Author Topic: Briefly characterize a successor state  (Read 9632 times)

Siegfried Marcus

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Briefly characterize a successor state
« on: 11 February 2017, 17:23:52 »
As part of a promotion for HBS's new game, I get some kind of insignia for one of the great houses, but I don't currently have a favorite.  Help me, and others, out by giving a brief description of one or more houses in terms of style, flavor, and fluff, circa 3025.  Links to other threads are also appreciated.
Here is my AU story set in the Free Rasalhague Republic.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=52953.0

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #1 on: 11 February 2017, 17:37:14 »
Something important to remember is that as of 3025, all five houses really have more in common than they have differences.  They're all neo-feudal, pre-westphalian empires as opposed to nation-states.  A Count on a Davion border world can swear fealty to House Kurita if his homeworld is conquered, and pretty much nothing changes at the local level.

That being said, there are significant superficial differences between them.  Put (overly) simply:

Davion: Space France.
Steiner: Space Hansa.  (note that there is a deep periphery faction called the Hansa that have no ties to Steiner... but Steiner holds the more proper link)
Marik: Space Balkans.
Kurita: Space North Korea.  (you'll get divergent opinions on this, as they certainly have their self-professed Shogunate and Imperial WWII Japanese themeing... but replace "Kim" with "Kurita" and tell me North Korea is NOT a real life Draconis Combine.)
Liao: Space Commies.  (In later eras, they'll play up the Chinese heritage, but as of 3025 they're very moreso just Space Commies)


Edit:  I thought maybe comparing them to factions in other franchises might be illustrative:

Davion:  The Federation of Planets or the Star Kingom of Manticore of the BattleTech universe.
Kurita: The Klingons or the Kzinti Empire of BattleTech.
Steiner:  The Ferengi of Battletech.
Marik: The ISC (of the SFB universe) or perhaps they could have been House Atreides if Davion didn't hog all the protagonist spotlight during the 3025 era.
Liao: The Romulans or the House Harkonnens of BattleTech.
« Last Edit: 11 February 2017, 17:50:18 by Tai Dai Cultist »

Dubble_g

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #2 on: 12 February 2017, 01:10:45 »
Davion: England & France ... In space!
The default good guys. Have the best military leaders. Have the worst... nothing really.

Steiner: Modern Germany & Scotland ... In space!
Good guys if Davion not present. Have the best economy. Have the worst military leaders.

Kurita: Shogunate + Imperial Japan ... In space!
Usually the "honorable enemy". Have the best individual soldiers, per the fluff anyway, but I feel this never came across in the fiction. Have the worst economy.

Liao: Communist China/Russia ... In space!
Default "sneaky enemy". Have the best spies, again in theory, as they get bamboozled pretty easily in the fiction. Have the worst army.

Marik: Southern Europe ... In space!
Default punching bag. Have the best... um... civil wars? Only realm that has anything approaching representative democracy, but in the fluff this seems to be a source of derision rather than pride. So, has the worst government because who likes democracy amiright?
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Ang Moh Siao

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #3 on: 12 February 2017, 08:43:45 »
Battletech circa 3025 is definitely a universe of Grey and Grey morality.  There's some that are worser than others, but ain't nobody really the good guys.  They're all a bunch of violent, manipulative bastards.  Just how we like it, for a war game.
« Last Edit: 12 February 2017, 08:48:46 by Ang Moh Siao »
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Nicolai_Malthus

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #4 on: 12 February 2017, 10:19:35 »
Okay, here's my try at it. Mind you these are my personal observations, and may not reflect the intent of each of the successor states.

Capellan Confederation: Space North Korea/Communism/Han-Chinese. As the smallest and youngest of the successor states, the Confederation is a paranoid police-state, that spends as much time spying on and thought-policing its citizens. The citizens of the Confederation, and by extension their property, are property of the state, with their very lives more than once having been sacrificed to drive back invaders rather than to let them get a foothold in Capellan space. Pros of the Confederation is its strong unity and superb (if heavily controlled) education system. The cons are that your life is state property.

Draconis Combine: Space Imperial/Shogunate Japan, sprinkled with Spartan ethics and fascism. Settled on some of the most resource poor planets in the Inner Sphere, house Kurita fosters a spartan and martial outlook amongst its people. Whereas the other successor states formed to ensure their survival and independence, the Combine formed from a desire for conquest. Pros are that the Combine has some of the fiercest and most loyal troops. On the other hand, the strict adherence to Bushido makes many Combine soldiers more concerned about their personal glory and honor over what is good for the military as a whole, up to an including committing suicide rather than face the shame of defeat.

