebels who seized the sabotaged HPG. 

Notes:  Even in their formative years, many Jade Falcons apparently had a tendency to prioritize individual prowess over tactics or strategy, considering the individual fight tantamount over the overall scope of the battle.  Jae-Hyouk could have won an easy victory on Eden if he had thrown his entire force at either the HPG or the Yakut spaceport and overwhelmed the forces at either one, the mopped up the rest.  Instead, he split his forces, giving Calbot's troops local superiority at the spaceport.  He also let his units become strung out, feeding them into the loyalist meatgrinder one element at a time under the cover of the heavy guns on the DropShips.  I don't think the Jade Falcon Clan lost much from abandoning the Jae-Hyouk bloodline.

Based on the description of the Thunderbolt's weaponry, Calbot is piloting a TDR-5Sb "Royal" Thunderbolt, with a Small Laser, 2 Small Pulse Lasers, 3 Medium lasers, an LRM-15, a Streak SRM-2, and an ER PPC.  It's a well armed ride, but an Alpha Strike will put it up at 8 heat, so Calbot has to be cautious about how he uses its 15-heat ER PPC.  He definitely has an edge (of roughly 200 BV) over the Guillotine, which was a standard model (there was no "Royal" Guillotine).  Both are laser boats, but the Thunderbolt has the greater knock-out punch of the PPC, and greater firepower at range.  The Guillotine's main advantage is that it runs cool, and can keep up a sustained laser barrage.

In a nice bit of continuity, the DropShips don't fire at close in rebels.  This recalls the scene in "The Price of Glory" where the two Gray Death Legion DropShips have a dead zone between them where they can't fire for fear of hitting each other with missed shots. 

It's interesting to speculate what the rebels would have done had they played the battle smarter and won.  Control of the HPG would have gained them nothing, since Calbot's forces had removed key equipment and relocated the technical crews who could have commenced repairs, so there was no chance of getting word out to sympathetic ears on other worlds.  The rebels might have been able to seize control of some DropShips and get offworld, but they'd do so without supplies, with damage from the fighting, and most likely with loyalist Naval Stars arriving before the rebel ships could reach any jump point. 

[Kojak]

In the context of an event like this, Nicholas' decision to sacrifice the Wolverines for the sake of Clan unity actually makes a little more sense, even if it's just as ruthless. When you have full-on civil wars erupting even among the Clans most fanatical to Kerensky's vision, drastic action may be a necessity to avoid total collapse.

[Scotty]

Nicholas Kerensky, either directly or indirectly, is responsible for setting two different civilizations to the flame (the Pentagon Worlds during KLONDIKE; the Inner Sphere during REVIVAL) and deliberately stoked the flames among the one he built so that it remained a smoldering ember for over 200 years, all in the name of order.

Even if drastic action wasn't required, Nicky K was the one to take it anyway.

[Kojak]

It is one of the deepest ironies of the setting that the man who founded a society based on honor and forthrightness was an absolute master of guile, manipulation and Machiavellian realpolitik.

[Mendrugo]

----- The Next Day -----

Date: July 6, 2823

Location: Eden

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Nearly forty rebel Jade Falcons are penned up under guard in a makeshift stockade.  Calbot visits the prisoners in search of his goddaughter, Thora Jae-Hyouk.  Seeing her anger, he tells her he understands why she and the others rebelled.  She asks why he didn't join them, and he tells her it was because he didn't want to see a return to the chaos that erupted on the Pentagon worlds after Aleksandr Kerensky died.  Thora accuses Calbot of betraying her and her father.  Calbot says it was they who betrayed the Clan, but promises to try to protect her, because of promises he'd made to her family.

Notes:  Though Nicholas envisioned a utopian society unconstrained by family ties, parent-child relationships and godparent ties are still very strong at this point.  (Have we mentioned Nicholas had some "daddy issues" he was trying to work out?)  From the count, it appears 40-80 rebels died in the fighting on Eden, since they started with 71 Points, and we don't know if those were all 'Mechs or if they included infantry Points and/or vehicle Points, which would bump up the number killed.

[Mendrugo]

----- Two Days Later -----

Date: July 8, 2823

Location: Eden

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  In Paradise Gardens, Jade Falcon Khan Elizabeth Hazen paces before a dozen kneeling rebel commanders, including their leader, Mathieu Jae-Hyouk, her katana bare.  She tells Mathieu ilKhan Kerensky is making preparations to scourge the Jade Falcons, forcing her to make an example of the rebels, lest the entire Clan be shattered by Nicholas' wrath.  She announces to the assembled crowd of loyalists and non-officer rebels that the Bloodhouses of Jae-Hyouk, Ustone, and Yont are to be permanently reduced in number, and are only retained at all because some of their members fought valiantly on the loyalist side.

She announces that the rebel ringleaders, Star Colonel Mathieu Jae-Hyouk, Star Captains Isabelle Yont and Harold, Star Commanders Jessica, Myers, Serena, and Simon, and MechWarriors Danielle, Yui, Kaza, Estelle, and Doran will be executed.  In addition, their unit (Beta Provisional Galaxy) is permanently disbanded.  All surviving rebels will be permanently banned from ever competing for a Bloodname, and will be scattered among the touman and watched closely.

Khan Hazen then personally decapitates the rebel commanders with her katana, then orders their heads gathered and mounted on the walls of Fort DeChavilier. 

