Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

[BlackDragoons]

Sure, why not?

Also, the reason why you see so many tranny-colored models is because it's easy farming for social media likes. It's why you see it on the front page of the main 40k subreddit at least once a month.

Check your DMs.


Also Kickstarter is at 7.3 Million. With over 15,000 new backers. Guessing Battletech is getting back in popularity.

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

The Fire Moth also has a pretty wide, flat top relative to it.
View attachment 5074038View attachment 5074040
Well, its not flat flat but it could work.

Yeah it uh... had issues. I'm surprised Nicolai wasn't suing over the poor production quality in addition to how it portrayed him.

I still find it hilarious that the cartoon is in-universe propaganda and even Adam Steiner winces at it.

 

[White Devil]

I still find it hilarious that the cartoon is in-universe propaganda and even Adam Steiner winces at it.

The toys were pretty sturdy though.

 

[BlackDragoons]

The Fire Moth also has a pretty wide, flat top relative to it.
View attachment 5074038View attachment 5074040
Well, its not flat flat but it could work.

Yeah it uh... had issues. I'm surprised Nicolai wasn't suing over the poor production quality in addition to how it portrayed him.

He did. He even threatened the judge with a batchall over it.

 

[Snekposter]

He did. He even threatened the judge with a batchall over it.

I thought it was because it made him look bad worse, not because the cartoon itself was a lazy and low-effort production.

 

[William Murderface]

Well, they got $7.55m out of the Kickstarter, which is impressive. I didn't back it because I don't need any more minis, don't want any swag, and I'm sure the fiction will be posted somewhere when it is released, but I hope the backers are very happy with what then ended up getting. My understanding is that even though they didn't hit the eight million level, the CGL people said in a stream that they'll still release those level stretch goals, which is pretty cool of them.

 

[BlackDragoons]

and I'm sure the fiction will be posted somewhere when it is released, but I hope the backers are very happy with what then ended up getting.

Yes...I'm sure it will.....

 

[Alter Ego]

Check your DMs.


Also Kickstarter is at 7.3 Million. With over 15,000 new backers. Guessing Battletech is getting back in popularity.

Thanks, bruv.

I just put in the normal $80 pledge at the last moment just to have minimum set to mess with if I felt like it along with the bonus extras, particularly the posters and audiobooks.

So if I were so inclined, how should I go about reading "the story of Battletech"? I see that CGL has some introductory PDFs, but then what after that? I suppose it would be some series of sourcebooks, but there's a whole lot to choose from over decades of publication, and I don't know whether some might be rendered outdated by newer editions or retcons. And what about an introductory novel for flavor? Seems like CGL recommends the Warrior Trilogy.

 

[BlackDragoons]

Thanks, bruv.

I just put in the normal $80 pledge at the last moment just to have minimum set to mess with if I felt like it along with the bonus extras, particularly the posters and audiobooks.

So if I were so inclined, how should I go about reading "the story of Battletech"? I see that CGL has some introductory PDFs, but then what after that? I suppose it would be some series of sourcebooks, but there's a whole lot to choose from over decades of publication, and I don't know whether some might be rendered outdated by newer editions or retcons. And what about an introductory novel for flavor? Seems like CGL recommends the Warrior Trilogy.

The best way to go honestly is the Gray Death Legion. Its the first 3 novels that where released and sets up the universe pretty well..

They have all three audiobooks on Audible.


Or you could do what I did and start with Embers of War which I really enjoyed. Takes place during the Civil War and sets up the events for the Jihad.

 

[William Murderface]

So if I were so inclined, how should I go about reading "the story of Battletech"? I see that CGL has some introductory PDFs, but then what after that? I suppose it would be some series of sourcebooks, but there's a whole lot to choose from over decades of publication, and I don't know whether some might be rendered outdated by newer editions or retcons. And what about an introductory novel for flavor? Seems like CGL recommends the Warrior Trilogy.

The quick and dirty history of BattleTech. Grab a cup of your favorite drink and settle in.

