Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars  (Read 480669 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #330 on: 22 July 2013, 20:49:20 »
Hmmmm.... Re: Lyran Goliaths, Objectives: Lyran Alliance indicates that DefHes manufactures Goliaths circa 3079.  Perhaps if they're doing it now, they did it before.
"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  Unpublished.

Kamose

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #331 on: 22 July 2013, 23:13:31 »
Which, of course, contradicts what Stackpole wrote in the Warrior Trilogy. ;)
Just out of curiosity, how so?
Thanks,
Kamose

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #332 on: 23 July 2013, 01:44:26 »
Quote from: Warrior: En Garde, Ch 11
I’d known Arthur for years, but we’d just been friends, and so meeting him and Morgan on Poulsbo was a pleasant surprise.

This comes from Katrina's own mouth in a context in which she has no reason to lie, in fact she has every reason to be totally honest in the telling of the story to Jeana Clay. Not to mention that Arthur is seventeen years dead and Katrina has been securely on the throne for two decades by this point so there's no reason to keep it secret if they were an item prior to Poulsbo.

There are a couple of other inconsistencies as well. For instance, Katrina says she came to Poulsbo to dedicate a monument to the Stealths; in the Warrior Trilogy she says she was there for a simple base inspection, which is backed up by Handbook: House Steiner's account of the events.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #333 on: 23 July 2013, 05:28:01 »
She does actually inspect the base, but didn't stick around long enough to dedicate the memorial.  Perhaps the memory of what she actually accomplished colored her account to Jeana.
"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 #334 on: 23 July 2013, 06:14:18 »
----- Two Years Later -----

Date: June 17, 3007

Location: Rochelle

Title: Twins

Author: Stephen A. Frabartolo

Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  After a bruising defensive campaign on Rochelle, the Free Worlds League’s lawyers tried to confiscate privately owned ‘Mechs from mercenary forces under FWL contract, claiming that they contained salvaged components that were rightfully Marik property.  This caused McFinney’s Manglers to go rogue and rally an ad-hoc mercenary band to fight their way offworld.  Marik forces attacked the mercenaries, hoping to claim their equipment as salvage.

In this scenario, two Assault ‘Mechs (a Lone Wolves Charger and a 15th Marik Militia Awesome) duel on the outskirts of the Arzenburg starport.  If the duel goes beyond turn 21, reinforcements may arrive for each side, making it a lance-on-lance engagement.  The mercenary reinforcements (McFinney’s Manglers) notably include a young Captain Cranston Snord, formerly of Wolf's Dragoons.

Historically, the mercenary Charger managed to close with the slower Awesome and was winning when reinforcements arrived.  The combined mercenaries routed the Marik Militia, but unit commander Melvin McFinney died in the battle, leaving Cranston in charge of the mercenary band, which served as the basis for the famed Cranston Snord’s Irregulars.  The mercenaries fought their way to the starport and escaped, though the Charger pilot eventually had his ‘Mech confiscated by the FWL for outstanding debts after a failed Solaris VII career.

Notes:  This is a very interesting scenario, tactically.  The 1A1 Charger has long been derided as a useless boondoggle, with weak armor for its weight and a “popgun” laser array, all in service of its huge fusion engine, but this scenario appears to have been expressly designed to create a situation in which its normally sub-par configuration will be able to shine. 

With low gravity rules in effect, the Charger gets even faster (6/9), while the Awesome becomes 5/8.  The Awesome outguns and outarmors its opponent, but since it has only standard PPCs and no battle fists, the Marik unit gets into trouble once the battle moves to knife-fighting range.  The Charger also has an edge in durability, since it has very few internal systems to wreck and will keep fighting at more or less peak performance until it loses a leg, head, or center torso.  The Awesome will start losing PPCs more quickly than the Charger (the original zombie ‘Mech) loses small lasers.

The Charger must do everything possible to close before the Awesome’s PPCs start blowing holes in it, but once it gets up close and personal, the battle belongs to the Charger.  At that point, the Awesome’s best bet is to try to kick, since it has the same mass and could overcome the Charger’s maneuverability if it rips a leg off. 

For the Charger, it all comes down to how the Initiative plays out.  If it wins initiative, it just has to let the Awesome move, then swoop into the rear arc and go to town.  If the Awesome wins Initiative, the Charger will want to back off to a point where the Awesome can’t close and kick, but will have to consider the triple-PPC threat as well.  Fortunately, the battle will likely take place mostly on the River Delta 2 map, which has plenty of woods to provide cover.

The use of the 15th Marik Militia as the OpFor raises some questions.  FM:FWL notes that the 15th took massive casualties in 3002 during an invasion of Loric, and didn’t return to service until 3008.  Was it rebuilding on Rochelle?  Was it “not quite ready…but we’re desperate” and thrown into the fracas on Rochelle despite not being fully rebuilt?  Frabby?

The only “Special Unit Ability” that would apply would be the 15th Marik Militia’s ability to “Force the Initiative.”  Its other special abilities stem from post-3050 developments (anti-mercenary fervor and Blakist ties).  The Lone Wolves special ability (being able to bring half their troops onto the map off any edge except the enemy’s home edge, a minimum of five hexes away) could be applied, but it is specifically contradicted by the setup, and would result in a swift end for the poor Awesome, which would have the Charger right on top of it from the scenario’s inception.

This battle also establishes the grounds for the legendary enmity between the Free Worlds League and Snord’s Irregulars.  One wonders what Rhonda was doing during all this?  Was she with the rear-guard that followed Snord and the rest to the port?

The original timeline laid out in the Cranston Snord’s Irregulars scenario pack has Snord joining McFinney’s Manglers on Crossing in 3002.  However, it also established Snord as having been with Wolf’s Dragoons when they arrived in the Inner Sphere in 3005, so the timeline has been retconned to fit the Dragoon connections.  The CSI scenario pack placed the battle for Rochelle in 3003 which, again, doesn’t fit the Dragoon timeline.  Here we see that the battle for Rochelle took place over nine months from 3006-3007.
"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.

Kamose

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #335 on: 23 July 2013, 23:02:35 »
This comes from Katrina's own mouth in a context in which she has no reason to lie, in fact she has every reason to be totally honest in the telling of the story to Jeana Clay. Not to mention that Arthur is seventeen years dead and Katrina has been securely on the throne for two decades by this point so there's no reason to keep it secret if they were an item prior to Poulsbo.

There are a couple of other inconsistencies as well. For instance, Katrina says she came to Poulsbo to dedicate a monument to the Stealths; in the Warrior Trilogy she says she was there for a simple base inspection, which is backed up by Handbook: House Steiner's account of the events.
Thanks,RB. I didn't catch that.  I appreciate the citation, especially as it wast just to settle my curiosity.  Thanks again.
Kamose
« Last Edit: 23 July 2013, 23:10:11 by Kamose »

Frabby

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #336 on: 24 July 2013, 04:01:37 »
Oh, I had a ton of fun writing this one.

The core of the scenario - a duel between a Charger and an Awesome - was written by me back in 1999, precisely to shut up people who kept telling me how great the Aweseome was and how much the Charger sucked.
Rewriting it as a BattleCorps scenario, I took the opportunity to fix the train wreck that was the timeline of Snord's Irregulars and established a canonically correct year for the end of the Rochelle campaign. This was after I had worked on the Snord's Irregulars Sarna entry and wanted to pull my hair out over the inconsistencies and obvious errors in the timeline. While I was fixing it I also established what happened to Melvin McFinney, and since balancing required a Panther among the rebel mercs - somewhat unusual outside the DC - I couldn't resist to mention Toothpuller and its notable pilot here before Hansen's Roughriders were even formed. (Did anyone even notice that?) Similarly, the Lone Wolves profile fit the setup so perfectly that I just had to mention them here. I don't like pulling new merc units out of a hat when an existing one fits the bill.

Has anyone ever actually played this scenario? It was thoroughly playtested by me, but I'd be interested in feedback from others who look at it with fresh eyes.

The use of the 15th Marik Militia as the OpFor raises some questions.  FM:FWL notes that the 15th took massive casualties in 3002 during an invasion of Loric, and didn’t return to service until 3008.  Was it rebuilding on Rochelle?  Was it “not quite ready…but we’re desperate” and thrown into the fracas on Rochelle despite not being fully rebuilt?  Frabby?
Remember that at this point, the defense campaign on Rochelle is finished. These Marik house troops probably didn't fight, and were only sent there afterwards to reinforce House Marik's claim to the "salvage" 'Mechs of their own merc units. Which in turn sounds like a perfect assignment for a rebuilding Marik Militia regiment.
The actual truth of the matter is that the Marik unit was more or less chosen randomly from any federal/House units that could conceivably be sent to Rochelle in that year, because the BC submission template demands a unit be named. My own research didn't reveal that the 15th was gutted and inactive at this time, so that's a plain oversight on my behalf. It's easy to imagine, however, that House Marik threw virtually anything into the frantic defense of Rochelle, or that they were sent to sheepdog the exhausted mercs who were going to be ripped off.

