Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars  (Read 480675 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #720 on: 01 January 2014, 06:17:22 »
----- One Day Later -----

Date: May 15, 3023 [See Notes]

Location: Tancredi IV

Title: Fox at Bay

Author: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison

Type: Scenario (The Fox’s Teeth)

Synopsis:  During a heavy raid by half of the 7th Crucis Lancers regiment on the Combine world of Tancredi IV (near the Outworlds Alliance), McKinnon’s Raiders inserted behind Combine lines and went after rear area supply depots.  McKinnon’s command lance was intercepted by a Combine force and driven into a ravine, with a large DCMS force waiting in ambush at the far end.  Realizing his predicament, McKinnon wheeled around and charged at the smaller force behind them, hoping to punch through and escape.  Historically, he managed to do so, losing only one ‘Mech.

The Raiders field a Marauder, Warhammer, Phoenix Hawk, and Stinger, (210 tons) while the DCMS force consists of a Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, Wasp, Griffin, and two Archers (330 tons).  The Raiders win a Decisive victory by getting three or more ‘Mechs off the map, and a Marginal Victory by getting at least two off the map while destroying three or more Combine ‘Mechs.  The Combine wins a Decisive Victory if none of McKinnon’s troops escapes, and a Marginal victory if one escapes, but only if no more than two Combine ‘Mechs are destroyed in the process.

McKinnon’s force automatically wins initiative on the first round and gets a +2 to initiative rolls for the 2nd and 3rd combat rounds.  McKinnon’s ‘Mechs can retreat by exiting off the board from any open edge of the second map sheet, but it only counts as breaking contact with the enemy if there are no Combine ‘Mechs within six hexes when they do so. 

Notes:  Looking for other references to Tancredi IV to see if I could identify the OpFor, I came across a bizarre statement in the TRO:3025 Crusader entry, which states that the Crucis Lancers fought off a water raid there by Helmar Valasek’s Death’s Head Raiders of Santander IV.   Tancredi IV seems a wee bit distant to go just for water, considering that Valasek apparently traversed the entire length of the Draconis Combine to get there.  (Of course, that pales in comparison to the Oberon Confederation contracting poor Wilson’s Hussars to raid the Taurian Concordat on the other side of the Inner Sphere, per the Mercenary’s Handbook.)

The House Davion sourcebook notes that the Federated Suns offensive launched in 3022, using information from their new Lyran allies, resulted in the capture of Tancredi IV in 3023.  (The equivalent House Kurita sourcebook reference calls it Tancredi II, but this appears to be a typo, rather than an indication that there are two inhabited worlds in the system, since the index refers to it as a reference to Tancredi IV.)  It appears that the recapture was somewhat unexpected, since the 7th Crucis Lancers were on a mission to destroy the world’s metal stockpiles, indicating that the AFFS just wanted to deny the DCMS the world’s use as a staging/manufacturing base.

The House Davion sourcebook says that Tancredi IV was captured by the Combine early in the Third Succession War, while Handbook: House Davion describes the Combine occupation as lasting only a decade, implying that the world fell to the Combine in 3013.  From geography alone, it was probably administratively part of the Kaznejov Prefecture, so (going by the TO&E in the 3025 House Kurita sourcebook), the OpFor on Tancredi IV was probably either the 8th Sword of Light or the 4th An Ting Legion.  (Alpha and Delta regiments of Wolf’s Dragoons also took up station in the Prefecture by 3025, but at this point the Dragoons are still in transit, stopping to raid Hoff and Quentin IV on the way.)

The scenario setup notes that the AFFS dispatched half the 7th Crucis Lancers regiment to Tancredi IV.  The problem with standard BattleTech organizational structures, however, is that they split by threes, rather than by twos.  So they either sent 4 or 5 companies, or they split one company and sent 4.5 companies on the raid.  It’s certainly doable, but it seems inefficient.

Tactically, the DCMS force will want to immediately prioritize the Phoenix Hawk and the Stinger.  Spread your units out to cover a wide swath of the map board so that the Raiders’ jumpers can’t simply bound over your lines and escape – they’ll have to put some of your guys down, first.  Anchor your interdiction lines with your slow units – the Archers and Rifleman, while using the Griffin and Wasp (and the Shadow Hawk, to a lesser extent) to pursue the fast movers and put them down.  Once the speedy guys are dealt with, your troops can close in on the remaining Heavies and pulp them.

The Raider player will need to be careful in this scenario if going for the Decisive Victory.  Yes, it would be easiest to slip your Phoenix Hawk and Stinger past the Kuritan forces, but that would leave the Warhammer and Marauder to face eight enemies on their own, and you only win a Decisive Victory by pulling three units out.  Look at the Combine deployment and see if they’ve left any holes in their coverage.  Move the Lance upfield on the eastern side of the map, using the ridge to screen your ‘Mechs from incoming fire as much as possible.  If the Combine forces charge you, engage, but keep moving north.  Once you’re on the northern map, you can bump up against the edge of the map and alpha strike repeatedly to create a clear zone, allowing you to step off the map and escape.  Alternately, you can try to draw off the Combine troops with a feint by your fast units, and then push hard with the Heavies for any gaps that open up in the Combine lines.  Closing and kicking may prove beneficial, because successfully legging an enemy will leave it unable to rejoin the pursuit, opening up a hole in the defensive line.

The scenario is dated May 3023, but I've put it at May 15, 3023, because the unit has recorded engagements in April 3023 and June 3023, so putting it in mid-May gives sufficient time to get from world to world for these battles - placing "Fear No Evil" in early April and the upcoming "The Swarm's Sting" in late June.
« Last Edit: 01 January 2014, 06:26:09 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 #721 on: 02 January 2014, 10:43:30 »
----- One Month Later -----

Date: June 13, 3023

Location: Quentin IV

Title: Wolves on the Border

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Wolf’s Dragoons have come to Quentin IV and are attempting to force their way through the orbital defenses.  Lieutenant Hamilton Atwyl leads Blue Flight through an intense storm in pursuit of a retreating Davion Union, hoping to down it before it reaches the relative safety of the Batan Spaceport.

Breaking free of the storm, they see that the Union crashed seven kilometers short of the spaceport, but that some of its ‘Mechs are still functional – including a Rifleman.  The anti-air ‘Mech downs a Dragoon Sparrowhawk before Atwyl destroys it, crashing his Lucifer in the process.  When Atwyl comes to, he is surrounded by concerned members of Blue Flight, who landed nearby and destroyed his flight recorder to prevent him from getting in trouble for making a suicidal strafing run against the Rifleman.

The fighters (exhibiting VTOL take-off capabilities) get back in the air, and Atwyl watches as they fly escort for Dragoon DropShips on approach to the Batan Spaceport.  The first wave smashes the port’s defensive emplacements and engages Davion atmospheric fighters, clearing the way for ‘Mech and infantry carriers to deploy their ground forces into the port.  The DropShips then switch to ground-support fire missions while their ‘Mechs and jump infantry (7th Kommando?) forces seize the port facilities, then boost upwards to rejoin the ongoing fight for control of the orbital lanes.  Shortly, the remaining Davion ‘Mechs are in full retreat, and Port Batan belongs to the Dragoons, allowing Colonel Wolf to begin his landings at the secured LZ.

Meanwhile, on approach to Quentin IV’s orbital space, the DCS Starblade carries Minobu Tetsuhara to take up his role as liaison officer to the Dragoons.  He muses how little he knows about them, to the point of not even knowing if Jaime Wolf was a man or a woman.  Minobu is openly snubbed by Sho-sa Brett Hawken and Sho-sa Gensei Terasu of the First Sword of Light, and he avoids them as best he can, even though he outranks them.

Notes: This account claims that the attack on Quentin IV is the Dragoons’ first mission for the Draconis Combine.  The Eridani Light Horse troops on Hoff would be surprised to hear that.  Perhaps it would have been more accurate to state that the raid on Quentin IV is these Dragoons’ first mission for the Combine, since the Quentin invasion force doesn’t include Epsilon, Beta, or the Black Widows.  Or perhaps it reflects the fact that Atwyl doesn’t know what the other Dragoon regiments are doing, and is unaware of the Hoff raid.  Atwyl later notes he’s only been with the Dragoons for ten years, so he must be an Inner Sphere adoptee, rather than a Clan-origin pilot, possibly explaining why he’s left out of strategic planning sessions. 

As noted previously, Jaime Wolf is with the Quentin assault group (Alpha, Gamma, and Delta), and could not have been on Hoff three weeks earlier given the distance.  It is possible that Jaime was in contact with the Epsilon/Widow taskforce via HPG, and could have made the “We have them” statement regarding the Hoff situation via remote communications.  (Minobu Tetsuhara’s inner monologue later in the chapter confirms that one mercenary regiment and several auxiliary units had rushed on, joining a raid in the Hoff system.)

Hamilton notes that the Dragoons have been in Combine employ for three months at this point, and have spent most of that time in transit.  Since Quentin is very close to Terra, there must be some reason for it to have taken three months for the main body of Dragoons to reach it.  My guess is that Epsilon and the Widows were either on the Lyran/Combine border when the new contract went into effect, or were actually in the Combine staging for raids when the new orders came in.  Thus, they could have reached Hoff in the time it took the rest of the Dragoons to fall back to their Lyran HQ on Chukchi III, dismantle their base there, prepare Hephastaeus Station for transit, and begin to work their way back towards the Combine border.