Notes:  The Clans are far more effective in quashing undesired thoughts than the Combine.  When Takashi wanted to break up the Ryuken, he scattered their members among most of the units in the DCMS, unwittingly spreading Theodore's structural and philosophical reforms far and wide.  The key difference here appears to be that Hazen directed the rebels' new commanders to watch them carefully (presumably with instructions to execute them if they are found sowing insurrection again).  The Jade Falcon sourcebook gives more detail - the survivors were sent to explore marginally habitable worlds in the Kerensky Cluster.

Warriors of Kerensky states that Clan Jade Falcon, disgruntled by Nicholas' joining the Wolves, walked a fine line between criticism and treason until the Falcon Khans cut out the 'cancer' at their core in July 2823, purging dissident elements through what they termed "The Culling."  The report notes that the Falcons cut off a part of themselves so that the whole Clan would survive.  (Field Manual: Crusader Clans places "The Culling" in late 2822, but its statement that the executions took place a year after the end of KLONDIKE don't match the dates for the fall of the Black Brian, so it would appear that FM:CC is in error.)

This also explains why most of the other Clans have toumans that include Alpha and Beta galaxies, while the Falcons' touman starts with Gamma and Delta.

The existence of Bloodname Houses at this point raises the question - did Thora Jae-Hyouk have her father's last name because she's his natural born daughter, or because she fought for and won the right to use it?  Most of the other Warriors in the story have already gone down to one name.

The story says the "high-tech steel" of Elizabeth Hazen's katana makes the decapitations easy.  That implies it's not the traditional katana with the metal folded hundreds of times.  One wonders if Elizabeth was packing a vibrokatana.  Elizabeth Hazen, according to her profile in Operation KLONDIKE, is 82 years old at this point, and has lived through the Star League Civil War, the Pentagon Civil War (touched off by the murder of her lover, General DeChavilier), and Operation KLONDIKE. 

[Mendrugo]

----- Two Days Later -----

Date: July 10, 2823

Location: Eden

Title: Sorrow of Eden

Author: Alan Brundage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Two days later, Star Colonel Adam Calbot escorts Khan Elizabeth Hazen and ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky to view the severed heads of the rebel commanders.  Nicholas tells Hazen her dedication to the cause has turned her garrison area into a true garden of Eden.  He congratulates Adam on his role in defeating the rebels, and then asks Hazen to show him her new factories, saying he may have need of them soon. 

Jennifer Winson, walking behind the group, asks Calbot if he regrets his recent actions.  He says he did what he did for the good of the Clan.  Winson glances at Kerensky, and responds that sacrifices are sometimes required for the greater good.  Calbot says he hopes history agrees, and Winson answers that history will show what she tells it to.

Once Nicholas and Jennifer depart on their DropShip, Calbot joins Hazen in the Fort DeChavilier command center.  She tells him she is permanently disbanding Alpha Galaxy, as well, because so many of its soldiers joined the rebels.  She tells him that the loyal core of Alpha will form the basis of a new unit - the Jade Falcon Guards, which answers only to the khans, and says she will have need of the Guards in coming days.  She informs Calbot his actions were vital to her efforts to turn Nicholas' wrath away from the Falcons as he sought a scapegoat.  She reports she has ordered Delta Galaxy to make trouble for the Wolverines on Circe, in the hopes that Nicholas will choose that Clan to be a cautionary example to the rest.  She says she regrets having to stab her comrades in the back, but views it as a matter of survival of the fittest.

Notes:  Looking over at "Betrayal of Ideals," Wolverine Khan McEvedy was worrying about rising Jade Falcon attacks as early as June 10, a month prior to this scene.  Notably, however, the Jade Falcons haven't yet been recruited into the Widowmaker-led "Wolverine revenge society."  They're acting on their own - hammering the Wolverines to divert attention away from dissidence within the Falcon ranks.  Twelve days from now, the Wolverine Beta Galaxy runs into Gyrfalcon Galaxy on Circe, and the dispute over the Tiki Cache comes to a head.  The leader of the Gyrfalcon group is Phillip Buhallin - probably Lisa Buhallin's natural offspring.  (Field Manual: Crusader Clans clarifies that Delta Galaxy and Gyrfalcon Galaxy are the same unit.  The Jade Falcon Guards are the lead Cluster in Gamma Galaxy. 

This certainly supports the view that all the Clan leaders knew very well that McEvedy and her Wolverines had committed no crimes against Clan culture, but were all either trying to gain advantage for themselves or trying to ensure that Nicholas' wrath fell on someone else. 

This is one of Jennifer Winson's few speaking roles, and it seems to confirm that she was one of the principal architects of the scheme to re-write Clan history and eradicate all historical records that weren't strategically, technically, or tactically relevant, leaving only the easily manipulated Remembrance.  Since the first time we see Jennifer, she has someone else's blood on her face, it's clear she's a killer, and appears to be just as cold-blooded and ruthless as Nicholas.  If Adam had given her the wrong answer, I wouldn't have been surprised to see her sink a dagger into his chest, then walk on as if nothing had happened.

I really enjoyed this story - Alan Brundage (who also wrote Righteous Fury set in 3050) shows his research and makes The Culling come alive and fit well into the overall sweep of Clan history as it enters the crucible that will result in the Golden Century.  He also credibly fills in a lot of the gaps in the story left by the various sourcebook entries - linking it to the absence of Alpha and Beta galaxies from the touman, explaining where the missing bloodnames from Historical Operation KLONDIKE went, and giving an origin story to the Jade Falcon Guards.  It serves well as a companion piece to Betrayal of Ideals and explains what the Falcons were up to on Circe. 

