I'll admit, I had skipped the foreword from the TRO Succession Wars. Interesting.
I knew that an IlClan was coming, I just found it suspect that the Clans would be able to rally and conquer the Inner Sphere given the Clan win condition (take Terra) means nothing to them. I guess if they figure out how to weaponize the Fortress Walls system that'd be one way to do it.
Formation of the Ilclan would have been a major step forward for the clans towards their goal of siezing the inner sphere; by the dark age era they'd adjusted to the realities of war in the inner sphere and so were less prone to bidding away all of their advantages against their enemies so the combined might of wolf, falcon, hells horses, nova cat and ghost bear would probably stomp the remaining greathouses into the mud (hell, jade falcon and wolf basically ripped the lyran commonwealth apart between them).
Also, wrt to the Tex talks: I'm kind of annoyed that tex cited that one stupid novella about clan wolverine since aside from it having serious contradictions with the extent canon (the watch being formed to spy on clan wolverine then the clans forgot that it existed until mid-late clan invasion when they realized they needed a counter intelligence arm so they formed a group with the exact same name?) and had elements of *raging* fanboyism (the only way any of the other clans could compete with wolverines was by collectively ganging up on them, they didn't nuke the snow raven capitol but instead a pilot from the snow ravens who just so happened to be flying around with nukes accidentally fired one into his own clan's genebank...). Otherwise though, It was pretty damn enjoyable.
I thought I'd read that the nuke the Wolverines got blamed for was a Clan Widowmaker false-flag op?
Im not too big a fan of the technological regression myself, MW:DA struck me as an attempt to “soft-boot” the franchise to bring in new people (which I am in favor of). However IMHO it changed too much about the politics in too short a time. A lot of the same characters are still running around. On top of that the IS/Clan balance problem is still a thing. So really all it did was upend a lot of stuff old time fans liked without really doing anything to bring in new fans.
As to expanding the Battletech timeline, personally I’d be A-OK if CGL just ignores everything past the FedCom Civil War and simply come up with some other stuff.
Having read some of the timeline it gets a bit silly yeah. Victor is still active at age 100+, Devlin Stone is like 90 before he tries his King Arthur bullshit, etc.
OMG he is King Arthur! How the hell did the miss that?! It isn't even subtle about it!
I mean, he's also probably
Arthur Steiner-Davion. Get it? Steiner-Davion, Devlin Stone, pulls a King Arthur?
This tracks thematically but I think the current line is that he was co-opted by the wobblies and unaccounted for after the Jihad. They do love their dangling plot threads.
Wasn't Devlin Stone originally found in a WoB prison-camp with no reliable record of his past?
Yes and no. I believe there were a handful of possibilities given, none of them particularly juicy, and later on word from The Powers That Be was that he was one of those people. That was years ago, though, so I could easily be misremembering.
I'm pretty sure Arthur became the Manus Domini Lucifer, though.
Nova Cat is pretty much extinct post-Dark Ages. Hell’s Horses is only half a Clan, with the other half becoming the Stone Lions in Homeworld space. A lot of their advantages have disappeared at this point, Warships were almost all depleted at the end of the Jihad and IS tech has almost caught up (and in some cases surpassed) Clan tech.
A lot will probably depend on the Homeworld Clans, I think Coyote and Star Adder were the big winners of the Wars of Reaving, but the Homeworld Clans also tended to view the Invading Clans as tainted, so it’d be interesting to see them about-face to accept a “tainted” clan as the IlClan.
Oh, yeah, for sure whatever IlClan is on Terra is only going to have influence over the IS Clans.
Unless, of course, the IlClan is the Homeworld Clans showing up, slapping everyone's shit, and setting up in charge.
I’ve gotten the distinct impression that it is the latter.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
See, I've gotten the opposite impression. My understanding is that post-Reaving, the Homeworld Clans have written off the Inner Sphere and become sharply isolationist. I can't see any of them suddenly showing up and declaring "This Is The Way" to a galactic society they consider wholly tainted.
Also, I don't see how a Clan Invasion 2 doesn't just straight end with the invading Homeward Clans getting their shit wrecked by the coreward powers, just from an industrial-scale standpoint. The Combine and the Dominion are likely hardened-as-hell target routes to take, and the Horses and Falcons aren't going to put up with some Homeworld Clan shit either. The Lyrans might be a softer target but then the new Invasion has to cut between the Falcons and Wolves; no way that path isn't frought with constant attack from both sides.