Federated Suns: Space America/England/France. Spreading freedom whether you asked for it or not. The ruling Davion dynasty are enamored with medievial imagery and culture, and grants its subjects the most freedoms of any of the great houses. Pros are it's got the best trained military and some of the most advanced technology in the Inner Sphere. Cons are that if you live in the outback, you're basically barely above 19th/20th century living standards, and schooling/literacy isn't a garauntee.

Free World League: Space EU. A confederation of several distinct, sovereign states, with their own cultures and customs, unified under a federal government. The League is governed by a three-way tug of war between the national government, the federal parliament, and the increasingly dictatorial Captain General of the Free Worlds Leage Military. The Captain General, often a scion of House Marik, has a number of emergency priviliges that can override the will of parliament granted by an in-perpetuity state of Crisis. Pros of living in the Leage is a semblance of democracy and independence. Cons are that you get to watch those same principles of democracy and independence slowly wither and die. Also, the tug of war between the nations that make up the league, parliament, and the Captain General ensures the League military is bogged down in bureaucracy and in the worst case civil war.

Lyran Commonwealth: Space Hansa/Holy Roman Empire (the German one). Founded by a triarchy of merchant houses, before being taken over by the charismatic Steiner family, the Commonwealth is fascinated with wealth, nobility and social standing. As a merchant empire, its citizens enjoy some of the best standard of living in the Inner Sphere. Alas, the high command of the military is plagued by Social Generals, officers chosen for their name and their connections rather than any skill or merit. They have some of the best military equipment in the inner sphere, but that advantage is bungled in the hands of these Social Generals. Pros of living in the Commonwealth is a good standard of living and a relatively free populace. The cons lie in the realm's fascination of rank and nobility, making advancing ones social standing difficult. Also, weath breeds corruption, and those who do not have the wealth suffer from this corruption the most.
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Ruger

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #5 on: 12 February 2017, 11:11:45 »
I think it should also be noted about the Lyran Commonwealth that many of the most noted military leaders in BTech history have been trained in Lyran schools...for instance, Aleksandr Kerensky, Morgan Kell, Peter Steiner-Davion and Victor Steiner-Davion are all graduates of the Nagelring Academy...and Phelan Kell also attended it, but did not graduate...

The main problem with the Lyran Commonwealth is that we have a (deserved) rep for Social Generals, and a somewhat overly heavy weight military force that can be non-flexible (and slow) at times...conversely, we also have some excellent light and medium designs that are very fast and/or well armed for their size...

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Bren

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #6 on: 12 February 2017, 13:18:38 »
The Primer that was released a little while ago has some quick characterizations:

http://d15yciz5bluc83.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BattleTechPrimer_Final.pdf


The Eagle

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #7 on: 12 February 2017, 13:59:34 »
As a Free Worlds aficionado, I've always felt that the best parallel for the the FWL was also the Holy Roman Empire (the Austrian one, this time).  The ruling head of state doesn't necessarily have direct control over all of the territories that are officially "his."  The military is fractured, with different constituent states each having their own forces in addition to the national, federal-level army that exists, and each army has different standards of training and equipment.  There was often friction between regional governments and the national government, a prime example of which would be the Hungarians constantly demanding more freedoms for themselves.
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Empyrus

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #8 on: 12 February 2017, 18:00:01 »
Davion: Space knights, good guys
Steiner: Allies of good guys, actually not that great to make actual good guys look better
Liao: Good guys' punching bag to show the good guys can win alone
Kurita: Evil but sometimes honorable villains, skilled enough the good guys need allies to for distraction
Marik: Who?
ComStar: Supposedly priests with monopoly on communications, actually also enemies of good guys

worktroll

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #9 on: 12 February 2017, 19:30:28 »
As part of a promotion for HBS's new game, I get some kind of insignia for one of the great houses, but I don't currently have a favorite.  Help me, and others, out by giving a brief description of one or more houses in terms of style, flavor, and fluff, circa 3025.  Links to other threads are also appreciated.

Well, they're not exactly brief, but they're not massive either - the fanbook Army Report 3025 series. covering the 5 Successor States, might provide some of what you're looking for.

They're drawn heavily from the old, original and OOP House Book series, so are all canon information, just organised as a "tasting plate" to give you an idea of where each faction came from, and where they were in 3025 before the 4th Succession War. The latter sections on available equipment may be less relevant, but still gives you an idea what each state uses.

