Author Topic: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread  (Read 170049 times)

Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #150 on: 28 October 2011, 01:15:31 »
If Niops hand builds their weapons anyway . . . would it really be that much more of a stretch for them to build Clan spec weapons?

What about repairing warships that come calling?  How much deep space infrastructure do you think they might have?
Colt Ward
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #151 on: 28 October 2011, 01:51:58 »
If Niops hand builds their weapons anyway . . . would it really be that much more of a stretch for them to build Clan spec weapons?
Yes. They were hand building automobiles in 1905, that doesn't mean they were close to making Deloreans.

Quote
What about repairing warships that come calling?  How much deep space infrastructure do you think they might have?

Not much, they don't seem to be building any spacecraft.
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #152 on: 28 October 2011, 01:57:26 »
Not much, they don't seem to be building any spacecraft.

How did they settle the other two worlds in the system without any spacecraft production?

Note, I'm not saying they could refurb WarShips, but they hadn't started on all three worlds, just Niops VII, and FM:P implies they were building ASFs the same way they were building their 'Mechs.  I figure they have to have some kind of aerospace industry in place, or I can't see how they could maintain interplanetary trade and government throughout the Succession Wars.
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Kit deSummersville

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #153 on: 28 October 2011, 02:00:52 »
They just need some DropShips and shuttles. It's not like they were exporting much.
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chanman

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #154 on: 05 November 2011, 22:51:12 »
110 Things SPC Skippy of the Niops Association Militia has been warned about or is no longer allowed to do:

1) I will not convince the Highlander pilots to play hopscotch
2) "Blood for the Blood God" is not an acceptable battlecry
3) In space, no one can hear me scream. Unless my mic is on
4) I will not install a plank at the airlock
5) When we space pirates, we are not making them 'walk the plank'
6) I will not sign up for a foreign Military Intelligence posting to 'bang new and exotic space hookers'
7) Even if those are Colonel Zubok's exact words
8) Upon reaching space, I am not to exclaim "My god, it's full of stars!"
9) I am not a Colonial Marine
10) I am not a Space Marine

11) I am not an Imperial Stormtrooper
12) I am not a Mandolarian bounty hunter
13) The Mauser 960 Assault System is not a Lasgun
14) The Mauser 960 Assault System is not a Blaster Rifle
15) The Mauser 960 Assault System is not a Ray gun
16) The Mauser 960 Assault System is not a Phaser
17) The Mauser 960 Assault System is not a Disruptor
18) Butt-stroking is not the Mauser 960 Assault System's 'stun mode'
19) I may not make 'pew-pew' sounds with my mouth at the range
20) I may not make 'pew-pew' sounds with my mouth in combat

21) I may not make 'pew-pew' sounds with any other bodily sounds, ever
22) The Mauser 960 Assault System's grenade launcher is not "My little friend"
23) In fact, I am not to refer to it as anything but a Mauser 960
24) MREs are not Soylent Green
25) MREs are not 'people'
26) I may neither confirm nor deny that Soylent Green is people
27) Riot Control compounds are not authorized for use as personal entertainment
28) I am to report damaged Riot Control compound containers for repair
29) Damaged RC compound containers are not, in fact, a good time in the old town tonight
30) Killing a pirate with a pyronetic weapon may not be referred to as "My hot date tonight"

31) The first rule of Military Intelligence is we don't talk about Military Intelligence
32) The second rule of Military Intelligence is that no one will believe me anyway
33) Colonel Zubok is never lacking for test subjects
34) When Colonel Zubok asks me if I like ice cream, he isn't actually about to give me ice cream
35) The Nighthawk is Powered Armour (Light). It is not: Carapace Armour, Space Marine Powered Armour, Mjolnir Combat Armour, Anorexic Battle Armour, a Combat Skin, and it is not made by Mandolarians
36) Aerospace fighters are not starfighters
37) ASFs do not carry Proton Torpedos
38) I will not tell pilots to "Use the Force"
39) ASF pilots do not train in Beggar's Canyon
40) Manportable SRMs are not Bazookas