Man develops the JumpShip which allows us to leave Terra and journey to the stars. After a while we develop six major Inner Sphere states and four major Periphery states and because of distances we also bring back nobility. We have the Terran Hegemony (right in the center, House Cameron), The Draconis Combine (Northeast part of the Inner Sphere and feudal Japan LARPers, House Kurita), the Federated Suns (Southeast and King Arthur meets the Sun King's court, House Davion), the Capellan Confederation (South and more or less Communists with a whole bunch of Russian and Chinese influence, House Liao), the Free Worlds League (Southwest, a parliamentary democracy run by a handful of larger provinces whose favorite activity is fighting civil wars, also super merchants, House Marik), and the Lyran Commonwealth (Northwest, also super merchants, a lot of German and Scots-Irish, House Steiner). In the Periphery we have the Outworlds Alliance (East and love aerospace warfare and basically just want to be left alone and insignificant enough to be ignored, House Avellar), the Taurian Concordat (South-southeast, paranoid and hate the Federated Suns, House Calderon), the Magestracy of Canopus (South-southwest, Space Las Vegas, House Centralla), and the Rim World Republic (Northwest, kind of like ancient Greece in space, House Amaris).

Humans being humans, we decide that war is better than diplomacy so long as we treat it like a game with a bunch of rules instead of brutal slugfests. That's the Age of War. It's also when we develop the BattleMech, 40 foot tall big stompy robots. That's from about 2400-2550.

The Age of War was fun and all, but Ian Cameron thinks there has to be another way. So he sets about convincing the other house lords to set up a humanity-wide superstate called the Star League. Naturally, House Cameron will run it. After some arm-twisting, trade agreements, and backroom dealmaking, he gets what he wants. The Star League is born in 2570 and peace is here. But there's one catch: The Periphery states say "thanks, but no thanks." This goes over about as well as you would think and we have the Reunification War, because Terra knows best and the Periphery is joining by hook or by crook. Troops are sent in, the war is expected to be over before the leaves fall. In the end it takes 20 years and millions of dead civilians and troopers before the campaign is over. But the Periperhy states are brought to heel.

So now we have the Golden Age of Humanity. There are good leaders, bad leaders, almost wars, political intrigues, and all the things humans love to do to each other over the next 170 years. Then in 2751 Simon Cameron was totally not assassinated leaving his eight year old son Richard as First Lord and the commanding general of the Star League Defense Force, Aleksandr Kerensky, as his regent. He tries to be a good protector for the boy, but the Periphery states are getting uppity and sooner or later he is going to have to show up and lay down the law and so he's too busy to do much with the kid. Meanwhile, the leader of the Rim World Republic, Stefan Amaris, gets a little too chummy with Richard. Of course, stuff happens, war breaks out, the SLDF and Kerensky are stuck in the Peripehry, and Amaris throws a coup and kills every member of the Cameron family. We're up to 2766.

Amaris takes over the entire Terran Hegmony, Kerensky regroups in the Rim Worlds Republic and fights a very bloody war against Amaris and his troops while the other House Lords sit on the sidelines. At the end of it, Kerensky and the SLDF wins, Amaris and his family are shot, and the House Lords decide Kerensky will not be the next First Lord and fire him. They each want the job and about the only thing they do agree on is reestablishing the HPG network (Hyperpulse Generator, the way interstellar communications are handled) under Jerome Blake. Kerensky decides to take what's left of the SLDF out of the equation, and they leave into the unknown. The Star League is officially dissolved in 2780 and the Inner Sphere powers immediately grab what worlds of the Terran Hegemony they can and then fight amongst themselves for the top spot.

These are the Succession Wars. The first two smash humanity back technologically and the third just peters out. By 3025 we're still producing stuff like BattleMechs and Jumpships, but all the advanced tech of the Star League is long gone and attrition is killing off what battles and raids don't. But the current leader of the Lyrans, Katrina Steiner, and Hanse Davion enter into an agreement. He's in his 40s abut he'll marry her daughter as soon as she turns 18 in 2028.

