Machines of the First Princes?

[Weirdo]

I'm trying to put together a list of the mechs and other units piloted by the various First Princes of the Federated Suns. So far, I think I've got a handle on most of the Princes of the current millennium. Note, I know some of these did switch around sitting their careers, I'm just going with their latest one or the one most associated with them. Also, not really worrying about exact variant or configuration.

Alexander - ???
Joseph I - Marauder
Joseph II - Battlemaster
Ian - Atlas
Hanse - Battlemaster
Victor - Daishi
Katherine - Technically Regent vs First Prince, did not serve until after joining Clan Wolf
Yvonne - Infantry
Harrison - ???
Caleb - Marksman MBT
Erik (Sandoval-Groel) - Regent - Axman
Julian - Marauder II

Is there any information regarding Harrison Davion in this regard? For that matter, do we have this info for any Pre-Ian Princes?

[Mendrugo]

Iron Writer 2007's "Raven" put Alexander Davion in a Marauder.

However, this is an anachronism, since the Marauder chassis wouldn't exist until a century later.  Given the weapons loadout, I believe a Hammerhands 4D allows him to shoot all the weapons described in the story, without breaking continuity. 

Per Era Report: 2750, Joseph Davion pilots a Marauder without continuity issues.  He dies at its controls on Royal.

Prince Carl also piloted a Marauder, dying in it on David.

Overall, it looks like if you don't know a Prince's ride, you aren't going to be taking too great a risk if you guess Marauder.

From Handbook: House Davion
- Joseph Davion II - BattleMaster

[Weirdo]

I'll leave Al as an unknown for now. Thanks for the Joe info!

[Hellraiser]

I know you mentioned duplicates not needed, but, for completeness,  Victor had his Victor, but, didn't Julian have a Templar-III at some point?

[Hellraiser]

Clarifying 2 Josephs.

Joseph-I = Marauder
Joseph-II = Battlemaster


Katie didn't have a mech while she acted as First Prince, but, she did have a Warhawk in her TOP & a Griffin of some stripe later on with Clan Wolf.

[Hellraiser]

Iron Writer 2007's "Raven" put Alexander Davion in a Marauder.

However, this is an anachronism, since the Marauder chassis wouldn't exist until a century later.  Given the weapons loadout, I believe a Hammerhands 4D allows him to shoot all the weapons described in the story, without breaking continuity. 

Dieing 12 years before the Marauder was introduced.......... I'm not even sure an early prototype would qualify there.

Given the era & weaponry,  Mackie & Striker might also qualify.

Per Era Report: 2750, Joseph Davion pilots a Marauder without continuity issues.  He dies at its controls on Royal.

Prince Carl also piloted a Marauder, dying in it on David.

From Handbook: House Davion  - Joseph Davion II - BattleMaster

Given all the action she saw, I'm surprised there is no note about what Melissa Davion was using with the Assault Guards or Avalon Hussars.

[Mendrugo]

Given all the action she saw, I'm surprised there is no note about what Melissa Davion was using with the Assault Guards or Avalon Hussars.

She made her way to David to claim her brother's body and ravaged Marauder, but it doesn't say what she piloted.

[Templar87]

I know you mentioned duplicates not needed, but, for completeness,  Victor had his Victor, but, didn't Julian have a Templar-III at some point?

Julian's used an Enforcer III and Templar III; the latter for most of his career as a Mechwarrior until it was wrecked on New Syrtis.

[Moragion]

Pretty sure Yvonne had no military training of any kind. That's why she was Regent, and not First Prince. Unless it is mentioned in some sourcebook I haven't read (quite a few of those still left for me to read).

[Weirdo]

In a novel(one of the Blood of Kerensky ones, I think), she discusses having gone through infantry training instead of mech.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I definitely recall Yvonne having received infantry training.

[Hellraiser]

In a novel(one of the Blood of Kerensky ones, I think), she discusses having gone through infantry training instead of mech.

Yvonne was in Blood of Kerensky?   I doubt that, she would have been line 11 at the time.
I mean maybe but not to the point of having Infantry Training.


As for is she ever got it.
If she did it would have made her eligible for 1st Prince which she never was & was only Regent.


Are you sure your not thinking of Melissa & the fact that her early aptitude scores showed high for small unit tactics & such?
Even she went on to pilot Katrina's Warhammer & didn't serve in the Jump Infantry.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

IIRC, Victor appointing Yvonne regent was what caused her to become ineligible for First Princess.

[AlphaMirage]

Melissa did go infantry. Did she ever actually serve in Katrina's Warhammer though, doubtful.

