Much to our chagrin, and despite all the quality control during the process, the Insignia Dice simply failed. Over 20% of all dice produced (and paid for) were not of an acceptable quality. (By comparison, an "acceptable failure rate" is usuall under 2%.) We only discovered this with the shipping of Wave One material.
With all of the moving parts to this campaign, we had to make a choice as to where we put our focus, and instead doubled down on the miniatures (and other elements) ensuring quality was retained for these all important items. We immediately shut down this production line, which did cause an eventual shortage.
With that in mind, the following covers how we will proceed on this:
- If your Inisignia Dice are of sufficient quality, you don't need to do anything but enjoy them!
- If you received Insignia Dice that are not of sufficient quality, you can claim a credit for their value. A link will be provided at the end of fulfillment for you to make a claim.
- If you do not receive Insignia Dice at all, as part of your pledge or an add-on, we will automatically issue a credit in the coming weeks. QML has tracked this and it should affect less than 1,000 orders overall.
We absolutely hope to revisit Insignia Dice in the future, as we know how much the community would love such dice on their tables. Once we are more confident of the final quality.
MECHWARRIOR PILOT DECKS
During Wave One (or those with Single-Wave shipping) we produced and delivered three MechWarrior Pilot Decks:
- Champions of the Inner Sphere I
- Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere II
- Warriors of Kerensky I
As part of Wave Two we were supposed to produce the following decks:
- Battle of Tukayyid
- Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere I
- Warriors of Kerensky II
What no one foresaw was how insanely complicated these decks would be to produce. Custom art, based on backer photos or description. Rendering of the art for the units with appropriate colors. Collation. Coordination. We stressed out our pool of authors, artists and fact checkers; just about killed out Art Director who still rolls into a fetal position any time we bring up doing new custom-art card decks.
In the end, with the clock bearing down on us and no leeway from our factory (at that time) for error, we chose to focus our efforts on the miniatures, maps, plushies, and so on. So, instead of three decks, we took the best of what we had ready and produced one new deck: Heroes of the Clan Invasion.
Everyone who purchased any of those decks will receive a credit in the coming weeks. ALSO, you should receive a free copy of Heroes as our way of making up for any inconvenience.
As with the faciton dice, above, we hope to revisit these decks in the future.
FINAL DIGITAL CONTENT
Having dug through all of our spreadsheets, the following are the remaining digital items (be it fiction, a video, and so on) that we need to deliver on (in parenthesis is the Stretch Goal where the item was unlocked, as appropriate):
Scenario #4 Grand Melee (was #1) ($55,000)
Expanded Military Breifing: The Clans ($105,000)
Scenior #5 Batchall (was #3) ($130,000)
Honor & Glory (Level 2) ($160,000)
Honor & Glory (Level 3) ($290,000)
Honor & Glory (IV) ($360,000)
Founding the Clans (II) ($390,000)
Founding the Clans (III) ($460,000)
Den of Wolves ($700,000)
What Would Victor do? ($1,125,000)
MechWarrior 5 Unleashed ($1,375,000)
Camospecs: A Guide to Faction Paint Schemes ($1,750,000)
Beard-Off Rematch ($1,875,000)
Camospecs: A Unit Art Manual ($2,000,000)
KerenskyCon
[If anyone believes an item was missed, by all means, let us know!]
Nearly every single item on that list is well underway and in the coming weeks many of these will start to drop; for those items not underway, we have plans for how to get them done and delivered. We hope you enjoy your big box 'o stuff as you wait for these final elements.
Tox Dropship Command Logistics Squadron needs to verify drop coordinates. Please verify manifest list with the Quartermasters office.
Also this reminded me so casual reminder to all of you to check out our PA Trades List googledoc and make what updates you can so any final deals can be had (I still have a few wants, I think some others do as well).
I ordered 1 of everything, so I'm basically in the position of trying to offload some duplicates and not really having anything particular I want for them. I mean, unless someone's willing to offer a catapult...
Gotta think about that a bit, but I'll update my column by tomorrow night.
Fucking... It's like magic, if I commit to something, it draws delays/distractions out of the ether. I made a quick edit to cut my column down to what I'm sure of (it still had a lot of items tagged from when I wasn't getting all the minis), will update with Trade offers later.
freaking hell. I done messed up and got a Mercs of the IS Deck 2 with both wave 1 and 2. So uhh... anyone have an extra deck of #1 they wanna trade?