[Mendrugo]

----- Ten Years After the Annihilation of the Wolverines at Barbados -----

Date: October 7, 2834

Location: Ironhold

Title: The Day that Greatness and Vision Died

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Wolf Khan Jerome Winson, at the helm of his Marauder IIC, is barely holding himself together following the death of Nicholas Kerensky.  Winson recalls Nicholas taking control after Aleksandr's death, and recalls the years of struggle to restore stability to the Pentagon and forge a new society.  He worries that it all might fall apart now that Nicholas is dead.   

Jerome reflects on the tragic events - in a Trial of Grievance over his call for Clan Wolf to absorb Clan Widowmaker, he and Widowmaker Khan Cal Jorgensson dueled.  His Marauder IIC quickly crippled Jorgensson's Highlander.  As Jerome had closed for the kill, a Star of Widowmaker Warriors violated the Circle of Equals, and when Nicholas (who had been adjudicating) moved to intervene in his Atlas II, it took a laser blast from Jorgensson's Highlander, killing the ilKhan.  Jerome recalls that as soon as the medtechs declared Nicholas dead, he destroyed the entire Star of Widowmakers who had violated the Circle.  Other Wolves took Jorgensson into custody, and the rest of the Widowmakers fled, now subject to Absorption after their forfeiture at the Trial of Grievance.

Alone in his cockpit, he worries about rumors that Nicholas' bout with the Curse of Eden had damaged his brain, and the resulting danger that people could band together to declare Nicholas' grand social experiment as a madman's scheme - upending the caste system and tearing the Kerensky cluster apart in renewed total warfare. He vows to preserve Nicholas' dream - even if it means he must personally hunt down every single Widowmaker Warrior and kill them all - proving that Nicholas' principles were inflexible.

A damaged Widowmaker Hoplite appears on his scopes, and he vectors towards it, despite an offer from his Lancemate, Star Colonel Alicia Radick, to take it out with her Catapult.  Winson refuses, and guns the smaller 'Mech down with his PPCs, then crushes its cockpit underfoot.

New blips appear on his scope - large numbers of Widowmakers...attacking, rather than fleeing.  Radick opens a channel again, begging him to withdraw so that the Wolves will not lose another leader on the same day it lost Nicholas.  Realizing that he cannot fulfill his vow to protect Nicholas' dream if he dies, Jerome turns operational control of the front to Radick and returns to a field base for rest and repairs. 

Notes:  Jerome notes that Nicholas always felt like a younger brother to him, and thinks he understands how Nicholas felt when Andery was killed.  So Jerome, at least, wasn't involved in Andery's killing.

The Wolf Clan sourcebook gives the context for the Trial of Grievance.  The Widowmakers' Merchant Caste had complained about working/living conditions, and the Widowmaker Warriors responded by killing a large number of them.  While the Wolves said this showed they were unfit to govern and called for Absorption, the Widowmakers blamed the Wolves for stirring up agitation among the Widowmaker Merchants.  The Council vote on the Absorption seems to have been fairly close, since the final trial was between 10 Widowmaker Stars and 11 Wolf Stars.  (My guess is that many of the Khans voting were well aware of how Nicholas had manipulated events to destroy the Wolverines, and found the Widowmaker claims of Wolf agitation all too credible.)

During the battle, Winson and Jorgensson mutually declared a Trial of Grievance, and the rest of the two forces declared a cease fire while it played out.  The Clan Wolf sourcebook says Nicholas was killed by a Large Laser hit to the cockpit.  No previuously published Highlander variant packs a Large Laser, but the Historical Turning Points: Widowmaker Absorption sourcebook includes a record sheet for Jorgensson's customized ride, packing ClanSpec ER Lasers developed by Clan Nova Cat 11 years earlier.

[Decoy]

As I understand Clan law, a trial for absorption must be an unanimous council vote.  All must agree that the Clan in question must be absorbed. The close force limit means that the Wolves bid down very hard for the right to absorb the Widowmakers.

As for the ER Large Laser, there have been prototypes of clan level tech floating around since Operation Klondike. Khan Jorgensson would have had the rank to obtain two, if he wished.

[Mendrugo]

As for the ER Large Laser, there have been prototypes of clan level tech floating around since Operation Klondike. Khan Jorgensson would have had the rank to obtain two, if he wished.

Eleven years after their creation, I'd be surprised if Clan ER Lasers weren't standard on all front-line equipment (spread around by Trials of Possession for the schematics).

Looking at the sourcebooks, you are correct about the need for a unanimous vote by the Council.  My guess is that most of the Khans were motivated by the same thought process we just saw with Khan Hazen - "Better Them Than Us."

One wonders if Nicholas' long term goal was the eventual unification of Clan society by gradually, over time, having the Wolves absorb, abjure, or annihilate all the other Clans, leaving the ilWolves as a single, monumental force that could return to the Inner Sphere and subjugate/liberate it from the predations of the Great Houses.

