Clan Fire Mandrill: Monkey Talk

[Sjhernan3060]

Something that I reread recently was that their economy was very underdeveloped and or inefficient. Would that be because the various kindraa due to feuds etc would not trade with each other and would then have to seek what should have been accessible from an outside Clan?

[rebs]

That's exactly what stifled their growth.  What other Clans easily accomplished between their lower castes, the Mandrills made a struggle of due to inter-kindraa fighting and bickering. If one of the kindraa did get ahead with a scientific advance or a surplus of trade goods, the other kindraa would trial for it, or the first kindraa might refuse to share with certain other kinraas that they feel rivalry with, etc.

 How they became as strong as they did by Operation Revival we may never know.   The Mandrills had built up an impressive Touman, only to squander it through inter-kindraa fighting over every aspect of the invasion and the trials that led up to it.

[Deadborder]

The one thing the Mandrils were good at was fighting. They built up their Tourman by the same way the similarity economically crippled Jaguars did; by being good at beating people up and taking their stuff.

[Drewbacca]

I would have to say my interest with the Mandrills is essentially morbid curiosity. I am amazed that they lasted as long as they did, but I am a bit impressed that they did.

[Orwell84]

Something that I reread recently was that their economy was very underdeveloped and or inefficient. Would that be because the various kindraa due to feuds etc would not trade with each other and would then have to seek what should have been accessible from an outside Clan?

How they became as strong as they did by Operation Revival we may never know.   The Mandrills had built up an impressive Touman, only to squander it through inter-kindraa fighting over every aspect of the invasion and the trials that led up to it.

The Fire Mandrill clan profiles in Warriors of Kerensky and Op Klondike indicate that the warriors were strong enough to take enough of what they needed, and that the Clan's merchants - the least factionalised caste - took care of the rest, especially thanks to a good working relationship with the Diamond Sharks.

It's not outright stated, but reading between the lines I get the impression the Mandrills collectively opted for a mix of Smoke Jaguar and Blood Spirit methods (brute force + Shark assistance) in keeping their economy going and boosting their touman to its Revival-level. It could also be that the Sharks subtly aided the Mandrills and Spirits in boosting their toumans, knowing that neither Clan would ever be strong enough to be a real power but could still pose a threat to the Sharks' enemies (e.g the Jaguar-Mandrill enmity pre-3059).

[Sjhernan3060]

The Fire Mandrill clan profiles in Warriors of Kerensky and Op Klondike indicate that the warriors were strong enough to take enough of what they needed, and that the Clan's merchants - the least factionalised caste - took care of the rest, especially thanks to a good working relationship with the Diamond Sharks.

It's not outright stated, but reading between the lines I get the impression the Mandrills collectively opted for a mix of Smoke Jaguar and Blood Spirit methods (brute force + Shark assistance) in keeping their economy going and boosting their touman to its Revival-level. It could also be that the Sharks subtly aided the Mandrills and Spirits in boosting their toumans, knowing that neither Clan would ever be strong enough to be a real power but could still pose a threat to the Sharks' enemies (e.g the Jaguar-Mandrill enmity pre-3059).

I would add ( at least according to the mandrills themselves) that their warriors were so skilled that any conflict with them insured heavy losses against their foes also said warriors were so “ bananas” about being mandrills that went out of their way to be difficult when captured

[rebs]

That's true... Captured Mandrills were a special breed, always chafing under their new command because they expected to get rescued any minute...

[jklantern]

Mandrill Warriors were definitely examples of "Survival is a matter of practice."  Since even by CLAN Standards they are fighting ALL THE TIME, what with inter-Kindraa battles, Mandrill Warriors tend to be badass.

[Sjhernan3060]

Mandrill Warriors were definitely examples of "Survival is a matter of practice."  Since even by CLAN Standards they are fighting ALL THE TIME, what with inter-Kindraa battles, Mandrill Warriors tend to be badass.

They were also noted for their adherence to bidding it seemed that in large multi kindraa battles that sometimes literally stabbed each other in the back

[Sjhernan3060]

I am building a mick kreese naval force. The control a Lola and Potemkin, how would you maximize force projection while also protecting your small fleet? Lots of fighter carriers? Assault drop ships?

[rebs]

You guessed it already.  Take advantage of all those dropship docking colars and give the Potemkin its own fleet of assault droppers and Titan carriers to protect it from the hazards of life in the Clan Homeworlds. 

[Sjhernan3060]

You guessed it already.  Take advantage of all those dropship docking colars and give the Potemkin its own fleet of assault droppers and Titan carriers to protect it from the hazards of life in the Clan Homeworlds.

This kindraa was noted for its very strong air wing so I wonder if they would have lent its services to transport for other Kindraas

[rebs]

The Potemkin has so much room, I would say its a good bet that they did transport for other Kindraa sometimes.  If the price was right.

[Sjhernan3060]

How did the mandrills handled blood chapels and genetic respostories? Did each kindraa have their own which they protected?

