Author Topic: Why are you fan of a given faction?  (Read 9075 times)

Matti

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Why are you fan of a given faction?
« on: 13 February 2019, 10:53:01 »
Do you have a favourite faction in BattleTech universe? Why is it your favourite?

For me it is Lyran Commonwealth in/around 3025. Reason is simple enough: best 'Mechs and vehicles in Inner Sphere at that time. And in active use instead of sitting around in warehouses like Com Guard's hardware which dates back to the Star League. Lyran Commonwealth is the first Successor State showing signs of recovery with construction of new factories, new BattleMech designs (Hatchetman, Wolfhound), and new fusion powered vehicles (Savannah Master, Hunter, Drillson, Patton, Rommel).

'Mech selection is no less impressive: Dracs and FedRats think they're more maneuverable with Panther, Valkyrie, and Enforcer, but we Lyrans have Commando, Wolfhound, Firestarter, Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, and Wolverine. Yeah, many of those are available for everyone else, but on average light-medium 'Mechs of LCAF tend to be faster than what others have. And while others bring to the table Panthers, Enforcers, and Hunchbacks, we Lyrans counter them with Warhammers, Archers, Thunderbolts, and Zeus. Do you see the difference here? We may be short on Locusts for dedicated recon purposes, but we have Savannah Master, J. Edgars, and Warrior H-7. If you scoff at them, I'll load my Warriors with armour piercing shells and then we'll see who has the last laugh >:D

So why do you favour Lyran Commonwealth? Or any other faction?
« Last Edit: 13 February 2019, 11:07:30 by Matti »
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #1 on: 13 February 2019, 11:00:21 »
I have a deep affinity for active, raging dumpster fires. Also when my friend drafted me into his Multi Player BattleTech unit back in the Kesmai Gamestorm days, it was the 1st Free Worlds Guard. Call it an accident of association that stuck.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #2 on: 13 February 2019, 11:21:13 »
I have a deep affinity for active, raging dumpster fires. Also when my friend drafted me into his Multi Player BattleTech unit back in the Kesmai Gamestorm days, it was the 1st Free Worlds Guard. Call it an accident of association that stuck.

Friends have definitely been a major change in factions for me.  Originally FedSuns because they had the best Warhammer (6D) and faction emblem. Tau Ceti Rangers (so have to have some sort of vague Liao sympathy) because of MUSE 3056. Duchy of Oriente (go purple, even if you actually wear green) because of Invasion 3056.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #3 on: 13 February 2019, 11:26:12 »
I was drawn to the Capellan Confederation initially for bragging rights.  The person who introduced me to the game described the factions, concluding with "And here's the Capellan Confederation - they always lose."  I figured if I could beat him with the Capellans, that would crush his spirit even more.

As time went on, I found that they were the only faction that still remained interesting during the "Pax FedCom" era.  The Dracs, Lyrans, Davvies and Free Worlders were all holding hands and singing kumbaya in the face of the Clan threat, while only the Capellans were still free to go on spittle emitting rants about the depths of hatred and their desire for bloody retribution on their enemies.  (Anyone familiar with "The Venture Bros." can see that The Monarch would be a perfect Capellan.)  In a wargame setting, they were the only ones who still seemed to want war, and to feel real passion about it.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #4 on: 13 February 2019, 11:30:49 »
In a wargame setting, they were the only ones who still seemed to want war, and to feel real passion about it.
Wait, wut? Did all the Clans got tired of the war too? ???
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #5 on: 13 February 2019, 11:33:26 »
Wait, wut? Did all the Clans got tired of the war too? ???

The Clans liked the ritualized warfare, but there wasn't the passion there that I felt from the Capellans.  There wasn't the hatred or desire for vengeance that the Capellans possessed - just a desire to die gloriously and get a spot in the breeding program.  Plus, the Treaty of Tukayyid prevented anything more serious than border raids, for the most part, for the bulk of the "Pax FedCom" (the Refusal War notwithstanding).
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #6 on: 13 February 2019, 11:40:16 »
When I got into the game it looked like if anyone was going to be able knock the smug, entitled grins of the Davions' faces it was going to be the Mechwarriors of House Kurita.

The 4th SW almost made me Rage Quit Battletech. How unaware I was how much more disappointment there was to come...

Still, I had my honor-obsessed faction that had "better than yours" Mechwarriors at the cost of "crappier than yours" conventional forces. As an added bonus, they were the only faction that was both willing and able (sorry, Liao) to be the unashamed aggressors in a setting purpose built to showcase giant robot warfare.

Then the ****** Clans came.  Everything "cool" about the Clans is by right of primacy a Kurita theme.  Every Clan fan out there should have been a Dracophile, and what's REALLY aggravating is when they don't even know it.
« Last Edit: 13 February 2019, 11:42:43 by Tai Dai Cultist »

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #7 on: 13 February 2019, 11:42:15 »
When I was little I loved the centurion dearly. So FedSuns.

Now as I’m older, all I want to do is cause the most absurd shenanigans possible.  I also have no desire to play with assault mechs. So Capellans for me now.

Does my raven need it’s ECM set to ghost targets, an SRM launcher full of smoke missiles, and a NARC with bola pods? I mean, it doesn’t strictly HAVE to. I just like it that way

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #8 on: 13 February 2019, 12:06:36 »
When I was little I loved the centurion dearly. So FedSuns.

Now as I’m older, all I want to do is cause the most absurd shenanigans possible.  I also have no desire to play with assault mechs. So Capellans for me now.

Does my raven need it’s ECM set to ghost targets, an SRM launcher full of smoke missiles, and a NARC with bola pods? I mean, it doesn’t strictly HAVE to. I just like it that way

We in the Forum Shenanigans Guild generally do not endorse Capellan Fandom, but your enthusiasm gains you a dispensation  :))

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #9 on: 13 February 2019, 12:21:55 »
Duchy of Andurien.
Because they are cool in a power that is not. And I like underdogs.
It would be capella, but their social structure is somehting I dislike. yeah, I am not a fan of monarcy either, but I can relate more to that I guess.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #10 on: 13 February 2019, 12:25:13 »
I'm all about the Capellans and Trinity Alliance as well (The TPTB really hate the Concordat though, that could have gone much better).  The FedRats and their Lyran pawns claim they are "liberating" Liao worlds but they do so against their will.  Then they go and screw it up and get bitten for their overreach while Sun-Tzu sits pretty on Sian, ends up with a Canopian Princess and then ascends to godhood.  Its truly marvelous, go Green.
 
FEDCOM betrayed my beloved Katherine and made her a Wolf, Alaric forever!  I much preferred how things were going when she was in charge (the FEDCOM being weak, decadent, and at war with itself).  What it really needs is another Warrior Cabal uprising.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #11 on: 13 February 2019, 12:29:51 »
Short answer?  Not a damn one of them.  I went merc right away, and even then, a unit of my own making.


Long answer?
Even though I was fascinated with certain ones, once I got into reading the source books, I realized two things:

I, myself, am Terran.

Non of the factions are really Good Guys.  They aren't savior of humanity material.

So, when choosing my initial faction to throw a character into, even if on my own, I wanted to be able to interact with each faction in an equally adversarial or friendly basis for a match set-up.  I realized mercs could do that.  Pirates can, too, though usually it's pure adversarial.

Yes, I was thinking of character story from very early, early on in my BattleTech playing, especially once I started gaining access to the lore.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #12 on: 13 February 2019, 12:33:52 »
We in the Forum Shenanigans Guild generally do not endorse Capellan Fandom, but your enthusiasm gains you a dispensation  :))

Hey. If there is a better faction for shenanigans, I’m all ears

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #13 on: 13 February 2019, 12:40:24 »
the truth is that we're mostly mariks and jealous of your options

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #14 on: 13 February 2019, 12:51:54 »
Does the Explorer Corps count as its own faction?

