Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars

[Wrangler]

I think any militized DropShip back then was a warship, i think though JumpShips in charter with military could been seen as warships, but not interplanetary kind.   Anything with guns can be called a warship if it has enough guns.   Back then, term WarShip wasn't used until after Stackpole's Blood of the Kerensky saga.  He was calling them Combat JumpShips.

[Mendrugo]

----- Two Weeks Later -----

Date: December 1, 3024 [See Notes]

Location: Trell I

Title: Decision at Thunder Rift

Author: William H. Keith

Type: Novel (Decision at Thunder Rift)

Synopsis:  Grayson reviews his assembled troops – no longer the Trellwan Light Lancers, but reformed into the Gray Death Legion.  With two Wasps, a Stinger, a Locust and a Shadow Hawk, backed by 147 infantry troops, a DropShip and a JumpShip, the Legion is preparing to depart Trellwan and seek its fortune on the battlefields of the Succession Wars.

General Varney has assumed command of the provisional government as military governor, now that both Jeverid and Stannic are dead, and Grayson expects that he has a good chance of becoming the next king.  He asks Grayson to stay, and offers a place in the Trell power structure, but Grayson tells him he’s had enough of power struggles.

Notes:  How much later this takes place isn’t exactly specified, but since the Battle of Thunder Rift took place shortly after dawn, and the sun is described as “westering” (implied to be setting, as in “the last rays of the westering sun”), that would imply about 15 days later (“midnight” to dawn on Thirday taking a week, the “day” taking another two weeks, and “evening” to “midnight” one week in the 30-day “day” rotational period).  Based primarily on the word “westering,” I guesstimate this to be roughly two weeks after the departure of Duke Ricol and the Red Hunter Special Operations Group.

Trellwan’s isolation from Tharkad possibly stems from its apparent lack of an HPG, since having one of those babies would have made the plot’s resolution comically simple: “Yeah, First Lyran Guards?  We’ve got bandits on Trell I.  Two weeks?  Thanks.”  One wonders why Trell I doesn't have an HPG station.  As a one-time district seat ("Trellshire" after all), it would have needed an HPG to effectively administer its worlds.  Even without that role, its status as a front-line world on the border with the Rim Worlds Republic would almost certainly have prompted the SLCOMMNET to establish a node there.  I can see ComStar not bothering to rebuild it if the dish was trashed at some point, given the small population and relative insignificance.  Either a raid in the early Succession Wars took out the HPG and it wasn't rebuilt, or Trell I surrendered its role as district capital between 2596 and the development of the HPG network in the 2600s.

It also appears to lack political representation on Tharkad.  Handbook: House Steiner notes that each world in the Commonwealth originally had a representative in the Estates General, but this was changed as the realm grew to grant proportional representation based on population.  Since Trellwan has a “small native population,” one would presume that they are “represented” by the delegate from Twycross (the district seat) in the Estates General.  Of course, without an HPG and with merchant ships calling only twice a solar year, that representative probably doesn’t get out to Trellwan much to poll the citizens on their concerns.  So, the Trells are effectively un-represented.  One wonders how taxes are handled in such cases?

I wonder why the district was named after the Trell system.  The world of Kannon was the seat of Kannonshire, and the world of Rahne is still the district seat of Rahneshire, yet Twycross holds that role in Trellshire in 3025.  (Granted, ‘Twycrosshire’ is a bit of a mouthful…)  Looking at the historical maps, Trell I is marked as the district seat circa 2596 (prior to the settlement of Twycross), implying that it may have been one of the first colonies in the sector, securing its role as district seat on a first-come, first served basis, rather than due to any particularly superior resource or population base.  The 3025 map in Handbook: House Steiner still shows Trell I as the district seat, but the House Steiner sourcebook profile of Twycross says that Twycross is the capital of Trellshire, calling into question the accuracy of the historical map markings in this case.

The House Steiner sourcebook indicates that “Trellshire has lost many of its worlds to the Draconis Combine and wishes to recover the worlds they’ve lost to Kurita.”  Looking at the historical maps, Trellshire has lost The Edge, Rodigo, Lovinac, Kirchbach, Liezen, Verthandi, New Caledonia, Csesztreg, Mozirje, and Harvest to the Combine, while the world of Kreller was apparently depopulated between 2822 and 2864.  Of course, in that same period, Trellshire gained 17 RWR worlds, and only one of those, Renren, became depopulated, so Trellshire actually had a net gain of five systems during the Succession Wars.

[Mendrugo]

----- Three Weeks Later -----

Date: December 22, 3024

Location: Luthien

Title: Heir to the Dragon

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel (Heir to the Dragon)

Synopsis:  Constance Kurita is two months into her tenure as Keeper of House Honor, now that her great-aunt Florimel has retired.  She ponders the moves she’s made since taking control of the Order of Five Pillars – getting the Coordinator’s approval for new academies and ivory trading, and leveraging that success to block Shoducho Oda’s efforts to gain control of O5P.

Garbed in elaborate formal robes, she proceeds into an audience with her cousin, Takashi, and sits with him in a tea ceremony.  The conversation turns to Theodore, and Takashi tells Constance he is on Luthien, rather than serving on Warlord Vasily Cherenkoff’s staff as Theodore had ordered.  Constance is wary in the conversation, because she knows Theodore has secretly married undercover O5P operative Tomoe Sakade, and has been actively working to keep it secret from Takashi, while subtly working to scuttle the various arranged marriage schemes (often with support from Subhash Indrahar’s ISF) and helping Tomoe go into seclusion for the birth of their son, Hohiro.

Footsteps in the corridor announce the arrival of Theodore, who confronts his father – outraged at the news of Marcus Kurita’s appointment as head of the Otomo, the Coordinator’s bodyguard.  He warns Takashi that Marcus wants to kill him and assume the Coordinatorship, and points out that Takashi was head of the Otomo at 27, while Theodore is 28.  Takashi replies that he already had a wife and heir by that point, and that he still regard Theodore as unsettled and immature.  He gives Theodore a compdisk containing a profile of a potential new bridal candidate.  Theodore smashes the disk and discards it.

Having anticipated Theodore’s response, Takashi withdraws a sealed envelope from the Bureau of Substitution, promoting Theodore from chu-sa to tai-sa, placing him in overall command of the Legion of Vega (headquartered with the Eleventh Legion of Vega on Marfik).  Theodore wordlessly storms out of the room, knocking the rice-paper door out of its frame as he departs.

Notes:  I continue to be greatly impressed by just how much political maneuvering Robert Charrette crammed into Heir to the Dragon.  Here, Takashi is seen to be a skilled manipulator, launching subtle stratagems to keep various power groups, from Warlords to the O5P off balance and competing against each other for his favor.  The appointment of Marcus as head of the Otomo is an interesting choice – almost certainly a case of “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”  Theodore worries that if Marcus is able to be off on his own, he’ll be up to no good, and believes that Marcus’ plotting will be disrupted if he’s under Takashi’s watchful gaze in Imperial City.

Takashi’s problem is that he can’t not manipulate people and just have a relationship with them.  This is telling in his scenes with Theodore, where Takashi expertly anticipates actions and reactions, but retains his view of Theodore as a pawn to be prodded into place, rather than a family member to which emotions other than disapproval are acceptable.

Interesting to see that Takashi is essentially running a “K-date” service for Theodore – presenting a list of profiles of potential matches to produce heirs.  (Not that he thinks for a second that Theodore would be happier with a wife – he just wants to tick off the bucket-list box that says “ensure the continuance of the ruling line.”)  One wonders what a typical profile looks like:

Name: Mariko Yoshida
Homeworld: Benjamin
‘Mech: DRG-1N Dragon (naturally)
Interests: Calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremonies, being demure
Dislikes: House Davion, House Steiner, House Davion, yellow birds, and House Davion
Rasalhagian: No.  Great Buddha no!
Genetic Fertility Index: Eighth of twelve children. 

[Mendrugo]

----- 19 Days Later -----

Date: January 10, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Stein’s Folly

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis: The CCAF launches a devastating invasion of the Stein’s Folly system.  Death Commandos cripple the zenith recharge station’s communications array, preventing any warning from reaching the planetary garrison.  A Liao freighter enters simultaneously and launches four Union DropShips at two AFFS Invader-class JumpShips holding station nearby, jamming their communications, while the Death Commandos battle their way through the recharge station’s corridors.  The DropShips cripple the JumpShips and successfully board them. 

A Liao battle fleet jumps in as the second wave, disgorging Overlord DropShips and fighters with supplementary fuel tanks, which begin burning towards Stein’s Folly at 3Gs.  Within 16 minutes, the zenith jump point is in Capellan hands, and the invasion fleet is burning in-system. 

18 hours later (normal transit time at 1G is 67 hours, but at 3Gs, that’s reduced to 22 hours), the Deep Space Tracking station in low orbit finally detects the incoming Liao fleet, and estimate it will reach the planet within four hours.  An orderly reports to garrison commander Colonel Winters that neither Fleet Captain Vandenberg nor anyone else at the jump point respond to hails.  Winters orders a red alert, unaware that his orderly has already done so. 