As Minobu Tetsuhara reviews the map of Quentin IV, he notes that the primary continent is named Aja and the secondary one is named Aja Minor.  Later write-ups of Quentin IV name the continents Gladius, Morandi, El Largo, and El Minoro.  Even more confusingly, Aja and Aja Minor appear to correspond to Gladius and Morandi, rather than El Largo and El Minoro.  The reason for this is probably that the author of the later write-up didn’t notice a one-line reference in Wolves on the Border, but in-universe, it leads me to wonder if the Successor States have a habit of renaming certain landscape features when they take planets over.  We know, for example, that one planet on the Davion/Kurita border was registered as Cussar by the Combine, but known as Barlow’s Folly by the Federated Suns, in honor of its doomed AFFS garrison commander.

The ISF’s data collection capabilities in this era must be patently awful if they haven’t managed to secure any pictures of Dragoon officers or even information about whether Jaime is a man or woman after the Dragoons have been in the Inner Sphere for nearly 20 years and have negotiated a contract with the Combine.  One might suspect that under Subhash Indrahar, there’s far more focus on ninjas raining from the skies (DEST) and less on data collection and analysis.

It’s interesting to see Atwyl’s poor regard for the conventional fighters, after the horrendous damage Lyran conventionals inflicted on the Dragoons at Hesperus II.  Browsing through the MUL, the AFFS militia fighters defending the spaceport can only be ten-ton Comet Light Strike Fighters, introduced in 2703, since the only other conventional fighter available to House Davion in 3023 is the unarmed five-ton Boomerang spotter plane.
« Last Edit: 02 January 2014, 23:19:27 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 #722 on: 02 January 2014, 17:49:42 »
Nice write up, Mendrugo. Your evergoing saga highlight such events and battles in Battletech universe continues to amazes me. 

I love the name of the House Kurita's name for their dropship, DCS Starblade.   Might not be Japanese, but still darn cool one.  Then again, it is Japanese if you were in a Arcade in early 1990s.  ;)
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #723 on: 03 January 2014, 10:19:14 »
----- One Day Later -----

Date: June 14, 3023

Location: Quentin IV

Title: Wolves on the Border

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Minobu Tetsuhara lands at the Batan Spaceport aboard the DCS Starblade, mastering his own fear as he makes a descent into a combat zone without being at the helm of a BattleMech.  He exits the craft behind Terasu and Hawken, who show their disrespect by giving him (a superior officer) orders to take care of menial logistical tasks.  While the two Sword of Light company commanders make a beeline for the WDS Chieftan, assuming the Overlord-class DropShip is the Dragoon field HQ, Tetsuhara notices communication cables running from the ship to the control tower building, and follows them to Jaime’s actual command center.

In the command center, Tetsuhara is momentarily surprised to see five officers with identical Colonel insignia on their lapels, and realizes he is being tested.  He identifies Jaime as having a “pool of calm” in the midst of the busy command center, and introduces himself as their Liaison Officer.  Jaime congratulates him on being the first to get it right in quite a while, and Minobu answers that it was obvious once he assessed the strength of Jaime’s ki.  Wolf introduces the other four Colonels as Kathleen Dumont of Delta, Wilhelmina Korsht of Gamma, Andrei Shostokovitch of Beta, and Jason Carmody of the Aerospace Operations Group, as well as his Alpha Regiment XO, Major Kelly Yukinov.

When Terasu and Hawken arrive, they don’t even attempt to play the Wolf's game, and demand a status update.  Minobu is impressed by Jaime’s mastery of Combine courtesies.   The Combine officers grill Wolf about security arrangements at the port, leading Minobu to suspect that the First and Seventh Sword of Light regiments have been deployed to Quentin for far more than just mere raiding duty.

As the briefing continues, Communications Officer William Cameron reports that Baron Augustus Davis, administrative chief of Batan, has arrived to parley.  Jaime orders his men to hurry, so they can get preparations underway for their next guest – Coordinator Takashi Kurita.  When Baron Davis arrives, he utterly fails the “guess Jaime” test, introducing himself to Colonel Shostokovich by mistake.  Put off balance, Davis is further surprised when Jaime offers to pay fair market rates for supplies and labor, and to declare Batan a combat-free zone.  Seeing a chance for personal profit, especially if the competing port facility at the planetary capital of Port Gailfry is damaged, Davis agrees and departs.

Wolf then has his techs clear all the data from the holoprojectors, explaining to Tetsuhara that the unit positions that had been displayed were intended to pass false intel to Baron Davis, should he attempt to use what he saw to help the AFFS garrison.  He then sketches out the real battle plan – Alpha, Delta and elements of Gamma will move southwest to lay siege to Port Gailfry, exposing the Dragoon flank to the AFFS units still in the field.  The Dragoons plan to give way against any assault, drawing the enemy in and encircling them, while leaving the leading elements free to assault the BattleMech factories in the city of Fasolht. 

Notes:  It’s interesting that Colonel Shostokovitch is on Quentin IV with Jaime, when his regiment is elsewhere, escorting the Dragoon dependents to their new base world – An Ting. 

Jaime’s patience in dealing with arrogant Combine warriors toward “mere mercenaries” was doubtless deeply ingrained during his youth as a Freeborn MechWarrior in the Trueborn-dominated Kerensky Cluster.

Quentin is a scorchingly hot, arid world.  Workers wear locally made “heatsuits” with humidifier masks when working outside.  The AFFS Quentin garrison in “A Dragon of a Different Color” appeared to be fielding lots of infantry – I wonder if they were XTC infantry wearing heat suits (presumably something along the lines of a light environment suit). 

The Kell Hound training exercises with the local troops don’t seem to have paid off too much in terms of resisting the initial landing.  Of course, that training was aimed at repulsing a Kurita raider battalion, as opposed to an objective raid by five elite regiments.

The factories at Fasolht belong to Independence Weaponry, which makes Atlas, Victor, and Marauder-class BattleMechs there.
« Last Edit: 03 January 2014, 22:13:56 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 #724 on: 03 January 2014, 17:34:14 »
Quentin is a scorchingly hot, arid world.  Workers wear locally made “heatsuits” with humidifier masks when working outside.  The AFFS Quentin garrison in “A Dragon of a Different Color” appeared to be fielding lots of infantry – I wonder if they were XTC infantry wearing heat suits (presumably something along the lines of a light environment suit).

Interestingly, the Linknet description of Quentin shows that it's not very hot at all (only 26° C at the equator), though arid might be accurate (it's only got 53% surface water, compared to Terra's 75%). It's also got quite low gravity (.74G) and its atmosphere is described as "tainted", so it makes sense that infantry and workers would need to wear some kind of environmental suits...I'm just not sure that it's protecting them from heat, per se. Perhaps the confluence of other environmental factors produces something akin to great heat in terms of discomfort, hence the name of the suits.


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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #725 on: 03 January 2014, 22:10:46 »
The LinkNet planetary writeup authors had a spotty track record of researching earlier references buried amid the myriad sourcebooks and novels, leading to some direct contradictions on gravity, temperature, moons, placement in system, and climate.

Sometimes it's possible to reconcile the two.  Given the proximity to Fire Rift, perhaps there's sufficient geothermal activity that the heat mentioned in Wolves on the Border is coming from below, not above.
"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 #726 on: 04 January 2014, 04:42:15 »
----- Three Days Later -----

Date: June 17, 3023

Location: Quentin IV

Title: Wolves on the Border

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Minobu has spent the past three days surveying Dragoon operations around Batan Spaceport, escorted by Colonel Andrei “Shos” Shostokovitch.  In the field, Alpha and Gamma are engaging the AFFS garrison in the field, while Delta besieges Port Gailfry.  Flight Colonel Carmody’s aerospace operations group is based out of Batan to provide support and control orbital operations.  Jaime also remains at the port, coordinating combat operations through his communications officer, Captain William Cameron.

On the 17th, a “delta call” comes in from the field, indicating that a Dragoon unit is in trouble.  Alpha Regiment (under Kelly Yukinov) has run into trouble at Fire Rift.  The primary AFFS garrison on Quentin is the Veteran Snake Stompers mercenary regiment, with a battalion on Quentin III and two on Quentin IV.  One of the companies guarding the factories at Fasolht has apparently launched a sortie to halt the Dragoon advance at Fire Rift.  Jaime opts to take his command lance to deal with the problem personally, and invites Minobu to accompany him.  Minobu recognizes the blue and gold Archer from Dromini VI, and is gladdened that the pilot survived. 

Senior Tech Bynfield provides Tetsuhara with a Vindicator, which has a similar movement profile and weapon loadout to his family’s Panther, Katana Kat.  He takes his wakizashi and katana with him into the cockpit.

At Fire Rift, Minobu struggles to link up with Alpha Regiment’s command lance, pushing through old lava flows, broken rock, and scree in the badlands.  When he reaches Dragoon lines, William Cameron welcomes him, and informs him that the Dragoons are battling roughly two companies of Snake Stompers, and that the Colonel has gone missing.  Minobu volunteers to join the search.