I'm calling it a Wolves or Bears ilClan, with my hopes on the Bears but my expectations it's the Wolves. Unless Stone and the crumbling Republic pull some absolutely wild shit and tip it some other way, but even then do the IS Clans recognize and acquiesce to something wacky?
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
There are a few things we know about the IlClan Star League.
In no particular order;
The Star League Loremaster has a Jade Falcon Bloodname.
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
They seem to have complete control of the Inner Sphere and Periphery. The freebirth masses have experienced "enormous change".
The use of "modern" technology is illegal for the "faux warriors".
They have Clusters whose sole purpose is to scour the Inner Sphere and Periphery for "unauthorized" heavy industry.
There is no tech divide between the Inner Sphere and Clan as "such distinctions have become basically meaningless".
Though not all is perfectly peaceful. There is at least a "Lost Command" and "Renegades" causing some amount of trouble.
edit- Oh yeah, if the latest book is any indicator it's gonna be Clan Wolf for sure.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Oh God, everything Axen described sounds so stupid.
All this talk about illclans and illkhans and whatever the fuck is a real turn off, too.
I really wish they'd just reset the lore to like 3060, right after Operation Bulldog and Task Force Serpent, and go on from there with no secret, supertech religious extremists, no technology blackout and none of this clan master race nonsense.
The thing is, the implication I've gotten from the dark age era is that the great houses are all kinds of screwed up; clan wolf was tearing the free worlds league a new one before it smelled treachery coming from their lyran allies and turned on them, the cappellans are led by someone who makes Max and his daughter look perfectly rational, the draconis combine was so weak it needed a glorified militia from the republic to prop it up, and the prince of the federated suns has actual brain problems.
So I can actually see how the invader clans banding together could stomp their opponents to pieces assuming they could get past prefecture 1's external defenses.
Clan Wolf is the obvious choice, as a Clan Wolf fanboy, but basing it off of the Minnesota Tribe would've been... more interesting. But Wolf in Exile, with Ghost Bear and the other warden support would be a fairly straightforward play.
Clan Wolf is the obvious choice, as a Clan Wolf fanboy, but basing it off of the Minnesota Tribe would've been... more interesting. But Wolf in Exile, with Ghost Bear and the other warden support would be a fairly straightforward play.
Thing is, the warden clans wouldn't push to form the ilclan unless the situation was *dire*; Like, the alternative would have to be something like letting another amaris come to power.
IIRC the Dracs rallied and proceeded to wipe out the Nova Cats (the leader of the glorified militia was captured during this war, and it's assumed she was executed), then go on and push deep enough into Davion space to take New Avalon.
The Davion in question died during the Kuritan invasion. It's now his former Champion, and last I saw he was trying to make a deal with the Republic for military aid.
I think the FWL is also in a better place, they were able to recombine, minus the worlds that the Wolves took for the Wolf Empire.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
What I don't really get is that by 3150 half of the IS Clans, apart from Wolves (both in and out of exile), Horses and Falcons, are just. . . not really Clanners anymore. I mean one is basically a MegaCorp/New ComStar(tm), the other two are essentially just Inner Sphere nations by this point. And Smoke Jaguar has disappeared never to be seen or heard from again after the Republic released them from their debt.
So even if the Wolves (probably the Wolves) landed on Terra who would really give a shit? Even if the Falcons and Horses joined em they'd still have the entirety of the Inner Sphere and probably Periphery plus maybe the other IS Clans to contend with.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
The Davion in question died during the Kuritan invasion. It's now his former Champion, and last I saw he was trying to make a deal with the Republic for military aid.
A cousin to the First Prince, Julian Davion, was over in Lyran space and has become the new First Prince. He was tearing ass through Liao space when Stone offered him a deal and reinforcements and between his force, the Republic reinforcements, and Regent Sandoval back in FedSuns space engaging in a military feint, the new First Prince knocked the Cappies sideways enough to make Daoshen stop his direct campaign against the Suns.
I think the FWL is also in a better place, they were able to recombine, minus the worlds that the Wolves took for the Wolf Empire.
Definitely better, but not whole. Not counting the worlds lost to the Wolves, the reformed FWL has two entire provinces that haven't yet rejoined. At least as far as I've read in Shattered Fortress.
