3145 Hotspots and Interesting Points of Conflict!

[Bratwurst]

Hello, chaps! I've decided on my new year's resolution, and it will be that I will start a new BattleTech campaign in an attempt to sucker some local fencesitters into the depths of the game, in hopes of converting full-fledged robosexuals BattleTech afficionados. 

At first I thought of starting from the easiest point of entry, the year 3025 and the introbox, but to be honest, the idea fell off the table and into obscurity for the simple reason that while it would be easy, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting as the fascinating new era of no holds or reservations we are, in a sense, living now. The sheer span of technological wonder and chaotic turmoil available to us in 3145 is to my eyes like an open toystore of mayhem and glee.

Admittedly, though, a problem appeared. I know much less of the canonical fluff events of the era. I could very well pull the situations I want from the back of my pants, but I have always enjoyed the idea that if my players were to feed some names and details of their missions to google, they would get appropriate results. As such, I decided to refer to your kind expertise in the subject of the era, in form of a simple question:

What are your 3 most favourite combat operations, invasions, broader conflicts or single battles of any kind of the Dark Ages?

(Warning, answers may will be jacked  ;D)

[Gray Jaguar]

Invasion of Hesperus II by EVERYONE.

[martian]

Combat operation is a quite broad term. But I will name three things:

• Reunification of the Free Worlds League + Lyran and Wolf invasion
• Battle of Hesperus II - the Wolves[/Falcons/Lyrans
• the Nova Cat Rebellion

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Palmyra would be the aerospace battle to replicate.  The following ground campaign wouldn't be as much fun (for the Davion side), but perhaps it'd be a killer Red Dawn-style RPG campaign...

In the same theatre, we have the situation on Parma: the Conroe Training Battalion (reeling and fleeing the invasion) finally cornered by the elite Wolf's Dragoons.  It shouldn't be a competitive fight, but neither should David have slain Goliath, either.  The battle has been set up in  FM3145 but we don't know anything yet about how it'll play out.

If you like grand campaigns, the Capellan Tide finally claiming Tikonov after several waves crashing against Davion defenders would be epic to play out.

If you like Clans in your BattleTech, the Tharkad & Hesperus campaigns would be awesome large-scale alternatives to Tikonov.

[glitterboy2098]

many places in the 'rimward' Republic, outside the walls, could easily boast three or four sided campaigns for some worlds as the Republic Remnant, local dissidents, Davion's, and Capellan's go at it. maybe toss in some Clan wolf in some spots.

[Scotty]

Reunification of Free Worlds League
Blackout-period Republic
Wolf Empire Migration

Those are the three I enjoy the most.  The two involving the FWL because it's my favorite faction, and the Republic because EVERYBODY FIGHT EVERYBODY.

[Bratwurst]

Combat operation is a quite broad term.

Ayup. I am going to have my players form a smalltime mercenary company, and then I intend to put them on the roam from conflict to conflict, touring them through the most interesting parts of the era. As such, I am taking the kitchen sink approach and requesting everything on a scale range from "little Timmy Calderon and Larry Davion had a slappyfight on the kindergarten yard once again" to "Oh God My Nation Was Eaten By Wolves".  >:D

[Alan Grant]

There have been several academies that have been the site of battles. Sakhara, the Nagelring, Athene, that's just off the top of my head. I think it would be fun running a game centered around one of those battles. If the Combine does assault New Avalon, we'll be adding Albion and NAIS to that list.

[MadCapellan]

Chesterton is bound to be exciting right now, what with a very active FedSuns insurgency running against a CCAF that is doing their darndest to look like benevolent liberators.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Chesterton is bound to be exciting right now, what with a very active FedSuns insurgency running against a CCAF that is doing their darndest to look like benevolent liberators.

Dagger Point with the heroes and villains swapped?

[glitterboy2098]

Dagger Point with the heroes and villains swapped?

no.. just their locations in the city.. :)

the idea of a Liao force stuck in a base and beseiged on all sides by insurgents does have an appeal. but somehow i can't see the Cappies having as much restraint as the ELH did..

[Kitsune413]

Spirit Cat invasion of Marik. Long campaign with a grand finale!

[Wrangler]

I think some other events that should be interestings reads is:

• Fall of Robinson to House Kurita
• Fall of New Syrtis to House Liao
• Sacking of Tharkad by Clan Wolf & Jade Falcons

Dragoons Campaign into Draconis Reach would be great Operational Turning Point.  Rag-tag remains of Kell Hounds lead by Callandre Kell running amok in JF OZ would be fun one try play with i would think too.

[wolfgar]

Reinforcing or retrieving Kell and her hounds would also be fun.

[FedSunsBorn]

Besides some of the ones already mentioned, one particular battle that I am interested in would be the Fall of New Ivaarsen against the DC. Probably richer than most of the Draconis March combined, New Ivaarsen is/was home to two Battlemech regiments, has some of the best architecture this side of Terra, is home to one of the richest Davion families in the Realm and probably has an educational system that could rival any of the Davion Golden Worlds or the Inner Sphere as a whole.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Besides some of the ones already mentioned, one particular battle that I am interested in would be the Fall of New Ivaarsen against the DC. Probably richer than most of the Draconis March combined, New Ivaarsen is/was home to two Battlemech regiments, has some of the best architecture this side of Terra, is home to one of the richest Davion families in the Realm and probably has an educational system that could rival any of the Davion Golden Worlds or the Inner Sphere as a whole.