I think I had read some scuttlebutt that there was some mispackaging/mix up with those decks. Check your pledges to be sure it was your fault first.
I searched through it and saw a line for a free Merc 2 deck then a second line with another. It's weird because I got one of them in wave 1 then a second in wave 2.
Much to our chagrin, and despite all the quality control during the process, the Insignia Dice simply failed. Over 20% of all dice produced (and paid for) were not of an acceptable quality. (By comparison, an "acceptable failure rate" is usuall under 2%.) We only discovered this with the shipping of Wave One material.
With all of the moving parts to this campaign, we had to make a choice as to where we put our focus, and instead doubled down on the miniatures (and other elements) ensuring quality was retained for these all important items. We immediately shut down this production line, which did cause an eventual shortage.
With that in mind, the following covers how we will proceed on this:
- If your Inisignia Dice are of sufficient quality, you don't need to do anything but enjoy them!
- If you received Insignia Dice that are not of sufficient quality, you can claim a credit for their value. A link will be provided at the end of fulfillment for you to make a claim.
- If you do not receive Insignia Dice at all, as part of your pledge or an add-on, we will automatically issue a credit in the coming weeks. QML has tracked this and it should affect less than 1,000 orders overall.
We absolutely hope to revisit Insignia Dice in the future, as we know how much the community would love such dice on their tables. Once we are more confident of the final quality.
MECHWARRIOR PILOT DECKS
During Wave One (or those with Single-Wave shipping) we produced and delivered three MechWarrior Pilot Decks:
- Champions of the Inner Sphere I
- Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere II
- Warriors of Kerensky I
As part of Wave Two we were supposed to produce the following decks:
- Battle of Tukayyid
- Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere I
- Warriors of Kerensky II
What no one foresaw was how insanely complicated these decks would be to produce. Custom art, based on backer photos or description. Rendering of the art for the units with appropriate colors. Collation. Coordination. We stressed out our pool of authors, artists and fact checkers; just about killed out Art Director who still rolls into a fetal position any time we bring up doing new custom-art card decks.
In the end, with the clock bearing down on us and no leeway from our factory (at that time) for error, we chose to focus our efforts on the miniatures, maps, plushies, and so on. So, instead of three decks, we took the best of what we had ready and produced one new deck: Heroes of the Clan Invasion.
Everyone who purchased any of those decks will receive a credit in the coming weeks. ALSO, you should receive a free copy of Heroes as our way of making up for any inconvenience.
As with the faciton dice, above, we hope to revisit these decks in the future.
FINAL DIGITAL CONTENT
Having dug through all of our spreadsheets, the following are the remaining digital items (be it fiction, a video, and so on) that we need to deliver on (in parenthesis is the Stretch Goal where the item was unlocked, as appropriate):
Scenario #4 Grand Melee (was #1) ($55,000)
Expanded Military Breifing: The Clans ($105,000)
Scenior #5 Batchall (was #3) ($130,000)
Honor & Glory (Level 2) ($160,000)
Honor & Glory (Level 3) ($290,000)
Honor & Glory (IV) ($360,000)
Founding the Clans (II) ($390,000)
Founding the Clans (III) ($460,000)
Den of Wolves ($700,000)
What Would Victor do? ($1,125,000)
MechWarrior 5 Unleashed ($1,375,000)
Camospecs: A Guide to Faction Paint Schemes ($1,750,000)
Beard-Off Rematch ($1,875,000)
Camospecs: A Unit Art Manual ($2,000,000)
KerenskyCon
[If anyone believes an item was missed, by all means, let us know!]
Nearly every single item on that list is well underway and in the coming weeks many of these will start to drop; for those items not underway, we have plans for how to get them done and delivered. We hope you enjoy your big box 'o stuff as you wait for these final elements.
Well that explains that clan deck I got. Interesting to see if you get to keep the dice and get credit or if you gotta ship em
0
Options
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
I find it funny that throughout the launch of Clan Invasion CGL learned a valuable lesson about the importance of logistics. Not unlike the Clans during the titular Clan Invasion. :razz:
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
+7
Options
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited August 2021
I mean, you don't know you don't know something until you try and find out, right?
I feel like the Ghost Bears, Foxes, Scorpions, and Ravens learned the right lessons from this, and maaaybe the Wolves (read, Alaric) could have stood to learn a little better.