One hour later, on approach to the planet, Uchita “Dagger Two” Tucker holds course amid the Thrush-class fighters of Dagger Squadron, already feeling the exhaustion from the 3G thrust.  Her bionic arm and legs help, though, and she reflects on how she has embraced her bionics to become an emotionless killing machine, at least on the surface.

Two hours later, Lt. Adam Valasquez leads the Sparrowhawks of Red Flight (the Hellraisers) into space to engage the incoming Liao fleet.  Uchita alerts her wingman, Captain Chen, then prepares to engage.  Looking forward to the battle, Tucker ignores Chen’s commands to watch his back and thrusts into the fray at top speed. 

Red Flight and Dagger Squadron tear into each other.  Lt. Valasquez kills Captain Chen, but is himself destroyed by Uchita’s superior skill.  Uchita’s Thrush  is in little better shape as it skips off the planetary atmosphere – no power, engines dead, cockpit depressurized, and cybernetic left leg severed a the knee.

With the defending fighters swatted aside, the Overlords burn past and head for the surface, escorted by their own integral fighter squadrons, dropping ‘Mechs from orbit.  Fifteen minutes later, the defenders are destroyed, surrendered, or scattered and fleeing into the jungle.  Pavel Ridzik oversees the raising of the Liao flag over Steindown as McCarron’s Armored Cavalry expands their perimeter around the planetary administrator’s residence.

Captain Dmitri Dyubichev reports the port and Steindown secure with light casualties, as are other dropzones, with AFFS resistance only notable at Lollan and Grebuchin.  He reports 17 of the 24 AFFS ‘Mechs at Steindown captured and repairable, along with a substantial population of technicians and other civilians.  Ridzik orders him to treat the Techs well, and to kill the other civilians.

Notes:  The Stein’s Folly system is internally inconsistent in this novel.  A later chapter explicitly says the transit time at 1G is 67 hours.  Looking at the star charts, that duration seems to equate to being an M2-class star, with a transit time of 68 hours.  However, Uchita Tucker notes that she made the transit to atmosphere-minus-four-hours in ten hours at 3 Gs, implying a 42 hour standard transit time.  There's nothing in the chart at 42 hours, but the closest is an A4 system, which has a 36 hour transit time with a -6 habitability modifier, or an M9 system with a 49 hour transit time and a -3 habitability modifier).  Based on that, I presume Uchita’s estimate of 10 hours is off, and the actual transit time was (to planetary atmosphere minus four hours) was 18 hours.

The Liao assault force contains elements of McCarron’s Armored Cavalry and the Death Commandos, under the direct command of Pavel Ridzik.  This scene is notable as one of the vanishingly few in the 3025 era where the forces of House Liao are portrayed in any way, shape, or form as competent fighters (though, granted, the Big MAC is still a mercenary force at this juncture, rather than House regulars).  The Liao troops and commanders in the Warrior Trilogy are pretty much limited to “Making beeg trouble for Moose und Skvirrel.”

Uchita Tucker is drawn directly from the “Notable Pilots” section of the Thrush entry in TRO:3025.  It notes that her fighter is named the Give’m Hell II, and that her nickname is the Automaton of Destruction.  Her entry there indicates that she survived the battle of Stein’s Folly with little more than a sheared off bionic leg to give evidence to her close call. 

I was stunned at the Sparrowhawk pilot’s comment that heavy assault fighters were still being readied at Steindown’s port, despite having had three hours to prepare by this point.  That sounds like the Planetary Guard Unit on Stein’s Folly was asleep at the switch if they couldn’t get their Stukas off the ground in time to engage the enemy.

Uchita notes that her Medium Lasers are effective at ranges of over 50,000 kilometers, but says modern target acquisition and targeting technologies can’t cope with the ranges and velocities, limiting effective ranges to a few thousand kilometers.  She could give Renfred Tor lessons in exaggeration.  Per the BattleSpace ruleset, 50,000 km would be 2,778 hexes.  Even 2,000 km would be 111 hexes.

Captain Dyubichev’s 12 mm Hawking automatic pistol never appears in any other product.  TechManual doesn’t list a standard issue auto-pistol for the CCAF, so the Hawking probably has identical statistics to the generic Auto-Pistol.

The Sword and the Dagger has very little by which we can establish concrete dates, and the sourcebook material is directly contradicted by references in the Warrior Trilogy.  The intro reveals the story’s commencement date as 3025.  Passages in the Warrior Trilogy show an October 3026 conversation on Tharkad that attributes troubles during the Galtor Campaign (May 18, 3025 – September 27, 3025) and the lapse in relations with the Federated Suns to Hanse having been swapped out by a double.  A January 3027 message from Michael Hasek-Davion to Hanse refers to Hanse’s “bout with the Kentares flu last year,” and Hanse notes that it was a cover story for the doppleganger period.  So the Warrior Trilogy implies that the substitution may have happened in 3025, and continued through into 3026.

Things get further complicated by a passage in The Galtor Campaign that says “At this critical juncture [shortly after the real depot on Galtor III was discovered], Hanse slipped into a malaise that characterized his demeanor during the early days of the Galtor Campaign.  He failed to make decisions or exercise authority.  Many speculated that he suffered a medical disability that affected his judgment.  Whatever the reason, Davion abruptly let go of the wheel, and the Galtor Campaign drifted into dangerous waters.”  Since the real depot was discovered “just prior to the Kurita invasion,” that would place Hanse’s substitution in mid-May, 3025, rather than the 3026 date suggested by the Warrior Trilogy.

Another argument for a 3025 date for the substitution is the fact that the House Liao sourcebook says “Operation Doppleganger” was put into motion in 3025 and very nearly succeeded.  Since Ardan’s foiling of the plot is referred to in the past tense, and the report is dated 3025, that implies that it started and was subsequently wrapped up in 3025.  The October conversation on Tharkad might just indicate that it took over a year for the LIC to pull together the full report for the Archon.  Michael’s vastly belated message of concern for Hanse’s bout with “the Kentares flu last year” might have been sent in December 3026, not arriving on New Avalon until January 3027.

Thus, the dates I’m using are based on the assumption that the plot kicked off in early 3025, swapped Hanse out in May 3025, and the substitution was scuttled by late summer 3025, leaving the imposter in charge from May – September 3025.  In order for this timing to even remotely work, we have to presume the existence of command circuits at many points, since travel between many of the locations would have had to be very rapid.  Also, we have to presume that the Federated Commonwealth treaty provided for the establishment of covert command circuits between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth.  Otherwise, there’s no sane reason for Ardan to be shipped to Tharkad from Stein’s Folly on the grounds that “it’s closer than New Avalon.”  (JumpShips in this novel tend to travel at the speed of plot.)

[glitterboy2098]

aerospace rules back then used much larger hex scales.. each hex was hundreds of km. big enough that gravity effects were actually part of the aerospace game. this led to some unfortunate issues (because the turn length was pretty much the same, dogfights basically involved relativistic speeds.. and absurdly high g-forces), so in later editions the scale was moved way way back to what we have now. so fiction written with those old rules in mind has some hyperbole issues nowadays..

[Frabby]

The book's prologue treats the year 3025 as the present time.
Also, according to this novel's Sarna article, Ardan Sortek refers to the Capellan assault on Stein's Folly "eighteen months ago" at some point in Warrior: En Garde, pinpointing the initial assault at July 3025. However, I have to admit that I wrote this working from a German edition copy of the book... and the German translations weren't always 100% exact. If somebody has an english language PDF copy, they should perhaps conduct a text search and see if they can confirm this.

[Wrangler]

Despite it flaws, I felt the book was actually better than some novel's I've read for Battletech.   Its pity she wasn't able to make more novels for the franchise, they would have been interesting.  Her angle on the plot that would certainly set the stage for franchise as whole would echo through plot for the fiction to made decades later.

I think one thing should have happened, was what happened to the ability to produce the book itself. 

[roosterboy]

Also, according to this novel's Sarna article, Ardan Sortek refers to the Capellan assault on Stein's Folly "eighteen months ago" at some point in Warrior: En Garde, pinpointing the initial assault at July 3025. However, I have to admit that I wrote this working from a German edition copy of the book... and the German translations weren't always 100% exact. If somebody has an english language PDF copy, they should perhaps conduct a text search and see if they can confirm this.

The English version has the same.

[Mendrugo]

There are a number of problems with a July 3025 assault on Stein's Folly, though:

1:  TRO:3025 has an in universe publication date of July 3025 (the New Avalon Herald blurb on the back is dated July 15, 3025) and its Thrush entry refers to Uchita's battle where she lost her cyber leg in the past tense.

2: The Galtor Campaign BattleForce scenario pack says Hanse "let go of the wheel" just before the Kuritan invasion, and Historical Turning Point: Galtor dates that to May.  That implies he got nabbed on Argyle around then, so all the scenes on Stein's Folly, Dragon's Field, and New Avalon have to take place before that.  To allow for reasonable transit times, January works best, though as I noted, exclusive use of command circuits compresses the timeframe substantially.

3: in October 3026, Katrina and Melissa pinpoint the substitution as being responsible for the difficulties in the FedCom relationship in the early part of the Galtor Campaign, which per HTP Galtor was May - September 3025.

