BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => BattleTech Roleplaying => MechWarrior Hall => Topic started by: Rorke on 29 May 2021, 16:35:25
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Well it appeared that the old one, was not long for the world before it hit the limit.
I was also minded to take the initiative for once, even though I've been somewhat
dormant a long time. It did strike me I'd never actually started one of these, and in
light of my serious time here it seemed fitting to do it the once.
It's odd thinking back on all those we no longer see, on these boards. Life happens
of course, I mean I've been resident in Finland now over eleven years. That's downright
scary, where'd the time go? But mainly i've thought today, about all those forum friends
and foes that are no longer active. I can't help but miss Neko for example or Vash. Or
some of our fellows in faction loyalty. Those that encouraged us in the madcap debates,
that used to flow angrily up north. I hope those folks are just busy, but well and happy.
Heck look at me drone on, I'm getting old and acting like it. So it begins, hope you're all
good. We're on the cusp of more stuff coming out, let's hope it plays out well for the FS.
I think we're long overdue a renaissance.
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Rorke,
Great time to start a new thread. Before engaging on your topic I'd like to mention the last thread went from 31 December 2013, 21:02:02 to 29 May 2021, 16:35:25, which isn't a bad run. I wonder if this thread will beat 7 years, 4 months, and 29 days. I wonder what I'll be doing Halloween weekend in 2028.
On topic last topic, I don't begrudge anyone muting anyone else. I would hope the decision is made with serious contemplation and I can understand it when it is. I find there is a lack of empathy in most online discussions, often on both ends, because realizing the other person is done is a matter of body language and expression more so than any text can communicate.
On this topic, I'm sad that DoctorMonkey (Dan) has apparently moved on from Battletech. I just looked at the first couple of pages of the last thread: Dan, fltadm, ShadowRaven, BrokenMnemonic, Davout73, and Mastergunz haven't been active between six years and six months or so.
I'm looking forward to getting my kids into Battletech, both have new miniatures, beyond the starter game they have played. Besides, it has been a solid few years of Battletech/MechWarrior video games so things, as you said, ought to be picking up.
Best wishes to all.
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I'll have to poke Dan on Bookface at some point, he's a busy chap though so
likely that's some of it.
Seven years sheesh, we've collectively been slacking.
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ello all
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Good day, gentlemen. Here, have some Tequila. It’s the Capellan March way. I too miss many of the people who don’t post anymore, from our friends like 97jedi and 3CL (both of whom still pop up occasionally) or the Brians, to irascible foes like Rage or Vash, to others like JediBear or Albattoss (who has, alas, shuffled off this mortal coil).
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I haven't gone by 97jedi since I nuked that account. But I'm still here.
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Right. But not nearly so much as you used to be.
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Well I think all of us, post a lot less than we used to.
Me, right now seem to be a touch more active. But I can't guarantee it'll last.
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Generals and Gentlemen. Hmmm... Genterals?
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Generals and Gentlemen. Hmmm... Genterals?
Sounds too close to a g word, best not mentioned :p
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Generals and Gentlemen. Hmmm... Genterals?
You are better than that punnery.
We're on the cusp of more stuff coming out, let's hope it plays out well for the FS.
I think we're long overdue a renaissance.
Part of the problem with the Jihad and Republic Eras is that it kind of was low key and laborious. Either stuff blew up in nuclear explosion or small units that didn't add to the lore were involved. Plus, the mystery boxes of Devlin Stone and Conspirators of Black Monday probably went too long, and the final conclusions didn't help matters either.
Part of the problem with all of the Dark Age and Jihad are in a sense that everything revolves around the Republic of the Sphere or its creation, and if the reader never felt a connection with the Republic, it's end kind of felt like meh. Hell, it had me cheering on a Clan, and I hate Clans. But if their opponent is the Republic, Old Nick's descendants are angels in comparison to me.
But both storyline just went too long, the Twilight of the Clans line lasted two years from 1997 to 1999 which lead to the FedCom Civil War era and line, and MWDA and the Jihad ran in some form or another for nineteen years. It really is storyline fatigue. And from what I've learned as an author( even though no one buys my stuff and I have more stuff just sitting on my hard drive) is stretching storylines really too much results in fatigue and frustration for readers. We probably lost more people to just boredom than anything drama reality.
So I hope that you are right, Lord Rorke. I hope the Suns survives as a nation with a Davion on New Avalon and actually gets a win that isn't poisoned immediately with Hanse's Grandson showing up to destroy the Suns once and for all for the Clan League. If the Suns survives without a Clan Overlord and as a nation, I'd probably be excited for the first time in a long time for Battletech if all of my pessimism about the Suns' future turns out to be just the vapors of an overactive imagination.
It would be nice.
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Sounds too close to a g word, best not mentioned :p
;)
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Well I think Harlock old chap, you've hit upon a problem many of us had with
the DA era. I never really cared about the Rots, sure they were good enough
to ally with us when Julian needed them. But the whole Stone Kool Aid
disarmament thing, set up this entire era and its messes. I'll perhaps never
be able to forgive such a nonsensical turn of events. Massive horrific war,
we'll just disarm despite the two large historic enemies we border......duh
Anymore than I can ever really think kindly, on the Falcons or Wolves and their
astonishing ability to weather everything that happens.....and bounce back
stronger than anything else. It's not genetic that, it's hideous authorial fiat
and frankly it's beyond dull. The pair of them, need a slapping back down
to periphery brigandry.
The Sharks, Bears and to some degree Ravens at least are interesting. They're
integrated into the IS, they've changed and become more than dull stereotypes.
Which to my jaundiced eyes, the Wolves and Budgies totally embody.
Oh and I'll hope you all forgive the rant, sometimes even I must set aside
gentlemanly pragmatism. You know just actually rant a wee bit. Clan Overlord
on New Avalon. I think ultimately if this universe ever gets to that sort of
thing, the degree of fanbase alienation would be severe. Nobody wants to see
their favourite factions, be little more than puppets to one dimensional conquerors.
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Part of the problem with the Jihad and Republic Eras is that it kind of was low key and laborious.
...just sayin'
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I think part of the whole "laborious" might be the sheer time, it's taken to get to
this point.
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I think part of the whole "laborious" might be the sheer time, it's taken to get to
this point.
Considering between 1986 and 2002 (a span of 16 years), we moved from 3025 to late 3067(42 year span), and I’d argue that we knew most of the character motivations and saw some growth in most that survived. And yes, there was growth in characters like Victor who learned lessons like his cousin Frederick Steiner.
However, it’s hard for me to really see any real character growth in say Lady Janelle Lakewood. She was ProRepublic at the beginning, and she might have been a bit jaded by the end but she was essentially Pro-Republic at the end. Did she at anytime during Fortress Republic think of marrying Mason and having kids during that fourteen year period of the wall? Nope which is a shame since if the wall fell, the Republic would needed soldiers for a long fight across multiple fronts. Did she do anything? Not that we are told.
In the end, we didn’t see any real growth in characters, and most remained static. I would argue that some of Padroe’s characters like the Curios and what Killony did with Nikoi Marik in his Free Worlds League duology worked. However, it just become one long story of Wolves and Falcons waiting to get Terra while everyone fell over dumbly letting it happen.
And never get me started on Archon Melissa Steiner the II aka the Dumb One.
Ugh.
Also, so many things which didn’t ultimately lead to anything like the possible Blood Spirit from Blood Avatar or Harrison’s spymaster knowing about Caleb’s madness and disappearing from Terra to never reappear. Story seeds were planted, but nothing really connected in the end.
MWDA just was a roller coaster that got to the top of the first hill, and then somehow slowly came down a 420 foot drop only to rocket suddenly at the 30 feet above the ground to take a turn back into the station.
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The complete absence of Mason Dunne post-Ghost War, and especially in the last couple of books where Janella features prominently, is just one of many loose ends that really annoyed me. Where’d he go? Did they break up? Did he die on a mission? Did he retire to a cottage in the country where he can be a househusband and raise their kids? Why is he never mentioned again?
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The complete absence of Mason Dunne post-Ghost War, and especially in the last couple of books where Janella features prominently, is just one of many loose ends that really annoyed me. Where’d he go? Did they break up? Did he die on a mission? Did he retire to a cottage in the country where he can be a househusband and raise their kids? Why is he never mentioned again?
I thought the whole early Dunne and Lakewood stuff, was interesting as hell. I think you're right to
question his disappearing. I'm not going to speculate on why, primarily because I've not kept up on
the fiction. Which does feel almost heretical, considering how keen I was to do so in earlier years.
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Mason makes a couple of appearances post Ghost War. One as "Sam Donnelly" in one of the Wizkid Articles and recently he's appeared in Shrapnel #4, I think. Mason is rather displeased to be separated from Janella. Given the wordcount the unit he's in gets, that'll have to do for him, unless someone picks up his story.
As far as fiction goes, buy only the stories you want to read. If the MGMT doesn't provide the stories you want to buy, that's on them. They should know their market.
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I thought the whole early Dunne and Lakewood stuff, was interesting as hell. I think you're right to
question his disappearing. I'm not going to speculate on why, primarily because I've not kept up on
the fiction. Which does feel almost heretical, considering how keen I was to do so in earlier years.
It was only in the last two years anything really happened in fiction. As for Mason, I figure that since Stackpole created him that there was some sort of bias against him or that Mason can't have events happen to him due to a contractual obligation unless approved by Mike Stackpole. Mason despite his connection to the Cult of Stone was a good sort, and I enjoyed his character. He should have made more appearances other than Ghost Wars in the early days and the aftermath of the death of Victor. However nothing. But no worries, we got at least three novels that were exactly the same in A Call to Arms, Ruins of Power, and Patriot Stand. Ugh. There were a lot of missteps in MWDA at the beginning that hampered everything that followed.
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Right. But not nearly so much as you used to be.
That's true. Lots going on these days. Writing, developing, and editing for BT, plus writing my second Warpiper novel (which I hope to get out late this summer).
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It was only in the last two years anything really happened in fiction. As for Mason, I figure that since Stackpole created him that there was some sort of bias against him or that Mason can't have events happen to him due to a contractual obligation unless approved by Mike Stackpole. Mason despite his connection to the Cult of Stone was a good sort, and I enjoyed his character. He should have made more appearances other than Ghost Wars in the early days and the aftermath of the death of Victor. However nothing. But no worries, we got at least three novels that were exactly the same in A Call to Arms, Ruins of Power, and Patriot Stand. Ugh. There were a lot of missteps in MWDA at the beginning that hampered everything that followed.
I actually enjoyed A Call to Arms and Patriot's Stand, though considering the timeskip and the direction of things, it's sad that the plot of those novels ended up meaningless.
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Good news: The Federated Suns rebuilt Kallon's Talon complex on Wernke. Those are some really valuable factories.
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Good news: The Federated Suns rebuilt Kallon's Talon complex on Wernke. Those are some really valuable factories.
Thankfully the Blackwind Lancers were not raised again after the Jihad.
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Thankfully the Blackwind Lancers were not raised again after the Jihad.
The Cappies remain lucky, that we did not stoop to that sort of level ourselves.
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Thankfully the Blackwind Lancers were not raised again after the Jihad.
Unlike them, I wonder what happened to Borodin's Vindicators.
The Cappies remain lucky, that we did not stoop to that sort of level ourselves.
Totally agreed. Time to reclaim our lost territories once they get embroiled with the Wolves.
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The Cappies remain lucky, that we did not stoop to that sort of level ourselves.
Considering how the 5th FedCom and Atomic Annie was treated by the rest of the AFFC and AFFS, nuclear annihilation is not the way of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. Though it would have probably helped at Galax in 3069 to have nuclear warheads on ready to hit that Blakest Flotilla that basically destroyed the shipyard and the world.
Unlike them, I wonder what happened to Borodin's Vindicators.
Totally agreed. Time to reclaim our lost territories once they get embroiled with the Wolves.
The Vindicators were last listed on New Syrtis in 3070 in the Blakest Document. I'd imagine that during the siege there that they were destroyed.
As for lost territory, the most important thing is retaking New Avalon.
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Everything hinges on New Avalon, it's not about the world or it's people. It's not
about the industry (assuming we find any left), it's purely a symbol. By retaking it, we
show the the people of the FS and the other powers the most important thing. That
as a nation the Federated Suns, might bow sometimes but it will not break.
The images of the desecration of that world, will be worth regiments. The anger of the
people, will only bolster resolve further. The rebuilding of that world, will show that
we're always looking to make a better tomorrow. We'll rebuild, retake and avenge what
has been lost. But we'll do so by embodying the freedoms that define the Fed Suns, not
by torture, propaganda or murder. By being better, being human and being ourselves.
I expect some sort of massively Churchillian monologue from Julian, when NA is retaken.
If I can throw out the second paragraph of this, off the cuff in 2 minutes I expect a full
on work of outright defiance, hope and intent. Anything wishy washy, I'll be genuinely
disappointed.
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Without the Dragoons, liberating New Avalon is a question of how much damage it sustains at the end of the liberation.
Economically, the Suns has the biggest mobilization potential for both military and production and are no slouches in industrial output. Both aspects would be on overdrive since 3132, it was simply a matter of catching up to Liao and Kurita's decades-long head starts. A potential Terran showdown between Liao and Kurita working unccordinated against the Clans means the AFFS will have a lot of breathing room to counterattack on both fronts.
Between 3145-3151(post-HOTW), the Suns' industrial potential should have allowed replenishment of existing units and reactivation of at least a few units aside from the Davion Irregulars. These units should take advantage of Clan moves to press against Liao and Kurita.
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Between 3145 and 3151, Davion Military Industry should be half what it was in 3144 as a huge chunk of their factories are now in Capellan or Kuritan hands. The AFFS has been gutted by the Palmyra Disaster and constant fighting a war on two fronts. Anything they could have replaced, they likely have already lost a good chunk of it. What saves them from here on out is that the Capellans have now diverted their energies towards Terra and Reconquista of lost worlds rather than the further integration of captured Davion worlds and any further conquests.
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By 3151 the only major industrial center in enemy hands is New Avalon. Victoria is not counted due to being a recent conquest too near a hostile border. With the exception of Robinson(which was never a major industrial player) and New Syrtis, the other industrial worlds are intact and back on a war footing.
The shipyards of Kathil, Delavan and Panpour are still there along with other smaller yards. The Suns still has the capability to commission WarShips from Kathil at least.
The problem is logistics(resupplying strung-out units through unsafe shipping lanes). High Command will have to muster new units on or near the industrial centers instead of PDZ capitals.
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As much as I'd like a new Avalon class cruiser, we'd probably have a better chance of whatever secret Challenger System has barred bearing fruit at this point. My hope is for a ghost fleet of warships, but the likelihood of a modified Defender Class flanked by the missing FSS Andrew Davion and the FSS Brest plus a couple of refitted Congress Frigates with a refitted New Sytris Class Carrier bringing up the rear with legions of pocket warships and fighters to secure the space above New Avalon is probably folly as well.
However, the oddest thing to me is that it took till roughly Julian Davion getting back to the Suns until the state and economy finally got itself into full military production. I mean it's not like the loss of two March Capitals should send signals to GM on Kathil that it might be time to shift some production of luxury cars over to other more vital things. It's not like the Republic of the Sphere upperclass or even the Suns middle class family is saying to themselves you know I could really go for a new GM car right now when Capellan, Combine or Clanner invaders are beating down the door.
