Author Topic: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider  (Read 5294 times)

Drewbacca

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Not sure if anyone has started this yet, and a search did not come up with anything, but here is a thread for Comstar fans. Have at it.

Frabby

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #1 on: 26 April 2018, 05:56:54 »
Ho hum. ComStar is dead and buried, and only shadows and ghost stories of the WoB remain.
I liked ComStar as the "sixth House" and was sorry to see them go, feeling it killed a small bit of core BattleTech. But they're not coming back.
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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #2 on: 26 April 2018, 06:20:26 »
Ho hum. ComStar is dead and buried, and only shadows and ghost stories of the WoB remain.
I liked ComStar as the "sixth House" and was sorry to see them go, feeling it killed a small bit of core BattleTech. But they're not coming back.

Comstar is never dead. :-D Just ask Tucker!

Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #3 on: 26 April 2018, 13:47:50 »
I have a question: Which mech would you consider the iconic Comstar mech?

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #4 on: 26 April 2018, 13:54:45 »
R A I J I N

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #5 on: 26 April 2018, 14:06:03 »
Iconic?  Anything painted white...

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #6 on: 26 April 2018, 14:25:56 »
I have a question: Which mech would you consider the iconic Comstar mech?

I know it's technically SLDF and other factions use them too, I always think of the Black Knight from the cover of Fall of Terra. When I think 'Comstar', that's what pops into my mind before the logo or anything else- white Black Knights.
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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #7 on: 26 April 2018, 14:40:53 »
I know it's technically SLDF and other factions use them too, I always think of the Black Knight from the cover of Fall of Terra. When I think 'Comstar', that's what pops into my mind before the logo or anything else- white Black Knights.

This was the first thing to pop into my head too. It seems to be the go to for Comstar art that is not a post-Tuk build.

On that note, one thing I was never clear on is what kind of salvage did Comstar get out of Tuk?

JadeHellbringer

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #8 on: 26 April 2018, 14:52:17 »
This was the first thing to pop into my head too. It seems to be the go to for Comstar art that is not a post-Tuk build.

On that note, one thing I was never clear on is what kind of salvage did Comstar get out of Tuk?

It's tough to say, honestly. There were no shortage of Clan Mech carcasses laying about, one would think (god, imagine dredging the Prezno river of all those flooded Falcon Guards Mechs from their crossing!), but as we know from sources like the Avatar's writeup in TRO:3058 it was tricky getting Clan gear to run for IS technicians. (Thus that machine's hardwired medium lasers, in case of pod failure).

Now, Comstar had more skilled techs than the Successor States, of course- they were maintaining SLDF-style tech, after all, something that by this point only elite house units were being equipped with. But Clan tech might have still been tricky to deal with- especially since getting intact units was likely rare.

So, by volume? Plenty of salvaged Clan gear. How much of it was useful within the first six months? Not a lot, I'd wager. (Factor in that much of what could be moved by the Word when the schism took place probably was hijacked!). We DO know that enough gear was salvaged to equip the 'Invader Galaxy', though I recall that was mostly IS units re-equipped with Clan equipment (and tactics) rather than using actual Clan Mechs.

I'd bet that by the time the Jihad arrived over Tukkayid, there were STILL plenty of Clan units- maybe even Com Guards- laying abandoned for a decade and a half, simply because there's only so much time in the day and a whole planet to scour to find them.
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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #9 on: 26 April 2018, 16:23:16 »
(god, imagine dredging the Prezno river of all those flooded Falcon Guards Mechs from their crossing!)

Imagine dredging the Devil's Bath! I would love to see a story of some comstar tech finding the missing Goliath Scorpion mechs in a mudhole.

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #10 on: 26 April 2018, 18:02:44 »
Imagine dredging the Devil's Bath! I would love to see a story of some comstar tech finding the missing Goliath Scorpion mechs in a mudhole.

And that's how the Com Guard ended up with a Sun Spider.

With that being said, I'd agree with the trend so far; when I think "Com Guard" I tend to think of the 2750 SLDF 'Mechs. The "Clanbuster" Black Knight is probably the most iconic of them, simply because of the hatchet
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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #11 on: 26 April 2018, 18:11:33 »
And that's how the Com Guard ended up with a Sun Spider.

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ClarkeMarek

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #12 on: 26 April 2018, 21:40:12 »
I know it's technically SLDF and other factions use them too, I always think of the Black Knight from the cover of Fall of Terra. When I think 'Comstar', that's what pops into my mind before the logo or anything else- white Black Knights.

That or the Shootist would be my choice.
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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #13 on: 26 April 2018, 23:57:58 »
A what now

I think he meant Battle Cobra.

So me its either the Black Knight, Shootist or that guy to my left.

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #14 on: 27 April 2018, 00:26:35 »
No, I meant Sun Spider. Because I cannot think of anyhting more awesome then a quasi-canon Goliath Scorpion Omni turning up somewhere completely random and unexpected.

I'm like that.
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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #15 on: 27 April 2018, 02:04:26 »
It's tough to say, honestly. There were no shortage of Clan Mech carcasses laying about, one would think (god, imagine dredging the Prezno river of all those flooded Falcon Guards Mechs from their crossing!), but as we know from sources like the Avatar's writeup in TRO:3058 it was tricky getting Clan gear to run for IS technicians. (Thus that machine's hardwired medium lasers, in case of pod failure).