What I don't really get is that by 3150 half of the IS Clans, apart from Wolves (both in and out of exile), Horses and Falcons, are just. . . not really Clanners anymore. I mean one is basically a MegaCorp/New ComStar(tm), the other two are essentially just Inner Sphere nations by this point. And Smoke Jaguar has disappeared never to be seen or heard from again after the Republic released them from their debt.
I just read the first bits in Shattered Fortress about the Sea Foxes buying up everything and anything previously owned by Comstar, and I love that shit. I love that the IS Clans have developed identities beyond "Rawr Clan Warriors Rawr".
Edit: Oh wait, shit! SEA FOXES FOR ILCLAN! It's not going to happen, but I'm putting that down as Hope #2.
Nips on
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
After re-reading Shattered Fortress I think I'll reassess my guess as to what Clan made it to Terra. Being that it ends on a cliffhanger the Wolves are way too obvious. Too obvious to the point that having a cliffhanger would be silly. Granted I may be giving the writers too much credit. But here me out. What Clan do I think made it to Terra?
Sea Foxes.
No joke. They've been just quietly going around buying up ComStar, paying off debts, making investments, becoming an incredibly profitable business, etc etc etc. I think they finally got a hold of some ComStar tech to let them get past the Wall. I think they've fucking played everybody.
Wolves- too obvious. Falcons- come on they're the fucking Capellans of the Clans. Horse- Nah. Bears- I'm pretty sure they're pretty happy where they're at. Same goes for Ravens.
edit- @Nips Holy shit we came to the same conclusion! hi5!
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Sea Foxes and Ghost Bears are most likely (Sea Foxes because they're the most mobile and likely have a lot of fresh troops, Ghost Bears because they seem to be the author's new pet Clan).
Wolves and Jade Falcons are too obvious.
Smoke Jaguars are in a weird spot, I'm not sure if they have enough numbers to really threaten anybody on their own, so the odds of them being the IlClan are exceptionally low.
Clan Wolverine would be the ultimate troll move. Not only would the Inner Sphere burn in universe, but so would any discussion platform IRL.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Take a walk with me down Imagination Boulevard.
The Sea Foxes have been buying up everything ComStar. They've been paying off ComStar debts, they've been making investments and in general they've been making fucking bank.
A running, I suppose, theme in Shattered Fortress is economies. A lot of the IS nations are in pretty dire financial straits thanks to, well, everything.
So during one of the Sea Foxes' ComStar acquisitions they get a hold of something that let's them slip on past The Wall. They then take Terra.
Now Jade Falcon are fairly traditional and I think they would probably recognize the Sea Foxes as the IlClan. The Wolves might, though likely a bit begrudgingly and the In-Exile Wolves may as well. This would give the Sea Foxes a fairly substantial military. Not to mention, if they were of the mind to do so, they could afford a lot of Mercenaries. They wouldn't even have to use them to fight, they could just pay em to sit tight so they don't end up working for their enemies.
Being savvy merchants and rather very wealthy I don't think they'd rely solely on brute force to bring the rest of the IS in line. They'd likely offer them financial relief and protection in the new Star League or the stick. Not to mention all the ComStar shit they own likely being a useful bargaining chip. Plus with the Sea Foxes not really known for being assholes like some of the other Clans some IS nations might take the offer. After that it is basically dominoes with nations either joining willing because they don't want to be left out or getting steam rolled by the ever grown Star League military.
It'd be pretty good.
Though yes, Clan Wolverine coming in from left field would be pretty fucking hilariously awesome.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
Honestly I think the Clans as bizarrely alien minor powers that aren't strongly tied to a particular territory (unless they've merged with a state) are much more interesting than the Clans as successful conquerors. That way they have a lot of potential to stir the pot, while keeping the focus of the stories on the more relatable successor states and periphery powers.
But like Nips, I really enjoyed how DA was differentiating the Clans. I hope if/when we get another look at the homeworld clans, they keep the Cloud Cobras' cosmopolitan religious beliefs. The whole bit where after Bulldog/Serpent they invited Inner Sphere religious leaders to the homeworlds for a big interfaith meeting to talk about what role religion should play in human society going forward, then successfully fought off attacks from the other homeworld clans trying to stop it, is fucking wild.
