Clan Blood Spirit: Get Off Our Lawn

[alex blood spirit]

does the Merchants caste have last names

[Mendrugo]

No.  Only the Warrior caste does.  The Scientist caste has "labnames," but those are not officially recognized outside of their caste.

[Metallgewitter]

No.  Only the Warrior caste does.  The Scientist caste has "labnames," but those are not officially recognized outside of their caste.

Are those "labnames"? I thought they often choose the name of famous researchers from their line of specialization.

[Mendrugo]

Are those "labnames"? I thought they often choose the name of famous researchers from their line of specialization.

Those are the labnames, and are bestowed by peers in recognition of accomplishment.

[Stormlion1]

Might be interesting if the other Castes had surnames they adopted unofficially. They would move Heaven and Earth to keep them from the warrior castes. But could you imagine if Laborers took names from famous muscle builders?

[StCptMara]

Might be interesting if the other Castes had surnames they adopted unofficially. They would move Heaven and Earth to keep them from the warrior castes. But could you imagine if Laborers took names from famous muscle builders?

1) That would actually go against Clan philosophy. The only reason scientists had Labnames was because they were as competitive as Warriors. Every other Caste must work together to achieve goals. One man does not build a barracks or a 'mech.

2) Why muscle builders? I would think famous/legendary workers would be better: Henry, Appleseed, Jones, Hoffa, etc..

[Mendrugo]

2) Why muscle builders? I would think famous/legendary workers would be better: Henry, Appleseed, Jones, Hoffa, etc..

We bestow upon you the labor name…”Phil from Accounting”!

[CJC070]

1) That would actually go against Clan philosophy. The only reason scientists had Labnames was because they were as competitive as Warriors. Every other Caste must work together to achieve goals. One man does not build a barracks or a 'mech.

There are lower caste members that are just as egotistical, competitive, and capable of backstabbing as any human being.  Just because a writer waves his “magic wand” and says “compete no more” does not make that any less true.

[Stormlion1]

1) That would actually go against Clan philosophy. The only reason scientists had Labnames was because they were as competitive as Warriors. Every other Caste must work together to achieve goals. One man does not build a barracks or a 'mech.

2) Why muscle builders? I would think famous/legendary workers would be better: Henry, Appleseed, Jones, Hoffa, etc..

For number 2) I was jokingly thinking of using names from Mr Universe or historical legends. Could you imagine if there was a Laborer named Arnie and he got the Laborname Scwartzenager? Or how about John Stallone? Maybe Tad Hercules?

[Crimson Dynamo]

I've got a few SL and Clan Omni minis from the CGL boxes and I've recently become attached to an idea for a homebrew Spirit Cluster I've thought up, which I'd call the Bloodstone Guards. I'm thinking they'd be the centerpiece Cluster for one of the fallen Spirit Galaxies, with the name/idea coming from the belief that ancient Greeks and Romans carried pieces of heliotrope (bloodstone) as a charm against venomous creatures. Therefore, my guys would likely have spent lots of time defending the Spirit enclaves on Arcadia with both the Steel Vipers and the Star Adders also present in that system, before being attached elsewhere and eventually seeing the Wars of Reaving. Heliotrope as a stone is usually a shade of darker to very dark green with red speckling and/or patches, so for a paint scheme, utilitarian grey with prominent panels in the heliotrope pattern? Maybe with some added red accents? I was also thinking bigger machines to emphasize their role as a defensive unit. Any thoughts or suggestions?  I'm especially open to opinions on paint schemes, as this would be a tabletop force and I'm going for a coolness factor.

[tassa_kay]

I'd be wary of giving them that name, to be honest. Blood Spirit centerpiece Clusters, which only their frontline Galaxies seem to have as secondline Galaxies are exclusively composed of numbered Crimson Guards, all follow a particular naming convention (____ Guards, where the blank is a specific shade of red; see Alpha's Red Guards, Omega's Scarlet Guards, fallen Beta's Cerise Guards, Iota's Crimson Guards), and they're pretty strict on not deviating from their norms when it comes to touman structure.

