BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
Catalyst Game Labs => Ask the Writers => Topic started by: Mendrugo on 04 November 2017, 03:13:25
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Rhonda Snord's birthdate has been given as 2999, per "Rhonda's Irregulars." The Cranston Snord's Irregulars scenario pack includes "To the Rescue," a scenario dated 3010 in which young Rhonda takes a 'Mech out without permission and accompanies some other Irregulars on a scavenging mission that goes pear shaped, requiring rescue. Depending on when in 3010 this takes place, she'd be 10 or 11 years old at that point.
The last BattleCorps story, "Permanent Losses," however, is set in 3017, and in it, Cranston Snord tells Thelos Auburn that Rhonda is "just about ready" to join the Irregulars, having heard stories about Cranston's exploits all these years.
So...was the date on "To the Rescue" wrong? (The event and the 3010 date are also referenced in Field Manual: FWL in the 15th Marik Militia entry) Or was Rhonda actually piloting a 'Mech on Uhuru in 3010, and then got grounded back on Clinton for the next six years?
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I already responded to this question via PM, but for posterity's sake, here's the shorter version of my answer:
The 3010 date doesn't jive, and I intentionally disregarded it in writing my story. "Rhonda's Irregulars" notes that Rhonda was seriously injured during her "first major action" on Phecda in 3024, which creates a seven-year gap the other way as to why she didn't see significant combat between 3017 and 3024. But that delay in her beginning service with the Irregulars is more easily explained ("major" action, after all) than trying to explain why a caring, devoted father like Cranston would let his cherished 11-year-old pilot a 'Mech into heavy combat.
Of course, IRL, this is one of those continuity glitches that occurs when two books are written years apart, and one sets specific dates that aren't borne out by the other.
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Thanks for the insight. I hadn't even thought about Rhonda's age when I looked at "To the Rescue," but your research highlighted a major continuity issue. (Not that FASA was unknown for those - the Capellan house book has one Liao leader accused of causing a recession at age three and another listed as dying in combat at age five.)
Having Rhonda's presence on Uhuru be a tall tale spread by Cranston works far better than young Rhonda stealing a 'Mech and leading a group of similarly irresponsible Irregulars out on a scavenging raid, especially given the non-matching continuity from Rhonda's Irregulars.