Author Topic: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands  (Read 2519 times)

Mendrugo

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Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« on: 13 September 2024, 07:36:39 »
With Hot Spots: Hinterlands set to drop in November, Shrapnel is getting in on the action with a Hinterlands-themed issue.  This thread is for commentary on the articles, fiction, and game features therein.

I'm just happy we now have an official logo for the Turkina Ascendancy!
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

BaachicLitNerd

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #1 on: 13 September 2024, 08:53:54 »
My TRO entry in this issue is something I'm really proud of, writing and design wise, but it also has a bit of a circuitous production history that I feel like I should explain a bit. Eagle eyed readers will note that the TRO's Primary entry, for the TDK-7Z Thunder Hawk, was actually already published in Rec Guide 33 (though the two C3EM variants were not, and I love those in particular quite dearly. Why the repeat design?

Well, what had happened was... this entry was originally written for publication in January, in Shrapnel 16. Which meant Jymset and I had had our design discussions for it several months earlier, in October or November. Then Jymset was finalizing RecGuide 33 for its holiday release, and there was a last minute hole in the roster that needed to be filled. Jymset asked me if he could use the design in 33 with a shorter write up, and I readily agreed - it would only be out a few weeks before Shrapnel 16 hit, and there would be so much more in the Shrapnel piece. Then, just after RecGuide 33 was released, Phil made the (totally correct!) Decision to push the TRO entry back to issue 18 because it has a lot of Hinterlands hooks and this was going to be the Hinterlands issue to dovetail with the forthcoming Hot Spots Hinterlands. I stand by having it here in issue 18, amongst all the other wonderful Hinterlands work my fellow authors and creators did, and I hope everyone enjoys the entry and the new variants!

But if you're reading through and think to yourself "hey, wait, don't I know that wacky triple Thunderbolt-20 bomb on stilts from somewhere else...?" Then good eye, you totally do, and that's how it happened.

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #2 on: 13 September 2024, 08:54:34 »
With Hot Spots: Hinterlands set to drop in November, Shrapnel is getting in on the action with a Hinterlands-themed issue.  This thread is for commentary on the articles, fiction, and game features therein.

I'm just happy we now have an official logo for the Turkina Ascendancy!

May it live long and pros....
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Swankmotron

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #3 on: 13 September 2024, 11:25:54 »
I was just really excited to get a chance to give folks another glimpse at what's going on with Callandre Kell on Arc-Royal.

Mendrugo

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #4 on: 13 September 2024, 13:35:00 »
May it live long and pros....

Yep - the Turkina Ascendancy lasted for all of one page in Tamar Rising.

But, using the campaign laid out in Shrapnel #18, players can see if they can engineer a different outcome. 

I loved the ongoing campaign structure with flexible deployments from "The Fall of Terra," but the problem emerged that if one side outguessed the other, there'd be a huge force imbalance in any given scenario.  And then nothing prevented the outmaneuvered side from just walking off the map on turn 1 and hoping for a better outcome in the final battle, when all surviving units show up.  (As I discovered to my chagrin when I pulled a "Got you! Ha!" and my opponent just noped out immediately after I'd spent an hour setting up the maps.)

This campaign incorporates scouting, air superiority, and repair downtime, so players will have to strategically rotate their reserves into the fray, rather than always relying on their best Star.  Plus, this is, I believe, the first official scenario to include QuadVee deployments, for all the Horse fans who want to make the "transform and roll out" noise as they charge into battle.

"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Critias

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #5 on: 14 September 2024, 14:56:41 »
I hope folks dig part two of Violent Inception, my serial novel introducing Mountain Wolf BattleMechs' sponsored merc outfit.  Part one introduced most of the characters and their broad situation (while hitting the Solaris theme of last issue), part two is a bit more backstory and explaining how they got into this situation in the first place, the idea behind the unit, etc, etc.
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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #6 on: 15 September 2024, 01:09:14 »
I'm just glad I got to write about Antares. Originally I wrote a different draft but then Without Question released and two thoughts ran through my head:
"Oh that's nice Antares got mentioned"
"Oh nooooo, it got mentioned I hope my initial draft isn't so off the mark now!"
Thankfully I was able to correct and add on things for it. I also wanted to slip in that not all of Comstar's good deeds were just to get their name ingratiated with the populace. Sure that's always a good thing, but these guys were probably scouting old lostech rumors too.
It's not about winning or losing, no it's all about how many chapters have you added to the rule books after your crazy antics.

