Mars Rising - Marian Hegemony V: Barbari ite Domum!

[jimdigris]

I'm about two-thirds of the way through the story.  Be assured that the Marians were not portrayed as idiots or mustache-twirling villains. 

[Adacas]

I'm about two-thirds of the way through the story.  Be assured that the Marians were not portrayed as idiots or mustache-twirling villains.

Well then an improvement over what we've seen so far, a good incentive to buy the epub

[Adacas]

Having read the short novel I must say that the situation regarding the treatment of the Marians has improved a lot, as they said here they are not bad with the moustache, far from it.
I liked the Marians characters quite a bit, the Legatus is an emotional man and perhaps he did not fulfill his final mission but what a way to hit out at the Mercs, the casualties were quite even.


I was surprised by the Hegemony's use of the RL version of the Cossack since we didn't have it in stock, although, as usual, we may not have it in high numbers.
Another thing I didn't understand was who the Frankenmech belonged to, Marian or the Mercs.

[jimdigris]

The Frankenmech belonged to the mercs.  They were the same two in the closing pages of the story.

[Adacas]

The Frankenmech belonged to the mercs.  They were the same two in the closing pages of the story.

I'll read it again, it was a kind of Grasshopper, with parts of Axeman and something else.

[ArkRoyalRavager]

Having read the short novel I must say that the situation regarding the treatment of the Marians has improved a lot, as they said here they are not bad with the moustache, far from it.
I liked the Marians characters quite a bit, the Legatus is an emotional man and perhaps he did not fulfill his final mission but what a way to hit out at the Mercs, the casualties were quite even.


I was surprised by the Hegemony's use of the RL version of the Cossack since we didn't have it in stock, although, as usual, we may not have it in high numbers.
Another thing I didn't understand was who the Frankenmech belonged to, Marian or the Mercs.

This is a nice change. The Cossack is probably Liao origin. Gives hope that the Canopian invasion of Alphard will have a positive outcome for the Hegemony.

[Starfury]

I was also struck by how hilariously dysfunctional Hammer's government was.  The Hegemony would have been an improvement.  I am curious about an Urbie with a flamer as that would be an interesting field refit.  The Hegemony forces also had a captured Benom 9KE which I assume we got from a unit in the Rim Commnality since Nimakachi has a plant there. If not, that Venom traveled a long way from Drac space. It's fun to see the Bandersnatch in action as well.

[Adacas]

I was also struck by how hilariously dysfunctional Hammer's government was.  The Hegemony would have been an improvement.  I am curious about an Urbie with a flamer as that would be an interesting field refit.  The Hegemony forces also had a captured Benom 9KE which I assume we got from a unit in the Rim Commnality since Nimakachi has a plant there. If not, that Venom traveled a long way from Drac space. It's fun to see the Bandersnatch in action as well.

Any of the worlds in Marik's Rim were better off with the Hegemony, Lahti and San Nicolas had either joined the Hegemony of their own volition or were in the process of doing so at the time of this nonsense.
As for the nice looking mechs, the Bandersnatch is one of my favourites
For a moment when the two Atlas appeared I thought the IV Legion had transformed into a Lyran Scout Battalion

[jimdigris]

The Marians are probably purchasing a lot of equipment from the Lyrans.

[Adacas]

The Marians are probably purchasing a lot of equipment from the Lyrans.

Lyrans or Starcops

[ArkRoyalRavager]

Son Hoa is filled with backlogs of Lyran and Marian orders.

[Weirdo]

Wait, Atlases? In IV Legio? Wow. I really need to read this.

I guess formations do change over time. And even if their primary composition hasn't changed, I guess it makes sense for even a light recon/COIN formation like them to keep some big things in their roster for special occasions.

[Colt Ward]

The story in mid 3148 gave them-
Atlas 7-D x2
Bandersnatch
Centurion- sounded like CN10-B x2
UrbanMech, custom?
Cicada 3M
Ostric

ad hoc recon century
Cossack x2
Venom
Wasp
Stinger

[Weirdo]

Aside from the Atlases, all those seem perfectly reasonable for IV.