[Mendrugo]

----- Earlier That Day -----

Date: October 7, 2834

Location: Ironhold

Title: Touchpoint: Ironhold (Trial of Refusal)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:  On the Steitz Plains of Ironhold, ten Widowmaker Stars from the 194th Crusader Cluster fight against eleven Wolf Stars from the 341st Assault Cluster in a Trial to determine whether or not the Wolves will absorb the Widowmaker Clan.  A Star of Grand Council 'Mechs observes from the midst of the battlefield, led by ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky in an Atlas II.  The Track begins as the Trial of Grievance between Widowmaker Khan Cal Jorgensson and Wolf Khan Jerome Winson.  Only the Khans may move or shoot.  The rest of the deployed forces watch and wait.

Per the point breakdown, the Widowmakers' goal is to destroy Wolf Khan Jerome Winson's Marauder IIC and Destroy or Cripple 50% of the Wolf force.  The Wolves goal is to Destroy or Cripple 50% of the Widowmaker force and keep Nicholas alive. 

The Track adds special rules that force a Widowmaker Star to violate the two Khans' Trial of Grievance as soon as Jorgenssen's Highlander takes internal structure damage, and then bring the ilKhan's Star into play on the Wolves' side.  It also makes Nicholas's head a laser magnet, redirecting all missed shots to his Atlas II and making head hits the most common result.

Notes:  The setup clarifies that Ironhold is, at this point, a Jade Falcon holding, and was chosen as neutral ground.  So there are no Widowmaker enclaves on Ironhold.

Jorgenssen's custom Highlander has a BV of 2,582 and is configured for long-range engagement.  Winson's Marauder IIC is no slouch in the long-range firepower department itself, with three ER-PPCs, but a lot of its armament functions only at knife-fighting range (Medium Pulse Lasers, ER Small Lasers).  The slightly lighter Marauder IIC has an Armor Factor of 221 compared to the Highlander's 277, but is slightly faster (4/6, compared to the Highlander's 3/5/3). 

Looking at the Ironhold terrain tables, hills and woods predominate, and Deep Snow is an option.  However, the actual Track says that Rain effects may apply, so the Deep Snow option probably only applies to subsequent scenarios.  The Rain options range from Light Rainfall (+1 to hit with all attacks) to Torrential Downpour (+2 on all weapon attacks, +2 on all PSRs), with mud and swampy terrain predominating.  'Mechs ignore Mud effects, however, so only swampy hexes will present the risk of getting stuck. 

There are several ways for this to play out, and the scenario has substantial replay value due to the variability of the Rain, and the significant advantage some luck on the table rolls can produce.  Both Khans are Elite Clan pilots (not Trueborn, though), so their gunnery skills will likely be in the 1-2 territory.  The Rain effects can push this back up into 3-4 territory.  In terms of mobility, if there's a lot of swamp, the Highlander will dominate with its jump jets.  Otherwise, the faster Marauder IIC will likely have the chance to overrun the slower Highlander.  One other problem for Winson is that his arsenal is largely either/or - Alpha Striking with all weapons will kick heat up to 21, so you can't maintain a steady barrage.  The Highlander also has a tendency to run a bit hot, but an Alpha Strike by Jorgensson will only put it at 5 heat. 

Since there's a good chance either Khan will hit what they can reach, it is imperative for Jorgennson that he stay out of range of the Marauder II's laser array.  His sweet spot is 15 hexes, at which range his Gauss Rifle and ER Large Lasers will be at Medium Range, but Winson's ER PPCs will be at Long Range.  Definitely try to stay at least 13 hexes away, so the Medium Pulse Lasers can't be brought to bear.  (The opening exchanges could be troublesome, depending on terrain, because the Wolf player can choose to start the battle with the Marauder IIC adjacent to the Highlander, unless the initial placement is done double-blind)  Keep to rough, hilly, and forested terrain to make it difficult for the faster Marauder IIC to close with you.  Keep plugging away with your Gauss Rifle and ER Large Lasers, since you run pretty cool.  Swap out a laser shot with an LRM-20 if your heat starts to get into the danger zone.  Your goal is to get lucky and bring Winson down before you take Internal Damage.  You can take two ER PPC hits anywhere on the front except for the Left and Right Torso, which will be breached by the second shot to connect. 

If Winson gets lucky and breaches your armor, all bets are off.  The ilKhan is coming for you.  The only way to win on points, at this juncture, is to make sure both Winson and Kerensky go down.  The special rules make it very, very easy to take out the ilKhan, so fire at will against Winson, and take Kerensky out with stray headhunting blasts.   Have your freshly activated Star concentrate all their firepower on the Marauder IIC.  If you down Winson and Kerensky, the best the Wolves can hope for is a tie. 

For Winson, the best option would be to start directly adjacent to the Widowmaker Khan and Alpha Strike his sorry hide before he can jump too far away.  With luck, the hellish torrent of firepower you unleash on him the first round will breach his armor and trigger the intervention of Nicholas Kerensky.  To ensure you get the points for Nicholas, simply keep him out of sight.  Put him prone in a swamp hex, or hide him in a dense copse of trees.  If Jorgensson doesn't have LOS to Nicholas, the "headhunter" rules don't apply.  Use the superior numbers and strength of the Wolves and the Grand Council 'Mechs to put Jorgensson down and annihilate the rest of his forces.  Zellbrigen doesn't apply, so use your numerical advantage to combine fire on individual targets.  While doing that, however, make sure to take advantage of the "Shielding" ability of the 341st Assault Cluster, and form a flying wedge around your Khan to deny the Widowmaker player the 200 points for taking out the Marauder IIC.

If the Widowmaker Highlander gets away through heavy terrain, pursue him and try to corner him near the map edge, where he runs out of maneuvering room. 