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Iron Mongoose

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #10 on: 13 February 2017, 20:22:51 »
The only caution to give is that it can be hard not to look at the situation in 3025 in light of what we know about the Fourth Succession War and beyond.  Looking at the old house book, the Confederation might seem to be the sneakiest and the Mask be pretty solid and able to help put the poor Liaos on even footing with their enemies... right up until you remember how totally and completely they were penetrated by Hance Davion's boys.  The Combine is portrayed as having a strong military that routinely terrorizes their enemies, and had just recently met Ian Davion in battle and slain him.  But, we also know that Takashi Kurita is enormously intransigent when it comes to military reform, at loggerheads with his much more militarily progressive son, and prone to feuds that tie up half his military in futile vendettas with mercenaries. 

In light of what we know will take place, 3025 becomes a ridiculously unbalanced setting, because one can't shake the knowledge of what an unbalanced war is about to be fought.  So you have to think about what sort of game you want to set up, and how you may want to tweak things to create either more or less balance, and so on.

As a FWL guy, I'm never quite sure how to feel about the 3020s, because the FWL is really not a meaningful player until... well, I'll let you know when it takes place.  The FedSuns/proto-FedCom is of course poised to be a huge winner, the Cappies stand on the edge of destruction, the Combine is taking the first steps that will propel a new generation of Kuritas into power over the course of the next 30 years.  The FWL, meanwhile, is in a period of low level civil war and external predation in-between two much more significant civil wars, to be followed by a period of peace, and then a mix of extreme civil war and external predation that will lead to the nation's dissolution.  It's a marvel that for all that I still do fancy it, and I think there are roads not taken that if one were interested offer a lot of value in exploring, but if you stick to the canon trajectory one must have a strong constitution and tolerance for disappointment. 
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Dubble_g

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #11 on: 13 February 2017, 21:39:00 »
The only caution to give is that it can be hard not to look at the situation in 3025 in light of what we know about the Fourth Succession War and beyond.  Looking at the old house book, the Confederation might seem to be the sneakiest and the Mask be pretty solid and able to help put the poor Liaos on even footing with their enemies... right up until you remember how totally and completely they were penetrated by Hance Davion's boys.  The Combine is portrayed as having a strong military that routinely terrorizes their enemies, and had just recently met Ian Davion in battle and slain him.  But, we also know that Takashi Kurita is enormously intransigent when it comes to military reform, at loggerheads with his much more militarily progressive son, and prone to feuds that tie up half his military in futile vendettas with mercenaries. 

In light of what we know will take place, 3025 becomes a ridiculously unbalanced setting.

Good lord, yes, this. I think you're expressing the same frustrations I pointed out in my earlier post. The Fourth War story line was a terrible misreading of the setting.

BTech has its roots in tabletop wargaming, where either player has a chance at victory and there are no superheroes. Trying to make it fit the traditional pulp fiction paradigm of good heroic guys versus bumbling bad guys undid a lot of the world building that went into the game, at least for my group.
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O5P_Ghost

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #12 on: 13 February 2017, 22:04:15 »
Why is it that the Combine is always the worst economy by the CC has a lower exchange rate to the C-Bill.

The problem with 3025 is that each space nation has a variety of subcultures that are important but ignored. In the Combine for example we have Rasalhague with its Space Vikings who hate us and yet some of the love us. There are so many Russian names but no Russian culture centers unlike the CC. Also while the Davions have the old Hindu Collective it seems like a Indarhar has lead the ISF more than once implying a Indian sub strata. Also a number of Kuritas are described with blue eyes despite being Japanese. I think once Stackpole got a hold of the Combine it became much more JAPAN IN SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! than it was intended.

While I agree that the Combine was meant to be the Black Hat (Soviet Union) to the White Hat Davions (America, though the Hegemony is really Space America) with Steiner as their Western European Allies, the Confederation is Ming the Merciless with GIANT STOMPY ROBOTS (he was already in space). He seems scary but is really a punching bad for the White Hat.
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Kit deSummersville

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #13 on: 14 February 2017, 10:38:43 »
Why is it that the Combine is always the worst economy by the CC has a lower exchange rate to the C-Bill.


