Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars  (Read 480696 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1110 on: 29 March 2015, 20:23:12 »
Harpster and Deshler might be too out of the way if speed were important, and transiting uninhabited systems may be considered riskier than retaking Marduk. I think you're right that groundside facilities are somehow important to staging a relief force, though; that could easily rule out other options without having to invoke the 'Mech factory.

Looking at the starmap (see attachment), it's no faster to go through Marduk to Galtor than to go through Deshler from McComb.  It took three months for the AFFS to hit Marduk to liberate it, and that was for a world with an ultra-valuable LosTech BattleMech factory.  By contrast, it only took the AFFS two months (estimated) to plan and execute the liberation of Stein's Folly - an underdeveloped world of no particular strategic importance.  As I've stated, I think the real justification for invading Marduk was to get the factory back, and the story of Marduk's occupation preventing AFFS reinforcements from reaching Galtor III just a convenient cover story for the false Hanse Davion having tried to sabotage the Galtor Campaign.

This further raises the question - what the heck was Duke Aaron Sandoval doing in 3025?  The House Davion sourcebook says he eschews politics to focus on running the Draconis March...but I see no evidence of him actually running the Draconis March.  Having Hanse go "asleep at the switch" at the start of the Galtor Campaign shouldn't have mattered if he had a competent, hands on Field Marshal of the Draconis March running the show.  For such a major operation, Sortek should have been an integral player, but not only is he a no-show, but he seems to be sitting on his hands waiting for orders from New Avalon. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

skiltao

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1111 on: 29 March 2015, 20:51:59 »
If Marduk wasn't a choke point, then yeah, your "cover story" explanation is perfect. Do we know that reinforcements were coming through McComb though, or are you merely speculating because it's close? (In any case, the old fiction doesn't always assume that the 2D map accurately represents the 3D distance between worlds, so I'm not sure we should either.)

Can't say where The Duke was; but since Galtor was Hanse's baby, Sandoval might've had other operations in motion elsewhere on the border.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1112 on: 29 March 2015, 21:38:23 »
We don't know that reinforcements were coming through McComb, but it's the logical path to Galtor III either through Marduk or Deshler.  The only place Marduk's a chokepoint is trying to come in from the west (Breed -> Marduk -> Galtor III).  Breed -> Royal -> McComb -> Deshler -> Galtor III takes longer, but not the three months that clearing out Marduk took.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1113 on: 30 March 2015, 13:44:41 »
----- Ten Days Later  -----

Date: September 11, 3025

Location: Galtor III

Title: Dahar No More

Author: Geoff Swift

Type: Track

Synopsis:  Warlord Grieg Samsonov has been laying siege to the city of New Derry for six weeks.  With the Sword of Light's failure to seize the Star League depot, Warlord Samsonov has refocused his remaining forces on taking New Derry, hoping to overwhelm and destroy the AFFS forces there and shift the strategic balance. 

The 2nd Amphigean Light Assault Group and the 8th Galedon Regulars outnumber the defending Dahar DMM, Galtor Irregulars, and Lone Wolves by 5:2, and large sections of the city are on fire.  One third of the DCMS forces emerge in the center of New Derry through the sewers.  Historically, the DMM and Irregulars fought to the last man, while the Lone Wolves fought their way to their DropShips and blasted their way offworld after AFFS General Sir William Dobson went down fighting.

If you want to be historically accurate, rather than rolling on the RAT, the Lone Wolves have the following composition:

The Committee:  Cyclops, Victor, Awesome, Atlas, Ostroc, Rifleman, 3 Crusaders, JagerMech, Archer, Dervish

Hakim's Company: 2 Enforcers, 2 Assassins, Phoenix Hawk, Hatchetman, 2 Ostscouts, 4 Valkyries, 2 Vedettes, 2 Goblins, 2 Pack Rats, 2 Skulkers

Negef's Company: Awesome, Victor, 2 Orions, Hatchetman, 2 Assassins, Stinger, Trebuchet, Whitworth, Dervish, Shadow Hawk, 2 Rommels, Manticore, Pike, Condor, Falcon, 2 J. Edgars

Force for Galaxy Freedom: 6 Phoenix Hawks, 6 Hatchetmen

Independence: 2 Demolishers, 2 Von Luckners, 2 Vedettes, 2 Goblins

Albrot's Company: Griffin, Wolverine, 2 Quickdraws, 2 Enforcers, 2 Assassins

Company of Wolves: 2 Rommels, Manticore, Pike, 3 Locusts, Ostscout

Crowned Seraph: Awesome, Victor, 2 Orions, JagerMech, Ostsol, Thunderbolt, Archer, Griffin, Wolverine, 2 Quickdraws, 2 Wasps, Stinger, Valkyrie

God's Judgement: 3 Locusts, Ostscout, Assassin, Spider, Wasp, Stinger

Lords of the Sword: 2 Griffins, Wolverine, 3 Quickdraws, JagerMech, 3 Dervishes, Phoenix Hawk, Hatchetman, 2 Ostscouts, 2 Enforcers, 2 Assassins, 2 Whitworths

Sword of Moses: 2 Rommels, Manticore, Pike, Condor, Falcon, 2 J. Edgars, 2 Pack Rats, 2 Skulkers, 2 Demolishers, 2 Von Luckners

Brothers of Israel: Assassin, Spider, Wasp, Stinger

Memorialists: 2 Wasps, Stinger, Valkyrie

The Elected Ones: Phoenix Hawk, Hatchetman, 2 Ostscouts

Black November: Trebuchet, Whitworth, Dervish, Shadow Hawk

Golden Rays: 2 Whitworths, 2 Dervishes

John "Big Booty" Stetson's Company: 4 Valkyries, 2 Pack Rats, 2 Skulkers

Freedom Fighters: MG Motorized Platoon, Rifle Motorized Platoon, Laser Foot Platoon, SRM Foot Platoon

Notes:  There's no chance of the AFFS side winning this battle, so the main focus is on getting the Lone Wolves away, firing at targets of opportunity (which may include the Dahar DMM on a roll of 9+, indicating they object to their mercenaries cutting and running).  Given that objective, optimal Lone Wolf component units to field would include John "Big Booty" Stetson's Company, the Memorialists, Brothers of Israel, the Elected Ones, and/or God's Justice.  (Given the relatively slow speed of the Hatchetman, it's less optimal, but how can you resist deploying the "Force for Galaxy Freedom?")  The DMM should be represented by Sir William Dobson's Awesome, along with a Victor and two Orions.  Have the DMM run interference for the retreating Wolves, and target the LAG commander, Chu-sa Saxton, who should be canonically fielding a Grasshopper, per the NAIS conversion table of his H3 lance.

The Lone Wolves are unique in a number of ways.  They include some of the few overtly Judeo-Christian religious units in the BattleTech canon (outside of the Cloud Cobra cloisters), going by naming conventions.  They also drop out of sight after this campaign, not reappearing until an engagement in the Outworlds Alliance in 3063.  One wonders what they were doing all that time.  My guess is that they were laying low in the Periphery (perhaps even fighting in the Chainlane Isles or similar Periphery hot spots), since cutting and running during the battle of New Derry would have been a major black mark for their ComStar Mercenary Review Board rating and/or with the Mercenary's Guild.
« Last Edit: 30 March 2015, 20:21:45 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Frabby

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1114 on: 30 March 2015, 16:14:10 »
I'd rather wager the Lone Wolves, for pretty much the reasons you stated, didn't appear as such for a long time but instead lived on as a wispy miniature merc guild/cartel, and only hired out through their smaller lance- or company sized subunits. They were a very loose bunch to begin with, and it's easy to imagine that after Galtor III they existed primarily as a buying syndicate on Galatea.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1115 on: 31 March 2015, 13:24:33 »
----- The Following Day  -----

Date: September 12, 3025

Location: Galtor III

Title: Citations of Respect

Author: Jason Hansa

Type: Short Story

Synopsis: In the pre-dawn darkness of September 12, Seymour's Battalion of the Raman Draconis March Militia battles Elazar's Battalion and Gonen's Battalion of the 17th Benjamin Regulars on Galtor III's McGraw Plains.  AFFS MechWarrior Bernard Domingo pilots his Quickdraw alongside his wife Annabelle's Blackjack, and count themselves lucky to break contact with Tai-sa Elazar's rare LosTech Guillotine.

Elazar himself is happy to let the pair go, respecting their fighting spirit - much greater than the rest of the DMM rabble his battalion crushed during the two hour battle.  His musing turns to rage as yet another AFFS 'Mech, a Wasp, is annihilated by fighter-dropped bombs before it can engage in honorable battle.  Even worse, it represents yet another "kill-steal" by the Draconis Combine Admiralty.

Elazar and his fellow Tai-sa, Gonen, commiserate over the fact that the relentless airstrikes have robbed them of their rightful glory, denying them any kills to compensate for their light casualties.  They both feel that the fighter pilots have stolen their honor.

After a 20 kilometer chase, Bernard, Annabelle, and a Hunchback pilot named Michaels - the last three survivors of Seymour's Battalion - find themselves backed up against the shore of the Innersea, with whole companies blocking their retreat on either flank.   Tai-sas Elazar and Gonen salute them on their valor.  Desperate, Bernard challenges Elazar to single combat - if he wins, they go free, but they surrender peacefully if he loses.  Elazar accepts, telling Bernard he brings honor on himself and his unit.