[rebs]

Each Kindraa had its own genetic repository, as far as I know.  They probably had their own Blood Chapels, too, as well as the Blood Chapels on Strana Mechty. 

[Sjhernan3060]

Does anyone else think the mandrills used a lot of tanks etc? With each kindraa constantly scrapping with each other would they not need an easy to produce force to protect their assets?

[rebs]

Yes, especially in Kindraas that are more aerospace focused.  Or at least that's how I see it since there is not much info about it.  The Mandrills are one of the Clans that *can't* have enough info.

[Deadborder]

That's one of the reasons why I love the Mandrills so much (and why they're my former favourite Homeworld Clan). There's a lot more diversity within them then the other, relatively monoculture block, Clans. They're less one people as they're a group of different people pointed in vaugely the same direction.

They're the inbred backwoods redneck hillbillies of the Clans, with all that entails. And I love it.

[Sjhernan3060]

That's one of the reasons why I love the Mandrills so much (and why they're my former favourite Homeworld Clan). There's a lot more diversity within them then the other, relatively monoculture block, Clans. They're less one people as they're a group of different people pointed in vaugely the same direction.

They're the inbred backwoods redneck hillbillies of the Clans, with all that entails. And I love it.

Same! I really disliked them for a long time but their bone deep loyalty to their few allies and as you said diverse touman makes them very cool. However I just don’t see how could have survived the reavings the mandrills could and did do well in a zell focused environment but once conflict really escalated how could they have kept up?

[Deadborder]

Same! I really disliked them for a long time but their bone deep loyalty to their few allies and as you said diverse touman makes them very cool. However I just don’t see how could have survived the reavings the mandrills could and did do well in a zell focused environment but once conflict really escalated how could they have kept up?

That's the thing. They didn't.

In WoR the Mandrills don't get an epic finale; they don't go down in some blaze of glory or in some focused final campaign. Instead their divsion is their downfall; they get ground down Kindraa by Kindraa. It's only after the Reavings are over that they are recognised as being dead.

[Sjhernan3060]

That's one of the reasons why I love the Mandrills so much (and why they're my former favourite Homeworld Clan). There's a lot more diversity within them then the other, relatively monoculture block, Clans. They're less one people as they're a group of different people pointed in vaugely the same direction.

They're the inbred backwoods redneck hillbillies of the Clans, with all that entails. And I love it.

Nailed it!

So how exactly would a kindraa truly break out and grow? Canon has examples of the mandrills trialing for very prestigious blood heritages and losing ( badly) would a successful mandrill kindraa used their ultra elite warriors as rapier to take what they wanted and trade any surplus?

[Sjhernan3060]

i thought it might be in the same place as where people found what the blood spirits leaders piloted or the adder leaders piloted. i don't have either of those however so i thought the info might be out there somewhere, and for some reason i think it is

This is an interesting question which sparked another one in my mind. I would think the mandrills would have a lot of flashy customized gear or paint jobs on their gear. Or perhaps each kindraa would be very strict on maintaining their own paint scheme amongst their members?

[Sjhernan3060]

Besides a sweet warship what would a kindraa leader from an aero focused kindraa use as their go to fighter?

[Sharpnel]

I know I like the Visigoths and Jagatai as my go to fighters. If I had RAT with Clan Fighters on it, I would be able make a better guess.

[Sjhernan3060]

I was going to say a command drop ship but I imagine the mandrills would be all about dog fighting

[rebs]

The Kirghiz is always a safe bet.  It's spread around the Clans enough to be a very likely choice.   

An Overlord C is also a good choice if your ride is a dropship.

[Kojak]

Going by the RATs in FM:U (always an iffy proposition but it's all we've got), the most common seem to be the Scytha, Kirghiz, Jagatai, Visigoth and Batu.

[Sjhernan3060]

Two part question:

1) with their divided and “inefficient” economy were the various mandril kindraa more resource strapped then the blood spirits?

2) did all kindraa eventual adopt protos? What about the elitist kindraa that only used one phenotype?

[Deadborder]

Two part question:

1) with their divided and “inefficient” economy were the various mandril kindraa more resource strapped then the blood spirits?

2) did all kindraa eventual adopt protos? What about the elitist kindraa that only used one phenotype?

1) Hard to say to be honest. It doesn't seem that their issue was resources (Outside of the small gene pools of their warrior caste) but rather redundnacy and duplication. Each Kindraa managed their own affairs, which resulted in a lot of them running parallel programs that would have been more efficient and productive if they had combined efforts. This even went as far as the Mandril version of the Society; their biggest taboo was simply cooperation between Scientists from different kindraas.

2) There's no information on which Kindraas did and didn't use ProtoMechs. I thinkl it's fiar to say that they all did, however

[Sjhernan3060]

While warships were always a touchy subject amongst the mandrills... wouldn’t the nightlord have been an ideal warship for the mandrills? It’s designed to haul around a full galaxy and support which equals a single kindraa