That said, it's homebrew, so it doesn't really matter either way. But you asked for suggestions, old friend, and that's mine.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Hey TK! That's a good point. Damn, I really liked the "charm against poisonous bites" aspect as being perfect for a unit that had history with the Snake Clans. I do see that heliotrope is also a color, per wikipedia, though it's a pinkish-purple and would also seem to be against the naming convention. Though, there's only so many shades of red and I feel canon already took the good ones. I now know what 'cerise' means though. :))

Also, the Crimson Guards as Iota's centerpiece unit confuses me. I see there are quite a few CG Clusters across the Touman, and another part of my headcanon would have had these guys starting out as John Q. Crimson Guards Cluster before being redesignated as a named unit, though I don't know if such things were known in CBS. Thanks for the input though. Hope you've been well.

[tassa_kay]

Yeah, the Crimson Guards of Iota Galaxy... annoy me. Like, there are umpteen shades of red, and they picked the one that already shares a name with literally every secondline Cluster in the touman? That's silly and feels lazy.

And as for your idea? That actually happened in canon, though the Cluster in question didn't actually make it onto the rolls in FM:CC because it was poorly written/edited. The 66th Crimson Guards of Mu were upgraded to frontline status and became the 29th Blood Drinkers Cluster, and context clues tell me it was meant to be assigned to Omega Galaxy (the text says it has 7 Clusters, but the actual listing only gives us 6). So your idea there DOES have precedent.

There are still shades of red that could work that haven't been taken. Vermilion, Ruby, Carmine, Carnelian... those all sound pretty good, at least to my dainty ears.  ;D

[Crimson Dynamo]

And as for your idea? That actually happened in canon, though the Cluster in question didn't actually make it onto the rolls in FM:CC because it was poorly written/edited. The 66th Crimson Guards of Mu were upgraded to frontline status and became the 29th Blood Drinkers Cluster, and context clues tell me it was meant to be assigned to Omega Galaxy (the text says it has 7 Clusters, but the actual listing only gives us 6). So your idea there DOES have precedent.

There are still shades of red that could work that haven't been taken. Vermilion, Ruby, Carmine, Carnelian... those all sound pretty good, at least to my dainty ears.  ;D

Excellent, excellent. I can keep the promotion part then. So, realigning my approach, instead of a centerpiece Guards-type Cluster (although the Vermilion Guards has a very nice ring), I notice a few units that were apparently unique in their designations, like the 55th Red Vanguard, the 72nd Crimson Cuirassiers, the 112th Scarlet Battle, and two Assault Clusters that had no other titles attached. I'm now thinking more along the lines of these units, like a '3rd Bloodstone Battle Cluster' or a '60th Bloodstone Assault Cluster.' I feel like that is keeping most of the roots of what I had in mind intact, but keeps them fully immersed in Spirit fluffiness with the examples of other Clusters that shared their designations with seemingly no other units outside their parent Galaxies, and became 'loners' after the loss of their parent commands. That seem more reasonable to those familiar with these things?

[tassa_kay]

I think that would work just fine, actually. Somewhat related, but I made a listing of canonical Spirit Cluster naming conventions and added a couple of notes based on my own observations. Maybe it'll be of some use to ya?

- Frontline Galaxies all appear to have a lead unit: Red Guards for Alpha, Scarlet Guards for Omega, Cerise Guards for Beta (lost in Absorption War)
- Red Assault Cluster
- Red Battle Cluster
- Red Vanguard Cluster
- Crimson Vanguard Cluster
- Crimson Assault Cluster
- Crimson Cuirassiers Cluster
- Scarlet Battle Cluster (assuming per the above Red/Crimson Clusters that there was likely other types of Scarlet Clusters [Scarlet Assault, Scarlet Vanguard, etc.])
- Blood Drinkers
- Blood Hussars
- Crimson Guards (secondline Clusters)
- Blood Cavalry (WoR-era, appears to be ProtoMech Clusters)
- Spirit Chasseurs (WoR-era, appears to be the renamed Raven Chasseurs Clusters of Zeta Galaxy)

[Stormlion1]

It's your game. Do what you want and post pics!