Though I have no idea what Aston Martin of Numenor really does for the Suns war effort. I do get a giggle out of the idea of Daoshen driving around in a Fiver that he commandeered when he went to give Duchess Bad Haircut a worst haircut on New Syrtis. Secretly he always wanted a fast sports car, but he just couldn't get one since it would look bad to be driving around in a Suns branded car even in the secluded parts of Sian. (Note, the Capellans are not listed as building any type of sports car, so they have to import. They do produce motorcycles on Sian through Mótuö Chë Shang. And probably Ceres Metals produces some sort of car. The company profiles in the House Sourcebooks and HandBooks probably do not give a full idea of the economies of any the states. I just find both the Combine and Confederation due to their economic structures in general to have inadequate company profiles.) Now if he took one in battle, that's a different story. So when he is not thinking about his sister Rita Repulsa in bizarre ways or thinking himself a 'god', he drives around in the Fiver that he always wanted as a kid, but Sun-Tzu said no.
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Everything hinges on New Avalon, it's not about the world or it's people. It's not
about the industry (assuming we find any left), it's purely a symbol. By retaking it, we
show the the people of the FS and the other powers the most important thing. That
as a nation the Federated Suns, might bow sometimes but it will not break.
The images of the desecration of that world, will be worth regiments. The anger of the
people, will only bolster resolve further. The rebuilding of that world, will show that
we're always looking to make a better tomorrow. We'll rebuild, retake and avenge what
has been lost. But we'll do so by embodying the freedoms that define the Fed Suns, not
by torture, propaganda or murder. By being better, being human and being ourselves.
I expect some sort of massively Churchillian monologue from Julian, when NA is retaken.
If I can throw out the second paragraph of this, off the cuff in 2 minutes I expect a full
on work of outright defiance, hope and intent. Anything wishy washy, I'll be genuinely
disappointed.
I’m hoping for a good Deus Vult! monologue from the new Pope of the NACC, and a massing of the Knights Defensor and whatever passes for a Swiss Guard in the NACC. But I don’t know if the writers are going to want to go that direction.
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To be fair, a new Pope of the NACC was probably invested probably on June after the massacre of Pope Beneficent XVII and most of the Cardinals of the New Avalon Catholic Church. It wouldn't surprise me if the new NACC Pope is a bit more Firebrand than previous NACC Popes considering he is probably from the Periphery March and the last Pope got murdered by the Combine. That tends to steer away from Pope Celestine V types.
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As much as I'd like a new Avalon class cruiser, we'd probably have a better chance of whatever secret Challenger System has barred bearing fruit at this point. My hope is for a ghost fleet of warships, but the likelihood of a modified Defender Class flanked by the missing FSS Andrew Davion and the FSS Brest plus a couple of refitted Congress Frigates with a refitted New Sytris Class Carrier bringing up the rear with legions of pocket warships and fighters to secure the space above New Avalon is probably folly as well.
However, the oddest thing to me is that it took till roughly Julian Davion getting back to the Suns until the state and economy finally got itself into full military production. I mean it's not like the loss of two March Capitals should send signals to GM on Kathil that it might be time to shift some production of luxury cars over to other more vital things. It's not like the Republic of the Sphere upperclass or even the Suns middle class family is saying to themselves you know I could really go for a new GM car right now when Capellan, Combine or Clanner invaders are beating down the door.
Though I have no idea what Aston Martin of Numenor really does for the Suns war effort. I do get a giggle out of the idea of Daoshen driving around in a Fiver that he commandeered when he went to give Duchess Bad Haircut a worst haircut on New Syrtis. Secretly he always wanted a fast sports car, but he just couldn't get one since it would look bad to be driving around in a Suns branded car even in the secluded parts of Sian. (Note, the Capellans are not listed as building any type of sports car, so they have to import. They do produce motorcycles on Sian through Mótuö Chë Shang. And probably Ceres Metals produces some sort of car. The company profiles in the House Sourcebooks and HandBooks probably do not give a full idea of the economies of any the states. I just find both the Combine and Confederation due to their economic structures in general to have inadequate company profiles.) Now if he took one in battle, that's a different story. So when he is not thinking about his sister Rita Repulsa in bizarre ways or thinking himself a 'god', he drives around in the Fiver that he always wanted as a kid, but Sun-Tzu said no.
The Ghost Bears commissioned one or two Leviathan III, the Ravens reactivated their fleet, so it's the best use of the James McKenna yards. Avalons or Foxes do make good task force leaders to tear the Cappies and Dracs a new one across their lines. It should be noted that Athena Davion-Ross was the previous Marshal of The Armies, and coming from an aerospace background she would have plenty of time to (secretly) build the AFFS aerospace and naval assets up before the Blackout.
Actually, from the prologue of Sword of Sedition, Harrison had the High Command mobilize the Suns economy and production to a war footing to augment their defense ever since the Blackout started. They even outright stated they needed all the time they could get to hold against the heavily-militarized Capellans. While Julian and Harrison went to Terra, the Marshal of The Armies and High Command were busy overseeing these efforts. Heck, that prologue even had scenes of defensive preparations in Kathil, yet in FM3145(more than a decade later), it states General Motors has "recently" proven that converting from civilian to military production is a very easy task, ignoring more than a decade's worth of production throughout the realm.
But from the timeskip to the 3145 era, there was apparently a retcon to make the Suns situation more desperate and its leadership more incompetent along with things like social generals, bureaucratic bloat, procurement corruption and Palmyra. Perhaps they were going for a Red Alert 2 vibe with Liao and Kurita standing in for the Soviets. Erik Sandoval was even retconned into "more politician than tactician", ignoring his defense against overwhelming odds at St Andre and a well-timed strike to relieve Caleb at New Hessen.
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I’m hoping for a good Deus Vult! monologue from the new Pope of the NACC, and a massing of the Knights Defensor and whatever passes for a Swiss Guard in the NACC. But I don’t know if the writers are going to want to go that direction.
Now would be a good time for Julian to give "we shall fight on the beaches" and "this was their finest hour" speeches.
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Now would be a good time for Julian to give "we shall fight on the beaches" and "this was their finest hour" speeches.
That's my exact feeling, we need a full on swaggering "we shall fight them on the beaches" and no wishy
washy stuff.
As for the business of rebuilding, I'd echo you gentlemen. It's only really New Avalon industrially that's a loss
as far as industry is concerned. New Hessen wasn't really big enough to warrant too much concern, while it'd
be nice to have it back it's not critical.
As for the business of speculating on shipbuilding, oh yeah I think we all can imagine some glorious stuff. But
honestly, I doubt TPTB are ever going to throw us that sort of sweetness. Challenge Systems finally unveils
a number of nasty warships, I'd love it. Poke the duplicious Ravens in the eye a couple of times, and then on
for a freebooting tour of savaging anything spaceworthy in Drac colours. A chap can dream, but I doubt we'll
ever get so fortunate. But perhaps we ought to. Imagine scaring the actual hell out of our combined foes or
rivals, as we unveil the 32nd Century version of the original Dreadnought. Wouldn't that, be something?
It'd not last forever, nor should it. But imagine a significant advantage, for just a few years. Time enough to
rebuild the AFFS, and retake as much as we can. Well it was fun imagining it.
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Hopefully the Terran wars will become the graveyard for Liao and Kurita. That will be all the breathing room we'll ever need.
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Hopefully the Terran wars will become the graveyard for Liao and Kurita. That will be all the breathing room we'll ever need.
I'd rather it were the final resting place of the Clans, but we already that future is not pssible by the middle of the 33rd century.
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I'm not going to speculate on why, primarily because I've not kept up on
the fiction. Which does feel almost heretical, considering how keen I was to do so in earlier years.
I'm in the same boat Rorke and, quite honestly, it's kind of depressing to realize that, with a very few exceptions, I just don't care about the fiction any longer.
I mean, I will admit that I enjoyed Pardoe's recent work, but I just don't care any longer about where the story goes. The story has lost most of it's attraction because it doesn't seem to have any personal hooks to keep my attention.
We had that with the older leaders such as Hanse and his generation, and we had that with Victor and his generation, but where is that same character development for the IlClan Era, especially if you're not a Wolf or Falcon?
Did I miss a book or something?
I’m hoping for a good Deus Vult! monologue from the new Pope of the NACC, and a massing of the Knights Defensor and whatever passes for a Swiss Guard in the NACC. But I don’t know if the writers are going to want to go that direction.
While I would absolutely LOVE to see a "Deus Vult!" moment from the NACC, along with all the associated reactions both within and without the Suns, we both know that the chances of that happening are somewhere between slim and none.
That's my exact feeling, we need a full on swaggering "we shall fight them on the beaches" and no wishy
washy stuff.
As for the business of rebuilding, I'd echo you gentlemen. It's only really New Avalon industrially that's a loss
as far as industry is concerned. New Hessen wasn't really big enough to warrant too much concern, while it'd
be nice to have it back it's not critical.
As for the business of speculating on shipbuilding, oh yeah I think we all can imagine some glorious stuff. But
honestly, I doubt TPTB are ever going to throw us that sort of sweetness. Challenge Systems finally unveils
a number of nasty warships, I'd love it. Poke the duplicious Ravens in the eye a couple of times, and then on
for a freebooting tour of savaging anything spaceworthy in Drac colours. A chap can dream, but I doubt we'll
ever get so fortunate. But perhaps we ought to. Imagine scaring the actual hell out of our combined foes or
rivals, as we unveil the 32nd Century version of the original Dreadnought. Wouldn't that, be something?
It'd not last forever, nor should it. But imagine a significant advantage, for just a few years. Time enough to
rebuild the AFFS, and retake as much as we can. Well it was fun imagining it.
While that would play to the British roots of the FedSuns, the truth is that we've always had a very strong French flavor as well to our forces, to the point that even our Navy tends to exist to support the Army rather than the other way around, as it would were we to truly mirror the Brits, so I wouldn't expect a secret Fleet or anything that would revolutionize naval warfare. I would, however, expect something akin to a certain historical Corsican coming into power.
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I'd rather it were the final resting place of the Clans, but we already that future is not pssible by the middle of the 33rd century.
Exactly. So logically it will be a Liao and Kurita debacle. They better not cop out on the story with a stupid armistice as it would be very out of character for both factions who are built on ideologies of total conquest and total victory.
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They already tried that and flubbed it (with a little help from a Ghost Knight).
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A tiny army and giant navy, well we've already got one faction
using that model. It was a mere flight of fancy, a small but
ultimately unlikely fantasy. But I've no interest, in seeing the
AFFS being like the pre WW1 British Army. Well asides the
regimental system, which we already have. I just liked the
idea of finally, having a mystery be worthy of the build up.
My desires for the AFFS are those of a larger, and proper
professional organisation. We were heading that way once,
and then along came the bloody clans. I don't mean that
in a disparaging sense towards the past/current AFFS. But
just imagine one, where merit and ability trump how blue
your blood is. Though with the current situation, I'd bet
that a lot of talent will shine and rise. Irrespective of who
their parents are.
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They already tried that and flubbed it (with a little help from a Ghost Knight).
Any alliance between Liao and Kurita would inevitably break down anyway. After Liao makes his move on Terra, Kurita is bound to make a solo run too. Not doing so would cause another Black Dragon reaction to their ruling establishment.
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A tiny army and giant navy, well we've already got one faction
using that model. It was a mere flight of fancy, a small but
ultimately unlikely fantasy. But I've no interest, in seeing the
AFFS being like the pre WW1 British Army. Well asides the
regimental system, which we already have. I just liked the
idea of finally, having a mystery be worthy of the build up.
My desires for the AFFS are those of a larger, and proper
professional organisation. We were heading that way once,
and then along came the bloody clans. I don't mean that
in a disparaging sense towards the past/current AFFS. But
just imagine one, where merit and ability trump how blue
your blood is. Though with the current situation, I'd bet
that a lot of talent will shine and rise. Irrespective of who
their parents are.
This will take a minimum of 10-20 years to rebuild the AFFS to 2581/3030/3062 levels, the golden years.
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One of the things that gets me the most about the draw down after the Jihad is that the FedSuns already had a plan to do it correctly. It's the one they used during the Star League. It was to stand down a few of the frontline units (in this case, I can see making more units into LCTs) and keep the Academies churning out troops. These troops would then head into the reserves after a tour or two and then when the time came, the AFFS could rapidly inflate. Instead, Harrison or Yvonne decided to taike a weedwhacker to the infrastructure of the AFFS and disbanded the training battalions'
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Disbanding the training battalions is understandable in the context of the time. The Stone kool-aid was in full flow, the Suns was in an economic boom, there seemed to be a dependable ally against Liao and Kurita.
Just look at interwar and post-Cold War Britain. They've been disbanding and amalgamating units like crazy in recent decades with Parliament going through the defense budget like a laser scalpel.
The current Suns would be like 1935-1939 Britain that's going through rearmament but in a much worse position.
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Well do bear in mind, we do have training battalions again. Do also bear in mind
that the Suns has been on the ropes, but is looking like it's gotten a second wind.
The capital and the Thumb remain occupied, but we all know that the Kuritan hold
on these worlds is tenuous. The DCMS is over stretched and logistically, at the end
of a very long supply line. They're also heavily involved in the Terran corridor, where
sooner or later it's Clans they'll be facing. They've also bumped into the Cappies in
at least one recorded incident. The issue at hand, is how much has the AFFS got on
hand and ready, to strike back hard at an already weakened foe. The initiative I believe,
is ours.
If 3-4 RCTs are available, the AFFS could start an avalanche. Maybe it's not post
Kentares all over again, but panic is delightfully infectious sometimes. All about
timing those strikes. Oh and not discounting LCT sized formations, they bought
time lately and did sterling work on Robinson for example. They also have a part
to play, use them to foment more trouble hitting and fading. Regrouping with
larger forces, for more challenging objectives. Hit hard enough and with enough
depth, panic ensues.
It's what I'd do if I was running the show, but I'm not.
I don't know how well the current military education system is working, but I'd
assume it's been expanded. Considering the loss of 2 NA academies plus that
on Robinson, real damage has been done there. But the FS has adapted to
such circumstances before, and there's plenty of lesser prestige facilities likely
swollen currently. Two academy worlds are back in our possession, though
they'll not likely be much use for a few years.
As for actual production of military mechs and vehicles, I can only imagine that
it's very much all hands on deck. There've been allusions to the ability of some
larger manufacturers, to tilt towards war materiel. The FS is down only one
significant production hub right now, New Avalon. Robinson and New Syrtis have
both been reclaimed. We never lost Crofton, Kathil, New Valencia or El Dorado.
I've not even mentioned a few other places in the above list. Sure we know
neither Robinson or New Syrtis, are likely to be unscathed. But we have time
now, what they cannot give us today they'll likely do tomorrow.
I remain optimistic. As ever.
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Did someone say we got the factories on Talon back?
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We got new Kallon factories on Wernke. I do hpe they produce the RFL-7X there. It's my favorite Rifleman.
-
The capital and the Thumb remain occupied, but we all know that the Kuritan hold
on these worlds is tenuous. The DCMS is over stretched and logistically, at the end
of a very long supply line. They're also heavily involved in the Terran corridor, where
sooner or later it's Clans they'll be facing. They've also bumped into the Cappies in
at least one recorded incident. The issue at hand, is how much has the AFFS got on
hand and ready, to strike back hard at an already weakened foe. The initiative I believe,
is ours.