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
I generally liked where the story was going at a point when it was clear that the Clans were going to have to integrate into the Inner Sphere and become less clan-like, or essentially be a periphery banditry group. Having them be the dominant culture IS weird. Though batchall-type protocols being a *thing* is better for a universe that's actually a game.
I just had another thought for a wild, hilarious and utterly wtf clan they could go with to make ilclan: Goliath scorpion.
Hear me out on this one: The khan, having taken necrosia in order to determine the best direction for the Escorpión Imperio has a vision of the single best trove of star league era artifacts and mobilizes his forces for an invasion of the distant world; a little place called earth.
While the initial appearance of these forces outside of the deep periphery is initially considered a threat, the simple fact that they aren't attacking or challenging anyone on their mad rush causes the major powers of the galaxy to ignore them even after divining their true intent. Afterall, anyone who tries to breach prefecture one dies.
What no one expected however, was that the khan ~spurned on by the psychotropic visions that were clear as day~ would bypass the republic's kill fleets by jumping to a star that had been considered too unstable to utilize as a jump point when human kind had been first colonizing the stars a thousand years before hand and much like france and it's maginot line, once breached there was nothing to prevent the headlong rush to earth, a world who's garrison hadn't seen combat in decades.
While the republic fleets desperately tried to get back to their capitol, the now victorious scorpions, utterly hopped up on necrosia sent out a call to the entirety of the galaxy: the ilclan was now.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
Actually reading it it struck me more as;
“This week tonight, Team Kurita VERSUS Team Davioooon! Grudge match of the century and this Season’s opening match!”
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
Actually reading it it struck me more as;
“This week tonight, Team Kurita VERSUS Team Davioooon! Grudge match of the century and this Season’s opening match!”
I mean, nothing's saying it isn't both. Think of the Sea Fox theory given above; they just realized that it would both avert wars between the states and be a money-making opportunity.
AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
There was also a line in there about how they also recreate famous battles and they do have Seasons.
But we do have very, very little info about the IlClan Star League. My first reaction to the idea was, "Ew, Clanner society imposed on the IS." However, if it is Sea Fox it may not be "clanner" society. The Sea Foxes are fairly democratic and their lower castes have a voice. Applying something similar to the IS probably would be "enormous change" for a fair number of former Successor States (and IS Clans for that matter). They strike me as relatively pragmatic so they may be more concerned with policies that work for the IS as opposed to forcing Clanner way of life on everyone. Which would likely be something the Falcons and Wolves would try to do. Though probably not Wolf-In-Exile, Ghost Bear or Ravens.
Though if it was the Ghost Bears I could see them taking what they did with the Rasalhague Dominion and having an IlKhan but also a First Lord of Star League.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
Actually reading it it struck me more as;
“This week tonight, Team Kurita VERSUS Team Davioooon! Grudge match of the century and this Season’s opening match!”
They could call it Mech Jox.
Regarding the Homeworld clans. I'm not super informed on battletech lore, but didn't the homeworld clans basicly do a distrilled sucsession wars to their future techbase when they killed off anyone they suspected of being in The Society.
On fire
.
Island. Being on fire.
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
Actually reading it it struck me more as;
“This week tonight, Team Kurita VERSUS Team Davioooon! Grudge match of the century and this Season’s opening match!”
They could call it Mech Jox.
Regarding the Homeworld clans. I'm not super informed on battletech lore, but didn't the homeworld clans basicly do a distrilled sucsession wars to their future techbase when they killed off anyone they suspected of being in The Society.
Kind of, to a degree. It got a little weird, and depended on which Clan you're talking about. The surviving Homeworld Clans definitely purged certain classes of hardware and personnel to different extents (like you said, stuff deemed "tainted" by the touch of interaction with the Inner Sphere, Society stuff, and lots of Scientist Caste members by proxy) but I never got the impression that it sent them all the way back to a pre-Golden Century level or anything like what Succession Wars did to the Inner Sphere.
Re-reading the Sarna entry I was reminded that the Homeworld Clans burned the entire HPG grid from the Homeworld to the Inner Sphere, effectively cutting them off from all communication from outside of the Clan Homeworlds. So that's certainly a setback, depending on your point of view.
Man, I had forgotten how brutal the Reavings were. By the end, there were only four Clans left in Homeworld space: Cloud Cobras, Coyotes, Star Adders, Stone Lions. Woof.