I agree that a number of statements in the Warrior Trilogy don't match my dates, but despite the general rule that novels trump sourcebooks, in this case that would result in the ComStar authors referring to future events before they happen, which is a bit more serious than mis-sourcing a quote.  The references in Warrior aren't even internally consistent, since Hasek refers to "last year's bout with the Kentares Flu" in 3027, when the event has to have happened in 3025, per the Galtor Campaign dates and the fact that the House Liao and House Steiner sourcebooks (written in 3025) reference the events of the plot in the past tense.

It's possible that when Hanse says the Capellan assault on Stein's Folly turned out badly for them eighteen months ago, he's referring to the successful AFFS counterattack, which could well have wrapped up in July.  The Cappies had to have some time to set up their Hanse-cloning center on Stein's Folly and the AFFS needed time to plan their counter attack and stage units on Dragon's Field, so the Capellan assault must have been a significant amount of time (months, not weeks) before the swap on Argyle. 

[roosterboy]

Eighteen months prior to 8 January 3027 would be 8 July 3025. Since most people aren't precise down to the day when discussing past events, it could easily refer to a June 3025 action.

And Michael's reference to "last year" was made in the first week of 3027; I have no problems assuming he's referring to a 3025 "illness". Again, people aren't that precise when they discuss past events unless they need to be. If he had said "two years" ago, they would have just been weird.

[Mendrugo]

Eighteen months prior to 8 January 3027 would be 8 July 3025. Since most people aren't precise down to the day when discussing past events, it could easily refer to a June 3025 action.

And Michael's reference to "last year" was made in the first week of 3027; I have no problems assuming he's referring to a 3025 "illness". Again, people aren't that precise when they discuss past events unless they need to be. If he had said "two years" ago, they would have just been weird.

And I'm fine with the AFFS counter-assault taking place in the late spring/early summer.  But enough else happens before that in the book that the initial Capellan assault probably took place early in the year.

More to the point, the Capellan assault has to predate Hanse's abduction, and that takes place in early to mid-May.

Here's my chronology for The Sword and the Dagger

January 10 - Capellans attack Stein's Folly
February 5 - 12: Scenes on New Avalon as Ardan Sortek prepares to head out with the AFFS counteroffensive
February 7: Update on Sian as Max Liao monologues and twirls his mustache
February 25-30: Ardan arrives at the AFFS staging point on Dragon's Field
March 2-13: The AFFS counterattack begins, Ardan gets knocked on the head, is poked by Pinks, gets a tour of a Maskirovka cloning facility, then is shipped off to Tharkad for medical and psychological treatment, presumably by Command Circuit.
March 4  and March 10:  Interludes on New Avalon as Hanse hears of Ardan's MIA status, then of his medical condition after his recovery.
March 19 - April 10:  Ardan recuperates on Tharkad and befriends Melissa
April 26: Sep gets a message from Ardan (via ComStar) asking her to look into what he saw on Stein's Folly.
May: In Sep's absence the double is inserted onto Argyle and Hanse is thrown in the dungeon.  The Galtor Campaign begins to go off the rails.
May 26:  Ardan (explicitly not traveling by Command Circuit) returns to Stein's Folly from Tharkad and meets Sep.  (This is one of the elements that calls for an expanded timeline)  They investigate the cloning center.
June 15: Ardan travels to Argyle, but ends up in the dungeon alongside Hanse for an indeterminate period.
July 7: Tharkad gets word that Hanse is in the process of nullifying the FedCom treaty and other agreements and has returned to New Avalon.  (The book specifies that ComStar communiques between New Avalon and Tharkad take weeks)
July 20: Ardan's compatriots discover that all traffic to Argyle, where Hanse is vacationing at the Summer Palace, has been cut off, and they determine to hijack vessels to get there.
July 29: Ardan's lancemates arrive on Argyle and rescue Ardan and Hanse from the dungeons.
August 5: Hanse, Ardan, and company arrive on New Avalon and confront the fake, proving Hanse's identity.
August 12: A week later, everything returns to normal.
August 20: Ardan and Hanse take their 'Mechs through the Gauntlet, their friendship more solid than ever.

This chronology supports the statement that Hanse's absence began at the start of the Galtor Campaign.  It also has to accommodate non-Command Circuit travel from Tharkad to Stein's Folly, and the odd three-week transit time for HPG communications between Tharkad and New Avalon (longer than specified in the rulebooks, but perhaps ComStar was intentionally slowing down FedCom communiques for its own purposes.)  It also gives the Capellans time to set up their doubling facility on Stein's Folly.

The "18 month" figure can be stretched the other way, with Hanse's comment that the CCAF assault on Stein's Folly didn't turn out well to cover the collapse of the plot in early August. 

If you see any logical flaws in my timeline, let me know.  My goal is to get as accurate a timeline as possible in this review, but we're all well aware that the chronology was somewhat hazy in the early products (or, at least, not all authors were working from the same chronology).

[Mendrugo]

----- Three Weeks Later -----

Date: February 3, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Galedon V

Title: Restitution

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

Type: Scenario (The Fox’s Teeth)

Synopsis:  A major Davion offensive into the Galedon District targets the district capital of Galedon V.  The attackers underestimated the strength of the garrison, and changed the mission objective from conquest to disrupting the diamond production industry.  Two weeks into the campaign, McKinnon’s Raiders receive orders to decrease the combat effectiveness of Combine mercenaries – Little Richard’s Panzer Brigade.  Ian McKinnon plans a strike at the Brigade’s main supply cache.

The Brigade fields three damaged Heavy ‘Mechs – a Warhammer, a Marauder, and a Rifleman.  The Raiders field a Medium reinforced lance of a Shadow Hawk, Wasp, Stinger, Rifleman, and Phoenix Hawk, all with pre-existing damage. 

If the Raiders wipe out the Brigade garrison, they get a decisive victory.  Failing that, they get a minor victory by destroying the cache while losing fewer than three ‘Mechs.  The Brigade’s goal is to protect the cache and destroy three ‘Mechs in the process.  The cache has walls with 30 points of armor.  Once the armor is breached, a successful shot through the hole will take out the cache (easier at short range).  The defending ‘Mechs have the ability to use their torsos to block incoming fire towards the cache.

Notes:  This is another continuity glitch from an early scenario.  We have the Military District capital world of Galedon V described as “a lightly-settled, moderately industrialized world that only has one critical commodity – industrial grade diamonds.”  (By contrast, the House Kurita sourcebook says “Settled in 2282, Galedon V’s vast resources and large quantities of uncontaminated water brought colonists in by the droves.”)

The scenario date is given as taking place during a major Davion offensive in 3025, and the defenders are Little Richard’s Panzer Brigade.  They’re listed as Steiner mercenaries in the House Steiner sourcebook, but they may have just joined in 3025, so I’m putting this fairly early in the year to give them a chance to jump employers before the House Steiner sourcebook goes to print at ComStar press, and because fake Hanse (May – July) would be unlikely to be launching any major offensives against the Combine once he takes over.

None of the special abilities outlined in Mercenaries Supplemental II apply – the Raiders don’t have initiative bonuses, the engagement isn’t large enough for the Brigade to get the bonus that triggers when they destroy an entire lance of opponents, and there’s no opportunity in the scenario for hidden units to execute point-blank shots.

I would recommend that the Brigade ‘Mechs cluster around the depot and concentrate their fire on any Raider that makes the best target.  Don’t initially worry about jumping in the way of incoming fire – let the Raiders take shots at the building while you take shots at their armor.  Once the building is breached, use the intercept option to keep fire off of it.  You should concentrate your fire to drop enemy ‘Mechs as quickly as possible, rather than just degrading their armor.  Maneuver as little as possible – focus on accuracy rather than avoiding incoming damage.

For the Raiders, I would advise making a series of slashing attacks.  Split your fast movers into two groups, and make runs at the defenders – using speed and terrain to your best advantage and focusing on the most damaged defenders.  Have the Rifleman stay well back, taking pot shots at the building from the furthest extent of long range.  You’ll get the -4 bonus to counter the Long Range penalty, but the defenders won’t be able to fire back at you accurately.  As the building armor degrades, the defenders will have to start throwing themselves into the way, and your accuracy will soar to 100%.  Any fast mover that takes crippling damage should fall back to join the Rifleman in the peanut gallery, adding to its harassing fire as possible.  If the damaged units lack long range firepower, pull them entirely back to avoid taking losses.

[Mendrugo]

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

Date: February 5, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: New Avalon

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis: At the royal palace on New Avalon, Ardan Sortek waits for Hanse Davion in the gardens.  Ardan is now a MechWarrior in the “Royal Brigade,” while his childhood friend Hanse is now First Prince of the Federated Suns.  When Hanse arrives, he immediately attempts to talk Ardan out of transferring out of the Brigade.  Ardan defends his decision to transfer to a front line regiment as a result of his idealism, and his distaste for playing politics.  Hanse admits that politics is often dirty, but says it’s the only way to keep everything running.

Hanse, though clearly troubled by what appears to be his best friend’s abandonment, grants Ardan’s request to join the strike force aimed at retaking Stein’s Folly. 

