MechWarrior: Tactical Command

MechWarrior Tactical Command.png
MechWarrior: Tactical Command
Product information
Type IOS 5 or later
Primary writing Loren Coleman and Randall Bills
Publication information
Publisher Personae Studios
First published 27 September 2013
MSRP $9.99 - iPad
Content
Era Clan Invasion

MechWarrior: Tactical Command is a 2013 iPod touch/iPad game developed by Personae Studios set in the BattleTech universe.

Canonicity[edit]

Computer games are explicitly excluded from the list of products that contribute straight Canon to the BattleTech universe while at the same time it was stated that the IP owners are "not in total denial about these sources either"; it has also been stated that fluff from certain official, licensed products (namely certain computer games including those produced by Personae Studios) can be assumed to be part of the shared universe as long as it is not directly contradicted, and makes sense. On this premise, MechWarrior Tactical Command is considered to be an apocryphal product.

Elements of Discontinuity with Canon[edit]

  • Dominga Pryde and Eric Hazen do not appear in the comprehensive TO&E of the Jade Falcon touman in the Jade Falcon sourcebook. Evak Mattlov and Revan are canon characters, however.
  • None of the canon sources detailing the Falcon invasion of Winfield mention an ongoing Combine raid. ("The Field is Lost," by Lance Scarini; Jade Falcon Sourcebook)
  • The Jade Falcons' arrival on Winfield is unannounced in the game and takes the forces there by surprise, but "The Field is Lost" indicates the invasion force broadcast its identity and challenge to the world's defenders upon arrival at the jump point.
  • The game cinematic shows Jade Falcon JumpShips arriving in orbit over Winfield with jump sails deployed, then releasing DropShips towards the planet below. "The Field is Lost" has the Falcons arriving at a standard jump point, rather than an orbital pirate point.
  • Winfield's Regiment receives orders to support Victor's planned counterattack on Twycross during the fighting on Butler, which takes place in May 3050. Per "Lethal Heritage," Victor didn't get approval for the attack on Twycross until July 3050.

Missions[edit]

Winfield[edit]

No dates are given in the game, but "The Field is Lost" dates the Clan arrival in-system to March 20, and the landings to March 28, 3050.

  • Mission 1 - A Draconis Combine strike force has landed on Winfield. Major Beckman assigns his newly assigned 'MechCommander to coordinate a scout patrol, with the assistance of his adjutant, Sergeant Iris Holloway. With the 'MechCommander's guidance, Kyle Marks and Kendra GioAvanti destroy a DCMS scouting force and secure a fuel depot. When heavier Combine forces appear on sensors, Hammer Lance ambushes them and destroys the Combine probe. (Transcript)
  • Mission 2 - Kyle and Kendra destroy several listening posts to disrupt Combine intelligence gathering capabilities. The destruction of the communications center makes it impossible for the DCMS forces in the area to call for reinforcements. (Transcript)
  • Mission 3 - March 20, 3050 - Major Beckman reports that unidentified DropShips are inbound. Assuming they are Combine reinforcements, he orders Hammer Lance to seize Combine mobile artillery pieces and use them to breach the defensive perimeter of a DCMS field base. With his fixed defenses in ruins and his forces outgunned, DCMS Tai-sa Omata retreats to his DropShip. (Transcript)
  • Mission 4 - March 28, 3050 - Holloway reports the unidentified DropShips number at least thirty vessels, and have unfamiliar markings. Major Beckman continues to assume they are Combine reinforcements, and orders a scout detachment to a nearby forest to see if the loggers working there have any useful intelligence. Kyle and Kendra encounter an OmniMech and Elementals for the first time, and come across the remains of several WorkMechs that had been torn apart. As they continue to approach the landing site, they see a ForestryMech ambush a Jade Falcon Mad Dog, cutting it open from the rear with its chainsaw. The pilot, David Lee, says the attackers call themselves "Clan" and destroyed his fellow loggers. Directed by David further down the road, Kyle and Kendra see Clan forces battling a Combine lance. Skirting the battle, they scan the Falcon landing zone and realize they have no hope of engaging a force that size. David Lee joins them and warns that another Falcon force is approaching from the rear, but directs them onto a forest trail that leads to safety. (Transcript)
  • Mission 5 - March 28, 3050 - General Davis Winfield reports that First and Third Battalion are trying to form a defensive line. Major Beckman offers to launch a flank attack to give the other units time. He orders Hammer Lance to defend a FedCom field outpost and adjacent air base, and use them to launch the flank attack. Hammer Lance secures the bases, but finds itself severely outgunned by the Falcon forces at their landing zone, and is forced to retreat. (Transcript)
  • Mission 6 - March 28, 3050 - General Winfield concludes that Winfield's Regiment cannot face the Jade Falcons by itself, and orders Major Beckman to send Captain Hammer to negotiate a ceasefire and temporary alliance with Tai-sa Omata. Hammer and Omata agree to a ceasefire, and Hammer saves Omata's life by protecting his field base against Jade Falcon attack. The alliance is too late, however. General Winfield reports that his lines are shattered, and orders his troops to fall back and prepare to evacuate the planet. Captain Hammer and his lance form a rear-guard to give Omata time to withdraw. They are slain by Jade Falcon forces under the command of Star Commander Eric Hazen. (Transcript)
  • Mission 7 - March 28, 3050 - General Winfield gives the evacuation order. Kendra and Kyle report they are still five kilometers from the nearest DropShip, the Century. Major Beckman orders the ship to take off before the scouts (with David Lee in tow) can reach them. They find two BattleMechs left behind by Winfield's Regiment in the evacuation, and switch rides, putting David in an Enforcer and Kendra in a Caesar. Kyle retains his Wolfhound. They encounter Tai-sa Omata, who offers them a ride in his DropShip, in partial repayment of the debt of honor he owes to Captain Hammer. The mixed-nationality lance defends the DropShip against forces under Eric Hazen until it is ready to take off. As the DropShip blasts into orbit, Eric Hazen's commander chastises him for his failure. (Transcript)