41) I may not teabag slain enemies
42) I may not teabag prisoners
43) I may not teabag my chain of command
44) I may not teabag my subordinates
45) I may teabag other consenting adults, but I am not to speak about it. Ever.
46) My subordinates are not henchmen
47) I am not allowed to exclaim "That's no moon!" upon seeing anything in space
48) I will not sell my water purification tablets to the locals as "Lostec male enhancement pills"
49) I will not tell the locals that I am equipped with Lostec marital abilities
50) Tribbles are a strictly controlled biological weapon. Plush tribbles are not funny

51) Clanners are not the Clone Army of the Old Republic
52) Clanners are not 'easy' even if they are
53) Clanners are not a cheap date, even if they are
54) Clanners are not my 'friends with benefits' even if they are
55) Signals is not staffed by deckers, and they do not cut ICE
56) I am to stop calling Syrinx, Siri
57) I am to stop calling Syrinx, Wintermute
58) I am to stop calling Syrinx, Neuromancer
59) I am to stop calling Syrinx, HAL
60) I am to stop calling Syrinx, Cortana

61) The shipboard computer system does not have a sense of humour
62) The base computer system does not have a sense of humour
63) My Commanding Officer does not have a sense of humour
64) No Sergeant-Major, ever, has had a sense of humour
65) Sergeant-Majors do not have their sense of humour surgically removed upon promotion
66) Lady Gaga's "Born this Way" may not be used to explain why sergeant-majors do not have a sense of humour
67) I will not understand Syrinx's sense of humour
68) I won't want to understand Colonel Zubok's sense of humour
69) I may not play strip poker with any relative of any officer or senior NCO
70) I may not make demotivator recruitment posters

71) The first Star League is not the Old Republic
72) The second Star League is not the New Republic
73) The third Star League is not the New Republic
74) The third Star League is not the Evil Empire
75) The first Star League is not the Evil Empire
76) Niops Association is not the Imperial Remnants
77) The Coalition of Periphery States is not the Rebel Alliance
78) Spacers are not 'born shaved'
79) Eating an 'all-you-can-eat' restaurant out of food does not qualify me for a medal
80) We are no longer allowed to patronize buffets

81) My tour of duty on Luxen was not a "whirlwind of recreational pharmaceuticals and curious co-eds"
82) My sordid affairs may not be immortalized in song
83) My sordid affairs may not be immortalized in video
84) My tour of duty may not be summarized as "Bad Romance"
85) I will stop telling lurid stories about the Canopian locals to new arrivals. Especially if they are true
86) Just because the Lyran exchange officer is my CO does not make him 'mein Fuhrer'
87) Niops Territorial Militias are not Wolverine units
88) Clanners don't bend that way
89) Clanners do not have: Duct Tape IIC, Condoms IIC, MREs IIC, or Morphine IIC and I should stop asking them for it
90) The only thing that Colonel Zubok's sidearm is compensating for is the advancement in personal armour

91) I may not beg the ship captain to "Nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure"
92) When dealing with underground facilities, nuking it from orbit is not a sure thing
93) Nukes are not party favours, and I should stop asking for some from the Taurians
94) I am not to apologize profusely to Taurians about eating their kindred spirits at the mess dinner
95) Bioengineering 612 will not teach me how to crossbreed Jade Falcons and the domestic turkey
96) The cybernetics department is not the Adeptus Mechalnicus, despite anything they may have told me to the contrary
97) The NAM communications network is not Skynet
98) Niops does not field assassin droids
99) "Hey, y'all watch this!" is not considered adequate notification prior to conducting unauthorized experiments with government owned equipment
100) My APC is not a monster truck