The only “Special Unit Ability” that would apply would be the 15th Marik Militia’s ability to “Force the Initiative.”  Its other special abilities stem from post-3050 developments (anti-mercenary fervor and Blakist ties).  The Lone Wolves special ability (being able to bring half their troops onto the map off any edge except the enemy’s home edge, a minimum of five hexes away) could be applied, but it is specifically contradicted by the setup, and would result in a swift end for the poor Awesome, which would have the Charger right on top of it from the scenario’s inception.
Since initiative is pretty critical in this scenario, any ability affecting initiative would probably ruin the balance. I've never played with special unit abilities, for which I have a mild dislike (I feel they're kinda redundant, and only add extra rules). None are mentioned in the scenario setup, and they wouldn't (imho) apply to a 1:1 duel anyways.

This battle also establishes the grounds for the legendary enmity between the Free Worlds League and Snord’s Irregulars.  One wonders what Rhonda was doing during all this?  Was she with the rear-guard that followed Snord and the rest to the port?
I'm not even sure if Rhonda was with her father early on, or when she joined her father. Also, the Manglers were leading a loose coalition of mixed merc forces. We can't be sure, for example, if Carlyle was a Mangler, a Lone Wolf, individual merc, or affiliated with another merc unit at this point when she decided to throw her lot with the Manglers and make for the starport rather than have her 'Mech confiscated.
« Last Edit: 24 July 2013, 04:05:03 by Frabby »
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #337 on: 24 July 2013, 05:39:30 »
Thanks for the "behind the scenes" tour of the scenario, Frabby.  Much appreciated. 

The use of the 15th Marik Militia works for me.  If they've been rebuilding since 3002 and are fully restored by 3008, then they would certainly have a battalion or two good to go by 3007, and could have viewed this as a good exercise to build unit cohesion.

Rhonda's almost certainly around by this point.  In the setup for the first scenario pack mission, Rhonda is noted as having been the one to identify the ships carrying the musical instruments.  That's set in 3007 (though, to make it fit the revised chronology, I've moved it back to 3008).

Regrettably, I haven't played this scenario myself, but I hope to take my kids through all the scenarios once they're old enough.
"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 #338 on: 24 July 2013, 05:47:54 »
----- 1 Year Later -----

Date: April 11, 3008

Location: New Aragon

Title: Making a Name

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (Weapons Free – BattleCorps Anthology exclusive story)

Synopsis:  Wolf’s Dragoons MechWarrior Austen Roderick faces disciplinary action after demonstrating cowardice under fire and deserting during a battle against the Northwind Highlanders on New Aragon.  Rather than having him shot, Major Sarah Weisz (acting CO of Delta Regiment) strikes him from the rolls of Delta and reassigns him (along with several other troopers awaiting disciplinary action) to Colonel Frank Wells’ Zeta Battalion.  Zeta has a reputation for heavy action and high casualties, necessitating a high turnover in the “all-volunteer” force.  Now Roderick realizes where the “volunteers” come from.

On the CCAF side of the lines, Wasp pilot John Waco (of Waco’s Rangers) awakens to the sound of Dragoon artillery pounding the nearby positions of the Northwind Highlanders.   He’s accompanied by Hopper Delms, the former majordomo of House Waco’s estates in the Capellan Confederation, who volunteered to continue in service after the formation of the Waco Rangers (serving John, rather than Wayne, whom he despises).  Stinger pilot Haines Keebler rounds out John’s recon lance.

The overall battle isn’t going well for the CCAF.  Three Northwind Highlanders regiments, the reinforced company of the Waco Rangers, and Tikonov and Chesterton Reserves regiments are facing five Wolf’s Dragoons regiments and five full-strength AFFS Regimental Combat Teams – over a thousand ‘Mechs.  The only saving grace is that the CCAF maintains aerospace superiority (having upgraded substantially after the Great Lee Turkey Shoot) and is keeping AFFS DropShips from ferrying the ground troops over the mountains, resulting in a stalemate.  Keebler warns John that he found an unguarded route through the mountains – El Diablo Pass.

Back with the Dragoons, the Command group meets to discuss strategy – Wolf, Cameron (communications), Weisz (Delta), Korsht (Gamma), Yukinov (Alpha), and Wells (Zeta).  Jaime takes responsibility for Delta’s casualties the previous day, and Roderick notes that everyone looks as ragged as they did in 3007, during extended operations on New Haiti.  Jaime reports that four more CCAF regiments are expected onworld within 2-4 weeks, with nothing available from the AFFS to counter them.  Unless the Dragoons can break the stalemate before they arrive, they’ll be caught between two Capellan forces and destroyed in detail.  Colonel Wells suggests putting everything into a breakout attempt through the El Diablo pass, hoping to smash through the Waco Rangers company before the Northwind Highlanders can reposition to seal it off.  Wolf concurs, planning to put two ‘Mech battalions and the 7th Kommando over the mountain range with DropShips to distract the Highlanders while the rest of the Dragoons move through the pass.  Zeta will take point through the pass.

Notes:  It’s interesting to see Zeta being used essentially as a penal battalion.  The odds aren’t quite as hopeless, since they’re all in Assault ‘Mechs, but the strategy is essentially the same as that used by the House Amaris Republican Guards (as seen in Desertion) with their penal battalions.  Somewhat hypocritical how the descendants of Kerensky use the same combat doctrines as the Usurper.

House Davion took New Aragon in 2930, during Operation ROLAND’S HORN, taking the CCAF defenders by surprise, since the attack violated the Armistice of Van Diemen IV.  The world appears to have changed hands multiple times since then, though the populace generally remained pro-Liao.  Ian Davion refers to it as “the crown jewel of the Sarna Commonality – keystone in the Capellan defense strategy.  Once we have it, the entire Capellan Confederation is ours for the taking.”  In 3011, Hanse Davion (First Prince Ian’s younger brother) is appointed as the planet’s military governor, and scores a diplomatic coup by enacting new policies to calm unrest on the pro-Liao world.  Strategically, New Aragon is positioned at the “neck” where the Sarna Commonality borders the Tikonov Commonality, and would therefore probably have been used as a major staging world for the “flexible response” system, sending out reinforcements to nearby worlds under threat.  Given its position, it was probably part of the district that contains Styk, Shensi, Hunan, St. Andre and Tsitsang.

Roderick keeps thinking wistfully of life back in the Clan Homeworlds, on Tranquil, to the point where his comrades have to remind him a few times that such things aren’t discussed in the Inner Sphere.  Part of the Dragoon mission training appears to have had a linguistic component, since everyone in sight is using contractions freely, only four years after departing Clan space.

The battle for New Aragon must certainly have been one of the largest aerospace battles of the late 3rd Succession War.  Given the standard composition of Davion RCTs, the presence of five suggests that the AFFS has at least ten fighter wings in-system – about 180 fighters (5 fleet wings, 5 ground support wings).  The Dragoons Orbital/Aerospace Operations Group contributes 22 additional fighters (one reinforced wing).  Yet, despite that rather hefty fleet, the CCAF still enjoys sufficient local aerospace superiority to keep the AFFS DropShips from ferrying their troops over the mountains en masse while simultaneously maintaining a safe corridor for their own reinforcements.  Given that, there are probably at least 500 fighters present in the system (or were, at the start of the battle), with attendant carrier DropShips.  By comparison, the CCAF was only able to put 70 aerospace fighters into space to defend Tikonov against an AFFS invasion force of 300+ DropShips and 14-16 fighter wings (250 – 290 fighters) during the 4th Succession War.  (However, the Wolf’s Dragoons SB writeup calls into question Liao aerospace superiority, noting that Liao aerospace victories tend to have been due to ambushes, following which Dragoon aerospace forces were able to drive off the CCAF fighters.)

The Wolf’s Dragoons SB says that both the CCAF and AFFS mobilized “all available forces” for the brutal struggle.  This is where House Liao’s “flexible response” strategy of letting an enemy attack and then rushing reinforcements to the targeted area appears to have paid off, since they were able to get what appears to be a major fleet in-system early on.  The Order of Battle on New Aragon appears to have been:  5 Dragoon Regiments, the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry, 2 Avalon Hussars RCTs, and 2 Crucis Lancers RCTs vs. the 1st and 2nd Ariana Fusiliers, Freemont’s Cuirassiers, Trimaldi’s Secutors, 1st and 2nd Kearny Highlanders, McCormack’s Fusiliers, and the Waco Rangers (plus presumably whatever militia and Home Guard units were assigned to the world).
« Last Edit: 24 July 2013, 19:59:42 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 #339 on: 25 July 2013, 05:16:08 »
----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: April 12, 3008

Location: New Aragon

Title: Making a Name

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (Weapons Free – BattleCorps Anthology exclusive story)

Synopsis:  Lt. John Waco’s recon lance patrols El Diablo pass, though they don’t expect to see any enemy ‘Mechs in the rugged, narrow terrain.  A sitrep from command warns that the Dragoons might try to exfiltrate through the pass, but the threat is considered minimal.  John remains wary, and contacts Edgerson, his point scout (in a Hornet), who lackadaisically reports that a battalion of Dragoon ‘Mechs is heading their way.  Moving up to confim, John sees nearly the entire Dragoon camp begin following the point battalion up the path towards the pass. 