Tetsuhara finds the site where Jaime’s command lance engaged the Snake Stompers, and follows tracks deeper into the Rift.  He encounters a Dragoon Shadow Hawk piloted by Sergeant Dechan Fraser.  Together they track Jaime, finding him at last stuck in liquid magma and under fire from four light Snake Stomper ‘Mechs.  Tetsuhara and Fraser scatter the Snake Stompers, driving them off after a short battle.  Fraser pursues the retreating Davion mercenaries, while Tetsuhara carefully cuts open the Archer’s canopy with his laser and retrieves the cockpit capsule with his Vindicator’s hand, only moments before the Archer’s missile load detonates from the heat.  Minobu is shocked to see that he has rescued Jaime Wolf himself, and considers himself karmically responsible for the Dragoon commander’s future actions.

Notes:  Shostokovitch is the logical choice for liaison duties, since his regiment (Beta) is offworld en-route to An Ting.

More references are made to “the heat of the harsh Quentin sun,” “the blazing sun,” “direct solar heat from the blazing white sun,” and “the planet’s brutal conditions,” indicating that the heat around Batan isn’t geothermal in origin.  Since prose fiction trumps sourcebook entries (generally), I would speculate that the LinkNet entry for Quentin IV is in error regarding equatorial temperature.

Entering the outskirts of Fire Rift, Tetsuhara finds that his Vindicator is operating at only 52% of heat dissipation capacity, due to the geothermal activity and the solar radiation.  The Vindicator has 16 heat sinks, implying that the ‘Mech is generating an extra 8 heat per round due to the surrounding conditions.  Looking at the Tactical Operations table on p. 62, that translates to 120 degrees C (248 F). 

There are active magma flows under thin crusts in the heart of Fire Rift.  Minobu finds a Griffin that has succumbed to a heat-induced ammunition explosion, and sees a Javelin break through the crust and disappear into the liquid magma.  According to the magma rules on p. 36 of Tactical Operations, occupying a magma crust hex in the heat phase generates 5 heat, while just walking through generates 2.  Tetsuhara is at the outskirts of Fire Rift when he notes the extra 8 heat per turn, and speculates that it will be worse deeper inside.  If a Vindicator moved 4 hexes over magma crust, it would generate 11 heat per turn from convection.   (Tetsuhara has a speed regulator installed to prevent overheating - presumably locking him down to a walking pace.)

Jaime’s Archer, stuck in liquid magma, is generating an extra 10 heat per turn and taking 2D6 points of damage to its legs as the armor and internal structure melts.  Not good for a ‘Mech that has only ten heat sinks to begin with and a combined 82 points of leg armor and internal structure, which will melt completely in just under two minutes from the time of immersion.  Minobu must have reached Jaime very shortly after he broke through.
« Last Edit: 15 January 2014, 08:27:52 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 #727 on: 05 January 2014, 12:45:19 »
----- One Day Later -----

Date: June 18, 3023

Location: Quentin IV

Title: Wolves on the Border

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Following the ordeal at Fire Rift, Minobu Tetsuhara feels revitalized and at peace with his place in the universe.  However, he sees that Jaime Wolf is nowhere close to recovered from his ordeal, and worries that the fight has gone out of this legendary warrior.

Coordinator Takashi Kurita comes to review operations at the Alpha Regiment Mobile HQ on the Fire Rift front.  Minobu follows the Dragoon command staff through Alpha's field repair station as they go to greet their employer. 

Takashi arrives in his personal BattleMaster and greets Colonel Wolf warmly.  The two men shake hands, testing grips.  Takashi asks Wolf why he wasn’t at Batan Spaceport to greet him, then expresses approval that Jaime put duty above matters of protocol.  Minobu is relieved to see that Wolf, though physically weak, still has a strong spirit inside, and is toughing it out.

Inside the Mobile HQ, Major Blake explains that the two Snake Stomper companies have been contained in the Fire Rift salient, while the rest of the AFFS forces are maintaining their defensive lines at Carson and Fasolht, denying the Stompers any support.  The Dragoons are in the process of launching Operation SLEIGHT – drawing out the unsupported mercenaries, then driving them into a carefully prepared ambush, while using demolitions to cut off their retreat.  With no chance of victory, the veteran mercenaries surrender.

The Sword of Light officers are disdainful of the Stompers for having surrendered rather than fought to the death.  Wolf answers that such a last stand would have been costly to both sides, and the mark of an irresponsible commander.  Minobu is amazed that Takashi doesn’t disparage Wolf’s comments as those of a worthless merchant, and wonders if the Coordinator might agree with Wolf’s viewpoint.

The Dragoons reform and continue to give the impression that they’re moving towards the capital city of Port Gailfry.  Wolf expects the mobile AFFS forces in Fasolht and Carson to form a strike force and hit the Dragoons in the flank, hoping to drive them off before they can aid Delta Regiment against the White Witches and the Port Gailfry Defense Team.  While the task force is chasing Dragoon decoys, Alpha will hit the industrial facilities at Fasolht.

Lord Kurita approves of the plan, and announces his intention to join Delta and personally take a hand in the fight, while his bodyguard, Sho-sa Hawken, and Tetsuhara accompany Alpha Regiment for the attack on the factories.

Notes:  On the way through the repair zone, Minobu notices a Wolverine hidden behind radiation sheeting as a tech works on its fusion engine.  In theory, fusion reactors generate neutrons when active, but the production of neutrons ceases within milliseconds of the plant being shut down.  The neutron bombardment would affect the reactor core, making it radioactive.  Of course, given what we saw in “The Spider and the Wolf,” BattleTech fusion reactors tend to have a bit of built-in “explodium” that makes them somewhat more temperamental to work on.

Of interest, the paint schemes seen in the field are far from uniform – showcasing the greater individuality of the “knight errant” era of the late Third Succession War, rather than the uniformity of the post-renaissance period.  The lead Sword of Light Marauder, rather than being in the unit’s official monochrome red paint scheme, sports tiger-stripes.

Jaime’s comment about fighting to the death in a hopeless last stand being a waste of resources and a sign of irresponsibility is interesting.  The bit about being a waste of resources is in line with standard Clan philosophy, and the stated reason behind the whole bidding process.  However, fighting a heroic last stand and earning a glorious death is the goal of every Trueborn.  Jaime’s rejection of that philosophy probably reflects his status as a Freeborn, who doesn’t have the “die well” imperative of the Trueborn, because his genes would never have been considered worthy for inclusion in the breeding program no matter how he died.

The Snake Stompers were fluffed as mercenary band with a Waco Ranger-style death oath against House Kurita.  The only requirement to join is a deep and highly motivated hatred of the Draconis Combine, usually due to losing family members and homeworlds to DCMS attacks.  The unit hasn’t been heard from since “Wolves on the Border,” but perhaps the situation in 3145 might create the conditions for its resurrection.  The stunning Combine advance has certainly created a lot of angry Feddies itching for payback.
"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 #728 on: 05 January 2014, 12:49:05 »
Jaime’s comment about fighting to the death in a hopeless last stand being a waste of resources and a sign of irresponsibility is interesting.  The bit about being a waste of resources is in line with standard Clan philosophy, and the stated reason behind the whole bidding process.  However, fighting a heroic last stand and earning a glorious death is the goal of every Trueborn.  Jaime’s rejection of that philosophy probably reflects his status as a Freeborn, who doesn’t have the “die well” imperative of the Trueborn, because his genes would never have been considered worthy for inclusion in the breeding program no matter how he died.

Probably also reflects the fact that he's been "going native" after being in the Inner Sphere for twenty years. That has to have affected the Clanner outlook of the original Dragoons on even the deepest levels.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #729 on: 06 January 2014, 12:07:36 »
----- Three Days Later -----

Date: June 21, 3023

Location: Quentin IV

Title: Wolves on the Border

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Spending downtime at the Alpha Regiment Mobile HQ, Minobu reviews the campaign’s progress.  As predicted, the AFFS commander stripped Fasolht and Carson of their mobile forces and attempted to flank the Dragoons, running into a Delta ambush on the Plains of Glass, where many ‘Mechs were lost to heat problems.  Dragoon aerospace forces prevented AFFS DropShips from bringing reinforcements from the southern capital of Barnaby or the Aja Minor (Morandi?) continent.  With the mobile forces engaged, Alpha faced little resistance against its push on the Independence Weaponry facilities in Fasolht until bogging down against stiffening resistance from the Fasolht Defense Team on the 20th. 

Yukinov tells her officers that Colonel Wolf has ordered Gamma to leave their standby position in orbit and drop to support Alpha.  The Alpha officers grumble that this means the loss of their capture bonus.  Yukinov commiserates, but tells her people that Delta can’t assist, and is facing a new threat – elements of the White Witches mercenary ‘Mech regiment have broken through the Dragoon cordon around Port Gailfry and are trying to reinforce the AFFS forces on the Plains of Glass.

Sho-sa Hawken, serving as liaison from the Sword of Light elements escorting the Coordinator, accuses the Dragoons of lacking a warrior’s heart, and boasts that his Sworders could smash through the Fasolht Defense Team’s lines and dine in their commissary that evening.   Major Yukinov invites Minobu to accompany him in the borrowed Vindicator.

At Fasolht, an understrength lance of the Snake Stompers takes part in the Independence Weaponry defenses.  The only two remaining Stomper MechWarriors, Jenkins and “Gramps,” discuss their prospects.  Morale is low with the Stompers, who signed up for duty in the Draconis March for the chance to fight Kurita regulars, not get slapped around by Wolf’s Dragoons.  The rest of the Stompers departed with the AFFS mobile forces to engage the Dragoons on the Plains of Glass, along with the Hard Riders – the other mercenary ‘Mech regiment defending the city.  The best Jenkins hopes for is honors of war if they put up a good fight.

