Giorgio76
12/29/18 09:52 PM
65.35.74.118
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[Giorgioverse] Open Campaign Questions II
As a future GM for an under development Mechwarrior/A Time of War RPG campaign (which I will call “Giorgioverse” as a placeholder for my BattleTech, MechWarrior RPG, Alpha Strike, F2F, Hero Labs/Realms Work, Obsidian Portal, and Roll20 work in progress), below are open questions I am asking myself (and others) to generate ideas.
General Questions:
C1) How complex are the rules for aerospace combat, compared to that of mech combat?
C2) Is there an Alpha Strike equivalent for space combat?
C3) Is there any online program that can help determine how to calculate length of time & distance to move from one coordinate to another coordinate on the BT Galactic Map?
C4) Is there any online resource that has a compressive list of known SLDF hidden depots and libraries?
C5) Could the Clans have launched an invasion of the IS earlier than 3049, given that Wolf’s Dragoon finished their contract with the Draconis Combine in 3028, and thus fulfilling their original mission of intel/recon of the IS militaries?
C6) LosTech (Periphery): In reading the history of the Reunification Wars, the Taurian Concordat surrendered to the SLDF rather than have the Hyades Cluster invaded. The TC was one of the most powerful periphery realms, with an industrial-military and technical knowledge base equal to that of the Great Houses of that time. Given that it largely stayed of the Succession Wars, couldn’t they have retained more of the technology that was lost to the Great Houses, since they didn’t suffer the same level of destruction (nuclear & orbital bombardment, loss of shipyards, industries, and universities) as the Great Houses did?
C7) On the bottom of the Sarna entry of the Taurian Concordant, there are a series of maps that show the TC before and after the Reunification Wars. I placed the maps side by side, but I am having a hard time determining the following: Did the Federated Suns “keep” any TC planets after the Reunification Wars were over that should have been returned to TC control?
C8) Sarna has a list of Mechs by different categories, but I don’t see a page for mechs by era. Is there a resource on that site (or elsewhere) that list the mechs that where built and used in a specific era, say the year 3025 by the IS and Periphery powers?
C9) In the years between 3000-3027 there is a slow recovery of key technologies needed to build new mechs and vehicles, prior to the Helm Memory Core discovery. Some key points:
3010 (Outworlds Alliance)- First new mech in centuries, the Merlin is built.
3015 (Federated Suns)- The NAIS is constructed.
3023 (Lyran Commonwealth)- A new mech design, the Hatchetman, enters production.
3025 (Capellan Confederation)- A new mech design, the Cataphract, enters production.
3027 (Lyran Commonwealth)- A new fusion engine tank design, the Rommel/Patton, enters production.
C9-A) The introduction of the Merlin in 3010 sounds like an event that would send shockwaves through the Military-Industrial community and all the Great Houses. Wouldn’t knowledge of such a breakthrough have major consequences? (Say an invasion by the Draconic Combine, the sale of tech knowledge to all the major powers by the OA, a ROM attack to destroy these mech facilities, covert ops by all the major intel organizations to find out how the OA did this…)
C9-B) If the LC is able to build a new mech, wouldn’t that knowledge be exchanged with the FS as part of the Federated-Commonwealth Alliance Document accords they signed in 3022, and wouldn’t that jumpstart the FCs ability to produce new or lost mech designs?
C9-C) Same question as above, but with regards to the creation of fusion engine factories/technology used in the creation of the Rommel/Patton design?
C9-D) If the CC is able to build a new mech, wouldn’t that knowledge be exchanged with the DC and FWL as part of the Concord of Kapteyn accords they signed in 3022, and wouldn’t that jumpstart the DC & FWL ability to produce new or lost mech designs?
C9-E) Did the DC launch any covert ops to steal the new mech designs from the OC and the LC, and then use this information to jumpstart their own mech designs?
C10) With the introduction of House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition) in 3025 with a shared border with the Capellan Confederation and Taurian Concordat, some interesting possibilities open up (see link of map in the comments below).
C10-A) How could the AC participate or be drawn into the events of the Fourth Succession War that starts in 3028?
C10-B) In the future the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat work together to settle the largely uninhabited worlds of The Rimward Frontier in a “New Colony Region” effort, how would the AC be a part (or not) of that initiative?
C11) As a hypothetical exercise, if we remove “plot armor’ or its equivalent, from people, storylines, or events during the course of the 3rd & 4th Succession Wars, what immediately comes to mind as a different outcome that might have occurred?
C12) If creating an alternate BT universe/timeline where the settlement of the Harmony Gold lawsuit, and the new HBS PC game are used as a baseline, would any lore, technology, or distribution of units (mech, vehicle, infantry ratio) be changed from the pre-settlement and new PC game established information?
Thanks in advance for any Feedback. 
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ghostrider
12/30/18 03:24 AM
66.74.60.165
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Question 1. I believe the latest on Aerospace units is Battlespace 2, but others can tell you more. Using them isn't that hard, except there is a whole lot more that you have to be aware of.
Heat from thrust, as well as overthrust, most hits can cause issues with the flight controls.
A few things like gravity wells changes a lot as well.
Given any semi large battle, it would be very easy to have more then 4 boards worth of space being used.
Question 3 stab. Not sure about on line, but galactic movement without a chain of jumpships is slower then you would think. Using the same jump ship, most times to do 30 lightyears is a week to recharge the drives. Each system has different travel times for the dropships, so it might be an issue.
Question 5. The Dragoons were an alternative to invading much earlier. If not for them, the invasion would have happened in the 3000-3025 time frame. Possibly sooner.
9a. The outworlds kept the DC, and FS in a neutral position with either side unwilling to let the other control the OA. So an invasion by the DC, would have had the FS hit them. As the mech was not high tech, like lostech, it wasn't that big of a deal.
From the sounds of it, the OA did sell the mech, though it seemed more popular with the periphery then the main houses.
9b. The Hatchetman was done with the help of the FS. And there are a few missing from your timeline, like the Axeman, which gave the LC the idea for the hatchetman, according to some of the books. The LC had the industrial base, while the FC had the tech know how.
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ghostrider
12/30/18 03:39 AM
66.74.60.165
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9b & d. having a new design and forming an alliance does not mean the others involved would get the plans for any new units you have. And what about the old units in service in each? The Jenner and Panther from the dc would be a great addition to the CC. The FWL would have benefitted from having access to more assault mechs, as the books say they make the awesome and orion. The FC that formed did benefit a little from the new designs, though without the lostech weapons and manufacturing processes, it was basically just another mech.
9e. The DC got ahold of some hatchetman mechs and copied them after a few years. I know the DC did get mech plans from the LC but that was when they were first introduced. The LC stole them from the hemegany, which became the Star League basis.
If you have ever played the original battle tech game for the pc, the first person shooter, not the crescent hawks, then you know the 'unseen' units being missing from the game would have changed the entire outcome.
But you also have to realize, that the later books didn't have continuity with the first books. The entire star league tech is the best example of that. Nothing of that nature was found in caches until after the tech became available to the houses.
And with the TC. They may well have not had the resources to rebuild from the unification wars, or even had a tech base even close. And since we know comstar kept most of the 'new' advances quiet, normally by killing those that were researching it, made it very possible that the TC did have higher tech then the houses for a while, but could not do anything with it.
As a side note, have you noticed most of the periphery states seem to produce mechs from the opposite side of the IS?
Lyran mechs made in the TC comes to mind.
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Giorgio76
01/09/19 05:51 PM
65.35.74.118
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@Ghostrider, lots of good points to ponder, will get back to you with feedback later.
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