LAMdriver
10/07/09 05:26 AM
68.118.31.98
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Question: What Faction in the BT universe is the one that you hate the most. I mean if given a chance to stick it to them and cut out their heart with a spoon, which faction would you choose?
For me it is a toss up between the CC and the DC. Both are pretty inept in my opinion and their leadership is a joke for the most part. The most stupidest aspect of both of them is their unwillingness to change with the times in my opinion.
So what is yours?
" The object of war is not to die for your country. It's to make some other bastard die for his!"--Patton
""War is Hell. Combat is a motherfucker."---General Tommy Franks
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Rotwang
10/07/09 10:28 AM
78.23.8.52
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Word of Blake
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Karagin
10/07/09 12:49 PM
72.178.75.99
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I agree, as they are currently written...before the whole Jihad storyplot they weren't to bad, now they are the worst thing to happen to Battletech since the cartoon.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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KitK
10/07/09 03:26 PM
128.233.93.146
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I cant' stand the Capellan Confederation. They've had too many eccentric (whacky) leaders of whom Sun Tzu is the biggest weenie of all. And, I just can't abide by their KGB style, fear mongering, internal security methods. After that, the Jade Falcons always struck me as being odd ducks, and the Crusader Wolves bug me, but only because I bought into the storyline that Vlad Ward is a bad guy who hates Phelan and loves Katrina. Of the new stuff, Word of Blake tops my list of factions that can drop dead, which they do. So, I'd still count them as a minor faction not worth investing effort in aside from battletech, timeline trivia.
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OPER_DANG
10/07/09 05:41 PM
70.61.114.174
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Hmmm...I guess Ronin mercenary scum cannot really be considered "rivals"...
(woah!, where'd this black dragon in a red circle patch come from!?)
Edited by OPER_DANG (10/07/09 05:50 PM)
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Rotwang
10/07/09 06:03 PM
78.23.8.52
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I always wished that the CC would get a Coordinator like Aleisha Liao again just to break the cycle of certified nutcases, megalomaniacs and other creeps running the CC.
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Bob_Richter
10/07/09 07:17 PM
71.92.117.48
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I might go for the Capellan Confederation, if only for its fans. Some of the stuff it gets away with in canon is simply beyond belief.
Of course, since Betrayal of Ideals, Clan Wolverine has been climbing the list.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Karagin
10/07/09 11:08 PM
72.178.75.99
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Betrayal of Ideals, is this a new novel or source book or something one can only get by being a member of BattleCorps?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Lafeel
10/08/09 05:11 PM
157.157.185.29
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Vlad Ward, Katherine S-D, Clan Wolf, and everything they stand for. (but not the warden Wolves)
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Atlan
10/09/09 05:46 PM
123.255.60.181
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Betrayal of Ideals is a Battlecorps story by Blaine Lee Pardoe. From what I can tell, it's the story of the Wolverines.
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Karagin
10/09/09 05:53 PM
72.178.75.99
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I wish they would go back to putting novels out, and get rid of the special must join a club to get novels and short stories ala Battlecrops....
Any ways thanks for the info, guess it will be something else that we are forced to accept as canon, but a majority of players won't see aviable to them do to the way it's released.
Glad to see that TPTB are doing everything they can to tie up all the lose ends and do away with anything that fans latch on too...guess some of us should have picked better factions...
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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sir_spamalot
10/10/09 10:33 PM
76.8.225.68
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I usually do the mercenary route...so who ever I'm paid enough to destroy/hate.... though I do have some groups I don't mind being a regular part of. 
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Bob_Richter
10/12/09 04:58 PM
68.113.1.138
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It's a Battlecorps story by Blaine Lee Pardoe that details a radical revision of the Wolverine story. I spewed a fair bit of bile and vitriol about it on CBT when it came out.
I will say that it did have its moments, but you are not missing much.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Karagin
10/12/09 05:25 PM
72.178.75.99
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Thanks.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Prince_of_Darkness
10/12/09 09:39 PM
205.202.120.216
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Quote:
It's a Battlecorps story by Blaine Lee Pardoe that details a radical revision of the Wolverine story. I spewed a fair bit of bile and vitriol about it on CBT when it came out.
I will say that it did have its moments, but you are not missing much.
Kinda sad to hear- I wanted it to make me want to get a subscription.
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Bob_Richter
10/15/09 01:41 PM
71.92.117.48
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Quote:
Quote:
It's a Battlecorps story by Blaine Lee Pardoe that details a radical revision of the Wolverine story. I spewed a fair bit of bile and vitriol about it on CBT when it came out.
I will say that it did have its moments, but you are not missing much.
Kinda sad to hear- I wanted it to make me want to get a subscription.
Well, Betrayal of Clanfans isn't exactly the best content on there.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Zandel_Corrin
11/29/09 10:20 PM
123.2.140.247
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Word of blake for sure....