If 3-4 RCTs are available, the AFFS could start an avalanche. Maybe it's not post
Kentares all over again, but panic is delightfully infectious sometimes. All about
timing those strikes. Oh and not discounting LCT sized formations, they bought
time lately and did sterling work on Robinson for example. They also have a part
to play, use them to foment more trouble hitting and fading. Regrouping with
larger forces, for more challenging objectives. Hit hard enough and with enough
depth, panic ensues.
IF the Cappies and Dracs start fighting the Clans, the AFFS would have no problem reclaiming every Davion world lost since 3085, as it is a matter of helping pro-Davion natives getting back their worlds. The real attrition happens only if counterattacking into territories long-held by enemies.
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Then we don't invite attition or foolish risks. We leave the Cappies alone until either we're
stronger, or they're substantially worn down by others. Or both, ideally that.
The Kuritans are all we should concentrate on currently, as far as offensively. That supply
situation, across that sort of distance.....invites mischief. There are political angles to play
too. Maul the living daylights out of a premier unit or two, and I mean actively gut them.
We'll see how resolute the Warlords are, when their pet units don't come home....or limp
home in a mess.
I guess I'm just wanting to see something substantial, mention made of clever moves
made by the FS and it's forces. Other factions feared the AFFS once, it's high time the
writers recalled that and made it so.
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Well, the AFFS has had a decade of hard-earned experience to temper the raw recruits. Any social generals would be dead or veterans by now. Making the right moves should be within its capability.
A problem is one or two LCTs can match or best an average hostile regiment. If it is against an SoL/Ryuken/one of the Dragon's X units, the AFFS better have enough RCTs or multiple LCTs to concentrate on them or it will be a mutual meat grinder.
Before taking the CCAF on, Julian should engage Nikol Marik on the benefits of a simultaneous invasion timed with any Clan move.
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Well, the AFFS has had a decade of hard-earned experience to temper the raw recruits. Any social generals would be dead or veterans by now. Making the right moves should be within its capability.
A problem is one or two LCTs can match or best an average hostile regiment. If it is against an SoL/Ryuken/one of the Dragon's X units, the AFFS better have enough RCTs or multiple LCTs to concentrate on them or it will be a mutual meat grinder.
Before taking the CCAF on, Julian should engage Nikol Marik on the benefits of a simultaneous invasion timed with any Clan move.
I like the line of thinking regards Marik.
Going back to LCTs though, let's not forget the DCMS has trimmed their formations down to 2 battalions of
mechs. Not all admittedly, but the bulk of the standard regiments are not that different from a strong LCT
or two regular LCT sized formations. I see that sort of size spread across all those garrisons, and smell
opportunity.
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Geez, with no HPGs, how long would it take to travel back and forth to arrange a meeting, then travel to hold the meeting, then return to begin the simultaneous attack? A year? By that time, the joint operation might well be meaningless as the strategic situation could change on both borders. This lack of HPGs is a real issue in such regards.
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I have to admit, the power trip given to the Dracs turned me off the Dark Age and post story line.
On the other hand, I did write a classic era wet navy fan unit up on the Fan Units section.
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I like the line of thinking regards Marik.
Going back to LCTs though, let's not forget the DCMS has trimmed their formations down to 2 battalions of
mechs. Not all admittedly, but the bulk of the standard regiments are not that different from a strong LCT
or two regular LCT sized formations. I see that sort of size spread across all those garrisons, and smell
opportunity.
That's why I mentioned those were the average units. The Sword of Light/Ryuken and Dragon's X units on the other hand are really good and hard to take on even terms. Still, without the Dragoons, you are right that the opportunity is definitely there.
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Geez, with no HPGs, how long would it take to travel back and forth to arrange a meeting, then travel to hold the meeting, then return to begin the simultaneous attack? A year? By that time, the joint operation might well be meaningless as the strategic situation could change on both borders. This lack of HPGs is a real issue in such regards.
There are still functional HPGs for strategic communications. In any case, what you said didn't deter Liao and Kurita from their joint attacks, so Marik and Davion can definitely attack on a general plan with the details left to their discretion.
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Also, no one necessarily needs to travel to make arrangements. You can send messages on jumpships for that. You can beam an encrypted file to a ship headed the right direction a lot faster than you can transfer a person.
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There are still functional HPGs for strategic communications. In any case, what you said didn't deter Liao and Kurita from their joint attacks, so Marik and Davion can definitely attack on a general plan with the details left to their discretion.
There was an interesting tidbit in Blood Will Tell. Basically, the disabled HPGs can still receive, but they can't broadcast.
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I don’t think you even need an HPG to receive. Just a radio antenna in the right location. The sending HPG handles opening the wormhole or whatever then beams a radio signal through. Comstar just tended to beam their message directly into the receiving station because it makes more sense to do so.
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And as Lord Harlock pointed out in another thread, Gavin Marik(-Davion) is somewhere. He has his own ROM-like organization with strong communications abilities. Julian used his services before, so he has this option in any future scenario.
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Isn't that an interesting little piece of information, a connected fellow like that
might be handy in such times as these?
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Isn't that an interesting little piece of information, a connected fellow like that
might be handy in such times as these?
Sadly, I fear that Gavin will be forgotten like a lot of other things.
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Yeah, instead of using this interesting character, they took the trouble to create a Trenton Marik.
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It's not like the BattleTech Universe has ended! There's still time!
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It's not like the BattleTech Universe has ended! There's still time!
It's not that I don't believe you, but first, I have to see if there are places for people like Gavin Marik-Davion in the Post IlClan to sell information to garner power in. It's kind of hard to be an information broker in an Inner Sphere run by Clan Logic. Plus, it is easy to remember that Quintus Allard-Liao got equally forgotten.
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Things begin, people doing things and then suddenly the focus moves over
and we hear nothing else. It's frustrating. But I don't know what has been
going on behind the scenes.
I do wish product rolled into our hands, a hell of a lot quicker. Proper
moving the universe forward, product.
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Aye, this is true. The snail's pace of plot-forwarding products is dissipating its own enthusiasm.
From the latest Rec Guide, aside from more evidence of Kallon-Wernke giving the impression of being the same scale as the Talon plant, GM-Blackwell doing well in the Dark Age is positive news coming after the Jihad and post-Jihad books making it sound like Blackwell was liquidated due to people shying away from Blakist reprisal.
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Aye, this is true. The snail's pace of plot-forwarding products is dissipating its own enthusiasm.
Considering that Games Workshop basically only recently started to move their lumbering leviathan Warhammer 40K's story forward after nearly 30 years of recycling the same repackaged guides again and again, it can work. I don't recommend it since it requires constantly getting customers to buy loads of kits, but it can work. However, Battletech is not 40K, and that is for the better to be honest. Battlletech was always a dynamic story that couldn't just stay put. And in a lot of ways, that was lost with all the catch up to the Dark Age and the original ending of the novels with To Ride the Chimera.
From the latest Rec Guide, aside from more evidence of Kallon-Wernke giving the impression of being the same scale as the Talon plant, GM-Blackwell doing well in the Dark Age is positive news coming after the Jihad and post-Jihad books making it sound like Blackwell was liquidated due to people shying away from Blakist reprisal.
Actually, that goes back to at least Objectives: Federated Suns where GM bought out Blackwell after the Blakest destroyed that part of the New Valencia facility in 3075. At times, FedSuns GM makes a lot of shortsighted moves like the Hellspawn. Military forces want Maruader IIs, so what does GM do? They make everything other than a Marauder or Marauder II for almost a hundred years. Smart move there, GM.
However, I still maintain that GM could have won the lawsuit against Norsestorm if they had used NAIS to go get royalties for the Devastator.
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Granted, that catch up took some time, but the glut of recent products around SF events can get jarring. There is also a widening gap between weapon performance in novels and what one reads in the Rec Guides. Compare the performance of TSEMPs, MRMs and the Amarok jump shield between HoTW and the sourcebooks/TROs.
Actually, that goes back to at least Objectives: Federated Suns where GM bought out Blackwell after the Blakest destroyed that part of the New Valencia facility in 3075. At times, FedSuns GM makes a lot of shortsighted moves like the Hellspawn. Military forces want Maruader IIs, so what does GM do? They make everything other than a Marauder or Marauder II for almost a hundred years. Smart move there, GM.
However, I still maintain that GM could have won the lawsuit against Norsestorm if they had used NAIS to go get royalties for the Devastator.
The Hellspawn was quite the odd duck, along with Garms, Gallants, Ant Lions, Scarecrows and others of that ilk.
Davion forces uncovered the Devastator blueprints so GM shouldn't have had trouble with it.
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There is also a widening gap between weapon performance in novels and what one reads in the Rec Guides. Compare the performance of TSEMPs, MRMs and the Amarok jump shield between HoTW and the sourcebooks/TROs.
That goes all the way back to man-portable inferno SRMs and Shadow Hawk 2Hs..
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Yeah, though these recent ones are glaring. One could think HoTW is an AU with those weapons working like a charm.
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It's to be expected that there'll be differences between fiction, and well rules.
But sometimes it's glaring how some things appear in a book, versus what
you know from the table top. The eternally issue of Stackpoling comes to
mind, though IIRC the science says that's not possible.
Perhaps it's me but later pre DA fiction, seemed to avoid anything overly
glaring in. Or that's my perception. After all I generally find it's the politics
and character interactions, that ultimately I enjoy the most in BT fiction.
Though the sacrifice of the FCS Kentares, will always resonate for me for the
sheer valour of "For the Prince!" But I digress.
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Though the sacrifice of the FCS Kentares, will always resonate for me for the
sheer valour of "For the Prince!" But I digress.
Hear! Hear!
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Like the valor there, though it was painful regarding the fratricidal and senseless loss of an Avalon and a Fox
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Like the valor there, though it was painful regarding the fratricidal and senseless loss of an Avalon and a Fox
Oh I agree. But ultimately one set of writers gave us these shiny toys, and another set
decided those toys were against their vision.
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Oh I agree. But ultimately one set of writers gave us these shiny toys, and another set
decided those toys were against their vision.
That is the truth.
Honestly when it comes to the FCS Kentares, I have often felt that it in retrospect that it encouraged the idea that the Federated Suns Admiralty had only one tactic: ramming speed or suicide charge. Maybe the Kentares should have broken shielded a swarm of Overload A3s with someone mentioning that those new Overlords are like 'pocket warships'? Maybe the Kentares should have launched marines lead by a Fox Team commanded by Roger Montjar who take the Alexander Davion for Victor?
I just wish that something else had happened since I am tired of good AFFS naval vessel wasted in a suicide charge.
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I mean, the suicidal-activation-of-the-jump-drive-in-a-gravity-field is really on a whole 'nother level from just conventional ramming. An entirely viable and honorable way to go if your ship is basically dead but you've got a charged jump drive. Something we should consider for anti-snake ops when we retake New Avalon. A short enough jump with a small enough ship and you might be able to target a ship and get there before they can run. Like, say, if you've got a Scout with a charged drive jumping from one lagrange point to another. Wait for the Snake warship to get into position to stop the incoming ground droppers, then wait a minute, is that a jump flare? What the...? BAM! and it's got a jumpship in its guts. The ground transports (who, of course, new what was coming) then fly on by, saluting the Scout's skeleton crew and their valiant sacrifice.
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I'm Back.
:D
Maybe not better, but I am back, with a new series in the KNT Universe, link in the sig. Just have to catch up on the last couple of years I've been away from the game.
Dav
Rorke,
Great time to start a new thread. Before engaging on your topic I'd like to mention the last thread went from 31 December 2013, 21:02:02 to 29 May 2021, 16:35:25, which isn't a bad run. I wonder if this thread will beat 7 years, 4 months, and 29 days. I wonder what I'll be doing Halloween weekend in 2028.
On topic last topic, I don't begrudge anyone muting anyone else. I would hope the decision is made with serious contemplation and I can understand it when it is. I find there is a lack of empathy in most online discussions, often on both ends, because realizing the other person is done is a matter of body language and expression more so than any text can communicate.
On this topic, I'm sad that DoctorMonkey (Dan) has apparently moved on from Battletech. I just looked at the first couple of pages of the last thread: Dan, fltadm, ShadowRaven, BrokenMnemonic, Davout73, and Mastergunz haven't been active between six years and six months or so.
I'm looking forward to getting my kids into Battletech, both have new miniatures, beyond the starter game they have played. Besides, it has been a solid few years of Battletech/MechWarrior video games so things, as you said, ought to be picking up.
Best wishes to all.
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Did they not do any sort of expansion in the Periphery?
If they didn't, even on a small scale, that strikes me as not particularly smart....
I'm finding the Jihad a slog, because there are so many moving parts, and keeping track of them has been a pain because I haven't been able to keep on anything resembling a schedule. It was a two week work trip in an area with limited, and I mean limited, internet that got me back to reading my old KNT stuff and going back to that, so I've started looking at the things that have happened in game since I stopped reading, which was the Jihad era, and I'm doing a lot of headscratching....
I suspect I am not the only one.
Dav
By 3151 the only major industrial center in enemy hands is New Avalon. Victoria is not counted due to being a recent conquest too near a hostile border. With the exception of Robinson(which was never a major industrial player) and New Syrtis, the other industrial worlds are intact and back on a war footing.
The shipyards of Kathil, Delavan and Panpour are still there along with other smaller yards. The Suns still has the capability to commission WarShips from Kathil at least.
The problem is logistics(resupplying strung-out units through unsafe shipping lanes). High Command will have to muster new units on or near the industrial centers instead of PDZ capitals.
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I'm Back.
:D
Maybe not better, but I am back, with a new series in the KNT Universe, link in the sig. Just have to catch up on the last couple of years I've been away from the game.
Dav
Yours remains a terrific profile pic. Welcome back.
Matt
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I mean, the suicidal-activation-of-the-jump-drive-in-a-gravity-field is really on a whole 'nother level from just conventional ramming. An entirely viable and honorable way to go if your ship is basically dead but you've got a charged jump drive. Something we should consider for anti-snake ops when we retake New Avalon. A short enough jump with a small enough ship and you might be able to target a ship and get there before they can run. Like, say, if you've got a Scout with a charged drive jumping from one lagrange point to another. Wait for the Snake warship to get into position to stop the incoming ground droppers, then wait a minute, is that a jump flare? What the...? BAM! and it's got a jumpship in its guts. The ground transports (who, of course, new what was coming) then fly on by, saluting the Scout's skeleton crew and their valiant sacrifice.
I am perfectly fine with the loss of a Scout or one of those useless Monoliths from Challenger Systems (Since 3025, they have been working on it!) However, a Fox and Avalon are a bit more on the preserve list for me. Not that it really matters anymore. They probably are all gone now, but if the Admiral Michael Saille is still about hopefully her commander has the good sense to not go to ramming speed immediately.
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Did they not do any sort of expansion in the Periphery?
If they didn't, even on a small scale, that strikes me as not particularly smart....
I'm finding the Jihad a slog, because there are so many moving parts, and keeping track of them has been a pain because I haven't been able to keep on anything resembling a schedule. It was a two week work trip in an area with limited, and I mean limited, internet that got me back to reading my old KNT stuff and going back to that, so I've started looking at the things that have happened in game since I stopped reading, which was the Jihad era, and I'm doing a lot of headscratching....
I suspect I am not the only one.
Dav
Trust me in the early days of the Jihad Sourcebooks, I complained more than I do now. Factories destroyed for no real reason other than to justify the quotas that Dark Age supposedly guaranteed. Warships blown up for no reason when you could do cool fleet battles instead. "Big Hero" Stone kind of was a footnote most of the time and bland.