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #7 on: 15 September 2024, 02:53:08 »
For my part, I had this image in my head of a public debate on a planet recently conquered by the Falcons between someone who liked the new order and someone who wanted to return to Lyran space.  But then, looking at the map in Tamar Rising I found Blue Hole at this perfect intersection between three of the powers in the region and that allowed for more exploration of the pros and cons of each one - but Blue Hole had been in Jade Falcon hands for a century so I switched to a clandestine discussion via the Chatterweb. A quick reread of Tamar Rising gave me the popular uprising on Chapultepec as a nice little thing to stick in as a motivator.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #8 on: 15 September 2024, 06:07:36 »
The same factors drew my eye to Blue Hole, making it an excellent locale for the Malthus Confederation to be in there stirring things up and being “helpful” to whichever side bids highest for their services.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Caesar Steiner for Archon

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #9 on: 16 September 2024, 12:48:36 »
Saying that the Vesper Marches seem very unstable isn't really news, but I did like seeing how there were so many looming problems ready to blow up in Brewer's face. I think that place will be his grave but it'll be entertaining.


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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #10 on: 16 September 2024, 13:29:54 »
I liked the Voices of the Inner Sphere article, especially the last commentor.
The Blue Hole article was good too, a typical Zoom meeting where nothing much gets accomplished.
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Wrangler

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #11 on: 18 September 2024, 12:27:52 »
I'm slowly 🐌 reading the book.  I died laughing at the C.U.P.P.S 2 entry . :laugh:
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Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #12 on: 05 October 2024, 11:33:44 »
I hope folks dig part two of Violent Inception, my serial novel introducing Mountain Wolf BattleMechs' sponsored merc outfit.  Part one introduced most of the characters and their broad situation (while hitting the Solaris theme of last issue), part two is a bit more backstory and explaining how they got into this situation in the first place, the idea behind the unit, etc, etc.
One small question there: isn’t Cameron O’Leary Brandon and Olivia’s son?  I think the story said at one point that Duke Alexander was her only son, which confused me.  Great story though, and the big reveal completely blindsided me.  Until it came out that Hannah was the Duke’s daughter, I was expecting that she was from Brandon’s side of the family and the Duke had it out for his half-siblings and their ilk.  (Though in hindsight, her surname is Rippon-Hart, so she obviously can’t be descended from Brandon, duh. [d’oh!])
« Last Edit: 05 October 2024, 11:36:36 by Arkansas Warrior »
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Critias

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #13 on: 05 October 2024, 17:21:25 »
Once upon a time, Alexander was her only son, so it was accurate (at the time).  He's also the one that's 'pure' highborn, what with being the scion of houses Rippon and Hart (along with his sister, but he's the eldest, so it's a special responsibility).

Cameron came along and got some screen time in Range War, in issue 16, and his position in the family is explained a bit more there.  As the son of Brandon O'Leary and the Duchess Olivia, Cam was never quite accepted by the snooty courtier-types on Vendrell, sadly including his elder (half) brother.  So as he was getting a little older, and trying to manage Alpheratz and Vendrell alike, Brandon kind of handed the reins of the Outworlds Alliance/Alpheratz side of things over to Cameron.  Cameron then chose to take the O'Leary name (so as not to offend the Lyran nobility, though surely some of them decided to take offense to that decision), as he stepped in as basically a Chief Operations Officer for Mountain Wolf BattleMechs, while his father remained the Chief Executive Officer (and handled the Lyran side of things, the politicking, etc).