[ArkRoyalRavager]

The Atlases are perfectly reasonable for IV Legio as they can anchor the other units at the front

[Colt Ward]

They also implied some other slow heavier designs with out JJs, designs that were enough of a concern to push through some fire and go up the road as a distraction

[Fire Scorpion IIC]

Wait, Atlases? In IV Legio? Wow. I really need to read this.

I guess formations do change over time. And even if their primary composition hasn't changed, I guess it makes sense for even a light recon/COIN formation like them to keep some big things in their roster for special occasions.

Militaries are constantly buying new stuff plus Sea Foxes are always in the game

Just because a unit doesn't have a specific mech on the roster one day doesn't mean that the shipment of those exact mechs they ordered three months ago won't be arriving later that same day

[Starfury]

And there are plenty of old Atlas AS7-D chassis left after the Jihad for the Marians to salvage, buy, or steal.  It may not mount advanced weapons, but the 7D is still a tough customer to chew through if you have other opponents to face and are outnumbered to boot.  Plus the Atlas is a nice thematic piece for the Roman-mad Marians to use as an anvil to a more mobile hammer.

[Adacas]

I think they made a mistake in the Fluff Marian section but they grossly confused that Legion left with Lotharians

[Arkansas Warrior]

I’m reading through it now. The political set-up on-world is such a clear caricature of [Nope! Not breaking Rule 4 today.] that it’s immersion-breaking for me, but other than that I’m enjoying it.

[Martius]

I enjoyed the story- I do not mind the MH being the bad guys or on the losing side in a conflict (hey- I also play CSJ, CJF and WoB) as long as the story is well told. Which IMO it is. The motivations on both sides were cler, both leaders had certain weaknesses to cover, both did the best that they could.

The political situation was very LFW, the Anti- MH Metal Band a very nice touch. Details like the latter make a story really fun for me, makes the setting feel more real.

[Arkansas Warrior]

I was a little bit frustrated that the MH fell for the classic "use an old, easily broken cipher and broadcast a bunch of made-up unit identifiers" trick, but we were the antagonists, and a single Hounds company wouldn't have won a straight-up fight, so the Marians falling for trickery had to happen, I guess.  C'est la vie.  All in al,  I thought it was more generous to the Marians than most stories that include the MHAF have been.


I suppose the real solution is "be the change you want to see in the world."  If I ever find time to write something, and it's good enough to get published in Shrapnel, I do have the seed of an idea or two about stories with Marian (or at least Marian-employed) protagonists.  But right now I'm going back to college and working on the days I don't have class, so it might be a few years before I find the time.

[Weirdo]

I forget, does the Hegemony have access to any mechs with ELRMs, and if so, which ones?

[Adacas]

I forget, does the Hegemony have access to any mechs with ELRMs, and if so, which ones?

I would have to check thoroughly but I think none, unless there is some pod with ELRM for the Omnis that we have

[Weirdo]

Fair enough. I'll pivot my concept for a Siege Century into one meant to just smash down heavy fortresses using vast Rocket salvos. A handy side benefit is that many of our big Rocket boats are built off of LRM machines, so turning the unit into a fire support group is just a matter of printing new sheets.

The idea is for this to be the single big and slow Century in my IV Legio collection, because speedy pirate hunters occasionally need to deal with big pirate castles.

[Colt Ward]

Marauder 4H?

[Adacas]

Yeoman?

[Starfury]

If you want a Marian themed siege heavy Century, a Zeus 9S and 4 Thunderbolts is a great start, especially since the Marians have access to most of the best Project Phoenix/3050s era Marik and Steiner Thunderbolts. Or you could go full court press with 5 Longbows...

[Colt Ward]

The idea is for this to be the single big and slow Century in my IV Legio collection, because speedy pirate hunters occasionally need to deal with big pirate castles.

So looking . . .Marauder II 4H, a Hunchback 5H?

[Rainbow 6]

Marauder II -4H