[Mendrugo]

----- As Evening Falls, Later That Day -----

Date: October 7, 2834

Location: Ironhold

Title: Touchpoint: Ironhold (Day One)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:  Following the death of ilKhan Kerensky, the Wolves pursue the fleeing Widowmakers.  The 328th Assault Cluster tracks Clan Widowmaker's Fourth Fang Cluster to the Voulge Foothills as they try to slip past the Wolf lines and make it to their DropShips at the Dechavilier DropPort in Ironhold City. 

The Widowmakers outnumber the Wolves by 25%  Dusk/Dawn rules apply.  The Widowmaker player has the option of putting either Jerome Winson or Elise Fetladral on the field - giving the Wolves an initiative bonus as long as they're alive, but forcing an initiative loss if they die.   

Historically, the 328th stopped most of the Fourth Fang, and the 341st kept the few survivors from reaching the DropPort. 

Notes: Though the Fourth Fang Cluster outnumbers/outguns the Wolves, they are Veteran, while the 328th is Elite.  Also, the Wolves ignore Honor rules and can gang up, while the Fourth Fang operates under Strict Honor Level 1.  They can violate zell if their opponent does so first, but get a +1 bonus on to-hit rolls as long as they keep to their Honor. 

Historically, the numerically superior Widowmaker force appears to have rushed the Wolf lines and gotten massacred as a few punched through.  I would recommend, for a better outcome, advancing with your heaviest 'Mechs from the Web Stars and exchanging long range fire with individual Wolf 'Mechs.  If everyone holds to Honor rules, your bonus lets you match their skills.  Keep your fastest Palp Star units back and unengaged.  If one of your 'Mechs goes down, bring up a Palp unit to take their slot on the line and continue the duel.  If the Wolves violate zell, bring in your Palp reserves and swarm a section of the Wolf line, trying for a breakthrough.  If the Wolves keep to zell, use your superior numbers and matching skill to crush them.

I would advise letting the Wolves have their leader.  Put your deadliest unit into a duel with them, and hope for a kill before your lines close. With the layout fairly static (the Wolves should be deployed so as to block you from getting through), their initiative bonus won't matter that much.  Hopefully, by the time you close, their Khan or saKhan will be down, and the initiative advantage will shift to you. 

For the Wolves, I would recommend splitting your forces into a fast-moving, pursuit group, and a heavy, slow group (especially if they have lots of long range weapons).  Have the slow units form a Lyran-style Long Wall and pour firepower downfield.  Move your pursuit group up under as much cover as possible.  If you can get into their rear, all the better.  Once they are in position, give the order and have your units mass fire on the Widowmakers - putting three or four 'Mechs on likely Widowmaker targets.  Once they're down, switch targets and keep going.  If the Widowmakers respond in kind, their gunnery will suffer, and if they don't, you'll be taking them down while the return one-on-one fire will still be hitting armor.

[Mendrugo]

----- The Next Day -----

Date: October 8, 2834

Location: Ironhold

Title: Touchpoint: Ironhold (Day Two)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:   The Wolves' 341st Assault Cluster pursues the Widowmakers' 194th Crusader Cluster into the Deltiri Taiga region, where they have gone to ground in the snow-blanketed woods.  Aerial reconnaissance has identified what appear to be mobile field repair gantries, but the Wolves are worried they're walking into a trap.

Snow is falling (randomly determined on the Snow table), and the map is covered by Deep Snow.  The 194th is tough - an Elite unit that ignores forced withdrawal and the first pilot hit.   As before the 341st may Shield their commander, if they are present.  The 194th has 75% the strength of the 341st, and deploys half its strength as hidden units (including eight field gantries in woods hexes), while the rest enter later in the battle.

Historically, the Widowmaker ambush inflicted heavy casualties on the Wolves, but the 341st rallied back and joined the battle in earnest.  Heavy snows eventually drove the two forces apart, leaving the 194th intact, but without much of its supply train or the ability to conduct field repairs.

Notes:  For the Wolves, I would recommend a cautious approach.  There's no time limit, and you have a major advantage in numbers.  I would advocate advancing like a glacier - with your ranks tightly packed.  When the non-hidden Widowmakers appear, they'll be only 37.5% of your fielded strength.  Exchange long-range fire with them through the snow.  You'll either massacre them outright, or force their hidden units to abandon the ambush and engage at a numerical disadvantage.

For the Widowmakers, you want to position your hidden troops far enough from the Wolf home edge that they don't get overrun before your mobile forces move in, but not so far that they can't support the mobile forces.  I'd recommend putting one supply depot out in a relatively exposed location, and massing your entire hidden force behind it.  Try to make it at least 14-18 hexes from the Wolf home edge.  With the blizzard and Deep Snow penalties, they won't be moving fast.  When they approach the Depot, have your forces rise up en masse and swarm the enemy forces.  Ideally, this will come off either just as the mobile forces enter and catch the Wolves in a pincers attack, or just when the mobile forces have drawn the attention of the Wolf main line, opening their backs to your force. 

If the battle begins to run against you, take what's left of your force and sweep through the woods, destroying all the revealed repair depots, denying the Wolves the points and giving them a point penalty to boot.