Ardan goes to tell his fellow MechWarriors Denek and Fram goodbye.  They wish him well, and then go with him to dinner, where he says his farewells to Jarlik and Candent "Sep" Septarian.  When Ardan tells Sep he’s been transferred, she tries to hide her sadness and nonchalantly wishes him well.  After dinner, Sep and Ardan walk out to the nearby lake.  Ardan complains to Sep that Hanse has compromised his ethics.  Sep answers (in a shout-out to the book’s title) that whereas Ardan is a sword – straightforward, unconcealed, and deadly – Hanse is a dagger – equally dangerous, but more subtle.  Ardan accepts her argument, but maintains that Hanse is seriously misguided.  Sep tells him to call her if he ever needs help.

Notes: This chapter is undated.  I placed it in early February 3025 because I felt the AFFS would need a few weeks to hear about the attack, gather troops for a counterstrike, and get them staged on Dragon’s Field.  The AFFS can’t have enough JumpShips to put every unit on a Command Circuit.  Those were rare and expensive even in the heyday of the Star League.  Also, the Capellans needed time to set up and use the duplication center on Stein’s Folly.  Cosmetic surgery and mental conditioning don’t happen overnight.

It’s been nearly five years since we last checked in with Ardan.  At that time, he’d just broken up with his girlfriend Elaine, mostly because he wasn’t ready to settle down.  Five years on, he continues to sabotage his relationships because he’s still seeking a certain, indefinable something.  Specifically, he’s noted as having unspoken romantic feelings towards his lancemate Sep.

The conversation with Hanse, in which Ardan complains that he’s been feeling lately that people he thought he knew seem “not themselves,” is setting up tension as it calls into question Ardan’s reliability as he later tries to discern the real Hanse from the fake one.

The “Royal Brigade” is evidently alternative nomenclature for the Davion Brigade of Guards.  Ardan is probably still with the Davion Heavy Guards, as he was in Irreplaceable.

Hanse’s reluctance to send Ardan into harm’s way can, given the events of “Irreplaceable,” be seen as evidence of his fear that he’ll lose more close friends to the ravages of war.   Hanse is clearly still suffering from losing his fiancé Dana Stephenson on Halstead Station in 3014.  I wonder if he still commemorates June 21 as her birthday, or if he’s moved on.  It seems Ardan never really got over the idea of Hanse and Dana together either, given the way he’s raging against the FedCom treaty (and, presumably, Hanse’s cradle-robbing engagement to Melissa when she was ten years old).

Ardan notes that it would normally take almost two months to make the eight jumps between New Avalon and Stein’s Folly, but notes that a Command Circuit could make the trip in a matter of hours.  When researching The Sword and the Dagger's chronology, I initially tried to factor in standard transit times, and came up with a storyline that stretched over the better part of two years, ending in 3027.  Since that clearly didn't work, this story expressly relies on heavy use of Command Circuits to get characters to the action more quickly.  I talked with Michael Stackpole at a book signing at Wargames West in Albuquerque back in 1988, and he said one of the main challenges in writing the stories was moving the characters around without spending excessive pagecount on transit.  Thus, he came up with "pirate points" to avoid long, in-system journeys or 3G burns.  He also said that FASA offered to simply move some planets on the maps if it would help with a plot point. 

Interestingly, Fram asks Ardan if he’s going to Stein’s Folly because of a secret treaty.  Given the planet’s location on the Capellan border, it’s not clear how Fram could have thought its defense had anything to do with the FedCom treaty.  Perhaps author Ardath Mayhar thought the “Stein” in Stein’s Folly stood for Steiner.  (She published a short letter on the BattleCorps site describing the writing process – noting that FASA handed her a folder of loosely organized universe background data and partnered her with Decision at Thunder Rift author William Keith to write the battle scenes.)

Jarlik speculates that the rumors of an impending AFFS counterstrike against House Liao must be true, because other House leaders are looking for signs of weakness, and says even House Steiner isn’t above snatching planets.  Interestingly, at this point, House Steiner is about the only House never to have hit a Davion planet, while the AFFS once famously dispatched a strikeforce against Hesperus II and used political blackmail to obtain BattleMech technology from the Lyrans.

Sep notes that Ardan’s dissatisfaction with Court politics stems from his dislike of Hanse’s policies and the effects they are having on the worlds of the Federated Suns.  She describes them as “treaties to keep systems out of war.”  The House Davion sourcebook lists Hanse’s major political moves as founding the NAIS, signing the FedCom treaty, and implementing “social, economic, technical, and military recovery” in a “renaissance of Federated Suns culture.”  My guess is that the gung ho AFFS troopers don’t want to accept the FedCom treaty because they believe it sends the message that House Davion has given up on restoring the Star League and anointing the head of House Davion as First Lord through military might. 

[Frabby]

Your timeline for The Sword and the Dagger has Hanse replaced in May. However, I'm not sure if this works given that Ardan meets the real Hanse on Argyle, where they are both confronted by the double and subsequently put in the dungon.

However, an idea I had was that perhaps the real Hanse was alive and well on Argyle for some time while the double may already have begun his work on New Avalon and wherever the talks with Steiner took place, and Hanse was kept in the dark about it by the traitors in this Argyle household?

[Mendrugo]

Hmmm.   I'll need to review those chapters again.  One possibility would be to presume that Ardan was able to take a command circuit back part of the way, speeding up his trip back to the Federated Suns and putting him on Stein's Folly on May 6, or thereabouts, and then he takes a Command Circuit to Argyle, arriving around May 15 (which is right when the Galtor Campaign kicked off).  Then every subsequent event retains its spacing, but gets pulled back one month.  This has the advantage of the plot falling apart in July to match the "18 months" comment in Warrior: En Garde.

Revised timeline:

January 10 - Capellans attack Stein's Folly
February 5 - 12: Scenes on New Avalon as Ardan Sortek prepares to head out with the AFFS counteroffensive
February 7: Update on Sian as Max Liao monologues and twirls his mustache
February 25-30: Ardan arrives at the AFFS staging point on Dragon's Field
March 2-13: The AFFS counterattack begins, Ardan gets knocked on the head, is poked by Pinks, gets a tour of a Maskirovka cloning facility, then is shipped off to Tharkad for medical and psychological treatment, presumably by Command Circuit.
March 4  and March 10:  Interludes on New Avalon as Hanse hears of Ardan's MIA status, then of his medical condition after his recovery.
March 19 - April 10:  Ardan recuperates on Tharkad and befriends Melissa
April 26: Sep gets a message from Ardan (via ComStar) asking her to look into what he saw on Stein's Folly.
May 6:  Ardan (explicitly not traveling by Command Circuit - at least on the last few legs) returns to Stein's Folly from Tharkad and meets Sep.  (This is one of the elements that calls for an expanded timeline)  They investigate the cloning center.
May 15: Ardan travels to Argyle via Command Circuit, but ends up in the dungeon alongside Hanse for an indeterminate period.
June 7: Tharkad gets word that Hanse is in the process of nullifying the FedCom treaty and other agreements and has returned to New Avalon.  (The book specifies that ComStar communiques between New Avalon and Tharkad take weeks)
June 20: Ardan's compatriots discover that all traffic to Argyle, where Hanse is vacationing at the Summer Palace, has been cut off, and they determine to hijack vessels to get there.
June 29: Ardan's lancemates arrive on Argyle and rescue Ardan and Hanse from the dungeons.
July 5: Hanse, Ardan, and company arrive on New Avalon and confront the fake, proving Hanse's identity.
July 12: A week later, everything returns to normal.
July 20: Ardan and Hanse take their 'Mechs through the Gauntlet, their friendship more solid than ever.

[Mendrugo]

----- One Day Later -----

Date: February 6, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: New Avalon

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis: Ardan returns to the palace the next morning and consults with Hanse and Ran Felsner, as well as Lees Hamman – Felsner’s second in command.  They lay out the strategic situation – the 5th Crucis Lancers are already staging on Dragon’s Field – a cloud-shrouded world one jump from Stein’s Folly.  The 17th Avalon Hussars are currently en-route to Dragon’s Field, and Ardan will be placed in command of that unit, while Lees will command a regiment of the Capellan March Militia.  They’ll be backed by three regiments of armor, two regiments of infantry, and two regiments of AeroSpace fighters.  Ardan and one company of troops from New Avalon will take a Command Circuit to Dragon’s Field and then lead the task force.  The latest intelligence estimate is that part of the original Liao invasion force has been withdrawn, leaving three to five regiments to hold both Stein’s Folly and Redfield. 

After the briefing, Hanse and Ardan discuss the political gambits that have so angered Ardan.  Hanse has been using agents provocateur to stir up trouble in the Free Worlds League.  Hanse justifies the tactic by saying that if the FWL were not internally distracted, it would be threatening the Federated Suns’ flank.

Ardan leaves the palace and goes to the ‘Mech bays to say goodbye to his personal technicians – Lai and Nym.  Ardan doesn’t want them to have to leave their families while he goes on campaign.  He reassigns them to help Sep keep her Warhammer in repair. 

He visits the Gauntlet – the primary ‘Mech training course for the palace garrison, and makes a run in his Victor.  At the end of the run, he’s greeted by the members of his command lance – Sep, Jarlik, Deneb, and Fram, and they go for a final round of drinks.  Sep argues with Ardan about Hanse.  Ardan feels Hanse’s gambit in the Free Worlds League shows he’s been corrupted by power.  Sep argues that Hanse is doing fine, and asks Ardan if he’d rather have Maximilian Liao running things.