He quickly assesses the situation and warns his father, demanding that the Northwind Highlanders get a regiment to block the pass or risk losing the whole planet.  Wayne says he’s coming with the rest of the company, but says that getting Highlander support will be problematic because there’s an ongoing feud between the elder Waco and Colonel McCormack of the Highlanders.  Wayne tells his son to pull out and save his own skin, but John insists on staying to guard the pass as long as possible.  Visions of glory dance in John’s eyes – having a scout lance hold back an Assault battalion would make the Waco Rangers’ reputation and guarantee the unit’s future as one of the premier mercenary units in the Inner Sphere.

In his Awesome, Lieutenant Roderick leads the Zeta charge up El Diablo pass.  He’s worried that his lance, comprised exclusively of fresh punishment-detail transfers from other regiments, won’t fight together effectively given only half a day of joint simulator exercises.

As the Zeta assault ‘Mechs come into view, John Waco orders his scout lance to engage.  The light ‘Mechs make excellent use of terrain and maneuver, but the Zeta troops continue to bull ahead, relying on their superior armor and firepower.  The Waco Rangers use their ‘Mechs’ jump jets to set a section of the forest in the pass ablaze.  However, after a short time, they run out of room to withdraw, with no sign of reinforcements. 

The Zeta ‘Mechs plow through the wall of fire and shrug off the Waco Rangers’ weapon fire.  The Hornet is the first to die, and John’s Wasp is dismembered by a Victor as it attempts to flank Roderick’s Awesome.  John ejects and seeks cover under a log.  Unfortunately, that means that a Zeta Stalker trying to draw a bead on a Waco Stinger doesn’t even realize it when it steps on him and crushes him flat.  Of John’s lance, only Keebler’s Stinger escapes.  Roderick reports the pass as clear, and gets an immediate field promotion to Captain.

Notes: These aren’t the longest odds that any BattleTech character has faced, but John Waco is no Kai Allard-Liao, and El Diablo pass isn’t the Great Gash.  (Though, with no apparent road through the pass – meaning it has no local economic value - and it representing a strategic liability, one wonders why a scout lance was assigned to guard it rather than simply rigging it with pentaglycerine and blocking it early on, removing it from the equation and freeing up some scouts.)  Chalk it up to Wayne Waco’s wretched leadership skills – demonstrating a talent early on for surrounding himself with cronies and starting feuds with other unit commanders.

Despite his sympathetic portrayal in this story, John Waco is far from blameless in his demise.  He disobeyed direct orders from his superiors to pull back and engaged an Assault battalion with a recon lance, all in the name of seeking glory for himself and his family’s regiment.  Would John have been a better commander than Wayne?  Perhaps.  But he’d probably have gotten the whole regiment killed attempting a glory-hound maneuver within a few years.

Historically, once the Dragoons were through the pass, they ravaged the Capellan supply lines and rear areas, and threatened to cut the Liao forces off from the DropPort.  The surviving Capellans extracted off-world well before their reinforcements could arrive, leaving the world under the flag of the Federated Suns, much to Prince Ian’s delight.
« Last Edit: 25 July 2013, 06:08:59 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 #340 on: 25 July 2013, 05:25:11 »
Wayne Waco and his unit were actually one of the more reliable and capable merc units out there.
Their service record is just fine (to the point of almost succeeding in trapping the Black Widow Company where two Kurita regiments were made to look like idiots), and their 'Mech roster is kinda impressive for the time. The Dragoon feud and a weird run-in with Snord's Irregulars are the only black marks where the Waco Rangers' looked really bad.

Waco senior went on the mad side after his son was killed, which I can understand to a degree. It's the unit following him that had me wondering, but I chalk it up to Waco's leadership skills.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #341 on: 26 July 2013, 00:06:27 »
Taking on an assault mech battalion in bug mechs is either very brave or very crazy. I vote the second one. If John Waco and his lancemates were in Jenners, Panthers or Javelins I might have a slightly higher opinion of him since a good back shot could cripple even an assault mech but bug mechs cannot take on other mechs much less assault class ones.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #342 on: 26 July 2013, 06:10:04 »
----- 1 Month Later -----

Date: May 8, 3008

Location: Hunan

Title: Making a Name

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (Weapons Free – BattleCorps Anthology exclusive story)

Synopsis:  The surviving Waco Rangers have convened at the Morningstar Spaceport on Hunan, to which they retreated after being outmaneuvered by the Dragoons on New Aragon (where the Northwind Highlanders are still fighting a desperate holding action).  After viewing the BattleROM from Haines Keebler’s Stinger, Wayne Waco demands that his men swear a “Death Oath” against Wolf’s Dragoons in retaliation for the death of his son.  Keebler refuses, tears off his Waco Rangers patch, and leaves, joining Hopper Delms outside. 

Keebler tells Hopper about the “Death Oath” and says that he feels responsible for John’s death…that the Dragoon Stalker only moved where it did because Hopper tried to reach John’s position for extraction.  He says he left the Rangers because the ones remaining, who were willing to take a Death Oath against the Dragoons, are insane.

Notes:  Despite their loss on New Aragon, the Waco Rangers go on to become a successful, if eccentric, regiment-sized mercenary unit.  They were used as the exemplar of the “mid-size” mercenary unit in the original Mercenary’s Handbook, compared to the Eridani Light Horse (large and elite) and Wilson’s Hussars (small and struggling).  A ComStar Mercenary Review Board hearing later cleared the Dragoons of any wrongdoing in regards to John’s death.

Looking at Wayne Waco’s biography in the Mercenary’s Handbook, it appears that he’s 40 at this point, and John is 18.  (Of course, the bio info has to be taken with a grain of salt, since it also says he was born on “the Liao world of Le Blanc.”  You know, the Liao world in the Draconis March about halfway between Robinson and the Combine border. ;)  Ah, the early days…)  [Note: The MH entry spells it "Leblanc," rather than "Le Blanc," so the best correction I can offer is that the author meant "Lesalles," which is a Liao world.]

It also places Wayne as a former company commander in the 1st Tau Ceti Rangers, who mustered out to form his own unit when House Liao disbanded the unit in 3007.  This begs the question – why would it be up to a Successor House whether or not a mercenary regiment disbanded?  Granted, the name of the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers implies the existence of other regiments in the past, but why wouldn’t the troops from the 1st be folded into the 4th? (On a contrarian note, the FM: Mercenaries writeup for the 4th TCR states flat out that the unit has never been any stronger than a single regiment since the remnants of the former SLDF 81st Mechanized Infantry Division turned mercenary after being decommissioned due to excessive combat losses following the Star League Civil War.)  Perhaps the 1st Tau Ceti Rangers was an experimental CCAF unit that was intended to work in conjunction with the long-time mercenaries.

Waco’s biography also hints at the origins for his feud with Colonel Henrietta “Harry” McCormack of the Northwind Highlanders.  It indicates that, at age 19, he served in the 2nd Kearny Highlanders regiment, and met and wed fellow MechWarrior Fiona Richel (who died in 2998).  Perhaps Waco holds Henrietta responsible for Fiona’s death (due to a Davion airstrike).  My impression of the Highlanders was that they had remained very clannish after the fall of Northwind, and preferred to keep membership in the Highlanders mostly to clan members (the attitudes shown towards outsiders in Main Event and Highlander Gambit are the basis for this impression).  So how did Wayne Waco, a certified outsider (from Le Blanc?) get posted to the Highlanders fresh from the academy?  Perhaps, without the population of Northwind to draw from, the recruit pool for the Highlanders was looking pretty sparse, forcing them to bring in outsiders to replace battlefield losses.
« Last Edit: 26 July 2013, 06:28:46 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 #343 on: 27 July 2013, 06:14:55 »
----- 4 Months Later -----

Date: September 8, 3008

Location: Tortuga Prime

Title: Opportunity

Author: Jeff Kautz

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  The story opens as a tough seventeen-year old girl throws some drunks out the doors of the Dark Horse Pub in Tortuga Prime’s outland wastes.  At this age, Paula Trevaline is red-haired and green eyed, and heartily objects to being called “Peanut,” the nickname her father gave her before walking out of her life.

Thunderous footsteps from outside announce the arrival of MechWarrior Blackjack Magee, a craggy old pirate who drops by every few years to score free drinks while regaling the regulars with his stories.  At the end of the night, Blackjack and Paula are alone in the bar.  She serves him a special drink.  He compliments her looks, saying she reminds him of a former bartender – Katina.  Paula refreshes his memory, noting that he raped, tortured and murdered Katina while Paula (age nine) watched.

Paralyzed by the poison in his drink, Blackjack can only look on in horror as Paula soaks the building (and Blackjack) with alcohol, and tells him that her mother had been a pharmacist, and had known how to use the venom of the native Tortugan scorpion – the highest life form on the planet.  She holds up a vial and tells Blackjack he can have it if he gives her the security codes to his ‘Mech.  Once he tells her the code, she grabs her duffelbag from behind the bar and departs, pausing only to shoot Magee in the forehead with her laser pistol on the way out, fulfilling the promise she’d made to her dying mother.

She ignites the alcohol-soaked bar on her way out, and looks over Magee’s BattleMech – a Banshee bearing the moniker “Lady Red.”  Paula resolves to rename it as “Lady Death.”