 

[William Murderface]

Part 2.

Hanse and Melissa marry in 3028, officially forming the Federated Commonwealth. More importantly, Hanse launches a sneak attack starting the Fourth Succession War and taking half the Capelllan Confederation in the process. Maximillian Liao goes insane because of it, his equally insane daughter Romano takes charge, his other daughter Candace runs off with Daniel Allard (a Fed Suns spy) to the St. Ives Compact (a breakaway state from the Capellan Confederation) and we end up at the end of the war. By then end of 3049, there has been a bomb assassination of Janos Marik, but his son Thomas (who had been given to ComStar, the pseudo-religious evolution of the communications network Jerome Blake was given) shows up and basically does away with what powers the FWL parliament still has left. Hanse attacks the Combine like he did the Confederation, but Theodore Kurita sees right through it and wins the War of 3039, and gives up the Free Rasalhague Republic (an area that was a thorn in the Combine's side for centuries) in exchange for ComStar help) which becomes a buffer state between the Lyran half of the FedCom and the Kuritans.

This is more important because while ComStar has been in the past manipulating events behind the scenes and assassinating people who were helping bring back technology, this was the first time they had openly taken sides. It also allows them to start putting ComGuard units everywhere, the ComGuard being ComStar's Army. Too bad their plans to keep technology stagnating so they can ultimately take over humanity has failed because everyone ends up with a copy of a Star League library thanks to the merc unit Grey Death Legion.

Back in 3005, a well stocked mercenary unit, Wolf's Dragoons, show up from somewhere. Well, it turns out that somewhere was Clan space. Who are the Clans you ask? When Kerensky and the SLDF finally have to stop wandering, they get to work setting up a new society, but old hatreds run deep and they end up in a nasty civil war. Nicholas Kerensky, son of Aleksander, takes some of his people out of that equation and reforms society to his will. They test to see who will remain in a reformed military that has been broken into 20 Clans, and reforms society entirely. They then take over the remnants of the SLDF civil war and while there are brief wars among them, mostly their wars are limited to trials with rules over various assets. This lasts for two hundred years and the Clans get really good at advancing military technology and genetics. Then about the year 3000 they figure they should check in on their Inner Sphere cousin and send Wolf's Dragoons, who report back that the Sphere is beating itself stupid (but are given secret orders to prepare the Inner Sphere for invasion). Nothing really happens until the 3040 when a wayward ComStar ship jumps into Clan Space, the Clanners freak out, and invade the Inner Sphere in 3050.

The war goes badly for the Inner Sphere. The FRR is almost entirely gobbled up and the DC and FedCom both lose a lot of worlds to the north end of space. ComStar offers to fight the Clans in a giant trial. If the Clans win, ComStar goes to work for them, if the ComGuards win, the invasion stops until 3067. The Clans agree, the Battle of Tukkaayid is fought, but the Clans lose. Then ComStar rips istelf in half with reformers who strip away the psuedo-religious trappings, while the Word of Blake, who wants to stick to the old ways and eventually rule over humanity, retreat to the Free Worlds League. A few years later WoB forces take Terra and ComStar doesn't do much because they are really concerned with the Clans to the north.

Hanse dies, then Melissa is assassinated leaving Victor Steiner-Davion as the leader of the Federated Commonwealth. Romano Liao is replaced by her son Sun-Tzu who sets about fixing a lot of things about the CapCon and then they and the FWL retake some of the worlds they lost in the 4th Succession War. But Victor makes a huge discovery: Thomas Marik isn't really a Marik but an importer. Despite that, the Inner Sphere powers form a second Star League, retake the DC worlds from Clan Smoke Jaguar, then follow them back to the Clan worlds, destroy the Jags, and formally end the invasion (though Clans can restart in 3067, but there won't be a real unified effort if they do).