[alex blood spirit]

Tassa Kay thanks for the info on Spirit cluster names it gives me a afew ideas for my story line

[Stormlion1]

Brothers and Sisters. I have decided to recreate a dark day in the Clans history as a scenario. The Star Adders Assault on the Strana Mechty Blood Spirit Genetic Repository. What I need is a good idea what that facility actually would look like. Help me design that facility. Right now each building can take 50 damage other than the main facility which requires 150 damage to destroy. I'm figuring on at least 11 buildings on the map. Advice?

[Sjhernan3060]

Brothers and Sisters. I have decided to recreate a dark day in the Clans history as a scenario. The Star Adders Assault on the Strana Mechty Blood Spirit Genetic Repository. What I need is a good idea what that facility actually would look like. Help me design that facility. Right now each building can take 50 damage other than the main facility which requires 150 damage to destroy. I'm figuring on at least 11 buildings on the map. Advice?

Wow! What a cool and dark scenario indeed. Was that battle detailed in the WOR book?

[tassa_kay]

Brothers and Sisters. I have decided to recreate a dark day in the Clans history as a scenario. The Star Adders Assault on the Strana Mechty Blood Spirit Genetic Repository. What I need is a good idea what that facility actually would look like. Help me design that facility. Right now each building can take 50 damage other than the main facility which requires 150 damage to destroy. I'm figuring on at least 11 buildings on the map. Advice?

Let me see if I can find anything in the old RPG supplement "MechWarrior's Guide to the Clans". IIRC, that particular book had a fantastic write-up about Strana Mechty and Katyusha, and I bet there's something in there that might be of help to you!

EDIT: There isn't a "Blood Spirit Genetic Repository" on Strana Mechty, per se; there's the Master Genetic Repostory in Katyusha City that all the Clans use, but the Spirits' own primary genetic repository had long since been transferred to York and then transferred to Haven in 3070. That Adder attack was targeting the Spirits' enclave on Strana Mechty, which wouldn't have been in Katyusha anyway, and all they seemed to have there was a small genetic laboratory. So you could probably just throw in a few support buildings around the laboratory and call it a day.

Also, have you checked out the WoR diorama that CamoSpecs did, depicting the multi-Clan assault on the Wolf repository?

[StCptMara]

EDIT: There isn't a "Blood Spirit Genetic Repository" on Strana Mechty, per se; there's the Master Genetic Repostory in Katyusha City that all the Clans use, but the Spirits' own primary genetic repository had long since been transferred to York and then transferred to Haven in 3070. That Adder attack was targeting the Spirits' enclave on Strana Mechty, which wouldn't have been in Katyusha anyway, and all they seemed to have there was a small genetic laboratory. So you could probably just throw in a few support buildings around the laboratory and call it a day.

Bolded section for reference.

This has me thinking now: The Adders still Absorbed the Spirits. While they buried the repository on Haven, did they also destroy the Sprit genetics in the master repository? Or did they save those for future use? From a typical Clan outlook, to destroy the genetics would be wasteful, but I am not sure how the Adders would view things post "Absorption." And, if the warriors are raised as Star Adders, never told the history of their Bloodnames, or even if the genetics are only used for the Paternal DNA, the origins of the genetic material wouldn't matter. I wonder what the final fate of the genetics in Master Repository were?

[CJC070]

Bolded section for reference.

This has me thinking now: The Adders still Absorbed the Spirits. While they buried the repository on Haven, did they also destroy the Sprit genetics in the master repository? Or did they save those for future use? From a typical Clan outlook, to destroy the genetics would be wasteful, but I am not sure how the Adders would view things post "Absorption." And, if the warriors are raised as Star Adders, never told the history of their Bloodnames, or even if the genetics are only used for the Paternal DNA, the origins of the genetic material wouldn't matter. I wonder what the final fate of the genetics in Master Repository were?