Before the duel can begin, Bernard spots a quartet of Combine fighters approaching out of the rising sun.  He accuses Elazar of treachery and attacks.  Elazar commands the fighters to break off their attack, but the Air Wing pilots ignore both him and Gonen, and swiftly destroy all three AFFS 'Mechs.  Elazar recognizes that he'd romanticized the situation, imagining himself as a modern-day reincarnation of the ancient samurai.  Together with Gonen, he vows to preserve the memory of Bernard's honorable actions.

Notes:  "Citations of Respect" is a lovely expansion of a small passage in Cory Glaberson's "The Galtor Campaign."

Quote
The main Kurita attack had scattered Finnegan's Battalion, then swung right to trap Seymour's Battalion against the sea.  Two hours later...no word came from Seymour's Battalion.  No reliable reports on the destruction of Seymour's Battalion exist.  Kurita records are frustratingly sparse, and none of Seymour's MechWarriors survived.
 

This represents only half of "Citations of Respect," which picks up again in 3062 as a historian looks into the mysterious lack of records about the destruction of Seymour's Battalion. 

Elazar and Gonen's characterization nicely showcases the inter-service rivalry between the ground forces of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery and the pilots of the Draconis Combine Admiralty.  According to the House Kurita sourcebook, rivalry between the DCMS and the Admiralty is intense, because each branch believes it is the most important element in the Combine.  Though the Coordinator fosters the rivalry in the name of improved morale and performance, it has also led to internecine violence.  As seen in the story, all fighter pilots are under the authority of the Admiralty and do not take orders from DCMS officers, creating significant resentment in the Combine. 

I found it odd that Elazar would consider the "romanticized modern day samurai" ethos to be passe in 3025, only to find it reawakened in himself by Bernard's challenge.  The Military Coordination Office publishes a monthly tactics manual called "Wisdom of the Samurai."  Students in all military academies learn the ways of the samurai, and students are expected to live up to the impossible standards of honor and duty.  Some Kurita officers go so far as to put haiku in their uniforms to please opposing generals if captured, hearkening back to a comparable samurai tradition in ancient Japan. 

Perhaps Elazar was just burned out on the whole samurai ethos.  After having samurai ideals pounded into him at the academy, he may have become harshly disillusioned after seeing how poorly the reality of life in the DCMS during the late Third Succession War corresponded to those ideals, especially with schemers like Grieg Samsonov rising to positions of power and authority.

Elazar's hunger for an honorable one-on-one duel shows just how much Combine culture influenced the Clans.  Aleksandr Kerensky came of age during the Hidden War of honor duels between "ronin" and SLDF gunslingers - one that the SLDF endorsed wholeheartedly. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1116 on: 01 April 2015, 21:32:49 »
----- Two Weeks Later  -----

Date: September 27, 3025

Location: Galtor III

Title: Stand of Defiance

Author: Geoff Swift

Type: Track

Synopsis: This Track covers the final battle of the Galtor campaign.  Freshly reinforced by the 4th Crucis Lancers, the Bremond, Clovis, and Robinson DMMs surround and engage the Combine task force, which has recently been weakened by the betrayal of Benjamin Warlord Yoriyoshi, who withdrew his 17th and 6th Benjamin Regulars rather than using them to flank the AFFS forces.  Thus, Samsonov ordered the 2nd Amphigean and 8th Galedon to flee, while one battalion of the 2nd Galedon Regulars guarded his headquarters. 

In this battle, Samsonov's command company awaits extraction while Leftenant-General Tallman led his Bremond DMM command company and one lance of the Crucis Lancers to kill the Dieron Warlord.  Samsonov pilots an Atlas.  Tallman pilots a Thunderbolt.

Both sides aim to destroy the entire opposing force and kill the enemy commander.  On turn 15, a Leopard will land and attempt to extract Samsonov.  Historically, only Samsonov and one member of his command lance survived to escape. 

Notes: The House Kurita sourcebook names gives Yoriyoshi's first name as "Ukita," while the Galtor Campaign names him "Syovo."   Historical Turning Points: Galtor confirms that Syovo is his first name.

The House Kurita sourcebook refers to Benjamin District Warlord Yoriyoshi as "treasonous" and having "disgraced himself."  It attributes Yoriyoshi's betrayal of Dieron District Warlord Grieg Samsonov to his having allowed mercenaries to load onto DropShips ahead of Benjamin District forces.  It also notes that Yoriyoshi and Samsonov first butted heads during a joint operation on Mara, when Yoriyoshi disobeyed the Coordinator's battle plan to seize an opportunity that presented itself.  Although Yoriyoshi's gambit was successful, Samsonov reported him to the Coordinator for disobedience, and was aghast when the Coordinator instead praised Yoriyoshi's accomplishments.

The Galtor Campaign sourcebook explains that Yoriyoshi was apolectic when Samsonov was named joint commander of the Galtor operation, since the world clearly lay purely within the Benjamin District's zone of responsibility.  He was further incensed when three Galedon Regular regiments were added to the campaign, when only two Benjamin Regular regiments were included.  Both Warlords were more focused on personal career advancement than finding the Star League depot.  Yoriyoshi's failed push on the real depot cost him his position in the campaign, ceding full control of operation to Samsonov.  The final straw for Yoriyoshi came when the Combine was rotating forces offplanet, and Samsonov gave priority to to his own 5th Galedon Regulars and the 1st Amphigean Light Assault Group.  Yoriyoshi correctly assessed that Samsonov intended him and his 17th Benjamin Regulars to be obliterated in the fighting, rather than moved offworld for refitting.

To get his revenge, Yoriyoshi presented Samsonov with a brilliant plan to trap the AFFS forces onplanet.  In actuality, once Samsonov committed his forces, Yoriyoshi loaded the Benjamin forces into their DropShips, but instead of dropping them onto the Davion forces, they burned for the jump point and departed the system, leaving Samsonov at the mercy of the AFFS forces.  Yoriyoshi underwent review by the Assembly of the Grand Inquisitor, and was then transferred to court in Luthien, accompanied by his entire family, to serve as a staff officer.  His chief aide, Brigadier General Djoran Belarguz, was issued the Honor of Wakizashi, which is presented to officers who demonstrate personal honor at the expense of loyalty to House Kurita.  Recipients are expected to commit seppuku upon reciept of the the medal.  Yoriyoshi was replaced as Benjamin District Warlord by Hirushi Shotugama in October, 3025.

Given the Track setup, there's no cover (all woods hexes are Level 1 and provide no cover for 'Mechs), and swampy terrain slows movement.  The Assault 'Mechs of the Dieron Regulars aren't going to be terribly spry.  The Combine player should put the Warlord as far back as possible, and position the rest of the Company as a steel wall.  Concentrate your fire and burn down the AFFS forces, prioritizing any with LRMs or other long range weaponry that could threaten the Warlord.

The AFFS side should make taking down Samsonov a priority, but you've got 15 turns before his ride shows up, so there's no need to rush blindly into the Combine lines gunning for the Warlord.  Keep Tallman's Thunderbolt well back to avoid giving the Combine side points if she goes down.  Concentrate your fire and start picking off the Combine 'Mechs one by one.  You should be pretty accurate, since they won't be moving much.  If you decide to close with the Combine line, stay out of kicking/punching range (they'll be heavier and will come out ahead), but use your close range weaponry on them while designating Samsonov as a secondary target with LRMs.  Around Turn 10, if the Combine ranks have been sufficiently thinned, make a push to break through and send everyone you have left at Samsonov. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1117 on: 02 April 2015, 11:09:44 »
----- Three Days Later -----

Date: September 30, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Baxter?

Title: The Dragon’s Last Stand

Author: Joe Judt

Type: Graphic Novel (BattleTech – Blackthorne Publishing)

Synopsis:  The Dispossessed troops of the 7th Battalion eat beans as they watch the pre-dawn fighting between House Kurita and House Steiner forces rage across canyon-carved badlands.  The group includes Quinton, Han, Lt. Maximillon, and Antonio.  As they bemoan the loss of their family ‘Mechs, a courier comes with new orders – report to Field Marshal Chiba at Toho Base by 0500.  Chiba orders them to execute a banzai charge against the Lyran lines.

Sneaking through a cavern network, the squad surprises and massacres a group of Lyran perimeter scouts.  Coming out the other end of the tunnel, they find a camouflaged Lyran field repair base, where two Thunderbolts, a Locust, and a Scorpion are being prepared for an attack.  The 7th Battalion Dispossessed squad attacks, using the element of surprise to capture the 'Mechs.  Once mounted up, they scatter the Lyran infantry and take out the other Thunderbolt, though the Scorpion is crippled in the process.  As a Lyran Von Luckner moves to keep the Combine troops from advancing (lest they threaten the LCAF's "Tycho Base" ammo dump), the rest of the banzai charge troops come pouring out of the tunnel.

The victorious troops of 7th Battalion triumphantly return to Toho Base, but are told by Field Marshal Chiba that he signed their death declarations as soon as they left to lead the banzai charge.  He informs them that the only honorable solution is for them to commit seppuku.  The squad is given until the morning to meditate, but they decide to light out on their own with the ‘Mechs and become mercenaries.  However, as the squad races for their ‘Mechs that night, floodlights snap on, and they are confronted by Qunton, who has bought into the “death with honor” plan and orders guards to kill the traitors.

Quinton is too late, however, and Lt. Maximillon had already made it into the (now repaired) Scorpion.  He holds off the guards long enough for the others to mount up in the Locust and the Thunderbolt, knocking Quinton out and taking him with them.  As they flee, they engage DCMS tanks and aerospace fighters, which strafe the Scorpion, killing Lt. Maxmillon.