I always really liked the idea of an entity that was just there to poke around empty planets and find cool stuff. 
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Matti

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #15 on: 13 February 2019, 13:02:28 »
Does the Explorer Corps count as its own faction?

I always really liked the idea of an entity that was just there to poke around empty planets and find cool stuff.
Ooh, good one! "To boldly go where no one has gone before!" In what source material Explorer Corps appears at? Any novels?
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #16 on: 13 February 2019, 13:03:38 »
Cappies are cool pre-Jihad for being the underdog. Not a big fan of them post-Jihad though, they've lost the underdog status, plus not a fan of Sun-Tzu's son not being a reformer like his father.
Their 'Mechs are good reason on nearly all eras though. In the Age of War, they created the Thunderbolt (ok, Earthwerks did and they're interstellar company BUT they did do it in the CapCon territory), their 31st century output is cool and innovative, and they got some nice toys during the Dark Age.

The FedSuns is another favorite, on the account of them often trying to be the good guys, though looking through their history, that hasn't gone so well often. For once, they could try something else than "let's beat the crap out of them", in a sense they're amusingly similar to the Clans.
Of course, the real reason is that many, many of my favorite 'Mechs are common in their hands, like the JagerMech. Not a fan of how they got some powerful toys from the Star League era though (such as the Thunder Hawk, Devastator or Nightstar).

I like the Free Worlds League in that they're actually nominally a democracy. Pity they couldn't curb the Captain-General's power. Not a fan of the resurrected FWL, doesn't feel the same anymore.
Unfortunately, 'Mech-wise the FWL get the short end of the stick, both in stats and looks, so i can't say i play the FWL... At least they got the coolest general purpose battle armor in the Inner Sphere in form of the Longinus.

The Republic of the Sphere is also pretty fun, in that they combine being the good guys with supertech taken from the WoB. Kinda interesting combination. However, since their demise at least to an extent is so inevitable, i never formed a real a connection to them. I don't mind my favorite factions losing or even getting destroyed completely, but the ROTS feels at times like it is made to be thrown away, though the few 3250 bits we've seen indicate something of them may survive.

Of the Clans, i like the Jade Falcons for their hidebound yet successful methods. Unfortunately, this has taken backseat to utter insanity during the Dark Age, and cool 'Mechs are barely a compensation for that.
Honestly nominating them for annihilation at this point.

Wasn't originally a fan of the Wolves but warmed up to them, especially during the Dark Age since it seems they've managed a reasonable balance between liberal attitude ("let's form an empire but not kill everyone" and 'Mechs like the Wulfen), and taking the seat of Crusader-minded top-Clan the Jade Falcons held previously. (Never took the Warden attitude quite seriously. It is like "look, we're good guys but we are beating the crap out of you first, no offense". OK, they didn't quite intend to do that but that's were they ended up.)

Finally, i like the Word of Blake for being so mustache-twirling villains.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #17 on: 13 February 2019, 13:04:47 »
I'd second this.  Nominally Comstar, as to me, they felt like the peacekeepers of the universe when I first got introduced to the game as whole through CH:Inception and Mechwarrior.  Even up to 3050, when they lead the fight against the Clans.  Then the split. 

After that, Steiner because of the Crescent Hawks up to the civil war, then Kurita because of the Japanese fascination of college anime.  That cooled off after Omi died.

Now, its the Wolverines. Always liked them, and the recent releases cemented that interest.

Does the Explorer Corps count as its own faction?

I always really liked the idea of an entity that was just there to poke around empty planets and find cool stuff.
« Last Edit: 13 February 2019, 13:08:48 by Luciora »

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #18 on: 13 February 2019, 13:06:16 »
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Explorer_Corps_(sourcebook)

Ooh, good one! "To boldly go where no one has gone before!" In what source material Explorer Corps appears at? Any novels?

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #19 on: 13 February 2019, 13:07:44 »
In what source material Explorer Corps appears at? Any novels?

Primarily its own SB: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Explorer_Corps_(sourcebook)
Some info is also found in the ComStar SB and FM as well as ISP3:IE.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #20 on: 13 February 2019, 13:33:55 »
Mechcommander Gold introduced me to the universe, so it was FedSuns for me (specifically, 1st DBoG in their blue and gold Port Arthur campaign scheme).
Then I read Wolves on the Border, and Far Country (best and worst, respectively), so I added a love of the Ryuken, and Wolf's Dragoons to the list (and Locusts).
Kell Hounds are on the list too due to novels.

Clans wise... I've dabbled and danced, but never really gotten into them. At most I'd keep a star or two of Wolves (invasion era) and Bears (pretty much any era). I enjoyed blowing up the Jags too much to ever really like the clans overly much.

In the 31xx era, my IS factions are the same. But I can't be bothered with clans. Well, maybe bears...
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #21 on: 13 February 2019, 14:15:13 »
I first became really aware of the St. Ives Compact after getting a copy of the 2nd Edition Mechwarrior RPG book as part of an auction lot around the turn of the millennium. Thumbing through it, I was struck by the faction's insignia, right up there with the great houses, in terms of simplicity and legibility. In later years I became more familiar with the relatively elite St. Ives Armored Cavalry, which made the other regional forces of the 3020s Capellan Confederation seem flimsy by comparison (save for the utterly massive Chesterton Reserves, who made up for the lack of a Commonality by having an utterly massive army). Though St. Ives was little more than a buffer state, it was well on its way to becoming the buffer state of my heart.

I appreciated that, for its size, St. Ives punched above its weight, with an abundance of 'Mech regiments and factories relative to the number of systems.  It preceded and outlasted the Free Rasalhague Republic (Which became a ComStar client state soon after the clan invasion, and was later gently subsumed by the same clans). And when the Capellan invasion of the early 60's came, they put up a tenacious three year long brawl that forced Sun-Tsu to the bargaining table, where the newly re-integrated commonality was able to secure a place of relative prominence in the new order, including an out-sized voice in the military leadership of the CCAF.

The relatively practical paint schemes used by the St. Ives Lancers and the later St. Ives Sentinels also appealed, a pragmatic gray/green color with simple one-color trim for each regiment (in contrast to the flamboyant scheme used by the St. Ives Janissaries little more than an explosive blip in the otherwise drab green life of the St. Ives Compact/Commonality).

After their reunification with the Confederation, the forces of the St. Ives Commonality continue to perform well, and their factories have become downright expansive.  Plus, the commonality's independent streak means I can still slap the St. Ives insignia on later generation 'Mechs without feeling too awkward (of course, anything after 3063 also bears the sword-on-triangle Capellan insignia).

As long as the Commonality survives, St. Ives lives on.  Though I wouldn't begrudge a Second Compact.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #22 on: 13 February 2019, 14:32:05 »
The first book I ever owned for battletech was the FedSuns sourcebook and the original camoSpecs books.  My favorite color scheme in there was the Davion Brigade of Guards scheme.  Never looked back since then.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #23 on: 13 February 2019, 14:44:01 »
I really wish Free Tai....St Ives worked and took over.  I'm not looking for a proxy Fed-run faction, but one that has an Asian background that isn't run by a crazy and secret policed to maintain loyalty.