Victor comes home to find his sister Katherine has decided she should rule the Lyran half of the FedCom and they fight the FedCom Civil War. at the end of it she's taken into custody by the leader of Clan Wolf (and her lover), the Fed Com is broken up, and then Victor just walks away from the whole thing taking charge of the ComGuard.

 

[William Murderface]

Part 3

Remember the Word of Blake? They've been busy building up a hidden army and navy to present to the second Star League to use against the Clans, who they think are humanity's greatest threat. Too bad for them the Second Star League breaks up. So they throw a massive nuke and NBC temper tantrum, the Jihad. Any guesses who their boss is? That's right, the real Thomas Marik. This war goes on for a decade, but in the end they are beaten by the unified Inner Sphere (and Inner Sphere clans), led by a mysterious guy named Devlin Stone. He sets up the Republic of the Sphere in the center, tells everyone to give up their Mechs, which they do because of [REASONS]. There's more or less peace for the next 50 years or so, but the FWL breaks up along the way, the Ghost Bears, who had invaded the FRR, and the remnants of the FRR unite into the Rasalhague Dominion, and leaders who come and go.

The homeworld Clans are just as busy. They've decided the taint of the Inner Sphere is bad, throw a massive civil war called the War of Reaving. The Clans who had already been in the Inner Sphere are expelled, other Clans are wiped out, and at the end of it, the home worlds go entirely quiet. No one has heard from them since 3090.

Devlin Stone decides he's going to pull a King Arthur and disappears saying he'll be back when needed (in reality he goes into suspended animation). Then in 3134, the HPG network just dies. Most of the RotS is gobbled up by the various Inner Sphere states (again), except this time the very center is left alone because there's a new wrinkle: The Wall. A giant HPG powered force field is erected around Terra and surrounding worlds.

Stuff happens, borders shift, civil wars are fought, the FWL is reformed, Stone is thawed out, and then Alaric Ward, leader of the Wolf Empire (and secret son of Victor and Katherine Steiner Davion thanks to the Clan genetic engineering eugenics fetish) decides he's taking Terra. Among the Clans, taking Terra will mean that Clan becomes ilClan (or the Clan above all others). He finds a way around the Wall, and takes Terra. The Jade Falcon Clan and Wolf Clan that went with him are beat down badly, and he reestablishes the Somke Jaguars because as ilKhan he has those kinds of powers. The Inner Sphere powers don't care because they're busy fighting among themselves. The Jade Falcon and Wolf states they had established are falling apart entirely because Alaric took the best forces with him, those forces are depleted, plus he just doesn't care about them at all and is ignoring them, and their neighbors are taking what they can. Clan Sea Fox has evolved into an armed Walmart taking over from ComStar who just went bankrupt, Hell's Horses didn't answer Alaric's phone calls, and the Rasalhague Dominion fights a short civil war that ends with them jumping on Alaric's ship, but with no real damage to them despite their civil war.

And that's where we are.

 

[ComStar]

My man, a Fire Moth would be a far better choice for that sort of thing. Especially because those high-up arms were designed explicitly so Elementals could hang off them. Its 10/15/20 thanks to MASC, or for those of us who play vidya instead of TT that's 162/216 kph. That 162 kph base running speed is 100 mph, which is just about right for them Duke boys.

No discussion about fast mechs is complete without the Fireball ALM-XF

Thanks to a 320 XXL engine, MASC and Supercharger, the XF hits a 16/24[40] movement rate, or 432 km/h.

Though i believe that's a tad too fast for the Duke boys and more into The Fast and the Furious territory, which is fitting since it's used for illegal street races

The ALM-XF is also a steal at 16.9 million C-bills, or slightly more than an Atlas III

 

[Snekposter]

Clan Sea Fox has evolved into an armed Walmart taking over from ComStar who just went bankrupt

"Hello, we're calling to reach you about your BattleMech's extended warranty."
"But I don't have a BattleMech."
"Would you like to purchase one then? We can offer you very good fixed interest rates on a thirty year loan. It will pay for itself through mercenary work in only a few years, and can be passed down to your descendants with no loss in valuation."