101) When playing hearts, I may not literally shoot the moon
102) Duct tape is not Lostech
103) Duct tape is not 'Self-adhesive armour'
104) If the motor pool asks me to grab them headlight fluid, I will not give them a bottle of urine in return
105) A bottle of urine is the wrong answer to everything except a drug test
106) I can not get a second-hand high by hanging around the riot control troops
107) I am not to create authentic defrutum for the Marians
108) Lyran Battle Armour do not belong to the organization Kerberos
109) I will not convince the Goliath Scorpions to turn the Remembrance into an anime OVA
110) I will not sell the Goliath Scorpions brown acid or, for that matter, any sort of psychoactive substance

« Last Edit: 17 May 2012, 00:47:46 by chanman »

snakespinner

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #155 on: 06 November 2011, 01:57:53 »
Oh i think i just swallowed something i should not have. ;D
Now i know how to make a profit from those water purification tablets. }:)
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #156 on: 06 November 2011, 10:15:09 »
I just shot coffee out my nose...you owe me a new nose  ;D
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #157 on: 06 November 2011, 10:17:43 »
Ah, Skippy's List.  We salute you.   [rockon]

Actually, I have a friend who goes by the name Skippy who did a stint in the Navy with tons of stories involving crazy shenanigans.  He is, however, not THE Skippy.
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #158 on: 15 December 2011, 13:30:15 »
How widely know are the Niops worlds?  I am considering changing my mercs future home destination to one of these worlds, but the whole bit about the mercs participating in a coup attempt might make it uncomfortable.

A bit late, but I haven't been on the 'net lately. In any case they're widely known, but the timeframe is fairly key.

Pre-3050, they had a simple policy regarding intruders: If we don't like you, our aerospace wing (!!!) will convert you to high-purity metal deposits on an uninhabited rock. And unless there's a damned good reason otherwise, we probably don't like you. BTW, have you seen our awesome game shows?

3050-3060: Fire sale, Star League-quality research data! Discounts possible in exchange for large amounts of military hardware!

3060-3065: This is a scary, scary universe. Thankfully we've bolstered our defense with mercs and lots of extra gear, and get to watch the crazy from over here.

3065-30??: Damnit. At least it can't any worse... okay, I was wrong. At least now it can't get any... oh fer cryin' out loud.

30??-3130's: Okay, that sucked. Focus on the homeland, screw all the rest of you. (tentative)

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #159 on: 15 December 2011, 16:01:14 »
Quote from: Hunter
3065-30??: Damnit. At least it can't any worse... okay, I was wrong. At least now it can't get any... oh fer cryin' out loud.

30??-3130's: Okay, that sucked. Focus on the homeland, screw all the rest of you. (tentative)

Welcome back, dude!

That does remind me, though: I found the original INN Touring the Stars article archived.

 http://darkagepress.com/INN-TTSVolumeXLVIII.html

Quote
Wedged between the Hegemony and the Rim Commonality of the former Free Worlds League another tiny realm, a three-planet alliance known as the Niops Association, is located. Founded as a Star League–era astronomical research base, these worlds grew into a microstate after an influx of refugees from the Succession Wars arrived, and have lived in relative peace and isolation under the rule of noble intellectuals, descended from the original researchers.

What does that tell us?  Sounds suspiciously like the intellectuals are back in firm control.  A couple possibilities:

1.  The Niops Civil War was a reactionary act by hardliners of the old power structure fighting the new one, and winning.

2.  The Niops Civil War could have been the underclass rebelling outright against the upper class, and losing.

3.  Blame outsiders.  The Black Heart Roses make a power grab, along with a discontented lower-ranked officer, and fail.  The local balance of power is thrown out of whack.  The Blakists try to step in and take over, using local manufacturing to replenish their losses.  They eventually lose, though not until the NAM is nearly wiped out.

What do we know for sure?  Niops beat the Blakists, which means it couldn't have been a full-scale invasion.  Stone's coalition didn't help Niops any more than they participated in action against Circinus, and the Regulans didn't wipe Niops off the map.
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Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #160 on: 15 December 2011, 21:44:40 »
And you trade in your Nighthawks for . . . Asura?
Colt Ward
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #161 on: 16 December 2011, 03:14:50 »
And you trade in your Nighthawks for . . . Asura?