I first became really aware of the St. Ives Compact after getting a copy of the 2nd Edition Mechwarrior RPG book as part of an auction lot around the turn of the millennium. Thumbing through it, I was struck by the faction's insignia, right up there with the great houses, in terms of simplicity and legibility. In later years I became more familiar with the relatively elite St. Ives Armored Cavalry, which made the other regional forces of the 3020s Capellan Confederation seem flimsy by comparison (save for the utterly massive Chesterton Reserves, who made up for the lack of a Commonality by having an utterly massive army). Though St. Ives was little more than a buffer state, it was well on its way to becoming the buffer state of my heart.

I appreciated that, for its size, St. Ives punched above its weight, with an abundance of 'Mech regiments and factories relative to the number of systems.  It preceded and outlasted the Free Rasalhague Republic (Which became a ComStar client state soon after the clan invasion, and was later gently subsumed by the same clans). And when the Capellan invasion of the early 60's came, they put up a tenacious three year long brawl that forced Sun-Tsu to the bargaining table, where the newly re-integrated commonality was able to secure a place of relative prominence in the new order, including an out-sized voice in the military leadership of the CCAF.

The relatively practical paint schemes used by the St. Ives Lancers and the later St. Ives Sentinels also appealed, a pragmatic gray/green color with simple one-color trim for each regiment (in contrast to the flamboyant scheme used by the St. Ives Janissaries little more than an explosive blip in the otherwise drab green life of the St. Ives Compact/Commonality).

After their reunification with the Confederation, the forces of the St. Ives Commonality continue to perform well, and their factories have become downright expansive.  Plus, the commonality's independent streak means I can still slap the St. Ives insignia on later generation 'Mechs without feeling too awkward (of course, anything after 3063 also bears the sword-on-triangle Capellan insignia).

As long as the Commonality survives, St. Ives lives on.  Though I wouldn't begrudge a Second Compact.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #24 on: 13 February 2019, 15:03:51 »
draconic combine.

When I started, I was shoved the kuritan mechs like the dragon. Alright... then I saw the IS omnis and mechs like the no-dachi and fell in love.
Plus space ******. :)

On the clan side I like Jade Falcon, more specifically the Dark Age JF.  If you are going to be bad guys... be bad guys. :)  Mongol charge!
No-Dachi has a counter-argument. Nothing further? Ok.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #25 on: 13 February 2019, 15:26:25 »
I really wish Free Tai....St Ives worked and took over.  I'm not looking for a proxy Fed-run faction, but one that has an Asian background that isn't run by a crazy and secret policed to maintain loyalty.
Play white hat Dracs then, like me.

We hate the Friendly Persuaders and the Yaks and the Blue bloods who oppress us, but we're still loyal to the Coordinator and Drac culture. Consequently we end up in the marginal and floating units like the Ghosts, Legion of Vega, Night Stalkers, Amphigeans, etc. or even nominal mercs loyal to the Dragon.... Insofar as they're different from the aforesaid.

As for "why" or rather, "how".... Dracness was thrust upon me as a GM for the "good guys", and I created the conflicted good guy Drac to balance out the moustache-twirling villainy. It's kind of stuck ever since.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #26 on: 13 February 2019, 15:37:22 »
Consequently we end up in the marginal and floating units like the Ghosts, Legion of Vega, Night Stalkers, Amphigeans, etc. or even nominal mercs loyal to the Dragon.... Insofar as they're different from the aforesaid.

Coincidentally, my Kurita forces are represented by the Amphigean LAG and Night Stalkers (I try to keep a little of everything on hand, as far as the successor states go).
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #27 on: 13 February 2019, 16:33:26 »
I would say Lyran first, and Fedsun second. (maybe marik as a very late 3rd).

when i first started collecting the books and ral partha lead minis, the steiner-davion alliance was a new thing. mechwarrior 2nd ed was out, and there were 3025/3026 TRO. and their money was pretty much in line with c-bills at the time. my favorite mech back then was the marauder, but these days its the warhammer.

Steiner has a cool logo, and lots of big stompy mech fun.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #28 on: 13 February 2019, 17:00:27 »
MechWarrior 2 made me a fan of Clan Wolf. Lore, traditions, attitude, the clan was just presented so well in the early 90s.

Most of my IS characters are Lyran in origin. House Steiner doesn't hang identity as heavily on Neo-Feudalism tropes as the few other houses, interesting history, mechs and doesn't play the good guy/bad guy card often ether (though the number of cackling/stupid villeins during the FedCom Civil War was annoying)

Mercs have been my go to for awhile (Thank you MW2: Mercs) they have allot of freedom in the BTU narrative and lots of fun personalities.   
« Last Edit: 13 February 2019, 23:31:51 by SteelRaven »
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #29 on: 13 February 2019, 17:16:42 »
My favorite successor state is the Draconis Combine.  I've been a fan about TRO 3050 if not before.  Mostly because of their bizare mix of medieval Japanese culture and sci fi imagination. 

I'm a fan of all things Clan, but I especially like the Shark Foxes for their flexibility and role as merchant warriors plying the starlanes.  After that, I like the Snow Ravens for their willingness to combine forces with a periphery nation.  The beating they took leaving the Clan Home Worlds made what happened to any other Clan look like slap on the wrist.

« Last Edit: 13 February 2019, 17:51:56 by rebs »
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SteveRestless

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #30 on: 13 February 2019, 17:41:28 »
The Clans as a whole, and in particular Clan Wolf in all its forms.

Some, but not all reasons:

There is no Space America. The Clans are one of the most direct descendants of the Terran Hegemony. Therefore, the Clans are one of my options for "next best thing"

Feudalism does nothing to excite me.

I'm a big fan of the "numerically inferior, technologically superior" factions. This goes way beyond Battletech.

I started with Mechwarrior 2.

The clans are biologically human, they are compatible with other humans, but they have evolved an interesting culture that makes them different from the bulk of inner sphere humanity.

I like warrior cultures.

I like the particular way that the clans operate. Things that make a good soldier, but not a good warrior, tend to bore me. I enjoy being a prolific, glorious warrior, even if a soldier might be tactically superior. I like ritualized combat trials for everything, the way they completely turn intimate acts into something else, the idea that the warrrior caste is made of mass produced humans who fight so the other castes dont.

I like Omnimechs and Battle Armor.

In a game that's about war, you get more games out of a faction who is looking for reasons to fight rather than excuses for peace.


So, why Clan Wolf?

I like the Timber Wolf.

I really like the Timber Wolf.

I also like the Warwolf, Dire Wolf, Tomahawk/II and Wulfen. Even grown fond of the Gargoyle and the Linebacker.

As a younger player I was big on the Warden cause because I saw them as the good guys, and the Wolves were at one time Warden, Exiles still are. As I've aged, I've come to relate better to the Crusader position, and there are plenty of Wolf Crusaders.

I'm a sucker for canines. Wolves. Dogs. Coyotes.

Mechwarrior 2.

I have a definite tendency to root for and bond with perspective characters that are agreeable to me. The Wolves have been prominent early in the clan storyline.

I like the Wolves generally lax grasp on the lower castes.

Timber. Wolf.

The Wolves seem to be, in many ways, a very... Base Template clan. You can say the Ravens are the Aero clan, the Horses are the Armor clan. The Hellions the crazy speedster clan. The Sharks/Foxes are the merchant clan. But as two of the first we were exposed to, the Wolves and Jade Falcons seem very much as establishing the baseline for what the clans are like. and I like that. You can dabble in nearly anything.