The pointless death of named characters for no real reason except for cheap sensationalism. To this day, I will not understand why Diana Pryde had to explode in 3073 since it seemed to be just a random name drop.
Yeah, the Jihad Hotspot books are not a particular favorites of mine.
On that note, the best sourcebooks are probably Jihad Secret- the Blake Document plus Masters and Minions since both were more concrete and less fluid in the information presented. Plus, Masters and Minions had great art. Just look at the Yvonne portrait, she actually looked like the daughter of Melissa Steiner-Davion as oppose to other depictions which are best forgotten.
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Did they not do any sort of expansion in the Periphery?
If they didn't, even on a small scale, that strikes me as not particularly smart....
Apparently the Suns had an economic revival during the Republic era akin to "the German Miracle" but the borders were fixed by the 3130 IS map that came out during the WK era. Of course, that economic muscle is barely touched upon after the timeskip.
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Oh I agree. But ultimately one set of writers gave us these shiny toys, and another set
decided those toys were against their vision.
True. These multiple policy shifts are very harmful to setting coherence.
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I am perfectly fine with the loss of a Scout or one of those useless Monoliths from Challenger Systems (Since 3025, they have been working on it!) However, a Fox and Avalon are a bit more on the preserve list for me. Not that it really matters anymore. They probably are all gone now, but if the Admiral Michael Saille is still about hopefully her commander has the good sense to not go to ramming speed immediately.
One has to realize Endgame was written by a Cappie-lover. Heck, in the finale book of the 3067 pre-Jihad era that is supposedly about the conclusion to the FCCW and focusing on Steiner and Davion, the real winners were the Cappies, who reclaimed Tikonov with minimal force.
Hence, anything Steiner or Davion outside of Victor or Kai would be expendable.
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I'm going to put in the LDs let it happen clause here. No matter what you think of Michael Stackpole's writing, he took it before the LDs and they signed off on it. No matter what you think of Loren Coleman's writings, the LDs signed off on it. I do not think the writers have that much power. At most, they can color what they are asked to write about. An example would be the throne room scene between Victor and Grayson. Michael Stackpole colored it the way he wanted to, and William Keith colored it the way he wanted to.
Save the blame for the LDs that signed off on it.
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They do have a brainstorming session and all that, but isn't he also the franchise owner or something?
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Apparently the Suns had an economic revival during the Republic era akin to "the German Miracle" but the borders were fixed by the 3130 IS map that came out during the WK era. Of course, that economic muscle is barely touched upon after the timeskip.
So I am getting the impression that there is a lot of "Handwavium" being used to fit a particular storyline into the universe...
I'm going to put in the LDs let it happen clause here. No matter what you think of Michael Stackpole's writing, he took it before the LDs and they signed off on it. No matter what you think of Loren Coleman's writings, the LDs signed off on it. I do not think the writers have that much power. At most, they can color what they are asked to write about. An example would be the throne room scene between Victor and Grayson. Michael Stackpole colored it the way he wanted to, and William Keith colored it the way he wanted to.
Save the blame for the LDs that signed off on it.
I tend to agree. Having talked to writers in the past, including a couple who have written for the Star Trek Universe, they are given a set of guidelines to work within, and the LD's have input on the editing.
And I know that, as an example, if people wanted to start writing stories in my KNT universe, I would ask them to run them by me before posting them, because I want to make sure they aren't doing anything that's going to change my overall storyline arc in the universe. However, I'd also like to think that in my case if someone wrote a story that added a good plot twist, or changed something in a more interesting direction, I would adapt my overall storyline to fit it.
And to be honest, from my POV I'd be OK if they killed of a secondary tier character or two to advance the storyline, as long as a 3rd or 4th tier character stepped up. It seems there is a lot of characters being introduced that could take the universe in some interesting places, and they are just forgotten...
Oh well, back to the Brush Wars...
Davout
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Yours remains a terrific profile pic. Welcome back.
Matt
Thanks! Scares people even more when I tell them it's not a photoshop job....
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They do have a brainstorming session and all that, but isn't he also the franchise owner or something?
No and Yes. Loren Coleman is a partner of InMediaRe which to my knowledge still owns Catalyst Game Labs, but Catalyst is not the owner of Battletech. Catalyst licenses Battletech from Topps, the card and game company, along with Shadowrun. Topps acquired Battletech from Wizkids who had bought the line from FASA. Now here is where I probably am going to go a bit too insane. Topps is partially owned by Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO and a 1000 times better one than Bob "AntiCreative" Iger, through the Tornante Corporation.
Video Game rights are a mess for Battletech as well. Essentially, they belonged to FASA who gave to them to FASA Interactive, a subsidiary. FASA Interactive got absorbed by Microsoft. Microsoft eventually sold them to Harebrained Schemes who was owned by Jordan Weissman who formally owned FASA. And then they got bought by Paradox.
So in short, game rights are owned by Paradox. The development of the original line is licensed to Catalyst. But ultimately, the full power of the universe belongs to Michael Eisner as Chairman of Topps, but he probably has no idea that Topps owns it.
And no, I have no idea who owns the chain of title for anything involving live action or animated properties for Battletech. Considering the insanity of Saban Entertainment's contracts, and the the fact that most of their animated titles from the 90s are in a Disney vault thanks to the acquisition of the original Saban Entertainment through Fox Family Channel in 2001 by the Disney Corporation. I'd imagine that Disney somehow owns them, and doesn't even know or really care as they are too busy remaking perfectly good animated movies into bland live actions movies for . . . reasons. So that is speculation there.
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So I am getting the impression that there is a lot of "Handwavium" being used to fit a particular storyline into the universe...
Long story short, yes. The Suns is forced to relive the First Succession War on two fronts while conveniently forgetting the lessons of centuries of reforms designed to safeguard against exactly that. Caleb Davion is genius enough to destroy all those safeguards and the deep state of all that.
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No and Yes. Loren Coleman is a partner of InMediaRe which to my knowledge still owns Catalyst Game Labs, but Catalyst is not the owner of Battletech. Catalyst licenses Battletech from Topps, the card and game company, along with Shadowrun. Topps acquired Battletech from Wizkids who had bought the line from FASA. Now here is where I probably am going to go a bit too insane. Topps is partially owned by Michael Eisner, former Disney CEO and a 1000 times better one than Bob "AntiCreative" Iger, through the Tornante Corporation.
Video Game rights are a mess for Battletech as well. Essentially, they belonged to FASA who gave to them to FASA Interactive, a subsidiary. FASA Interactive got absorbed by Microsoft. Microsoft eventually sold them to Harebrained Schemes who was owned by Jordan Weissman who formally owned FASA. And then they got bought by Paradox.
So in short, game rights are owned by Paradox. The development of the original line is licensed to Catalyst. But ultimately, the full power of the universe belongs to Michael Eisner as Chairman of Topps, but he probably has no idea that Topps owns it.
And no, I have no idea who owns the chain of title for anything involving live action or animated properties for Battletech. Considering the insanity of Saban Entertainment's contracts, and the the fact that most of their animated titles from the 90s are in a Disney vault thanks to the acquisition of the original Saban Entertainment through Fox Family Channel in 2001 by the Disney Corporation. I'd imagine that Disney somehow owns them, and doesn't even know or really care as they are too busy remaking perfectly good animated movies into bland live actions movies for . . . reasons. So that is speculation there.
That is a really convoluted line of IP history.
Although with HBS regaining the video game rights, hopefully there will be more Battletech titles other than PGI MW. MechCommander is sorely missed.
For films or TV series, a new animated series or TV mini-series would be the most realistic choices.
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Long story short, yes. The Suns is forced to relive the First Succession War on two fronts while conveniently forgetting the lessons of centuries of reforms designed to safeguard against exactly that. Caleb Davion is genius enough to destroy all those safeguards and the deep state of all that.
Yay....something to look forward too...unless I have like yardwork or a honey-do list to work on....
You know one of the things I like about working in my KNT universe, and now that I've gone back to it, is that you had to make thing reasonably believable. No wild leaps of technology, no Mary Sues, no extraordinary plot devices...it actually forces you to think about what your doing and avoid anything to wild...
I may just skip the jihad and the dark ages...
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Yay....something to look forward too...unless I have like yardwork or a honey-do list to work on....
You know one of the things I like about working in my KNT universe, and now that I've gone back to it, is that you had to make thing reasonably believable. No wild leaps of technology, no Mary Sues, no extraordinary plot devices...it actually forces you to think about what your doing and avoid anything to wild...
I may just skip the jihad and the dark ages...
Oh heck the Jihad was actually in many ways, lots of fun. Sure we got mauled, but the FS came out of it
(despite some hideous moments of stupidity) rather well. Showed more spine as a faction than it had for
a good long time. The battles for New Avalon are frankly epic, all the more so in the Isle of the Blessed
story.
Later the questionable rationale for the universe going into the DA, didn't help. But I think right now,
the FS is in one of the most interesting places it's ever been. But I remain oddly optimistic.
I'm just fervently hoping the writing staff, do not screw it or us up.
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I haven't gone by 97jedi since I nuked that account. But I'm still here.
Been a long time 97Jedi. Hope you are doing well.
Many of the old guard have long since moved on.
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Yay....something to look forward too...unless I have like yardwork or a honey-do list to work on....
You know one of the things I like about working in my KNT universe, and now that I've gone back to it, is that you had to make thing reasonably believable. No wild leaps of technology, no Mary Sues, no extraordinary plot devices...it actually forces you to think about what your doing and avoid anything to wild...
I may just skip the jihad and the dark ages...
Rorke has the right of it though. Do check out the epic defense of New Avalon during the Jihad. The siege and the AFFS forcing the Blakists off-world was a story of true grit. There was even some nice Davion history written in the Age of War section of TRO3075.
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Been a long time 97Jedi. Hope you are doing well.
Back atcha, Force.
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I just finished the first draft of my second novel! It came in at 100,078 words, 308 pages. All goals met, and I'm happy. Already had my celebratory grilled ribeye, but now I'm thinking ice cream is in order. Hope all's well with you gents!
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Ice Cream is practically life support here right now.
The Nordic region is hotter than I've ever experienced, in twelve years
living in Finland. I usually love summers, five months of snow will do
that to you :p But this right now, is awful. But I understand the
Pacific NW of N America has had similar recently.
Oh and least I'm not in a city, sheesh don't miss overly hot weather
in a concrete jungle.
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Freak weather. Take care everyone
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I do believe I've got my new author photo for the back cover of the new book.
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Reminds one of Sergeant Slaughter from GI Joe. Good childhood memory
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Does anyone ever see or hear from or know what Welshman is doing these days? Or Foxbat?
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I looked them up, neither has been active on here for about five or six years.
Regrettable, likeable chaps the pair of them. Assume real life is keeping them
occupied, hopefully only pleasantly!
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Wow, I didn’t realize it’d been that long since Welshman was around. I knew he posted less down here once he got into working for TPTB, but hadn’t realized he’d dropped off entirely.
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3CL posted recently.
*tries setting out the Hedgehog signal*
Also, good to see you again, Stoner, my favorite Mandrill ;)
Also, question for Rorke. What was your favorite type of Admin work to do in SL? I was a results and later units admin on the MW3 side. Results was a bit stressful at times. Arbitration .... was getting two people who were acting like kids to act like adults. Units was the most fun for me and involved meshing people with into where they wanted to be or, if that wasn't available, the closest fit. The sad part was shutting down the inactives.
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Oh heck Starlance Admin work.
Was all about resolving conflicts to be honest, lived for that. I was a retail
manager at the time, so it was like an easier version of work. We didn't ever
mess with units, wasn't any need to thankfully. I wish I had a better memory,
mine has always been sorta poor. I'd struggle to name any of the admin
team from just MC now.
I'm still in touch with a couple of people from those days on FB, and they still
like to tease me about my (pre admin) tendencies to destroy idiots on the SL
forums.
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Does anyone ever see or hear from or know what Welshman is doing these days? Or Foxbat?
Apparently, Welshman was last active September 4, 2020 still with the TPTB badge and all. As for Foxbat, he hasn't been active since January 18, 2016, so I hope he is still out there reading some Rousseau.
Anyhow, hi Generalstoner. How are things?
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I can not complain. Life with a teenager now can be rough and expensive some days but overall life is good. Still working in time for tabletop.
In a few years when my daughter goes to college I will be moving to Georgia so excited about that!
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So I have a question for my fellow AFFS fans.
What is the Organization Structure of "Space Marines" in the AFFS (FC/LC)?
My thoughts/options.
1. FM:FS has 2 types of infantry orgs......Standard & Spec Ops using Base-3 Platoons/Company v/s Base-4 Platoons/Company
2. In some product, long ago, (IDR where) there was a line about Marines being similar to Jump Infantry due to their extra gear for EV/0-G maneuvering.
This was before Tac Ops gave us the actual weights to create "Marines" as custom infantry. But I always keep it in mind.
So I'm wondering, do we have any actual canon examples?
You could end up with 4 different options for company size......
63 Troops = 3 Platoons at 21 Each
84 Troops = 4 Platoons at 21 Each
84 Troops = 3 Platoons at 28 Each
112 Troops = 4 Platoons at 28 Each
For the record, I really like now the 2nd/3rd option ends up with the same # of troops.
So how do you classify them? Regs or SpecOps?
And how many squads/platoon do you use?
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I've always considered AFFS Marine units to be similar to AFFS Line Infantry units, just with additional training and gear, so 3 platoons of 28 men is how I show them.
Spec Ops are things like Rabid Fox units and what not. I doubt that you'd ever see a full Company of them at any one time, but there has to be an organizational level where they exist before being deployed, hence the 4 platoons of 28 note.
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According to Tactical Operations [page 341] marine units typically have 4 squads with up to 10 marines per squad. According to Sarna.net marines are typically armed with laser weaponry.
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Immensely tenuous, but I've just discovered they've made a Homeworld RPG.
Well maybe not it does sometimes involve Marines, just in another setting.
I am beyond myself at the notion of such a thing, my adoration of the series
is rather strong. I've nobody to play with, but honestly just seeing more
lore is enough to make it somewhat essential. That's made my day, just before
I go to bed hehe.
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Sounds almost like myself and Traveller these days. I ended up finding some used MegaTraveller materials at the FLGS last week, and though I'll never use them, I picked them up.
Otherwise, life's been lots of stuff supporting my wife on the farm.
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Sounds almost like myself and Traveller these days. I ended up finding some used MegaTraveller materials at the FLGS last week, and though I'll never use them, I picked them up.
Otherwise, life's been lots of stuff supporting my wife on the farm.
Did you ever get any Challenge magazine, the old GDW publication? Not always easy to get in the UK in
the 90s, but I've still I think got a couple of dozen. Great publication, and endearingly publisher agnostic
which was welcome. Ahhh happy days.
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Never got Challenge, but I did buy the complete set of JTAS a few years back from DriveThruRPG a few years back. Marc Miller's selling all the back catalogue at reasonable prices for PDFs.
I just wish CGL would sell the older BattleTech rulebooks for nostalgia's sake.
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I think I've got some issues of Challenge, as they had BT stuff once in a while.
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I think I've got some issues of Challenge, as they had BT stuff once in a while.
Yeah they did. Some of that stuff even occasionally filtered into the actual rules, as best I recall
field guns were originally a Challenge article thing.
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I guess ilClan wasn't the end of Suns. I guess I am here for awhile longer.