The Falcons don't need to learn, 'cause they got burned down to a nub. Heyo.
Nips on
+5
Options
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Yeah the Falcons were always the ultra-traditionalists. Wolves were a bit more flexible. The rest? Are they really even Clanners anymore?
Which I guess is the big question that will come up during this ilClan era.
For the record I think the Bears are doing it right.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Kinda a weird situation with the Wolves when you think about it, Ulric had two advisors who had dealt with the concept of supply lines and protracted campaigns previously to draw on, and Invasion era Wolves definitely showed more attention in that regard.
I’m not 100% sure that Vlad Ward kept this in mind, and I hadn’t paid much attention at all with Dark Age fluff so maybe that all went out the window.
+1
Options
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited August 2021
Oh I have an idea for a Lance.
An Ostensibly, Ostentatiously Ostanding great idea.
Ost.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
+4
Options
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited August 2021
In lieu of, y'know, having fun with new plastic robots or even getting the shipping notification yet (grrrr), project Build All The Things continues at a frantic pace.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
In lieu of, y'know, having fun with new plastic robots or even getting the shipping notification yet (grrrr), project Build All The Things continues at a frantic pace.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
Now tell me you're going to paint them in the Angry Birds colors.
In lieu of, y'know, having fun with new plastic robots or even getting the shipping notification yet (grrrr), project Build All The Things continues at a frantic pace.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
Now tell me you're going to paint them in the Angry Birds colors.
Yes, if angry birds colors are Turquoise and Lime Green. 😀
In lieu of, y'know, having fun with new plastic robots or even getting the shipping notification yet (grrrr), project Build All The Things continues at a frantic pace.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
Now tell me you're going to paint them in the Angry Birds colors.
Yes, if angry birds colors are Turquoise and Lime Green. 😀
Is there an not-Awesome button? I need an not-Awesome button.
In lieu of, y'know, having fun with new plastic robots or even getting the shipping notification yet (grrrr), project Build All The Things continues at a frantic pace.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
One word; peacocks.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Almost like there were a lot of potential BattleTech gamers around the world just waiting for decent looking plastic models to come out.
I know the old metal models carry some powerful nostalgia juice, but I can whole heartedly say they were the singular thing keeping me out of the tabletop game, and I've loved the idea of battletech since I first played MW2 at a lan party when I was like, 8. I saw the catalyst starter box at a convention one year without knowing anything about the reboot and bought it immediately.
Just speaking from my personal viewpoint, of course.
Almost like there were a lot of potential BattleTech gamers around the world just waiting for decent looking plastic models to come out.
I know the old metal models carry some powerful nostalgia juice, but I can whole heartedly say they were the singular thing keeping me out of the tabletop game, and I've loved the idea of battletech since I first played MW2 at a lan party when I was like, 8. I saw the catalyst starter box at a convention one year without knowing anything about the reboot and bought it immediately.
Just speaking from my personal viewpoint, of course.
That's me, too; I love the computer games, but think the old models are kinda trash.
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
edited August 2021
I mean, you're not wrong.
We diehards are a long-suffering type, willing to push around whatever malformed models we could to get our Stompy bot fix.
Except for the original 3500 Intro Box models. Holy crap, were those bad production on bad molds. Even I traded mine away, replacing them with the 3500B set.
Almost like there were a lot of potential BattleTech gamers around the world just waiting for decent looking plastic models to come out.
I know the old metal models carry some powerful nostalgia juice, but I can whole heartedly say they were the singular thing keeping me out of the tabletop game, and I've loved the idea of battletech since I first played MW2 at a lan party when I was like, 8. I saw the catalyst starter box at a convention one year without knowing anything about the reboot and bought it immediately.
Just speaking from my personal viewpoint, of course.
no, They're garbage. So bad in fact I had to track down copies of the original cardboard mech art and just use those instead. I couldnt bring myself to buy 99.9% of the minis out there.
Yeah, the update is bonkers. I can't believe how much they've produced, and of such high quality, in just the past few years relative to the 35 year franchise history.
I love it when they let us peek inside the production/logistics sausage factory.
The Timber Wolves grow ever more hungry for battle
HydroSqueegee on
+8
Options
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Welcome back to Unresolved Questions.