Steel Vipers started the “Wars of Reaving” where it was nonstop Trials of Reaving against Clans that were declared as “tainted” for contact with the Inner Sphere. This led to just outright warfare amongst the Clans as the Snow Ravens, Diamond Sharks, and all of the Invader Clans got the hell out of dodge and moved to the Inner Sphere.
In the meanwhile the Society made their move and began attacking everybody.
Final result was the destruction of the Fire Mandrills, Blood Spirits, Steel Vipers, and Burrocks.
Hells Horses had their Homeworld portion renamed into the Stone Lions.
Goliath Scorpion left and merged with a minor nation outside the Periphery.
The Homeworld Clans also lost a lot of their scientists from clearing out The Society (some Clans had their entire Scientist caste wiped out).
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Steel Vipers start the Wars of Reaving.
Steel Vipers do not survive the Wars of Reaving.
This is the way.
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
Well, it takes a certain amount of willful stupidity to initiate a purge of any subfactions who've had contact with the Inner Sphere after your own group was routed from a multi-year occupation in the Inner Sphere.
Like, as amusing as it is, it almost feels like iffy writing to have them be the ones that started the Reaving, because how the hell could they have ever thought that it wouldn't be turned against them?
Oh, I didn't necessarily mean that the Homeworld clans tech degressed. I assume their factories are automated like the old ones still working in the Inner Sphere. But more that without a big chunk of their top scientists (I also assume Society would make sure most of the top would be their people) they have plateaued the tech and will not be able to keep up with the Inner Sphere/Invading Clans combo.
Which reminds me, I don't remember reading whether the Homeworlds have the ability to make Jumpships and Warships? I would assume yes on the Jumpships, but the Warships seem to be spoken of like they are the Exodus ships.
Honestly I kinda wish you could just overhaul the majority of the weapons systems in the game. From the early stuff (looking at you, AC/2), to all the wild experimental stuff and tech trees and such.
Just wind it all back, rebalance the basic weapons, map it all out, then advance everything.
I love the idea of autocannons being able to handle multiple types of munitions, personally. Missiles makes some sense, especially the Infernos, but otherwise I feel like it'd be best left to ACs to have different munition effects and Missiles to be more about widespread covering fire.
I'd also really love a "Thunderbolt" style SRM that's just one single missile. 1 ton launcher, 30 shots, 5 pts of damage, 2 heat, range 3/6/9
Prior to the Wars of Reaving, Warships were indeed built in clan space with the primary construction yards being the Snow Raven yards on Lum. It sounds like the Goliath Scorpions destroyed a chunk of them and took the rest before they were themselves evicted. It’s unclear if they took the rest of the yards with them when they were evicted or if they left them behind to be claimed by the Cloud Cobras.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
At the very least I don't think the Homeworld Clans actually lost knowledge, just infrastructure during the Wars of Reaving as opposed to the Inner Sphere and their numerous Succession Wars.
Granted their ability for scientific progress has certainly taken something of a big hit (and likely their Eugenics Program too), but I believe they still have the know-how to build drydocks, warships and etc as that would've been largely the purview of the Technician Caste.
edit- Though by 3145 one would have to assume that the Homeworld Clans are back up and running at full efficiency.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
The biggest issue seemed to be more of cost rather than tech know how. Even pre-invasion, most other Clans preferred to just contract the Snow Ravens to build them ships since they already had the shipyards.
So, the Clans knew how to build Warships. And instead of building as many as they could and controlling the high orbitals of their conquests, they focused on building mechs.
They were even dumber than I thought.
On fire
.
Island. Being on fire.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
So, the Clans knew how to build Warships. And instead of building as many as they could and controlling the high orbitals of their conquests, they focused on building mechs.
They were even dumber than I thought.
They deliberately chose not to use em because their enemy (Inner Sphere) didn’t have warships so it wouldn’t have been fair of them to use them.
None of the above is an exaggeration or a joke.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Clans have a huge hangup on honor. It wasn't "honorable" to bombard defending forces from orbit and then send in the troops to mop up, so they didn't.
Keep in mind, they tried to use orbital bombardment once and the end result of that was that everybody gave that Clan the stink-eye all through the rest of the Invasion, as well as orbital assets being the first thing that competing Clan commanders would bid out.
It also led to that particular Clan getting singled out for a Trial of Annihilation when the new Star League wanted to prove they weren't fucking around
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IanatorGaze upon my works, ye mightyand facepalm.Registered Userregular
edited May 2020
Finally buckled down and did some more 3D modeling this morning.