Adran storms away angrily and returns to his quarters.  There, he finds a gift from his command lance – a light environment suit, a knife, and collapsible field and camping gear.  As he packs, he thinks back to his last battle – fighting alongside LCAF troops against a Draconis Combine offensive.  He is haunted by what he saw during that campaign – a ruined village in a valley, and a dead child.  That experience forever burned away his youthful dreams of glory and adventure. 

Notes:  Ardan notes that he and Ran last served together in the battle for Tripoli in 3021.  All that is known about Tripoli is that the main garrison base is located in the midst of a petrified desert, far from nearby population centers, and that its moons are well fortified.

On a holotank starmap, Ardan identifies the markers for Emerson, New Cleveland, Ral, Hamlin, and Vincent.  Emerson is plotted on the 3025 map as being between Beten Kaitos and Smolensk in the Kathil PDZ, but the others have never been plotted.  The FedCom Civil War sourcebook indicates that the AFFS established networks of recharge stations through uninhabited systems to facilitate the dispatch of rapid response forces to repel incursions and to be able to move supplies to the front along hidden routes.  The Powers that Be have stated that all inhabited systems are now plotted on the maps, and if it’s not there, it’s not an inhabited system.  However, it’s unclear whether this applies to outpost systems, which lack civilian populations and economies but may have a military staging or logistics base.  If those are unmarked, then New Cleveland, Ral, Hamlin, Vincent, and Dragon’s Field may be part of the AFFS outpost network in the Crucis and Capellan Marches. 

Argyle, Vincent, New Cleveland, and Emerson are all noted as lying between New Avalon and Stein’s Folly.  Looking at the map, I can buy Argyle, but the most direct route between New Avalon and Stein’s Folly goes from Argyle to Freisland to Talcott to Smolensk to Kathil to Monongahela to Novaya Zemlya to Stein’s Folly.  Going to Emerson in that chain requires a 180 degree wrong turn at Smolensk.

Hanse tells Ardan they’ve “been planning this for weeks,” which was one of my key references for the time gap between the Capellan invasion and the AFFS response.

It appears that the concept of Regimental Combat Teams was developed during the writing of the House Davion sourcebook, since the apparently ad-hoc addition of conventional support forces is far below what a standard RCT deployment should entail. 

Hanse’s justification for stirring things up in the FWL seems somewhat convoluted.  The FWL and FS don’t share a border, so there’s not much direct threat of a League invasion of the Federated Suns, but they do share a common enemy.  Fighting between the FWL and Capellan Confederation would actually take pressure off of the Federated Suns.  A better rationale is that it’s a response to the Kapteyn Accord, a retaliation against the FWL-sponsored mercenary raid against the FS world of Demeter in 3022 (in Hornet’s Nest), and part of the FedCom treaty – helping take the FWL pressure off the Lyran Commonwealth so it can more effectively deal with the Draconis Combine.  It could even be cast as long overdue payback for FWL meddling in FedSuns internal affairs during the Age of War (as laid out in Fall From Grace).

During the argument about Hanse vs. Max, Sep says that House Liao squeezes planets dry when he conquers them, leaving planets devastated, people starved and degraded, homeless, cropless, and powerless, leaving only ruins when the Federated Suns reconquers them.  This implies that the CCAF has actually successfully taken control of Federated Suns worlds within the last 15 years.  The House Liao sourcebook lists Capellan successes against the Federated Suns as destroying an ore refinery on Axton, funding rebel groups on Andro, and kidnapping seven Davion scientists from a special genetic research station on Sanilac, but no planetary conquests.  Moreover, Max negotiated a neutrality pact with Michael Hasek-Davion in 3020, limiting attacks to “the occasional raid or two for the sake of appearances.”  The AFFS hammered the Capellans between 3015 and 3020, and Max retaliated with McCarron’s Long March in 3022 – but those were raids, and not planetary occupations.  The House Davion sourcebook notes that small Capellan attacks in 3010 through 3012 had defeated larger Davion forces, and Maskirovka operations were successfully smashing Davion infrastructure.  Hanse personally stopped the Liao offensive cold on Wright at the head of the LeFarge Hussars, his personal unit.  So the “squeezed dry” conquered planets probably fell to the CCAF offensive between 3007 and 3012.

One would have thought the debacle on Halstead Station might have been the catalyst that burned away Ardan’s dreams of glory and adventure – seeing Hanse’s fiancé dead on the field of battle, and having to shoot Hanse’s ‘Mech in the back to bring him to his senses and head off a suicide run.

[Frabby]

"Planning this for weeks" may refer to a response to the Liao invasion in general, particularly the recapture of Redfield. It is noted at the very beginning of the book that the attack on Stein's Folly had been expected ever since the fall of Redfield, just not so soon.

[Mendrugo]

"Planning this for weeks" may refer to a response to the Liao invasion in general, particularly the recapture of Redfield. It is noted at the very beginning of the book that the attack on Stein's Folly had been expected ever since the fall of Redfield, just not so soon.

I admit it's vague, but it's all there is to go on.  Plus, the Capellans couldn't have started moving in their captured scientists and setting up the conditioning lab until after the planet was fully secured, so they'd need time to get that up and running.

What's odd is that the AFFS is only sending three 'Mech regiments backed by a light RCT to face five regiments of McCarron's Armored Cavalry.  If the forces staging at Dragon's Field were initially intended to retake Redfield, it doesn't seem like they brought enough firepower to the party to overcome the Big MAC.  Thus, I would posit that a separate task force may be staging elsewhere to retake Redfield.  Only the fact that the MAC is split between the two worlds makes the three regiment AFFS task force sufficient to carry the day on Stein's Folly.

Hanse notes that the Capellans drew off some of their troops because they're "having trouble elsewhere."  I wonder what that trouble was, since the Kapteyn Accord should have rendered things quiet on the CC/FWL front.  Probes from Taurus or the Magistracy?  Independent raids out of Andurien?

[Frabby]

I admit it's vague, but it's all there is to go on.  Plus, the Capellans couldn't have started moving in their captured scientists and setting up the conditioning lab until after the planet was fully secured, so they'd need time to get that up and running.

Hmmm... this is a weak plot point in the novel anyways.
I'd argue that the entire (and somewhat weird) medical facility was a mockup and the man Ardan saw there was probably not the real double. I think it boils down to Ardan being set up deliberately to destroy his credibility. He saw what Liao wanted him to see.
I can see no other way to explain why the entire facility would be located on world that has been in Davion hands until a couple of weeks ago (two months on the outside, I think) in the first place, or why Ardan would wake up there unguarded and find an empty facility to snoop around in.

What's odd is that the AFFS is only sending three 'Mech regiments backed by a light RCT to face five regiments of McCarron's Armored Cavalry.  If the forces staging at Dragon's Field were initially intended to retake Redfield, it doesn't seem like they brought enough firepower to the party to overcome the Big MAC.  Thus, I would posit that a separate task force may be staging elsewhere to retake Redfield.  Only the fact that the MAC is split between the two worlds makes the three regiment AFFS task force sufficient to carry the day on Stein's Folly.

In Pavel Ridzik's first scene the attacking forces (deploying from two Overlords landed at the Steindown port are shown to include elements of the St. Ives Lancers and McCarron's Armored Cavalry

It's implied in the opening chapter that the Liao 'Mech carriers are Overlords exclusively, later described as a "small fleet" of them, each carrying 36 BattleMechs. Which could be anywhere from three to a full five regiments' worth (15) of Overlords.
But in 3025 a battalion was considerd a large force, and a five-regiment attack force is something for groundbreaking actions like Galtor III or Halstead Station. Redfield and Stein's Folly seem to be smaller battles in the bigger picture, which to me strongly implies we're looking on overall perhaps two regiments' worth on troops on the outside, composed of mixed elements from various units.

McCarron's Armored Cavalry in particular was noted to be recuperating from their Long March after 3023 well into 3027, having returned to garrison and strategic reserve duty (according to what I wrote on Sarna but shamefully failed to cite sources for; I think this is straigth from the MAC sourcebook). In this context, their contribution to the Stein's Folly attack may only have been a detachment of company size or so.

Hanse notes that the Capellans drew off some of their troops because they're "having trouble elsewhere."  I wonder what that trouble was, since the Kapteyn Accord should have rendered things quiet on the CC/FWL front.  Probes from Taurus or the Magistracy?  Independent raids out of Andurien?

I've noted elsewhere already that the Concord of Kapteyn didn't do much to pacify the Marik/Liao border, even though it may have stipulated a detente. The Gray Death Legion's campaign in Marik employ against Liao that went on for a year in 3027/early 3028 and culminated in the capture of Sirius V is a big giveaway in this respect, and looking into the matter further I found it spelled out in the Rolling Thunder scenario pack that, despice the Concord, Janos Marik autorized the Rolling Thunder unit to raid Liao space specifically to give Max Liao some of his own medicine. I also recall (but cannot presently cite a reference) a note to the effect that even after signing the Concord Liao and Marik simply fought on, just switching to deniable mercenary assets instead of showing their own colors.

Skimming over the text of The Sword and the Dagger again, I note that Dragon's Field, Hamlin and Ral are mentioned in the context of the question what troops should be drawn from there to support the recapture of Stein's Folly. This strongly supports the idea of these systems being otherwise unmapped military outposts as you suggested.