Notes:  Objectives: Periphery and Periphery 1st Edition note that the highest native lifeform is “Plant,” so either Paula was lying about the scorpions being Tortuga’s highest native life form, or Katina Trevaline’s discovery of native scorpion-analogues died with her, leading to their being overlooked by David Lear’s and ComStar's researchers.

Paula’s appearance shifts substantially over the years.  By 3025, she has “waist-length red hair and gray eyes,” (as opposed to green/gold in this story) and her picture in Field Manual: Periphery shows her hair as more brown than red.  (She also straightened her hair and appears to have ditched the eye tattoos and the poisoned fingernails, comparing it to her picture in the Periphery 1st edition book.)

Within seven years, Paula will have gone from barmaid to “Dame Murderess Extraordinaire” and de-facto ruler of the Tortugan pirates.  Here, she’s just portrayed as vengeful, but the Periphery book characterizes her as “arrogant and cruel.”

It's not clear what Paula's relationship to Blackjack is, but since he appears to have named his 'Mech after red-haired Katina Trevaline (out of some sort of twisted love for her, Paula thinks), it's possible that he might be her father, though that would imply that Katina kept her maiden name or that Paula took it to deny her father's lineage after he walked out on them.  (The name change is understandable - few would tremble at the coming of the dread pirate queen, "Peanut Magee.")
« Last Edit: 27 July 2013, 06:33:07 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.

FedSunsBorn

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #344 on: 27 July 2013, 20:09:12 »
Calling Paula Trevaline "Peanut" made me nearly spill my drink...thanks.  :D
Made by HikageMaru

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #345 on: 27 July 2013, 23:26:01 »
----- 1 Month Later -----

Date: October 15, 3008 [See Notes]

Location: Danais

Title: Amber Surprise

Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe

Type: Scenario (Cranston Snord’s Irregulars)

Synopsis:  Cranston Snord’s Irregulars has been contracted to raid a Marik repair center on Danais.  Snord’s interest in the contract is piqued both by his unit’s need for funds, and by indications that two entertainment vessels had been downed in the heavy jungles on Danais during the fall of the Star League, one of which contained a collection of some of the rarest musical instruments held by the Star League, in transit from Terra to Sierra.
 
Dropping in along with the Green 32nd Lyran Guards, they found that the FWL was setting up an aerospace fighter production facility there, and that the Marik Militia was using the ruined ships as their headquarters.  Snord’s command lance (which had hoped to do some quiet looting during the battle) finds themselves facing off against the Command Guards of the Marik Militia’s “Amber Regiment.”  (21st Marik Militia – See Notes)

Notes:  The Snord/Dragoon chronology issues continue to affect some of the early scenarios.  The introduction to Amber Surprise indicates that Snord was summoned by Katrina Steiner to Chaffee in mid-year 3007, and assigned to hit Danais.  At mid-year 3007, however (per Twins), Snord had just escaped offworld from Rochelle.  Per the CSI scenario pack, he first went to Clinton and spent several months refitting, then spent two months on New Kyoto, then struck Wing and returned to Clinton for R&R.  The best resolution seems to be that Snord (speaking to Thelos Auburn) misremembered the year, meaning that the meeting on Chaffee was in mid-year 3008, rather than 3007.  (Snord tells Auburn “I think it was mid-year 3007 when…” so there’s some wiggle room on the date.)  Since Chaffee is about three jumps from Clinton, and then it’s six more jumps to Danais (assuming no command circuits were used), that places the Danais assault somewhere in October 3008.

The setup for this scenario was mind-boggling, raising several questions.  Why would Star League ships have been carrying museum-class musical instruments to Sierra?  The maneuver isn’t without precedent, I suppose, since we have two separate accounts of Vatican treasures being spirited off Terra and shipped out to the Periphery to save them from Amaris’ predation.  Perhaps some Terran museum curator had similar ideas.  There’s no way that the FWL would have shot down Star League ships during the Civil War, so this must have happened during the years between the end of the Star League civil war and the start of the First Succession War, when rival Houses were starting to lay claim to Hegemony worlds (and sometimes fighting over them, as with the Towne debacle).  Marik forces probably suspected that the ships were treasure vessels and wanted to grab whatever someone was trying to sneak out of the Hegemony.  (However, since the instruments were going to Sierra, they would have ended up in the FWL anyways, without anyone having to fire a shot.)

The next question is – why were the DropShips anywhere near Danais’ gravity well?  If they were just passing through the system on the way to Sierra, wouldn’t they have been out at the jump point, attached to their JumpShip?  The only scenario I can see for them to have crashed on Danais would be if the Marik forces attacked their JumpShip and disabled its K-F coils, causing the DropShips to detach and try to flee to Danais.  Either pursuing forces or interceptors based on Danais engaged the ships once they reached the planet, causing them to crash.

The ships are called “entertainment vessels,” but they aren’t Monarch or Princess-class passenger liners – the accompanying illustration shows at least one to be Union-class.  Had rogue SLDF troops (a unit already planning to join a House) planned to use the historical artifacts to buy their way into Sierra’s high society (such as it is)?  Given Amaris’ penchant for looting during the occupation, it’s quite possible that these instruments were recovered from Amaris treasure caches (like the one where thousands of people were sealed in and forced to eat each other) on Terra.

There’s no “Marik Militia: Amber Regiment” listed on any TO&E, but the House Marik SB notes that the command staff of the 21st Marik Militia was captured during a Lyran raid on Danais in 3007 (per the original chronology of Snord’s Irregulars), so the unit in question is pretty clearly the 21st.  The Marik sourcebook says that, without a command staff, the regiment’s survivors were disbanded and folded into other Marik Militia regiments.
"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 #346 on: 28 July 2013, 07:02:15 »
That's the old BT question from the SW era - when is a factory a factory (as opposed to a well-stocked spare parts depot, an assembly plant, a repair/refit workshop, or any combination of these)?

I tend to agree with the assertion that Eire MechWorks must have been producing full BattleMechs at some point, presumably up until during Morgan Kell's early life, and was reduced to producing parts only recently (i.e. in the late 2900s).
I disagree with the Grasshopper being produced there though; this is a relatively rare design typically seen in the CC and FWL area. As a counter-proposal, I'd suggest the Goliath. It's apparently out-of-production by 3024, yet there's a curious sidenote in HB:Marik p. 114 (PDF: p. 116) where it says the Lyran regiments are well-stocked with Zeus's and Goliaths, which to me seems to indicate the Lyrans used to produce Goliaths.

Herb's addressed the Eire BattleMech Company of Arc-Royal in the Ask the Developers forum.  He says that Morgan's recollections of 'Mechs walking off the factory floor are attributable to 'Mechs being serviced there, rather than being produced there.  All Eire ever produced was 'Mech parts until being turned into the Arc-Royal MechWorks.
"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 #347 on: 28 July 2013, 23:18:47 »
----- 1 Year Later -----

Date: 3009

Location: Alula Australis

Title: The Stumble Raid

Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe

Type: Scenario (Cranston Snord’s Irregulars)

Synopsis:  In 3009, the 19th Lyran Guards assaulted Alula Australis with Cranston Snord’s Irregulars in support (insofar as it didn’t interfere with their search for a cache of rare portraits by Davials, the famous artist), but met strong resistance from Marik troops.  Attemps to extract failed, due to aggressive DropShip interdiction by the 405th Aerospace Wing (part of the Alula Australis Static Defense Unit), which operated from a hidden base.  Faced with the unpalatable choices of getting shot out of the skies while trying to retreat offworld or going out in a blaze of glory charging into the teeth of the Marik ground forces, Snord instead launched a mission to find and destroy the 405th’s hidden aerodrome.

Snord’s recon lance found the base, but was nearly overwhelmed by Marik fighters and the base’s perimeter defenses before reinforcements (both Snord and elements of the 19th) arrived to save the day.  The Lyran raiders successfully retreated back to Commonwealth space.

Notes: The Marik ground forces aren’t named, but based on the Historical: Brush Wars deployment tables, the Iron Guards were the world’s garrison in 3014, so they’re probably the OpFor in this engagement.  The Iron Guards are an all-volunteer Regular/Fanatical medium-weight unit with high turnover that prides itself in never retreating.  The scenario notes that the 19th Lyran Guards were victorious at the end (before sending reinforcements), but that was probably only a skirmish with the Iron Guard’s pursuit detachment.  Had the Lyran Guards truly been victorious over the whole Marik force, there would have been no need to withdraw, and Snord’s mission to take out the base would have been rendered irrelevant.

The veteran 19th Lyran Guards – The Scarlet Guards – arrive on turn eight with an Archer and a Rifleman.  This is pretty much the unit’s swan song – a Heavy Veteran line regiment getting chased off a League planet by Medium-weight provincial volunteers of Regular quality.  Perhaps as a result of this ignominious outing, the unit sat out the 4th Succession War and War of 3039 as an unused reserve force on Baxter.  The unit met its end in 3051 when it was destroyed on Jabuka by the Steel Vipers’ Alpha Galaxy.

Alula Australis is one of the most misspelled systems in the sourcebooks, seen alternately as “Alula Australia” and “Aluha Australus.”