I am intrigued by your suggestion, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

(Fun fact: prior to the release of Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, the FC62 GMs had planned to make Niops a toned-down version of the Manei Domini)
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glitterboy2098

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #162 on: 16 December 2011, 19:41:44 »
110 Things SPC Skippy of the Niops Association Militia has been warned about or is no longer allowed to do:

more:

111) Niops is not the 2nd Foundation
112) Comstar is not the 1st Foundation
113) The WoB's 'Master' might be a jackass, but he is not the Mule.
114) Our Battlemechs cannot form voltron
115) Appropriate response to orders is "sir yes sir", not "on the bounce!"
116) "On the Bounce" is not appropriate response in the Nighthawk units either.
117) Nighthawk suits cannot be armed with Davy Crockett's, so i should stop trying.
118) The Burke Tank is not a MKIV Bolo, and i am to stop referring to it as such.
119) When asked why my unit led a suicidal charge, "For the Honor of the Regiment" is not a proper response

and i edited the original list (i switched a few around order wise because i though it produced a funnier effect), here is the text file..
« Last Edit: 16 December 2011, 19:51:13 by glitterboy2098 »

Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #163 on: 16 December 2011, 22:08:15 »
Hmm, only one on that list I missed . . .

But 'On the Bounce!' is a great answer.

120)  When asked about his unit, Skippy is not to answer 'Everyone fights.'
Colt Ward
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avon1985

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #164 on: 16 December 2011, 22:32:32 »
Love the list!  laughed my butt off!  thanks I  needed the laugh!

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #165 on: 13 January 2012, 14:52:52 »
Having read the important (ie. Niops-related) parts of Field Manual 3085, all I can say is....ouch. :(
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #166 on: 04 June 2012, 21:47:10 »
So, has there been anything new Niops-related since FM3085?
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Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #167 on: 05 June 2012, 00:34:12 »
So . . . a question for the Niops folks . . . we know the FWL proto-states keep some warships active, but not all the proto-states kept facilities for keeping them online.

Would Niops be a good place to get some of the vital parts hand repaired?  or replaced?  I realize the cost would likely be multiple (x4?) more than the original part.  It would mean not being dependent on another proto-state which is more likely to be an enemy.

Btw, how soon in the Jihad did Niops get wrecked?  Would it have been a good place to go fishing for a contract for a merc?

Btw, by the MWDA timeframe, we know Niops has ended its isolation . . . or at least have regular contact with the Rim Commonality.
« Last Edit: 05 June 2012, 00:40:33 by Colt Ward »
Colt Ward
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BrokenMnemonic

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #168 on: 05 June 2012, 04:54:42 »
Btw, how soon in the Jihad did Niops get wrecked?  Would it have been a good place to go fishing for a contract for a merc?
The Niops ruling council got bombed in November 3075, with Brigadier Fallon of the NAM declaring martial law soon after. The battles between the Black Heart Roses and the NAM took place in early 3076, with the Black Heart Roses apparently being destroyed in February 3076. In mid-3077, one of the Niops planets tried to put the capital world under an embargo to get martial law lifted, as the Chairperson who survived the bombing had woken up in December 3076. Fallon started redeploying NAM forces to break the embargo, only for the Association to be hit by Marian raiders in August 3077. The Marians sacked Niops V, and Niops VI promptly invaded Niops VII in September trying to depose Fallon, only to end up in a stalemate.

Whatever was happening on Niops VII in late 3077, the Free Worlds League force that left Romita to recover FWL delegates from Niops in February 3078 vanished along with the delegates.