Emerson (and Vincent and New Cleveland) may be other strongpoints/garrison bases contributing forces to the staging point at Dragon's Field. So it's more about pulling together forces, which in turn may be dictated by logistics and the availability of JumpShips, than about the route taken to attack Stein's Folly. No detour here. In fact, if those systems weren't out of the way then there would be little reason to rally them at Dragon's Field.

[Mendrugo]

Hmmm... this is a weak plot point in the novel anyways.
I'd argue that the entire (and somewhat weird) medical facility was a mockup and the man Ardan saw there was probably not the real double. I think it boils down to Ardan being set up deliberately to destroy his credibility. He saw what Liao wanted him to see.
I can see no other way to explain why the entire facility would be located on world that has been in Davion hands until a couple of weeks ago (two months on the outside, I think) in the first place, or why Ardan would wake up there unguarded and find an empty facility to snoop around in.

I'll address it more fully once we get to those scenes, but I agree that the whole setup makes no sense at all.  The Maskirovka can't have known Ardan would come to Stein's Folly - he resigned from the Davion Heavy Guards to come on his own.  They certainly couldn't have pre-planned his getting shot out of his 'Mech, lost in a swamp, tortured by primates, and found by a Liao patrol.  If they wanted to keep him from blowing the fake Hanse's cover, why let on that there's a fake Hanse in the first place?  For that matter, why bother "destroying his credibility" when a laser to the brainpan would certainly prevent Ardan from testing the duplicate's mastery of Hanse-fu.  This plot fails the Evil Overlord test on about thirty points.

In Pavel Ridzik's first scene the attacking forces (deploying from two Overlords landed at the Steindown port are shown to include elements of the St. Ives Lancers and McCarron's Armored Cavalry

It's implied in the opening chapter that the Liao 'Mech carriers are Overlords exclusively, later described as a "small fleet" of them, each carrying 36 BattleMechs. Which could be anywhere from three to a full five regiments' worth (15) of Overlords.

But in 3025 a battalion was considerd a large force, and a five-regiment attack force is something for groundbreaking actions like Galtor III or Halstead Station. Redfield and Stein's Folly seem to be smaller battles in the bigger picture, which to me strongly implies we're looking on overall perhaps two regiments' worth on troops on the outside, composed of mixed elements from various units.

McCarron's Armored Cavalry in particular was noted to be recuperating from their Long March after 3023 well into 3027, having returned to garrison and strategic reserve duty (according to what I wrote on Sarna but shamefully failed to cite sources for; I think this is straigth from the MAC sourcebook). In this context, their contribution to the Stein's Folly attack may only have been a detachment of company size or so.

I didn't see any specific reference to the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, though since Ridzik was there in person, it wouldn't be a much of a stretch for Stapleton's Iron Hand (from the St. Ives Armored Cavalry) to be there, as his personal unit.  The Death Commandos were noted as being there alongside the Big Mac.

I think the Liao sourcebook says that by 3025, the Big Mac was back to patrolling up and down the Liao/Davion border, spoiling for a fight. 

If there are two (maybe three) regiments on Stein's Folly, after some were withdrawn, then the initial invasion must have been at least three or four regiments.  Presumably the ones pulled off to deal with other problems didn't go back to Redfield, implying there were more than five regiments involved in the joint Redfield/Stein's Folly offensive.  I can see the Big Mac and Death Commandos being used in the initial assault, backed by Confederation Reserve Cavalry units, and then having the Big Mac and Death Commandos pulled away to put out fires elsewhere, leaving just the CRC mooks to hold the planets.  Since the AFFS crushed the Stein's Folly garrison, whatever unit it was is probably lost to history, and wasn't listed on the House Liao sourcebook TO&E for the CCAF in 3025.

(There's always my pet theory that the Shin Legion was knocking around during the 3rd Succession War, but just got left out of all the reporting.  If it was splattered on Stein's Folly in early 3025, and subsequently reconstituted, that would explain its absence from the roster.  There's that cryptic reference in the Warrior Trilogy to a Solaris MechJock being a "member of the Lost Legion," that was defeated by House Marik on Shuen Wan.  Since the Shin Legion was the only unit in the CCAF with a "Legion" title, and there's never been a good explanation for when/how the unit was formed, I like to imagine that the "Lost Legion" was a disgraced regiment of the Shin Legion.)

[Frabby]

I'll address it more fully once we get to those scenes, but I agree that the whole setup makes no sense at all.

[Scene 1 - on Stein's Folly] [Pavel Ridzik in closeup, as he triumphantly steps across the corpses of Davion soldiers. In the background, two majestic Overlords disgorge heavy 'Mechs.]

[Scene 2 - on Sian]
[Ridzik]"Greetings, oh Chancellor, First Lord, Divine Wisdom, Sun of my Heavens, blah blah yadda yadda. I have burned a command circuit across seven jumps only to gleefully continue my adulterous relationship with your wife personally report to you on our progress at Stein's Folly. I'm happy to report there's nothing to report. Really. And if there was I wouldn't tell you."
[Liao] [twirls moustache] "There's this one close friend Davion has, one Ardan Sortek... I'm just mentioning this."
[ComStar messenger] "Bad news from Stein's Folly."
[Liao] [hissy fit] "RIDZIK! Get to Stein's Folly immediately and in person, burning my command circuit, and shoot anyone or anthing opposing my grandiose plans!! Then get back here and tell me how we fared. 'Cause that's obviously cheaper and quicker than ComStar."

[Scene 3 - on Sian]
[Ridzik] "Bad news from Stein's Folly... again."
[Liao] [hissy fit] "RIDZIK! We've been betrayed by the Davion traitors! How could that happen?! Now that the trap didn't work we don't have enough troops on Stein's Folly to hold the world and must withdraw. Btw, Ardan Sortek was with the attackers."
[Ridzik] "Indeed. Now that you mention it, we've downed his 'Mech and noticed it fought just like Sortek, but somehow didn't consider this important until now.
[Ridzik travels to Stein's Folly again, apparently using the command circuit again. This isn't worth a new chapter, indeed the very next paragraph begins with Ridzik having arrived on Stein's Folly already and ordering his people to secure Sortek.]
[Sortek] [Ends up tied to a tree and captured by Liao troops]
[Ridzik] [makes odd remarks about how important Sortek is, when really, he isn't]
[unknown spy reports Sortek's whereabouts to Davion commanders, who rescue Sortek from an almost abandoned field hospital where the Capellans somehow left him behind]


Now here's my conclusions from this:

This whole episode is quite obviously a setup, a Disneyland Ride designed to let Sortek see a double of Hanse Davion before being rescued by Davion troops. Nothing else makes sense. And it is a shabby setup, probably because Ridzik and his men had little time to set this up once Sortek was found.

Why was this done? Because it makes sense, in a devious reverse-psychology sense.
The entire Doppelganger ploy is somewhat contrived. But now imagine this: The disenchanted childhood friend of Hanse Davion, after a mild falling-out, goes into battle and returns with a case of severe PTSD, hallucinating about a doppelganger that must have replaced Hanse Davion. In this way, the Doppelganger idea is easily discredited and other people will look the other way hard instead of siding with Mad Sortek. It makes it all the easier to believe that Hanse Davion is of course not a doppelganger even if he behaves strangely.

I didn't see any specific reference to the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, though since Ridzik was there in person, it wouldn't be a much of a stretch for Stapleton's Iron Hand (from the St. Ives Armored Cavalry) to be there, as his personal unit.  The Death Commandos were noted as being there alongside the Big Mac.

I think the Liao sourcebook says that by 3025, the Big Mac was back to patrolling up and down the Liao/Davion border, spoiling for a fight.

In Ridzik's first scene on p. 28, it is described how the Fire Lance of an (otherwise unspecified) company of House Liao's St. Ives Armored Cavalry - two Ostrocs, a Catapult and a BattleMaster - disembark from one of the two Overlords at the Steindown port. In the next paragraph, a MAC lance (another BattleMaster, an Archer and two Trebuchets) is mentioned. Quite an impressive lineup in these two lances. Go Liao!

The line about the MAC you're quoting doesn't rule out them being on garrison and strategic defense duty in 3025. And in this role they were usually broken down into company-sized units. Hence my assumption that no more than one company (or three, filling one Overlord) were diverted to this offensive. Certainly not all five regiments, if the MAC had even regained that strength by 3025.

The Death Commandos destroyed the early warning system at the space station. There's no mentioning of them deploying BattleMechs on the ground though.

If there are two (maybe three) regiments on Stein's Folly, after some were withdrawn, then the initial invasion must have been at least three or four regiments.  Presumably the ones pulled off to deal with other problems didn't go back to Redfield, implying there were more than five regiments involved in the joint Redfield/Stein's Folly offensive.  I can see the Big Mac and Death Commandos being used in the initial assault, backed by Confederation Reserve Cavalry units, and then having the Big Mac and Death Commandos pulled away to put out fires elsewhere, leaving just the CRC mooks to hold the planets.  Since the AFFS crushed the Stein's Folly garrison, whatever unit it was is probably lost to history, and wasn't listed on the House Liao sourcebook TO&E for the CCAF in 3025.