While the CC has a more involved mercantile culture I believe their planned economy is far less efficient than the spartan Combine.
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Koshirou

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #14 on: 14 February 2017, 10:48:08 »
BTech has its roots in tabletop wargaming, where either player has a chance at victory and there are no superheroes. Trying to make it fit the traditional pulp fiction paradigm of good heroic guys versus bumbling bad guys undid a lot of the world building that went into the game, at least for my group.
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Koshirou

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #15 on: 14 February 2017, 11:03:19 »
As part of a promotion for HBS's new game, I get some kind of insignia for one of the great houses, but I don't currently have a favorite.  Help me, and others, out by giving a brief description of one or more houses in terms of style, flavor, and fluff, circa 3025.  Links to other threads are also appreciated.
The problem is that this depends a lot on the writer and on the 3025-era or later material they use. Take House Kurita, for example: In the very first background materials (i.e. the MechWarrior RPG), they had some allusions to a Japanese background and the "Way of the Warrior", but first and foremost they were a straight-up military dictatorship and police state. (It was actually House Liao, in these early materials, that was described to have Japanese-style noble titles.) Then they became a mix between the Tokugawa Shôgunate and a caricature of Imperial Japan with the House Book, then later they became more noble, if harsh Samurai with Charette's influence and the sanest government of the Inner Sphere etc.

But speaking very generally, and if possible neutrally, you could describe the 3025 powers by their form of government and cultural "color".
- Davion: A military-oriented aristocracy; British tint with American and French elements.
- Steiner: A civilian-oriented aristocracy with some republican elements; German tint with British elements.
- Kurita: A hereditary military dictatorship and police state; Japanese tint with Scandinavian and Arab elements.
- Liao: A caste-based collectivist dictatorship; Chinese and Russian tint.
- Marik: A loose federation of smaller states under a weak overall ruler; various cultural tints.
All these empires (that is something that also depends on the author, but for me it is important to make clear that these are empires, not nation-states) are headed by a monarch or other hereditary ruler in a dynastic fashion.

Then again, Stackpole is going to write the fiction for the new game as far as I am informed. So a more accurate depiction might be:
- Davion: Our Anglo-Saxon heroes!
- Steiner: Euro-weaklings who provide weapons and wives to our Anglo-Saxon heroes!
- Kurita: Yellow Peril, subtype "cruel and arrogant, but dangerous".
- Liao: Yellow Peril, subtype "weak and pitiful, but treacherous".
- Marik: Just sorta there. 
>:D
« Last Edit: 14 February 2017, 11:10:40 by Koshirou »
I own an UrbanMech for base defense since that's what the House Masters intended!

Four Davie scouts break into the perimeter! "What the devil!" as I grab my Neurohelmet and AC/10. Blow a hovercar-sized hole into the first 'Mech; he explodes on the spot.
Ready my small laser against the second 'Mech - misses him entirely since its effective range is 90 meters and nails the neighbour's Raxx.
I have to resort to the Long Tom mounted on the top of the base, loaded with cluster ammo. "Tally-ho, Rats!" The clusters shred two 'Mechs in the blast. The sound and extra shrapnel set off DropShip klaxons.
Fire up jump jets and DFA the last terrified FedRat. He burns out on the pavement waiting for the salvage techs to arrive since Inferno rounds cooking off are impossible to extinguish!

Ah... just like the House Masters intended!

CrazyGrasshopper

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #16 on: 14 February 2017, 14:02:03 »
But speaking very generally, and if possible neutrally, you could describe the 3025 powers by their form of government and cultural "color".
- Davion: A military-oriented aristocracy; British tint with American and French elements.
- Steiner: A civilian-oriented aristocracy with some republican elements; German tint with British elements.
- Kurita: A hereditary military dictatorship and police state; Japanese tint with Scandinavian and Arab elements.
- Liao: A caste-based collectivist dictatorship; Chinese and Russian tint.
- Marik: A loose federation of smaller states under a weak overall ruler; various cultural tints.
All these empires (that is something that also depends on the author, but for me it is important to make clear that these are empires, not nation-states) are headed by a monarch or other hereditary ruler in a dynastic fashion.

Exactly this.

I have a feeling that the stance of the writers that work on game sourcebooks differs from the one of the fiction writers. At least, it's the case for the sourcebooks that are not the very early ones. Sourcebook riters tend to keep things less one-sided and to give respect to all factions when they deserve it.

Unfortunately, the period of the 4th Succession War and the Clan Invasion suffered from the hands of the novel writers, more precisely, from the most notorious of them. That's why, now, the sourcebook writers have to make back-flips in order to reconcile stuff from the novels with what semblance of realism, or, at least, neutrality the BT universe was intended to have. I think, they try their hardest to avoid all these issues by telling us something like: "Nothing special here, just move on." (I wonder what will happen to the person who asks the developers what the actual plan of the Operation Scorpion was, considering the odds of success; eternal ban?)