The first person to become aware of these “Fantasmi Verdi” was former Carabinieri Early Warning System operator Nero D’Ambrosio. In a 3082 interview with MRN Nero would recount the events of that night.
Nero- “I was still green at the time. It was a little after 0230 when they first appeared on my scope. Four ships total. At first I thought it was an error, the flotilla was way to close to not have been picked up sooner. I mean, our stuff isn’t as fancy as what the Inner Sphere has, but we can still pick up signatures from outside our own Moons’ orbit. These ships were practically on our doorstep by the time the array noticed them!”
Interviewer- “What did you do?”
Nero- “I rebooted the system! When the results came back the same I called my Sergeant over.”
Interviewer- “What did your Sergeant do?”
Nero- “She rebooted the system! When the results came back the same again we thought for sure it was the Clans so we alerted AeroSpace Command as per SOP. After that she called her wife over at the Luana-Vito Observatory to see if they could get eyes on it.”
Interviewer- “And did they?”
Nero- [laughs] “You know the answer to that! That picture’s damn famous!”
This is the picture Nero is referring too. Clearly depicting four ships; specifically two Union-class DropShips, one Clan Broadsword-Class and one ship that at the time could not be positively identified, but it’s existence only raised so many more questions.
Govt authorities at the time immediately went to Alert RED- attack imminent. Then they waited for the inevitable Batchall.
But the Batchall never came. Instead three DropShips began to enter the atmosphere.
With the bulk of Montefeltro’s military fighting in the FedCom Civil War only two Lances of BattleMechs and one armored company were available for deployment. While ground forces were readying, AeroSpace fighters were ordered to make speed for the landing zone. However they would soon be called off as Govt officials realized the invaders’ target would be the ComStar Autonomous Zone. Whatever the invaders’ intentions, it would be ComStar’s problem unless they requested Montefeltro aid. The military would just have to wait for now.
What followed was silence.
The former ComStar Autonomous zone was a vast region and expressly off limits to the citizens and even government officials of Montefeltro. In the near two centuries of its existence no one from Montefeltro had crossed the boundary. At least none that returned alive.
Even the AeroSpace fighters that were originally deployed when the DropShips entered atmo had to remain well outside of the No-Fly-Zone and were thus unable to get eyes or even optics on what was unfolding inside.
Nearly three hours would pass before any activity was detected. That activity would be the launch and departure of four DropShips. Three belonging to the invaders and a fourth presumed to have belonged to ComStar.
Minutes later seismographs in the nearby region would go wild and AeroSpace pilots would report a large flash on the horizon.
As suddenly as the whole event began it was over.
Once the DropShips joined with the waiting mystery ship they left Montefeltro’s orbit and disappeared in to the black.
Likewise the fourth DropShip eventually faded from sensors, never to be seen again.
It would be nearly six weeks before the event was made public, though not without plenty of rumors and speculation preceding it.
It’d be another two weeks before the first investigation team would enter the ComStar Autonomous Zone.
A Lance of BattleMechs lead by Colonnello Rachele De Laurentiis would be the first Montefeltro citizens to ever cross the ComStar Boundary.
What you are about to see is her original report to Parliament’s Emergency Task Force, recorded on Holovid- but first, a message from our sponsors.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
The Timber Wolves grow ever more hungry for battle
This is fitting since I always remember you running a Timber Wolf in MWO and being amazed how you could overheat, shut down, restart, fire, shut down again, and repeat till the enemy mechs were dead. Meanwhile I'm watching you since I got ran over in my Locust.
The Timber Wolves grow ever more hungry for battle
This is fitting since I always remember you running a Timber Wolf in MWO and being amazed how you could overheat, shut down, restart, fire, shut down again, and repeat till the enemy mechs were dead. Meanwhile I'm watching you since I got ran over in my Locust.
Man i loved that build! Until they messed with the weapon heat and made it even easier to pop my head off. I had it down to a science where my heat bar threshold was in just the right spot to where i could blast away without dying. Thing was a beast that got me my ace of spades. I miss those MWO days. They changed too much for the worse though.
Just going to say that Timbers in MWO are incredibly good now. Agility buffs, improved quirks, and some of their favorite weapons got buffed as well. That’s not even taking into account the new variant.
The Timber Wolves grow ever more hungry for battle
This is fitting since I always remember you running a Timber Wolf in MWO and being amazed how you could overheat, shut down, restart, fire, shut down again, and repeat till the enemy mechs were dead. Meanwhile I'm watching you since I got ran over in my Locust.