I would have mentioned New Ivaarsen too, but I had to limit myself to 3 and I already had 2 nominees in the Kurita/Davion Theatre :D

There's enough fluff out there to set up a New Ivaarsen campaign, and it'd be interesting for both sides.  The Kurita side is fighting for the pride of taking a major world while the Davion side is fighting for the pride of giving better than they get from the larger force.    Instead of playing the canonical invasion you might even make your own hypothetical (and entirely plausible) Round Two where the Chasseurs return to raid occupying garrison and/or attempt to liberate their homeworld.

Edit: And if hypothetical campaigns in the 3145 era is more your thing than simulating the canonical outcomes.. you'd have a hard time finding a better candidate than Julian's not-yet-canonically-revealed exploits with Task Force Navarre.

[Darth Nichos]

Well if the Fall of Terra to the Wolf Empire is canon, I would go with that.

[Kojak]

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.

[snakespinner]

Impressive bit of work there Kojak. O0

[SpaceCowboy1701]

Hello, chaps! I've decided on my new year's resolution, and it will be that I will start a new BattleTech campaign in an attempt to sucker some local fencesitters into the depths of the game, in hopes of converting full-fledged robosexuals BattleTech afficionados. 

Admittedly, though, a problem appeared. I know much less of the canonical fluff events of the era. I could very well pull the situations I want from the back of my pants, but I have always enjoyed the idea that if my players were to feed some names and details of their missions to google, they would get appropriate results. As such, I decided to refer to your kind expertise in the subject of the era, in form of a simple question:

What are your 3 most favourite combat operations, invasions, broader conflicts or single battles of any kind of the Dark Ages?

(Warning, answers may will be jacked  ;D)

I think a great campaign can be made out of any of the Republic-based "pirate" factions, as they try to seize worlds and / or resources early in the Dark Age ... although at least some of those end up getting gobbled up by Kurita, Liao, and the Falcons when the Republic "goes Fortress." I liked the battle(s) for Skye ... except for how it ended ... good multi-faction slugfest. The Wolf campaign against the Lyrans is an interesting one. If your potential players will be attracted / hooked by fiction, there are novels that cover some of these.

Check out the Dark Age Turning Points: Vega PDF if you want a campaign with a variety of factions ... it covers the events before and after the novel Trial by Chaos. You've got Clansmen, Clansmen Freeminders, Vega / Republic Militia, Warlords, Kurita / Dragon's Fury (the all-female Amaterasu regiment), and Bannson-sponsored mercenaries ... and hardware ranging from ICE 'mechs and Constable battle armor up to top-of-the-line Clan and House machines.

[Panthros]

Very impressive work indeed.  You might want to think about moving this to a spreadsheet so you can filter.  I am always impressed with the community.  This must have taken much time, thank you!

[Bratwurst]

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.

I'd email you a beer for that, but I fear it might taste a little... flat.  :P

Thanks, Kojak. Really appreciate the doc.

[Kojak]

No problem. I make these documents for my own reference purposes, but sharing them with the community is always a nice perk.

[verybad]

Palmyra would be the aerospace battle to replicate.  .

It wasn't a battle, it was a massacre. Wouldn't be much fun for the FedSuns player, and it was by no means balanced. They were essentially burning ants with magnifying lenses... The Davions really didn't have any defense of their own.

[Lorcan Nagle]

The naval battle at Palmyra's Jump Point looks to have been pretty hairy, check the TRO:3145 writeup for the Cutlass and I think the Koroshiya mention vicious dogfights

[Tai Dai Cultist]

It wasn't a battle, it was a massacre. Wouldn't be much fun for the FedSuns player, and it was by no means balanced. They were essentially burning ants with magnifying lenses... The Davions really didn't have any defense of their own.

The naval battle at Palmyra's Jump Point looks to have been pretty hairy, check the TRO:3145 writeup for the Cutlass and I think the Koroshiya mention vicious dogfights

Indeed.  The Aerospace phase of the battle was hotly contested.  Sure, the Kuritans had surprise and numbers.  So that means the Kurita side doesn't win by just killing stuff; the objective is to kill stuff fast all while suffering minimal losses so that the subsequent ground phase (beyond the scope of the aerospace battle) still has its Ortillery.  The Davion side would win victory points by managing to retreat units and major points for every Kurita unit they kill.

And besides.  Palmyra is the only battle with a WarShip.. where the WarShip wasn't used as a lawn dart.

[Lorcan Nagle]

There's a pretty awesome naval battle in Blood of the Isle between the remaining Mjolnir and a Jade Falcon Nightlord too.

[Kojak]

Indeed.  The Aerospace phase of the battle was hotly contested.  Sure, the Kuritans had surprise and numbers.  So that means the Kurita side doesn't win by just killing stuff; the objective is to kill stuff fast all while suffering minimal losses so that the subsequent ground phase (beyond the scope of the aerospace battle) still has its Ortillery.  The Davion side would win victory points by managing to retreat units and major points for every Kurita unit they kill.

And besides.  Palmyra is the only battle with a WarShip.. where the WarShip wasn't used as a lawn dart.

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.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

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.

As verybad said, the ground attack phase was very one sided and unfun for the Davions.  With Kurita having orbital control the PWSs could systematically pick off ground units one by one.  With special forces having disabled Davion comm nets, the ortillery strikes would keep catching new units unawares each time.  Total mess.

[ANS Kamas P81]

I guess ortillery + air superiority = automatic win.

Not just air superiority but air supremacy.  The Feds just couldn't touch the air power, and it turned into Japan in 1945 or Iraq in 2003.  Once you establish air supremacy (complete control of the skies, your aircraft may move without threat) versus air superiority (there's still hostile air power in some regions, and you have to escort your non-AS aircraft - Europe 1944, for example) then it's pretty much going to mean one entire arm of your military operates without danger to itself...and that's a hell of a long way to victory.  The Dracs could just sit there, untouchable, and their only concern became ammunition.