Initially, the scenario pits a lance of Irregulars’ ‘bug’ ‘Mechs led by a Phoenix Hawk up against the base, which has ten gun emplacements, four LAMs, and ten grounded fighters, which can’t take off but can rotate in place and fire.  (So, essentially, 20 turrets and four mobile LAMs).  The Irregulars’ goal is to destroy five fighters and then withdraw off the southern edge of the map.  The 405th’s goal is to destroy six ‘Mechs before losing a fourth fighter.  A medium/heavy Irregulars lance arrives on turn 4, and two heavies from the Lyran Guards arrive on turn 8. 

The four Sabres are the obvious target, since they’re the easiest to destroy and least capable of fighting back.  The Irregulars’ recon lance sets up anywhere they want to, pretty much, so they could start off right on top of the Sabres.  Therefore, the gun emplacements should be deployed to heavily cover the light fighters, leaving the medium and heavy fighters to fend for themselves.  The 405th’s best bet is to treat the fighters as turrets and do what they can to concentrate as much firepower on any available target, while the LAM lance focuses on one enemy at a time – swooping in using AirMech mode and slaughtering the bug ‘Mechs.  The Marik player may want to concentrate the Sabres in the north, since the bugs have to get off the southern edge, so if they go for the easy targets, they’ll have to run a gauntlet of death all the way across the map.

For the Irregulars’ player, I’d recommend playing it conservatively, depending on how the Marik player deploys the fighters and gun emplacements.  If you put your Recon Lance near the southern edge for the initial deployment, they can scoot whenever you like (like, when they’re down to two members), without costing the force much firepower.  There’s no time limit to the scenario, just a kill limit, so get your vulnerable units out of the way of the LAM pack and wait until your medium and heavy reinforcements arrive to start engaging the target fighters.  Your saving grace is that the gun emplacements aren’t listed as being turreted, so they’ll have blind spots.  By destroying an emplacement or two, you can carve out a “safe zone” from which you can engage some fighters with your reinforcements without coming under fire from the perimeter defenses.

The Marik LAM lance is exactly the same configuration as Jeremiah Youngblood’s Long Range Recon Patrol lance in the Kell Hounds a few years later.  One theory is that Jeremiah Youngblood may have been attached to the 19th Lyran Guards at this point, and acquired his Phoenix Hawk LAM as salvage, then gone mercenary and joined the Kell Hounds. 

The Iron Guards insignia is something of a mystery.  The FM:FWL entry specifically states that it’s a picture of a ‘Mech foot stomping a Lyran mailed gauntlet.  However, the art on the page is crosshairs over a Lyran Zeus.  Looks like the art and writing departments weren’t communicating well at FASA that week.  (Or, perhaps the artist read the art note and couldn’t figure out how to make a foot on a glove visually interesting.)
"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.

BrokenMnemonic

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #348 on: 29 July 2013, 02:49:35 »
Looking at Wayne Waco’s biography in the Mercenary’s Handbook, it appears that he’s 40 at this point, and John is 18.  (Of course, the bio info has to be taken with a grain of salt, since it also says he was born on “the Liao world of Le Blanc.”  You know, the Liao world in the Draconis March about halfway between Robinson and the Combine border. ;)  Ah, the early days…)  [Note: The MH entry spells it "Leblanc," rather than "Le Blanc," so the best correction I can offer is that the author meant "Lesalles," which is a Liao world.]
Another possibility - and I admit, it may not be anything like what the original author had in mind - is that given that other sources have indicated that the Confederation has lots of systems with more than one inhabited world in, the Liao world of Le Blanc may be like the Liao world of Thomas that Pavel Ridzik apparently ruled... a secondary world in a system with a different name whose location has never been clearly identified.

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

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #349 on: 30 July 2013, 06:12:55 »
----- 1 Year Later -----

Date: July 1, 3010 [See Notes]

Location: Uhuru

Title: To the Rescue

Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe

Type: Scenario (Cranston Snord’s Irregulars)

Synopsis:  After taking moderate damage during a drawn-out campaign on Uhuru, Rhonda Snord leads an unauthorized night raid against the 15th Marik Militia’s basecamp, hoping to shake them up and snatch some of their supplies.  A heavy fire lance from the 15th uses newly developed ECM to degrade the Irregulars’ night sensors (the so-called “DarkScan 360”) and ambushes Rhonda’s foraging party.
 
Fortunately for Rhonda, Cranston had put a tracking device on her ‘Mech, and followed her.  They arrive on turn five to turn the tide.  The Irregulars’ goal is to escape to the north with at least five ‘Mechs, three of which have to have been part of Rhonda’s five-‘Mech raiding force.

Notes: The OpFor is, once again, the 15th Marik Militia – The Polyphemus Division.  Looks like they’re spoiling for a rematch with Snord, now that they’re fully rebuilt and returned to active duty.  After this scrape with Snord’s Irregulars, FM:FWL notes that the 15th went on to successfully raid Cor Caroli for engine parts later in 2010.  That’s four jumps away, so about a five week transit.  Thus “To the Rescue” can’t take place any later than, say, October 2010.  To give the 15th time to wrap things up on Uhuru and take care of repair and resupply, let’s put this scenario at mid-year 3010.

The introduction of new ECM technology by the Free Worlds League in 3010 is mildly surprising, to say the least, given that this period represents the nadir of the LosTech era.  The Capellans didn’t field their prototype ECM package until fifteen years later, and the Star League-quality Guardian ECM didn’t reappear until 3045.

The Marik forces want to take out three of Rhonda’s five-man band.  Throw everything you can get at one of the Wasps.  They’re thinly armored to begin with, and with the pre-existing damage, won’t take much more of a pounding, so a lucky PPC or missile strike could take it out.  Once one of the bugs is squished, focus on Sneede’s Rifleman and H’Chu’s Thunderbolt, which are slow enough for your heavies to catch.  You don’t want to get into a situation trying to catch a Shadow Hawk or Wasp bounding through the woods at night, but the Irregulars’ heavies are nice, fat, slow targets.  You’ve got lots of LRMs from your Archer and Crusader, so you might consider using your Wolverine as a spotter and, while using direct fire weapons to potshot the Wasp, drop flights of LRMs on the Irregulars.  Things get a mite hairier once Cranston’s rescue team show up, but you still have three heavies and a medium against seven banged up, night blind mercs, and you only need to take down three, then withdraw to claim victory.

This is a complicated scenario for the Irregulars.  Rhonda’s troops are heavily damaged to begin with and in no shape for a fight, and the sensor jamming makes it hard for them to connect with the Marik forces.  The Shadow Hawk and the Wasps will be able to dodge around the Marik troops (though the Wolverine may be able to stay on their heels), but the Thunderbolt and Rifleman aren’t so lucky.  Likewise, the “rescue party” of an Archer and Warhammer will have to bull through, rather than sneaking past.  Probably the Irregulars’ best bet is to hang back and try to draw the Marik forces south, then rush a few en masse and do a lot of kicking in hopes of crippling some legs.  Once the Marik units are suitably slowed, the Irregulars can race north and hope to put some terrain between themselves and the pursuing Mariks.  The Marik accuracy should suffer as well, since it’s nighttime, though their “DarkScan” units are apparently fully functional.  Jake Walmar’s Warhammer should have a searchlight that could even the odds for a bit, if you use the night fighting and searchlight rules.

Rules for night fighting didn’t exist at the time this scenario was published, but the +2 penalty suffered by the Irregulars reflects the intent.  The fact that the DarkScan 360 scanners apparently negate the night-fighting penalties (similar to a spotlight, but without making the source vulnerable) probably represents the use of magscan (aka EM) sensors.  The developers (Paul) stated that the DarkScan is not a unique piece of technology that has its own special game rules.
 
Under the old Tactical Handbook ruleset, units using EM sensors could get bonuses to target bigger ‘Mechs (-1 to TN for Medium, -2 for Heavy, -3 for Assault, -1 if fired previous turn, etc.).  Since the Marik troops are mostly Heavy, the Irregulars would get a -2 bonus (cancelling the +2 night fighting penalty), but use of ECM would knock the EM sensors out, restoring the +2 penalty.  The Tactical Handbook rules say that any unit targeting a unit with an ECM suite gets a +4 penalty (which would equate to a +6 at night, then -2 for heavies for a net +4), but perhaps this primitive Marik ECM just negates the bonus, rather than giving the mega-penalty that something like the Guardian or Angel would dish out.  This seems similar to the explanation given for the Listen-Kill missile system – a significant battlefield advantage accrued to those using specialized warheads, but a simple plug-in EM module was soon developed to counter it and became standard equipment on most ‘Mechs within a few years.  The 15th Marik Militia appears to be using a similar plug-in EM module that specifically degrades magscan sensors, but not to the extent that a Guardian would.

The current ruleset does not use electromagnetic sensors – aka ‘magscan’ – except as part of the double-blind rules for detecting enemy units.  I can see why, since, like many of the Tactical Handbook rules, they were ridiculously unbalanced.  Given the relative rarity of ECM until the Jihad era (and certainly during the Succession Wars), there’d almost never be any reason to use vislight sensors, since it’s almost always the equivalent of a targeting computer or pulse laser bonus or better for no weight and no cost.

