Power is a goal. Pleasure is eternal. Welcome to Canopus.

[Moonsword]

Not yet but I'm going to be testing the Penthesilea some later this month after I get done with the Pillager article.

[RAE]

Has anyone tried out any of the new Canopian designs from the last two TROs?

Used Eyleuka -45B a couple of times, a nasty little skirmisher she is.  Have yet to try all the other variants.

Penthesilea seems fine, though I'd take 2H over 2MAF, 'cause 28 sinks with 3 big guns (2 of them placed in the same location, generating 27 heat total) feels like an overkill to me.

Ebony... well, as a big fan of skirmishers in general and backstabbers in particular, I find MEB-9 and -10 a great addition to Canopian\Capellan forces. I have some qualms about MEB-11: its ammo-dependency can turn into a problem during a protracted battle, because when the tenth round is fired it loses not only its plasma rifle, but TSM as well.

Koschei -5MC is a great cavalry ride. I find it amusing how it uses 5 ER SL for close combat crit-seeking instead of traditional SRMs. Nice touch! I also have a certain affection for its name, because evil warlock Koschei the Deathless is a folk character that every Russian child knows (and fears }:)) from his or hers early years. Every time I build a cavalry force around this machine I can't help myself but imagine this picture of him :)

[ArcaneRaven]

Koschei -5MC is a great cavalry ride. I find it amusing how it uses 5 ER SL for close combat crit-seeking instead of traditional SRMs. Nice touch! I also have a certain affection for its name, because evil warlock Koschei the Deathless is a folk character that every Russian child knows (and fears }:)) from his or hers early years. Every time I build a cavalry force around this machine I can't help myself but imagine this picture of him :)

Awesome! Thanks for the pic and the info about the name, RAE! Russian folklore has so many formidable tales to tell. I love it.

[Kit deSummersville]

That was the great thing about a Russian-themed 'Mech, actual name choices.

[ArcaneRaven]

So, who will be the biggest threat to the Magistracy in the Dark Ages? The Marians maybe?

[Moonsword]

I'm leaning toward Daoshen, honestly.  That guy is completely nucking futs.

If you're talking about states, probably the Hegemony, yeah.  Too far for Davion to be bothered unless you really tick them off, the Taurians have their own issues, and Andurien doesn't seem too likely to pick that fight.

[ArcaneRaven]

I don't deem the Chancellor a threat to the Magistracy, honestly. Not because I'm Capellan fan as well. But I'm convinced that he will uphold the alliance his father forged with Emma. And he certainly won't try to harm his sister.

The Marians OTOH are expansionists par excellence. I don't know in which state the Circinius Federation is, but they certainly won't try to mess with the new League. Thus Canopus seems to be the only target left. Only question is, how strong are they in the AoD?

[Moonsword]

If the alliance has held firm?  Between their own increasing domestic defenses and the possibility of the Capellans coming in swinging in their defense, it's not something the Marians want to tangle with unless they consider it very carefully or have gotten one heck of a lot stronger militarily.

[Kit deSummersville]

I think a rebuilding FWL might try and take a chunk out of the Magistracy for some sort of solidarity operation.

[ArcaneRaven]

If the alliance has held firm?  Between their own increasing domestic defenses and the possibility of the Capellans coming in swinging in their defense, it's not something the Marians want to tangle with unless they consider it very carefully or have gotten one heck of a lot stronger militarily.

But what if the CCAF have their hands full with battling the Republic and maybe the FedSun's?

I think a rebuilding FWL might try and take a chunk out of the Magistracy for some sort of solidarity operation.

 [AAAH]

I really don't hope so. After all, the nascent FWL is struggling to survive against the Lyrans, Wolves, Regulans and propable the RAF in the near future. Why making further the MoC, CC and maybe even the DoA an enemy of themselves?

[Moonsword]

I don't see the Marians as having enough force to be able to project that far that they really want to try a full-scale invasion against the Magistracy alone, let alone with the CC, unless a significant chunk of the MAF is off fighting the CC's wars.  However, I don't know enough about the Marian and Magistracy militaries in the Dark Age to comment one way or the other.

[ArcaneRaven]

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to get infos on the Dark Age Magistracy and Periphery in general.

BTW: A brief look on the AoD map of the IS seems to indicate Circinius ceased to exist. Yes, both the nation and the world proper don't occur anymore on the map.  :o

[Moonsword]

It may just not be important anymore.  The Periphery maps have never charted everywhere the way the IS does, just the important worlds.  That's one reason the world density goes down.

[Kit deSummersville]

Density is way down.

Further rimward, past the shattered remains of the Circinus Federation (a pirate state cut almost from the same cloth as the Marian Hegemony, but annihilated in the final years of the Jihad along with its capital world)

[ArcaneRaven]

Ah, thanks for the update, Kit.

Well, if there is no Circinius Federation anymore, than the Marians can reap the worlds in this area without any resistance. What could make them eyeing the Magistracy with increasing greed even more.  :-\

We certainly have to be prepared for them.

[Moonsword]

Density is way down.

Man, someone was evidently not happy with their little wannabee Shadow Divisions, I take it.

[Kit deSummersville]

Someone labeled it "Texas" on Herb's Jihad map.
 ;D

[Maelwys]

Don't forget that the Magistracy lost quite a few planet, including the one closest to the Hegemony, so that might give the Hegemony reason to jump a little closer to the Magistracy in order to snag those seemingly independent planets.

[ArcaneRaven]

Thraxa and Vixen.

How on earth did we loose them?

PS: The last thing we need is a closer border to the Hegemony due to Canopian worlds picked up by the Marians.

[Kit deSummersville]

Maybe the devourers started breeding too fast.

[ArcaneRaven]

Maybe the devourers started breeding too fast.

Well, I hope the devourers will digest togas.  [watch]  ^-^

[Kit deSummersville]

Well, I hope the devourers will digest togas.  [watch]  ^-^

If they can eat Taurians, they can eat anything.

[Moonsword]

"Devourers"?

[ArcaneRaven]

You're right, of course. Nothing harder to swallow than chewy beef.

"Devourers"?

One of the many awesome creatures from HB:MPS. Lovely carnivores native to Thraxa!  [skull]

[Kit deSummersville]

Responsible for the death and digestion of Ian Calderon.

[ArcaneRaven]

You know Kit, I really love your sense of humor.  ^-^

[Kit deSummersville]

I have to imagine when Herb told me to kill him off, being eaten was not one of the possibilities he'd considered.

[Moonsword]

That's... probably not what he had in mind, no.  What was his response?

[Kit deSummersville]

That's... probably not what he had in mind, no.  What was his response?

I dunno, I just wrote it and off it went into the editing cycle.

[ArcaneRaven]

And since we have an awesome dreadful image of a devourer from the handbook its even more daunting.  }:)