Шонхорын хурдаар хурцлан давшъя, Чонын зоригоор асан дүрэлзэье, Тэнхээт морьдын туурайгаар нүргэе, Тамгат Чингисийн ухаанаар даръя | Let’s go faster than a falcon, Let’s burn with the wolf’s courage, Let’s roar with the hooves of strong horses, Let’s go with the wisdom of Tamgat Genghis - The Hu, Wolf Totem

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #31 on: 13 February 2019, 18:30:58 »
My first real introduction to Battletech was that my cousin had MW4:mercs and I was watching his house while he and his family were at a camp.  I had time to get through the campaign both routes and Katherine was asking me to engage in shadier contracts than Victor.  My first introduction to the Cappies was them attacking a peace conference.  I thought the Clan trial was silly (he had the expansions) and took Castle's word on their unprovoked invasion.  I was thus initially pro-Davion. 

Since then I have learned that Katherine was an exceptional Steiner, that Castle was understating Clan dickery, that my initial impressions of the Cappies were pretty much accurate, and that I liked the earlier setting better.  Unsurprisingly as someone originally attracted to the Sus, I don't like the Combine.  Theodore Kurita is cool, but it's always made clear he's an exception and that his uphill battle to reform the Combine into something I don't have to hate is ultimately doomed.  I can like him and his fellow reformists, but they can't fix the faction. 

In general I like factions that are trying to make the setting less grimdark.  The Lyrans under Katrina and Melissa.  The Suns under Hanse.  The Bulls until their leadership went Liao crazy because they were actually trying to improve themselves in a non-zero-sum way through expansion into uninhabited territory.  Honorable mention to the Mariks prior to the "Real Thomas Marik" because they weren't outstanding dicks like most of the Liaos or the entire Combine upper class, but they weren't really helping things either. 

For the earlier eras I'm anti-SL because of Cameron dickery and anti-RWR because of Amaris dickery.  The Suns get some credit for the Pitcairn Legion and I don't like misandry any more than misogyny so the Canopans get a debit in spite of being a periphery faction.  Mostly I favor the Bulls, OWA, and Rim Republican Army and of those the Bulls were the closest to having a chance. 

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #32 on: 13 February 2019, 20:57:44 »
I've been a loyal Lyran since I started.  Even if we have Social Generals, some of the best Mercs have been Lryan born and trained.  So you can play the Steiner Wall of Steel Assault Company, or Merc who use combined arms and mobility to win battles.
And many of my Merc have been aligned with Heimdall to look out for the Lyran people.

Next would be the Taurian Concordat.  I will be honest I fell in love with it early on, in part because of how many unit they and Lryans shared.  Some of those same units now TPTB have taken from them in retcon, but still I have a love for them.

I'm only now slowly growing on clan factions and then I'm torn between Goliath Scorpion and Ghost Bears/Rasalhague Dominion.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #33 on: 13 February 2019, 21:21:34 »
Started as a Davion, and my heart still bleeds for the Federated Suns. Hanse Davion is my shepherd, I shall not want. :)

As I've gotten older, Inner Sphere wise I've grown to like the FWL just for the diversity of culture and the opportunities.

Clanwise, I loved the mystic Nova Cats. Sure in part because of a certain Bloodname…

And Empires Aflame I like the Rim Federation as the small underdogs.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #34 on: 13 February 2019, 22:33:28 »
I am both a fan of the Republic and the Fed Suns.  Packin a punch every time, even though there are some glass hammers.  I love the Templar.  Especially Julian Davion's "Arthur".  You simply cannot ignore a Republic Lament or a Fed Sun Vulpes pulling your armor apart. 

I am also a fan of the Ghost Bears.  The Kodiak  I&II, Karhu, Bruin, Arcas, Bear Cub, and Grizzly are a fantastic lineup. 

As for the factions they all play the "good guy" roles for the most part.  Julian just wants to save the FedSuns from the Dracs and Caps.  Devlin just wants everyone to stop fighting.  The Bears are a warden clan that I hope comes to save the Republic, or at least, help them evacuate. 
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #35 on: 14 February 2019, 05:56:22 »
Coincidentally, my Kurita forces are represented by the Amphigean LAG and Night Stalkers (I try to keep a little of everything on hand, as far as the successor states go).
But of course
Most of the time, the marginals are where the fun is at

For me it's the Ghosts - I have never been a "play by the rules" guy, so being placed outside the hierarchy where one can (must) game the system? Sounds like paradise

Not that it's not occasionally fun to samurai it up with the Sword of Light, kicking Fedrat butt and taking POWs  >:D

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #36 on: 14 February 2019, 06:49:23 »
I like Liao especially in the Sun Tzu era. There like the underdogs who finally start to turn things around. I always hated the Federated Suns but in 3145 they play much more of an underdog role which I kind of like. Also always liked Steiner and for clans I'd say Ghost Bears, rest of the clans I hate.   
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #37 on: 14 February 2019, 08:01:21 »
Not that it's not occasionally fun to samurai it up with the Sword of Light, kicking Fedrat butt and taking POWs  >:D

A Drac taking POWs?  Send in the Friendly Persuaders!  We got a Class One violation of the Dictum Honorium, which states that all enemies weak enough to contemplate surrender must be immediately executed for their cowardice. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #38 on: 14 February 2019, 13:04:28 »
When I came to the BT universe I had a very hard time getting excited about feudal houses.  I assume they become interesting as you read up on the personalities involved, which would make it pretty normal for new players to take a disproportionate interest in the Periphery. 

I decided I liked the Taurians.  Half my family’s from Spain; the bull’s an unofficial symbol, and the Toro is a great-looking mech.  (Then I found out about eras and its limited availability...).  I like the blend of a well-organized civilization with a bit of a frontier feel, and having everything go down the tubes under a military junta sounds perfectly realistic and means it’s an interesting time to join them. 

I needed an opposing force, probably from a major power because I know it’s risky to play as a minor one (in any game universe).  FedSuns would make more sense, but I don’t see the appeal yet.  So I decided on St. Ives.  Relatively likeable, some loose parallels to real-world places I have a connection to, fought against the Taurians in the 3060s, and in other eras they’re part of a state that I want to dislike but has a nice underdog flavor. 


The relatively practical paint schemes used by the St. Ives Lancers and the later St. Ives Sentinels also appealed, a pragmatic gray/green color with simple one-color trim for each regiment (in contrast to the flamboyant scheme used by the St. Ives Janissaries little more than an explosive blip in the otherwise drab green life of the St. Ives Compact/Commonality).

As long as we have a St. Ives expert here, I gotta ask - are there any canonical mentions of the Cheveau Légers’ color scheme?  The color compendium PDF has a vibrant fanmade scheme; the newer online color compendium has a different fanmade scheme that I’m not as big a fan of.  It includes a reference to Field Manual 3145 that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, and the artist stated on DeviantArt that he made up the scheme. 

I like the 1st Lancers’ scheme too (the later one, with ivory trim), but they don’t seem to get out much.


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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #39 on: 14 February 2019, 13:06:00 »
A Drac taking POWs?  Send in the Friendly Persuaders!  We got a Class One violation of the Dictum Honorium, which states that all enemies weak enough to contemplate surrender must be immediately executed for their cowardice.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #40 on: 14 February 2019, 14:16:41 »
As long as we have a St. Ives expert here, I gotta ask - are there any canonical mentions of the Cheveau Légers’ color scheme?  The color compendium PDF has a vibrant fanmade scheme; the newer online color compendium has a different fanmade scheme that I’m not as big a fan of.  It includes a reference to Field Manual 3145 that doesn’t seem to go anywhere, and the artist stated on DeviantArt that he made up the scheme. 

I like the 1st Lancers’ scheme too (the later one, with ivory trim), but they don’t seem to get out much.
Always glad to hear from other St. Ives fans.