You can run the scenario with just the base +2 penalty to the Irregulars, but to better reflect the more modern rulesets, I’d recommend applying “Moonless Night” modifiers from Tactical Operations (which make it more costly in MP to move safely, harder to hit targets, and increase PSR difficulty) and the EM sensor rules from the Tactical Handbook, which help to offset the moonless night gunnery penalties (though giving only a +2 penalty to reflect the lower efficacy of the Marik prototype ECM).  Hopefully, the result will be a tense match for both sides, rather than a frustratingly easy slaughter of the mercenaries by Marik forces.
« Last Edit: 30 July 2013, 06:14:59 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 #350 on: 30 July 2013, 17:34:48 »
When was this scenario written?  Was the sourcebook published when FASA unleased the Clans?  I think it was interesting Rhonda was command a 5-Mech force, like the Clan formation usually operate.  Is this a fluke?
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #351 on: 30 July 2013, 18:47:45 »
When was this scenario written?  Was the sourcebook published when FASA unleased the Clans?  I think it was interesting Rhonda was command a 5-Mech force, like the Clan formation usually operate.  Is this a fluke?

It was one of the first BattleTech products, released in 1986, covering Snord's Irregulars in the closing years of the 3rd Succession War.  I think the Clans were introduced in 1989.
"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 #352 on: 30 July 2013, 18:54:18 »
It was one of the first BattleTech products, released in 1986, covering Snord's Irregulars in the closing years of the 3rd Succession War.  I think the Clans were introduced in 1989.
Ahh, sorry.  I wasn't sure what year scenario book was released. Didn't know how far in advance they were planning them. Properly was a fluke.  A fluke that works nicely well since they later said Snord and some of his friends were Clan in origin.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #353 on: 30 July 2013, 18:58:55 »
It certainly could have been foreshadowing.  The whole Dragoon reveal seems to have been planned out from the get go, so the Snord reveal goes along with that.  The five 'Mech formation here seems to be an ad hoc thing, especially since most of the unit consists of Spheroids not in on the secret.
"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 #354 on: 30 July 2013, 19:56:10 »
The whole Dragoon reveal seems to have been planned out from the get go, so the Snord reveal goes along with that. 

That the Dragoons were from Kerensky's exodus, yeah. But from things that have been said over the years, not to the level of details like five-Mech organization, etc. In this case, I think it's just a coincidence.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #355 on: 30 July 2013, 23:21:21 »
----- 3 Months Later -----

Date: October 3, 3010

Location: Galatea

Title: Not the Way the Smart Money Bets

Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Morgan Kell (last seen departing Poulsbo in a hurry in 3005) and his younger brother Patrick arrive on Galatea to live their dream and start up their own mercenary company – the Kell Hounds.  Coming off the DropShip, they’re greeted by Gordon Franck, with the Lyran office of Mercenary Relations, who insists on escorting them to a meeting with General Volmer.  Morgan accompanies Franck in a VTOL transport, while Patrick heads to their hotel, the Nova Royale.

On the VTOL, Franck compliments the Kell brothers’ skills, but warns them that there’s a sharp difference between “platinum” Galatea and “rust” Galatea, and that many “rust”-level mercenaries have heard about the Kell Hounds’ formation through recruiting officers, and that managing expectations will be difficult.  Franck further hints that the man who controls the “rust” level, crime boss Haskell Blizzard, enjoys having impoverished MechWarriors stuck onworld, hoping for contracts, because the profit margins in selling salvaged equipment to desperate mercs are quite rewarding, and he’d rather not have Kell and his family's Eire BattleMech Company interfere with that market segment.  Blizzard is well connected, and his granddaughter is the wife of the son of the head of the Lyran garrison, General Volmer.

Morgan responds that he hasn’t come to Galatea to start a mercenary company.  He has a dream of putting together a force to fight for human freedom from tyranny – something that his recently deceased (in August, from cancer) cousin Arthur Luvon had been passionate about.  Franck asks if he’s hiring administrative staff.

Taking a taxi to the hotel, Patrick gets his own set of advice from his driver, Walter de Mesnil, who cautions him to hire the best candidates, not just the first ones that come along.  Patrick asks Walter to refer any of “the best” he knows to him, and calls him a talent scout.  In the hotel itself, he’s accosted by Hector Damiceau, a representative of “certain interests” (the Free Worlds League) willing to pay the Kells not to form a new mercenary group.  The FWL feels that the Kells’ ties to Archon Steiner make them untrustworthy as mercenaries, and more of a personal bodyguard force loyal to Katrina personally rather than the Lyran state.  When Patrick doesn’t respond to the bribe, Hector brings up his bodyguards to abduct Patrick, hoping to use him as leverage against Morgan.  However, Walter arrives in the nick of time and puts a holdout needler to Hector’s neck, forcing him and his goons to back off and depart.  After they leave, Walter mentions that he’s got a nearly functional Blackjack, but hasn’t been able to buy an actuator to get it fully on-line, since he doesn’t want to risk getting a loan from Haskell Blizzard.  Patrick hires him on the spot.

Back at Volmer’s office, Morgan cows a disrespectful aide, Lt. Saxinger, then meets Volmer in the ‘Mech bay.  He realizes that Volmer has been using his position to run Galatea as his private fief, and Morgan represents a potential threat to the status quo.  Rather than show weakness by trying to go in under-the-radar, he resolves to be confrontational to get Volmer out of his comfort zone.  Volmer is dismissive of Morgan’s ties to Katrina Steiner, and says that his responsibility is to the people of Galatea moreso than to the Archon.  He demands that Morgan submit his list of recruit candidates to his office and allow Volmer to approve or deny each one, in the interests of “maintaining the delicate balance” on Galatea (essentially barring any MechWarrior in debt to Blizzard from serving in the Hounds).  He also insists that Morgan hire his son at the rank of Major to serve as a liaison officer on Galatea, and that Patrick Kell be forced to issue a public apology.  Morgan refuses point blank and accuses Volmer of bluffing, while the real power resides with Blizzard.  He tells Volmer to stay out of the Kells’ business, or he’ll bring his command down around his ears.

Back at the hotel, the Kell brothers talk strategy with new friends de Mesnil and Franck.  They decide that Damiceau isn’t much of a threat since he’ll be hanging back to see who comes out on top in the conflict between themselves and Volmer.  They expect Blizzard to strike at them soon, but Walter says he knows some anti-Blizzard individuals who could help with security.  First order of business in the long-range plan is to recruit technical staff, and the best techs are all on Blizzard’s retainer for his gladiatorial games.  A “demolition derby” is scheduled for that evening on the north side, and Morgan plans to attend with Franck.

The Gaslight Factory arena is a huge rectangular battlezone with ballistic polymer protecting the viewing areas.  The audience is primarily from Galatea’s ‘platinum’ strata.  The few mercenaries in uniform are universally shunned, but Morgan fits right in wearing a sharp business suit.  The opening match is a Commando and a Panther with powered-down weapons and fiberglass armor.  The Commando handily defeats the Panther, though to Morgan’s eye, it looks like the Panther’s targeting system was sabotaged.  As the cleanup crew hauls the wreckage away, Morgan is invited to join Blizzard in his private box.

Meanwhile, Patrick is checking out the social scene at Club Manning, still stewing about being taken unawares by Damiceau and requiring rescue.  He joins a dance class and meets a dark haired woman named Tisha, a Galatean native.  She takes him for a newly arrived merc looking for a contract, and advises him to steer clear of Blizzard’s crew or other dodgy merc units.  She also warns him to steer clear of the Kell Hounds, since they’ll attract desperate mercs and will have trouble getting a contract as a green-on-paper regiment.

Back at the arena, Blizzard welcomes Morgan to his skybox.  After some initial pleasantries, Blizzard tells Morgan that if he interferes with his operations, he’ll have the Kell brothers killed, diced, and scattered in the desert wastes.  He tells Morgan he can operate on Galatea as long as his personal profit is ensured.  If he wants to hire MechWarriors indebted to Blizzard, Morgan will just have to pay off their debts, plus interest.  To demonstrate his sincerity, he orders his men to break Franck’s arm and throw him out, telling Morgan that if he tries to protect Franck, he’ll make a call and have his men hurt Patrick instead.  Morgan quickly agrees to the debt buyout deal, but Blizzard nonetheless orders his agent following Patrick to mark his jacket, just to prove that he could have hurt or killed him if he’d wanted to.

As Morgan prepares to depart, the Commando pilot enters – Tommy “Titan” Volmer, the General’s son (and by extension, Blizzard’s great grandson).  Due to a bad (yet unexplained) personal history with Patrick Kell, Titan prepares to attack Morgan, but Blizzard restrains him, telling him that it wouldn’t do to punch his new employer.  Blizzard intends to make Morgan hire Titan as the Kell Hound liaison officer on Galatea.  Blizzard dismisses Morgan with a speech about how he’ll never be able to win, because Morgan still has ethics, while Blizzard happily occupies the moral low-ground.  Morgan responds that Blizzard’s assertion might be true, but he won’t like the damage that takes place as they find out.

