Author Topic: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!  (Read 8973 times)

FedSunsBorn

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #30 on: 04 January 2014, 01:57:53 »
A number of jumpship captains panicked and the FedSuns units probably lost more than a few key units when they jumped out system without orders. With the Dracs fully organized and probably already knowing the positions of most the Davion aerospace units(those DEST teams were probably already relaying info back etc) I could see how they probably split up the Davions aerospace units and shot them up piecemeal. Probably the Andrew Davion on one side and the rest of the Davion aerospace fighters on the other side and neither of them able to help the other. An Avalon class cruiser is easy pickings without a strong aerospace unit to back it up.
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Lorcan Nagle

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #31 on: 04 January 2014, 06:23:02 »
Even worse, Andrew Davion was orbiting the planet and not defending the fleet at the jump point.  She was either destroyed or heavily damaged by bearings-only missile barrages from the Kuritan missile boats.
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Øystein

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #32 on: 04 January 2014, 06:36:43 »
The Kuritan pocket WarShips at Palmyra must've done one helluva job reducing the AFFS task force there, because as far as I can find from my research, the DCMS only brought two 'Mech regiments (and their attending support forces) to finish off the survivors: the Fifth Sword of the Light and the Seventh New Samarkand Regulars (although they also had McFadden's Sky Storm, a veteran merc aero regiment, in support). I guess ortillery + air superiority = automatic win.
The DCMS hit Palmyra with almost 7 regiments of BattleMechs.

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Kojak

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #33 on: 04 January 2014, 08:43:15 »
Any chance you'd be willing to tell us which ones I missed?


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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #34 on: 04 January 2014, 11:46:21 »
Even worse, Andrew Davion was orbiting the planet and not defending the fleet at the jump point.  She was either destroyed or heavily damaged by bearings-only missile barrages from the Kuritan missile boats.
Personnally, I think the Andrew Davion was knocked out of orbit by a solid author's Fiat.  Properly 500 or FIAT 131 ABARTH OLIO.  Gave it a good solid dent before it crashed.
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Øystein

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #35 on: 04 January 2014, 13:12:14 »
Any chance you'd be willing to tell us which ones I missed?

All the units shown in the Palmyra thumb on the deployment map. Any mention of the 7th New Samarkand on Palmyra is an error, it was the 2nd New Samarkand that was there (not including the 11th Ghost).

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #36 on: 04 January 2014, 16:12:47 »
Interesting and useful information, Oystein, thanks for that. Especially since I'm fairly certain (if I'm remembering my research correctly) that the 7th New Samarkand was mentioned in multiple sources as having been at Palmyra (but of course obviously you would know better). I will correct my own documents and if I catch any references in the sourcebooks I will be sure to report them as errata.
« Last Edit: 04 January 2014, 16:14:37 by Kojak »


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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #37 on: 04 January 2014, 16:24:47 »
All the units shown in the Palmyra thumb on the deployment map.

Quick clarifying question: does that include Wolf's Dragoons' Beta and Gamma Regiments, or their independent battalions?


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Øystein

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #38 on: 04 January 2014, 16:31:51 »
Everything of WD except Alpha Regiment.


Kojak

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #39 on: 04 January 2014, 16:32:25 »
Excellent, thank you for responding so quickly.


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roosterboy

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #40 on: 04 January 2014, 16:36:03 »
Interesting and useful information, Oystein, thanks for that. Especially since I'm fairly certain (if I'm remembering my research correctly) that the 7th New Samarkand was mentioned in multiple sources as having been at Palmyra (but of course obviously you would know better). I will correct my own documents and if I catch any references in the sourcebooks I will be sure to report them as errata.

In fact, it's mentioned in ER3145. Looking at my notes, I must have mixed up Second and Seventh somehow because they clearly say 2nd.
« Last Edit: 04 January 2014, 16:38:37 by roosterboy »

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #41 on: 04 January 2014, 16:39:39 »
Alright, if anyone is interested, I've updated my Battle of the Dark Age doc to match the info Oystein has so graciously dispensed vis-a-vis Palmyra.
« Last Edit: 05 January 2014, 04:03:58 by Kojak »


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Bratwurst

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #42 on: 05 January 2014, 07:37:21 »
Härregud, all this information. This'll bring a great deal of spice to the campaign in the works. I'm going to start building a timeline out of those battles as soon as I can, so I can throw them out in groups for my players to choose mercenary contracts from.

pensiveswetness

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #43 on: 05 January 2014, 13:08:09 »
so in all these one sided conflicts between the DCMS vs AFFS or CCAF vs AFFS units, i take it the winners took many pages from AFFC rule books in beating the Davions (sheer mass and excessive dishonorable conduct to insure victory)?