An alert goes up as enemy BattleMechs approach the Stomper bivouac.  Rather than the Dragoons’ badlands camouflage, Jenkins sees the crimson field colors of the Sword of Light.  Gramps mounts his Commando and charges, firing before he clears the wall.  He accomplishes little, damaging a Jenner before taking a PPC bolt to the cockpit from a Sworder Panther.  Jenkins’ Phoenix Hawk tries to cover the Fasolht Defense Team’s retreat.  Captain Edison, commander of the survivors of the Batan Defense Team, leads her forces to support the defense, but Jenkins, having seen Dragoon forces moving to encircle their position, waves her off and tells her to keep the fight going. 

Getting back into the hopeless fight, Jenkins destroys a Sworder ‘Mech with a back-shot from his large laser, then embraces a Kuritan Charger in a bear hug and shuts down his heat exchangers, leatting the heat destroy the magnetic containment on the Phoenix Hawk’s fusion reactor.

In the aftermath, Sho-sa Hawken gloats about his victory to Minobu, calling it a glorious fight.  Minobu criticizes the wastefulness of the frontal assault, and notes that the Sworders lost a quarter of their ‘Mechs and a third of their men, and are in no shape to hold the factories against a counterattack. 

Major Yukinov summons Minobu to join him at the Independence Weaponry facilities to review the plunder.  When Minobu arrives, he finds Senior Tech Bynfield directing the scavenger teams to both haul away parts and equipment, and crack computer codes to obtain encrypted data.  Sho-sa Hawken arrives just behind Minobu, and declares all the equipment to be the property of the Draconis Combine.  Yukinov cites the terms of their contract, but Hawken insists that all the Independence Weaponry salvage represents military information and supplies, rather than salvage.

Minobu, called upon to intercede (as befits a military liaison) says that the contract does specify a well defined split of salvage rights, but also says that any materials designated as “military priority” by the Combine belong to the DCMS.  The Dragoons continue their salvage work, but without their prior enthusiasm.  When Colonel Wolf and Coordinator Kurita arrive, Jaime asks Takashi for a ruling on whether the Independence Weaponry salvage is classified as military data.  Takashi responds in the affirmative, then announces he must depart for Luthien.  He tells Minobu to continue to serve as a dutiful samurai, and implies that such service will be rewarded.

After the Kuritans depart, Senior Tech Bynfield approaches Jaime to complain, showing him a data tape that wasn’t handed over to the Combine.  She protests that it contains theoretical technical data, not military information.  Wolf is furious, confining her to quarters for having violated his personal agreement with Takashi Kurita and broken the Dragoon contract.  He warns that if House Kurita loses respect for the Dragoons, they’ll end up sitting out five years on a garrison posting. 

Someone in the crowd suggests “we could pack up and head for home,” but Wolf dismisses the suggestion, noting that it’s “not an option right now.”  Wolf orders Bynfield to bury the data tape for the remainder of their five year contract.  Only then does he notice, with surprise, that Minobu is standing there.  Minobu bows to Wolf and determines that the mercenary’s actions are in elegant accord with Combine customs, and show honor.

Notes:  After Kai Allard-Liao’s famous self destruction of his Hatchetman, detonating your own ‘Mech to take out a nearby enemy was dubbed “the Stackpole Rule.”  However, Wolves on the Border predated the publication of the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, so that maneuver should really be termed “the Charrette Rule,” in my opinion.

The Fasolht Defense Team appears to have been equipped with Harasser Hover Tanks, APCs, and Scorpion Light Tanks.  Per Objective Raids, the Harasser is only manufactured on Irian and Andurien, in the FWL.  Quikscell makes Scorpion tanks on Layover, in the Crucis March, so the source for those is obvious, but given the distance between Irian and Quentin, Scorpions would have greatly outnumbered the Harassers in the militia detachment.  From the recent Kell Hound scenarios ("Dragon of a Different Color" and "The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon") on Quentin, we know that the PGU has Vedettes, Goblins, Demolishers, and Von Luckners.

“The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon” established the 143rd Davion Combined Arms Regiment as the core of the planetary guard unit.  Wolves on the Border establishes that the 143rd was bolstered by the White Witches, the Snake Stompers, and the Hard Riders.  It’s unclear whether the Fasolht Defense Team, Port Gailfry Defense Team, and Batan Defense Team were part of the 143rd, or if the 143rd represented “mobile” defense forces, while the Defense Teams were “stationary” defense forces.  The Defense Teams appear to have been combined arms forces, with ‘Mechs, armor, infantry, and conventional fighters.  (In fact, given the fact that Independence Weaponry makes Atlas, Victor, and Marauder-class BattleMechs, one would suppose that the corporate security teams probably did more of the damage to the Sworders than the hopelessly outgunned Snake Stompers, since those Heavy and Assault designs would be more suited to fixed defense than the light Stomper machines, which were optimized for the Stompers’ “hit and fade” field tactics.)

One might infer from Wolves on the Border and “The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon” that AFFS planetary defense doctrine would be to assign each major city a combined arms “Defense Team,” supporting them with scattered elements of a combined arms mobile planetary guard unit and BattleMech-equipped mercenary units.  In the event of a raid, the PGU forces could bolster the Defense Teams at threatened cities, while mobile elements stationed in cities not under threat move to support those cities that are threatened, or unify and try to engage the raiders in the field.  The PGU appears to get heavy and medium armor, while the Defense Teams have just light armor (Scorpions and APCs) and hovercraft.

The Combine certainly exercised the “military priority” clause in mercenary contracts on a regular basis once it started hiring mercs again after 3054, since ClanTech salvage would be worth more than its weight in germanium.

The interchange about “going home” and that being “not an option right now” was highly cryptic in 1987, prior to the revelation that the Dragoons were part of the Clans, and that “home” was the Kerensky Cluster.  In retrospect, one wonders exactly why it was “not an option.” 

At the 3018 resupply meeting, the Dragoons received new orders that ended their recon mission of the Inner Sphere.  They were no longer obliged to analyze the Inner Sphere’s military capacity to aid Operation REVIVAL.  Instead, they were charged with making the Inner Sphere ready to defend itself against the coming Clan invasion.  Certainly, the terms of the new mission would preclude returning to the Kerensky Cluster in 3028, as scheduled – particularly not without doing what they could to prepare the Combine to defend itself. 

In addition, the Dragoons may not have had the navigational data to go back ahead of schedule.  As previously noted, they would have needed a command circuit of ships to make it to a Deep Periphery rendezvous and back in the timeframe given, so perhaps the Clans arranged for such command circuits to be formed at pre-determined intervals – 3008, 3018, and 3028.
« Last Edit: 07 January 2014, 03:38:34 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 #730 on: 06 January 2014, 21:19:01 »
Dragon of a Different Color? Forgive me if i missed it being mentioned before, but what exactly is that?
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #731 on: 06 January 2014, 22:00:07 »
Dragon of a Different Color? Forgive me if i missed it being mentioned before, but what exactly is that?

A Kell Hound scenario (one of two set on Quentin IV, along with "The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon") that takes place a few months before the Dragoon invasion, in which Kell Hound forces and planetary militia are using paint loads in a wargame scenario when they are suddenly attacked by a real Sword of Light battalion.  I think I mis-stated above - the details of the planetary militia composition were inferred from "The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon."

Dragon of a Different Color: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,27831.msg837498.html#msg837498

The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,27831.msg837704.html#msg837704
"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 #732 on: 06 January 2014, 22:13:06 »
A Kell Hound scenario (one of two set on Quentin IV, along with "The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon") that takes place a few months before the Dragoon invasion, in which Kell Hound forces and planetary militia are using paint loads in a wargame scenario when they are suddenly attacked by a real Sword of Light battalion.  I think I mis-stated above - the details of the planetary militia composition were inferred from "The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon."

Dragon of a Different Color: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,27831.msg837498.html#msg837498

The Fox, the Hound, and the Dragon: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,27831.msg837704.html#msg837704
Ahhh.  Thank you for for clearing it up.  I tried searching for it, but it was too wordy for Search function for the board.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #733 on: 06 January 2014, 22:23:57 »
Ahhh.  Thank you for for clearing it up.  I tried searching for it, but it was too wordy for Search function for the board.

That's what the index stickied at the top of the page is for.   ;)

http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,25780.0.html
"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 #734 on: 07 January 2014, 13:24:42 »
----- One Week Later -----

Date: June 28, 3023 [See Notes]

Location: Fallon II

Title: The Swarm’s Sting

Author: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison

Type: Scenario (The Fox’s Teeth)

Synopsis:  Mercer Ravannion was a Draconis Combine strategist who believed that the balance of power in the Inner Sphere could be tipped by replacing the Star League-era “lance” formation with “hordes” of 6-10 fast, light ‘Mechs.  He theorized that large numbers of light ‘Mechs could overwhelm and defeat any foe.  He got a chance to test his theory by reorganizing the tattered remnants of the 12th Star Guards (still rebuilding after taking a beating on Vlendenthen) and elements of two other mercenary regiments.