Perhaps she was trained to parade competence but she was with or raising children till she was 40 and was widowed before providing guidance to Victor until her untimely demise.

She wouldn't have had time to MechWarrior.

IIRC, Victor appointing Yvonne regent was what caused her to become ineligible for First Princess.

Yes, it was a bonehead move that his counselors should have vetoed but he was surrounded by yes men. It did prevent Katrina from succeeding as First Prince however as she merely assumed her little sisters title as she didn't have the necessary service.

You could also be confusing General Yvonne Davison, Yvonne SD's namesake who could have been active at the time or fondly remembered.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

No, she was calling herself First Princess in spite of lacking the necessary service.  And all the yes men in court went along with it, proclaiming that she was the legitimate ruler.  Somehow.

[Hellraiser]

IIRC, Victor appointing Yvonne regent was what caused her to become ineligible for First Princess.

If that is true then that has got to be some serious short sightedness on his part.

He was going off to face the clans.  What if he died?  So the one he feels best to lead temporarily is then not eligible to take over?

Not saying your wrong, since, well, that is a great way to stop a regent from killing an Heir that is a Minor.
But it is an issue in the case of an absent leader.

[Hellraiser]

Melissa did go infantry. Did she ever actually serve in Katrina's Warhammer though, doubtful.

Do you have a source for that?
The entire Melissa Infantry thing is about her testing scores as an early Teen.
It's from the LyrCom 80's book & also said the Archon isn't about to let her daughter join the Jump Infantry.

She wouldn't have had time to MechWarrior.

So the Archon has no nannies?  Really?   LOL.
Either Wo39 or 20 Year Update she did learn how to pilot her Mother's Warhammer passably IE...  Regular Not Elite.
I'd assume the Archon has plenty of time to drill with the 2 Royal Guards regiments on Tharkhad any time she wants.

[Hellraiser]

No, she was calling herself First Princess in spite of lacking the necessary service.  And all the yes men in court went along with it, proclaiming that she was the legitimate ruler.  Somehow.

To be fair, Katie was doing that far more than Yvonne ever would have.
I mean, she was regent for less than 2 years, or was it Less than 1?   I forget.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

If that is true then that has got to be some serious short sightedness on his part.

He was going off to face the clans.  What if he died?  So the one he feels best to lead temporarily is then not eligible to take over?

Yes, there were many other people he could have picked.  People who were older, more experienced (that is to say, they actually had experience), and not in the line of succession.  But the numerous problems with all the events leading up to the FedCom Civil War has been argued many times and is off topic for this thread.

[BrianDavion]

Yes, there were many other people he could have picked.  People who were older, more experienced (that is to say, they actually had experience), and not in the line of succession.  But the numerous problems with all the events leading up to the FedCom Civil War has been argued many times and is off topic for this thread.

yeah it's clear that the writing team behind the FCCW didn't read their own sourcebooks, and move on.

regarding Harrison, do we know if he even served in active duty, or was his time in service a rear line paper pusher?

[Metallgewitter]

yeah it's clear that the writing team behind the FCCW didn't read their own sourcebooks, and move on.

regarding Harrison, do we know if he even served in active duty, or was his time in service a rear line paper pusher?

Probably went through his tour of duty without any incident (after all the lore text in FM3085 did state that the 1st Davion Guards already reserved a spot for him in the mess hall when he was a little child). The only "wars" that happened in his time was the Sandoval civil war and that was when Tancred was alive and the Victoria war which did not see him on the front lines, just ordering units to shore up the border. And if he really served with the 1st Guards then he most likely didn't see any combat. How the times change: Victor was posted on the Periphery border to get at least some experience (and not with a prominent unit but rather a regular line unit) but Harrsison seems to have been "cuddled" while Julian fought Taurians before the Dark Age started

[BrianDavion]

Probably went through his tour of duty without any incident (after all the lore text in FM3085 did state that the 1st Davion Guards already reserved a spot for him in the mess hall when he was a little child). The only "wars" that happened in his time was the Sandoval civil war and that was when Tancred was alive and the Victoria war which did not see him on the front lines, just ordering units to shore up the border. And if he really served with the 1st Guards then he most likely didn't see any combat. How the times change: Victor was posted on the Periphery border to get at least some experience (and not with a prominent unit but rather a regular line unit) but Harrsison seems to have been "cuddled" while Julian fought Taurians before the Dark Age started

coddled you mean, and I tend to agree, and the coddling explains his military policy (or lack thereof). It's clear that the FCCW did nothing for Yvvone's Naivity

[AlphaMirage]

So the Archon has no nannies?  Really?   LOL.
Either Wo39 or 20 Year Update she did learn how to pilot her Mother's Warhammer passably IE...  Regular Not Elite.
I'd assume the Archon has plenty of time to drill with the 2 Royal Guards regiments on Tharkhad any time she wants.