[Mendrugo]

----- The Next Day -----

Date: October 9, 2834

Location: Ironhold

Title: Touchpoint: Ironhold (Day Three)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:   The survivors of the 194th Crusader Cluster and 4th Fang Cluster rendezvous on the outskirts of Ironhold City, hoping to access the planetary HPG and warn Widowmaker enclaves on other worlds to prepare for the Wolf onslaught.  The Wolves' 341st and 328th Assault Clusters pursue.  All units are battle damaged, and while the Widowmakers have a 25% strength advantage over the Wolves, half of the Widowmakers are Veteran, while all of the Wolves are Elite.

The Wolves ignored Jade Falcon attempts at communication as the two Clans' forces descended on the Jade Falcon capital.  The Jade Falcons dispatch the 89th Falcon Strikers to repel the intruders, with 75% of the Wolves' strength and orders to attack both forces equally. 

Historically, the Widowmakers managed to make their transmission while the Wolves were entangled with the Jade Falcons.  Subsequently, the Jade Falcons and Wolves joined together to eradicate the Widowmakers.  It took months to rebuild Ironhold City. 

Notes:  This brings up an interesting question - on worlds with split ownership in the Kerensky Cluster, does each enclave maintain its own HPG, or is there only one planetary HPG and all Clans present on the world share access equally (much like ComStar's neutral status in the Inner Sphere)?  If that's the case, I can see situations in which, in the midst of inter-Clan warfare and Trials of Possession, a Warrior would need to invoke SafCon to traverse enemy lines and make (or take) a call at the planetary HPG.

I wonder if the Jade Falcons were truly so enraged by Nicholas' death.  It was clear that the Clan leadership feared Nicholas and had self inflicted The Culling to prevent him from destroying their Clan.  With him gone, the risk of such a fate was greatly decreased. 

Clan HPG compounds appear to take the form of a Hardened three-building compound with each building having a CF of 150.  By comparison, the standard ComStar Class A HPG compound statted in Null Set is a single Heavy building with a CF of 70, and a Class B HPG compound is a single Medium building with a CF of 40  (and by that progression, a Class C is a Light building with a CF of 10, and a Class D is a wooden outhouse with the door hanging at an angle from one hinge - sorry Quantraine and New Ganymede).  The Clans probably built just about every piece of strategic infrastructure to Castle Brian standards.

Victory in this track comes from keeping your forces mostly intact until after turn 15.  The Widowmakers also want at least one of the three HPG buildings to survive to the end of Turn 15, while the Wolves want to completely raze the compound by that point. 

For the Wolves, the simplest expedient would be to form a flying wedge, make a beeline for the HPG, and enter the buildings with your 'Mechs.  Once inside, you really can't miss, and any enemy attacks from outside will further damage the facility.  If the Widowmakers are already entrenched within the HPG compound, combine fire to knock the CF down below 100, and then move some heavy units up with the intent of climbing to the roof and collapsing the building with a weight higher than the current CF.  With luck, you'll get a free DFA against a Widowmaker inside at the same time. 

The Widowmakers should place their most damaged units inside the HPG compound to begin with (making use of the Hardened construction).  Place the rest of your forces inside buildings facing the HPG compound.  You should position your forces to be able to attack any Wolf unit that tries to fire on the HPG compound.  Use your hidden units either to conceal forces from the Wolves and Jade Falcons (helping you meet the goal of keeping 50% of your force intact), or to ambush the Wolves when they try for the HPG compound.  Keeping your forces hidden has the additional advantage that there will be more Wolves to attract the Falcons' attention. 

[Mendrugo]

----- One Month Later -----

Date: November 7, 2834

Location: Dagda

Title: Touchpoint: Dagda

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:  On Dagda, the vengeful Wolves are joined by Clusters from Clan Burrock and Clan Jade Falcon to pursue and eliminate the Widowmaker enclave there.  Atop the White Cliffs of Dratha, the Widowmaker's Third Battle Cluster made their final stand against the Wolves' Seventh Battle Cluster, the 1015th Burrock Guards, and the First Falcon Striker Cluster.  The volcanic highlands are dotted with pools of liquid magma, and any unit forced off the Defender's home edge plummets into the ocean below. 

Historically, the battle initially played out as a series of honor duels between the Veteran Third Battle Cluster on one side and the Regular Wolves (plus Veteran Falcons and Burrocks), until the Widowmakers started to pull ahead.  The Wolf Commander, Star Colonel Britta Shaw, abandoned zellbrigen.  In the melee that followed, both Shaw and the Widowmaker commander, Star Colonel Maria Issac, plunged off the cliff, after which the Third broke and scattered. 

Notes:  At the time of the Absorption, the Widowmakers appear to have been limited to enclaves on Strana Mechty, Roche (where their headquarters - Spiderholm - was located), and Dagda. 

The flavor text at the opening of the Track is a quote from Jerome Winson - noting that the Wolves will scourge the Widowmakers from existence, and then forget "as we have done before, as we will do again."  To me, this implies that 1) Winson is/was entirely in cahoots with Kerensky and his "sister" Jennifer Winson in the plot to re-write Clan history in a highly self-serving fashion, and 2) that Nicholas' long term plan was to have the Wolves gradually absorb all the other Clans and become the ilClan by dint of being the last one standing. 

The only way out for the Widowmakers that I can see is to take advantage of the two special conditions.  The Burrocks operate under Forced Withdrawal - prioritize their units for the duels, and you'll "win" much more easily once you trigger forced withdrawal conditions.  In addition, as long as the Wolves and Falcons hold to zell, they won't be able to target the Widowmakers who are dueling Burrocks.  With all the magma on the field, if any of your opponents stand next to a magma hex you can push them in (assuming that the prohibition against physical attacks that became enshrined in Clan custom during the Golden Century isn't yet in effect - I found references to Clan units making physical attacks during Operation KLONDIKE, which is still in living memory).