I Always write them out of any campaign i run....
Can't stand them and the thought that they'd happily nuke everything
and send us all back to the stone age worse than the succession wars....
After them i'd actually like to see clan Smoke Jag come back...
They were a bit brutal but loads of fun!
Galaxy Commander
Zandel Corrin
Night Dragon Clan
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Prince_of_Darkness
11/30/09 01:47 PM
71.215.56.126
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Quote:
Can't stand them and the thought that they'd happily nuke everything
and send us all back to the stone age worse than the succession wars....
They're already doing that. With most of the new weapons being medium-ranged and with the houses now losing the ability to construct battlemechs, the Jihad is resembling the Succession wars, something that I really like.
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Christopher_Perkins
11/30/09 05:06 PM
138.162.128.52
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I have always Hated ComStar, these Evil Creeps are worse than the Davions at hiding acquisitive manipulation behind a White Knight Image... (only Davion is primarily Overt about being Acquisitive and is active in its Hearts and Minds approch to campaigns)
ComStar has always been the group that spotlighted Technology Firms and Too Successful Professors for the other houses...
Since the advent of Anastasis Focht ComStar has reformed...
With the reformation the Evil Creeps all moved to the Word of Blake...
As Such.
1: Word of Blake (or pre-reformation ComStar) being powerful beyond that expected for the number of planets
A: FASA ------- Check
B: Post FASA - Check
2: Word of Blake (or pre-reformation ComStar) being able to trick the houses into attacking each other and use that as a force multiplier
A: FASA ------- Check
B: Post FASA - Check
3: Word of Blake (or pre-reformation ComStar) being less concerned with human like than knocking the society of the innersphere down to bedrock to then be
A: FASA ------- Check
B: Post FASA - Check
4: Word of Blake (or pre-reformation ComStar) having the single best intelligence and Counter intelligence spook works in the InnerSphere and therefore able to Psyops the Houses and clans into fighting each other (and even themselves in some instances) (Remember the Treatment of the Wolf Dragoons, the Near Extinction of the Techs and Professors shortly after the beginning of the Succession Wars)
A: FASA ------- Check
B: Post FASA - Check
No, the events of the Jihad very much fit in with 20 years of BTU writing
Christopher Robin Perkins
It is my opinion that all statements should be questioned, digested, disected, tasted, and then either spit out or adopted... RHIP is not a god given shield
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Cray
11/30/09 07:00 PM
173.168.115.68
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Quote:
Word of blake for sure....
I Always write them out of any campaign i run....
Can't stand them and the thought that they'd happily nuke everything
and send us all back to the stone age worse than the succession wars....
WoB's actually pretty light with nukes and the post-Jihad era retains pretty much all of the L2 technology seen in 3067. In fact, some experimental equipment becomes more common.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Frabby
12/01/09 07:11 AM
87.164.203.88
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Quote:
Question: What Faction in the BT universe is the one that you hate the most. I mean if given a chance to stick it to them and cut out their heart with a spoon, which faction would you choose?
The Clans.
Nothing in the entire universe - not the WoB, nor the CC or DC, nor even BattleMech technology, is so profoundly flawed, "unrealistic", cobbled-together and unbelievable as these jerks.
Real-world comparisons aside, the German-only novel "Karma" at least provides a believable picture of daily life in the CapCon and how the caste system works. I have yet to see something similar for the Clans; the existing novels left me... wanting.
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Cray
12/01/09 08:20 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
The Clans.
Nothing in the entire universe - not the WoB, nor the CC or DC, nor even BattleMech technology, is so profoundly flawed, "unrealistic", cobbled-together and unbelievable as these jerks.
Oddly, in a setting of broken economies and over-populated nations, the Clans are about the only ones (pre-Invasion) to get a plausible balance of military strength and economic clout (or lack thereof). Of course, background socioeconomic factors are rarely strong selling points for factions. 
That oddity aside, the Clans were not what I expected for Kerensky's return.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Prince_of_Darkness
12/01/09 11:03 AM
205.202.120.216
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Quote:
That oddity aside, the Clans were not what I expected for Kerensky's return.
Then what did you expect, Cray?
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Cray
12/01/09 01:55 PM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
Then what did you expect, Cray?
Well, I had been playing for about 3-4 years before the Clans arrived and amassed a stack of BT books, like the House SBs, Star League SB, Wolf Dragoons publications, etc. The picture I drew from that information was:
1) Kerensky left with a load of military firepower that was probably in fairly good shape. BT military gear stores well, apparently.
2) Kerensky left with (to all appearances) a united group of military personnel and their families who were dedicated to the Star League and hyper-loyal to him.