Unfortunately I believe the Adders destroyed every evidence of the Blood Spirits due to their long standing conflict and the Clans are the biggest hypocrites is the Battletech universe (especially when it comes to waste).  The Wolverines did a similar stunt to the Ghost Bears and over a hundred warriors were purged as a result.  A part of me hopes that the Blood Spirits survived the Absorption (or as I think Elimination) but the longer we don’t hear from the Homeworlds the more I am in doubt.

[tassa_kay]

This has me thinking now: The Adders still Absorbed the Spirits. While they buried the repository on Haven, did they also destroy the Sprit genetics in the master repository? Or did they save those for future use? From a typical Clan outlook, to destroy the genetics would be wasteful, but I am not sure how the Adders would view things post "Absorption." And, if the warriors are raised as Star Adders, never told the history of their Bloodnames, or even if the genetics are only used for the Paternal DNA, the origins of the genetic material wouldn't matter. I wonder what the final fate of the genetics in Master Repository were?

To be honest, I seriously doubt that the Adders bothered to take any of the Spirits' genetic material before burying the repository. We know the Adders are okay with being wasteful when it comes to the Spirits (the blurb in WoR about orbital bombardment says almost exactly this sentiment, lol), and since they were treating the Spirits' destruction as a de facto Annihilation anyway, it really makes sense that they'd consign the Spirits' genetic material to oblivion rather than honor it by using it.

[Stormlion1]

I have taken your thoughts to mind and decided a Genetic Repository isn't the way to go. Rather now I'm going to do Blood Spirit Blood Chapels instead with a laboratory complex at the center of it all.

[tassa_kay]

I have taken your thoughts to mind and decided a Genetic Repository isn't the way to go. Rather now I'm going to do Blood Spirit Blood Chapels instead with a laboratory complex at the center of it all.

Oooh, Blood Chapels would be a lot of fun, I think! I like this set-up.

[Sjhernan3060]

Yeah, I felt the Spirits’ canon fate to be one of the worst parts of the WoR book. Not because of my love for them, but because it was simply bland, predictable and lackluster. I too felt it would’ve been much more entertaining to see them reach rapprochement with the Adders by destroying (or helping to destroy) the resurgent Burrocks. Yet they were destroyed instead, and the Coyotes were ludicrously allowed to survive betraying the Clans. It’s what put me off BattleTech for a while.

The pass the coyotes got really grinds me as well! And I am sorry while the scorpion empire is cool I would have rather the spirits gotten that spot.

[CJC070]

The pass the coyotes got really grinds me as well! And I am sorry while the scorpion empire is cool I would have rather the spirits gotten that spot.

Or at least some of the Blood Spirits surviving like the not-named-clan or even the Fire Mandrills.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Circling back around a bit: I’ve looked thru the MUL but that doesn’t much help for what I’m specifically looking for. Sarna lists Blood Spirit mechs that are specifically Spirit made rather than General.

What mechs did the Spirits produce from like the General List? Omnis or Standard? I’m just looking to fill out a composition (avoiding SL Royal designs) and just trying to find a good homegrown machine so to speak.

If I can’t figure anything out I’ll just head back to the MUL, but my search fu has always been weak and you all know the Spirits better than I.

[Wolf72]

CBS & CFM refugees (fugitives, depending on your point of view) ala Scorpions and Hellions. ... maybe some ex pats from CC, CCC or CSV, even *gasp* CSA?  Would think someone in the group would have to "grow-up" and learn to re-work together.

[Stormlion1]

Or at least some of the Blood Spirits surviving like the not-named-clan or even the Fire Mandrills.

Never forget that in the War of Reaving Book and the supplement the Blood Spirit symbol in the margins wasn't removed even after there destruction.

Just covered in bullet scars.