Notes:  Morgan introduces himself at one point as being “late of the 10th Skye Rangers.”  He was apparently allowed to resign to form his own mercenary regiment.  (I guess that “Deny this man, Morgan Kell, nothing.  – Archon Katrina Steiner” note comes in handy to cut through the paperwork.)  Once he received a large sum of money from Arthur Luvon’s will, Morgan must have pretty much immediately withdrawn from the Skye Rangers, collected Patrick, and headed to Galatea.  There was barely a two month window between Arthur Luvon’s death in August and the Kell brothers’ arrival on Galatea in early October.  That must have been a very busy September for Morgan and Patrick.

Franck notes that the Kell family controls the Eire BattleMech Company on Arc-Royal, which is “rather important to the defense of the nation.”  However, line developer Herbert Beas confirmed that Eire is just making minor, yet important components at this point, not ‘Mechs.  He attributes the ‘Mechs Morgan saw coming out of the factory in his youth as ‘Mechs getting parts installed there, rather than being fully constructed on Arc-Royal.  Thus, Franck’s statement can be read as sucking up to someone with a close relationship to the Archon, in time-honored Lyran fashion.  Eire at least makes actuators, since Morgan muses on having access to such parts from the family company.

While trying to puzzle out the identity of Damiceau’s backers, Patrick muses that the Lyran Commonwealth shares borders with the Draconis Combine and Capellan Confederation.  Unless he’s counting the region right around Terra, that’s a very odd statement to make.  The only recorded Lyran/Capellan fight up to this point had been when Lyran mercenaries raided Westphalia during the 2800s.  In fact, the Steiner sourcebook states flat out that “the Lyran Commonwealth shares no common border with the Capellan Confederation” and that the two states had pretty much ignored each other since the fall of the Star League.  This statement, then, probably reflects Stackpole’s Successor State taxonomy of Steiner/Davion = Good; Kurita/Liao = Evil. (And Marik = Who?)

Walter de Mesnil goes on to be a Lieutenant in command of a Kell Hound Fire Lance prior to the battle on Mallory’s World.  After the unit breaks up and reduces in size, he moves on to the Kittery Training Battalion, but returns when Morgan sends the recall order.  Franck doesn’t get any mention in later Kell Hound materials, so that may bode ill for him surviving the story.

The arena features an interesting take on “simulated” combat.  Rather than using sophisticated arrestors and sensors that react to hits from powered down energy weapons and computer simulated projectiles, they’ve chosen to nerf both the firepower and the armor, using fiberglass.  What do you suppose the BAR is on fiberglass?  (The AToW BAR reference table lists safety glass as BAR 2 and particleboard as BAR 3, while sheet metal is BAR 4.  Not sure, between these, exactly where fiberglass would fit.)

Warning new arrivals seems to be the favorite pastime of Galateans.  The Kells haven’t been onworld for 24 hours and they’ve had no less than five people start warning them about various hazards they’ll face.

Any game master looking to have their players run a Galatea-based mercenary campaign would do well to mine this story for resources on all the complications that corrupt officials and organized crime can bring to their players’ lives.  Things may have gotten cleaned up a bit by the 3020s, since the Gray Death Legion didn’t appear to have similar difficulties getting into Galatea and out again with a contract and new recruits, but the rise of Outreach as the new mercenary hub left Galatea as the hiring hall of choice for the dregs, so Blizzard’s ilk would have been back in charge in short order.
« Last Edit: 19 August 2013, 05:55:37 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 #356 on: 31 July 2013, 23:15:53 »
----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: October 4, 3010

Location: Galatea

Title: Not the Way the Smart Money Bets

Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Morgan returns to the Nova Royale and briefs Patrick on what a psychopath Blizzard is, and the deal he struck to buy time.  Morgan checks Patrick’s jacket for marks, but finds nothing.  They decide to move the recruiting schedule up so they can be offworld inside of a month. 

In the morning, Patrick begins the interviews with a sad sack named Confident Guinn, representing Guinn’s Gunnes – a company-sized unit recently shattered by House Ijori.  Patrick sees some potential and, given the need for speed in recruitment, agrees to look the unit over.  The next interview is with Laeticia “Lattie” Hamilton, Walter de Mesnil’s personal tech.  Patrick knows her as “Tisha,” and she isn’t happy he concealed his identity as one of the Kell brothers the previous evening.  Patrick stops her from storming out by explaining the rationale for the Kell Hounds – as a force for peace that will have a mandate to fight to stop the Inner Sphere’s slide into barbarism.  He predicts that, within a century, even things like Blizzard’s cobbled-together arena ‘Mechs will be a memory unless something like the Kell Hounds is able to put mankind back on the road to peace and progress.  When she hears that Walter has already signed on, she agrees to hear Patrick out further, over dinner.

Morgan, meanwhile, is skipping out on his recruiting meeting, having run across Veronica Matova – a stunning blonde who was in Blizzard’s box at the arena.  At a nearby café, she introduces herself to Morgan as Galatea’s highest paid courtesan and manager of many of the world’s brothels and escort services.  She warns Morgan that, after he left, Blizzard told his man to hurt Patrick anyways, just to send Morgan a message.  She shows Morgan security-camera footage showing one of Blizzard’s goons following an oblivious Patrick, but getting ambushed in turn by an unidentified third party and put in the hospital.  She’s come to warn Morgan because she fears that Blizzard is descending into nihilism, and that when he eventually goes down, Galatea will follow, leaving her without stable clientele.  She says that she and Morgan are a lot alike, amorally selling services for money, but he refutes her statement and says that he plans to hold to his deal with Blizzard.  She kisses him and walks out.

The recruiting interviews continue with Richard O’Cieran, who offers to bring his spec-ops jump infantry force into the Kell Hounds.  He tells Morgan that it wasn’t one of his men who took out Blizzard’s thug and saved Patrick, but says that they can handle regimental security in addition to special ops.  Morgan hires him.  Later, Morgan and Patrick review their cases and decide to hire Guinn’s Gunnes, with the intention of splitting them up among the various companies, and leave the burnt out Guinn on Galatea as a recruiter.  Morgan tells Patrick that he’ll have a security detail (O’Cieran’s boys) when he goes out with Tisha.  Morgan will be attending a diplomatic reception thrown by the Combine embassy.  Discussing Blizzard, the Kells realize that the underworld boss is so reliant on paranoia and fear that he has plenty of enemies all over town, and can’t really trust his lieutenants to handle things on their own, since they’d see requests for help as exploitable weakness.  If the Kells can overwhelm Blizzard, his whole organization could collapse.

Patrick meets Tisha for dinner at the Maison d’Avalon, a Davion-Liao fusion restaurant (artichoke-rhubarb dip, sweet-and-sour fried cheese, etc.).  They have a philosophical discussion of the nature of war and the role of the MechWarrior.  Tisha feels that MechWarriors are all about killing other soldiers, but Patrick feels that MechWarriors have become cheap, violent entertainment for the masses, and that there is nobody so evil that they deserve death.  He suggests that diplomacy – trade embargoes and the like – would have positive results, but people in the Inner Sphere have been conditioned to be impatient and to resort first and foremost to military resolutions.

In the midst of his recruiting speech, he sees Tisha’s expression change to one of horror, and he slams his chair back into Thomas “Titan” Volmer, who had been sneaking up behind him with a knife, disguised as a waiter.  Titan goes down, covered in chocolate cake.  The two exchange threats, and Patrick challenges Volmer to a real ‘Mech duel.  After some hesitation, Volmer accepts, telling Patrick to face him at Arastavos Arena.  Patrick then continues his date with Tisha as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, at the Combine consulate, Morgan’s attempt to crash the reception seems doomed as the ISF guards aren’t falling for his “I lost my ticket” routine, but he’s rescued by the timely arrival of Veronica Matova, who introduces him as her guest.  The guest of honor at the reception is a hero of the Second Sword of Light, Yorinaga Kurita.  As Morgan and Veronica circulate, they encounter Mr. Damiceau, who attempts to dismiss his failed abduction of Patrick as a “misunderstanding.”  To head of future “misunderstandings,” Morgan tells him that he’s made arrangements to have a high bounty put on Damiceau’s head if any harm comes to either Kell.

Veronica excuses herself, and Morgan is approached by Ambassador Amanda Heartsthorne of the Federated Suns.  He pitches a Kell Hound contract guarding the Combine border, but she says that such things will have to wait until the Hounds have more than three pilots and some infantry, and until she sees how they deal with the threat posed by Blizzard.  Morgan has similar encounters with Combine and Confederation representatives, and then comes face to face with General Volmer.  Volmer gloats at the deal Morgan had to make with Blizzard, and Morgan asks Volmer how he feels kowtowing to underworld slime.  Morgan and Veronica leave together, but Veronica warns him that she’s not the kind of girl he can take home.

Back at the Maison d’Avalon, Patrick and Tisha find their security team neutralized, and find themselves held at gunpoint by Blizzard’s goons, who escort them out through the kitchen.  One of the kitchen workers (the same guy who saved Patrick the previous night) snaps a broom handle in half and stabs it through the neck of one of the goons, then throws the other one into a hot oven.  Their savior introduces himself to Patrick and Tisha as Clarence “Cat” Wilson, one of Morgan’s friends from the 10th Skye Rangers, who elected himself as Patrick’s guardian angel (though it meant going AWOL).  A second team of Blizzard’s goons enters the kitchens, but Tisha and Patrick swiftly take them both out, and return to the bar to find both of O’Ciernan’s men alive and unharmed.  Patrick reiterates his challenge to Titan, and then the group departs with Cat in tow.