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Those RoTS refugees won't matter much, given their pitifully low numbers. Nothing surprising with the Suns section.
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I'm going to be full on miffed, if we have to wait another three years for something.
Even more so if a raft of yet more historic stuff gets ploughed out, while we wait. Our entry
read like treading water, as did the other Successor States to be honest. A hint towards coming
things, but little of substance.
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I feel your pain, Rorke. Perfectly good factions are languishing in the wings.
Our chosen factions have business to attend to, as well. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
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I'm going to be full on miffed, if we have to wait another three years for something.
Even more so if a raft of yet more historic stuff gets ploughed out, while we wait. Our entry
read like treading water, as did the other Successor States to be honest. A hint towards coming
things, but little of substance.
This has ever been the style with the Suns'(and a few other factions) writing since the timeskip to 3145.
Hopefully the LCG gets to rebuild instead of coming back to die.
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I'm going to be full on miffed, if we have to wait another three years for something.
Even more so if a raft of yet more historic stuff gets ploughed out, while we wait. Our entry
read like treading water, as did the other Successor States to be honest. A hint towards coming
things, but little of substance.
I understand the frustration Rorke, but to be honest I find myself to be in the exact opposite position. The historical stuff is a major part of what's keeping me active in the Universe right now rather than just chucking the entire story and writing my own timeline for my own group. Not that I haven't decided to rewrite large portions of it, but I still hold to the basic story arc for now.
Honestly, I've gotten so used to the idea that the writers feel like the Federated Suns has had it's day and now only exists to serve as an illustrator of the greatness of the Combine and Confederation that I've quit worrying about where we stand post-Jihad, as I expect us to just continue along in the shadows, only getting attention when someone else needs a boost in the fiction.
Would I enjoy seeing our return to glory? Certainly, what kind of Davion would I be if I didn't, but let's be honest here, I don't see it happening because I see the majority of the attention going towards the Capellans and Clan Wolf in the near future. So instead, I look forward to the Historicals being released to fill in more of the backstory and I browse the boards, looking specific data for my own homebrew campaign.
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Oh Paladin I get you, I absolutely do. I disagree of course, but it doesn't mean I
do not understand your viewpoint.
I've always moved with the universe, and I've been on this ride a frighteningly long time. Frankly
the seemingly eternal waits, for new up to date content have made me a touch judgemental.
Anything that gets in the way of new stuff, will frustrate me. Though I'm aware of how there've
been behind the scenes changes, that wouldn't help.
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This has ever been the style with the Suns'(and a few other factions) writing since the timeskip to 3145.
Hopefully the LCG gets to rebuild instead of coming back to die.
You know, that brings up something that kind of bothered me about the FS section. Tye head of the new LCG is granted the Viscounty of Tecumseh, right? Two problems with this: 1) Viscount isn’t a FedSuns title. The system has always gone straight from Baron to Count. I mean, I guess Julian can create a new step in the noble staircase, but it’s still an odd choice. 2) Counts are said to rule “particularly important cities, planetary continents, moons, or even sparsely-populated worlds.” So...how empty is Tecumseh that, as an entire world, it still doesn’t merit even a Count?
(Ok, actually 3 problems because, in part because it’s mostly just a name on a map that’s almost never referenced in the fiction, I’ve used it on occasion in my headcanon, which I’m going to have to rewrite now. But I can hardly blame the writers for not respecting the ideas in my head. lol)
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I'm guessing it's called a Viscouncy instead of a County because Viscount is a non-hereditary title, which was mentioned in that section.
Another possibility is they are granted planetary landholds instead of the entire planet or system itself(which is under a Duke), which checks them from getting too powerful if they decide to go rogue or go Davion Warrior Cabal in the future.
Although pre-existing big merc units with landholds already go back centuries, such as 12th Vegan Rangers.
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You’d think if it was sub-planetary, it would say “The Viscounty of Tecumseh’s Geronimo continent” or “a Viscounty on Tecumseh” or something though, right? The way it’s phrased suggests it’s the whole world.
The non-hereditary idea is interesting, but it still seems to be unprecedented in FedSuns peerage. HB:HD talks about the title of Marquess being granted for set time periods (5-10 years), with the option of making it permanent if the holder did well enough, so it seems like existing titles can be granted on a non-hereditary basis. From an OOC perspective, I wish the writers would stick to the existing source material instead of reinventing things on the fly without explanation. It’d be different if there was a blurb along the lines of “so Julian created a new step in the nobility: non-hereditary viscounties...”, but when it just shows up out of nowhere it’s frustrating.
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If memory serves, Viscount is a position mentioned in the FS Handbook. But you're not
wrong, regards it being a title as best I recall.
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Now that you mention it, there is a notation for Viscount in the Typical Salary and Price Guide fable on page 185. But that’s the only mention, there’s nothing about them in the section on Nobility (pp. 108-109). Curious.
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Viscount is a uniquely Lyran rank of nobility falling between a Graf and a Margrave. It is a minor noble title.
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I think the title they wanted was Marquess, which served a similar role in the old book.
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I'd hate to ruffle feathers, but I do wonder if continuity is as strong these days
as it was a few years back.
Of course I don't mean that unkindly, but I seem to recall a few years back it being
as tight as a drum. I also recall the FASA days, when it was regrettably somewhat
lacking.
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There have been mentions of FedSuns Viscounts in the past. That HB:HD doesn't mention them directly in the text doesn't mean they don't exist; both it and the older House book, for example, also exclude the rank of Earl--another noble title established to exist within the FedSuns.
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There have been mentions of FedSuns Viscounts in the past. That HB:HD doesn't mention them directly in the text doesn't mean they don't exist; both it and the older House book, for example, also exclude the rank of Earl--another noble title established to exist within the FedSuns.
I’m not doubting, but where are Earls referenced? I couldn’t find any occurrences on a search of the HBHD or HDSB.
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Earl was a rank of nobility in the Terran Hegemony. It may be a relic of the fallen Star league on the former worlds of the Hegemony. It was mentioned in the Mechwarrior, Third Edition (I think) and of course the Star League sourcebook.
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You’d think if it was sub-planetary, it would say “The Viscounty of Tecumseh’s Geronimo continent” or “a Viscounty on Tecumseh” or something though, right? The way it’s phrased suggests it’s the whole world.
I finished IlClan yesterday and, on reading back through the FS section, I actually got this part wrong. It does say “a viscounty on Tecumseh.” So probably not the whole world. Still an odd choice of title though, I think.
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Whatever the import of the title, it's still an interesting angle being crafted with it.
I'm sort of glad the Lexingtons are back, I never quite felt it with them as a line
AFFS unit.
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Earl was a rank of nobility in the Terran Hegemony. It may be a relic of the fallen Star league on the former worlds of the Hegemony. It was mentioned in the Mechwarrior, Third Edition (I think) and of course the Star League sourcebook.
Viscount (via French: Vicomte from Late Latin "Vice" [deputy] + "Comes") is a rank between Baron and Count/Earl. It remained an administrative, nonhereditary position longer than most other noble titles, and was even never used in some areas (e.g. the Holy Roman and later German Empire).
"Earl" is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent (cognate with old Norse "jarl") of the Latin ("Comes")->French ("Comte")->Anglo-Norman "Count". The German equivalent is "Graf", as used in the LC/LA.
"Marquess/Marquis/Margrave" (ultimately derived from "Marca/Marche" in the Latin/French branch and the Germanic "Mark", both meaning a border area) in is a rank above Count/Earl but below Duke.
The German equivalent is "Markgraf".
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I'm sort of glad the Lexingtons are back, I never quite felt it with them as a line
AFFS unit.
same! :)
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Whatever the import of the title, it's still an interesting angle being crafted with it.
I'm sort of glad the Lexingtons are back, I never quite felt it with them as a line
AFFS unit.
It probably sounded better on paper. Let's preserve the Lexington Combat Group as a part of Ceti Hussars. However, it was really a much reduced Ceti Hussars. So instead of preserving the unit, it made them just a rump of what was left of the LCG.
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There are a lot of things the writers come up that sound good until us nitpicking players look at it, scratch our heads and wonder what bodily orrifice the writer pulled that one out of.
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What I could never understand is if the LCG were the 4th Ceti Hussars, who were the 5th Ceti Hussars? I saw them mentioned somewhere, and thought to myself, wait, what?
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Everybody was raising new units after the Blackout.
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After the Jihad, the Ceti Hussars were reduced to LCTs. This meant that the Fourth (former LCG) had too many troops. The excess formed the Fifth Ceti Hussars, who were destroyed at Palmyra.
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That being the case, it would be cool to see the newly reformed LCG drop onto Palmyra to hunt for the survivors of the disaster and any remaining 5th Ceti Hussars. Sounds like a novella to me!
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Check the new Upcoming Releases thread for the announcement of Turning Points: Helm, by the High Command's own Shadow6!
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/general-discussion/upcoming-releases-xxi-urbie-s-beer-run/
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I really hope there is more there than what we already know from the book & the scenario pack.
New cool tidbits of info would be awesome.
If on the other hand its a rehash of old stuff then, meh.
I didn't mind the FS/CH org absorbing the LCG so much as the total reduction in size, going from 4? Regiments to part of one seemed like..... uhm... overkill?
But such was the Jihad I guess.
As far as a Viscount being in charge of a single world....... Grayson was "Baron von Glengary", getting an entire world for just a Baron title.
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Different Realms, different rules. I don't know enough about Lyran noble structure to know if that's odd or not.
As for the LCG, I think you're selling them short. An LCT is 2-3 regiments in size and, as Doc said above, the 5th Ceti was also spun off from the 4th, which suggests to me that the 4th was probably a larger than usual LCT.
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As far as a Viscount being in charge of a single world....... Grayson was "Baron von Glengary", getting an entire world for just a Baron title.
BattleTech has been rather fast and loose with the authority of various Noble titles. At least it isn't the retcons of Traveller over various editions. Did any version of MechWarrior offer a coherent explanation of how noble titles works and relate to the military?
Prior to T5: Duke: Subsectors and Sectors Rulers
Count: Important cluster of Worlds
Viscount: Minor cluster of worlds
Marquis: Single Major world
Baron: Single world
Baronet: Senior Knight
Knight: High ranking citizen
Post T5:
Duke: Major World, Subsector, and Sector
Count: High population and industrial worlds and associated clusters
Viscount: Worlds that may develop into high population and industrial centers and associated clusters
Marquis: As viscount, but single system only
Baron: Single world, and local rulers
Baronet: Hereditary knight
Knight: High ranking citizens, Imperial Representatives.
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It varies by house. The Handbook: House [Name] series has a rundown of how it works in their subject houses (At least, the Davion one does. I assume the others are parallel, but I haven’t read through all of them.)
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I thought I joined an early version of these boards in either the summer of 2001 or the summer of 2002. But that can't be right, since I wasn't "Charlie 6" until November 2002. maybe I was lurking. So 18 or 19 years, give or take.
I'd really like to know just how many threads across all iterations of the boards there have been that have addressed..."cavalry 'Mechs."
I just saw yet another one pop-up up North.
My point is, while I'm getting old and I've been here awhile but some level of statistical tracking for threads would be amusing.
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Fall of 2001 was around when I found the message board, as I recall.
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I think I got here in ‘04 or ‘05. I’d have been in high school at the time.
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It varies by house. The Handbook: House [Name] series has a rundown of how it works in their subject houses (At least, the Davion one does. I assume the others are parallel, but I haven’t read through all of them.)
They did, although they were sometimes kinda weird at times.
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I am looking for some feedback on a 1st Kestrel Grenadiers force.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZEdme82pKV2d6T66-yThq7AiOIPZwjA4oIOegoE6UhQ/edit?usp=sharing
if it doesnt open to their actual force org its on the bottom, should be in its own sheet
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I think I got here in ‘04 or ‘05. I’d have been in high school at the time.
You were here in 2004 I believe.
Paul
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It was 1997 and many generations of the web site ago for me.
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After a disappointing year in law school in the spring of 2004, I stopped lurking and started to post here. To be fair, this place along with affshc.net were probably the best experiences that I had interacting with others online. Now back to lurking in the shadows.
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I am looking for some feedback on a 1st Kestrel Grenadiers force.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZEdme82pKV2d6T66-yThq7AiOIPZwjA4oIOegoE6UhQ/edit?usp=sharing
if it doesnt open to their actual force org its on the bottom, should be in its own sheet
Just a couple of minor comments. This feedback is based on the unit as of FM:FS. If you are looking at a different era this may not apply.
FM:FS specifically calls out the heavy battalions as liking Longbows/Salamanders so a spot appearance would be in order.
Nevermind I missed the Longbow there all along.
Similarly a large amount of the rebuild for this regiment, at least as far as pilots, came from Capellan defectors. I see the Victor and Cataphract but given how much of the regiment came out of this background, maybe a couple more 'Mechs that the Capellans favored in the 4th Succession War or which were built in the St. Ives Compact would be inorder.
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Just a couple of minor comments. This feedback is based on the unit as of FM:FS. If you are looking at a different era this may not apply.
FM:FS specifically calls out the heavy battalions as liking Longbows/Salamanders so a spot appearance would be in order.
Nevermind I missed the Longbow there all along.
Similarly a large amount of the rebuild for this regiment, at least as far as pilots, came from Capellan defectors. I see the Victor and Cataphract but given how much of the regiment came out of this background, maybe a couple more 'Mechs that the Capellans favored in the 4th Succession War or which were built in the St. Ives Compact would be inorder.
This version is nominally dedicated to the Dark Age, but the mechs will serve as a every era unit, while removing when the unit isn't appropriate.
where does it talk more about the unit? I picked it because it wasn't a Davion Guards unit and it existed throughout time, not necessarily because i know anything about them
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I was just reading their entry in Field Manual: Federated Suns.
The Sarna page has a bibliography with a few other places they have been mentioned, but the FM:FS blurb is probably going to be the most descriptive with the rest being more engagement/deployment descriptions and the like.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/1st_Kestrel_Grenadiers
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Shrapnel 6 answered what Riccard Streng (most probable identity of Weatherbee) had been doing since Caleb dismissed him. 15 years of intelligence gathering on Terra with that valuable info now in the hands of the Suns.
The Suns also hired on a new merc company with a Dire Wolf and Stone's Atlas II
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Shrapnel 6 answered what Riccard Streng (most probable identity of Weatherbee) had been doing since Caleb dismissed him. 15 years of intelligence gathering on Terra with that valuable info now in the hands of the Suns.
The Suns also hired on a new merc company with a Dire Wolf and Stone's Atlas II
Well, there are worse places than being stuck in Ohio for over a decade.
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He got an extended holiday without having to deal with Caleb's stupidity. Perhaps he may play a bigger role in Wolf-Suns relations. 3 of the Successor States are hostile to Alaric, it doesn't need to be war between Alaric and Julian.
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He got an extended holiday without having to deal with Caleb's stupidity. Perhaps he may play a bigger role in Wolf-Suns relations. 3 of the Successor States are hostile to Alaric, it doesn't need to be war between Alaric and Julian.
For those who are not up on current events.
Who are the 3 that are actively Hostile to Alaric?
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The Wolf Empire was carved out of Lyran and Free Worlds space, and the Capellans want Terra.
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Clan Hells Horses also told him they were going to fight him tooth and nail
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I thought I joined an early version of these boards in either the summer of 2001 or the summer of 2002. But that can't be right, since I wasn't "Charlie 6" until November 2002. maybe I was lurking. So 18 or 19 years, give or take.