There isn't a canonical mention of the Cheveau Legers scheme that I've been able to find, which I've always lamented. I haven't read every book, so one of the novels might mention it (this was the case with the early Blackwind Lancers scheme).

Full disclosure: if the artist in question is cited as Vierth, those were mine. They should not be taken as anything other than pure conjecture, and the old ones are especially fallible. They were done years ago, the earlier ones before I really understood the structure and color conventions of the St. Ives Armored Cavalry. The later one is closer, but it's not canonical, and I think blue is the wrong trim color (I could do another paragraph about why).
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #41 on: 14 February 2019, 16:20:32 »
Clan simply because I love Battle Armor and they had it first.  Reading the "Jade Phoenix" trilogy cemented my love of the Clan Jade Falcon over all of the other Clans because I love the fact that they have had to work twice as hard to earn even half the respect that the Wolves get for coasting on the Kerensky Bloodname.  The Wolves break the rules and then throw out a casual "Clan of Kerensky" as the reason, while the either follow the rules or bend them until they ALMOST break and have been just as successful as the other Invading Clans that have "sold out" or gone completely insane like the Homeworld Clans (...Dark Age may be changing that). 

Unfortunately, I strongly dislike the way the Jade Falcons have gone in Dark Age, tossing out honor and integrity (well...most of the time) for sheer brutality, but I'm apparently in the minority.


Then the ****** Clans came.  Everything "cool" about the Clans is by right of primacy a Kurita theme.  Every Clan fan out there should have been a Dracophile, and what's REALLY aggravating is when they don't even know it.

What if we know it and just don't care? 

Truthfully, the Draconis Combine is my favorite IS power for many of the same reasons that I love the Clans. 
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Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #42 on: 14 February 2019, 18:28:03 »
What if we know it and just don't care? 

So long as you know, it's not aggravating at all no matter what you choose to do :D


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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #43 on: 14 February 2019, 18:46:04 »
I started out as a fan of the Lyrans, mostly because I came into Battletech through the Crescent Hawk games, where the Elsies were the default protagonist faction, given that the entirety of Inception took place on Pacifica and Revenge followed mercenary companies who were longtime Elsie contracts. I later gravitated to the FedSuns because of them being the "heroes" of the Succession Wars setting. But lately, I've taken a big shine to House Marik.

The reasons are easy. I love the roleplaying possibilities of the FWL -- this one big unhappy family of squabbling microstates all allegedly under the leadership of the Captain-General, all with their own schemes and plans more or less out in the open (I'm looking at you, Dame Catherine Humphries!), and with enough societal freedom for shenanigans to happen without StateSec killing you quite dead thirty seconds after you start raising a ruckus -- unless it's a sufficiently big ruckus (looking at you, Duke Anton...)....

The authoritarian DC and totalitarian CC are just too stifling, and lately the "Knights of the Round Table IN SPACE" Davions and "Hanseatic League IN SPACE" Lyrans just look too bland in comparison, even with the Haseks and Lestrades making their own power plays. And I never did get the hang of the Clan Invasion and beyond.

Not to mention, the purple, red and blue of the Marik Militia is a striking scheme.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #44 on: 14 February 2019, 18:53:34 »
So long as you know, it's not aggravating at all no matter what you choose to do :D

I acknowledge and accept it as well. 

There was a good reason the writers matched up the DC with the Jags.  Give the Dracs a taste of their own tea. 
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SteveRestless

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #45 on: 14 February 2019, 19:21:20 »
Every Clan fan out there should have been a Dracophile

Frack that.

I acknowledge the similarities, and even in character, those similarities are ascribed as coming to the clans by way of combine cultural contribution. the ilkasur shogunate is the means by which much of those similarities were transmitted.

But the Combine does nothing to sate my appetite for the things that make the clans desirable to me.

There's a lot of (to my western mindset) awkward mincing rules of society and etiquette that don't match up at all.

In the Combine, an unworthy master is still a master to be served. I don't get to issue refusal to his orders and challenge him for his rank. The clans, that's a possibility.

The Combine, culturally, has strong notions of what constitutes purity and morality that is at odds with the clans turning coupling into a recreational bonding exercise.

The Combine does not mass produce warriors, it just treats the ones it has cheaply.

In my opinion, there is as much to set them apart, as they have in common.  I have less than zero interest in having a combine player character in most eras of the story.
Шонхорын хурдаар хурцлан давшъя, Чонын зоригоор асан дүрэлзэье, Тэнхээт морьдын туурайгаар нүргэе, Тамгат Чингисийн ухаанаар даръя | Let’s go faster than a falcon, Let’s burn with the wolf’s courage, Let’s roar with the hooves of strong horses, Let’s go with the wisdom of Tamgat Genghis - The Hu, Wolf Totem

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #46 on: 14 February 2019, 19:56:51 »
Then the ****** Clans came.  Everything "cool" about the Clans is by right of primacy a Kurita theme.  Every Clan fan out there should have been a Dracophile, and what's REALLY aggravating is when they don't even know it.

I have to admit this is the case. The Clans are just House Kurita turned up to eleven, and consequently left House Kurita without a real place in the setting. They just spun their wheels for a long time, unable to find what to do now that the Clans had usurped their role.

There's a reason why I always want stories where the Kuritas go and defeat the Clans. House Kurita are the most consistently skilled anti-Clan house forces in the Inner Sphere. They killed the Smoke Jaguars and they killed the Nova Cats. They've even gotten to stalemate or only-slightly-lose to the Ghost Bears, which considering the Bears' infuriating invincibility, I still have to rate as pretty good.

The samurai of House Kurita are the most skilled individual MechWarriors in all of human space - and I cheer every time we go and remind the Clans of that fact.

That said, I personally go for the FedSuns. When I first encountered BattleTech my instincts were actually the Lyrans, but the thing about that was, not only did the Lyrans constantly lose, the Lyrans didn't even seem to want to win that much. The history of the Lyran Commonwealth is a long, slow process of trading away worlds for time, just letting the borders be eaten away as long as the Protectorate of Donegal is prosperous. It wasn't just that the Lyrans couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. It was that the Lyrans didn't even try.

Sod that. So instead I found what I wanted in the Federated Suns. Say what you will about the Suns, but they try. Their heart is in it. House Davion is always in it to win it, and even when they lose, as they more-or-less have been consistently since 3028 (a few Jihad bright spots aside), they always make a decent accounting of themselves. The Suns don't want to lose. More than that, they're not ashamed of winning either. I always instinctively root for the underdog (it's an Australian thing), but there is something valuable for me in the reminder: it's okay to win. Victory is not something to be ashamed of. The Federated Suns remind me of that.

But it's not just their fighting spirit, nor even the fact that their national mythology is one I really like (I'm pretty into medieval literature, yay Arthuriana!). It's also their creativity. The FedSuns are dynamic. They come up with new ideas and execute them. I suppose I could have been a Capellan fan, but even leaving aside that firstly I don't like playing villains and secondly, despite what Capellan fans have told me, I find them just another predictable tinpot dictatorship, the unfortunate fact is that Capellan stories are often very predictable. Who are they fighting this week - oh, the Davions again. Or maybe the Republic. I want a bit more creativity and diversity in my story options than yet again the Glorious Patriotic War of Reclamation. Okay, I get it, reclaim our 'ancestral worlds' from other people - what else you got? It can seem like the answer is 'not much'. But House Davion can do a lot of different things.

