IlClan Delayed for Reformat

[Moonsword]

Take the eternal FedSuns/CapCon "who's winning" debate to another thread.

[TigerShark]

I figured "Alaric" was just a direct reference to the king of the Visigoths, who sacked Rome and in so doing helped end the (Western) Empire. Substitute the Republic (as Rome supposedly was) for the Empire...

If there is a direct, literary parallel, then Clan Wolf would, most likely, attempt to merge with the Republic of the Sphere as opposed to conquering it. Alaric, in history, didn't simply sack Rome and walk away. He attempted to earn positions within the Roman military by laying siege to the capital.

So I'm guessing he'd be appointed as a Paladin of the Republic and eventually move toward some sort of "legitimacy" as ruler. All the while occupying Terra and the other vital worlds as leverage.

[Liam's Ghost]

Well if I were to think about it, I imagine a merger with the Republic of the Sphere, not unlike that of the Rasalhague Dominion (given the continued presence of an exarch.

After that, we see a surrender of the Lyran Commonwealth, or at the very least that part trapped between the Wolves and Falcons. This is just a measure of practicality, as they've essentially lost faith in their government, and surrender to the Wolves is infinitely superior to being conquered by the Falcons. This gives the Wolf Empire the industrial capacity of the core Republic worlds, as well as the better part of the Commonwealth.

Next, war with the Falcons. The Jade Falcon clan will probably have to die completely. They arrayed themselves as the biggest immediate threat to the new Empire. The Free Worlds League is in a tenuous enough position that they might accept a diplomatic alliance (formal unification to come later). The Wolf/Falcon war might actually begin after the falcons attack the hell's horses in revenge for them backing out of their alliance. The Horses bend the knee out of gratitude.

The rest is a few decades of diplomacy, war, and assimilation.

[Wrangler]

I'll be happy if they spoke to use directly what their plans are.  Frankly this big stretches of nothing is not good.

[ColBosch]

If there is a direct, literary parallel, then Clan Wolf would, most likely, attempt to merge with the Republic of the Sphere as opposed to conquering it. Alaric, in history, didn't simply sack Rome and walk away. He attempted to earn positions within the Roman military by laying siege to the capital.

So I'm guessing he'd be appointed as a Paladin of the Republic and eventually move toward some sort of "legitimacy" as ruler. All the while occupying Terra and the other vital worlds as leverage.

I think that's the idea. Clan Wolf takes over as rulers and the core of the Third League Armed Forces, with the former Republic government providing the bureaucracy.

[ANS Kamas P81]

Hopping on this hypothetical train, what's Malvina doing in all this?  There's really not all that much between the Wolves and the Republic; it's mostly the Falcons that surround the Skye thumb.  If there was a general break-up and absorption I'd imagine the area would go green instead of brown.  Now, the League on the other hand, there's a lot more of their worlds between the empire and the republic.

Still, that also prompts another major question.  Looking at the potential break points, is Tharkad included in the ilClan republic?  It would strengthen Alaric's general leadership claim since he's Katherine's kid, and two major capitals would be an impressive feat.

[ColBosch]

The impression I'm getting is that the Third League conquers everyone.

[TigerShark]

Yeah, I imagine there would be some sort of military build up. Especially naval assets. Followed by a "Pentagon Powers" invasion of each of the Great Houses. A historical repeat of Operation Klondike, but on a massive scale. I can also imagine it following along the lines of Gerrik N'Buta's suggestion that the 3049 invasion be a team effort and not fractured by bidding and inner conflict. Horses become the "mechanized divisions," while the Snow Ravens are obviously the naval assets. The other Clans act in concert with strategic goals, conquering one House at a time and bringing them under a new Star League.

Something tells me that the Homeworld Clans have some part to play in this. Possibly after all is said and done, acting as a foil for the new "SLDF." Maybe becoming a reason for the Sphere to stop fighting each other and focus on the outside threat. A new Word of Blake, if you will.