Prairie Schooner tractor unit. My friend with the resin printer's gonna make one (sans base) so I can see how well I did some of the smaller details like the panel lines and front grille.
I'm probably gonna make another one with only three axles on the tractor (the wagons also have three axles) to make assembling an actual train easier.
Ianator on
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I thought I'd read that the nuke the Wolverines got blamed for was a Clan Widowmaker false-flag op?
I'm pretty sure Arthur became the Manus Domini Lucifer, though.
A lot will probably depend on the Homeworld Clans, I think Coyote and Star Adder were the big winners of the Wars of Reaving, but the Homeworld Clans also tended to view the Invading Clans as tainted, so it’d be interesting to see them about-face to accept a “tainted” clan as the IlClan.
Unless, of course, the IlClan is the Homeworld Clans showing up, slapping everyone's shit, and setting up in charge.
I’ve gotten the distinct impression that it is the latter.
Also, I don't see how a Clan Invasion 2 doesn't just straight end with the invading Homeward Clans getting their shit wrecked by the coreward powers, just from an industrial-scale standpoint. The Combine and the Dominion are likely hardened-as-hell target routes to take, and the Horses and Falcons aren't going to put up with some Homeworld Clan shit either. The Lyrans might be a softer target but then the new Invasion has to cut between the Falcons and Wolves; no way that path isn't frought with constant attack from both sides.
I'm calling it a Wolves or Bears ilClan, with my hopes on the Bears but my expectations it's the Wolves. Unless Stone and the crumbling Republic pull some absolutely wild shit and tip it some other way, but even then do the IS Clans recognize and acquiesce to something wacky?
In no particular order;
The Star League Loremaster has a Jade Falcon Bloodname.
They instituted an "Arena System" in which former Great House frustrations can be vented, masses can be placated and they can use it to scout for potential MechWarriors.
They seem to have complete control of the Inner Sphere and Periphery. The freebirth masses have experienced "enormous change".
The use of "modern" technology is illegal for the "faux warriors".
They have Clusters whose sole purpose is to scour the Inner Sphere and Periphery for "unauthorized" heavy industry.
There is no tech divide between the Inner Sphere and Clan as "such distinctions have become basically meaningless".
Though not all is perfectly peaceful. There is at least a "Lost Command" and "Renegades" causing some amount of trouble.
edit- Oh yeah, if the latest book is any indicator it's gonna be Clan Wolf for sure.
All this talk about illclans and illkhans and whatever the fuck is a real turn off, too.
I really wish they'd just reset the lore to like 3060, right after Operation Bulldog and Task Force Serpent, and go on from there with no secret, supertech religious extremists, no technology blackout and none of this clan master race nonsense.
So I can actually see how the invader clans banding together could stomp their opponents to pieces assuming they could get past prefecture 1's external defenses.
Thing is, the warden clans wouldn't push to form the ilclan unless the situation was *dire*; Like, the alternative would have to be something like letting another amaris come to power.
The Davion in question died during the Kuritan invasion. It's now his former Champion, and last I saw he was trying to make a deal with the Republic for military aid.
I think the FWL is also in a better place, they were able to recombine, minus the worlds that the Wolves took for the Wolf Empire.
So even if the Wolves (probably the Wolves) landed on Terra who would really give a shit? Even if the Falcons and Horses joined em they'd still have the entirety of the Inner Sphere and probably Periphery plus maybe the other IS Clans to contend with.
A cousin to the First Prince, Julian Davion, was over in Lyran space and has become the new First Prince. He was tearing ass through Liao space when Stone offered him a deal and reinforcements and between his force, the Republic reinforcements, and Regent Sandoval back in FedSuns space engaging in a military feint, the new First Prince knocked the Cappies sideways enough to make Daoshen stop his direct campaign against the Suns.
Definitely better, but not whole. Not counting the worlds lost to the Wolves, the reformed FWL has two entire provinces that haven't yet rejoined. At least as far as I've read in Shattered Fortress.
I just read the first bits in Shattered Fortress about the Sea Foxes buying up everything and anything previously owned by Comstar, and I love that shit. I love that the IS Clans have developed identities beyond "Rawr Clan Warriors Rawr".
Edit: Oh wait, shit! SEA FOXES FOR ILCLAN! It's not going to happen, but I'm putting that down as Hope #2.