...which is also, OOC-ly, my way to keep the O'Leary name (and noble house) alive, setting them up as cousins, and something of a cadet branch, to House Rippon-Hart.  Two branches of the family, largely acting independently, overseeing Mountain Wolf's two very different, and very distant, facilities.
« Last Edit: 06 October 2024, 23:16:28 by Critias »
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Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #14 on: 06 October 2024, 19:19:49 »
It’s rare that I laugh out loud while reading BT, but there was a line in Metachrosis that did it.  Well done Giles, if you’re reading this.  Spoilers in case someone hasn’t read it yet.



Edit: did they change how spoiler tags work?  Hang on.


Maybe I’m crazy, but spoilers don’t seem to work for me anymore.  Oh well.  It was “Sullen flames licked the roof now, as if someone had read a firefighting manual back-to-front and decided to put out the water with fire.”
« Last Edit: 06 October 2024, 19:26:49 by Arkansas Warrior »
Sunrise is Coming.

All Hail First Prince Melissa Davion, the Patron Saint of the Regimental Combat Team, who cowed Dainmar Liao, created the Model Army, and rescued Robinson!  May her light ever guide the sons of the Suns, May our daughters ever endeavour to emulate her!

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #15 on: 07 October 2024, 04:56:19 »
The spoiler tags and animated emoji were victims to the last fix when the forums became unaccessible
« Last Edit: 17 October 2024, 04:58:12 by Wrangler »
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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Swankmotron

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #16 on: 07 October 2024, 18:46:56 »
I hope everyone enjoyed Zealot's Nest. It was so fun getting to write Callandre Kell.

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #17 on: 08 October 2024, 15:50:12 »
I did indeed love seeing Callandre Kell going again. Interesting how she raising  a "family" in an unusual way.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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VhenRa

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #18 on: 12 October 2024, 01:26:32 »
I hope folks dig part two of Violent Inception, my serial novel introducing Mountain Wolf BattleMechs' sponsored merc outfit.  Part one introduced most of the characters and their broad situation (while hitting the Solaris theme of last issue), part two is a bit more backstory and explaining how they got into this situation in the first place, the idea behind the unit, etc, etc.

By far my favorite story in the book... but that's because I'm biased and can identify with Hannah.

I realized exactly what her father is desiring there... and was sick to my stomach... because I could imagine myself in that boat.

Caesar Steiner for Archon

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #19 on: 15 October 2024, 17:10:02 »
I hope everyone enjoyed Zealot's Nest. It was so fun getting to write Callandre Kell.

It's always nice to check in with the major characters of TR, and I think you handled her well. It would have been frustrating for someone who has so little reason to play along with the whole Clan song and dance to do so, so I was like "hell yeah" when she said that they weren't doing any of that trial bullshit, they could just do the jobs they were assigned or GTFO.


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Swankmotron

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #20 on: 16 October 2024, 10:21:05 »
It's always nice to check in with the major characters of TR, and I think you handled her well. It would have been frustrating for someone who has so little reason to play along with the whole Clan song and dance to do so, so I was like "hell yeah" when she said that they weren't doing any of that trial bullshit, they could just do the jobs they were assigned or GTFO.

Thank you. I really tried to get some of her anger at the Falcons there. And when I read Loren Coleman's short story in Tamar Rising and that paragraph about offering a place in the Kell Hounds to some of those cadets, I was like, "THIS IS THE STORY I NEED TO TELL." I don't know why I'm so fascinated by that relationship between post-Malvina Falcons and the rest of the Inner Sphere, but it is real.

Caesar Steiner for Archon

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #21 on: 16 October 2024, 19:01:20 »
Hey, when you find a plot thread that gets ideas flowing and can run through so many different places and characters, don't ask questions, just ride that shit out.

It's why I'm always like "OK but is Ludwig there?" :wink:


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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #22 on: 02 November 2024, 01:12:04 »
I hope everyone enjoyed Zealot's Nest. It was so fun getting to write Callandre Kell.

It was nice to finally see something on the one Hinterlands major player who really hasn't been getting any focus.
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Swankmotron

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #23 on: 07 November 2024, 10:33:39 »
It was nice to finally see something on the one Hinterlands major player who really hasn't been getting any focus.

They'll be getting more, too...

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Re: Shrapnel 18 - Hot Time in the Hinterlands
« Reply #24 on: 07 November 2024, 13:12:44 »
Cool.
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