That's the last of the detail in the Jihad books. Field Report: Periphery talks about Niops having been invaded by the Blakists by 3079, beating the NAM on two out of three worlds and the Association apparently "ceasing to exist". Field Manual: 3085 then has the NAM commander trying to rebuild what's left of the association after a Blakist nuclear bombardment, with a comment that the Association had only just begun to recover.

So, it looks as if problems for the Association started in 3075, got worse in 3076/3077, and then the Association got absolutely hammered sometime around 3079 through the early 3080s.

Jihad: Final Reckoning does mention that when Niops VI invaded Niops VII in late 3077, they did so using contracted mercenary forces to augment their own, so there would've been contracts available then. Of course, it follows that the imminent future involves a stalemated war against the NAM, followed by a beating on two out of three worlds from the Blakists, followed by a swift nuking.

It's more interesting than optimal, and therefore better. O0 - Weirdo

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #169 on: 11 June 2012, 14:09:50 »
Other things about FM 3085, the main academy was destroyed but the militia centers still exist.  There's two 'Mech battalions in total, but there's very little to protect and Niops is easy pickings.  The "vast resources" are still there, even if the mining equipment's been beat back, so even if the factories are trashed they still have plenty to show up for - or simply conquer and rebuild.
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #170 on: 13 June 2012, 11:59:53 »
I love the attention Niops is getting!  O0 I have always thought they were an interesting little side note, especially now that I see what they have in military affairs, along with delicious campaign information.
Quote from: ANS Kamas P81 l
l
ink=topic=375.msg449306#msg449306 date=1339441790
Other things about FM 3085, the main academy was destroyed but the militia centers still exist.  There's two 'Mech battalions in total, but there's very little to protect and Niops is easy pickings.  The "vast resources" are still there, even if the mining equipment's been beat back, so even if the factories are trashed they still have plenty to show up for - or simply conquer and rebuild.

Though, mind you, if anywhere is a microcosm for the Jihad at large, it would be poor old Niops here  :o I legitimatly feel for these guys, all they want is to be left alone. Then the Marians Invade, get pushed back (I assume they left when the Jihad got to their borders) and the WoBies invade, trash, and nuke the place when the other guys leave.

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #171 on: 13 June 2012, 13:15:10 »
It seems that Niops spent the Jihad playing the part of the knitting circle housed between the rowdy frat house and the Hell's Angels chapter...
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #172 on: 13 June 2012, 15:54:28 »
I look at the Jihad years as an unfortunately painful recalibration. Given the general devastation and the slowness of post-Jihad reconstruction, Niops' modest production would have outpaced some of the major Periphery states - and probably more than a few Inner Sphere factions as well.

Awesome as it is, Niops is a boutique faction, so it required some...adjusting.

And you can't complain about nothing ever happening to your faction and then turn around and complain about the things happening to your faction. (Well, you can, but it's probably not very polite. Or smart. #P)

Touring the Stars makes it sound like not much happens from 3085 through the 3130s, so there is some time to rebuild. I think Niops would make an excellent catspaw for a Cold War type scenario between the Marians and the Canopians. It's still too much trouble to try to conquer outright, but much more vulnerable to raiding than before, meaning future leaders have to be much more circumspect when dealing with the Caesar and may be open to relying on covert aid from the Ebon Magistrate.

A good place for A Time of War campaign! O0


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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #173 on: 13 June 2012, 16:48:51 »
I look at the Jihad years as an unfortunately painful recalibration. Given the general devastation and the slowness of post-Jihad reconstruction, Niops' modest production would have outpaced some of the major Periphery states - and probably more than a few Inner Sphere factions as well.

Awesome as it is, Niops is a boutique faction, so it required some...adjusting.

True, I suppose.  Annoying, but true.  It does remove some of the uniqueness of the faction, though: they're supposed to be the ridiculously small faction whose technical expertise, military and production are higher than the norm for their size.