As the “horde” was preparing a field demonstration of the formation’s capabilities, McKinnon’s Raiders hit Fallon II to smash the world’s factories and mines.  This scenario pits elements of Ravannion’s “horde” against McKinnon’s Recon Lance.  The battle damaged “horde” consists of two Wasps, four Stingers, and one Shadow Hawk (175 tons), while the Fox’s Teeth lance consists of a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger (150 tons).

Historically, the heavier ‘Mechs of the Fox’s Teeth shattered Ravannion’s horde, calling his theories into question and (possibly) killing him.

Ravannion gets 10 points for each “horde” ‘Mech that gets past the Raiders and exits the map before turn 8, and 5 for each that exits thereafter.  Ravannion’s side gets 5 points for destroying McKinnon’s Lights, and 10 for destroying McKinnon’s Mediums.  McKinnon’s side gets 5 points for each of Ravannion’s ‘Mechs they destroy, plus ten points for each friendly unit that can withdraw after turn 10.

Notes:  This scenario is undated.  However, there are several references to Mercer Ravannion in TRO:3025.  The first is in the Stinger entry, which describes him testing out his “swarm” tactics unsuccessfully in 3019, battling McKinnon’s Raiders on Fallon II.  The Blackjack entry mentions that Ravannion tested swarm tactics on Xhosa VII in 3022, but was smashed by a unit of the Draconis March Militia.  It notes that Ravannion was killed a year later (3023) in a fight with McKinnon’s Raiders on Fallon II.  Both entries appear to refer to the same battle on Fallon II, but give dates three years apart, with one stating that Ravannion was killed in that battle, while the other says that he survived, but that his credibility was destroyed.  Since the chronologies state that the AFFS was on the defensive until 3022, and then turned the tide and went on the offensive using Lyran intel thereafter (the turning point coinciding with the signing of the FedCom treaty), a deep raid into Combine space would be more consistent with the 3023 date instead of the 3019 one.  (Plus, 3019 would put the scenario before 3020’s “Cry Vengeance!,” which is the first scenario of the Fox’s Teeth under Ian McKinnon.) 

TRO:3025 isn’t the most accurate source of dates.  For example, the Catapult entry cites a raid on Deia by Redjack Ryan’s forces in 2990.  The Periphery sourcebook indicates Redjack was born in 2988.  Precocious li’l tyke, ain’t he?  The Stinger entry also has the Black Widows raiding Doneval II in Davion space in 3021…which probably would have scuttled the then-ongoing FedCom peace talks, considering the Dragoons were under Steiner contract until the end of 3022.

The 12th Star Guards is an odd unit to feature in this scenario.  They appear to be under a Combine contract circa 3023, but the sourcebook entries for the unit indicate that it signed on with the Federated Suns in 3012 and signed with the Lyran Commonwealth in 3024.  It appears that ComStar overlooked the 12th Star Guards’ short hitch with the Draconis Combine in the early 3020s.  (The Trebuchet entry in TRO:3025 features Lt. Raj Sing of the 12th Star Guard, and notes that he has served under four Successor Lords over the course of 35 years, implying that the Twelfth served under more than just Houses Steiner and Davion beween 2990 and 3025.)  Another oddity is that the unit is described as having been smashed at Vlendenthen (the “horde” is described as coming from “what’s left of” the Guard aftter it had been “smashed to bloody bits”), yet it has four fully functional regiments by 3025.

Vlendenthen, not being listed as a planet on any map, is probably the name of a city.  Having battles in off-map locations seems to be a Star Guard specialty.  The Trebuchet entry in TRO:3025 notes that the Guards fought the First Crucis Lancers on Talon shortly after taking heavy damage in the battle of New Boston.  Since the Star Guards were “between employers” and on Talon, they were probably coming out of Capellan service.

Poor Ravannion.  If he’d only held out a few years more, he would have discovered the Savannah Master – a cheap but effective vehicle that perfectly illustrates the power of his “horde” tactics.  The ComGuard and the Society certainly appreciate the utility of base-six and larger combat formations, so perhaps his theories weren't completely discredited.

For Ravannion, the optimal strategy is to charge straight in and avoid combat to the extent possible.  The Fox’s Teeth deploys on the western map, while the Horde enters from the west of the map and tries to break through and exit off the eastern side.  The slower Shadow Hawk should attempt to engage McKinnon’s raiders, but the bug ‘Mechs should move eastward at top speed, jumping and running and making optimal use of cover.  Do not stop to fight – you’ll get far more points if you get your ‘Mechs off before the deadline.  If you maintain an average speed of 4.29 hexes per turn (which should not be problematic for 6/9/6 ‘Mechs), all of your troops should make it to the target edge. 

McKinnon’s Raiders should immediately begin by falling back as the swarm advances.  You won’t be able to get them all, but you can keep up a steady barrage as they run forward and hopefully get enough lucky hits that you bring several down.  You want to be in position to exit after turn 10 and get full points for your survivors.
« Last Edit: 07 January 2014, 23:35:02 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 #735 on: 07 January 2014, 16:05:29 »
What makes you think the two Ravannion battles on Fallon II were supposed to be the same battle (where he died in 3023)?
- The Stinger entry clearly says Ravannion survived that particular encounter (3019) while the Blackjack entry says he died in the Fallon II battle mentioned there;
- By the thime of the Xhosa battle (3022, Blackjack entry) Ravannion was "infamous", strongly suggesting he'd been trying his horde tactics for some time by that point;
- McKinnon's Raiders were stationed in the Draconis March since 3015 where they had numerous skirmishes with unspecified enemy forces (Fox's Teeth p. 7);
- Fallon II seems to have always been a FedSuns world (as far as I can tell) so the Fallon II battle would probably have been a raid not by, but against the 7th Crucis Lancers; or alternatively, Fallon II may have been a contested system for some time pre 3025

The Fallon II battle involving the 12th Star Guard may be either battle (perhaps their Draconis Combine contract was a short objective raid thing, no long-term contract).

Regarding the Wolf's Dragoons items above: "going home" being "not an option now" is probably because the Dragoons burned their bridges - after the Marik contract they returned for a final resupply run where they were ordered to fortwith prepare the IS for the Clans. Upon returning and taking up a contract with Steiner, the Dragoons purged all nav data to the Clan homeworlds from all of their JumpShips. Only the higher officers knew that though, and the rank and file weren't told (those that still were Clan, anways). Source: Explorer Corps sourcebook, p. 59/60.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #736 on: 07 January 2014, 20:42:29 »
What makes you think the two Ravannion battles on Fallon II were supposed to be the same battle (where he died in 3023)?
- The Stinger entry clearly says Ravannion survived that particular encounter (3019) while the Blackjack entry says he died in the Fallon II battle mentioned there;
- By the time of the Xhosa battle (3022, Blackjack entry) Ravannion was "infamous", strongly suggesting he'd been trying his horde tactics for some time by that point;
- McKinnon's Raiders were stationed in the Draconis March since 3015 where they had numerous skirmishes with unspecified enemy forces (Fox's Teeth p. 7);
- Fallon II seems to have always been a FedSuns world (as far as I can tell) so the Fallon II battle would probably have been a raid not by, but against the 7th Crucis Lancers; or alternatively, Fallon II may have been a contested system for some time pre 3025

The Fallon II battle involving the 12th Star Guard may be either battle (perhaps their Draconis Combine contract was a short objective raid thing, no long-term contract).

The problem is that the Stinger entry says that nobody trusted his theory after the failure at the Battle of Markerson on Fallon II, so why would House Kurita let him try again on the same world four years later?  "After the Battle of Markerson, however, no House was willing to risk more 'Mechs on his theories."

That doesn't square with the Blackjack entry which says "the Xhosa garrison was beset on all sides by the light, swift Kurita 'Mechs" in 3022.  Per the Blackjack entry, Ravannion withdrew in disorder, returned home "to further refine" his theories, and was killed a year later in a fight with McKinnon's Raiders on Fallon II.  The scenario strongly indicates that this is the final proof of his theories.  (i.e. - the last time anyone let him waste 'Mechs and lives trying to prove his "horde" tactics.)

There's a continuity error between the Stinger and Blackjack entry (not uncommon in TRO: 3025), and to my mind the Blackjack entry fits the chronology better.  He'd had a first field test on Xhosa VII, which failed, and then he talked the Fallon II garrison commander into letting him try again using mercenary scum as his guinea pigs - also failing.  Granted, the Stinger entry says he survived the battle, but lost credibility, while the Blackjack entry says he died.  One of the entries is simply wrong.  My theory is that the Blackjack entry has the correct date, but is wrong about his death in battle.  The Stinger entry has the correct account - only his credibility died on Fallon II.

(What appears to have happened is that "The Fox's Teeth" was written before TRO: 3025, and the undated scenario was used as a reference point by two separate writers in their entries for the Stinger and Blackjack, resulting in contradictory dates and outcomes for the same battle.)

In the scenario, the Fox's Teeth are expressly stated to have been on a raid ("McKinnon's Raiders have executed a classic hit-and-run strike deep into enemy territory").  Per page 7 of the scenario pack, it wasn't until 3020 that the company was assigned their role as "a deep-penetration raiding group."  Prior to that, they were just a line company in the Crucis Lancers.  Plus, all the scenarios are supposed to be about Ian McKinnon's company, rather than his father's, and Ian didn't take over until 3020.