Notes: The Blackthorne BattleTech comics are, unlike the FASA-produced “The Spider and the Wolf,” generally regarded as non-canon.  Nonetheless, they do feature our favorite giant mecha and Successor States, so we’ll see where we can squeeze them into the continuity.  Date-wise, this can’t take place any earlier than June 5, 3025 (the publication date of TRO: 3025).  The Hatchetman entry in that publication says that the Hatchetman entered service in the LCAF in 3023, but has only been used in one engagement as of 3025, when the 4th Proserpina Hussars fought the 26th Lyran Guards in a raid on Sevren, and the Hatchetman proved its worth in a large industrial complex.    In this story, a Hatchetman is shot to pieces in a desert battle.

Chiba is referred to alternately as Commander, Field Marshall, and CEO.  The fact that he’s ordering his men into suicide charges and ordering them to kill themselves when the Lyrans fail to oblige, to me, marks this unit as being part of the Legion of Vega – probably the 2nd or 14th, both based on Vega circa 3025.  (The fact that Chiba refers to the unit as “Lancers Legion” is also suggestive, given the use of the term “Legion”)  As we’ve seen previously, the Legion of Vega is a modern re-incarnation of the Chain Gang units, where the troops are considered disposable for the glory of the Coordinator.  While Theodore is doing what he can to reform such practices on Marfik, he doesn't appear to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the other two Legion regiments on Vega until he goes to their rescue during the 4th Succession War.  The term "7th Battalion" doesn't make sense in the context of the 3 battalion = 1 regiment structure inherited from the Star League, but could work if you consider the "Legion of Vega" as a three-regiment brigade, which would give it 9 battalions (thereby implying that the 7th battalion is part of the 14th Legion, if they're numbered sequentially).

If the Lancers Legion is on a raid, the world of Baxter is just over the border from Vega.  Baxter's sourcebook write-up describes it as a giant, desolate wasteland, where the inhabitants live in modified caves carved into the sides of the planet’s many mountains and canyons.  That seems to fit the depiction of the world in the graphic novel perfectly.

The tale also shows the attitudes held towards the Dispossessed in the Combine, which is very close to the role filled by solahma infantry in the Clans - if you can't pilot a 'Mech anymore, grab a shotgun and charge an enemy strongpoint so you can go out with just a smidgen of honor/glory.  Both groups (dispossessed and solahma) inspire revulsion in active MechWarriors, primarily because they represent possible fates - either getting old without achieving GLORY!!!!! or losing the irreplaceable piece of heirloom technology on which not just your own, but your entire House's social status may hinge.  Other MechWarriors would as soon not have a constant visual reminder that such a fate awaits them too, and thus degrade and dehumanize them, and seek opportunities to get rid of them.
« Last Edit: 02 April 2015, 19:30:03 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1118 on: 04 April 2015, 03:27:40 »
----- The Following Day -----

Date: October 1, 3025

Location: Baxter?

Title: The Dragon’s Last Stand

Author: Joe Judt

Type: Graphic Novel (BattleTech – Blackthorne Publishing)

Synopsis:  The following day, the group of ex-DCMS renegades comes across Lyran and Combine ‘Mechs (from the “Lancers Legion”) skirmishing in the desert.  They attack, defeating the Lyran ‘Mechs and rescuing the Kuritans, who greet them warily and take them back to their base camp. 

Quinton tells the unit commander he and his comrades are former Steiner soldiers (explaining why they're piloting the captured LCAF 'Mechs), but says their families are part of House Kurita, and they want to return to their heritage.  The unit commander suspects they’re hiding something, and plans to watch them closely.

At a bar-tent labeled the “Bloodied Stump,” Quinton and Han are toasted for having defeated the Lyrans.  One man tells them Commander Chiba is coming for an inspection.  They race outside to tell Antonio, who has just found Steiner tracking devices on their captured ‘Mechs, which will lead the Lyrans back to the Kurita base. 

Moments later, Steiner aerospace fighters begin strafing the camp.  Quinton, Han, and Antonio mount their ‘Mechs and engage incoming Steiner ‘Mechs (two Griffins, a Crusader, and a Zeus), holding them off while the Lancers Legion pilots run for their ‘Mechs.  All three of the Lyran 'Mechs the group captured in the previous day's suicide charge are destroyed in the fighting, and Antonio and Quinton are killed.  Han survives, but is horrified to realize that he’s once more Dispossessed.

Notes:  There's a bit of an art error at one point - just as Captain Humphrey says he'll need to keep his weapons trained on Quinton, Han, and Antonio because they're in "Steiner 'Mechs."  The Thunderbolt in question, however, has a Kurita dragon prominently emblazoned on the chest.  Some of the other continuity bits are a bit questionable - the Scorpion loses a leg during the fight to leave Toho Base, yet the three surviving escapees appear to have been able to perform effective field repairs.

Given the intrigue element of BattleTech, it's entirely possible that one side could arrange an ambush and have their own forces massacred to prove the bona fides of infiltrators.  (Such as Justin Xiang taking out nominally AFFS-aligned MechWarriors on Solaris VII to get in good with Max Liao.)

There's an odd comment that I can't figure out.  They're talking about having pushed the Lyrans back and are setting up the new Toho Base at the current location (which is now just a tent camp).  Quinton asks if it's wise for Chiba to come out to the front in person, since they're still under fire, and the Lancers Legion trooper responds "Only if you think House Marik is dangerous."  Sooo...huh.  Its almost as though the writer was under the impression that all five Houses were fighting over control of a single planet, implying that the new location for Toho Base is close to the Marik control zone.  (Or the writer just forgot they were fighting House Steiner.)

It's fairly clear that Blackthorne got a license to make BattleTech comics (they appear to have scooped up licenses to make limited runs of black & white comics for huge numbers of popular intellectual properties, including G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Transformers, Rambo, Robotech, etc.), and had access to some of the source material (visual references for the 'Mechs, at least, in TRO:3025, and the Tales of the Black Widow scenario pack), but I would doubt that FASA was closely involved in reviewing the storylines for continuity.  At the time, FASA was a standout in the industry for its high quality color art in its sourcebooks and the incredible level of detail it layered into the universe.  Whereas the Steiner infantry at least kind of have the right helmets, the Kuritan forces are universally off model compared to what's shown in the House Kurita sourcebook.

Interestingly, around the same time, DC put out a two issue "Robotech Defenders" comic (which was advertised as three issues, but it was compressed to two after the first issue sold terribly.)  Totally unconnected to the Harmony Gold storyline, it featured largely Dougram designs (no veritechs or destroids) containing the minds of aliens from a long dead civilization, battling blue-skinned lifeforce vampires calling themselves the Robotech Masters.  So if you ever want to see what BattleTech would look like with aliens...
« Last Edit: 10 April 2015, 23:22:22 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1119 on: 04 April 2015, 23:18:44 »
----- Three Weeks Later -----

Date: October 21, 3025

Location: Verthandi

Title: Mercenary's Star

Author: William H. Keith

Type: Novel

Synopsis: After 70 days in transit, the Invidious arrives at the Verthandi system's zenith jump point.  Tor continues to express reservations about Grayson's plan to sneak onto Verthandi aboard the Phobos, which has been repainted to appear as a Combine Union-class DropShip, hoping the local garrison will attribute the unexpected arrival to poor scheduling.  As the Phobos uncouples from the Invidious and begins its in-system burn, Tor transmits a radio signal to Verthandi informing the Combine garrison that the DCS Phobos is inbound.

On Verthandi, in the capital city of Regis, Governor-General Masayoshi Nagumo rejects an amnesty proposal from First Councilman Olav Haraldssen of the Council of Academicians - Verthandi's ruling body before the Combine conquest.  Haraldssen argues the rebels will never lay down their arms without guarantees they won't be summarily slaughtered.  Nagumo comes down in favor of summary slaughter, and tells Haraldssen to crush the rebellion and maintain the Pax Draconis using any means necessary, up to and including eradication of all native life on the planet.  He warns Haraldssen that if he fails, he'll have his BattleMech legions dismantle Regis University, shoot every third person, and send the entire Council of Academicians and their families to Luthien in chains as slaves.  Haraldssen acknowledges the order and slinks away.

Nagumo then discusses the guerrilla situation with Colonel Valdis Kevlavic, receiving his report on the annihilation of Mountain Vista.  Kevlavic assesses the operation as a success, but Nagumo is convinced that the rebellion will only end when all the Verthandian rebels are dead.  He notes that harrassing attacks from the rebels have actually increased since the destruction of Mountain Vista.  He suggests that it may be feasible to exterminate the entire Verthandian populace and import a new, loyal population. 

Nagumo also tells Kevlavic to prepare to intercept the Phobos.  He expects its unexpected arrival is simply a Procurement snafu, but believes it would be better to verify it by having a DCMS force meet the DropShip when it touches down, just in case it turns out to be a freelance raider or support for the rebels.

Notes:  As with many of the plot points in William Keith's early Gray Death Legion novels, the existence of instantaneous interstellar communications via HPGs would seem to argue against such a ploy being possible.  If the Combine forces on Verthandi could just send an inquiry to DCMS Prefecture HQ on Kirchbach to verify the scheduling issue, they could then blast the Phobos into nothingness well away from the planet.  Granted, you don't have much of a story then, but as we've seen in the whole Dark Age setting, the presence or absence of interstellar communications is a huge strategic factor.  Letting your plan hinge on enemy incompetence works fine if you're fighting Cobra, but it's pretty risky when you're betting your entire new command on it.