So far in the game's run, the Federated Suns has gone to war with pretty much everyone imaginable, including themselves, multiple times. Further, inside the Suns, you don't find a single culture. You find a wide range of diversity: unlike the Japanese Kuritas, German Lyrans, or Chinese Capellans, there isn't a single state culture overlaid on everyone. The Suns and the League have this internal diversity, but where for the Free Worlds League that internal diversity is crippling to the extent that the League barely even gets to do anything outside its own borders, for the FedSuns you can emphasise it or de-emphasise it as much as you like. Plus I suppose I like space feudalism more than I do parliament shouting at each other. If I want the latter, I can just turn on the television.  ;)

Basically, the Suns give me everything I want. Neo-feudalism and march politics, internal diversity without ruining its capability for offensive action, a wide variety of potential foes and potential allies, involvement in lots of interesting different types of story, real fighting spirit and a determination to always do their best, and a lot of mythological/historical allusions that I'm personally really into.

carlisimo

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #47 on: 14 February 2019, 20:18:00 »
Full disclosure: if the artist in question is cited as Vierth, those were mine. They should not be taken as anything other than pure conjecture, and the old ones are especially fallible. They were done years ago, the earlier ones before I really understood the structure and color conventions of the St. Ives Armored Cavalry. The later one is closer, but it's not canonical, and I think blue is the wrong trim color (I could do another paragraph about why).

Hey, that makes you THE expert.  This is great! 

I’d love that paragraph about their trim color before I make something up.  I’d keep the gray-green base, but might use larger blocks of a secondary color than the 1st and 2nd Lancers
use.


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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #48 on: 14 February 2019, 20:20:28 »
Quote
wide range of diversity: unlike the Japanese Kuritas, German Lyrans, or Chinese Capellans, there isn't a single state culture overlaid on everyone.

None of the Successor States are culturally monolithic, though the Combine comes the closest (since the cultural reforms of Urizen II).  The Lyran Commonwealth has worlds that are culturally Brazilian, Japanese, Scottish, South African, Indian, Pakistani, etc.  The Capellans likewise have Russians, Poles, Taiwanese, North Americans, Portuguese, Malaysians, and so on. 

Yes, House Liao is descended from Asian roots, but those roots are Nepalese, rather than Han Chinese.  The Liao who seceded from the Terran Alliance was named Victor and wielded a katana while wearing a kilt.  In the Xin Sheng period, Kuan Yin Allard-Liao notes that cosmetic surgery to add epicanthal folds was wildly popular - not because of the State imposing a monoculture on the Capellan people, but because of hero worship of Sun-Tzu Liao. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #49 on: 14 February 2019, 20:25:23 »
None of the Successor States are culturally monolithic, though the Combine comes the closest (since the cultural reforms of Urizen II).  The Lyran Commonwealth has worlds that are culturally Brazilian, Japanese, Scottish, South African, Indian, Pakistani, etc.  The Capellans likewise have Russians, Poles, Taiwanese, North Americans, Portuguese, Malaysians, and so on. 

Yes, but the Lyrans, Capellans, and Kuritas all have a semi-official 'state culture' or 'aristocratic culture' that's overlaid on the nation as a whole. That's what I was getting at.

Quote
Yes, House Liao is descended from Asian roots, but those roots are Nepalese, rather than Han Chinese.

Elias Liao was, I believe, half-Nepalese and half-English. It is rather amusing that the Liao family is not traditionally Han at all. But of course, the way the aristocratic culture in the three states mentioned works is not by descent or genetics, but rather behaviourally. The point is acting Han, or Japanese, or German; at the very least speaking the language, and typically a bit more than that.

(I do grant, for what it's worth, that the Lyrans are the least serious about this, and the Kuritas are the most extreme. If you're a Lyran noble, you speak German, and you're familiar with the German-inspired political institutions, but there probably isn't much more you have to do. It's relatively close to the Suns, really, where you probably speak English and are probably conversant with all those English baronial titles. But if you're Draconis, not only do you speak Japanese and understand Japanese-inspired institutions, you act Japanese on a day-to-day basis or you are ostracised.)

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #50 on: 14 February 2019, 21:11:15 »
For the inner sphere, my love of House Steiner, and a serious like of House Davion came from the cartoon being my entrypoint. 25 years ago these powers were not seperate. I leaned Steiner for no other reason then Blue is my favorite color.

For the Clans i chose the Nova Cats because they were not part of the initial four invaders. Finding out the clan as a whole is experts in hot drops and they value energy weapon marksmanship solidified it. Thier aboriginal/amerindian spirituality was icing on the cake

In the big fat other, i fell in love with the Manei Domini for what I call the Broly excuse. You know what I mean “OH MY GOD THEY ARE SO COOL”
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Daryk

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #51 on: 14 February 2019, 21:30:30 »
The first play by post game I played here (well, on an earlier incarnation), we were mercs supporting the Lothian League in 3025.  I've liked them ever since, and was bummed to see they were conquered by the Marians.

VensersRevenge

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #52 on: 14 February 2019, 22:15:45 »
I have always played heroic characters in every video game I have ever played. In D&D the least heroic character I ever played was a Lawful Neutral character who quickly became a hero out of necessity. And I am more than willing to acknowledge that my definitions of good and evil are biased towards a Western viewpoint. So the collectivist ethos that the Liaos and the Kuritas push for strikes me as wrong, especially with the whole extremely powerful secret police and naming your elite unit the Death Commandoes thing. The Steiners also have the issues with Loki being extremely overly-powerful, and I don't care for a state that has been taken over by its industrial masters. While the Federated Suns are by no means the perfect heroes, and even the straightforwardly heroic Victor Steiner-Davion took problematic actions, they do at least try to value their people over the state and their industrial allies. They value leadership and strategic thought, not loyalty to the state or wealth, and they actually use combined arms tactics to the point of developing Omnivehicles before Omnimechs. But more than that, they actually value science. The NAIS was developed to bring back lost technology and make the Federated Suns a better place than it was before, and as the son of a scientist seeing even a fictional leader who values science as much as Hanse Davion is a refreshing break from the real world. The Federated Suns are no where near my ideal government, but they are closer than anyone else in the setting, so I will support them until the authors kill them off and beyond.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #53 on: 15 February 2019, 02:28:51 »
Originally I was a fan of the Free Worlds League. I can't even begin to remember why. Then it changed to the Draconis Combine and, eventually, back to the Free Worlds League.

I like the NFWL for a number of reasons. It takes the League's multiculturalism and turns it up to eleven. It is definitely the underdog, having come from a position of weakness and then having to rebuild from shattered remnants. It's got some really interesting 'Mechs in its inventory, ones that might be more flavoursome than good, but that's how I prefer it. And finally, it's got some really flashy paint schemes.

Interestingly enough, I've been of late becoming fond of the Federated Suns. Maybe it's because they are also in an underdog-esque situation.

As another note, there's a faction I actually used to like, but was turned off by it's fans.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #54 on: 15 February 2019, 10:37:30 »
When I first encountered BattleTech my instincts were actually the Lyrans, but the thing about that was, not only did the Lyrans constantly lose, the Lyrans didn't even seem to want to win that much. The history of the Lyran Commonwealth is a long, slow process of trading away worlds for time, just letting the borders be eaten away as long as the Protectorate of Donegal is prosperous. It wasn't just that the Lyrans couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag. It was that the Lyrans didn't even try.
Ever heard about Operation Götterdämmerung? Also when we are attacked, we put up Hell of a fight every time. Just take a look at the battles of Skye and Hesperus II: even Wolf's Dragoons didn't break us.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #55 on: 15 February 2019, 10:53:22 »
Nova Cats reason novel Path of Glory really sold me on Clan society and the Nova Cats though I liked a Character who didn't like where his people were going which when added to my own creative desire led to my AU
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #56 on: 15 February 2019, 11:33:54 »
My first regular opponent was heavily into Davion designs (several of the -D variants were rather "munchy"), so choosing a faction that was extremely "Not Davion" was a driving factor.  The Oberon Confederation seemed like the ideal situation to me: a former outright bandit kingdom working toward respectability.  There's something amusing about an underdog that's managed to build up a long list of enemies and war crimes in the past, but is now TRYING to behave.  You get to unleash an occasional bit of pirate brutality and atrocity in individual combat actions, and then have the central authority try to excuse the excesses of the formerly pirate troops and low-level commanders.  Sadly, they vanished mysteriously only a few months later when some invaders called "the Clans" showed up.