Kitsune413

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #44 on: 05 January 2014, 15:28:34 »
so in all these one sided conflicts between the DCMS vs AFFS or CCAF vs AFFS units, i take it the winners took many pages from AFFC rule books in beating the Davions (sheer mass and excessive dishonorable conduct to insure victory)?

Even historically most battles are one sided. One side hits the other until one force hits a point of attrition, or a breaking point. Then that other side usually just sweeps it... With the rare battles where things break at the same time so everyone just grinds eachother into the dust.

This generally happens in tabletop battletech as well. Unfortunately for the AFFS their military has been in a downswing and imperiled since 3085...

Palmiyra may count as dishonorable conduct.
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Kitsune413

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #45 on: 05 January 2014, 15:34:31 »
At present moment the AFFS is outnumbered 3 to 1 in total regiments by its combined enemies.

If the Republic and Ghost Bears start swinging soon they may have a chance.
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templarmagnus

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #46 on: 05 January 2014, 17:18:20 »
A couple months ago I sat down and combed through the various 3145 materials (the Era Report, Field Manual and all the factional TROs) and put together a master doc outlining any battles that took place in the Dark Age era that had listed participants on both sides (so if a battle occurred but none of the participants were described more specifically than their faction, I didn't list it). The information contained lists the units on each side of the battle and the skills, loyalties and equipment ratings of the forces involved, using info from FM 3145 (or in a handful of cases, FM 3085); if the unit in question has never had an FM entry, I simply listed them with no other information. Hopefully this is useful for other folks who enjoy recreating "historical" battles as much as I do.

EDIT: I should also mention that I left out any battles between a named unit and a planetary militia.

EDIT 2: Corrected for Oystein's update to the Palmyra battle.

This is an AWESOME document.  Thanks for the hard work.

Bratwurst

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #47 on: 06 January 2014, 06:34:05 »
Even historically most battles are one sided. One side hits the other until one force hits a point of attrition, or a breaking point. Then that other side usually just sweeps it... With the rare battles where things break at the same time so everyone just grinds eachother into the dust.

This generally happens in tabletop battletech as well. Unfortunately for the AFFS their military has been in a downswing and imperiled since 3085...

Palmiyra may count as dishonorable conduct.

Indeed. You could even say that the entirety of strategy revolves around producing or spotting circumstances that enable odds like that.

On another note, I was quite impressed by the amount of elite-rated units marked in Kojak's documents. Based on that, it's hard to call the FS military to be on a qualitative downswing. Rather a downswing of top echelon leadership and grand strategy, as well as being the victim of circumstances, if anything.

Kitsune413

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #48 on: 06 January 2014, 09:15:58 »
Exactly that. Like Sun Tzu says, the greatest victory is the one where you dont have to fight at all. The second greatest the one where you bombard them from space without real fear of repurcussion.
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IronLichRich

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #49 on: 07 January 2014, 01:32:50 »
Tharkad and Hesperus.  Though Hesperus is invaded so often it feels like the rocky of battletech

FedSunsBorn

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #50 on: 10 January 2014, 20:51:50 »
Indeed. You could even say that the entirety of strategy revolves around producing or spotting circumstances that enable odds like that.

On another note, I was quite impressed by the amount of elite-rated units marked in Kojak's documents. Based on that, it's hard to call the FS military to be on a qualitative downswing. Rather a downswing of top echelon leadership and grand strategy, as well as being the victim of circumstances, if anything.

I would say that their aerospace training has been on the down swing since well, the great Lee Turkey Shoot. The entries on one Liao dropship is a victory for Liao of course, the "elite" Aerogrenadiers get slaughtered during an incident over Tikonov, the chronic warship "ramming speed" option I won't even go into details about. I think Palmyra was just the final end result with multiple military ship captains "panicking" before the fighting even began. I think the Davion's emphasis on aerospace being just a supporting unit of the army has finally shown its cracks and things are now breaking.
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Edward Longstake

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #51 on: 26 January 2014, 15:47:15 »
From what I have seen so far (been out of battletech stuff for a few years) the action is on the FS, with Julian coming back to settle things. If I ever do a campaign anytime soon I will probably set the characters there, trying to turn the tide and kick some capellan/combine assets ;) back.

Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #52 on: 26 January 2014, 15:52:28 »
I think Palmyra was just the final end result with multiple military ship captains "panicking" before the fighting even began. I think the Davion's emphasis on aerospace being just a supporting unit of the army has finally shown its cracks and things are now breaking.

I'm not sure that's entirely fair.

Remember, a 'military jumpship' is distinct from a civilian jumpship only in the uniforms being worn by the crew.  The Captain of an Invader-class JS is going to react the same way to an ambush whether he's AFFS, DCA, or civilian-  Jump away while I still can.  That they got away in the first place is a credit to their skills, not an indictment.

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #53 on: 26 January 2014, 18:38:16 »
Only saw this now. Excellent work on that document.

We should have a separate place to gather all these fan-made overviews.
I know there is Fan Articles (and i love that part of the forums) but a place only for downloadable content would make it easier to find these gems.

FedSunsBorn

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #54 on: 26 January 2014, 20:42:54 »
I'm not sure that's entirely fair.

Remember, a 'military jumpship' is distinct from a civilian jumpship only in the uniforms being worn by the crew.  The Captain of an Invader-class JS is going to react the same way to an ambush whether he's AFFS, DCA, or civilian-  Jump away while I still can.  That they got away in the first place is a credit to their skills, not an indictment.

I can kinda see it that way but panicking under fire is never a good thing no matter what.
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Colt Ward

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Re: 3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!
« Reply #55 on: 27 January 2014, 05:07:19 »
My best suggestion would be for them to experience the Dark Ages from inception . . .

First they work as security forces for in Prefecture IX though you have to be careful about the set up as the Republic frowned on mercs inside their borders.  You might make the facility being guarded something like a mech final assembly or perhaps the Prefecture refurbishment depot.  Make it a mix of infantry, armor and battle armor guarding the facility and when the Blackout occurs there are four or six mechs and as many pilots.

The security force goes on protecting the facility for X determined time until a group of raiders jumps in.  Whatever world of IX, the security force ends up integrated with any planetary defenses available- say the planetary police who find some PALs in the back of their warehouses, noble guard infantry, even converted armored cars no longer picking up cash from stores.  Win, lose or retreat whatever happens . . .

Before the second raid, the group becomes a bit more integrated with perhaps some of the other forces in the defenders joining the proto-merc unit.  Still guarding the tech facility they might upgrade some IndiMechs they take in as well as using them to train new Mechwarriors.  Next raid will be a different group, perhaps an appearance by some of Bannson's Raiders trying to clean the tech site out.  The staff is going to be important to the proto-mercs, specialists at refurbishing machines will help them form.  The forming unit is either made to feel unwelcome or abandoned by the planet- perhaps they decide to flee when the local government tries to take over their equipment.  The collection of battlemechs, IndiMechs, armor, BA and infantry all board a cargo dropship to leave the planet for Galatea.

The group officially forms a merc unit enroute to Galatea, signing papers and setting up an official unit.  Perhaps throw a training match at them before they move off back into Prefecture IX for a garrison contract . . . or perhaps they got hired as raiders by someone else trying to get what they need to build their own personal empire.  This can keep up until you get to the timeframe where the Falcons arrive with their desant.  Now desperate worlds are throwing a lot of money at the unit- question is have they taken in enough salvage and skilled warriors to survive facing the Clans?

They can continue on in Prefecture IX until the Fortress Wall goes up which should cause a lot of fun panic and civil issues.  Raiding becomes more rampant and systems start to form coalitions.  They can be involved in brush wars between groups.  Then the Crusader Wolves start to run through Prefecture IX, and now the whole prefecture units to attempt to hold off the Wolves.

After the Wolves move through- I think- the Falcons start to snap up worlds and the Lyrans reclaim some of them.  Question is does the unit retreat back to Galatea, answer the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth's call for mercs or perhaps enter Oriete's employ as the FWL starts to reform.
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