'Bandit' Kingdoms

[Vehrec]

So we know what a Bandit Kingdom is.  A microstate using military power to extract resources from it's neighbors.  But in universe, by the standards of the periphery, the successor states and the clans, which of these are Bandit Kingdoms?

• The Tyrant of Vendobia uses a lance of bug-mechs to subjugate an entire continent of the world of Vendobia.  He demands tribute, and that all civic leaders wear fealty to him.  The Tyrant has no off-planet ambitions, but regards all areas outside his pleasure palace as at best resources to be exploited.
• The Free Republic of Tortuga runs resource extraction operations on nearby planets, having 'nationalized' factories in enclaves they established half a century ago through military force.  Tortugan enclaves do not grant their inhabitants citizenship, but people are reasonably free to come and go from the enclaves, which generally have higher standards of living than the rest of the planet.  The Tortugan's enclaves create a defacto monopoly for them in microelectronics and spare mech parts and ammo.  As a result, local planetary governments have little hope of regaining their lost factories.
• The Doge of Dennis has made vast loans to a number of planets.  Interest payments on said loans are significant portions of their net foreign capital reserves.  The Doge sends mechs to collect from any planet that attempts to default on a loan.  As a result, the economies of these planets twist towards Dennis, and their meager C-bill reserves become more meager by the year, so that they must take out more loans to pay their mercenaries to have any protection against pirates.
• The Black Company has overthrown their former employers on the planet Mordor and established their own government.  They have abolished universal conscription, slavery, the All Seeing Eye, and negotiated peace treaties with several neighbors, but maintain dominion over a few Non-Mordor planets who no longer have functional local governments after having been conquered.  Economic changes are going to take more time to implement.
• The Princesspality of Zee is actually a straight up empire.  It has a centralized government, appoints and dismisses planetary governors, extracts taxes, and in an important distinction, provides services and social welfare.  The current princess is determined to expand her realm to get Germanium so that she can start a jumpship factory and increase trade.  The military is staffed mostly by members of the royal family at the upper levels, but is otherwise a professional organization.  The only thing that one could object to is a slight imperial tendency to see neighbors as threats or victims in need of protection.  Of course, this is the periphery.

So who on that list is and is not a Bandit King?

[Saint]

IMHO 1 and 2 are bandit kingdoms. 

 3 I would call a robber baron hoping to force his will through money and influence.

4 Is a military coup

5 seems like a proto state on the verge of legitimacy.

[Frabby]

As a successor lord, I brand any of these a bandit kingdom and curbstomp them at leisure if they don't accept my legit claim to the title of Star Lord of the entire Inner Sphere. If I can be bothered.

[Vehrec]

As a successor lord, I brand any of these a bandit kingdom and curbstomp them at leisure if they don't accept my legit claim to the title of Star Lord of the entire Inner Sphere. If I can be bothered.

Okay, inner sphere, sure, star lord, whatever.

Periphery Uber Alles though, they don't bow to you.  You gotta reconquer the territorial states man. :P

[Moonsword]

Any of them could easily get classed that way if a Periphery power felt inclined to handle them roughly.

#1 definitely is a bandit kingdom but is so minor as to be functionally irrelevant until and unless he pisses someone off or otherwise comes to the attention of a bigger fish from a bigger pond.  (See #5 for an excellent candidate for the bigger fish.)

#2 is an odd case.  They were bandits but they've transitioned into an economic rent extraction process instead of military extortion.  I wouldn't really call the situation as it exists today a bandit kingdom but plenty of the locals are probably going to laugh with delight if someone does consider it that way and deal with them harshly.

#3 isn't exactly a bandit kingdom, it's a loan sharking operation between governments.  While not difficult to portray as bandits, this is technically a credit transaction and absent the threat of state enforcement or market power to compel repayment, someone's using BattleMechs because that's the way power relationships between governments work in this game.  It's not banditry any more than feudalism was... or any less.

#4 is a bandit kingdom with good intentions.  We know where those usually lead.

#5 is a bandit kingdom.  It's a well organized, annoyingly professional bandit kingdom but it's still not really large enough or legitimate enough to escape that label yet.  The practical difference between this type of bandit kingdom and, say, House Kurita is mainly size, staying power, and recognition by Kurita's fellow highly successful, long lasting, institutionalized bandit kingdoms.

[Natasha Kerensky]

From an academic perspective, I'd say none of them are bandit kingdoms.  The one defining feature of a bandit kingdom going back to the first Periphery sourcebook was the "piranha principle", where the small bandit kingdom "piranhas" of the Periphery were able to attack the Great House "sharks" of the Inner Sphere because the Great Houses were so occupied fighting each other that they largely ignored the bandit kingdoms. 

Examples #1-#5 may all be Periphery scum to a lesser or greater degree, but unless and until they mount a raid against an Inner Sphere world, they're not bandit kingdoms.  (I'd also note that we can probably find examples of #1-#5 happening on various worlds in the Inner Sphere in the canon.)  Even if we want to be loose with the definition of "bandit kingdom", these certainly aren't bandit kingdoms with the scale, reach, capability, or prowess of the classic bandit kingdoms like the Circinus Federation, Tortuga Dominion, Oberon Confederation, Greater Valkyrate, or even Star's End Pirates.

Of course, Spheroid prejudices tend to classify all Periphery states as bandit kingdoms, even the largest, most established, and most peaceful (e.g., Outworlds Alliance and Magistracy of Canopus).  So to the average Spheroid citizen, examples #1-#5 may all be bandit kingdoms simply because of the geographical location in the Periphery.

And, of course, to the targets/opponents of their coercion (examples #1-3), revolution (example #4), and imperial ambitions (example #5), each of these states will be termed a "bandit kingdom" or whatever appellation generates the most disgust towards these states and the most sympathy for their opponents.  (In the real world, the terms "revolutionary" and "terrorist" are often interchangeable, depending on which side you're on.)

Hope this helps... FWIW.

[Dead Monky]

While you guys were debating this, me and my pirate buddies just dropped in, stole all the spare parts for your water purification system and hydroponics and are now on our way back to our JumpShip. Peace out!

[rebs]

In my opinion, the best "model" for a Bandit Kingdom to follow would be the one the Marians went with.  Simply because they survived when others did not, and they had the chance to evolve into a fascinating government the likes of which haven't been seen since the Terran dark ages.

[JadedFalcon]

The Marian Hegemony did resemble example #5, and I suspect the massive germanium reserves are what kept them from being simply another small periphery kingdom devoid of significant industry like Circinus or the Oberon Confederation. I also suspect slave labor factored noticeably into their economic successes. So yeah, if you're going to start a bandit kingdom, find a habitable region loaded with precious metals and then acquire cheap labor.

In regards to the original topic, I'm kinda there with Natasha Kerensky in that it's about perception. For example, did the Marian Hegemony stop being a bandit kingdom when the return on monetary investment became too large for the IS to ignore? Are places like Nuevo Castille not considered bandit kingdoms because they only fight among themselves? Or because no one in the Inner Sphere cares?

[Korzon77]

I'd actually say none of them in the sense that I've always seen Bandit Kingdoms as something that is dependent on fairly regular raids to survive.