[Wrangler]

Only Problem with that is the Home Clans industry was horribly hobbled in the Reaving.  Writer wise, there no support really for use of WarShips in Battletech since it prevents in theory stompy robot action. So there likely going be barely any new ships at all if there a invasion unless they lied in GenCon WhatUpwithCatalyst. 

If Clan invasion Dark Age Style comes at IlClan, they would have needed to build large jumpship transport fleet and built up their dropship assets to transport what armies they could muster by the time IlClan happened.

[Major Headcase]

   I think I would be just as happy to never see ilclan released... I loved how Dark Age started, but as the story unfolded from 3132 to 3145+ it just got more and more silly and over the top for me. Magical Space Fortesses and Frozen Stone Resurrection was the last straw for me. 😂 while Battletech has always been true Space Opera, at the end there it reached "Telemundo Spanish Channel Soap Opera" levels of eye-rolling melodrama...
   I just can't see the ilclan story arc dragging Battletech back to the more gritty and realistic military drama it started out as, especially  since the Clans (for me at least) are themselves pretty over the top to begin with, drama-wise. Too often the Clanners are written as one act trick ponies, gimmicky caricatures of comic book villains. I tend to read all Clan dialog in TOS William Shatners voice... 😂  Playing in an Era where their whole "Dances With Wolves meets Macbeth"  behaviour is dominant makes the hair on my neck stand up...
   Please, CGL, take ALL the time you need.... 😉

[sadlerbw]

I'll be happy if they spoke to use directly what their plans are.  Frankly this big stretches of nothing is not good.

I don't think this is a fair statement. It was just a couple weeks ago at GenCon where they leaders of the company sat down for an hour and talked about their plans, then the lead on the BattleTech line sat down with the fans for another hour answering questions. Yes, that was at GenCon and not on the forums, but us folks who were there tried to pass on as much info about what happened as we could. I can understand if they didn't like what they said, or if you would have liked more detail, but really we just got the biggest info dump of the year a couple weeks ago. I feel like that counts for speaking directly about what their plans are.

[Wrangler]

I don't think this is a fair statement. It was just a couple weeks ago at GenCon where they leaders of the company sat down for an hour and talked about their plans, then the lead on the BattleTech line sat down with the fans for another hour answering questions. Yes, that was at GenCon and not on the forums, but us folks who were there tried to pass on as much info about what happened as we could. I can understand if they didn't like what they said, or if you would have liked more detail, but really we just got the biggest info dump of the year a couple weeks ago. I feel like that counts for speaking directly about what their plans are.

I greatly appreciate the service you and the others have done to post us what was said.  I just felt that not posting it so others who may no be as savvy to find such information on what was going on is unfair.  I know they have to be careful what they say, i get that. I understand were almost crazy mob about our beloved Battletech and it's hard deal with.

We used to have Blogs done by Randall posting on the main webpage what was next steps were.  We need that.

[Foxx Ital]

I greatly appreciate the service you and the others have done to post us what was said.  I just felt that not posting it so others who may no be as savvy to find such information on what was going on is unfair.  I know they have to be careful what they say, i get that. I understand were almost crazy mob about our beloved Battletech and it's hard deal with.

We used to have Blogs done by Randall posting on the main webpage what was next steps were.  We need that.

Its great they wanna talk about it at gencon, but having to rely on second hand according is almost a game of telephone. Being treated like mushrooms gets old after a while, so don't be surprised when the people under the stairs REEEEEE when someone in the know turns the lights on.
 

[Captain of C-21]

Personally, as much as I would like to see IlClan, I would much rather get some novels fleshing out the time period from 3138-3150.  The last two Battletech novels chronologically are "To Ride the Chimera" (ending in 3139), and Bonfire of Worlds (Ending in 3143 I think?). 

That leaves the Draconis Combine/Federated Suns/Capellan Confederation all needing to be more fleshed out from 3137-3145.  And novels about what is going in Fortress Republic during all this time, Operation Damatio, etc.  I'd rather have novels to read than a big sourcebook pushing the timeline even more forward.