Nagumo's uniform is described as "the severe, utilitarian black of a high-ranking officer of the Draconis Combine."  As with other early Keith books, this is contradicted by the House Kurita sourcebook, which indicates that all Combine officers wear the white uniform with red striping.  Of note, Nagumo's uniform bears kana symbols spelling out "Kurita" and "Duke Ricol," which would imply that he's part of Duke Ricol's household forces, which are subservient to the will of the Coordinator.

Nagumo's attitude towards the Verthandian natives as expendable may go a long way towards explaining the large number of worlds that dropped off the Combine maps.  Other Great Houses lost worlds when WMDs were used with reckless abandon in the First Succession War (and the Second, to a lesser extent).  Historically, though, most of the fighting took place outside the Combine's Star League-era borders, since the Combine was on the march and expanding for most of the Succession Wars.  The Combine may just have depopulated worlds which were no longer of use to them.
« Last Edit: 08 April 2015, 07:38:19 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1120 on: 07 April 2015, 21:12:36 »
----- Four Days Later -----

Date: October 25, 3025

Location: Verthandi

Title: Mercenary's Star

Author: William H. Keith

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  As the Phobos approaches Verthandi, Grayson finds himself having to calm his fighter pilots - Sue Ellen Klein and Jeffrie Sherman - who assumed they'd be used exclusively for ground support, and are leery at the prospect of having to escort the Phobos though a Combine blockade if the ruse fails.  The effort isn't entirely successful, and Phobos captain Ilse Martinez warns that there's a risk the fighter pilots could defect mid-battle to the Combine side.

Unfortunately for the Legion, a courier JumpShip materalizes at the nadir jump point and transmits a message from the spy on Galatea to the DCMS base on Verthandi.  At the Combine Base on Verthandi-Alpha, Captain Powell warns Fleet Admiral Isoru Kodo that the Phobos' recognition codes are two years out of date, and sensors show the DropShip as being underweight.  Kodo dismisses Powell's concerns and tells her to leave him alone.  Powell shortly thereafter receives the courier's report - confirming her suspicions.  She orders a pair of Shilones to intercept the ship, hoping that visual inspection will verify its falsity without forcing her to violate either the Admiral's orders or the chain of command.

As the Shilone patrol approaches, the Phobos identifies itself as the DropShip Li Tao, operating off of the JumpShip Chi Lung.  The Combine pilots order the ship to proceed to Verthandi-Alpha for inspection, and Grayson spots the Leopard-class DCS Xao approaching as well.  When the ships come close enough, they penetrate the ruse at the same time as Captain Powell passes the courier's report to Kodo.

The Phobos breaks away and makes a run for Verthandi, launching its Chippewas for defense.  An intense dogfight breaks out, and the Phobos takes damage while Sherman's fighter is crippled.   Klein breaks away to try to help him, leaving the Phobos defenseless.  Desperate, Captain Martinez plunges the Phobos towards the rebel rendezvous point.  A combine Slayer crashes into the Phobos, tearing open its fuel tanks.  As Sherman's Chippewa begins to burn up on re-entry, Klein vaporizes its cockpit to prevent his suffering, then drifts, emotionally shattered.

On Verthandi, Colonel Kevlavic and his lance board the DCS Xao, and receive a report that a company of Galleons has boarded the DCS Subotai.  The two ships expect to rendezvous at the Phobos' landing site in 20 minutes.  They anticipate the crew to be dead in the crash, but want to prevent rebels from gaining any useful salvage.

At a coastal area called Hunter's Point, rebel commander Tollen Brasednewic follows his guide, Li Chin to the Phobos' landing site.  Seeing the Combine insignia on the DropShip hull, he assumes it was shot down by anti-Combine forces, but doesn't know by whom.  As the rebels charge the survivors (which they assume to be a Combine crew), Grayson and his men confer - worrying that the local rebel cells won't believe them to be friendlies, since they're 200 kilometers from the intended landing site.  The Legion troops drop into trenches dug into the sand, leaving Grayson standing alone out on the beach.  The confused rebels squeeze off a few shots, then halt in confusion.  Grayson introduces Devic Erudin - their Verthandian employer.  After some discussion, Brasednewic is convinced Grayson and the Legion are friends.

The Legionnaires and the rebels frantically unload the 'Mechs and supplies from the Phobos until two Combine Slayers approach, conducting a search pattern.  They spot the Legion's 'Mechs and dive to attack.  McCall's Rifleman takes one out, but sensors detect the DCS Xao bringing ground forces.  Grayson asks Brasednewic to commit his forces to support the Legion.

Kevlavic's lance - a Marauder, Orion, and two Stingers - engages the Legion's 'Mechs.  After a fierce firefight, during which McCall's Rifleman goes down under an unexpected Slayer strafing run, the surprised Kuritan lance begins to withdraw towards the Xao, but halts when another Combine DropShip arrives carrying Galleon tanks.  Grayson is worried, but the advancing armor column is rocked by explosions as the rebels join the fray, tossing Molotov cocktails from fast moving swamp skimmers.  The surviving Galleons and 'Mechs retreat. The rebels cheer their unexpected victory, and Grayson congratulates Lori on successfully making it through the battle without freezing up, as she'd earlier feared.

Back at Regis, Colonel Kevlavic reports his failure to Governor General Nagumo, attributing his defeat to the involvement of Verthandian guerrillas, and to the delayed arrival of the DCS Subotai with the support forces.  Nagumo directs Kevlavic to take his regiment and hunt the mercenaries down, taking care not to underestimate them.

At Hunter's Point, Ilse Martinez is agahst at Grayson's suggestion that the Phobos be rigged as a bluewater steamship and sailed 500 km across the Azure Sea to Ostafjord, where it can hide at the village of Westlee, since it can't be effectively defended on the beach.  Ilse agrees, reluctantly, and asks for Khaled to accompany the Phobos for protection.

Grayson and Brasednewic agree that Devic Erudin will go to rebel HQ at Fox Island by skimmer, with the wounded, while Grayson and his troops follow the rebels through the jungle, via logging trails.  Grayson also takes time to discipline McCall for having been too busy watching the ground battle to notice incoming fighters.  He assigns him to the Phobos, to help re-rig the fusion engine to produce steam.

Notes:  The unit structure terminology clearly hadn't been established yet.  As part of Klein and Sherman's backstory, Keith says they'd been part of an LCAF AeroSpace Fighter wing that tangled with two squadrons of Slayers, and went mercenary after they emerged as the sole survivors.  Per Total Warfare, a wing is 36 fighters and a squadron is six fighters, so 12 Combine fighters managed to take out 34 Lyran ones.  It's not as though it was heavy fighters taking out light ones, either, since the pair fly heavy Chippewas.

Ilse sports a tattoo of blue wings over her eyes, reflecting popular styles in her native Free Worlds League.  Forehead tattoos featured heavily in the House Marik sourcebook (particularly with Janos' big honkin' Marik Eagle on his forehead), but the cultural element wasn't really spotlighted in subsequent works. 

The courier ship confirms my earlier supposition that author William Keith did not factor the existence of ComStar's HPG network into his early works at all.  Somewhat ironic, since a ComStar Precentor was his lead villain in The Price of Glory.  From "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," we know Galatea has a HPG.  So does this mean Verthandi isn't on ComStar's grid in 3025?

It's nice to see the Combine forces acting competently.  Redirecting the ship to the airless moon, searching it, offloading the cargo and bringing it to Verthandi on Combine ships would be a perfect counter to any potential raider, and keep the rebels from smuggling in weapons or other offworld support.  It's also made clear that there are deep philosophical differences regarding the proper use of support forces - combined arms vs. pure 'Mech.  The odd thing is that there doesn't seem to be any official DCMS policy on this - leaving it up to each commander how they configure their forces.

Brainwashing seems to be a reasonably common tactic.  Rebel commander Brasednewic worries that Erudin could be a "brain-channeled" mole for the Combine, hoping to infiltrate the rebels.  So the Word of Blake didn't originate the techniques for making unwilling double agents.

Between the accent and alleged tinkering ability, it's clear Keith intended McCall as a direct shout-out to Star Trek's Scotty.  Given that this was written only a year or so after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home came out, McCall's reaction to being asked to reconfigure the Phobos seems modeled on Scotty's reaction on being asked to refit the Klingon Bird of Prey to accommodate whales.

The entry onto Verthandi is one of the major battle sequences from Mercenary's Star, showcasing both space and ground combat.  It serves to establish the Combine forces as well equipped but riven by internal discord, and lets Grayson demonstrate tactical acumen in an important early victory for the nascent Legion, while also cementing the unit's ties to the rebels.
« Last Edit: 08 April 2015, 01:08:51 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1121 on: 07 April 2015, 21:21:20 »
LCAF Wing = 18 fighters
DCMS Wing = 36 fighters

Still bad for the Commonwealth, but not too bad, depending on the makeup of the wing.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1122 on: 08 April 2015, 06:41:42 »
I still call it amazing.  Its been years since i read the Gray Death Novels.  The creativity in them still gets me.  Who would have thought of rigging a dropship as a steam ship?  Given what been discuss about buoyancy of Dropships, this setup would make sense given how poor of resources the rebels have. 

William H. Keith was great writer for his time, his style sometimes threw me off not knowing when anything was happening, but i think I've been spoiled by later books that specify when and where things are happening.

Thanks for writing this up, Mendrugo!
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1123 on: 08 April 2015, 06:48:31 »
We know from Ardath Mayhar's essay about writing The Sword and the Dagger that the early authors got boxed sets of the game. And we know from Tales of the Black Widow Company that these were apparently Battledroids, not BattleTech 2nd Ed. boxed sets (because the first incarnations of the Super Wasp and Super Griffin were obviously built conforming to Battledroids construction rules).