Yes, on the 3025 map, Fallon II is deep inside the Draconis March.  However, based on what I've been reading, the Draconis March between 3013 and 3024 probably looked a lot like the Capellan border, with lots of salients stretching in both directions, rather than the relatively smooth line on the 3025 map.  The AFFS offensive that started in mid-3022 reclaimed a lot of territory for the Federated Suns, thanks to their alliance with the Lyran Commonwealth.  For them to have reclaimed a lot of territory prior to 3025, the Draconis March must have been significantly narrower at the start of the offensive.  I can see Fallon II being a Combine world in 3023, prior to its liberation and the elimination of the Combine salients.

Thanks for the citation on the Dragoons.  I hadn't realized that the rank and file hadn't been told about the new mission.
« Last Edit: 07 January 2014, 22:27:30 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 #737 on: 10 January 2014, 14:44:01 »
----- Two Months Later -----

Date: August, 3023 [See Notes]

Location: Bergman’s Planet

Title: Lady's Man

Author: J. Andrew Keith

Type: Scenario (Tales of the Black Widow Company)

Synopsis:  During the Sixth Battle for Bergman’s Planet, a large Davion garrison was deployed to protect Bergman’s Planet’s single spaceport and settlement from Kuritan surprise attacks.  A company of the Fourth Guards was deployed at a desert oasis and successfully engaged the Black Widow Company’s recon lance, apparently losing four ‘Mechs in the exchange, but capturing one of the Widows in the process.  Natasha retaliated by leading her entire company on the attack to rescue her lost Stinger pilot.

The Guards company is down to two lances, and deploys a battle damaged Marauder, Archer, Warhammer, Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger.  The Widows deploy their full company, minus the captive StingerWarhammer, Marauder, Crusader, Griffin, Archer, Archer, Wasp, Stinger (Alex Ward), Rifleman, Phoenix Hawk, and one Stinger from Recon Lance (not specified whether it’s Simon Fraser or Mohammar Jahan – the scenario says the player can choose).  My guess is that the canonical captive is Jahan, since Fraser is known for his “legendary luck” while Jahan is “not the brightest Dragoon in the regiment.”  That puts the damaged Guards at 425 tons against 570 tons of vengeful Dragoons.

The Guards win if they can move six or more ‘Mechs off the western edge of the map.  The Widows win if there are no Guards ‘Mechs within three hexes of the hex where the prisoner is being kept at the end of the scenario.  If both conditions are true, the Widows win.  The game ends if the Widows occupy the prison building hex for five turns in a row, as long as they do not go berserk.  If they go berserk, they win only by destroying all eight enemy ‘Mechs.  The Widows go berserk if the prison building is set on fire while the captive pilot is inside.

Canonically, Natasha and her Widows drove the Guards from the oasis and rescued her Stinger pilot.

Notes:  “Look sir, Droids!”

This appears to be one of the rare scenarios that was written before the Lucasfilm cease and desist order, since it references the BattleMechs as both ‘Mechs and ‘droids, suggesting that a hasty editing pass wasn’t thorough enough.  (BattleTech’s first edition was titled “BattleDroids,” but was renamed for a 2nd edition after a sternly worded letter from Lucasfilm’s legal division arrived informing FASA that the term “droid” was copyrighted.)

The OpFor for the Widows is given as the “Fourth New Avalon Guards, of the Federation Guards Brigade.”  I would guess that this actually refers to the Fourth Davion Guards of the Davion Brigade of Guards, since the “New Avalon Lancers” is the nickname for the First Crucis Lancers rather than the Fourth (the Point Barrow Lancers), and the lowest numbered Avalon Hussars regiment is the 11th.

The scenario is undated, like most of those in “Tales of the Black Widow.”  It takes place somewhere between 3023 and 3025, when the Widows were raiding up and down the Combine/FedSuns border.  My date of August 3023 is arbitrary.

The scenario victory conditions appear to have been written on the assumption that the Guards field a full company, rather than just two lances.  (It says that the Widows win if they destroy at least eight enemy ‘Mechs before the end of the game.  There are only eight ‘Mechs listed in the setup, so it would be somewhat difficult to destroy more than that.)

The Guards are outnumbered and outgunned.  Looking at the victory conditions, their best option is to set the prison building on fire and then flee for the western map edge at top speed.  Since the Widows enter on the eastern map and the Guards start on the western map, it should be no problem to torch the prisoner and withdraw in good order.  In fact, that’s really the Guards player’s only path to victory, since just pulling back and letting the Widows rescue the pilot gives the Widows a victory even if you have six survivors, and it’s highly doubtful that eight damaged AFFS ‘Mechs are going to defeat 11 pristine Widows while only taking two casualites. 

For the Widows, a high speed charge up the middle is the best option, with the lighter forces covering the flanks of your heavier troops.  Keep your unit together – the only way you’ll lose a firefight is if you feed your lighter units in piecemeal ahead of the heavies.  If the Davion player decides to torch the building and run, you really can’t do much, since they’ll be gone off the western edge before you even come to weapons range.  The fact that the Davion forces start out scattered on the western map doesn’t mean much, since they can easily consolidate their forces in the time it takes your forces to cross the map, and the two hills will screen them from your fire during that time. 

This is a poorly done scenario by any metric.  The setup and victory conditions essentially dictate an outcome that results in a non-canonical tragedy for the Widows and a “battle” likely to end without any shots fired in anger.  (Not really the desired outcome for a wargame.)
« Last Edit: 10 January 2014, 16:47:18 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 #738 on: 10 January 2014, 15:57:10 »
Late 3023 and 3024 contain a lot of undated Wolf's Dragoons (Black Widow) scenarios.  Wolves on the Border definitively places Natasha on An Ting in November 3024.  Prior to that, we have records that her Black Widows hit the following worlds (possibly in the order listed):

Hoff (the first strike)
Sakhara V (from the TRO:3025 Shadow Hawk entry - right next door to Hoff, so likely the next target)
Bergman's Planet (it's in a direct line to An Ting, so it's a possibility the Bergman's Planet strike was en-route to checking in at the new home base for resupply)
Marduk
Proserpina
Klathandu IV
Doneval II
Le Blanc (Natasha's second run-in with the Bounty Hunter)
Royal (given as Regis III, aka Coursadin, but since there's no such world on the map, Royal seems the closest match to Regis.  Perhaps 'Royal' is Regis II or IV, and this is one of the systems with two inhabited worlds.)
And then back to An Ting in time for her cameo in Wolves on the Border.
Finally, there's a battle on New Aberdeen that has to be in early 3025, since it pits the Dragoons against the Eridani Light Horse, and the ELH chronology has them being pulled back for refit after the battle of Hoff in 3023, and not taking the field again until 3025.

This sequence has the Widows raiding three worlds while the main body of the Dragons hits Quentin, and then meeting up with Beta at "Fort Jaime" on the new base-world of An Ting for refitting and resupply.  The Widows then head out on a "long march" raiding run, working their way counter-clockwise through Marduk, Proserpina, Klathandu IV, Doneval II, Le Blanc, and Royal before heading back to An Ting for resupply again. 

There are no dates on any of these, so they could be in any order, as long as it starts with Hoff in April/May 3023, ends with An Ting in November 3024, and puts Sakhara V and Doneval II towards opposite ends of the sequence.  Anyone have a better suggestion for the timeline?

This sequence works chronologically.  Doneval II and Sakhara V have to be separated by a year or so, since an AFFS MechWarrior named Vang is injured by the Widows' attack on Sakhara V and fights them again on Doneval II, so there has to be time for him to recover (with scars and the loss of all his hair), get to Doneval II, and start training cadets at the Meistmorn Academy there.

There's also a scenario in the Tales of the Black Widow Company that places the unit on Thule, in the Rasalhague Military District, fighting Periphery bandits.  However, the Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook dismisses that scenario as a "legend," and appears to regard it as non-canon, since it would be way out of the Dragoons area of operations.  There's no way Natasha could be up there fighting Helmar Valasek's troops short of using a command circuit to cross the breadth of the Draconis Combine (about 13-15 jumps each way) twice in a matter of months.  Most likely, the Combine just false flagged another company to mess with the bandits. 

In fact, since the scenario setup says that it was the result of an investigation that revealed a bandit spy in the Combine, that points to ISF involvement.  Perhaps the fake Widows were the ISF's elite Sword of the Void DEST MechWarrior unit.  In Wolves on the Border, we later see the Combine using 'Mechs painted as the Widows to generate bad publicity for the Dragoons, so this would be entirely consistent with their playbook.
« Last Edit: 11 January 2014, 04:42:43 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.

roosterboy

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #739 on: 10 January 2014, 16:34:41 »
This appears to be one of the rare scenarios that was written before the Lucasfilm lawsuit, since it references the BattleMechs as both ‘Mechs and ‘droids, suggesting that a hasty editing pass wasn’t thorough enough.  (BattleTech’s first edition was titled “BattleDroids,” but was hastily renamed for a 2nd edition after a sternly worded letter from Lucasfilm’s legal division arrived informing FASA that the term “droid” was copyrighted.)

So was it a lawsuit or a C&D letter?

AFAIK, it never got to the point of a lawsuit. In which case, you really shouldn't say there was one.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #740 on: 10 January 2014, 16:40:03 »
So was it a lawsuit or a C&D letter?