I'd really like to know just how many threads across all iterations of the boards there have been that have addressed..."cavalry 'Mechs."
I just saw yet another one pop-up up North.
My point is, while I'm getting old and I've been here awhile but some level of statistical tracking for threads would be amusing.
I've no idea how long I've been on here, it's likely around the around 2001 or so. Been through at least two full forum wipes, likely I'd be a Colonel by now if not for the reboots.
To quote Slim Charles from The Wire (greatest TV Show ever imho) "the thing about the old days, they the old days"
I've thought a little lately how perceptions on this board, can dictate how you yourself act sometimes. People used to think I was some hideously posh English fellow, and I'm not remotely posh. But I had years of it, perhaps I altered my style of writing due to that. Became the persona that people expected me to be. Funny how that works out, at least to me.
That's a nice list Kerfuffin, but I don't feel qualified to judge. I'm kind of odd for running my lances with duplicate chassis, and often running everything at the same speed brackets. Also a slight tendency to go with what I feel, are synergistic groupings. Likely that speaks to a degree of OCD about something or other, damned if I know what :p
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The Wolf Empire was carved out of Lyran and Free Worlds space, and the Capellans want Terra.
I thought the Lyrans would want detente after their losses, but with them counted, it makes the Suns the only Successor State that's still neutral to Alaric.
neoFWL - as Arkansas Warrior pointed out, and also because Empire Alone confirms it
Cappies - Obviously
Dracs - They've been openly proclaiming Terra and First Lordship as their destiny since starting the First Succession War. All that build-up with their Clan neighbours too.
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I thought the Lyrans would want detente after their losses, but with them counted, it makes the Suns the only Successor State that's still neutral to Alaric.
And, because they didn't send troops to help the republic (no matter the reason, it can be spun by the PR people) Alaric is probably at least neutral back.
The Suns & Terra, BFFs, no matter the owner! haha
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There were many years when the FS wasn't exactly cool with ComStar when they had Terra.
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And, because they didn't send troops to help the republic (no matter the reason, it can be spun by the PR people) Alaric is probably at least neutral back.
The Suns & Terra, BFFs, no matter the owner! haha
:thumbsup: It helps that the Suns never outright claimed First Lordship or Terra (Hanse never publicly stated it, even though his long-term plan was this)
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There were many years when the FS wasn't exactly cool with ComStar when they had Terra.
It's arguable, that nobody was exactly cool with Comstar. I mean surface wise, all smiles. But
no blighter trusted them, and we didn't know half then what we would eventually.
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The Barlow's End AAR in Shrapnel #6 would be talking about one component of the Fortress Wall system. There's still the targeting system.
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I’m still around lurking as usual albeit a lot less than the old days. Thanks for the shout out Doc. Good times writing that TP. Good to see some of the same folks are still roaming around these parts. I remember being on the forums in late 2001 early 2002 as I was still in the military and just got a reassignment to an office that had a computer with internet. Talk about a Neanderthal playing with fire.
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My newest novel went up for sale yesterday. :)
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How are you doing Mr. Swift? It's been a long while...
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Fair to middlin'. Be doin' better if more people bought my books. ;)
How 'bout yourself?
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Looks like I am hopelessly behind the times. What year is the current iteration up to?
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3152 the last I checked.
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I am way behind the times.
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Honestly, keeping up with the latest news stopped being important to me around 3085 or so and even then it wasn't a high priority.
I guess my interest in the current story has just waned completely at this point, so much that I didn't even bother with the Kickstart minis. I was glad to see the resculpts, but they just didn't tick the right boxes to cause me to shell out the cash.
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I'm sort of there with you.
While I did support the Kickstarter it was truly just to support the game.
I've lost interest in the storyline/Novels which is a shame because it was the Novels that got me into the Game.
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I'm sort of there with you.
While I did support the Kickstarter it was truly just to support the game.
I've lost interest in the storyline/Novels which is a shame because it was the Novels that got me into the Game.
Oddly, I was the same way for a long time. I didn’t support the Kickstarter mostly because of past experiences with crowd funding, and I was just waiting for inevitable end of the Suns. The only thing that got me to respond on the forum is if someone mentioned Panpour. However, I then read on a lark Icons of War by Craig Reed last year, and for the first time in a long time, it felt like the Battletech that I loved. I do recommend Icons of War if you haven’t read it.
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Icons of War you say?
I'll give it a try, I'm not adverse to the new setting in theory, but nothing I've seen so far has held my interest enough to jump back in again.
Hour of the Wolf, for example, was good but we're House Davion, not Clan Wolf or the Terran Hegemony...er, the Republic of the Sphere.
The fact that VSD sold his sword to that bunch, along with more than a few other FedSons, was reason enough for me to not like them, but I'll still not support the descendants of the Deserter over my own. House just to get to read a story.
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That's the one about the Wolf secret mission right?
Yeah, I've been thinking that would be one read for sure if I got around to starting reading again.
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That's the one about the Wolf secret mission right?
Yeah, I've been thinking that would be one read for sure if I got around to starting reading again.
it's good. Love the inside look at Clan society.
This is not a wholly unbiased take, but the ELH series has also been pretty solid on kindle. :)
Also, Jason Schmetzer's Capellan story (the name of which escapes me) was really good, the only shortcoming being it just kinda ENDS because there's CLEARLY another shoe to drop down the road (people suspect a CC civil war, and I'm not under an NDA, so I can 100% tell you honestly I have NOOOO idea and I'm excited as a fan to find out! :)
honestly, it's an exciting time to get back into the fiction because, for the first time in years, the storyline isn't beholden to anything from before, but whatever TPTB want to make it.
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Icons of War you say?
I'll give it a try, I'm not adverse to the new setting in theory, but nothing I've seen so far has held my interest enough to jump back in again.
Hour of the Wolf, for example, was good but we're House Davion, not Clan Wolf or the Terran Hegemony...er, the Republic of the Sphere.
The fact that VSD sold his sword to that bunch, along with more than a few other FedSons, was reason enough for me to not like them, but I'll still not support the descendants of the Deserter over my own. House just to get to read a story.
Hour of the Wolf was good in the sense that the Republic of the Sphere got what was coming to it. Otherwise, it just confirmed to me that Devlin Stone was a hype machine without any substance. And the universe is better off without the Republic or Stone.
Victor becoming a Stoner never sat well with me, but maybe surviving the Arc Royal bombing screwed with his mind? I once had an idea where for a fanfic where Victor returns to the Suns to become Champion during the Jihad, but other than featuring Jade Davion growing up on New Avalon. I could never figure out what would be the payoff. Sure, it’d be fun to write out a story where the Suns actually wins, but when I have tried to work out the story, it just too much like fan fiction like my last attempt. So I gave up on it.
I hope for a good canon Federated Suns story someday where the story doesn’t feels like the author is apologizing for the Suns getting a win. The last one really was Fortress of Lies, and that was only quasi Suns.
For now, Icons of War really showed a side of Clan Society which really doesn’t get explored a lot, and how people survive on the other side of the tracks in the Clans when everything falls apart. It was really good. Plus, the Republic isn’t in the book at all.
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Also, Jason Schmetzer's Capellan story (the name of which escapes me) was really good, the only shortcoming being it just kinda ENDS because there's CLEARLY another shoe to drop down the road (people suspect a CC civil war, and I'm not under an NDA, so I can 100% tell you honestly I have NOOOO idea and I'm excited as a fan to find out! :)
I've gotta be honest, I have serious issues with Blood Will Tell, mainly because it, well, there's no really nice way to say this; it tries to whitewash a mass-murdering lunatic as being any better than Daoshen if/when Danai takes the Celestial Throne, and never engages with any of the large range of atrocities that she's responsible for. If Danai ever showed any comprehension of her myriad of atrocities (massacring POWs, her part of aiding & abetting the Cappies' mass slaughters and brutality, and her culpability for the nerve gas attacks & Mask kill-squads slaughtering whole towns for funsies on New Syrtis, etc.) being wrong, that would be one thing; but it honestly feels like she's memory-holed all that stuff at this point by blaming the victims thereof and the people - notably, Julian - who tried to stop her.
sighs Maybe it's just that A Splinter of Hope and its blatant attempts to BOTHSIDES a situation where, in fact, the Federated Suns are clearly, and unquestionably, in the right (as well as turning Julian into a weak-willed strawman for Danai to knock down) have just left me feeling extremely poorly disposed to the Capellans in general.
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So nothing's changed. That's the Cappies for ya.
Hour of the Wolf was good in the sense that the Republic of the Sphere got what was coming to it. Otherwise, it just confirmed to me that Devlin Stone was a hype machine without any substance. And the universe is better off without the Republic or Stone.
Victor becoming a Stoner never sat well with me, but maybe surviving the Arc Royal bombing screwed with his mind? I once had an idea where for a fanfic where Victor returns to the Suns to become Champion during the Jihad, but other than featuring Jade Davion growing up on New Avalon. I could never figure out what would be the payoff. Sure, it’d be fun to write out a story where the Suns actually wins, but when I have tried to work out the story, it just too much like fan fiction like my last attempt. So I gave up on it.
I hope for a good canon Federated Suns story someday where the story doesn’t feels like the author is apologizing for the Suns getting a win. The last one really was Fortress of Lies, and that was only quasi Suns.
For now, Icons of War really showed a side of Clan Society which really doesn’t get explored a lot, and how people survive on the other side of the tracks in the Clans when everything falls apart. It was really good. Plus, the Republic isn’t in the book at all.
Fully agreed with all this. Fortress of Lies was a really good read.
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Victor becoming a Stoner never sat well with me, but maybe surviving the Arc Royal bombing screwed with his mind?
Fully agreed with all this.
I'm not sure I understand.
Are you saying joining the Republic was out of character for the character? That it took a bomb to mess up his head?
How is him going over to the Republic really any different than him going over to C*.
Or abandoning his throne post Serpent?
Or splitting up the FedCom & not Uniting it after the Civil War?
Or even not taking the throne for the whole nation in 3052 when his mother offered it to him.
All of those point to a guy that is looking out for the "greater good" for "all" v/s power for himself or even just "good for his nation".
He never seemed like a guy who "Liked" war but just one that was trained for it from his youth & had some talent.
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I'm not sure I understand.
Are you saying joining the Republic was out of character for the character? That it took a bomb to mess up his head?
How is him going over to the Republic really any different than him going over to C*.
Or abandoning his throne post Serpent?
Or splitting up the FedCom & not Uniting it after the Civil War?
Or even not taking the throne for the whole nation in 3052 when his mother offered it to him.
All of those point to a guy that is looking out for the "greater good" for "all" v/s power for himself or even just "good for his nation".
He never seemed like a guy who "Liked" war but just one that was trained for it from his youth & had some talent.
It’s more the fact that I can’t believe Victor fell for Stone, but then I have to wonder why anyone fell for that guy. It’s more like that Stone was positioned to be a white knight.however, he in reality was long on speeches, but it seems that his subordinates like Bella Lee did most of the heavy lifting when it came to battle. When it came to policy, it was David Lear, and that better left unsaid about about most of what Lear’s policies we know about the better.
In short, Victor doing things for the greater good that is totally in character. The accepting of Stone is what has puzzled me for years.
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The writers have one hell of a Fiat. ::)
Don't think that the cappies are going to come out well after the Wolves become the ilClan. Their goal is to recreate the Star League. By force if necessary, and they are more than willing to use force.
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Merry Christmas, y'all.
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Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas! Even you Federats.
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Merry Christmas, Gents.
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Merry Christmas Ladies, Gentlemen, NCOs, and enlisted!
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Merry Christmas, fellow Davions!
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And a Happy New Year!
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Happy New Year!
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Belated best wishes for an improved 22 folks.
Of all things I found myself expressing an opinion or two, up North. The business of
the FS recovery, in the current era. I remain as ever, pragmatic and of the hope that
our faction will be written well and kindly.
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The title "Dominions Divided" hopefully doesn't include the Davion dominions.
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Belated best wishes for an improved 22 folks.
. . .the hope that
our faction will be written well and kindly.
One can hope, but at the least Stone is dead.
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They left no Stone un-urned ;)
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The more I read, the more I am convinced several people had some interesting ideas and characters to add to the universe, and rather than flesh those out, the LD's just took a hammer to whomever and whatever in an effort to advance a storyline that at best seemed to be written in Jello on a Houston sidewalk in the middle of July...but damned if they didn't fit that squared peg into a round hole. They good/high points are few and far between for my tastes, and I am not the most discrimiating person, at least I'd like to think I'm not.
Oh well, at least most of the novels are OK.
Dav
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BTW, I just got Rec Guide 21, and my Kickstarter character is in it. 'Tis glorious. I'm honestly kind of shocked, a notable mechwarrior isn't really where I was expecting him to show up, given his current occupation.
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BTW, I just got Rec Guide 21, and my Kickstarter character is in it. 'Tis glorious. I'm honestly kind of shocked, a notable mechwarrior isn't really where I was expecting him to show up, given his current occupation.
Isn’t the character in the New Avalon Catholic Church? Maybe they really want to make Battle Pope?
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BTW, I just got Rec Guide 21, and my Kickstarter character is in it. 'Tis glorious. I'm honestly kind of shocked, a notable mechwarrior isn't really where I was expecting him to show up, given his current occupation.
I edited that one and was glad to see you got some prime time value for your character. :)
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I edited that one and was glad to see you got some prime time value for your character. :)
I appreciate it!
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
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I don't think I have been
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
Still waiting on my Kickstarter character/commission.
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
Not I.
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I'm going to be posting some teasers from Spotlight On: Hellion Keshik on my FB page (link in sig) and on twitter if anyone's interested. :)
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Not I.
I seem to remember a certain Wolf’s Dragoons Officer from Wolf and Blake...
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My likeness, not my name. But Jacob Kincaid is the most ruggedly handsome character in BT history. :)
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My likeness, not my name. But Jacob Kincaid is the most ruggedly handsome character in BT history. :)
Wasn't he Khan of Clan Sex Panther or something?
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Founder.
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So he's the Sy Sperling of our time.
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Better'n being the Sy Snootles of our time!
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
Not me, Not that it really matters to me.
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Battle Pope?
battle pope sounds like an AMAZING Cleric subclass... :D
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
Nope, ought to be though. Who is as dashing, pragmatic and downright gentlemanly whilst being
resolute? ;)
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I still say there should be a unit somewhere in canon called Rorke’s Drifters.
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Hehe I could see a company in the DAG or AH, with a name like that.
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Aye. That would fit the "resolute" part of the label :thumbsup:
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Nope, ought to be though. Who is as dashing, pragmatic and downright gentlemanly whilst being
resolute? ;)
I swear, I would have thought you would have been one of the first to be canonized.
I have to admit though, Arkansas is right, it's downright criminal that there's not a Davion unit named Rorke's Drifters. Would it be too on-the-nose to make it a Combat Engineering unit attached to one of the units in the Brigade of Guards?
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IMO, it should be a bunch of Hellions with Manuevering Ace. *looks at all of his FedSuns hellions in his MW:DA collection* Put them to use somehow ><
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Quite possibly not me. And I don't mind much at all.
And yes, Rourke's Drifters should be somewhere in the AFFS.
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I swear, I would have thought you would have been one of the first to be canonized.
I have to admit though, Arkansas is right, it's downright criminal that there's not a Davion unit named Rorke's Drifters. Would it be too on-the-nose to make it a Combat Engineering unit attached to one of the units in the Brigade of Guards?
yes, yes it should
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So I have a question for the group, and I really wish Foxbat were around as I would most highly value his view on this matter.