Sea Foxes.
No joke. They've been just quietly going around buying up ComStar, paying off debts, making investments, becoming an incredibly profitable business, etc etc etc. I think they finally got a hold of some ComStar tech to let them get past the Wall. I think they've fucking played everybody.
Wolves- too obvious. Falcons- come on they're the fucking Capellans of the Clans. Horse- Nah. Bears- I'm pretty sure they're pretty happy where they're at. Same goes for Ravens.
edit- @Nips Holy shit we came to the same conclusion! hi5!
Wolves and Jade Falcons are too obvious.
Smoke Jaguars are in a weird spot, I'm not sure if they have enough numbers to really threaten anybody on their own, so the odds of them being the IlClan are exceptionally low.
Clan Wolverine would be the ultimate troll move. Not only would the Inner Sphere burn in universe, but so would any discussion platform IRL.
The Sea Foxes have been buying up everything ComStar. They've been paying off ComStar debts, they've been making investments and in general they've been making fucking bank.
A running, I suppose, theme in Shattered Fortress is economies. A lot of the IS nations are in pretty dire financial straits thanks to, well, everything.
So during one of the Sea Foxes' ComStar acquisitions they get a hold of something that let's them slip on past The Wall. They then take Terra.
Now Jade Falcon are fairly traditional and I think they would probably recognize the Sea Foxes as the IlClan. The Wolves might, though likely a bit begrudgingly and the In-Exile Wolves may as well. This would give the Sea Foxes a fairly substantial military. Not to mention, if they were of the mind to do so, they could afford a lot of Mercenaries. They wouldn't even have to use them to fight, they could just pay em to sit tight so they don't end up working for their enemies.
Being savvy merchants and rather very wealthy I don't think they'd rely solely on brute force to bring the rest of the IS in line. They'd likely offer them financial relief and protection in the new Star League or the stick. Not to mention all the ComStar shit they own likely being a useful bargaining chip. Plus with the Sea Foxes not really known for being assholes like some of the other Clans some IS nations might take the offer. After that it is basically dominoes with nations either joining willing because they don't want to be left out or getting steam rolled by the ever grown Star League military.
It'd be pretty good.
Though yes, Clan Wolverine coming in from left field would be pretty fucking hilariously awesome.
But like Nips, I really enjoyed how DA was differentiating the Clans. I hope if/when we get another look at the homeworld clans, they keep the Cloud Cobras' cosmopolitan religious beliefs. The whole bit where after Bulldog/Serpent they invited Inner Sphere religious leaders to the homeworlds for a big interfaith meeting to talk about what role religion should play in human society going forward, then successfully fought off attacks from the other homeworld clans trying to stop it, is fucking wild.
That just sounds like they're forcing the Inner Sphere states to abide by the Trial of Grievance and Trial of Possession systems the Clans use.
Hear me out on this one: The khan, having taken necrosia in order to determine the best direction for the Escorpión Imperio has a vision of the single best trove of star league era artifacts and mobilizes his forces for an invasion of the distant world; a little place called earth.
While the initial appearance of these forces outside of the deep periphery is initially considered a threat, the simple fact that they aren't attacking or challenging anyone on their mad rush causes the major powers of the galaxy to ignore them even after divining their true intent. Afterall, anyone who tries to breach prefecture one dies.
What no one expected however, was that the khan ~spurned on by the psychotropic visions that were clear as day~ would bypass the republic's kill fleets by jumping to a star that had been considered too unstable to utilize as a jump point when human kind had been first colonizing the stars a thousand years before hand and much like france and it's maginot line, once breached there was nothing to prevent the headlong rush to earth, a world who's garrison hadn't seen combat in decades.
While the republic fleets desperately tried to get back to their capitol, the now victorious scorpions, utterly hopped up on necrosia sent out a call to the entirety of the galaxy: the ilclan was now.
Actually reading it it struck me more as;
“This week tonight, Team Kurita VERSUS Team Davioooon! Grudge match of the century and this Season’s opening match!”
I mean, nothing's saying it isn't both. Think of the Sea Fox theory given above; they just realized that it would both avert wars between the states and be a money-making opportunity.