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #17 on: 14 February 2017, 14:06:41 »
(I wonder what will happen to the person who asks the developers what the actual plan of the Operation Scorpion was, considering the odds of success; eternal ban?)

Probably more like, "That was a few developers and writing staffs ago. Nobody knows...."
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #18 on: 14 February 2017, 14:41:17 »
If my Urbie had arms, he would give you a hug now.  O0

My Centurion has an arm, but I'm afraid it's using it to slap itself in the head atm.
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Siegfried Marcus

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #19 on: 14 February 2017, 23:13:49 »
but for me it is important to make clear that these are empires, not nation-states

That distinction is important to me too.  Thanks for your perspective, and to everyone else.  For anyone keeping score I'm leaning toward Marik for their decentralized political state (which I'm sure will work out once the state of crisis passes) or Stiener for their emphasis on commerce and economic strength.  Maybe it just comes down to whether I want to play on the winning team.
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #20 on: 14 February 2017, 23:16:51 »
If you count civil wars, the FWLM is the winning-est army in the Inner Sphere!
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #21 on: 15 February 2017, 09:43:54 »
I'm not sure how much it will carry over to HBS Battletech, but on the tabletop, the FWLM is very much a thinking man's army, requiring finesse and skill, and above all, teamwork. Individual FWL mechs may be less powerful or armored than their Lyran equivalents, but when a force is assembled and wielded properly, the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Where one unit is weak, his buddy is more than strong enough to cover things. What looks like a design flaw turns out to be a strength when you look at it from another direction.
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Siegfried Marcus

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #22 on: 15 February 2017, 10:32:27 »
Weirdo, could you give an example or two of that Marik synergy?  Is this the result of more narrowly specialized mechs/units?
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #23 on: 15 February 2017, 11:00:43 »
For example, many folks decry the mounting of a NARC launcher on slow mechs like the Orion ON1-M or Stalker STK-5M...until they remember just how many LRM launchers are going to be in any typical Marik force, and that closing with a lance containing one of those will result in getting a "Shoot me" sign pinned to their back for the rest of the game.

So either they close and you have an easy time mauling them afterwards, or they've got no incentive to get close, and you can plan your tactics accordingly.

Similarly, people often deride House Marik's assaults like the Cerberus or Albatross that sacrifice armor for speed...but this allows those assaults to keep pace with the FWLM's core of excellent heavy designs like the Tempest, Thunderbolt, or Anzu. You can outmaneuver and avoid show enemy assaults, instead focusing on and overwhelming their heavies first, and then taking on the now-outnumbered assaults on your own terms.

Finally, the Free Worlds League's love of guided missiles is so well-known that even if you didn't actually bring any Arrows or S-G LRMs, simply mentioning that one of your guys has a TAG will often cause opponents to start sweating and wondering what tricks you've got up your sleeve. >:D

Is this the result of more narrowly specialized mechs/units?

It's a mix of specialized units, as well as those that are multipurpose, but in weird ways. Folks make fun of the Hammer for being too small to be a proper fire support design, until they see it used as a tough-as-nails bruiser that uses the light missile racks to shape the battlefield to its liking.

Stuff like that.
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Nicolai_Malthus

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #24 on: 15 February 2017, 11:05:50 »
In defense of the Free Worlds League, while they're somewhat less than impressive on a unified front, they are a goldmine for intrigue. I'm pretty sure my first ATOW scenario will take part within the League. The fragmented nature of the region makes it equally valid in plot-points both in a House-unit campaign as well as a Merc-campaign. Apart from the internal politics between member-states, you have some great neighbors to wage war on, or have war waged upon you by. The Lyran Commonwealth will give you a stand-up fight, the Capellans will hit you when you're not looking, the Marian Hegemony, well, they're just crazy, and the Magistracy of Canopus brings so much shady stuff that you'll have your plate full as a GM and as PCs.
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #25 on: 15 February 2017, 11:21:51 »
And don't just look at 'Mechs, some states have better vehicles than others, better ASF, etc.
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Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #26 on: 15 February 2017, 14:19:22 »
And don't just look at 'Mechs, some states have better vehicles than others, better ASF, etc.

Eh, in 3025 there really isn't any faction-specific chassis. The Kuritans are already building unlicensed reverse-engineered Hatchetmans (sans the whole-head ejection system) shortly after Steiner invents them, for example.  Even the factional variants of chassis are available to everyone... Not just Kuritans are able to strip jump jets off a Phoenix Hawk or Wolverine to replace the mass with more armor.  You just call it a -K variant when you do, even when you're not Kurita.   