I mention this because Battledroids did mention the five Successor States, but did not (as far as I recall) mention ComStar at all.

Keith was heavily involved in fleshing out the BT universe. It is conceivable that he even played a part in creating ComStar for BattleTech in the first place, as, like you said, the plot of The Price of Glory heavily relies on such a powerful techno church pulling the strings behind the scenes.

That said, we've often been told that ComStar messages can take weeks to arrive, depending on how many relay HPGs they pass through (and how much money you're prepared to pay). To a degree, courier JumpShips always made sense and my impression is that they always existed, even if marginalized by HPGs.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1124 on: 10 April 2015, 23:11:10 »
----- The Same Day -----

Date: October 25, 3025

Location: Verthandi

Title: Blockade Runner

Author: William H. Keith, Jr.

Type: Scenario

Synopsis:  This AeroTech scenario pits the Phobos and its two Chippewa escorts against Admiral Kodo's blockade.  The Kuritan force consists of the Leopard-class DCS Xao, the Leopard-class DCS Subotai, four SL-17 Shilone fighters, and four SL-15 Slayer fighters.  The blockading forces have the Xao and two Shilones in space (the patrol sent out by Captain Powell), 2 Slayers in planetary orbit, 2 Slayers on the ground, 1 Shilone on the moon, and one Shilone in lunar orbit.

The Combine player wins by preventing the Phobos from landing on Verthandi (whether by destroying it, capturing it, or otherwise preventing it from landing.)

The Combine force is initially not on alert, and believes the Phobos to be the Li Tao, a mercenary supply ship with equipment for the Verthandi garrison.  The Combine player rolls a 2D6 once per turn, and get suspicious on a 10+.  The Combine player may not launch the planet or moon-based forces to intercept the Phobos until that time, and is limited to sending two already spaceborne fighters to escort the "Li Tao" to the base on Verthandi-Alpha.  If the Phobos deviates from a course towards Verthandi-Alpha, the Combine immediately becomes suspicious and may scramble everything.

Historically, the Combine force sent Patrol One-Nine (aka "Flight One-Niner") to escort the Phobos.  It consisted of the Xao's two Shilones, piloted by Lt. Kestrel Syrnan and his wingman, Smetnov, and was burned down by the Phobos before they could do any damage.  The Xao then engaged briefly before whipping around Verthandi - giving the Phobos time to deploy its Chippewas.  The Slayers in Verthandi's orbit then engaged the Chippewas, using the Slayers on the surface to flank the Legion craft, crippling one Chippewa, but losing a Slayer in return.  The remaining three Slayers then made two strafing runs on the Phobos (losing another Slayer in the process), with the Xao joining in the second attack.  The Phobos destroyed a third Slayer as they entered the atmosphere, but it had been on an intercept course and crashed into the Phobos' hull, rupturing fuel tanks.  The DCS Subotai and the Shilones based at Verthandi-Alpha were not able to join the battle in time.

Notes:  The Phobos is identified as a 3,200 ton "converted freight-haul shell" with 3/5 thrust/overthrust, 6 'Mech bays, 2 fighter bays, Armor of Nose/Right/Left/Fuselage/Engine:80/80/80/140/40, 4 LRM-20s, 8 Medium Lasers, and 1 Large Laser.  By contrast, a 3,500 ton Buccaneer has the same movement profile, armor of 50/40/40/64/30, 1 LRM-5, 1 Large Laser, 6 Medium Lasers, and 2 Small Lasers.  All things considered, the Phobos has significantly better armor and firepower than the nearest equivalent commercial DropShip.  Heck, the Phobos even has more armor and guns than the 11,200 ton Mule or a 52,000 ton Mammoth.  My guess is that whatever class the Phobos is, it's preferred by smugglers who may have to survive a firefight with customs officials if things go south (though granted, it's "converted," and probably has as much in common with an unarmed stock freight haul shell as the Millennium Falcon has with a stock YT-100 freighter).  Tor and his brothers were, after all, smugglers in the FWL before backing the losing side of the Anton/Janos civil war and having to flee to the Periphery.

The Legion player should carry the ruse as far as possible, and then make a run for it either as soon as the Combine player gets a 10+, or as soon as they see a large enough hole open up in the Combine defenses for them to make a break for it.  The random element prevents any advisory opinions on when that might be. 

For the Combine player, I would recommend assigning the Slayers to the escort role, because their weaponry is primarily close-ranged, whereas the  Shilones have LRM-20s and Large Lasers - enabling them to engage from further away.  Since you're prohibited from "approaching or following" the Phobos until the alert is sounded, I would advise moving to keep the Leopard and its two Shilone escorts directly between the Phobos and its direct vector to Verthandi at all times.  ("Keep your distance.  Just don't look like you're keeping your distance.")  I would also advise having the Shilone in lunar orbit break away immediately and join the Leopard group.  When the Phobos comes barreling towards Verthandi, you'll only have a few turns to shoot it before it hits the atmosphere, so you want maximum concentration of firepower for those few turns to burn through its extra-thick armor.  Plus, by already being in intercept position, you won't have to come in on a high velocity pass and waste time looping around the planet as you decelerate.

While the GDL novels lack dates, the tie-in scenarios from the Gray Death Legion scenario pack helpfully fill in that data, so from this scenario, we can date the Legion's arrival on Verthandi to October 25, 3025.  The scenario fluff also dates the beginning of the Verthandian revolt to mid-3023, and clarifies that Verthandi was part of a fief belonging to Duke Hassid Alexander Ricol - a "minor lord" in the Combine.

Several elements of the blockade running engagement seem to be influenced by Star Wars.  The Phobos is a converted freighter used for smuggling (Phobos = Millennium Falcon), the "friendly supply ship" is using older codes, which are still accepted (Phobos = Shuttle Tyderium).

The Combine lost three of the four Slayers listed in the Combine TO&E for the space engagement, but were able to bring another two Slayers to attack the Legion at Hunter's Point, so it doesn't appear that the Combine put 100% of its aerospace assets into the blockade.  This is actually not terribly surprising, given the exceedingly poor level of internal coordination shown between various elements of the Combine forces thus far.
« Last Edit: 11 April 2015, 07:17:28 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1125 on: 11 April 2015, 12:48:52 »
Hmm, would a Danai/Trojan DropShip be good ship to use for the Phobos ?  Trojan is a converted armed version of the civilian version of the Union.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1126 on: 11 April 2015, 13:35:45 »
Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents expressly spelled out that the Phobos was a Danais modified to Trojan specs; the Phobos is even mentioned in the writeup as an example for Trojans trying to mimick Unions.

Bit of trivia on the sidelines: While the Phobos was positively confirmed to have been converted to a proper Trojan, its sister ship Deimos was noted to be unable to carry fighters (more precisely, the Phobos was said to be the only vessel capable of carrying them). So while both ships may have been Danais-class cargo vessels initially, and both were converted into armed vessels, they weren't converted to the same configuration and the Deimos was not a straight Trojan conversion. (Both the Danais and its Trojan variant have two small craft bays.)
« Last Edit: 11 April 2015, 13:43:20 by Frabby »
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1127 on: 11 April 2015, 23:50:33 »
----- Two Days Later -----

Date: October 27, 3025

Location: Verthandi

Title: Mercenary's Star

Author: William H. Keith

Type: Novel

Synopsis: Grayson and crew spent the 26th repairing their BattleMechs, unloading supplies and equipment from the Phobos, and rigging the DropShip for operations on the Azure Sea.  The sun had already set again and a storm was rising by the time it set sail for the Skraelingas River, where it could hide from surveillance satellites at a cove in Ostafjord. 

As the Phobos set sail, the Legion troops and rebels moved off overland along logging trails through 400 kilometers of the Silvan Basin's jungles to the Verthandian Revolutionary Council's secret base.  On the morning of the 27th, they arrived at Fox Island - a large wedge of solid ground at the confluence of a pair of rivers flowing from the foot of the Bluesward Plateau, dominated by Gunnar Ericksson's Fox Island Plantation. 

To hide the 'Mechs from Kuritan patrols and satellites, the rebels (given advance notice by Devic Erudin), are erecting buildings - the work still concealed by lingering rainclouds.  The rebel leadership greets Grayson warmly.  They consist of Gunnar Ericksson, who plays the role of a Loyalist landowner while providing a base of operations to the rebels, General James "Jungle Jim" Thorvald, an ex-member of the Council of Academicians now commanding a rebel army in the area north of the Bluesward, Carlotta Helgameyer - current member of the Council of Academicians and rebel spy in Regis, Dr. Karl Olssen, commander of a rebel band in the eastern Vrieshaven District, and Devic Erudin.

The rebels tell Grayson they have a large army, weapons, and popular support, but lack specialized training or equipment.  Grayson explains his contract with Erudin was to provide two months of training in anti-'Mech warfare.  Helgameyer complains that Grayson's actions at Hunter's Cape have breached the contract, on the grounds that the revolutionary council cannot afford to pay the Legion to engage in combat.  Grayson says they were just defending themselves, and will not charge the Council for it, though he does ask if the Legion can obtain repairs at the Council's machine shops.  The council members quibble about whether the battle damage qualifies as "routine resupply and maintenance," but eventually concede.

Having set the terms of the contract, the rebels lead the Legion to caves beneath the northern end of Fox Island, where the Ericksson 'Mech factory is hidden, and where metal ores block satellite and other scans.  The exhausted Legionnaires set up barracks there and get some much needed sleep.