Back at the hotel, Morgan and Patrick bring each other up to speed, but are interrupted by the arrival of Haskell Blizzard, who wants to parley.  Morgan warns him not to take the Archon’s interest in the Kell brothers lightly, since Loki agents are much harder to bribe than local militia officials.  Blizzard avows a lack of concern with Morgan’s threats, but Morgan repeatedly explains his view of the situation – that Blizzard is in serious trouble.  He proposes a solution – let the resolution of their conflict hinge on the battle between Patrick and Titan, and suggests that Blizzard could earn more by licensing offworld distribution of Solaris-style duels at his arenas than by running the spare-parts black market for mercenaries.  He further proposes to bet heavily on Patrick and then have him throw the fight, giving Blizzard guaranteed profit from the scheme.  Despite Patrick’s objections, Blizzard and Morgan agree on the deal.  After Blizzard leaves, Morgan finds and neutralizes the listening device Blizzard concealed in his chair, then tells Patrick that his real goal is to distract Blizzard with the fight while they’re preparing to go to war on his whole organization.

Notes:  There’s some intentional foreshadowing here, as Morgan and Patrick joke that both of them would be terrible candidates for life in a monastery.  Morgan, of course, will go on to spend years meditating on Phantom ‘Mech Syndrome at the St. Marinus House monastery.

The role of embassies raises the question of what role diplomacy plays in a universe where the Ares Conventions have rendered the use of force the primary recourse in all inter-state disputes.  As we saw in “By Any Means,” the FedSuns and Combine embassies on Tharkad served primarily as staging bases for espionage and terror attacks.  Later, in “The Price of Glory,” we’ll see that the various diplomatic missions on Helm are also just thinly veiled intelligence collection posts.  Major deals like the FedCom alliance and the Concord of Kapteyn come together via personal correspondence between leaders, or surprise meetings between heads of state on Terra, without all the pre-work done by diplomatic staff that characterizes modern diplomatic agreements.  By contrast, modern diplomatic missions provide consular services for their country’s citizens, issue visas, and work out bilateral and multilateral agreements on everything from trade to human rights to law enforcement to environmental regulation.  One would assume that the human rights portfolio at a Combine embassy would be a trifle thin.

At dinner with Tisha, Patrick makes a reference to watching ‘Mechs being put together at the factory on Arc-Royal in his youth.  Morgan also states that “When your family controls the output of a ‘Mech factory, lots of people come and make promises.”  It seems clear that Stackpole was intending to show that Eire was a full ‘Mech factory, but per Herb’s clarification, Patrick must have just been watching components being installed.  (So they were being put “back” together, in reality.) 

The Tisha/Patrick conversation seems almost identical to the discussions/arguments between Dierdre Lear and Kai Allard-Liao in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy.  The moral justification for conflict is a theme that Stackpole frequently revisits in his work.  Patrick also uses the “if you had the balls…” line that Phelan will try on Vlad down the road.

There are some basic holes in some of Morgan’s arguments with Blizzard.  Why would Blizzard give up the loan-shark business in favor of running Solaris-style duels, when he could just branch out into the media market while continuing to loanshark?  Also, the terms of the challenge between Titan and Patrick were “real ‘Mechs, to the death.”  Not really the kind of fight you want to enter intending to lose, especially if Titan is taking it seriously once Patrick’s ride is non-operational.
"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 #357 on: 01 August 2013, 00:46:34 »
Well, Phelan IS Phelan *Patrick* Kell Wolf Ward Kell. Count it as another case of foreshadowing *shrugs*

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #358 on: 02 August 2013, 05:26:01 »
----- 1 Day Later -----
   
Date: October 5, 3010

Location: Galatea

Title: Not the Way the Smart Money Bets

Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: Vernonica Matova meets Morgan at the Nova Royale hotel.  After some charged banter and flirting, they agree to keep things professional (due to an inherent lack of trust) and agree that they have a common enemy in Haskell Blizzard.  He enlists her in getting people to bet on Patrick in the upcoming match. 

As their meeting wraps up, General Volmer bursts into their suite at the head of a unit of Galatea Constabulary, demanding that Morgan turn over Cat Wilson to their custody on murder charges.  Security footage from the restaurant show him killing one of Blizzard’s thugs.  Volmer knowns that Cat was in Morgan’s company in the 10th Skye Rangers less than two months earlier.  While his men search Morgan’s suite, Volmer dismisses Veronica and asks Morgan for more details about the fight, for which he’s been told by Blizzard to bet heavily on his son, Thomas (aka Titan). 

Morgan goes over the origins of the Patrick/Titan feud.  Volmer was at the Nagelring at the same time as Patrick and was abusing steroids, going on rage-fueled rampages, and abusing other cadets with hazing rituals.  Patrick reported him to the honor board, resulting in his expulsion and relegation to the Galatean arena circuit.  General Volmer insists that his son not be humiliated in the match, but Morgan answers that if anything goes wrong with his own plans, files with incriminating information about Volmer’s conduct as commander of the Galatean garrison will be automatically transmitted by ComStar to the Archon, who will use them to strip the General of his command.

After the search turns up no trace of Cat Wilson, a flustered and shaken Volmer orders his aide, Major Choate, to execute Order Maroon, a secret agreement with Precentor Kinnock, the local ComStar representative, to embargo outgoing messages that might expose his wrongdoing to Tharkad.

Back at Snowsquall Enterprises, Haskell Blizzard’s front company, the crime lord chortles over his anticipated profits from the match and the associated betting.  He’s slightly discomfited by Veronica Matova’s heavy bets on Morgan, but ultimately considers Galatea’s top madam to be expendable.  He fully expects Morgan to try to double-cross him, and hedges his bets to cover his obligations should Patrick prove victorious, laundering his transactions with off-world bookies via ComStar.

Meanwhile, the Kells are prepping Walter de Mesnil’s Blackjack to be Patrick’s ride in the duel at Tisha’s repair shop – Hamilton Armor and Dent, Ltd.  Taking the freshly repainted ‘Mech out for a test run, he engages in a simulated battle with a Vindicator, the same ‘Mech Titan will be piloting in the battle, eking out a victory over the more heavily armored foe.

At Volmer’s garrison HQ, he meets with Precentor Kinnock, who wants clearance to send messages relating to the duel.  Volmer is stunned to see that they’re not from Morgan, but show that Blizzard is betting against Titan.  He suspects Blizzard of conspiring with Kell to kill Titan while reaping a handsome profit, and tells the Precentor to suspend delivery of the messages.  The Precentor warns Volmer that ComStar will be held liable for any resulting financial losses from non-delivery, but Volmer counters that it doesn’t apply if the parties involved were engaged in illegal activities.  He then begins making plans to ensure that Patrick’s Blackjack doesn’t make it to the match.

Notes:  This is pretty much the first time (chronologically) that ComStar has appeared in BattleTech fiction.  I was initially surprised to see the Precentor shown as wearing red robes, since I’d had a mental picture of ComStar personnel wearing white robes.  Looking through the source material, I see that I was totally wrong.  Per FM: ComStar, only Acolytes wear white robes, while Adepts wear yellow, demi-Precentors wear green and Precentors wear red.  The Precentor Martial is entitled to wear red, but Anastasius Focht generally wore white with a red sash.  ComGuard dress uniforms are white robes with gold trim.  The Stackpole books show further variety – Demi-Precentor Khalasa wears red robes on Alyina, though it appears he was only entitled to green.  Precentor ROM is shown wearing black robes.  Primus Julian Tiepolo is shown in dun/tan robes, while Primus Myndo Waterly wears gold robes.  Acolytes are shown wearing yellow robes in the Warrior Trilogy, so it seems that Acolyte and Adept colors may have switched at some point.  (In fact, line developer Herbert Beas confirmed that the easiest explanation would be that Focht and Mori changed the robe color schemes for the lower ranks as part of their reformation/secularization of the organization.  So 2780 – 3053: Stackpole color scheme; 3053-3145: Field Manual: ComStar color scheme.)

ComStar may present itself as a neutral organization at this point, but everyone seems to take it for granted that they read everyone’s mail.  (It’s just that nobody’s willing to do anything about it, for fear of interdiction.)  It even appears that a legal code has grown up around ComStar’s interfering with message delivery, holding them responsible for financial harm, unless local government holds that the messages related to criminal activity.  Kinnock’s collusion with Volmer may or may not represent official ComStar policy.  I would guess that Kinnock is corrupt and has this deal going on the side, since Hilton Head would probably be most displeased that he was risking their reputation as a universally neutral party on Galatea of all places, where they do brisk business running the Mercenary Review Board.  If the mercs don’t trust them to be impartial, they’d have to risk a resurgence of the Mercenaries’ Guild as a competing regulator.
"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 #359 on: 02 August 2013, 05:30:44 »
I'll be taking a slight hiatus from the chronoblog while I move to Tajikistan.  I'll return once my Internet connection is set up (hopefully sometime next week).
"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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