AFAIK, it never got to the point of a lawsuit. In which case, you really shouldn't say there was one.

Amended.
"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 #741 on: 10 January 2014, 21:28:52 »
In fact, since the scenario setup says that it was the result of an investigation that revealed a bandit spy in the Combine, that points to ISF involvement.  Perhaps the fake Widows were the ISF's elite Sword of the Void DEST MechWarrior unit.  In Wolves on the Border, we later see the Combine using 'Mechs painted as the Widows to generate bad publicity for the Dragoons, so this would be entirely consistent with their playbook.

I've never heard of the Sword of the Void: where have they been detailed/mentioned?


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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #742 on: 10 January 2014, 23:49:02 »
I've never heard of the Sword of the Void: where have they been detailed/mentioned?

NAIS Atlas of the 4th Succession War, Volume II.  They're the DEST force that strikes behind Dragoon lines in the caldera on Crossing.
"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 #743 on: 11 January 2014, 00:17:19 »
Are you aware of them ever being mentioned before or since?


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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #744 on: 11 January 2014, 01:24:17 »
Are you aware of them ever being mentioned before or since?

Not by name, no.  The "Death to Mercenaries" Turning Points Track set on Crossing just uses the Galedon Regulars, but refers to a DEST unit in passing, without naming it.  The 4th Succession War Battlepack scenario for Crossing, "The Gates of Hell," only features the Galedon Regulars.

The other named DEST units we've seen have usually had numerical designators, leading me to suspect that Sword of the Void is a special MechWarrior unit in DEST, like the Dark Shadows 'Mech unit for SAFE (which got massacred at its Atreus moon base during the Jihad).  Per the 4th Succession War Atlas chronicle, they certainly punched above their weight at the Tartarus caldera on Crossing.
« Last Edit: 11 January 2014, 03:34:37 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 #745 on: 11 January 2014, 03:47:01 »
----- Four Months Later -----

Date: December, 3023 [See Notes]

Location: Marduk

Title: Dawn Patrol

Author: J. Andrew Keith

Type: Scenario (Tales of the Black Widow Company)

Synopsis:  After the DCMS secured the Norse BattleMech Works in the Twelfth Battle for Marduk, the AFFS mounted a counterattack with the 21st Centauri Lancers, sending them over a seemingly impassible route to flank the DCMS forces.  Unfortunately for the Lancers, the Black Widows have experience with seemingly impassible routes to factories (as seen on Hesperus II, when they were the attackers), and were waiting for the 21st Centauri scout lance.

The Lancers deploy a Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger (140 tons) in the middle of the eastern map, while the Dragoons deploy Natasha’s Warhammer, two Stingers, a Rifleman, and a Phoenix Hawk (215 tons) on the northern edge of the eastern map.  To win, the Lancers have to slip at least two ‘Mechs past the Widows and off the western map.  The Widows win by preventing any Lancer ‘Mechs from moving off the western map.

All clear terrain is treated as heavy woods, and any jumping movement has the potential to start fires.  All woods hexes on the map represent clearings.

Both sides have the option to bring in reinforcements.  Natasha may call upon the rest of the Black Widow Company at any time, while the Lancers may bring in 2 Crusaders, 2 Warhammers, and 4 Griffins as soon as one Lancer ‘Mech makes it off the wetern edge.  With reinforcements, the balance comes to 590 tons for the Widows and 630 for the Lancers.  If reinforcements are brought on, the Lancers’ victory conditions shift to destroying at least eight Black Widow ‘Mechs, while the Widow victory condition shifts to destroying all Lancer ‘Mechs.

Historically, Natasha and her Recon Lance crushed the Lancer scouts and chased them into the jungle, successfully defending the factory.  (Though the starmap shows that House Davion once more controlled Marduk and the Norse BattleMech Works by 3025.)

Notes: This scenario is undated.  Given the list of targets the Black Widows hit, it seems feasible that they could have gone to An Ting after Bergman’s World and spent some time refitting and resupplying at the newly established Fort Jaime base there before heading out on a “long march” raiding campaign.  If they went counter-clockwise through their known targets, that would place Marduk at the head of the list.  Working backwards from Natasha’s next cameo in Wolves on the Border in November 3024, and putting each raid about two months apart (allowing for transit time), that brings us back to December 3023.

The setup is given as a reminiscence (a war story told by a grizzled veteran at a bar) from an unknown point in the future, and notes that the Seventeenth Battle of Marduk was “just last year.”  If the 3023? battle where House Kurita seized the factories was the Twelfth Battle of Marduk, then the battle that reclaimed Marduk for House Davion was probably the Thirteenth.  The House Davion sourcebook notes that the factories have been attacked at least twelve times, but only fallen into Combine hands twice as of 3025.  The Combine’s seizure of Marduk in the Fourth Succession War would probably have been the Fourteenth.  The Fifteenth and Sixteenth would have been during the War of 3039 – with the Fifteenth in May-July when the AFFS took it, and the Sixteenth in August-October when the DCMS took it back.  The next recorded strike on Marduk was during the FedCom Civil War in 3062.  This would place the Lancer trooper’s re-telling of this story in 3063, 40 years later…which would explain his comment about “young punks” not measuring up to the MechWarriors of his day.  (It is, of course, certainly possible that there were other raids and battles for Marduk between 3039 and the Combine/FedSuns armistice in 3051, making the storyteller somewhat less geezer-ish, but the only sourcebook covering this period – the 20 Year Update – doesn’t mention any.)

Tactically, the Lancers have this scenario in the bag.  The vast stretches of Heavy Woods render Natasha’s Warhammer and Clavell’s Rifleman irrelevant.  The Lancers should just be able to jump through the mass of Heavy Woods and exit without a scratch on them.  Between the jumping modifiers (+3 for attacker, +3 for target), the smoke from the fires set by the jump jets (checks are made on landing as well as when departing) (+2), and the cover provided by the Heavy Woods (+2), it would take a miracle for the Widows to stop the Lancers.  Even bringing the whole company on won’t do much, since they’ll come in on the northern edge of the eastern map, and the Lancers will soon be bounding onto and off of the western map, leaving the Dragoons in the dust.  Worse, this takes place at 0330 hours and is titled “Dawn Patrol,” implying that night combat modifiers should apply as well. 

If using the Field Manual: Mercenaries (revised) bonuses, the 21st Centauri Lancers get a +1 Initiative Bonus in woods, and another +1 Initiative bonus if you decide that 0330 constitutes “night” conditions, though really, the Lancers don’t need any more help in this scenario.  Giving the Widows the Wolf Spiders’ Off-Map movement special ability might help Natasha and Clavell get their ‘Mechs to the western edge ahead of the jumping Lancers, but it won’t help much, since the jumpers will be able to just bound right over them and off the edge. 

Interestingly, the scenario rule that allows the Widows to bring in the rest of the company at will, at the cost of changed victory conditions, parallels the Clan custom allowing a commander to deploy their original bid worth of troops at the cost of their personal honor.  I wonder to what extent the writers who laid out the Clan traditions drew on the early Dragoon materials for inspiration.

One possible fix to make this scenario playable would be to make the Lancers' 'Mechs non-jumping, and to designate a one-hex wide strip as the "secret trail" leading through the impassible jungle - perhaps linking the clearings.  Having the Widows start in one of the clearings on the eastern map would force the Lancers to choose between trying to fight their way past the Widows on the clear path, and diving into the brush to try to struggle westward to the plant under the cover of the jungle canopy.  That would, to my mind, fit the scenario fluff significantly better.
« Last Edit: 11 January 2014, 03:58:16 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 #746 on: 12 January 2014, 12:10:09 »
----- Two Months Later -----

Date: February, 3024 [See Notes]

Location: Proserpina

Title: Ghost Unit

Author: Richard Meyer

Type: Scenario (Tales of the Black Widow Company)

Synopsis: The Black Widow Company has been combing the ruins of the city of Ceres on Proserpina for a cache of heat sinks rumored to have been left behind by retreating Davion forces.  As the Black Widow Fire Lance approaches a relatively intact building labeled Karena’s Fiber Optics, without warning, a loading dock opens, revealing two Mackie-class ‘Mechs, still sporting Terran Hegemony insignia.

The Mackies were taken from a museum storeroom by two dispossessed MechWarriors from the Proserpina Warrior House – the Karena brothers.  They hope to use the decrepit museum pieces to defeat and salvage modern ‘Mechs and re-form their Warrior House.

The Mackies reactors are fluctuating wildly, creating random heat spikes, and any attempt to move the Mackie at full speed runs the risk of permanently reducing the movement rate as the centuries-old myomers fail.  In addition, the Mackies have to make PSR checks at +4 penalties when entering rubble hexes.

The Dragoons field two Archers, a Wasp, and a Stinger, for 180 tons.  The Karena brothers field two MCK-5S Mackies for 200 tons. 

Notes:  The Mackies are described both as the “first two ‘Mechs ever built” and as the last two in existence.  We know that’s not the case, since there was at least one on Huntress circa 3060.  TRO:3058 says that Kerensky took more than 100 Mackies on the Exodus.  The stats for the MCK-5S Mackie in the scenario are somewhat different than that seen in the “Birth of the King” scenario.