By the same token, the optimal strategy for the triumvirate of attacking Clans would be to utilize the "Off Board Movement" ability and their superior numbers.  Lead on-board with the Jade Falcon contingent - they're Veteran and aren't subject to Forced Withdrawal, so they'll do the best in the duels.  Put the Wolf and Burrock forces off the map on the flanks.  Move the Falcons forward in a long line, splitting to go around magma pools, dueling as you go.  At the appropriate moment, re-enter the Burrock and Wolf forces and form lines on the Widowmaker flanks.  Advance without opening up gaps, and when you reach a Widowmaker unit, have one of your units push or charge to nudge it the direction you want it to go.  If that breaks zellbrigen, so be it.  You'll rewrite history to show the Widowmakers as vile traitors and yourselves as paragons of honor after the fact.  With luck, you'll be able to shove the Widowmakers into lava and eventually use your superior numbers to crowd the survivors back to the cliff edge and then shove them off to their doom.

[Mendrugo]

----- One Month Later -----

Date: December 11, 2834

Location: Dagda

Title: Touchpoint: Roche (Spiderholm)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:   SaKhan Kyle Vordermark still holds out hope that the Widowmakers can prevail in the Trial of Absorption if they can successfully defend their fortified headquarters of Spiderholm, on Roche.  The Veteran 11th Wolf Guards comes knocking to dissuade them of this idea, and faces off against both the Elite First Spinner Cluster and the (presumably Green or Regular) Fifth Provisional Garrison Cluster - vehicles and infantry.

The Wolves' goal is to use the cover of a sandstorm to punch through the defending forces (which will not be honoring zellbrigen), destroy most of them, and overcome the thick defensive, turret-studded, walls by taking out the gates before the end of Turn 15.  The Widowmakers' goal is to destroy the majority of the Wolves and keep the gate intact through the end of Turn 15.

Historically, once the gates of Spiderholm were breached, the First Spinner Cluster retreated into Spiderholm and vanished through hidden escape tunnels, leaving the conventional support troops in the PGC to be crushed by the Wolves. 

Notes: Circa 2834, the Clan conventional vehicle supplies are fairly sparse, and going by the random tables, the Fifth PGC will likely be sporting a mix of fast hovercraft and heavy tanks.  The weather conditions will render your infantry practically immobile, so I'd recommend parking them in front of the outer gate and using them as spotters for the twelve turrets.  You've twelve turrets with one heavy weapon each.  While ordinarily I'd recommend putting LRM-20s in the rear eight and Gauss Rifles in the front four, the weather changes the formula somewhat, giving missiles a +2, and ballistic and energy a +1.  If you want to be sure of hitting as much as possible, you could put Large Pulse Lasers in the outer wall's turrets (which I would recommend clustering around the gate).  If you put missiles in the rear turrets, you're looking at To-Hits of 8 (if using a spotter) when the target is at short range and didn't move.  Still, you really, really don't want that outer gate to go down, and a rain of inaccurate missile fire is better than having your turrets sitting and not shooting while waiting for the next gate out to be breached.  As an alternative, Gauss Rifle rounds or ER PPCs have head-chopper chances.

I would advocate parking the heavy tanks in a ring of steel around the gates, and using the long range firepower from the assorted Gauss Rifles, PPCs, and LRMs to take down one Wolf after another.  Use your fast units as harassers - swarming on enemy units and filling their back armor full of laser holes.  One option would be to put the Widowmaker 'Mechs up on the outer level 8 wall, giving them superior sight lines.  I'm not entirely sure at what point it would apply, but with the firing units up on Level 8, any Wolf attackers that approach the base of the wall would seem to be subject to taking hits on the "Shot From Above" location table, with a one-in-six chance of taking a head hit, while the Shot From Below would apply to the return fire. 

For the Wolves, use your ability to choose any light or medium 'Mechs from the RAT to load up nearly exclusively on Icestorms.  You'll be able to consistently get the +4 movement modifier, and the Regular? PGC tanks will be looking at to-hit numbers of 9 and 10 even if they just sat still and you're in close range.  Add some covering terrain and defender maneuver, and you'll be almost untouchable.  Use your maneuverability to make strafing runs against the gates - get 15 hexes from the gate and take your shots (using the -4 bonus against stationary targets), and you'll reduce it to slag in 22 hits.  If you're balancing on BV, then you'll have sufficient swarm of Icestorms to pull it off.  If any of the defenders gets lucky and smokes an Icestorm with a lucky shot, use your Edge ability to make them re-roll and hope for better results.

[Mendrugo]

----- Four Days Later -----

Date: December 15, 2834

Location: Dagda

Title: Touchpoint: Roche (Spiderholm)

Author: Philip A. Lee

Type: Track

Synopsis:  Four days after clearing out Spiderholm, the Eleventh Wolf Guards follow rumors to the abandoned city of Porthos in search of the First Spinner Cluster's survivors.  The rumors were, in actuality, the brainchild of Widowmaker saKhan Kyle Vordermark, designed to lure the Wolves into a trap. 

The Eleventh Wolf Guards stumble into an ambush, followed soon thereafter by Goliath Scorpion Loremaster Ethan Moreau and Goliath Scorpion Khan Cyrus Elam, backed by the Third Scorpion Cuirassiers. 