(There's always my pet theory that the Shin Legion was knocking around during the 3rd Succession War, but just got left out of all the reporting.  If it was splattered on Stein's Folly in early 3025, and subsequently reconstituted, that would explain its absence from the roster.  There's that cryptic reference in the Warrior Trilogy to a Solaris MechJock being a "member of the Lost Legion," that was defeated by House Marik on Shuen Wan.  Since the Shin Legion was the only unit in the CCAF with a "Legion" title, and there's never been a good explanation for when/how the unit was formed, I like to imagine that the "Lost Legion" was a disgraced regiment of the Shin Legion.)

Hm. A later scene seems to suggest the MAC is in fact the core element of the trap that is to be sprung on Stein's Folly so perhaps at least a battalion after all. But of course Davion wouldn't know it's trap, and would not take those units into consideration.
However, in the same chapter it's also clearly said that the Liao forces are outnumbered by the Davions after the initial trap failed, and cannot hold the planet. So in any case, there were less Liao than Davion troops there despite the whole situation being a Liao trap.

[BrokenMnemonic]

On a holotank starmap, Ardan identifies the markers for Emerson, New Cleveland, Ral, Hamlin, and Vincent.  Emerson is plotted on the 3025 map as being between Beten Kaitos and Smolensk in the Kathil PDZ, but the others have never been plotted.  The FedCom Civil War sourcebook indicates that the AFFS established networks of recharge stations through uninhabited systems to facilitate the dispatch of rapid response forces to repel incursions and to be able to move supplies to the front along hidden routes.  The Powers that Be have stated that all inhabited systems are now plotted on the maps, and if it’s not there, it’s not an inhabited system.  However, it’s unclear whether this applies to outpost systems, which lack civilian populations and economies but may have a military staging or logistics base.  If those are unmarked, then New Cleveland, Ral, Hamlin, Vincent, and Dragon’s Field may be part of the AFFS outpost network in the Crucis and Capellan Marches.

There's a good precedent for this in Historical: Reunification War, where the worlds of Granera and Saonara were missing from the 2571 maps of the Inner Sphere published up to that point, but appeared on the Reunification War maps for 2577, with a note in the deployment table pages that both were military staging worlds that later became colonies.

[Mendrugo]

----- One Day Later -----

Date: February 7, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Sian

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  At the Forbidden Palace on Sian, Chancellor Maximilian Liao and Strategic Military Director Pavel Ridzik discuss the progress of Operation DOPPLEGANGER.  Ridzik, recently returned from Stein’s Folly, reports that the world is pacified except for scattered mopping-up operations.  He reports that “other arrangements” are in hand, and stand a very good chance of catching Davion off balance.  He adds that his agents have found some potentially valuable connections in the Capellan March willing to sell out in exchange for money and influence.

Ridzik says Capellan spies have tracked AFFS troops moving into position for a counterstrike.  He reports that a brigade has jumped from Ral to Hamlin and is awaiting recharge for jump to Dragon’s Field, while another large detachment has already landed on Dragon’s Field, awaiting the rest of the task force and the headquarters group from New Avalon.  Ridzik doubts that Hanse Davion will be present with the task force.

Ridzik reports that McCarron’s Armored Cavalry is in place, and joined by detachment of the occupation units, ready to strike.  He says that the Davion task force will face a terrible surprise when they arrive at Stein’s Folly.

Turning to the problem of Hanse Davion, Ridzik reports that his agents are trying to find some leverage to use against him – someone close to use as a hostage.  He says members of the Davion family are too well guarded, and Hanse’s lovers are too loyal.  Ridzik says Hanse has only one close friend – Ardan Sortek, and he doubts Hanse will ever let Ardan out of his sight on New Avalon.

Max dispatches Ridzik to update readiness reports for the units involved in the operation, and studies the logistics until a ComStar Adept interrupts him with a message from Stein’s Folly, reporting an attack that severely damaged the occupation headquarters and caused the death of Commander Rav Xiang and forty CCAF personnel.  The CCAF detachment requests brevet promotion of subcommander Sten Ciu or assignment of a new commander.  The Stein’s Folly garrison reports no success with search and destroy missions through the swamps, and has lost six ‘Mechs to quicksand.

Max summons Ridzik back to his chamber, and rages at him about his earlier report of “minor mopping up.”  Ridzik says that’s what Xiang had reported to him.  Max orders Ridzik to go to Stein’s Folly via Command Circuit and take charge of the garrison.  Ridzik objects, saying he’s needed to coordinate the overall campaign.  Max says he does not expect the Davion counterstrike to take place for weeks, given the logistical problems faced by the Davion commanders.

Notes:  The Maskirovka seems to have very accurate data about Davion movements, so I’ve taken Max’s estimate of several weeks as an accurate estimate of how long it will take for the AFFS strikeforce to be assembled at Dragon’s Field and ready to launch.  (The mere fact that the Maskirovka seems to have accurate data indicates that Alexei Malenkov – aka Alex Mallory – has not yet compromised Maskirovka operational effectiveness.)

If I’m reading the tea leaves correctly from this conversation, the reports of “trouble elsewhere” were fake.  McCarron’s Armored Cavalry, the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, and other elements of the assault force have indeed been withdrawn, but only to staging points nearby.  The plan is for the AFFS to send its strikeforce against Stein’s Folly to crush the understrength garrison, and then be crushed in turn by the sudden reappearance of the Big MAC and other supporting regiments, which will trap them on the world and destroy them in detail.

The discussion of Ardan Sortek indicates there was no advance plan to grab or discredit him.  Whatever the heck happens later was done on an ad hoc basis.

Despite being engaged to Melissa Steiner since 3022, Hanse is apparently still taking lovers.  Oh, Melissa, you lucky girl.   ::)  I wonder if he calls any of them Dana by accident.  >:D

Ridzik’s reluctance to leave Sian is probably less due to his concern for the operation’s success as it is for having to leave Elizabeth Liao’s bedchamber.

The bribed allies on Davion worlds is foreshadowing of the inclusion of the summer palace majordomo on Argyle as one of the plotters in Operation DOPPLEGANGER.

It’s interesting that the ComStar messenger is described as a very young, shy girl, yet her rank is Adept, not Acolyte.  Odd that such a wilting flower ascended through the ranks at a young age, and was given the daunting responsibility of delivering messages to the Chancellor.  Another oddity is that Max questions her about the situation, and she responds with detailed information she hadn’t previously disclosed.  Shouldn’t she have provided the full message as a hardcopy readout, rather than giving an oral report and leaving out any part he didn’t specifically ask about?  ComStar probably prefers using couriers to deliver messages, because it lets them control the flow of information, as well as having agents in place to observe reactions when the information is delivered.

Chronologically, this is the first time Sian has ever hosted a scene.  We've had six on Tharkad, ten on New Avalon, eight on Atreus, two on Luthien, thirty-five on Terra, and nineteen on Strana Mechty.  (Of course, Sian gets plenty of pagetime in the upcoming Warrior Trilogy, but it is fairly neglected as far as BattleCorps offerings go.)

[Failure16]

For what it is worth, the 2nd Regiment of the MAC was busy raiding Calloway IV in mid December of 3025 (Rolling Thunder, p. 31, 57).  It is also here that it is explicitly stated that "early in 3025, House Liao initiated a series of small raids into Marik space...due to the nominal peace existing between the two governments, many of the raids were led by mercenary units that House Liao could later disavow".

As portrayed, the elements of the 2nd MAC are decidedly understrength.  This can be taken as having suffered casualties in the run-up to the scenarios (having fought the Calloway garrison to the edge of the objective, the factories, or as a result of already being pounded upon by the First Regulan Hussars), or because they were that that bedraggled due to their earlier Long March.

[Mendrugo]

More reviews coming this weekend - hopefully.  I got tasked with a time-crunch project that's kept me up programming since last Saturday.

[Knightmare]

It’s interesting that the ComStar messenger is described as a very young, shy girl, yet her rank is Adept, not Acolyte.  Odd that such a wilting flower ascended through the ranks at a young age, and was given the daunting responsibility of delivering messages to the Chancellor.

A ROM operative perhaps?...

[Mendrugo]

I'm back!  Between hosting high-level government visitors, designing a website, and getting a swimming pool staffed and opened, I've been away from the reviews for a bit, but the site is now live, the pool is open, and the visitors have come and gone. 

----- One Day Later -----

Date: February 12, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: New Avalon

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  Ardan Sortek works with his technicians to prepare his task force for the trip to Dragon’s Field along a Command Circuit.  Three days before departure, Adran makes a final visit to his parents – Adriaan and Vela – at their modest villa on the outskirts of Avalon City.  His mother asks why he can’t find a nice girl and produce grandchildren, like his sister Felsa and her husband Mak.  They share a pleasant repast, and then Ardan returns to his barracks, brooding on the endless cycle of warfare and political schemes House Davion and House Liao are enmeshed in.

Notes:  Adriaan Sortek is described as a retired soldier who took up farming in an area where most of the local gentry pursued it as an amusement, tending grain fields, fruit orchards, and vineyards.  From the description, the Federated Suns nobility appear to have a substantial number of “idle rich.”  Other sourcebooks corroborate this assessment, noting the popularity of the “Riviera Circuit,” where wealthy young nobles use their personal JumpShips to travel from world to world to visit luxury resorts, attend festivals, and spend lavishly on entertainments.

