Author Topic: 3132 Invasion of Northwind  (Read 1759 times)

Colt Ward

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3132 Invasion of Northwind
« on: 07 February 2018, 17:55:36 »
The Steel Wolves under Anastasia Kerensky invaded Northwind in 3132 with everything they could muster (in a badly written trilogy) against what Tara Campbell could recall and scrape together to defend her homeworld.

But Era Digest Dark Age, ER3145 and FM3145 gloss over one of the pivotal early battles after the Black Out which is unfortunate considering they could have cleared up some glaring detail problems in those horrible three books.  So it is sort of left to opinion but . . .

What do you think Campbell had to use in the defense of her world?  Company of battlemechs?  company of armed IndiMechs?  company of armor?  battalion of armor?  battle armor?  infantry companies?

Did any sizeable formations of the standing Highlander forces make it back in time for the defense of Tara (the city)?  Or was it all the green volunteers & their instructors?
Colt Ward
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Decoy

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #1 on: 07 February 2018, 19:39:43 »
I'd start off with the Uniques and then say about 2-3 of each unit they had until past Age of Destruction.  Double that for conventional units.

truetanker

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #2 on: 07 February 2018, 19:59:53 »
Modified for safety...

So in 3133:
1st Kearny
Northwind Fusiliers
Republic Guards

TT
« Last Edit: 14 February 2018, 14:42:45 by truetanker »
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Colt Ward

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #3 on: 07 February 2018, 23:06:37 »
I know what they ended up with . . . but IIRC the novel (which I try to forget) it was basically green last ditch raised troops that she had on hand with maybe a few 1st Kearny that were near enough to recall.  Just wondering if anyone else had the books (mine are in a box somewhere) and had a better idea of the state of the defenders or if I had missed a passage somewhere.

Another question would be what equipment the Steel Wolves left Archenar with Anastasia Kerensky, since it would be used in the Northwind invasion.
« Last Edit: 07 February 2018, 23:21:30 by Colt Ward »
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Deadborder

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #4 on: 08 February 2018, 00:47:25 »
There's no even remotely complete accounting of the forces involved on either side. The novels are not exactly helpful either; to be honest, they're written by somebody who clearly wasn't famillar with the BattleTech universe. Although this problem is hardly unique to the MWDA novels...

Getting back on topic!

The Highlander forces on Northwind consisted largely of green infantry and armour (Possibly converted IndustrialMechs). Two BattleMechs were explicitly identified; Tara Campbell's Hatchetman and a Koshi (I forget the pilot's name). They were said to be the only BattleMechs on the planet, although that's the sort of claim I'd take with a grain of salt, or put down to again issues with the author not knowing the world.

The Steel Wolf invasion force consisted of at least six Clusters of Wolf troops, based on the number of Star Colonels identified. Most of these seem to have again been composed of nothing but infantry (both conventional and Battle Armour) and armour. The only cluster explicitly identified was the Crusaders, under Anastasia Kerensky. Her custom Ryoken II was present, but I don't recall any other BattleMechs being explicitly identified.

Finally there was Jack Farrell's lance of "mercenaries". This consisted of Jack Farrel's Jupiter 2, 'Dagger' Di Jones' Hatchetman,  a Mad Cat III and a Firestarter (That my personal headcanon says is Pyro Peterson). They are the only force that are completely accounted for.
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Colt Ward

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #5 on: 08 February 2018, 01:36:20 »
Yeah, one of the things I found while re-reading (hey Kindle version!) Flight of the Falcon is that the officer that arrives on Skye with the first reinforcements is using a Cougar salvaged from the Steel Wolves on Northwind.

If I can find the Archenar novel I will skim the end to see what survived of the Crusaders in the final battle for her take off world with her.  I was also looking for the two mixed Trinaries that joined a merc unit being led by a warrior in a Orion IIC- I want to say a Predator was also in that group along with some light Clan armor & Elementals.

I wanted to see if I could set up a map-style campaign from Campaign Ops as the 'Battle for Tara' since its IMO one of the bigger early Dark Age actions.  To fill in the gaps of what skim canon is available I was going to use the TP Irian RAT.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."

Deadborder

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #6 on: 08 February 2018, 01:41:08 »
The defectors in the Wolf Hunters novel included an Orion IIC, a Predator and a Goshawk II. However, no indications were given as to what Steel Wolf cluster they had come from.
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Colt Ward

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Re: 3132 Invasion of Northwind
« Reply #7 on: 08 February 2018, 08:14:52 »
Yeah, I thought it was two stars of mechs, two stars of armor and two stars of mixed BA & Infantry.  They had two named officers and IIRC the Elemental was the more adaptable of the two.  Also thought they had a Summoner or Summoner II, although at the time that distinction did not exist.
Colt Ward
Clan Invasion Backer #149, Leviathans #104

"We come in peace, please ignore the bloodstains."

"Greetings, Mechwarrior. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Daoshen and the Capellan armada."