But we do have very, very little info about the IlClan Star League. My first reaction to the idea was, "Ew, Clanner society imposed on the IS." However, if it is Sea Fox it may not be "clanner" society. The Sea Foxes are fairly democratic and their lower castes have a voice. Applying something similar to the IS probably would be "enormous change" for a fair number of former Successor States (and IS Clans for that matter). They strike me as relatively pragmatic so they may be more concerned with policies that work for the IS as opposed to forcing Clanner way of life on everyone. Which would likely be something the Falcons and Wolves would try to do. Though probably not Wolf-In-Exile, Ghost Bear or Ravens.
Though if it was the Ghost Bears I could see them taking what they did with the Rasalhague Dominion and having an IlKhan but also a First Lord of Star League.
They could call it Mech Jox.
Regarding the Homeworld clans. I'm not super informed on battletech lore, but didn't the homeworld clans basicly do a distrilled sucsession wars to their future techbase when they killed off anyone they suspected of being in The Society.
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Island. Being on fire.
Kind of, to a degree. It got a little weird, and depended on which Clan you're talking about. The surviving Homeworld Clans definitely purged certain classes of hardware and personnel to different extents (like you said, stuff deemed "tainted" by the touch of interaction with the Inner Sphere, Society stuff, and lots of Scientist Caste members by proxy) but I never got the impression that it sent them all the way back to a pre-Golden Century level or anything like what Succession Wars did to the Inner Sphere.
Re-reading the Sarna entry I was reminded that the Homeworld Clans burned the entire HPG grid from the Homeworld to the Inner Sphere, effectively cutting them off from all communication from outside of the Clan Homeworlds. So that's certainly a setback, depending on your point of view.
Man, I had forgotten how brutal the Reavings were. By the end, there were only four Clans left in Homeworld space: Cloud Cobras, Coyotes, Star Adders, Stone Lions. Woof.
In the meanwhile the Society made their move and began attacking everybody.
Final result was the destruction of the Fire Mandrills, Blood Spirits, Steel Vipers, and Burrocks.
Hells Horses had their Homeworld portion renamed into the Stone Lions.
Goliath Scorpion left and merged with a minor nation outside the Periphery.
The Homeworld Clans also lost a lot of their scientists from clearing out The Society (some Clans had their entire Scientist caste wiped out).
Steel Vipers do not survive the Wars of Reaving.
This is the way.
Well, it takes a certain amount of willful stupidity to initiate a purge of any subfactions who've had contact with the Inner Sphere after your own group was routed from a multi-year occupation in the Inner Sphere.
Like, as amusing as it is, it almost feels like iffy writing to have them be the ones that started the Reaving, because how the hell could they have ever thought that it wouldn't be turned against them?
The irony being that their khan brought a gun to a fist fight and then got beaten to death with his own mask.
Which reminds me, I don't remember reading whether the Homeworlds have the ability to make Jumpships and Warships? I would assume yes on the Jumpships, but the Warships seem to be spoken of like they are the Exodus ships.
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Island. Being on fire.
Just wind it all back, rebalance the basic weapons, map it all out, then advance everything.
I love the idea of autocannons being able to handle multiple types of munitions, personally. Missiles makes some sense, especially the Infernos, but otherwise I feel like it'd be best left to ACs to have different munition effects and Missiles to be more about widespread covering fire.
I'd also really love a "Thunderbolt" style SRM that's just one single missile. 1 ton launcher, 30 shots, 5 pts of damage, 2 heat, range 3/6/9
Granted their ability for scientific progress has certainly taken something of a big hit (and likely their Eugenics Program too), but I believe they still have the know-how to build drydocks, warships and etc as that would've been largely the purview of the Technician Caste.
edit- Though by 3145 one would have to assume that the Homeworld Clans are back up and running at full efficiency.
They were even dumber than I thought.
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Island. Being on fire.
They deliberately chose not to use em because their enemy (Inner Sphere) didn’t have warships so it wouldn’t have been fair of them to use them.
None of the above is an exaggeration or a joke.
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Island. Being on fire.
Keep in mind, they tried to use orbital bombardment once and the end result of that was that everybody gave that Clan the stink-eye all through the rest of the Invasion, as well as orbital assets being the first thing that competing Clan commanders would bid out.
Prairie Schooner tractor unit. My friend with the resin printer's gonna make one (sans base) so I can see how well I did some of the smaller details like the panel lines and front grille.
I'm probably gonna make another one with only three axles on the tractor (the wagons also have three axles) to make assembling an actual train easier.
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