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And you can't complain about nothing ever happening to your faction and then turn around and complain about the things happening to your faction. (Well, you can, but it's probably not very polite. Or smart. #P)

Well, you can, depending on how you complain.  I can see the Word of Blake late in the Jihad invading Niops:  even with the loss of the Workshops, they remain a good source of spare parts and technical experts to repair Star League era military hardware, and as a former Star League colony that does not appear to have bought into the Inner Sphere's refeudalization, they may arguably be sympathetic with the Word of Blake point of view.  That, in the end, the battered Niops Association Militia was able to fight off the Blakists without outside help implies that whatever force attacked Niops could not have been very large: the widespread use of nukes on Niops VII even backs up the idea of a desperate Word of Blake Militia unit.

It's the Niops Civil War I'm a little iffy on:  there's not much indicative of this in the canon and, as of November 3075, Rayanne Nellis had been the Director of the Niops Association for at least, what, 10-13 years (Was FM:Periphery set in 3062 or 3065?).  That the 3074-3075 election was as acrimonious as described seems...odd - why was it?  There didn't seem to be much cause for it, and the reports never went into the reason.

The Black Heart Roses and a NAM Captain trying to stage a coup?  OK, maybe.  From there, though, it just gets weird: with only one surviving chairperson, and him having just got out of a year-long coma, I can see why Fallon kept martial law up a bit longer.  To immediately go into embargoes between the planets and then civil war is odd as heck, too.

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Touring the Stars makes it sound like not much happens from 3085 through the 3130s, so there is some time to rebuild. I think Niops would make an excellent catspaw for a Cold War type scenario between the Marians and the Canopians. It's still too much trouble to try to conquer outright, but much more vulnerable to raiding than before, meaning future leaders have to be much more circumspect when dealing with the Caesar and may be open to relying on covert aid from the Ebon Magistrate.

A good place for A Time of War campaign! O0

Indeed.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes / When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
-- Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Niopsian

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #174 on: 13 July 2012, 10:38:29 »
Interesting tidbit in FM:SLDF -

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To cover other shortfalls, Van Coevorden has resorted to diplomacy with the Illyrian Palatinate and the fledgling Niops Association.
In exchange for military aid, these minor Periphery states offer what little support they can. Officially, such agreements fall outside SLDF
jurisdiction, but thus far Regular Army Command has chosen to turn a blind eye to the arrangement.

I wouldn't have thought the Niops Association name would be in use before the fall of the Star League, as the settlements would have been territories of the Star League proper.

Perhaps even that early on there was already a clear distinction between the science mission and the civilian settlers?

Also, does the military aid offered by the SLDF XXXIV Corps maybe explain where Niops got some of the technical information it used to build the NAM in later centuries?


...cut a manager in to come up with a plan and the next thing you know you're big in Japan

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #175 on: 13 July 2012, 10:42:09 »
Grr...do not have book yet, and buying may cut too far into Comic Con budget, but...need more information!
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes / When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
-- Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

Niopsian

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #176 on: 13 July 2012, 10:45:41 »
Grr...do not have book yet, and buying may cut too far into Comic Con budget, but...need more information!

Unfortunately that is all there is. And I really wasn't expecting even that.


...cut a manager in to come up with a plan and the next thing you know you're big in Japan

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #177 on: 13 July 2012, 16:29:59 »
What's the background on the XXXIV Corps?
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes / When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
-- Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"

ANS Kamas P81

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #178 on: 13 July 2012, 16:49:50 »
I wouldn't have thought the Niops Association name would be in use before the fall of the Star League, as the settlements would have been territories of the Star League proper.
Niops Association sounds almost like a corporate name funding the whole thing, maybe it was something like that.
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Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Jadefalke Todesschmerzen,
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #179 on: 13 July 2012, 16:54:44 »
Given that their government consists of Chairpersons and a Director, that makes sense: with Niops having been a colony dedicated to astronomical research of red dwarf stars, the "Niops Association" may have started as an NGO organized by various universities, with the chairpersons each heading a department originally, and the director overseeing operations.
"Does anyone know where the love of God goes / When the waves turn the minutes to hours?"
-- Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"