Look at what you have right now with novels trying to fill in the Jihad era.  I don't want Catalyst to constantly be catching up in story with the novels.  Novels should be EXPANDING the story, and sourcebooks should be summarizing it or providing bigger picture.

[Baldur Mekorig]

   I think I would be just as happy to never see ilclan released... I loved how Dark Age started, but as the story unfolded from 3132 to 3145+ it just got more and more silly and over the top for me. Magical Space Fortesses and Frozen Stone Resurrection was the last straw for me. 😂 while Battletech has always been true Space Opera, at the end there it reached "Telemundo Spanish Channel Soap Opera" levels of eye-rolling melodrama...
   I just can't see the ilclan story arc dragging Battletech back to the more gritty and realistic military drama it started out as, especially  since the Clans (for me at least) are themselves pretty over the top to begin with, drama-wise. Too often the Clanners are written as one act trick ponies, gimmicky caricatures of comic book villains. I tend to read all Clan dialog in TOS William Shatners voice... 😂  Playing in an Era where their whole "Dances With Wolves meets Macbeth"  behaviour is dominant makes the hair on my neck stand up...
   Please, CGL, take ALL the time you need.... 😉

 You and me pal. I really hope this new "3rd Star League" and clan shenanigans stay far from the Periphery.

[SteveRestless]

Novels could be great. But the inability cgl has demonstrated in getting out new story fiction has me wary. There is absolutely no reason that the finished or near finished book couldn't drop first and be followed by novels. It is shameless to damn us to this eternal stagnation. Plus, the constant back fill with things like the early succession wars books demonstrates that the developers are no strangers to releasing past books. It's not like once ilclan drops, they can't go back and tell the story in fiction.

Novels could also be terrible. The franchise would be much better off without the first ten or twenty mwda novels. If it would be a repeat of that, I would really rather not have them.

[Adacas]

I hope that the Clanners and those who managed to remain confined in the area of the Terran Hegemony and nothing else, that the Periphery grows alone and that the backwaters of the houses seek to survive without the interference of the Clans and fighting with them, that to be surrendered would be very sad as an attempt at rebirth

[CungrVanck]

Well if I were to think about it, I imagine a merger with the Republic of the Sphere, not unlike that of the Rasalhague Dominion (given the continued presence of an exarch.

After that, we see a surrender of the Lyran Commonwealth, or at the very least that part trapped between the Wolves and Falcons. This is just a measure of practicality, as they've essentially lost faith in their government, and surrender to the Wolves is infinitely superior to being conquered by the Falcons. This gives the Wolf Empire the industrial capacity of the core Republic worlds, as well as the better part of the Commonwealth.

Next, war with the Falcons. The Jade Falcon clan will probably have to die completely. They arrayed themselves as the biggest immediate threat to the new Empire. The Free Worlds League is in a tenuous enough position that they might accept a diplomatic alliance (formal unification to come later). The Wolf/Falcon war might actually begin after the falcons attack the hell's horses in revenge for them backing out of their alliance. The Horses bend the knee out of gratitude.

The rest is a few decades of diplomacy, war, and assimilation.

Your thoughts are similar to my own:

1) Fortress Wall comes down, Republic comes out blazing.

2) During the fighting, Wolves repel the Republic attack and/or do a deep raid to take Terra and cut supply lines.

3) Wolves take Terra, becoming IlClan, take over the Republic and all but one Clan goes "meh...don't care".

4) That one Clan is the Jade Falcons and with a not level headed leader at the helm they do something stupid in anger at losing Terra to the Wolves...like maybe dropping nukes/weapons of mass destruction on Terra level stupid.

5) This act, whatever it is, enrages the other Clans and unites them against the Falcons.

6)  Clan Jade Falcon falls to the other Clans and the Lyran Commonwealth capitulates as most of the fighting is in their territory/Wolf takes Tharkad with combined Clan forces to claim the throne for Alaric

7)  Other powers, who have been fighting their own wars, get very nervous seeing this result.

This is where it gets tricky/mostly guess work......