Drill isn't combat though and the action at that time was the 4SW kicked off by her very young marriage to Hanse. The next action is 3039 when Yvonne SD was a baby. The next action is the Clans and we know where she was at that time. Then Hanse dies in 3052 leaving her in the transition phase to Victor as the First Prince-Archon. The she was assassinated in 3055.

Also there is a Melissa Steiner connection to Point Barrow Military Academy, the AFFS' conventional academy. Further showing her preferences.

[Mendrugo]

From the Warrior Trilogy:

Ardan gave Melissa’s shoulders a squeeze. “As I recall, you did not study to become a MechWarrior.”

“I was too skinny. They trained me for infantry.” The dejection in her voice slowed her words to a dirge.

Ardan reached out with his right hand and tilted the girl’s head up so that he could look her in the eye. “I seem to recall that you did well in that
training. Didn’t you once tell me to tell Hanse that he’d be getting a wife who could command the household infantry while he ordered his ’Mechs about?”

Melissa shook her head. “Those were games, Ardan.

[Metallgewitter]

coddled you mean, and I tend to agree, and the coddling explains his military policy (or lack thereof). It's clear that the FCCW did nothing for Yvvone's Naivity

Ok I miswrote. To be fair here Yvonne's strategy for Matador and ceding worlds to the Repbulic wasn't wrong. I mean keeping your heir safe is one thing but letting him or her get experience is also important. Heck Janos MArik was given a Rifleman as his first Mech by his father and then send to the frontlines. Ignoring the modifications Janos made to his Mech this is certainly a rather harsh way to treat your heir, isn't it?

[Templar87]

Probably went through his tour of duty without any incident (after all the lore text in FM3085 did state that the 1st Davion Guards already reserved a spot for him in the mess hall when he was a little child). The only "wars" that happened in his time was the Sandoval civil war and that was when Tancred was alive and the Victoria war which did not see him on the front lines, just ordering units to shore up the border. And if he really served with the 1st Guards then he most likely didn't see any combat. How the times change: Victor was posted on the Periphery border to get at least some experience (and not with a prominent unit but rather a regular line unit) but Harrsison seems to have been "cuddled" while Julian fought Taurians before the Dark Age started

However, for Julian at least that doesn't seem to've been the plan; it's remarked on in TRO Dark Age that his company was officially deployed on New Syrtis, not Taygeta, and it seems like the idea from Harrison's side was trying to keep Julian out of trouble (and with Amanda Hasek exerting her influence to get Julian a company command slot in the Sixth Syrtis, a quiet public duties posting on New Syrtis probably seemed the best option).

Ok I miswrote. To be fair here Yvonne's strategy for Matador

I gotta disagree on this one, 'cause Yvonne managed to make sure that MATADOR was worse than useless by the way she concluded it.

[Metallgewitter]

I gotta disagree on this one, 'cause Yvonne managed to make sure that MATADOR was worse than useless by the way she concluded it.

How so? The Taurians lost their Warship and also several important planets. While the Suns lost the Pleiades Cluster it became something of a weight around the Taurian's neck. And the one who ruined the Suns attack was Nathaniel Hasek when he brought a unit he was not supposed to bring with him (the Syrtis Avengers) to Ridgebrook

[Cannonshop]

wouldn't one of the earlier ones have piloted a Mackie?

[Hellraiser]

From the Warrior Trilogy: 

Thanks for the reminder!

Given the year she was 15-16 at the time.
  Sounds like Basic Training, or,  more like a Royal having been given the equivalent of basic & then participated in War Games.
Kind of how Grayson was given training by the Sgt at Arms growing up in Carlysle's Commandos.

It doesn't come across, to me, as having attended a 4-year+ Academy & actual Basic/AIT schools.

[Hellraiser]

Drill isn't combat though and the action at that time was the 4SW kicked off by her very young marriage to Hanse. The next action is 3039 when Yvonne SD was a baby. The next action is the Clans and we know where she was at that time. Then Hanse dies in 3052 leaving her in the transition phase to Victor as the First Prince-Archon. The she was assassinated in 3055.

Also there is a Melissa Steiner connection to Point Barrow Military Academy, the AFFS' conventional academy. Further showing her preferences.

True Drill isn't action.
But she also wouldn't have seen any in the Infantry either.
If there is no time for combat for 1 then there isn't for the other.