Given the Federated Suns' historical ties to France and Scotland, does anyone think that there would be a better than average focus on historical French and Scottish leaders and history such as Charles de gaulle and Post-WW2 France, James VII and the Jacobite Rebellion, or the Carolingian Empire under Charlemange and Charles Martel or would that be history be too distant at this point for anything but the most basic of coverage?
I get the feeling that it would be covered early on, briefly, as basic history, especially to show the connections between House Davion, House Cameron, and historical leaders, but I'm not sure how deep that education would go in this regard.
Thoughts?
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Scotland? Shouldn't it be Anglo-French?
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In general it is, but I was pretty sure that House Davion can trace it's history back to Scottish nobles who settled in France after the Jacobite rebellion. At least, that's what I seem to remember anyway.
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You’ve got it backwards, I think. French nobles who went to Scotland in the service of Mary, Queen of Scots (when she returned home after having been Queen-Consort of France).
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Actually, it's a bit of both:
A 16th-century Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste d’Avion, was the first of the line to use a recognizable form of the family name. Family records claim that d’Avion was born in the village of Avion in Gascony, the bastard son of the Count de Foix. With a romanticism typical of the Davion family’s long history, d’Avion supposedly turned his back on his father’s noble birth, enlisted in the French army as a common soldier, and was selected to be among the bodyguard that accompanied Mary Stuart back to her homeland when she became Queen of Scots. Service in her defense was usually rewarded with lands in the border country of Scotland.
Later Davions would claim to be of Scots rather than French blood.
Other family traditions are equally romantic. The Davion family on Terra must have had a flair for embracing lost causes and other idealistic movements. As loyal subjects of the Stuart kings, the family was granted a patent of nobility by Charles 1. One “Baron Davion” is recorded as failing in battle at the head of a volunteer regiment led by Montrose in the battle of Preston. His grandson fought under Dundee at Killicrankie, and another Davion was at Sherrifmuir. The family titles passed to a cadet branch for their faithful allegiance to the Stuarts, and after the rising in 1719, the titular head of the line, Charles Francis Davion, was exiled to Europe. A Davion also turns up in the young Pretender’s army at Culloden. Pardons issued in the latter part of the 18th century permitted the Davions to return home, but they did not regain their titles or lands.
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Well there you go. Half-credit to both of us. ;D
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Well there you go. Half-credit to both of us. ;D
I'm from the Outback, so 50% credit is Honors! :D
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As far as I know I have never been canonized. But I have been shot at by cannons. I am just an annoying Taurian who occasionally crosses the border to say something probably not all that important, then slips back across the border. Although my name did appear as a play tester and a fact checker a few times. Although the capital city of Blackjack is Lott's Revenge and I did ask Herb one time if it was named for me and what was the revenge about, but he didn't know.
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If it was named for you, I think the obvious answer would be "Something Wombat did." ><
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Is there anyone in the AFFSHC that hasn't been canonized yet? I think we've all finally made the cut.
Not everyone...
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Not everyone...
To be fair, no one in Battletech bares my real name or some variation of it, and any reference to me can be attributed to Gundam Seed instead. Probably for the best in my case.
Besides what fan reference can compete after Pope Leo XXI got a fan song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzOMNbNllJE).
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I still live in hope of it happening one day.
But I generally get a decent hearing for my views, likely
that's more valuable. That, and outlasting some of the
less genial posters I've had occasion to spar with :p
Also now feeling moderately guilty, just bought a new
PC. My existing gaming rig, is showing it's age and
caught a decent deal for a pretty decent spec.
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If I didn't have to buy two cars inside of a week, I'd be looking at saving for a new machine myself. Had too darn many issues with my current laptop.
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I need a new computer so badly... But I also have to furnish the house, still need a washer and dryer. *sigh*
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Well six years for a gaming rig, not bad. Single upgrade/sidegrade for a GFX card about
two years or so back. But it's just not cutting it with more modern titles.
Now if the local phone co, would run cable out my way without wanting a princes ransom.....
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Well six years for a gaming rig, not bad. Single upgrade/sidegrade for a GFX card about
two years or so back. But it's just not cutting it with more modern titles.
Now if the local phone co, would run cable out my way without wanting a princes ransom.....
When the insanity of the past two years started and since I still had a job, I used the government stipend that was sent out to upgrade my board, CPU, and RAM. My only mistake was buying a monitor that said it was 4K but didn't have HDR. Someday, I will get a proper 4K monitor.
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I was expecting the new machine on Thursday, it came just now. Soon as I find my portable
HDD, I'm going to find out what an RTX3070 can do!
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It looks like some product is finally coming down the pike for the Suns.
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I fully expect my canon character to go out in a blaze of gory in the retaking of New Avalon, but I'm totally good with that. Blood of the Martyrs and all that.
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To be fair, your character got more fame than most, AW. He got a music video. No one will remember my character Admiral Mark Lee Creuset of the Federated Suns Coreward Fleet. He didn't even get a great death in the First Succession War. He got a cool flagship, but he didn't do anything with it that was interesting to anyone's knowledge.
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To be fair, your character got more fame than most, AW. He got a music video. No one will remember my character Admiral Mark Lee Creuset of the Federated Suns Coreward Fleet. He didn't even get a great death in the First Succession War. He got a cool flagship, but he didn't do anything with it that was interesting to anyone's knowledge.
I await with some small hope that Gordon T. Mitchell will show up in a 'Mech pack some day or a book.
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I edited that one and was glad to see you got some prime time value for your character. :)
Is there a way to find out where your character has been used from the KS or even IF it has been used yet?
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Is there a way to find out where your character has been used from the KS or even IF it has been used yet?
Randomly put the character’s name into Sarna.net or randomly find the name in a sourcebook like I did.
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There’s a database on Sarna: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_Clan_Invasion_Kickstarter_Characters (https://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_Clan_Invasion_Kickstarter_Characters)
Feel free to add yours to the list if it’s not in there. Then you can check back periodically and see if anyone’s found it. I think that’s how I found mine.
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Hmm. Been a while there still a place by the fire for an old brother in arms to sit and enjoy civilized conversation? If so I will bring the Scotch.
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Door never closes.
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Yeah, it got damaged in a Cappie raid in '19. We should get that looked at.
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That door defeated the entire raiding force. It earned those scars.
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Hey folks! Saw Doc and Deathrider popped in this week, figured I might as well.
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That door defeated the entire raiding force. It earned those scars.
It is a bit drafty. Maybe we could just get it memorialized and get a new door?
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We have a fireplace.
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It is a bit drafty. Maybe we could just get it memorialized and get a new door?
I like the draft.
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"I see that the cat has kept my chair warm, and the decanter and ice bucket are nearby." Gives the cat a scratch and gently moves him, pours an inch of scotch into a tumbler, drops in two ice cubes and sits down.
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I'm preparing for a BattleTech campaign on the Jade Falcon front in 3052. I'm wondering if any of you gentlemen would like to have a guest appearance as an NPC. Maybe even die a horrible death!
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Never tangled with the Falcons, I spent my 50s on the Wolf front or back in the
Capellan March.
Go on then, you can use my name if you fancy. Be sure I'm not driving anything
under heavy weight eh? ;)
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If you need a Wasp pilot to soak up hits, I'm game.
I have a question I want to ask the members of this thread that I've been struggling to phrase so... I'm just going to put it out there.
Are you a
Fox?
or
Hound?
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Fox or Hound?
Like Hanse or Ian?
Assuming that's what you meant, I can only imagine the bulk of any answers swaying
very much in the direction of Fox. If not, do elaborate.
Oh and very much Fox. Apply force sparingly but effectively. But apply guile and intrigue,
constantly for maximum benefit.
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Pretty much it. The things as I see them is that if most people here are honest with themselves, they are more hounds than foxes. More in line with the Arthurian than the fox fables. Ah well, it was an attempt.
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I always liked Ian. Good man, just had the bad luck to face of with one of the two mechwarriors in BT history known to have demonstrated Phantom Mech Syndrome. It’d be a fascinating alternate history to have Ian live and Hanse as his Prince’s Champion. Maybe no full FC marriage alliance, but nothing says Hanse couldn’t encourage a favorable response to Katrina’s peace proposal and joint military operations with the Lyrans. Even Operation Rat could still be a go, perhaps with Hanse leading from the front and Ian staying home and telling all the reporters what a brilliant strategist his brother is.
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Would Ian have been in mortal peril in that case? If not, then there'd be no Halstead Station raid, and thus no NAIS. That would then allow the Dracs to use the texts from the library to improve their own research, putting them ahead of the FS when the Helm Memory Core is found. That would probably eliminate the Hatchetman's creation, too.
And in the opening fiction for HTP: Mallory's World, I gave Ian Phantom 'Mech Ability, briefly. ;)
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I always liked Ian. Good man, just had the bad luck to face of with one of the two mechwarriors in BT history known to have demonstrated Phantom Mech Syndrome. It’d be a fascinating alternate history to have Ian live and Hanse as his Prince’s Champion. Maybe no full FC marriage alliance, but nothing says Hanse couldn’t encourage a favorable response to Katrina’s peace proposal and joint military operations with the Lyrans. Even Operation Rat could still be a go, perhaps with Hanse leading from the front and Ian staying home and telling all the reporters what a brilliant strategist his brother is.
It seems more likely, given some of the information in A Clever Bit of Fiction, Ian would have abdicated in favour of Hanse, then serving as Hanse's champion or (more likely, IMO, given the political role that Prince's Champion is a lot of the time) commanding Marshal of an RCT in the Guards.
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Would Ian have been in mortal peril in that case? If not, then there'd be no Halstead Station raid, and thus no NAIS. That would then allow the Dracs to use the texts from the library to improve their own research, putting them ahead of the FS when the Helm Memory Core is found. That would probably eliminate the Hatchetman's creation, too.
And in the opening fiction for HTP: Mallory's World, I gave Ian Phantom 'Mech Ability, briefly. ;)
The Halstead Station raid was originally Ian’s plan, wasn’t it? It was delayed by Ian’s death, so in this timeline it goes off in 3012 instead, and NAIS gets founded a couple of years earlier.
It seems more likely, given some of the information in A Clever Bit of Fiction, Ian would have abdicated in favour of Hanse, then serving as Hanse's champion or (more likely, IMO, given the political role that Prince's Champion is a lot of the time) commanding Marshal of an RCT in the Guards.
That I just can’t see. Is there a single instance in BT of a reigning monarch abdicating in favor of a younger sibling? I mean, aside from the younger sibling launching a coup, or the elder having some debilitating disease/injury that necessitates abdication. I guess you might count Victor at the end of the FCCW, sort of.
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I'm preparing for a BattleTech campaign on the Jade Falcon front in 3052. I'm wondering if any of you gentlemen would like to have a guest appearance as an NPC.
Technically my old MW1 campaign character/unit didn't face the Falcons in 3052.
Off the top of my head I think we faced them once in 3050 & again in 3054/55 IIRC.
By then I was driving an Atlas for a few years.
The Unit often operated as separate detachments, so, in theory, a small combat command could have still been up there.
Fox or Hound?
A bit of a mix actually. More Hound though I think.
And in the opening fiction for HTP: Mallory's World, I gave Ian Phantom 'Mech Ability, briefly. ;)
What? Cool! Good to here. I have not read that one.
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The Halstead Station raid was originally Ian’s plan, wasn’t it? It was delayed by Ian’s death, so in this timeline it goes off in 3012 instead, and NAIS gets founded a couple of years earlier.
Ian wanted to take out the supply depot that Takashi was building there. He went to relieve Mallory's World instead and was killed. Hanse elected to raid Halstead Station anyway. I don't think Ian was ever aware of the discovery of the university (I can't find a date for when it was unearthed.), but if Ian had raided in 3012 or 3013, it's likely that the university would not have been the focus of the raid, a change made by Hanse, because its existence was unknown.
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What? Cool! Good to here. I have not read that one.
You might find it interesting, given who witnesses it and thus, perhaps, develops it later. ;)
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Go on then, you can use my name if you fancy. Be sure I'm not driving anything
under heavy weight eh? ;)
There will be a Sergeant D. Rourke as the Archer pilot in the fire lance, then!
If you need a Wasp pilot to soak up hits, I'm game.
Into the Scount Lance then, call sign "Decoy"
I have a question I want to ask the members of this thread that I've been struggling to phrase so... I'm just going to put it out there.
Are you a
Fox?
or
Hound?
More the Hound, actually. Not much vision, but stable.
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You might find it interesting, given who witnesses it and thus, perhaps, develops it later. ;)
It's contagious.
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If you need a Wasp pilot to soak up hits, I'm game.
I have a question I want to ask the members of this thread that I've been struggling to phrase so... I'm just going to put it out there.
Are you a
Fox?
or
Hound?
A little of both, closer to hound
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OOOH Archer, was always fond of that one.
One of those machines, I always regretted the Suns didn't have
a production line for. But one I've always found incredibly
effective.
Good choice.
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One of those machines, I always regretted the Suns didn't have
a production line for. But one I've always found incredibly
effective.
On that note, I'm stumped about something.
So TRO3025/3039 both state that in the SW the Archer was produced from 6 factories.
Sarna lists about 10 but some of those are old/new that were not running in the SW.
That said, I think I've found 7 that were in the SW so I'm wondering if the 6 is in error or if I'm missing something & one of them isn't really in the SW.
LyrCom = 4
3 for Bowie (Alarion, Carlisle, & Wyatt)
1 for Defiance (Hesperus)
FWL = 1
1 for Earthwerks (Calloway)
DC = 1
1 for GT&K (Satalice)
TC = 1
1 for VMI (New Vandenburg)
Anyone know if 1 of these is not like the others?
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If it were me, I'd assume Grand Base and Tikonov. Add in *Maybe* Lexatech at Hun Ho for the Combine. I don't know if Lexatech was producing the Archer in 3025/3039 though. This is just speculation on my part.
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Gurr. Me and reading comprehension. I believe that one of the Bowie factories was a repair/refit facility until after the Civil War.
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So much has been retconned, it's sometimes hard to keep track of.
Ofc my bias has always been it needed to be, industry wise. I despised the whole
early mad max side of this universe, limited I could see but initial numbers back then
were unsustainable. At least to my line of thinking, I'm odd like that. I'll blame it on
teenage years playing Twilight 2000 :p
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Wyatt wasn't making an Archer until later? it didn't start until Project Phoenix. (Only mention of Wyatt building Archers is Handbook House Steiner set in 3067? No mention of it before then. Not in TR3052, TR3039, Objective Raids, etc.)
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The original (3050s era) OR, was a complete mess. No doubt another victim of Fasa's shoddy
ability to manage continuity properly. I still think we as a community, owe a massive debt for the
improvements made the last 15 years or so. Was that Oystein, memory suggests it was his doing?
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MadCapellan came out with the most recent batch of OR stuff that tried to improve on that. Apparently he became Mad(der) Capellan and nearly didn't make it through the series. Oystein did much of the map work in the past though.
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Gurr. Me and reading comprehension. I believe that one of the Bowie factories was a repair/refit facility until after the Civil War.
Wyatt wasn't making an Archer until later? it didn't start until Project Phoenix. (Only mention of Wyatt building Archers is Handbook House Steiner set in 3067? No mention of it before then. Not in TR3052, TR3039, Objective Raids, etc.)