There are faction flavors sure.  A lance of a Valkyrie, Centurion, Rifelman, and JaegerMech is very Davion in flavor but that's also a plausible lance for any of the five House Armies.  Relative exclusivity doesn't really become a thing until later eras where new mech designs are prolific enough to fill entire TROs every few in-game years.

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #27 on: 15 February 2017, 14:45:03 »
The Kuritans are already building unlicensed reverse-engineered Hatchetmans (sans the whole-head ejection system) shortly after Steiner invents them, for example. 

If over a decade and a half can be considered 'shortly', sure.

But as I was suggesting, also look at the flavor of other units used by a house in addition to 'Mechs.
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #28 on: 15 February 2017, 15:40:55 »

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massey

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #29 on: 15 February 2017, 15:58:43 »
Davion:




Kurita:




Steiner:




Laio:




Marik:


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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #30 on: 15 February 2017, 16:11:01 »
Who gave that Regulan a gun?!
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Iron Mongoose

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #31 on: 15 February 2017, 18:11:46 »
You don't even want to know what sort of ammo its got, either...

(Also, is it horrifyingly racist if I imagine that the Regulan would be Apu?)
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The Eagle

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #32 on: 15 February 2017, 20:13:10 »
You don't even want to know what sort of ammo its got, either...

(Also, is it horrifyingly racist if I imagine that the Regulan would be Apu?)

What?  No, of course not.  It's perfect a pro pos, actually.  Regulan power was originally built on mercantilism, after all...
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sadlerbw

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #33 on: 15 February 2017, 20:56:22 »
I always thought of Marik as the faction you play when you only have one company of minis and they are all painted the same color. You pick four mechs, give four to your buddy, and mumble something about a civil war.  Some part of the free worlds is pretty much always attacking some other part over whether the state color is lavender or aubergine, or something equally silly, so you don't even have to pretend you are Mercs!

Anyway, there are some pretty good descriptions already, so,I'll just add the 3025 mech/weapon stereotypes.

Davion: We love autocannons! Even the small ones! Oh, and we like combined arms as well...in theory.
Steiner: We also like autocannons, but only the huge ones...and only on assault mechs. In fact, we are pretty sure any mech that isn't assault-class is a myth or Marik propaganda.
Kurita: We like PPCs, and we prefer our mechs to be assaults or lights. No point in getting all wishy washy with those other in between classes.
Liao: we like...whatever the hell we can get ahold of. Hetzers are cheap and easily crewed by expendable conscripts, so yeah...those sound good. We couldn't afford a 55-ton iconic medium mech, so we got a 45-ton mech instead. Give us a break, our leaders are working on several straight decades of pants-on-head crazy over here!
Marik: LRMs! All the LRMs! On everything! Oh, and we have a hard time making assault mechs and PPCs...except for that one assault mech with a bunch of PPCs. We have boat loads of those.

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #34 on: 15 February 2017, 21:35:12 »
Liao: we like...whatever the hell we can get ahold of. Hetzers are cheap and easily crewed by expendable conscripts, so yeah...those sound good. We couldn't afford a 55-ton iconic medium mech, so we got a 45-ton mech instead. Give us a break, our leaders are working on several straight decades of pants-on-head crazy over here!

Supposed to be lasers, but everyone uses lasers, that's why it's not that evident in SW era. That's one of the reasons they first got VSP lasers during Jihad, I think, besides their collaboration with the WoB. They also got stealth armor and plasma weapons as a newer gimmick.

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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #35 on: 15 February 2017, 22:03:56 »
I always thought of Marik as the faction you play when you only have one company of minis and they are all painted the same color. You pick four mechs, give four to your buddy, and mumble something about a civil war.  Some part of the free worlds is pretty much always attacking some other part over whether the state color is lavender or aubergine, or something equally silly, so you don't even have to pretend you are Mercs!

Marik (version 2):


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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #36 on: 15 February 2017, 22:49:28 »
From left to right: The Sirian worlds, the Captain-General, the Regulan Fiefs. Andurien can be seen in the background, and those hands reaching in from the left are the FedCom.
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Re: Briefly characterize a successor state
« Reply #37 on: 20 February 2017, 21:19:46 »
3041: General Lance Hawkins: The Equalizers
3053: Star Colonel Rexor Kerensky: The Silver Wolves

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