8)  Clan Wolf invites other powers to join the new Star League....FWL might join if given help in taking former worlds, FedSuns might join to beat off the Combine and Confederation, Heir to the Taurian throne might join if given help uniting their nation

9) The nations that don't join see the writing on the wall, but resist.  Maybe the Clans smash one to make a point.  The Combine is uniquely positioned for a big beat down. Confederation and Canopus submit, but plots behind the scenes.

10) Over time, through war and diplomacy, all nations merge and/or are conquered by the IlClan

11) Then 3250....or whatever year is selected happens...NEW ERA

[Gaiiten]

Only Problem with that is the Home Clans industry was horribly hobbled in the Reaving.  Writer wise, there no support really for use of WarShips in Battletech since it prevents in theory stompy robot action. So there likely going be barely any new ships at all if there a invasion unless they lied in GenCon WhatUpwithCatalyst. 

If Clan invasion Dark Age Style comes at IlClan, they would have needed to build large jumpship transport fleet and built up their dropship assets to transport what armies they could muster by the time IlClan happened.

IMHO the Homeclans are a wildcard.

Time given since the connections to the Inner Sphere were cut, there could have been a massive reconstruction program and new Golden Age in the Home Clan space region. They might have even decided that they do not want to invade the Inner Sphere and move to exploit (or even settle) unknown space regions.

The Homeclans would never have the numbers of the Inner Sphere but quality (better technology) would be an interesting choice for them.

When the Inner Sphere might get united under the aegis of a Wolf ilClan a conflict with the Home clans will be very likely, imho.
I would like to have a deep space war of attrition, no side getting a deciding advantage for some time.

[Iron Mongoose]

Either way, I think ilClan will be a chance to settle them.  What I wouldn't want to see is to leave them to hang, unresolved (in their way) as a perpetual boogyman.  Are they impovershed?  Was there a terrable colapse, and they're all gone?  Are they all mysteriously gone?  Are they super high tech, biding their time and plotting vengance?  Are the Adders actually Wolverines?

If we're to move on, better to consolodate things, and clean up.  What form that takes, the ilClan invading them or them invading the ilClan or them joining with the ilClan or becoming the ilClan or just being eaten by hyperspace monsters or even just all colectively slipping on the soap in the shower, I don't care.  Just so long as they don't become the Wolverines writ even larger, every lurking on the fringes but never given a final resolution.

[Wrangler]

Either way, I think ilClan will be a chance to settle them.  What I wouldn't want to see is to leave them to hang, unresolved (in their way) as a perpetual boogyman.  Are they impovershed?  Was there a terrable colapse, and they're all gone?  Are they all mysteriously gone?  Are they super high tech, biding their time and plotting vengance?  Are the Adders actually Wolverines?

If we're to move on, better to consolodate things, and clean up.  What form that takes, the ilClan invading them or them invading the ilClan or them joining with the ilClan or becoming the ilClan or just being eaten by hyperspace monsters or even just all colectively slipping on the soap in the shower, I don't care.  Just so long as they don't become the Wolverines writ even larger, every lurking on the fringes but never given a final resolution.

Given how the Betrayal of Ideals went down, i think that's possibility.

[Captain of C-21]

Either way, I think ilClan will be a chance to settle them.  What I wouldn't want to see is to leave them to hang, unresolved (in their way) as a perpetual boogyman.  Are they impovershed?  Was there a terrable colapse, and they're all gone?  Are they all mysteriously gone?  Are they super high tech, biding their time and plotting vengance?  Are the Adders actually Wolverines?

If we're to move on, better to consolodate things, and clean up.  What form that takes, the ilClan invading them or them invading the ilClan or them joining with the ilClan or becoming the ilClan or just being eaten by hyperspace monsters or even just all colectively slipping on the soap in the shower, I don't care.  Just so long as they don't become the Wolverines writ even larger, every lurking on the fringes but never given a final resolution.

I actually like keeping up the mystique of different factions.  Give us tidbits here and there, but don't reveal everything.

[Gaiiten]

Well, the Homeclans might get the White Walker/The Others.

Lost in space, mysterious, considered to be spooky fairy tales, but then ...