After that, I briefly took an interest in the FWL in online play (Genie network, pre-internet), before settling on the Outworlds Alliance as my new favorite.  How can you not be amused by "Space Amish" with Battlemechs?  At least it was several more years before they were absorbed into the Raven Alliance.

Since then, I've gravitated back mostly to the FWL again (which then promptly broke up, but has more recently reformed), primarily because they had some excellent maneuver elements that I enjoyed running....the excessive use of LGRs...not so much.  Unfortunately, they always seem to get the short end of the stick in terms of the fiction and universe plotlines, when they get mentioned at all, despite supposedly being some kind of industrial powerhouse that produces equipment to spare for other Houses.  While the Lyrans get a disproportionate share of Assault 'Mechs, the FWL gives up that amount, so the challenge is to do more with less high-end units.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #57 on: 15 February 2019, 13:31:23 »
Frack that.

I've decided that I can't decide if your use of the word "frack" is intentionally or unintentionally ironic.  If it was intentional, salut!  If it was unintentional... then "yeah that's my point".

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #58 on: 15 February 2019, 17:38:34 »
The NAIS was developed to bring back lost technology and make the Federated Suns a better place than it was before, and as the son of a scientist seeing even a fictional leader who values science as much as Hanse Davion is a refreshing break from the real world.

And, continuing from my earlier, faction-within-a-faction Explorer Corp answer, the NAIS Cadet Cadres are my go-to Fed Suns unit because (in theory) they represent an idea small and specific enough to be relatively incorruptible by the shenanigans of a larger, interstellar government.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #59 on: 15 February 2019, 20:11:17 »
Ever heard about Operation Götterdämmerung? Also when we are attacked, we put up Hell of a fight every time. Just take a look at the battles of Skye and Hesperus II: even Wolf's Dragoons didn't break us.

I admit the moments I most like the Lyrans are when their backs are to the wall, they face true national crisis, and they rally together and bring a combination of grit and brute force to bear.

My favourite historical example would be the 2853 Battle of Hesperus: the Force of Last Resort and the last flight of the LCS Invincible. As for modern examples, I actually like pieces of the Dark Age so far. I liked the portrayal of the Lyrans in The Anvil, where they managed to be genuinely professional and determined in the face of a superior foe, and were rewarded with a well-deserved victory. Similarly, some of the desperate Lyran attempts to stop the Wolf and Falcon tide in the Dark Age are compelling: as depressing as the current timeline is for the Lyrans, the battles of both Tharkad and Hesperus were nice, with the Lyrans taking the two strongest Clans in the Inner Sphere (save the Bears, but I'll save my grudge against the Bears for another time) on the chin and managing to hold out.

It's more that I wish they always had that grit. It's hard to get behind the faction when half the time they feel like bumbling fools who only barely manage to stumble into victory by way of superior technology and numbers.

Gotterdammerung itself doesn't really do it for me: yes, the Lyrans won, but it was the Fourth Succession War. Plus I suppose it doesn't feel as real to me, since I first came across BattleTech much later, and I know they would almost immediately abandon those worlds to make the Rasalhague Republic, and then that whole area of space and more would be lost to the Clans. So it doesn't feel as impressive to me? Anyone could have won in the Fourth Succession War - if it takes that many dominos lining up to get the Lyrans to stage a successful offensive to reclaim lost worlds, what does that say about them? I guess in the game's history the Lyrans can seem a bit passive? Compare: the Draconis Combine has made multiple attempts to try to tame the Bears and take back Rasalhague. Sure, they've mostly failed (grumble grumble), but they've made some pretty credible efforts. I get the sense it's something they want to do. Whereas I think, from memory, every single Lyran-Falcon war was started by the Falcons. The Lyran Commonwealth doesn't feel like it cares very much about liberating the Tamar Pact. Not the way the Combine seems to care about getting Rasalhague back.

Sorry, rambling now. It's sort of... I like a lot of the Lyran culture, I like their mechs and technology, I like that they seem to genuinely want peace a lot of the time, and so on. But the Lyran incompetence meme is far too deeply ingrained for my liking, and I feel like they are far, far too inconsistent when it comes to their fighting spirit.

Don't get me wrong, I want to like the Lyrans, and sometimes I do quite a lot. They're easy to empathise with. They just don't consistently show the sort of spirit, the pluck that I want to see in my faction.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #60 on: 16 February 2019, 00:53:09 »
Well, like most, I was drawn to the FS and later FC as the biggest, best faction.  Then, as I learned about the weird 'space Romans' of the MH I decided, "Hey - here's a group that reveres history, knows they can be winners, and SURELY won't be morons on the way to domination of the local Periphery states."

I quickly learned better than to expect that a faction based on ancient Rome to take the long view.  Makes me wince, the way they're written about, but it isn't RL after all.  Doesn't have to make sense.
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #61 on: 16 February 2019, 00:55:07 »
Not sure what you expected from pirates LARPing as Romans despite being largely inconsequential galactically.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #62 on: 16 February 2019, 00:59:58 »
Not sure what you expected from pirates LARPing as Romans despite being largely inconsequential galactically.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #63 on: 16 February 2019, 02:20:10 »
Early on, and for a long time, my main faction was the Word of Blake. This was because I was the one convincing my brother and my friends to play the game in the first place, and since they'd inevitably want to run a campaign with a unit of their own, I'd end up playing the opposing force in most games, and the Word of Blake was a popular opponent. Eventually I started to read up on the faction and in some ways I enjoy them precisely because they're nearly my polar opposite. But admittedly, part of what usually pulls me to a faction is that their units suit my play-style(s), and C3i plus iNarc (especially back in the days before ECM was all over the damn place) can be a pretty brutal combination once you really get the hang of them. I never played a campaign with them myself, but I still play Blakist opfors for Taharqa from time to time and I still always enjoy breaking 'em out.

Currently, my big factional attachment is Clan Hell's Horses. In the wake of the release of the 3145 material I was excited to play with all the new toys, so I set about putting together a new campaign as a side project from my main campaign. Eventually, because I realized I wanted to do one each of Inner Sphere and Clan, I did both a 3145 revival of House Ma-Tsu Kai (long my favorite Capellan unit) and a Clan Hell's Horses Galaxy. Again, in both cases I worked backwards from unit selection befitting my play style, but as I've read up on both I've really grown to enjoy them, especially Clan Hell's Horses. (Note: Like the Word of Blake, my love of these factions paradoxically stems partly from the fact that I find them colorfully abhorrent.)

I've also always a big soft spot for the Free Worlds League, especially the Duchy of Oriente. They're probably closest to my preferences in terms of government (although to be clear they're still light-years off from it; suffice to say that BattleTech is not the setting I go to for that sort of thing), other than maybe the Rim Collection or the Outworlds Alliance. Also, at least in my opinion, they have more flavor than the other five Houses combined.
« Last Edit: 20 February 2019, 19:32:15 by Kojak »


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calendraug

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #64 on: 17 February 2019, 13:20:00 »
Comstar our first group of rpg characters were mercs who got recruited into the Comguard a couple of years before tukkayyid. Then clan Wolverine liked their independent nature and mystery around them.