3) They'd probably be military novices like the ComGuards for lack of experience
So, I expected an organization recognizably derived from the Star League, an SLDF-like military, and probably some diplomacy and contacts before any conflict erupted. Attempted restoration of the Star League seemed like a reasonable outcome since everything in prior publications hinted at the fanatical dedication of Kerensky's followers to the idea of the Star League, but I didn't see it being a unilateral effort by Kerensky's heirs. Some Houses would side with them; some groups (hopefully including Comstar) would oppose them.
My ideas were more than a little fuzzy because of the vagueness of the hints and rumors in BT books to that date, but they definitely didn't include the Clans.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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LAMdriver
12/02/09 03:14 AM
68.118.31.98
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Cray,
In your humble opinion, what Houses would have sided with the Clans upon their return from BFE space?
Just wondering.
You know as I read more and more history about the DC and the CC, I have come to realize one thing. I depise the DC more than the CC. I laugh at the CC in all it's inept planning and stupidty and consider them worthless as a whole.
Now the DC on the other hand, you have several good reasons for killing them off.
1. Kentarese massacre.
2. Seppiku and that Bushido philosphy, that has left them with little or no decent or inventive military commanders (with the expection of Teddy K)
3. the only half trained warriors are their DEST teams...even then i question their loyality....sort of like the Afghan and Iraqi Police and Army are trustworthy
4. Trusting the Yakuza...never a smart thing
and finally...
5. antagionizing at some point most of the most powerful independent Merc units in the IS
$0.02 C-bills
" The object of war is not to die for your country. It's to make some other bastard die for his!"--Patton
""War is Hell. Combat is a motherfucker."---General Tommy Franks
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Cray
12/02/09 08:36 AM
147.160.136.10
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Quote:
Cray,
In your humble opinion, what Houses would have sided with the Clans upon their return from BFE space?
Referring to the Clans specifically: none. The Clans are an alien culture intent on breaking and conquering the Inner Sphere. That doesn't make one lean toward an alliance with them - Comstar tried and look how well that worked out. The only successful "alliances" between non-Clans and Clans has been accomplished from a position of huge dominance on one side or the other: the splintered Clan Wolf-in-Exile hiding with the Lyrans, the Ghost Bears eating Rasalhague, the Ravens "allying" themselves with the wimpiest major Periphery state, etc.
Quote:
Now the DC on the other hand, you have several good reasons for killing them off.
1. Kentarese massacre.
Funny thing about the Kentares Massacre: it was a drop in the bucket compared to the billions that the Houses were killing off with nukes. The FWL or Federated Suns cratered the Capellan world of Sarna, killing, IIRC, 7 billion people. Kentares Massacre kills less than 1% as many and the Combine is suddenly super-evil. I guess it was because the Combine got so personal and killing the Kentarans with conventional weapons rather than pushing a button and nuking them from orbit.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
Disclaimer: Anything stated in this post is unofficial and non-canon unless directly quoted from a published book. Random internet musings of a BattleTech writer are not canon.
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Karagin
12/02/09 06:33 PM
72.178.75.99
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Good to hear I am not the only one out there who can also dislikes the WoB and the uber army and the other craziness they have been given just to reset the story line.
Really these last few years must be the era of resets, first Batman gets reset, then Superman, then Terminator, then Knight Rider, then V, and so as Star Trek...resets can be a good thing and a bad thing...in this case it has been a bad one in my opinion.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Christopher_Perkins
12/04/09 12:34 PM
138.162.128.52
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What is so Uber about the Word of Blake?
They have High Tech units, but their longevity (From 3067 to 3081 (14 in game years) is more to do with the Innersphere powers having to do COIN (Counterinurgency) campaigns against a force so out numbered that it resorts to Weapons of Mass Destruction Attacks at the drop of a Hat.
About the only Uber thing that the Word has is the single best intelligence arm in the Innersphere, so much so that they can use Any Factions Specific Technology and convince House A that House B is gearing up for an attack or has used WMD on House A worlds, or the ever popular "WOB is your Friend, WOB Says So, Don't you Trust WOB?"
Thing is, if the Word of Blake is Uber, then COMSTAR was always Uber, and if ComStar has always been uber, then the ranting about the Change in BattleTech citing the "Uber" Word of Blake as evidence appears more of a Knee Jerk reaction from fans.
Do not get me wrong, I hated MWDA because it introduced the Collectible Packaging to mineratures, was out of scale with the minis that i already had, etc.
But the History & Story is very much in the hands of the same people that have always been writing it, and very much in keeping with what has been done before.
Christopher Robin Perkins
It is my opinion that all statements should be questioned, digested, disected, tasted, and then either spit out or adopted... RHIP is not a god given shield
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Karagin
12/04/09 01:22 PM
72.178.75.99
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Let's see, they have an army that they can build up, arm, train, supply and pay for far faster then any another Inner Sphere power.