Notes: Erudin notes that the rebels have been fighting Kuritan soldiers on Verthandi for nearly ten years, which contradicts the notation in "Blockade Runner" that the revolt started in 3023.  The justification given for the revolt is that the Kuritan government is stripping the world bare - carrying jute, rubber, garlbean, cotton, coffee, cacao, kevla, bananas, sugarcane, grovacas, rice, and blueleaf offworld, and returning with more DCMS garrison troops.  According to the establishing text, the Kuritan mercantilism has resulted in economic collapse, and many plantations have been abandoned and fallen into ruin.  This is consistent with the portrayal of Combine economic policies as described in The Galtor Campaign - turning subjugated worlds into starving ghettos where a conquered populace will have to spend all their efforts focusing on survival, with no resources left over for resistance.  The Combine cares more about control than growth, and sustainability is not a serious concern.

I think this, more than anything else, is what establishes the Draconis Combine as the primary "black hat" faction of the 3025 setting.  Based on House Kurita's philosophies, a total victory by the Combine would result, long term, in an Inner Sphere of ecologically devastated, uninhabitable worlds, where subhuman drones scrabble for survival in poisoned landscapes.  A few islands of prosperity may remain, where scheming lords compose haiku, engage in honor duels, and cultivate bonsai amid exquisite teak and jade palaces (all those resources looted from other worlds has to go somewhere), but Combine culture (as depicted in 3025-era materials) would be a dead end for human society.  This is the message that Morgan Kell hammered home in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," forecasting that the Succession Wars would result in the collapse of society (as seen on Pencader in "Straw Man").

Keith focused a lot on the strategic importance of surveillance satellites in this book.  The current ruleset makes them useful, but vulnerable to electronic countermeasures.  Those were in short supply in 3025, so satellites should have been even more useful.  One wonders, then, about the ubiquity of "recon" 'Mechs such as the Ostscout, Locust, Wasp, Stinger, etc.  In an environment with satellites, what's the point of having slightly faster outriders on the ground?  They're useful for maneuver, but not really for reconnaissance.  (Heck, even scouts on hover-skimmers can cover more ground more unobtrusively than an Ostscout.)
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1128 on: 12 April 2015, 06:26:21 »
----- The Next Day -----

Date: October 28, 3025

Location: Verthandi

Title: Mercenary's Star

Author: William H. Keith

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Grayson assesses the rebel base in the underground cavern - a 50-meter high chamber with 'Mech simulators, 'Mech repair cradles, eight 60-ton quad-legged LoggerMechs, six other assorted AgroMechs, a Stinger, a Dervish, two Phoenix Hawks, a Warhammer, two Wasps, and a Locust.  The AgroMechs are equipped with jury-rigged autocannons and machine guns.

At this point, the Gray Death Legion's primary mission is to train the rebels.  Grayson meets and assesses the Free Verthandi Rangers, a mix of grizzled veterans and raw recruits, some as young as twelve.  Grayson notes Dr. Karl Olssen's 15-year old son, Harriman, among them.  Grayson is leery of being able to train the Rangers into a coherent fighting force within the two months specified by the contract.  After a few weeks of intensive training, they'll be able to maneuver, but he's worried they'll be slaughtered if they go into battle without the years of academy and field experience they opponents enjoy.

Meanwhile, out at sea, Ilse Martinez continues to push the Phobos across the Azure Sea through choppy seas and driving rain.  Noticing Tech Groton vomiting on the deck, she orders him to schedule a full scrub down of all decks after they make landfall and curses her current situation.

In the cave, Sergeant Ramage takes charge of training the three squads of Ranger trainees designated for training as an elite anti-'Mech commando force.  He demonstrates a satchel charge - eight kilograms of C-90 plastique, four detonators, and a fuse igniter with a six second delay.  He scales the leg of a moving Stinger and jams a demonstration charge into its exposed knee joint to showcase a "kneecapping" maneuver.

Having instilled the trainees with confidence, Ramage then takes Grayson aside and expresses concern that such confidence will almost certainly get them killed.  Elsewhere in the cave, Grayson sees Lori Kalmar chewing out a 'Mech pilot trainee who has managed to get the two front legs of a LoggerMech tangled.  Ramage and Grayson discuss their situation - with the damage to the Phobos, they won't be able to leave for months, if at all, and there's a very real chance that Governor General Nagumo could wipe out the rebels in that timeframe.  The only way for the Legion to survive is to help ensure that the rebels are victorious.

Notes: Mercenary's Star introduced both AgroMechs and the concept of adding jury-rigged weaponry to them.  This has been used several other times in BattleTech fiction (a Historical: War of 3039 sidebar noted the successful use of the Grommet-class AgroMech against Combine forces, a farmgirl (Callie from "Camacho's Caballeros") uses a Linesman to stampede a herd of aurochs into pirates, and Periphery farmers on Randall's Regret try to use AgroMechs to fend off a bandit, and end up getting ripped apart by an UrbanMech), most prominently in the early years of the Dark Age setting, when rival Republic of the Sphere factionettes relied heavily on retrofitted WorkMechs.  As far as I'm aware, we've never gotten official statistics on the 60-ton "boxcar shaped" LoggerMechs, which are distinct from the humanoid 70-ton LM Lumberjack and 30-ton ED-X Crosscut designs.  My guess is they're centered on an open-topped cargo bay that can hold cut logs, with mechanical manipulator arms for cutting logs and lift hoists for maneuvering them into the cargo bay. 

Keith apparently changed his backstory for Carlyle's Commandos between "Decision at Thunder Rift" and "Mercenary's Star."  Whereas numerous references implied the Commandos were an independent lance-sized unit of the LCAF at the time they were assigned to Trellwan, Grayson's recollections here explicitly described as an independent BattleMech mercenary company. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Wrangler

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1129 on: 13 April 2015, 10:21:04 »
Isn't Mercenary unit generally referred to as Mercenary Company as in business not necessary size of a force?
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1130 on: 13 April 2015, 11:15:16 »
----- Five Days Later -----

Date: November 2, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Sturtevant

Title: The Hungry Dogs

Author: Jack Herman

Type: Graphic Novel

Synopsis:  The story opens as a 2nd Crucis Lancers' Valkyrie and Vindicator take down a Capellan Dervish, then shoot down its reconnaissance ship.  The Vindicator pilot, Corporal Nazarine Lugosi, worries that this spy mission may mean another war is coming.  At the 2nd's temporary operational HQ on the world of Sturtevant, in the Capellan March, Commander Tremens discusses Lugosi with his command staff, expressing concern that the recent loss of her family's heirloom Griffin may have left her with psychological issues, despite her having captured a Capellan Vindicator as a replacement.

Commander Tremens assigns her to command Abel Company (explicitly not promoting her from Corporal), which is the "last stop for every loser, weakling, troublemaker, and problem child in the entire regiment."  In the Abel Company locker room, Cyrill welcomes Spono - a violent, mustachioed Valkyrie pilot.  Spono demands that Cyrill, also a Valkyrie pilot, give all of his spare parts to him to keep his ride fully operational.  When Cyrill objects, Spono beats him until Nash arrives on the scene and beats Spono senseless - defending his friend Cyrill. 

Lugosi calls the company to attention and gives them an inspection and pep talk.  The inspection is interrupted by a combat alert, summoning officers to the briefing area.  Miller's Marauders is in the process of capturing the Capellan mining colony on Tibolt.  The 2nd Crucis Lancers has been directed to provide limited covert assistance to help the mercenaries overcome the Capellan Hussars' defense of Refinery City.  Tremens asks for a lance to volunteer to insert into the mountains to hit isolated Capellan 'Mech units that are moving from outlying settlements to reinforce the Hussars.  Lugosi volunteers Abel Company's Dog Lance, then returns to the barracks to tell them to load up and be ready to depart in ten minutes. 

Notes:  Confusingly, the establishing narrative describes the date as "Along the Cappellan [sic] border in the year 3015.  (3025 currently.)"  There are any number of ways to interpret that, including that this is a story set in 3015, while the "now" of the BattleTech universe is 3025, or that a flashback event took place in 3015, but the rest of the story is in 3025.  Arguing against the 3015 timeframe is one character's musing that "perhaps another war is in the offing," since the 3rd Succession War was still going strong in 3015, but had just ended (with the conclusion of the Galtor Campaign) in 3025.  The final element arguing for a 3025 timeframe is the presence of a Hatchetman in one of the panels, since that design didn't make its battlefield debut until 3025, and would have been an anachronism in 3015. 

As is typical for a BlackThorne comic, the 'Mechs are on model, but the personnel don't come anywhere close to matching the uniforms pictured in the House sourcebooks.  Clearly, the comics and the sourcebooks were in parallel development.  The Crucis Lancers commander wears a long flowing robe, while Lugosi wears a jazzercise leotard and tights (all she needs is legwarmers).  Even the dress uniforms are...unusually colored.  If Ardan objected to his Davion Brigade of Guards dress uniform, imagine what he'd have thought of the Crucis Lancers' pink uniforms with yellow piping.

For all its claims of moral superiority, some AFFS units don't seem much different than the Legions of Vega. 
« Last Edit: 13 April 2015, 20:51:17 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1131 on: 13 April 2015, 11:23:50 »
Isn't Mercenary unit generally referred to as Mercenary Company as in business not necessary size of a force?