Before you ask if that's anything close to reality, XTRO: Clans has the Foxes Sharks catching Republic of the Sphere spies in the act of infiltrating one of their factories... only for those spies to be given a tour and sales demo of their latest product, the Mad Cat Mk. III, and then handed the spec sheets for what the Sharks are working on and wished well on their return journey.


Also, as jank as the BT game can be at times thanks to tranny coders, it does have an excellent intro vid.

Also, the forums were shitting themselves when I first had the idea and it didn't come back to me until now, but to go with your Space Redneck speed machine for the Dukes of Fronc you could snag a Crusader and paint it like Megas XLR. God knows it has enough missiles to qualify, and it also has fists for when you need to smash and pound. It also kinda looks like Megas, even if it doesn't have a car for a cockpit. And most importantly, chicks dig giant robots BattleMechs.

No discussion about fast mechs is complete without the Fireball ALM-XF

Thanks to a 320 XXL engine, MASC and Supercharger, the XF hits a 16/24[40] movement rate, or 432 km/h.

Though i believe that's a tad too fast for the Duke boys and more into The Fast and the Furious territory, which is fitting since it's used for illegal street races

The ALM-XF is also a steal at 16.9 million C-bills, or slightly more than an Atlas III

"So, today on Top Gear we've gotten our hands on the Fireball XF, and have proceeded to strip of it every bit of armor and what few safety features it had left. Naturally I'm expecting Hammond to turn into an actual fireball in about ten seconds."

 

[ComStar]

"So, today on Top Gear we've gotten our hands on the Fireball XF, and have proceeded to strip of it every bit of armor and what few safety features it had left. Naturally I'm expecting Hammond to turn into an actual fireball in about ten seconds."

Cutting out the ER Small Lasers and shaving the armor to 0.5 tons total gets it up to 18/27[45] movement. 486 km/h

If you want to go balls to the wall that is, and make a ridiculous design even more ridiculous

 

[William Murderface]

So our superfast Fireball manages to get 45 hexes of terrain-free and elevation-free hexes and charges a 'Mech. So it does 2 points of damage to itself while doing a mere 88 damage to the target.

Eat your heart out Suicide Sled.

 

[Alter Ego]

@William Murderface Nice writeup and all, but... I specifically mean reading detailed primary sources, not second-hand accounts and synopses, not even sarna.net. The big problem is that there's a big pile of soucebooks over 40 years and many publishers without any direction to become versed in the Battletech timeline. Perhaps CGL's Era Report/Digest series is a good way to go? I also just found out that CGL has a new "BattleTech Universe" book in the works that seems right up my alley, but it's not even out yet:

Leap into the rich history of the BattleTech universe and get up to date for the new ilClan era with this comprehensive tome! BattleTech Universe includes sections for all of the major factions, offering concise histories for each from their founding through 3150.

In addition, BattleTech Universe highlights the major moments across the history of the Inner Sphere through fiction excerpts from some of the most beloved BattleTech novels of years past—and today! An easy-to-follow guide in each segment offers suggestions for further reading.

Whether you’re just starting out in BattleTech and want to dive deep into the history of its factions, or you’re ready to jump into all the action of the ilClan era, BattleTech Universe is your indispensable guide to get up to date on 3150 and beyond!

 

[William Murderface]

In that case, no, there is no one volume tome that you can just grab and go with right now. They periodically do that, but then almost immediately jump forward with novels and new sourcebooks and whatnot. The most recent Era Report is 3145, so right before the ilClan storyline kicks off, but it gives no real history of before the Dark Age kicks off in 3134 or so.

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

Honestly, you might be better off just going through Sarna and reading it a chunk at a time.

 

[Snekposter]

So our superfast Fireball manages to get 45 hexes of terrain-free and elevation-free hexes and charges a 'Mech. So it does 2 points of damage to itself while doing a mere 88 damage to the target.

Eat your heart out Suicide Sled.

Is that one location or distributed? Because these things matter.