They can do this with out anyone noticing or taking action to find out what is going. They can recruit, hire or brainwash millions of people to pilot the mechs, drive the tanks and other vehicles, fly the fighters, cook the food, repair all the weapons of war, keep them fully supplied logicality and pay for what all of this cost with seemly having to worry about it at all.
Having better weapons is not an issue, the Houses and Clans can counter those with their own R&D. Using NBC weapons, while not the best thing for anyone to be doing, those too can be countered, as for them being out numbered, please could you site a source of this? Seems that they have the numbers to attack whom and where they want until they finally have the WHOLE of the Inner Sphere and the Invasion Clans on their case. As for the Inner Sphere needing to do COIN Ops, they have those to due as a normal set of operations given that a lot of the planets aren't happy with the main government for one reason or another. So not a good counter point here Chris.
Their Intel is too perfect, no one else seems to be able to stop it or match, not even Wolfnet or ComStar or any house or clan. Convenient this is, is it not...along with their "finding" all of these "lost and still working" Star League bases and factories and supply dumps. They are able to keep all of the House Intel units in the dark, that too cost money, they are also able to pay for all of the "RIFTS/SHADOWRUN" style cyborg items that have given them, wait for it, their uber-mechwarriors, again all of this cost money. Money and technology that hasn't been explained or shown to be able to be found, yet same answers as how they pay for the mechs, tanks, bombs, bullets and all the rest are given. So if you can't see the point of saying that the Uber level is of the chain, to steal the favorite expression of one of my soldiers, then I guess we all play the game a little differently.
I am using the word Uber in the sense that things are too hard to believe possible to do even for the FASA/WK/FP/CGL version of physics and possibilities.
The knee jerk reactions also come from those who rush to defend how the Word of Blake can do all that they because of FWL money, or (and this one is always tossed out there) they own Terra which gives all of this without worry, to add in what ever you want as a reason, yet when it is pointed out the issues using the given cost of the in game items, those points are dismissed and the poster(s) get attacked or flamed etc...
Actually no the history of the game has changed far more then it has stayed current. The folks writing it right now are not the same ones back in the late 80s early 90s. With the exception of Stackpole and Pardoe. (Folks who were still just fans at that time period do not count, come Chris you should know this)
So they have not had a constant at all. Everything has been pet projects or hey we have a lot of books out, things are getting confusing, so let's cut things down, we don't need to update things as much as we need to trim, etc...sorry but I am not buying your closing line one bit.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Christopher_Perkins
12/04/09 03:54 PM
138.162.140.55
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The Reference to COIN is because it appears that the vast majority of the conflicts that directly involve the Word of Blake are small scale in comparison with the militaries of the Innersphere and the Clans. It is more like the vietnam conflict than it is like world war II or korea.
The Heaviest presence of the Word of Blake Conventional BattleMech Forces is on the Capitol or Regional Capitol Worlds of the InnerSphere, not as vast a military as you are trying to make it appear.
Also, The Word of Blake was only really able to dominate the area that became the Republic of the Sphere shortly after the end of the Jihad shortly after 3081, an area roughly analagous to the Terran Hegemony. IIRC a sphere about 100 Light Years from Terra (?).
Yes, it is Larger than it should be, but probably on a factor of two or even five, not a factor of tens, hundreds or thousands.
As for the Economics... It is harder to understand how a C-Bill buys so little militarily in the rest of the InnerSphere than it is to understand how the Word of Blake could be able to squeeze out so much from the C-Bills that it got through any means necessary (including skimming IIRC 20% over and above what it was authorized to skim in the Free Worlds League, and a possibly Vast Amount that it could be getting from Taxing the Citizenry of Earth)... the Poorly executed economics have been a topic of discussion for years.
Give dates for when the current PTB started writing or held Positions for other than MechForce?
--- The history was set at five year (real time) meetings that set the path that FASA would take the game, and the people that set the path towards the end of FASA are still the people settig the Path in the Catalyst Era.
Give details supporting the vastly larger WOB military that you say exists?
Its exactly the same sort of thing that was happening when people were trying to claim that Technology had been reduced to the Age of War or Dark Ages when they were attacking DA when it first came out... The Truth is that the InnerSphere was able to produce Clan Tech (to a limited Extent) and had developed many Ship Board Components that did not exist in 3067. Dislike the time period all you want, (Like i hated the FC Civil War...) but look deeper into it when you are trying to say that something does not fit.
Direct Neural interface has been around for a long time (Unbound) , and Myomer Prosthetics (Mechwarrior: First) as well... what is different in the Manus Domini is the amount that each has been enhanced, rather than any superior new technologies.
The New Core Books are Reprises or clarifications of the majority of the equipment that has ever been published. The Juhad Books are Snapshopts of the Events in an Ongoing Story Line.... and how is 7 books that you need to get to get all the new core rules different from 7 books that you needed to get the old core rules?
Edited by Christopher_Perkins (12/04/09 04:02 PM)
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