I suppose from a combined arms perspective, Carlyle's Commandos qualified as a combined arms company, with one 'Mech lance, one armor lance, and four infantry platoons.  But having a Leopard to carry all that around implies that "Lance" was their defining structural parameter.
« Last Edit: 13 April 2015, 11:31:00 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1132 on: 14 April 2015, 12:29:24 »
----- The Same Day -----

Date: November 2, 3025

Location: Sian

Title: The Hungry Dogs

Author: Jack Herman

Type: Graphic Novel

Synopsis:  On Sian, a representative from Ceres Metals meets with the Capellan Minister of Economics to discuss the situation on Tibolt.  The Economics Minister hedges on earlier promises to grant Ceres Metals exclusive mining rights to the world, and tells the Ceres Metals representative access will be granted as soon as the Chancellor gives approval.  The Ceres Metals representative storms out, expressing doubt that the Confederation still controls Tibolt and threatening to do business with whoever does. 

The Minister presses a switch to open a secret passage, takes a candle, and proceeds down a musty stone corridor to a military command center, and informs Strategic Military Director Pavel Ridzik of Ceres Metals' ultimatum.  Ridzik (referred to here as "Colonel Ridzil") dismisses the corporate threat, saying the real problem is that Miller's Marauders are on the verge of overrunning Refinery City.  The Minister wonders why House Davion would dare to attack Tibolt, when the planet offers nothing of vital importance.  Ridzik speculates that the Federated Suns want a new war after years of relative peace, or are testing the CCAF's resolve.

Notes:  Sporting a pink flowing robe, skullcap, massive triple-pronged collar, and (blink...blink) blue skin, it appears the Minister of Economy for the Confederation is...Ming the Merciless?  That would go a long way towards explaining FASAnomics.  >:D 

Skin aside (either a coloring error or the colorist assuming the BattleTech universe had humanoid aliens), I guess the "Ming" ensemble isn't technically too fashion forward for the Confederation, given some of the other styles showcased in the House Liao sourcebook (see below).  Per the House Liao sourcebook, there isn't a "Ministry of Economy" per se.  The closest equivalent (for the purposes of this scene) would be the Ministry of Resources, which oversees mining.  However, that Ministry is headquartered on Sarna.  The Ministry headquartered on Sian is the Ministry of Information Standards, which has nothing to do with the natural resources Ceres Metals is seeking. 

Perhaps "Minister of Economy" is a liaison position that comes with a really ludicrous outfit, a jar of skin dye, and responsibility for being yelled at by greedy tycoons.  I can see the Minister of Resources creating such a position so he doesn't have to deal with such headaches.  "Ming" also refers to the "Minister of Geology," which is another portfolio that would fall under Ministry of Resources jurisdiction.  I shudder to think what sort of outfit/dye combination that guy had to put up with. :)  (In more realistic terms, the "Minister of Geology" and "Minister of Economy" are probably functional titles for assorted Deputy Ministers of Resources, depending on what portfolios they cover.)

The Ceres Metals representative isn't named, but is more than likely Duke Kingston Rivoli.  He's said to enjoy friendly personal relations with the Chancellor and his family.  Without such connections, I can't think threatening a Capellan minister would be a healthy pastime.  Then again, since the guy on the receiving end of the tirade isn't actually a "real" Minister, but effectively an ombudsman in a clown suit, perhaps such bluster is expected.

The use of a candle-lit secret passage when there's no real need for such is odd, but does lay the groundwork for there being a network of secret passages and hidden command bunkers within the Capellan royal palace.  This becomes highly relevant when the palace is obliterated by orbital bombardment during the Jihad, but Sun-Tzu manages to get into a safety bunker in time and survives to lead his people against the Blakist scourge.

Based on Minister Ming's commentary, Tibolt is on the border between the Federated Suns and the Capellan Confederation, and control has been disputed.  The Confederation settled the world and established it as a mining colony, but the Federated Suns is now attacking. 

It seems odd that Ridzik would refer to recent years as being "relatively peaceful" on the Capellan/FedSuns front.  3025 has seen heavy fighting for Redfield and Stein's Folly.  The AFFS attacked Epsilon Eridani and Fletcher in 3024.  Marshigama's Legionnaires raided New Aragon in 3024.  McCarron's Long March took place from 3022 - 3023.  That being said, Chancellor Maximilian met with Duke Michael Hasek-Davion in 3022 and negotiated an effective cessation of hostilities out of the Capellan March, so that's probably what Ridzik's concerned about - he wonders if Duke Michael is planning to break his word and end the peace.  Ridzik may also be worried that the strike on Tibolt is part of Hanse Davion's plan to get revenge on the Confederation for Operation DOPPLEGANGER.
« Last Edit: 15 April 2015, 07:21:28 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1133 on: 22 April 2015, 04:35:39 »
Just a quick note - reviews will return this weekend after the delegation for which I'm the control officer is successfully wheels-up and back to D.C.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1134 on: 22 April 2015, 13:40:57 »
Continuing to enjoy your insights (and clown suited ombudsmen), Mendrugo. :) And best of luck for your delegation!

Quinton asks if it's wise for Chiba to come out to the front in person, since they're still under fire, and the Lancers Legion trooper responds "Only if you think House Marik is dangerous." 

Probably a sarcastic rejoinder in the vein of "do pigs fly?" and "is the sky blue."

Nagumo's uniform is described as "the severe, utilitarian black of a high-ranking officer of the Draconis Combine."  As with other early Keith books, this is contradicted by the House Kurita sourcebook, which indicates that all Combine officers wear the white uniform with red striping.  Of note, Nagumo's uniform bears kana symbols spelling out "Kurita" and "Duke Ricol," which would imply that he's part of Duke Ricol's household forces, which are subservient to the will of the Coordinator.

 ???
From House Kurita: The Draconis Combine pdf (FASA 1620, emphasis mine):

"The basic color for the senior officer’s uniform is black, and
it follows the same design as the officer’s service branch. For
example, an Infantry General wears a black standard Kurita
infantry uniform. Unlike uniforms of the other Successor States,
Kurita uniforms have few trappings. Medals and decorations are
worn only on the dress uniform.
The chief component of the senior officer’s uniform is the
high-collared black tunic. On each shoulder are the black-on-red
dragon symbol of the Draconis Combine and gold katakana
symbols describing House Kurita and the officer’s Military District
Warlord
. These are the only touches of color on the uniform
besides the rank insignia, which is worn on the uniform’s left
collar."

So does this mean Verthandi isn't on ComStar's grid in 3025?

That seems reasonable. Both it and Trell are relatively small and peripheral; I wouldn't be surprised if other such worlds also lack HPGs.

Quote
The entry onto Verthandi is one of the major battle sequences from Mercenary's Star, showcasing both space and ground combat. 

Ties in very well with 1st edition AeroTech.

Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents expressly spelled out that the Phobos was a Danais modified to Trojan specs; the Phobos is even mentioned in the writeup as an example for Trojans trying to mimick Unions.

From what I remember of the novel, both the Phobos and the Deimos were stripped down Unions. (The stats cited by Mendrugo bear that out pretty clearly.) It's weird that a later sourcebook would turn the concept of "demilitarized Union" into a whole separate class of ships.

Erudin notes that the rebels have been fighting Kuritan soldiers on Verthandi for nearly ten years, which contradicts the notation in "Blockade Runner" that the revolt started in 3023. 

Those particular rebels might predate the current revolt.

Quote
I think this, more than anything else, is what establishes the Draconis Combine as the primary "black hat" faction of the 3025 setting.  Based on House Kurita's philosophies, a total victory by the Combine would result, long term, in an Inner Sphere of ecologically devastated, uninhabitable worlds, where subhuman drones scrabble for survival in poisoned landscapes.
<snip>
This is the message that Morgan Kell hammered home in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," forecasting that the Succession Wars would result in the collapse of society (as seen on Pencader in "Straw Man").

Very interesting thought.

Quote
In an environment with satellites, what's the point of having slightly faster outriders on the ground? 

Well, as we're seen with Keith and HPGs, the fact that a technology exists doesn't mean that it's being used to its utmost. (Plus the usual arguments: there's things you can see from the ground that you can't from orbit, a ground-based recon unit can act on intelligence immediately, and hovercraft may be faster than 'Mechs but they can't go everywhere a 'Mech can.)

Keith apparently changed his backstory for Carlyle's Commandos between "Decision at Thunder Rift" and "Mercenary's Star."  Whereas numerous references implied the Commandos were an independent lance-sized unit of the LCAF at the time they were assigned to Trellwan, Grayson's recollections here explicitly described as an independent BattleMech mercenary company.

Expanded, but not contradicted: the Commandos were an LCAF lance on Trellwan, and a mercenary unit when he was a child. Given that Grayson also refers to his unit (both the House lance and the merc unit) as "the regiment," I doubt that "company" or "regiment" were meant as explicit force sizes.

I suppose from a combined arms perspective, Carlyle's Commandos qualified as a combined arms company, with one 'Mech lance, one armor lance, and four infantry platoons.  But having a Leopard to carry all that around implies that "Lance" was their defining structural parameter.

On the other hand, when the Gray Death Legion had two companies of 'Mechs, it was always referred to as "combined arms regiment" rather than a short battalion.

Arguing against the 3015 timeframe is one character's musing that "perhaps another war is in the offing," since the 3rd Succession War was still going strong in 3015, but had just ended (with the conclusion of the Galtor Campaign) in 3025. 

I'm pretty sure the 3rd War wasn't recognized to have "ended" until the 4th war actually started, and the term "Succession War" shouldn't prevent major conflicts along a single border from being described as wars in their own right. At the very least there's the Marik Civil War, and IIRC the Dragoons' conflict with the Combine was referred to as a "private war."