Tangoforone

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #65 on: 20 February 2019, 11:56:27 »
My favorite faction is definitely Word of Blake.  Bunch of goofs.  To be so devoted to a cause makes them fun to play in a role-play sense, not to mention their cause is pretty honorable when you look at what they fought for.  There is nothing more enjoyable than charging forth into the oppositions main force knowing that survival is unlikely, yelling nonsense over the coms along the lines of 'The light of Blake shall purge you!' 

I'm bummed that they had to end up suicidal and self-destructive.  A faction that wants the betterment of the Inner Sphere and the destruction of the Clans has been seen before.  But WOB was willing to commit any atrocity against anyone for the overall betterment of the IS.  An organization like that would have been an incredible faction to keep around.

I have hope, though, that the saviors of the Inner Sphere will return.  The Day of Salvation (or Reckoning) shall come.


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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #66 on: 20 February 2019, 19:11:49 »
Then the ****** Clans came.  Everything "cool" about the Clans is by right of primacy a Kurita theme.  Every Clan fan out there should have been a Dracophile, and what's REALLY aggravating is when they don't even know it.

It is extremely difficult for me to get enthused about the Draconis Combine when they have seriously goofy stuff like DEST wielding katanas, criminal organizations filling out their military and dudes committing seppuku left, right and center. If that was all stuff that was just early lore and left in the eighties, I would be OK with it, but I'm getting up past the Clan invasion in the novels and... they. keep. on. doing. it.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #67 on: 21 February 2019, 13:31:21 »
I love the Terran Hegemony. I like it because it is at the center of all things Battletech in so many ways.

My current faction is Clans Hell's Horses. I like that they use every type of unit available. It is rare to see any faction take an interest in using things like conventional infantry or tanks let alone a clan. I would hazard to say if we ever get clan LAMs it would likely come from the Horses, especially with the inovation that is the Quad Vee.

That being said I have played everything from Comstar to Clan Snow Raven to Merc.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #68 on: 21 February 2019, 19:01:36 »
"No matter where you go, there you are."

Seriously, the first to look at the giant robot in 300 years of warfare and say "Give that thing a hatchet." Nothing better, and they are still out there, just running under the radar.

ilClan Banzai in 3151

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Hellraiser

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #69 on: 03 March 2019, 20:38:02 »
but we Lyrans have Commando, Wolfhound, Firestarter, Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, and Wolverine.

So why do you favour Lyran Commonwealth? Or any other faction?

Are you saying that is what the LyrCom produces in 3025 or that is all you have access too?

If so, add the Vulcan, Locust, Wasp, & Stinger to that list.   But I don't show any factories making S-Hawks or Wolverines for the Lyrans.




As for favorite, its all from the early books for me.

With 10 of the first 12 books all giving you a look inside life in the FedCom states, I was a FedCom fan from the beginning.

Sure you had some look at Liao/Kurita in there, especially with the Dragon/Wolf books added in, but I saw them as the enemy & there was minimal info on Marik in any of the early novels.

So I'm a FedCom fan for sure with Wolf as my Clan faction for the same reason, lots of early novel time gave you the biggest exposure to them.
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Matti

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #70 on: 03 March 2019, 23:52:48 »
Are you saying that is what the LyrCom produces in 3025 or that is all you have access too?
Wolfhound enters in production in 3028.

Quote
If so, add the Vulcan, Locust, Wasp, & Stinger to that list.
Maybe I should have, but that would have made longer list to read...

Quote
But I don't show any factories making S-Hawks or Wolverines for the Lyrans.
House Steiner sourcebook says this:
Quote
The LCAF has shown little interest in organizing Medium
lances, which is why Lyran units contain the usual hodgepodge
of Phoenix Hawks, Griffins, Shadow Hawks
In addition TRO entry for Wolverine tells about Lyran company with 9 Wolverines and 3 Phoenix Hawks, so it isn't rare either. Point I was making is some of the books describe LCAF as heavy and slow, but are aforementioned 'Mechs in any way slower than Enforcer and Panther?
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Caedis Animus

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #71 on: 04 March 2019, 09:03:54 »
I used to like House Steiner a lot, and still do. Mostly because I love the medium mechs they get saddled with. Seriously, those factories print out what I consider to be solid gold examplars of the medium class. (Uziels and Blitzkreigs, mostly.)

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #72 on: 04 March 2019, 14:43:11 »
They really do.

With Vulcan, Phoenix Hawk, Chameleon, & Griffin  (+ Hatchetman) in 3025 you have solid speed/mobility.

Then, IIRC, add in Cobra, Uziel, Blitzkreig, & FireStarter-Omni & you have a good medium striker/cavalry force.

Only the Hatchetman stands out as being "slow" for its size & it wasn't bad really with JJ in 3025.  The fact that its an Urban/Melee specialist is reason for its speed.
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Caedis Animus

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #73 on: 08 March 2019, 01:34:18 »
They really do.

With Vulcan, Phoenix Hawk, Chameleon, & Griffin  (+ Hatchetman) in 3025 you have solid speed/mobility.

Then, IIRC, add in Cobra, Uziel, Blitzkreig, & FireStarter-Omni & you have a good medium striker/cavalry force.

Only the Hatchetman stands out as being "slow" for its size & it wasn't bad really with JJ in 3025.  The fact that its an Urban/Melee specialist is reason for its speed.
Honestly, the Hatchetman slots in just fine with most medium mechs I field in 3025 anyways. The 45 and 50 ton categories are filled with 4/6 units back then for whatever reason, and of those, a LOT of those synergize well with the Hatchetman as urban combat units (Like, seriously, stick it next to a Hunchback 4G or Centurion A. Both work pretty well with it as battle buddies). Plus, a lot of those units are general use.

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #74 on: 08 March 2019, 13:08:48 »
I rooted for the unified FedCom as a whole (rather than for either of its two distinct component halves) because I'm a Brit who grew up to be a Euro-enthusiast in a Eurosceptic country. I related to the idea of two different nations coming together voluntarily to create something far greater than either of them could ever be alone.

Then I had to sit through the FedCom Civil War.

Now I'm having to sit through Brexit.

Thanks for jinxing things for us all, BT! >:(
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #75 on: 08 March 2019, 14:33:22 »
I rooted for the unified FedCom as a whole (rather than for either of its two distinct component halves) because I'm a Brit who grew up to be a Euro-enthusiast in a Eurosceptic country. I related to the idea of two different nations coming together voluntarily to create something far greater than either of them could ever be alone.

Then I had to sit through the FedCom Civil War.

Now I'm having to sit through Brexit.

Thanks for jinxing things for us all, BT! >:(

I am still not happy about the FedCom civil war part of the story.  From that point onward I just have not been able to get into the fiction anymore which is too bad because I used to love reading Battletech novels (I read the ones I do have that I like numerous times because that is how I roll).

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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #76 on: 08 March 2019, 15:35:37 »
I rooted for the unified FedCom as a whole (rather than for either of its two distinct component halves) because I'm a Brit who grew up to be a Euro-enthusiast in a Eurosceptic country. I related to the idea of two different nations coming together voluntarily to create something far greater than either of them could ever be alone.
I swear I have seen United States of Europe mentioned somewhere in BattleTech literature ::)
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Re: Why are you fan of a given faction?
« Reply #77 on: 08 March 2019, 17:23:40 »
House Kurita, p. 12:  "Government factories in the United States of North America, the United States of Europe, and the Nippon Confederation led the way..."
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.