Now, Comstar had more skilled techs than the Successor States, of course- they were maintaining SLDF-style tech, after all, something that by this point only elite house units were being equipped with. But Clan tech might have still been tricky to deal with- especially since getting intact units was likely rare.

So, by volume? Plenty of salvaged Clan gear. How much of it was useful within the first six months? Not a lot, I'd wager. (Factor in that much of what could be moved by the Word when the schism took place probably was hijacked!). We DO know that enough gear was salvaged to equip the 'Invader Galaxy', though I recall that was mostly IS units re-equipped with Clan equipment (and tactics) rather than using actual Clan Mechs.

I'd bet that by the time the Jihad arrived over Tukkayid, there were STILL plenty of Clan units- maybe even Com Guards- laying abandoned for a decade and a half, simply because there's only so much time in the day and a whole planet to scour to find them.

it is also probable that they prioritized their salvage based on how difficult it would be relative to what they'd get. which might explain how they wound up with so many Battle Cobra's to reverse engineer. the Vipers fought on open plains (where they were pounded by artillery and airstrikes.. woudl have left a lot of battle Cobra's down and out), and then the thermal fields of Devil's Bath, where you have to figure plenty of viper mechs just mired in deep mud or fell into pools and were abandoned. hauling them out might be a chore.. but intact mechs are intact mechs. (or nearly so anyway)
« Last Edit: 27 April 2018, 02:13:34 by glitterboy2098 »

Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #16 on: 27 April 2018, 02:18:47 »
but intact mechs are intact mechs. (or nearly so anyway)

I just suddenly thought of the McKenzie Brothers album, the hit single portion with Geddy Lee "Ten bucks is ten bucks, eh."

I was not certain if they actually went into the salvage anywhere. I would think the efforts increased when the Word took Terra. With Comstars HQ moved to Tuk, they probably made the decision to use everything they could, ever if it was just melting down components or canabalizing for parts.

Kidd

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #17 on: 27 April 2018, 03:44:12 »
Tessen, just because.

I wonder what the RATs say though.

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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #19 on: 27 April 2018, 06:02:13 »
This: Sun Spider
Now that is an interesting write-up and some of those configurations look pretty good.

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #20 on: 27 April 2018, 06:58:31 »
This: Sun Spider

Oh MWO no wonder I’ve never heard of it

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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #21 on: 27 April 2018, 09:22:40 »
Along the lines of the salvage, what happened to the prisoners?

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #22 on: 27 April 2018, 10:59:48 »
I'm thinking the Clans consider the Word of Blake as Inner Sphere Mandrills wearing white robes.  (Some without pants.)


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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #23 on: 27 April 2018, 11:51:37 »
Along the lines of the salvage, what happened to the prisoners?

Well... remember that the Clans handle the whole 'prisoner' thing a little different than most. The chances of them being ransomed back to their original Clans, after the humiliating defeat on Tukkayid, is unlikely- after all, look how the Clans reacted to the truce. They (at least some) viewed that generation of warriors as 'stained', so why take them back? That leaves two options:

1) Bondsmen. Serve their new 'Clan' (Comstar) until they're allowed to become warriors again. One would think that with the losses taken and the Word's defectors making things even worse, it wouldn't take long for leadership to take the new (incredibly talented!) warriors at their word that they were trustworthy enough to join up. Hard to give solid numbers on this, of course. Odds are good that at least a few of these would have ended up as founding members of Invader Galaxy- who better to learn Clan tactics from than Clan warriors?

2) Bondsref. Not interesting in wearing white robes? Kill yourself. Likely a not-insignificant number of warriors would have taken this route, particularly from more hardline Crusader Clans like the Jaguars and Falcons.

There MAY have been an arrangement in place, this being a Clan-style trial for the planet, for a prisoner exchange. I'm not aware of one, but I also don't have books here at work. (That the Jaguars kept at least one Comstar warrior who later helped reveal the Exodus Road suggests that if there was an arrangement, not everyone was held to it).
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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #24 on: 27 April 2018, 12:58:08 »
I think the prisoners were simply exchanged with no loss of honor attached.  One of the novels regarding the Twilight of Clans would probably give the best explanation.


Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #25 on: 28 April 2018, 11:12:48 »
Question for the Comstar Initiates out there, what is your opinion of the Champion?

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #26 on: 28 April 2018, 15:44:02 »
The Champion 3P makes an acceptable heavy point man for an LRM heavy LII, with Grand Crusaders, Toyamas, and Vikings.

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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #27 on: 02 May 2018, 09:37:10 »
When the Guards and Militia first began deploying, did Comstar keep thier SL designs secret or let the cat out of the bag there?

Frabby

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #28 on: 02 May 2018, 09:56:47 »
They openly deployed SL tech.
Rhonda Snord actually played to this with rumors that the up-teched Snord's Irregulars had bested ComStar forces somewhere and salvaged their equipment, to hide the fact that they had factually embezzled their SL tech lineup from House Steiner a decade or two earlier.
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Drewbacca

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Re: Comstar HPG Station: Your Friendly Local Service Provider
« Reply #29 on: 03 May 2018, 14:08:48 »
What is the general feeling towards the Grim Reaper. I would like to like it, but there seems to be a bit missing.