It seems odd that Ridzik would refer to recent years as being "relatively peaceful" on the Capellan/FedSuns front.  3025 has seen heavy fighting for Redfield and Stein's Folly.  The AFFS attacked Epsilon Eridani and Fletcher in 3024.  Marshigama's Legionnaires raided New Aragon in 3024.  McCarron's Long March took place from 3022 - 3023.  That being said, Chancellor Maximilian met with Duke Michael Hasek-Davion in 3022

McCarron's Long March (which might not stir up the border) is the only major action there; the rest of it probably does qualify as "relatively peaceful."
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1135 on: 22 April 2015, 16:16:01 »
From what I remember of the novel, both the Phobos and the Deimos were stripped down Unions. (The stats cited by Mendrugo bear that out pretty clearly.) It's weird that a later sourcebook would turn the concept of "demilitarized Union" into a whole separate class of ships.
Nope, both ships were initially explicitly described as mere freighters; in Decision at Thunder Rift Renfred Tor and Lori Kalmar independently of each other narrate how the ships were waylaid in a transit system and crudely upgraded with bolted-on weapons. In Mercenary's Star, painting the Phobos up as a fake Union more or less was what got the Kurita spy's attention on Galatea in the first place.

AeroTech gave us the Verthandi breakthrough scenario with additional stats for those so far unnamed freighters "outwardly resembling" a Union, including 3200 tons of mass. This stat block was then finally named as the Trojan variant of the Danais cargo ship twenty years later.

Expanded, but not contradicted: the Commandos were an LCAF lance on Trellwan, and a mercenary unit when he was a child. Given that Grayson also refers to his unit (both the House lance and the merc unit) as "the regiment," I doubt that "company" or "regiment" were meant as explicit force sizes.

On the other hand, when the Gray Death Legion had two companies of 'Mechs, it was always referred to as "combined arms regiment" rather than a short battalion.
Again, different sources attributed to Keith are inconsistent. The first book leaves the question open with implications Carlyle's Commandos were a Steiner house unit, while the second and later books looking back explicitly call them mercs. Herb Beas made a canonical FASA two-step ruling as explained here.

I'm pretty sure the 3rd War wasn't recognized to have "ended" until the 4th war actually started, and the term "Succession War" shouldn't prevent major conflicts along a single border from being described as wars in their own right. At the very least there's the Marik Civil War, and IIRC the Dragoons' conflict with the Combine was referred to as a "private war."
The end of the 3rd SW was arbitrarily, but nevertheless canonically noted down as the year 3025 even though nothing special happened in that year.
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BrokenMnemonic

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1136 on: 23 April 2015, 03:50:18 »
That seems reasonable. Both it and Trell are relatively small and peripheral; I wouldn't be surprised if other such worlds also lack HPGs.
Trell seems to be an insignificant world in the 3020s, but according to the maps in Handbook: House Steiner, Trell I was the administrative capital of the Trellshire province of the Tamar Pact from at least 2822 through til 3025. It seems unlikely that one of the two/three provincial capitals of the Tamar Pact - the others being Tamar and Camlann in 2822, Tamar and Orkney in 2864, and Tamar in 3025 - would lack an HPG, because that would make it very difficult for it to effectively administrate anything offworld.

The 3030 map of the Commonwealth doesn't show administrative capitals below the major province level, although Trell I is still in the Trellshire region, but by the end of the War of 3039 the region had been reorganised along the March model and Trell I doesn't seem to have any particular significance. Given the rather impoverished appearance Trell I seems to have in the first Gray Death Legion novel, and the relative lack of defenders apparently assigned to it, I'd suggest that either it's role as an administrative capital/need for an HPG is either simply highlighting Keith not taking HPG communications into account, or as an alternative possibility, Trell I lost it's HPG at some point in the Third Succession War and staggered on as an administrative capital until it was replaced during the restructuring of the Commonwealth following the aliance with the Federated Suns, possibly because nobody cared enough to restructure the Trellshire region because of higher priorities elsewhere, like Tamar being on the front lines and the fairly determined efforts by the Combine to annex chunks of the Federation of Skye with all it's industrial manufacturing.

It's more interesting than optimal, and therefore better. O0 - Weirdo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1137 on: 23 April 2015, 22:03:00 »
according to the maps in Handbook: House Steiner, Trell I was the administrative capital of the Trellshire province of the Tamar Pact from at least 2822 through til 3025.

Then that book is in error. The Atlas in the back of House Steiner: The Lyran Commonwealth (FASA 1621) says Twycross (with a class B station) is the capital of Trellshire in 3025. You may be right that Trell I used to have an HPG, but that kind of loss fits first two succession wars better than the third.

Nope, both ships were initially explicitly described as mere freighters; in Decision at Thunder Rift Renfred Tor and Lori Kalmar independently of each other narrate how the ships were waylaid in a transit system and crudely upgraded with bolted-on weapons. In Mercenary's Star, painting the Phobos up as a fake Union more or less was what got the Kurita spy's attention on Galatea in the first place.
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3200 tons of mass. This stat block was then finally named as the Trojan variant of the Danais cargo ship twenty years later.

Removing equipment without replacing it could easily leave a ship lighter than it started; and a demilitarized Union could easily serve as a freighter and then have weapons bolted back on. That tells us nothing, whereas Mercenary's Star shows pretty explicitly that its only the lack of weapons which distinguishes the Phobos' hull from a Union's hull. If the Phobos were a different class entirely, we should expect expert observers to note obvious structural differences, like the arc of its hull, placement of bay doors, size and placement of thrusters, and so on.

"What was odd about that vessel?
There! It was difficult to see in the orange-dim light of Norn, but the vessel was rotating slightly, and the play of shadow against the hull cried out to Nagumo's experienced eye. That DropShip was no Union class. The particle projection cannons normally mounted on bow and flanks were missing. Paint had been artfully applied to imitate the weapons' shadows, but now that the ship had rolled, the angle of light made the disguise less convincing. There should be autocannons, too, but the vessel had none."


I could believe that there's a class whose hull resembles the Union's close enough to fool trained observers, but it strains credulity to think such a class (the Danais) doesn't somehow originate with the Union.

(Also: they didn't paint the ship as a fake Union until after they lifted off from Galatea.)

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AeroTech gave us the Verthandi breakthrough scenario with additional stats for those so far unnamed freighters "outwardly resembling" a Union,

My copy of AeroTech has four scenarios ("Close, But No cigar," "Scramble for Your Life," "Scenario Three" and "Scenario Four"), none of which mention Verthandi or include ship stats.

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Again, different sources attributed to Keith are inconsistent.

Keith could refer to the unit as a lance, company and regiment within a single paragraph and remain consistent, depending on what exactly each term refers to. The Lance could refer to the 'Mech Lance; the company to a combined arms company comprising the 'Mech Lance plus infantry; and regiment to whatever House regiment the lance was detached from, to whatever merc regiment it used to belong to, or as an abstract ideal unrelated to size.

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The first book leaves the question open with implications Carlyle's Commandos were a Steiner house unit, while the second and later books looking back explicitly call them mercs. Herb Beas made a canonical FASA two-step ruling as explained here.

The Commandos are referred to as a Commonwealth garrison lance, have a Steiner fist painted on their dropship (with the unit's patches on the 'Mech doors), their next duty station is Tharkad, and they've apparently served on Tharkad before - the implications are pretty unambiguous. Since Mercenary's Star only refers to them as mercs in Grayson's childhood, Herb's "two-step" there is superfluous; it also breaks continuity with Keith's use of "combined arms [unit size]."

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The end of the 3rd SW was arbitrarily, but nevertheless canonically noted down as the year 3025 even though nothing special happened in that year.

Apologies, I phrased that poorly. What I mean is that historians would have been chosen the year 3025 only in retrospect, and that soldiers serving in and around 3025 wouldn't think the war over yet.
Blog: currently working on BattleMech manufacturing rates. (Faction Intros project will resume eventually.)
History of BattleTech: Handy chart for returning players. (last updated end of 2012)

BrokenMnemonic

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1138 on: 24 April 2015, 01:27:45 »
Then that book is in error. The Atlas in the back of House Steiner: The Lyran Commonwealth (FASA 1621) says Twycross (with a class B station) is the capital of Trellshire in 3025. You may be right that Trell I used to have an HPG, but that kind of loss fits first two succession wars better than the third.
Canonically, new trumps old, and Handbook: House Steiner is the more recent of the two publications. It may be worth posing an Ask The Writer question to confirm which is correct, but the default should be the later publication unless errata has been raised to confirm otherwise.

It's more interesting than optimal, and therefore better. O0 - Weirdo

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1139 on: 24 April 2015, 04:07:22 »
From House Kurita: The Draconis Combine pdf (FASA 1620, emphasis mine):

"The basic color for the senior officer’s uniform is black, and
it follows the same design as the officer’s service branch. For
example, an Infantry General wears a black standard Kurita
infantry uniform. Unlike uniforms of the other Successor States,
Kurita uniforms have few trappings. Medals and decorations are
worn only on the dress uniform.
The chief component of the senior officer’s uniform is the
high-collared black tunic. On each shoulder are the black-on-red
dragon symbol of the Draconis Combine and gold katakana
symbols describing House Kurita and the officer’s Military District
Warlord
. These are the only touches of color on the uniform
besides the rank insignia, which is worn on the uniform’s left
collar."

Thanks for the clarification.  Looking into it, I see that my mistaken impression was that the dress uniform (the white with red accents) was the main uniform - reinforced by the fact that until yesterday, the black senior uniform had never been visually depicted - just the dress whites.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.