I'm betting that is it, when I saw 3 Bowie factories it seemed too much to me, I swore they only had 2 but Sarna had 3 so 1 of them is probably a rebuilt location.
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MadCapellan came out with the most recent batch of OR stuff that tried to improve on that. Apparently he became Mad(der) Capellan and nearly didn't make it through the series. Oystein did much of the map work in the past though.
If memory serves, you're correct on mapping yes. But I seem to recall he posted here, frequently on matters being queried.
He was always authoritative and respectful of the subject matter, and posters.
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Shrapnel 10 is out today. My story "Forbidden Lore" is in it. It takes place during the Halstead Station Raid. My way of bringing a hint of cosmic horror to the BT universe. If you check it out, please let me know what you think!
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Hello all. It's been quite a while since I've poked around on the boards. Good seeing that the High Command still going.
I hope all is well with everyone.
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Hello all. It's been quite a while since I've poked around on the boards. Good seeing that the High Command still going.
I hope all is well with everyone.
Force! Hope you're doing well also.
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Hey folks, how's everybody? As for me, I just recently moved to DC to go to flight school. It is...a lot, and I mean, a *lot* of information in a short period of time. Holy cow it's a lot. Hoping to make my way to the airlines in a couple of years once I've got all my certs and the requisite hours. Maybe when I have time again I'll even put the knowledge I'm cramming in to use writing something for Shrapnel. (Speaking of, I'm just now reading #10. I'll keep an eye out for your piece, Geoff.) If anybody else in the the DC metro...I don't really have much time, but I'd still like to get together and play some BT some time.
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My brother is in flight school up in Canada. From what he says, I think you have more work coming up than I have had in law school, so good luck!
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Good luck, AW!
Heya, Force!
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Hey, nice to see you AW! Flight school sounds like the firehose of knowledge no matter the source.
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Goodness, Amazon approved my new book far faster than any of my previous books!
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Goodness, Amazon approved my new book far faster than any of my previous books!
Congrats, how many are you up to now?
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This is the sixth print book. There are eight, counting the two kindle-only novellas.
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This is the sixth print book. There are eight, counting the two kindle-only novellas.
That is awesome!
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I actually flew the sunburst in a BattleFace game this last weekend. (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/after-action-reports/north-texas-battleface/)
Lessons learned:
1: Arondights are scary.
2: If the Arondights are nasty, Conquistadors are downright obscene. And that's the base model, not the Blockade Runner.
3: It don't matter how small the birds are, all fighter strikes hurt.
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Nice.
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I actually flew the sunburst in a BattleFace game this last weekend. (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/after-action-reports/north-texas-battleface/)
Lessons learned:
1: Arondights are scary.
2: If the Arondights are nasty, Conquistadors are downright obscene. And that's the base model, not the Blockade Runner.
3: It don't matter how small the birds are, all fighter strikes hurt.
Read the review thread, really good stuff.
How does BattleFace compare to Aerotech(TW) rules for speed & simplicity?
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Much like Alpha Strike, it plays much faster than TW, while still keeping the overall feel of the game.
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Just curious, Happy Birthday to my fellow Marines lurking here on this part of the boards.
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I was lurking elsewhere. Semper Fi
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Despite my eternal antipathy, towards the festive season. I hope you all, have a nice one.
Nothing like years in retail, to give you a certain distaste :p
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Same, and for the same reason.
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Speaking of holiday retail music, I was at a big box store today (Dayquil as I'm miserable with a cold), and heard a cover of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" in what I thought was Spanish. Tune was recognizable, but the lyrics were just out there.
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My favorite version of that is "Walkers in a Winter Wonderland".
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My favorite version of that is "Walkers in a Winter Wonderland".
I'm so torn as to weather I should think that is for "The Walking Dead", "Game of Thrones", or "Empire Strikes Back".
Regardless I feel like there could be some crazy lyrics in there.
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Well, the version I know was for Empire Strikes Back. :)
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Lest I forget:
Merry Christmas, Gents.
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Lest I forget:
Merry Christmas, Gents.
Yes, Merry Christmas and a very belated Happy Hanukkah.
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Happy Holy-Days :)
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Happy New Year to my Davion brethren.
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Happy New Year Crucians!
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Happy 2023, Gentlement!
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Dominions Divided comes out this month (as of the last date I saw)! Down with the godless Kuritans! To New Avalon!
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The Dragon can't be that much powerful now that they have multiple Clan borders to deal with
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Dominions Divided comes out this month (as of the last date I saw)! Down with the godless Kuritans! To New Avalon!
Just finished Damocles Sanction and it's sooo good!
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Dominions Divided comes out this month (as of the last date I saw)! Down with the godless Kuritans! To New Avalon!
Now I know a release date, the waiting is intolerable. I have high hopes, for the Federation to show it's enemies the folly
of messing with it.
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Dominions Divided, finally.
I will not spoil. Suffice it to say, I'm fairly pleased with the shape of matters. Just wish we'd not had to wait
such a long time for it.
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It didn't change my opinion of anything.
Satisfying for me would have been to metaphorically slam the Combine's arm down and break their elbow. This feels like everyone's favorite gladiator clone was just Yori's errand boy and killed off some pests for her. There was more on New Avalon than I thought...but I thought that Yori would strip all the equipment from the forces on New Avalon and issue them bokken. Battles are not wars. If anyone says the Federated Suns won this... Just imagine if the US lost Washington and Idaho and recovered Washington DC.
Also, yes, we get it. Alex is worthless. The fact that every Capellan March character takes time to describe their very low opinion of Alex is a bit overkill, doncha think? I get it, we're not supposed to be sad for Alex when he accidently slips on soap and falls into a pile of bayonettes, we're supposed to be sad for Kym. I won't unless you do anything interesting with it. If Kym were to take the Capellan March against Julian in an act of revenge, then I might be interested. Otherwise...
Another conflict the Federated Suns can't win is incoming. Color me not excited. If something along the lines of the events of 6/4/42 were to happen, I'd be interested. That's likely not going to happen. So yeah. Not excited.
Ghost Bear fans, if you wanted screen time, this is what you got to do. Atleast you get territory out of it at the end.
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It might be me, but Alex had an interesting profile in Interstellar Players. Might yet
see the guy redeemed.
I am not so sure about the future, and what it holds. But I'll hold to my cautious
optimism, we might be about to sit quietly for a spell and recover somewhat. After
all the Dracs are equally battered, but they didn't get a huge morale boost or numerous
important worlds back.
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I haven't paint minis in years but i couldn't resist the company pack of urbanmechs. now to figure out what to do with them.
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Make them some planetary noble’s household guard. His great-grandfather bought a ton of Liao salvage after the 4SW (what? It was cheap!) assembled a full company of UrbanMechs for his retainers.
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It's time to waddle to victory.
Of course, you could just paint them as three different militia units.
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;D
Good idea. A noble is probably more concerned with uniform looking guard than a bunch mercs.
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Make them some planetary noble’s household guard. His great-grandfather bought a ton of Liao salvage after the 4SW (what? It was cheap!) assembled a full company of UrbanMechs for his retainers.
I like that!
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I haven't paint minis in years but i couldn't resist the company pack of urbanmechs. now to figure out what to do with them.
I'd do a Lance in that Noble (CapMarch) colors.
Another Lance as Op-4 in Cap Con colors.
Final 4 I'd parcel out to other houses/mercs in singles to fill out "Urban" lances w/ things like Hunchbacks, Victors, & Fleas...etc.
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I would start with the various Urbanmechs from UrbanFest, such as some soccer players, the three Fistful of Urbies(complete with hats), the rodeo clowns, etc. Then like Hellraiser I would paint the remainder up as members of minor forces like noble house guards, militia, corporate security, etc.
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I would start with the various Urbanmechs from UrbanFest, such as some soccer players, the three Fistful of Urbies(complete with hats), the rodeo clowns, etc. Then like Hellraiser I would paint the remainder up as members of minor forces like noble house guards, militia, corporate security, etc.
Hehe, I like that, my own 2 Urbies from KS are getting done as 2nd MAC & R2-D2 (IE. SilverHawk Irregulars/Rare Barony)
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;D Lots of good suggestions. ;D
One lance will go to my personal merc force Hockwell's Gunslingers AKA the HoGs. I think the HoGs need a training and replacement lance for the unit owned mechs they have.
Another lance will become House Liao militia. And the third lance I will hold onto for more inspiration.
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These plastic minis are very nice. I might have to buy some more.
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One can never have enough.
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It would seem neither can my cat have enough. I caught trying to chew one urbie up. Thankfully no damage done. ;D
I think I have the name for my urbie merc lance: "Katz bane."
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I like that. So tell us more about Lance Commander Katz, boilerman.
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Katz Bane: extermination specialists for your pest problems.
Some how I get the feeling they'll wind up as pirates due to war crimes. If they beat the bounty hunters.
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Does anyone have all three issues of the War College of Goshen journal? Or whatever we titled it. I cannot find my copies among all my BT stuff.
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Does anyone have all three issues of the War College of Goshen journal? Or whatever we titled it. I cannot find my copies among all my BT stuff.
I'd forgotten about those. I might have them on a disk somewhere. Do you remember how many issues there were?
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It was called The Review.
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yes. the review, and we got 3 issues out.
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Would anyone care if I rewrote/edited the combat support field manual?
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No, and I think it would be good to have again. I'd get more out of it now, especially since I've worked with Seabees and Special Operators.
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Would anyone care if I rewrote/edited the combat support field manual?
I'd snag a copy, I've still got a hard copy of the original that I printed off years ago that I reference all the time.
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Does anyone have all three issues of the War College of Goshen journal? Or whatever we titled it. I cannot find my copies among all my BT stuff.
I have two. Didn't realize there was a third. I can attach them here if that's not any kind of forum rules violation.
Would anyone care if I rewrote/edited the combat support field manual?
Go for it! I still have a pdf copy that I refer back to sometimes. Going to update it to cover LCTs as well?
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LCTs?
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An abomination which should not be mentioned in this hallowed place.
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I was happy in DD they mentioned they are expanding back into RCTs and away from LCTs
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Those LCTs.
I'm pretty sure I'm taking the TOE section out of the CSFM.
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LCTs?
One advantage to a Light Combat Team is it is easier to actually complete one with miniatures. ;D
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The issues of The Review are, sadly, too big to attach. Let me see if I can figure something else out.
Edit: They're both in my Google Drive, let me see if I can make them public and share the links:
Issue 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9KZsRIc_ubcWklaSkY0dF83eW8/view?usp=share_link&resourcekey=0-M0V6ExQkfA4Ygk-xlok06A
Issue 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9KZsRIc_ubceTIzN0M0NmY4TDQ/view?usp=share_link&resourcekey=0-LRvHsp8vWbnbYcsQ5j4LKQ
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What are these from?
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Fan magazine from years (decades, now?) ago.
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Definitely decades. I want to say early 2000s as they were around before I became an agent and I became an agent in 2006 and I am fairly sure at least the first two were out well before that.
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I believe I was in my house working on Issue 3, which would have been late 2006 at the earliest. So, less than two decades.
I'm also pretty sure we didn't start on them until we all met in person at GenCon 2004, though I think it was actually GenCon 2005 where the idea germinated. I think they came out from 2005-2006.
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Thanks AW.
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No problem!
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2005-2006 timeframe sounds about right. It was when I was at the U of MN and in NROTC. I compared it favorably to Proceedings from the Naval Institute.
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Well I said I was going to revamp the CSFM so I guess I have to.
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I am not a big fan of the combat manuals, all 2 of them. I hope they write the rest. ;D
The House Kurita combat manual changes the standard mech regiment in the DCMS to 124 mechs. I liked the flavor of the field manual that 108 mechs as standard. :-\
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The third was written a long time ago, but I guess it's nice to know that someone dislikes my work.
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Over all I give them both an "A" but that nitpick is going to eat at me. They are good pieces of work Geoff.
So was there discussion about the FMs? I know NDA.
I do like that you stuck close to the larger unit composition for the the DCMS.
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I must have gotten that from the original House Kurita book or the 20 Year Update, because I wasn't intending to change anything. Since the CM was set before the FM, I wasn't restricted to its contents. I know I didn't create it on a whim. Likewise for special abilities of units. The Combine FM was set after the Invasion, but the CM set prior to and during the early period of the Invasion. In some cases I tried to bridge differences from 3025 to the FM, but most of the units didn't have specialties and did require formulating them from whole cloth.
The Davion CM was written with the same concerns and intent, though it was so long ago I couldn't tell you specifics about it anymore. The Force Manuals are different, so some changes were required to the old ms, but I didn't make those for the Davion book and thus have even less certainty over specifics than I might have had.
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Could you errata it? It's only a few tables.
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TAG'd
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Could you errata it? It's only a few tables.
Where is this stated? The sidebar on page 31 shows that a regiment is 108 'Mechs.
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Unit Organization tables, p76.
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I didn't write that, but I don't know how that game-play material is considered, regarding canon.
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Well at least I can point at page 31 and say "See."
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Stopping by, casting the dust off the furniture....retreating back to my
slumber.
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Slow month at the office, eh gents? How'd the Kickstarter go for everyone? I initially pledged Regiment, ended up pulling back to Battalion and made up the difference with add-ons. Still going to get more minis than I know what to do with.
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I picked up the regiment tier.
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Still going to get more minis than I know what to do with.
I started at Vet, then Company, finally Battalion, then added 50% to that for some packs that were not available to pick as rewards & shipping.
And yeah, soooo many, I need to start downsizing instead of adding.
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I went Battalion and then added two Veteran non-digital packages so my boys can each have a box set and a couple of force packs.
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Nerd, I wanted to give you a shout out here on this thread regarding your selection to Chief. That is awesome!
Semper Fi,
Matt
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Thanks, Matt!
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Congratulations, Chief Nerd!
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Huzzah for the chief!
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Mr. Swift chiming in. A rare moment indeed. I hope all is going well for you and for the rest of the High Command.
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Same to you, Force.
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Doc (I feel weird not referring to you as “97jedi” still) I just got around to reading your story in the latest Shrapnel. Really enjoyed it, Seekers are always an interesting read. Planning any more about that character?
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Hey. thanks! I don't have any plans, but neither have I ruled out anything.
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Popping my head in to see if there are still people I recognize.
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Ben!
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Hey Doc!
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Popping my head in to see if there are still people I recognize.
Some
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There's a few of us still kicking in here.
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Force Manual: Davion is supposed to come out this May. I wrote it EIGHT YEARS AGO to be the third Combat Manual. When that series was cancelled, it seemed this would never come out. I am *so excited* that it will finally see print. I hope you like it!
#BattleTech
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I'm looking forward to it Doc :smilie_party_cheers:
What era is it written for ??
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Same as the Combat Manuals, but extended a few years.
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Can't wait!
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Sadly I don't have any of the Combat Manuals as yet so... Jihad era or later ??
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The Combat Manuals covered from late Third Succession War through the early Clan Invasion.
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Nice!
I still wish they'd have an Era Report for either the classic 3025 era. One stop information for the amount of information in 3052 and 3062 was very nice.
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Just read the House SBs when you have time. High quality
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Popping my head in to see if there are still people I recognize.
[Waves]
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Checking in...
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Howdy, Force!
My new novel is coming soon! Finished the revisions this week and I'm waiting on the print proof. Check out this cover!
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Howdy, Force!
My new novel is coming soon! Finished the revisions this week and I'm waiting on the print proof. Check out this cover!
That is awesome. Good luck with it.