Man i loved that build! Until they messed with the weapon heat and made it even easier to pop my head off. I had it down to a science where my heat bar threshold was in just the right spot to where i could blast away without dying. Thing was a beast that got me my ace of spades. I miss those MWO days. They changed too much for the worse though.
Just going to say that Timbers in MWO are incredibly good now. Agility buffs, improved quirks, and some of their favorite weapons got buffed as well. That’s not even taking into account the new variant.
Yeah, I have a feeling that you might be happy with how the Timber Wolf ended up. Not nearly as insane as the good old days (Urbanmech +10% crit damage versus Timber Wolf), but yeah you might be surprised if you came back.
Posts
Fucking... It's like magic, if I commit to something, it draws delays/distractions out of the ether. I made a quick edit to cut my column down to what I'm sure of (it still had a lot of items tagged from when I wasn't getting all the minis), will update with Trade offers later.
I searched through it and saw a line for a free Merc 2 deck then a second line with another. It's weird because I got one of them in wave 1 then a second in wave 2.
Well that explains that clan deck I got. Interesting to see if you get to keep the dice and get credit or if you gotta ship em
I feel like the Ghost Bears, Foxes, Scorpions, and Ravens learned the right lessons from this, and maaaybe the Wolves (read, Alaric) could have stood to learn a little better.
The Falcons don't need to learn, 'cause they got burned down to a nub. Heyo.
Which I guess is the big question that will come up during this ilClan era.
For the record I think the Bears are doing it right.
I’m not 100% sure that Vlad Ward kept this in mind, and I hadn’t paid much attention at all with Dark Age fluff so maybe that all went out the window.
An Ostensibly, Ostentatiously Ostanding great idea.
Ost.
A milestone! This is the last of my lances or stars that were wholesale grouped from the planning stage, purchased, and assembled in one go. ANGRY BIRD STAR, ASSEMBLE!
Kind of going back to the aesthetics conversation earlier, here's a flock of latter-era Falcon 'mechs. Look at that plumage! You're not going to mistake those for Bears or Honorable Samurai. Not too terrible to assemble, I will say though that their dome-and-divot-matched waists were pretty much hot garbage on every waist joint on these 'Mechs and didn't mate well without adjustment.
Now tell me you're going to paint them in the Angry Birds colors.
Steam: betsuni7
Yes, if angry birds colors are Turquoise and Lime Green. 😀
Is there an not-Awesome button? I need an not-Awesome button.
Steam: betsuni7
Remarkably close to canon colors!
Ok, you win.
Steam: betsuni7
...
Goddamn that's a lot of 'Mechs.
...
I take it back. JFC, that's an absurd amount of 'mechs!
One word; peacocks.
I know the old metal models carry some powerful nostalgia juice, but I can whole heartedly say they were the singular thing keeping me out of the tabletop game, and I've loved the idea of battletech since I first played MW2 at a lan party when I was like, 8. I saw the catalyst starter box at a convention one year without knowing anything about the reboot and bought it immediately.
Just speaking from my personal viewpoint, of course.
That's me, too; I love the computer games, but think the old models are kinda trash.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
We diehards are a long-suffering type, willing to push around whatever malformed models we could to get our Stompy bot fix.
Except for the original 3500 Intro Box models. Holy crap, were those bad production on bad molds. Even I traded mine away, replacing them with the 3500B set.
Two weeks.
Steam: betsuni7
no, They're garbage. So bad in fact I had to track down copies of the original cardboard mech art and just use those instead. I couldnt bring myself to buy 99.9% of the minis out there.
...
I can't believe how many mechs and books that is. That's fantastic!
I forgot they used that line in that movie. I was thinking more of this.
Steam: betsuni7
I love it when they let us peek inside the production/logistics sausage factory.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
(Sigh, it’s fedex, I have concerns over the delivery based on previous history)
And the magic of complaining on the forums comes through for me once again.
Dropship in bound, ETA: Wednesday.
1x BattleTech Inner Sphere Direct Fire Lance
1x BattleTech Clan Heavy Star
1x BattleTech Salvage Box: Shilone
1x BattleTech ComStar Command Level II
1x BattleTech ComStar Battle Level II
1x BattleTech: Clan Invasion box set (Kickstarter version)
5x Salvage Box: Clan Invasion
2x Salvage Box: Urbanmech
2x Salvage Box: Legendary
The pile of shame grows in all it's flat grey glory!