These MCK-5S Mackies move 4/6, have 20 heat sinks and 320 armor, and are armed with a PPC, an AC/5, and a Large Laser.  The prototype MCK-5S moved 3/5, had 17 heat sinks, and 212 armor.  Its experimental PPC generates 15 heat, and critical hit checks get a +2 modifier.  The MCK-6S drops the heat sinks to 15, but upgrades the PPC to a normal 10-heat model, changes the AC/5 to an AC/10, and swaps out the Large Laser for two Medium Lasers.  The MCK-9H represents the standard model that saw service with Terran Hegemony militias during the Star League era and was likely the version taken with Kerensky.  It upgrades the armor to 304, upgrades the heat sinks to 20, and packs two PPCs, 2 Medium Lasers, and an AC/20.

Looking at the stats, the design in the scenario appears to be illegal.  It moves 4/6 with a 360-rated engine, implying that it’s only 90 tons, rather than the listed 100.  The wording also seems to imply that the intended weight of the design went through a number of iterations during the writing process.  The fluff describes them as “two huge ‘Mechs, each 60 tons or more.”  To be more in line with current construction rules, I would recommend using the MCK-5S stats from “Birth of the King” with the heat and speed restrictions from the scenario.

The fluff portion is in full “Mad Max” mode.  One of the Dragoon pilots notes that the AFFS and DCMS have left the fiber optics plant alone because “only those dead to hope would destroy factories.  Someday, we’d learn to run them again.”  Its description of Proserpina says its major cities have been leveled, its mines and stockpiles raided, and its decimated population survives as little more than nomads, living on legends of better times.  There’s also an odd reference to the world being constantly fought over by the Draconis Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth, although the world is located on the FedSuns/Combine border about five jumps from the nearest Lyran world. 

Later write-ups have been more charitable – “Despite its battered state, Proserpina continues to demonstrate the industrial might of a core world.  Its rich mineral veins and thriving industries give its inhabitants (in their sealed and filtered houses) an enviable standard of living and enable it to export critical military goods to whichever House rules it in a given year.”  Perhaps the description in the scenario only applies to the area around the city of Ceres.

Tactically, it would be recommended that the Mackies stay inside the building, forcing the Dragoons to come to them.  If the Dragoons come inside the factory, the Mackies should try to close to physical attack range and unleash 20-point kicks.  You don’t want to get into a battle of maneuver, since your myomers will start to fail, and your slow speed will prevent you from closing with the Archers, so they’ll significantly outgun you at long range.  If you can draw them into the building, you can hammer them at close range.

Likewise, the Dragoons should stay out of the buildings.  Force the Mackies to move as much as possible to force myomer failure.  Keep your distance to avoid physical attacks and make effective use of your LRM batteries.  If they refuse to come out and play, blow a hole in the wall a fair distance from the main gates, and enter through the breach, then continue hammering the Mackies at long range.

The scenario is undated, but if the Widows are working their way counter-clockwise through a series of known targets, they would hit Proserpina after Marduk.  I've put two months between the raids to allow for transit time. 
« Last Edit: 13 January 2014, 22:48:09 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 #747 on: 12 January 2014, 13:25:06 »
I always had foundness of unique and perhaps usual scenarios like this.  Given what we know now, i still think that would been a fun scenario to play "back in the day" as a casual pickup game.   I think Dragoons have edge on these guys, but they would have any ways unless there were some downright bad rolls for the controlling player.   These are still assault 'mechs, Banshees aren't so different some cases of weapons as to these guys.  As illegal these guys are.  If anything, I'd say these were one of those home brewed designs updated by the Hegemony's planetary militias that got retired before the Succession Wars came knocking.


I found it interesting that Proserpina had a warrior house in Draconis Combine. Then again why couldn't they had minior clan house that no one who one heard of before?
« Last Edit: 12 January 2014, 16:28:08 by Wrangler »
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #748 on: 12 January 2014, 13:54:54 »
I agree.  Richard Meyer was, by far, FASA's best scenario writer in the 1980s.  He provided both good flavor text and innovative situational rules. 

I'm not such a fan of J. Andrew Keith's work, since many of his scenarios end up so heavily skewed towards one side that they're unplayable without significant modification.
"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 #749 on: 13 January 2014, 12:38:07 »
----- One Month Later -----

Date: March 3, 3024

Location: Ander’s Moon (Elidere IV?)

Title: Affidavit of Gideon Braver Vandenburg

Author: Steve Peterson

Type: Sourcebook Fiction (MechWarrior - Activision)

Synopsis:  This fiction takes the form of legal testimony sworn by Gideon Braver Vandenburg on March 3, 3024, with the intent that it be released to the media on the Successor State capitals should he meet an untimely death. 

Gideon begins by establishing the planet’s history – noting that the world was settled by House Vandenburg and House McBrin, with the planetary ruler (holder of a Federated Suns Dukedom) determined by a Council of Representatives upon the death of the previous Duke.  During the inauguration ceremony, the new Duke is anointed by oils from the sacred Chalice of Herne, which symbolizes the office of the Duke and has become required to legitimize the rule of a new Duke.

On March 1, 3024, a lance of bandit ‘Mechs assaulted Castle Vandenburg and smashed it to to rubble, killing Duke Cameron Vandenburg and all of his family except his son, Gideon.  Planetary defense sensors failed to register the attackers’ approach, and failed to track their departure.  Witnesses say that Jarris McBrin arrived with his personal guard and drove off the bandits, but not before they looted House Vandenburg’s vaults and stole the Chalice of Herne.  Surviving servants report the bandits bore the insignia of a bat-winged skull.

On March 2, 3024, McBrin presented evidence before the Council of Representative that the deceased Duke Vandenburg had plotted with the pirates to betray Ander’s Moon.  He called for a freeze on House Vandenburg’s assets and made a motion to immediately elect a new Duke.  The council agreed to freeze the Vandenburg funds, but decided to postpone the election until April 8, 3029, when Gideon turns 23.  At that time, the Council will determine whether Gideon or Jarris becomes the new Duke. 

Leaving the Council chambers, Gideon was ambushed and expertly beaten.  Jarris McBrin stood over him, gloating that he’d had the chalice stolen, and would become the Duke by “recovering” the chalice, ruining House Vandenburg in the process.  McBrin gave Gideon 24 hours to leave the planet. 

Gideon sought refuge with Jordan Rowe, leader of the Vandenburg faction in the Council.  Rowe provided Gideon with an old Jenner, some C-bills, and passage off-world to begin his quest to track down the bandits who murdered his family and recover the Chalice of Herne. 

On March 3, Gideon’s adventure begins.

Notes:  The story of MechWarrior begins on Ander’s Moon.  Based on the position given in the manual, it appears to roughly correspond to the Elidere system.  The main colony there (and the one the system is named for on the map) is Elidere IV, but it’s possible that Ander’s Moon is a second inhabited world in the system.  There’s a problem with this match, however, in that all the maps show Elidere IV as a Combine holding except the 3025 and 3030 maps, calling into question the statement that “Due to the tremendous valor of Ander’s Moon warriors in the Succession Wars, Prince Davion rewarded Ander’s Moon with a Dukedom.”  (Though, perhaps the planet fell to the Federated Suns in the early Third Succession War, and the dukedom was a bribe by the Federated Suns towards a people who had fought hard against the AFFS - assuaging their sense of honor and buying their future loyalty.  That would sill put the people of Ander's Moon using the Chalice for over 100 years by this point - enough time for traditions to be established.)

The stakes appear to be somewhat more important than just control over a small moon settlement.  The House Davion sourcebook describes the Dukes (and Duchesses) as the 100-120 most powerful people in the Federated Suns.  “As ruler over a whole planet or group of worlds in several star systems, a Duke’s decisions have a more immediate and lasting impact on the ordinary citizen than most anything the distant Prince might do.  The people, therefore reserve most of their respect or scorn for their Dukes.”

Over the course of the game, Gideon forms a mercenary lance called the Blazing Aces, learns that the pirates are called the Dark Wing, and finds out that they’re sponsored by the Combine firm Matabushi, Inc., which wants to strip-mine the planet for the radioactives desperately needed by the Combine’s military-industrial complex.  Eventually, Gideon tracks the Dark Wing to its lair, defeats them, reclaims the chalice, and clears his family name. 

Of course, the next time we see Gideon, he’s not acting very Duke-like.  Instead, he’s led the Blazing Aces to their deaths fighting the Smoke Jaguars on Kaesong.  His last words, to Crescent Hawk commander Jason Youngblood, are “You’re too late.  The Aces…destroyed.  I’ve taken precautions, hidden the ‘Mechs.  Tell Maria…rebuild the Aces.  She’ll know what to do.”  It’s unclear what the Aces were doing on Kaesong in 3051, since it was a Combine world and the Coordinator’s “Death to Mercenaries” edict still stood. 

Matabushi is a sprawling corporate conglomerate that manufactures electronics, computers, robotics, and targeting systems, while also providing banking, investment, shipping, and trading services.  Its attempt to affect local politics on Ander’s Moon was titled “Operation INROAD,” and was run by the “Special Operations Trade Division” under Hohiro Anato.  INROAD’s overall goal was to set up money laundering and smuggling operations in the Federated Suns.  Though it failed to seize the radioactives on Ander’s Moon, it appears to have successfully laid the groundwork for extensive smuggling operations in the Draconis March that later proved instrumental in Theodore Kurita’s successful counteroffensive during the War of 3039.
« Last Edit: 13 January 2014, 12:43:05 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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