As soon as the ambush is sprung, artillery begins to rain down on the battlefield, striking Wolves, Scorpions, and Widowmakers indiscriminately, killing Elam and Vordermark.  Historically, after the death of their leader, the remaining Widowmaker warriors quickly succumbed to the pounding artillery barrage.

Notes:  Tactically, the Widowmakers deploy up to 30 units.  I'm not clear on how many Wolves and Scorpions there should be.  The Defender setup says first that the Wolves and Scorpions each have half the Widowmakers' deployed force.  However, it then says the combined Wolf/Scorpion forces must not exceed 125% of the Attacker's deployed force.  Since 50% + 50% = 100%, I'm not sure why the 125% cap is mentioned.

The Widowmakers should try to take out the Scorpion leaders, since their deaths can give the Scorpions a -4 Initiative penalty, and the Wolves/Scorpions should try to return the favor - taking out Vordermark.

Since the battlefield is an urban setting, and all Widowmakers start out as hidden units, the Wolf/Scorpion attack force should approach cautiously.  Spreading out through the city in search of the Widowmakers is an open invitation to having your forces ambushed and wiped out.  The Wolves are in no particular hurry, so start out in a good defensive position, and hang tight until your Scorpion allies join you.  Then, as a unified force, sweep the city.  Any ambush will get the lead unit, and then die as the combined Clan force overwhelms them.  Once the artillery starts landing, enter the buildings for use as impromptu bomb shelters, and move through them as much as possible.  (Fight together, but don't bunch up once the artillery starts landing). 

For the Widowmakers, the ability to start the Track hidden is a false advantage.  You initially start out with twice the Wolves' strength.  Instead of remaining in hiding, your forces should charge forth as soon as the Track begins and rally at the Wolves' home edge.  (You can't know ahead of time, however)  Make your numbers advantage count while you have it.  The Scorpions arrive from another map edge on Turn 5.  At that point, wheel and crush the (hopefully) numerically inferior Scorpion forces. 

The artillery is interesting.  Per the flavor text, the sustained bombardment was launched by unknown parties.  Per the rules, it attacks both sides indiscriminately.  Vordermark's journal says he wants to do as much damage to the Wolves as possible when they kill him and the rest of the Widowmakers, so there's a possibility that he arranged the artillery to complement his ambush, either intending to die, or planning to hammer the Wolves and fight free once again - but having had something go horribly wrong. 

Another intriguing possibility is that a third party launched the attacks for reasons unknown.  Roche was independently colonized by both the Scorpions and Widowmakers, and there weren't any Pentagon Power bandit caste holdouts who could have done this.  That leaves Clans.  I find it doubtful that the Scorpions would plan to annihilate their own Khan and Loremaster.  The Wolves, likewise, would have had no reason to bombard their own forces.  If they had such artillery assets, they'd have been able just to level the ruins of Porthos while the 'Mechs formed a perimeter. 

My guess is that it was the Jade Falcons.  They'd have motive - the Wolves and Widowmakers made a mess of Ironhold City and (more importantly) denied the Falcons the Dratha enclave as isorla on Dagda.  Infiltrating an artillery Star onto Roche and shadowing the Wolves would be possible, and wiping out all parties involved in the battle would satisfy the Falcons' thirst for vengeance. 

[Wrangler]

I guess the artillery people will remain unknown.  I would wager that Vordermark cut deal with Dark Caste who would equally be eager to blast both parties with little incentive.  Bandit/Dark Caste existed at some scales per world. 

Thou it's possible it was a Watch unit that was actually doing black ops.  I would be little surprised since Watch wasn't as we know them here and now.   

[Mendrugo]

I guess the artillery people will remain unknown.  I would wager that Vordermark cut deal with Dark Caste who would equally be eager to blast both parties with little incentive.  Bandit/Dark Caste existed at some scales per world. 

Thou it's possible it was a Watch unit that was actually doing black ops.  I would be little surprised since Watch wasn't as we know them here and now.

Actually, looking back at "Betrayal of Ideals," the various Clan Watches have been around for 12 years at this point.  While they initially relied on using bondsmen who retained their loyalty to their original Clan and were willing to serve as moles inside the Clans that adopted them, they had to step up their game as victimized Clans implemented internal security measures and enhanced their own Watch forces.  It would seem the Watches degraded in quality somewhat during the Golden Century, as ritualized combat replaced the total warfare of KLONDIKE and the early in-fighting in the following decade (Wolverine Annihilation and Widowmaker Absorption).

There wouldn't have been any Dark/Bandit caste forces on Roche - at least not native ones.  The Clans were still using academies, rather than Sibkos for training, and hadn't shifted to the Trueborn paradigm - so washing out didn't mean exile.  What Bandit Caste existed took the form of Pentagon Power holdouts (and those exclusively limited to small bands in remote regions on the Pentagon worlds), and those that fled to uncharted systems during the Pentagon Wars and KLONDIKE.  I suppose some might have gone to Roche, but having them get involved in a three-way Clan fracas seems to be stretching the limits of coincidence.

The Track notes that the first colony on Roche failed, and that the Widowmakers quietly recolonized it.  The Scorpions launched their own colony effort, and were surprised to find the Widowmakers there.  Depending on the circumstances of the first colony's failure, there may have been some survivors, but I can't see any motivation for them to get involved in the Clan battle.