The first person to become aware of these “Fantasmi Verdi” was former Carabinieri Early Warning System operator Nero D’Ambrosio. In a 3082 interview with MRN Nero would recount the events of that night.
Nero- “I was still green at the time. It was a little after 0230 when they first appeared on my scope. Four ships total. At first I thought it was an error, the flotilla was way to close to not have been picked up sooner. I mean, our stuff isn’t as fancy as what the Inner Sphere has, but we can still pick up signatures from outside our own Moons’ orbit. These ships were practically on our doorstep by the time the array noticed them!”
Interviewer- “What did you do?”
Nero- “I rebooted the system! When the results came back the same I called my Sergeant over.”
Interviewer- “What did your Sergeant do?”
Nero- “She rebooted the system! When the results came back the same again we thought for sure it was the Clans so we alerted AeroSpace Command as per SOP. After that she called her wife over at the Luana-Vito Observatory to see if they could get eyes on it.”
Interviewer- “And did they?”
Nero- [laughs] “You know the answer to that! That picture’s damn famous!”
This is the picture Nero is referring too. Clearly depicting four ships; specifically two Union-class DropShips, one Clan Broadsword-Class and one ship that at the time could not be positively identified, but it’s existence only raised so many more questions.
Govt authorities at the time immediately went to Alert RED- attack imminent. Then they waited for the inevitable Batchall.
But the Batchall never came. Instead three DropShips began to enter the atmosphere.
With the bulk of Montefeltro’s military fighting in the FedCom Civil War only two Lances of BattleMechs and one armored company were available for deployment. While ground forces were readying, AeroSpace fighters were ordered to make speed for the landing zone. However they would soon be called off as Govt officials realized the invaders’ target would be the ComStar Autonomous Zone. Whatever the invaders’ intentions, it would be ComStar’s problem unless they requested Montefeltro aid. The military would just have to wait for now.
What followed was silence.
The former ComStar Autonomous zone was a vast region and expressly off limits to the citizens and even government officials of Montefeltro. In the near two centuries of its existence no one from Montefeltro had crossed the boundary. At least none that returned alive.
Even the AeroSpace fighters that were originally deployed when the DropShips entered atmo had to remain well outside of the No-Fly-Zone and were thus unable to get eyes or even optics on what was unfolding inside.
Nearly three hours would pass before any activity was detected. That activity would be the launch and departure of four DropShips. Three belonging to the invaders and a fourth presumed to have belonged to ComStar.
Minutes later seismographs in the nearby region would go wild and AeroSpace pilots would report a large flash on the horizon.
As suddenly as the whole event began it was over.
Once the DropShips joined with the waiting mystery ship they left Montefeltro’s orbit and disappeared in to the black.
Likewise the fourth DropShip eventually faded from sensors, never to be seen again.
It would be nearly six weeks before the event was made public, though not without plenty of rumors and speculation preceding it.
It’d be another two weeks before the first investigation team would enter the ComStar Autonomous Zone.
A Lance of BattleMechs lead by Colonnello Rachele De Laurentiis would be the first Montefeltro citizens to ever cross the ComStar Boundary.
What you are about to see is her original report to Parliament’s Emergency Task Force, recorded on Holovid- but first, a message from our sponsors.
This is fitting since I always remember you running a Timber Wolf in MWO and being amazed how you could overheat, shut down, restart, fire, shut down again, and repeat till the enemy mechs were dead. Meanwhile I'm watching you since I got ran over in my Locust.
Steam: betsuni7
Man i loved that build! Until they messed with the weapon heat and made it even easier to pop my head off. I had it down to a science where my heat bar threshold was in just the right spot to where i could blast away without dying. Thing was a beast that got me my ace of spades. I miss those MWO days. They changed too much for the worse though.
Yeah, I have a feeling that you might be happy with how the Timber Wolf ended up. Not nearly as insane as the good old days (Urbanmech +10% crit damage versus Timber Wolf), but yeah you might be surprised if you came back.
Steam: betsuni7
The shipment was claimed for the glory and honor of the Capellan Confederation. House Liao thanks you for your patriotism.
What, not even a Trial of Possession? Pfft. Freebirths.
Can’t issue a Trial if the possession already belongs to the People.