Adriaan Sortek makes an unusual statement during dinner - “if the Divine is merciful.”  I wonder if that phrasing is associated with devotees of the Unfinished Book?  It seems generic enough to fit that ethos.

They discuss the gradual decline of technology, the resultant scavenger economy, and what the NAIS is doing to turn things around. 

Vela’s suggestion of hooking Ardan up with a neighbor girl probably means that she’s out of the loop as far as Ardan’s love life is concerned.  If she knew of his attraction to Candent Septarian, she’d probably be deluging her with non-stop dinner invitations.  It’s even questionable whether she knew of his earlier involvement with Elaine (from “Irreplaceable”), since she seems the type that would lead off with “Why don’t you and that nice girl Elaine give it another try?  I want grandchildren, you know!”  (Reading the scene, I’m picturing Adriaan and Vela as looking and acting much like George Costanza’s parents from Seinfeld.)

Ardan ponders what would happen if the Capellan Confederation conquered the Federated Suns – envisioning the entire populace enslaved and starving.  Granted, under Capellan law, all citizens of a conquered Federated Suns would become Servitor-caste, but they could “test out” in as little as ten years (five if they had military skills and were willing to fight for the CCAF), and their children would have the same opportunity for citizenship the child of a native born Capellan citizen.

[Mendrugo]

----- Two Weeks Later -----

Date: February 25, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Dragon’s Field

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis: Ardan arrives on Dragon’s Field where an AFFS strikeforce is assembling to retake Stein’s Folly.  He hits a mess hall for something to settle his stomach and is joined by Ran Felsner and Lees Hamman.  Ardan uses an E-pad to sketch out the geography of the northern continent of Stein’s Folly, and points out that if the AFFS goes ahead with the plan to land on the coastal plains east of Steindown and in Steindown itself, they could be encircled and ambushed by pre-positioned CCAF forces in the mountains.  He worries that the current plan could have been leaked to the Maskirovka, and suggests a last minute change to throw off Capellan intelligence.

Under the new plan, a diversionary force would land on the coastal plains and move to cut off Steindown from its agricultural supplies.  The main force would land on the edge of a large swamp region, seize a key pass, and then encircle and destroy any CCAF ambush forces in the mountains, while holding off reinforcements from Steindown at Jordan’s Pass.  Felsner, Hamman, and Sortek agree on the new plan, but note that they’ll have to get buy-in from General Victor DeVries, Fleet Admiral Bertholi, First Prince Hanse Davion, and Duke Michael Hasek-Davion who, as ruler of the Capellan March, is required to be informed of changes to the plan.

Duke Michael Hasek-Davion receives the AFFS commanders at his mansion overlooking the spaceport.  Michael is visibly upset when Ran notifies him of the changes to the invasion plan, and he demands they stick with the original plan, warning them that their proposed LZ by the Ordolo Swamp will result in the ‘Mechs sinking to their doom in the soft ground.  He warns the group that their careers will be ruined if they fail to heed his advice.  Ran tells the Duke they will take his advice into consideration.

Notes:  Despite the use of a Command Circuit to get from New Avalon, this scene still takes place nearly two weeks after the last scene, which was stated to be three days before departure from New Avalon.  It’s a 7.5 day transit out from New Avalon to the zenith or nadir jump points (so that’s already 10.5 days).   There’s a 30-hour transit from the jump point to Dragon’s Field (let’s call that 12 days), and it takes several hours to transfer a DropShip from its JumpShip and prepare to jump again, even on a Command Circuit, so we’ve got our (nearly) two weeks.

The strike force consists of the 5th Crucis Lancers RCT and 17th Avalon Hussars RCT, and one Capellan March Militia RCT.  My guess is that it’s the Alcyone CMM, since Stein’s Folly lies within the Alcyone PDZ.  Plus, the Alcyone CMM is one of the few Capellan March Militia units in 3025 that isn’t rated Green/Questionable.  That gives the AFFS three BattleMech regiments, eight armor regiments, fifteen infantry regiments, and six wings of aerospace fighters.  Ardan describes it as being roughly 10,000 men.  Breaking it down, that’s 324 MechWarriors,  11,340 infantry (if all RCTs are at full compliment), 120 aerospace pilots, and roughly 2,500 armor crewmen.  Ardan’s estimate appears to be about 3,000 short of what should be on the TO&Es, so the RCTs are probably going without full infantry support.

The source of the intelligence leak is, of course, Duke Michael himself.  He is, naturally, upset about this last minute change of plans, since he hopes the Stein’s Folly invasion will result in a costly political failure for Hanse along with the destruction of some of his most loyal units and the deaths of some of his closest allies in the AFFS – potentially strengthening Michael’s position for a coup in the future.  I was surprised that Michael would have left his command center on New Syrtis to travel to an off-the-maps staging world to oversee the preparations for the assault.  I was even more surprised that he comes there often enough to have a Versailles-style gold-trimmed mansion on the hill overlooking the spaceport.  Perhaps he had one built on each planet in the Capellan March so he’d have somewhere suitable to stay wherever he traveled.  There’s an upcoming scenario where he tries to use the Bounty Hunter to ambush the Black Widow Company at his palace on LeBlanc in the Draconis March.  I wouldn’t put it past Michael to have an opulent vacation home on every world in the Federated Suns.

Ardan apparently suffers from Transit Disorientation Syndrome, leaving him dizzy, disoriented, and nauseous.  Ardan attributes it to an inner-ear reaction to the hyperspace transit.

Ardath Mayhar apparently predicted iPads (here called E-pads) back in 1986, though she envisioned they would have the same green on black monochrome screen color scheme as the TRS-80.

[Mendrugo]

----- Three Days Later -----

Date: February 28, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Dragon’s Field

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  The AFFS forces on Dragon’s Field adapt to the new plan and begin to launch.  The 5th Crucis Lancers RCT launches on February 26, the Capellan March Militia launches on February 27, and Ardan’s 17th Avalon Hussars is ready to launch on February 28.  Hundreds of tons of supplies and fuel get loaded along with ‘Mechs, ammo, and troopers despite Duke Hasek-Davion’s efforts at bureaucratic delays. 

Before departing aboard the FSS Exeter, Ardan sends a message to Duke Michael informing him that the new plan is in effect.  He also sends a missive to Hanse Davion through diplomatic channels describing the bureaucratic harassment from Duke Michael. 

Notes: A reference is made to “Pallos, eighty klicks away” and “hundreds of tons of food, water, munitions, and spare parts had to be directed from storehouses around the planet to the proper ship at the proper time.”  This would imply that Dragon’s Field actually has multiple settlements around the planet, rather than just being an off-map military staging world.  To remain consistent with the ruling that all inhabited worlds are shown on the maps, I will presume that there are small-scale resource harvesting and storage locations scattered around the planet to avoid total destruction from any Capellan raid, but they are all military bases with small civilian support populations, and not truly independent cities.  Notably, there is no ComStar HPG station on the planet.  By this time, nearly every Inner Sphere world had been reconnected to the HPG network, as had a good number of Periphery worlds.  The absence of an HPG is a strong argument for this being a military outpost, rather than a colony.

[Mendrugo]

----- Thirty Hours Later -----

Date: March 2, 3025 [See Notes]

Location: Dragon’s Field

Title: The Sword and the Dagger

Author: Ardath Mayhar

Type: Novel

Synopsis:  The Davion fleet is assembled at the jump point in the Dragon’s Field system, awaiting the arrival of the last Avalon Hussars’ DropShips.  Ardan’s Union-class FSS Exeter docks with the Star Lord-class FSS Sword of Davion.  Once the last of the DropShips are docked, the JumpShip crews furl their jump sails, and Ran Felsner, aboard the FSS Avalon (the fleet’s flagship), has Admiral Bertholi give the command to jump.

The fleet winks out of existence in Dragon’s Field and reappears instantly 12 light years away in the Stein’s Folly system. 

The FSS Exeter’s captain, Harvey Danelle, tells Ardan he’s worried – there are no CCAF aerospace fighters at the nearby recharge station.  Word comes from the FSS Avalon, and the task force’s DropShips deploy en-masse, boosting towards Stein’s Folly, while the JumpShips begin recharging.

Notes:  This tiny chapter notes that Dragon’s Field is 12 light years from Stein’s Folly.  The German translation of The Sword and the Dagger uses Novaya Zemlya as the staging point, but running the X/Y coordinates through a distance calculation, we see that Novaya Zemlya is 27.25 light years from Stein’s Folly, so it can’t be Dragon’s Field.  The closest mapped system is Quitticas at 19.64 LY, so Dragon’s Field definitely appears to be an off-map staging world, and not a minor world in an established system.

This scene makes me wonder about fleet protocols.  During this time, JumpShips are supposed to be inviolate – nobody attacks them.  Would the AFFS fleet keep any of the task force’s fighter assets as a defensive force, or would they just trust in the “hands off” informal convention of the Succession Wars era?  The ground forces are noted to be traveling in Unions and Overlords.  Presumably there are also Excaliburs, Triumphs, Seekers, and other ships carrying the infantry and armor support forces.