[Tai Dai Cultist]

   I think I would be just as happy to never see ilclan released... I loved how Dark Age started, but as the story unfolded from 3132 to 3145+ it just got more and more silly and over the top for me. Magical Space Fortesses and Frozen Stone Resurrection was the last straw for me. 😂 while Battletech has always been true Space Opera, at the end there it reached "Telemundo Spanish Channel Soap Opera" levels of eye-rolling melodrama...
   I just can't see the ilclan story arc dragging Battletech back to the more gritty and realistic military drama it started out as, especially  since the Clans (for me at least) are themselves pretty over the top to begin with, drama-wise. Too often the Clanners are written as one act trick ponies, gimmicky caricatures of comic book villains. I tend to read all Clan dialog in TOS William Shatners voice... 😂  Playing in an Era where their whole "Dances With Wolves meets Macbeth"  behaviour is dominant makes the hair on my neck stand up...
   Please, CGL, take ALL the time you need.... 😉

You and me pal. I really hope this new "3rd Star League" and clan shenanigans stay far from the Periphery.

Honestly, me three.  I'm trying to not join the clucks from the Chicken Little Gallery, but honestly if the intended ilClan direction involves re-imagining the Inner Sphere as a Clan society that involves the removal of even one of the "core" five Great Houses, I'd frankly rather see story progress towards that end simply go into a derailed train wreck rather than take me to a Third Star League.

Game of Thrones in Space rather than Robot Jox: The Boardgame for me, please.   The Clan Homeworlds (presumably still) exist for visiting the "Clan only" stories.  Just one fan's preferences.  YMMV.

[Maingunnery]

Honestly, me three.  I'm trying to not join the clucks from the Chicken Little Gallery, but honestly if the intended ilClan direction involves re-imagining the Inner Sphere as a Clan society that involves the removal of even one of the "core" five Great Houses, I'd frankly rather see story progress towards that end simply go into a derailed train wreck rather than take me to a Third Star League.

Game of Thrones in Space rather than Robot Jox: The Boardgame for me, please.   The Clan Homeworlds (presumably still) exist for visiting the "Clan only" stories.  Just one fan's preferences.  YMMV.

Just imagine it like this, something happens to Terra and the Clan Star League falls apart.
In the following chaos the descendants of the old houses try to re-establish power.

[Liam's Ghost]

Personally I intend to actually read IlClan before I denounce the setting.

I mean, I still might not like it, but there will be reasons.

[Pat Payne]

Personally I intend to actually read IlClan before I denounce the setting.

I mean, I still might not like it, but there will be reasons.

Same here. I'm more of a Succession Wars person, but it'd at least be interesting to see the culmination of the story.

That, and at least it's a long-delayed RPG/TTG supplement that I'll be able to see BEFORE I'm 90 (*coughcoughGaryGygax'sOriginalCastleGreyhawkcoughcough* -- seriously - that one's been in Development Hell since literally before I was born and with legal issues that make HG look like choirboys ::) )

[Liam's Ghost]

Same here. I'm more of a Succession Wars person, but it'd at least be interesting to see the culmination of the story.

That, and at least it's a long-delayed RPG/TTG supplement that I'll be able to see BEFORE I'm 90 (*coughcoughGaryGygax'sOriginalCastleGreyhawkcoughcough*)

And if we don't like our new clan overlords, that will just make the campaigns to tear them down all the sweeter.

[carmachu]

Well, the Homeclans might get the White Walker/The Others.

Lost in space, mysterious, considered to be spooky fairy tales, but then ...

Then you want 2050 clan invasion revisited?

[Gaiiten]

Then you want 2050 clan invasion revisited?

It has not to be a full-scale invasion, an invasion from the Inner Sphere / Third League firstly and then a steady escalation. A war being fought in deep space away from the Inner Sphere.

Slowly weakening the Third League who will be confronted then by increasing nationalism in the regions of the old Successor States and then more and more rebellions. Besides increasing tensions among the Third League Clans.

So a lot of internal conflicts and and very dangerous external conflict ... a good start for a new age of war.