Butler[edit]

No dates are given in the game, but the Jade Falcon sourcebook dates the Clan invasion to May 3050.

  • Mission 1 - As the survivors of Winfield's Regiment make planetfall on Butler, General Winfield tells his troops that the Jade Falcons have attacked Butler as well, but that the planetary garrison is fighting back. He plans to join with them and, together, drive the Falcons back. The Century lands near the city of New Glasgow. Major Beckman orders the lance (comprised of Kyle, Kendra, David, and Omata) to establish a beachhead by clearing out enemy forces and linking up with friendly units at Camp Northrop. (Transcript)
  • Mission 2 - The surviving forces on Butler send a convoy, call sign Kilo three-eighty five, to resupply Winfield's Regiment. The lance escorts them as they travel through a frozen riverbed, fighting off Clan attacks. (Transcript)
  • Mission 3 - The troops aboard the Century are still securing the convoy's supplies when the Jade Falcons launch an all-out assault on their fortified position. Major Beckman orders the lance to hold the perimeter. The first wave is defeated after smashing through the fortifications, but the DropShip commander threatens an emergency launch as a second wave approaches under the command of Star Colonel Evak Mattlov. Mattlov's demand that the Inner Sphere forces surrender is answered by General Winfield himself, who arrives on the field in his Atlas and challenges the Star Colonel to single combat. Mattlov grants safcon and designates the Omega Plains as the site of their battle. At the Omega Plains, in a large snowy crater that serves as the Circle of Equals, General Winfield's Atlas faces Mattlov's Dire Wolf. Despite getting in some good hits, Winfield is defeated and his Atlas goes down hard. The survivors of Winfield's Regiment assume their commander is dead and launch a chaotic, uncoordinated attack against the Clan forces. (Transcript)
  • Mission 4 - Major Beckman's Mobile HQ breaks free of the fighting on the Omega Plains and withdraws into New Glasgow, escorted by the lance. Unfortunately, the fighting on the plains has spilled into the city as well. The lance escorts the Mobile HQ through the street-to-street battles to safety. Monitoring communications, they hear reports from a radio host calling himself the Voice of Butler that ComStar has declared neutrality, and that civilians calling themselves the People's Militia are beginning to launch impromptu attacks against isolated Clan forces. (Transcript)
  • Mission 5 - Colonel Joshua Armstrong, the highest-ranking surviving Winfield's Regiment officer, orders Major Beckman to go to the ComStar station in New Glasgow and send a message to Tharkad about the situation on Butler, and wait for a reply with orders. Beckman objects, but Armstrong insists he lead the mission. The lance escorts him to the ComStar compound, and Beckman bribes/intimidates the ComStar operator there into sending the message. The Lance holds off Jade Falcon attacks long enough for Beckman to receive a reply, and the group withdraws to safety. After their departure, a Star of OmniMechs under Eric Hazen arrives at the ComStar station and demands information about the whereabouts of Winfield's Regiment and the contents of the communications. The operator claims to have no knowledge, and reiterates that ComStar's neutrality has been guaranteed by Star Colonel Evak Mattlov. Hazen responds that by aiding the Federated Commonwealth forces, her neutrality is revoked. He orders his Star to raze the ComStar compound. (Transcript)
  • Mission 6 - Major Beckman tells the lance that their orders from Tharkad are to redeploy to Twycross, where they will support Prince Victor's counterattack. Holloway notes that the Voice of Butler is reporting that hundreds of suspected resistance members have been detained and loaded into a truck for transfer to an internment camp. Beckman refuses to get involved, saying that Butler is lost, and that they will need to conserve their forces for Twycross. David Lee ignores him and takes a 'Mech out to rescue the prisoners. The rest of the lance follows, and successfully destroys the Jade Falcon force guarding the prisoners, to the acclaim of the Voice of Butler and People's Militia partisans. Among the defeated guards is MechWarrior Revan, who realizes too late that the lance's attacks at perimeter field bases were a ruse to draw troops away from the prisoner convoy. (Transcript)
  • Mission 7 - Colonel Armstrong addresses Major Beckman's failure of leadership in letting a civilian pilot a BattleMech and go rogue, and assigns the Major to serve as military liaison to the Butler resistance. He then confides in the lance members that he'd been looking for an excuse to get rid of Beckman, and admonishes David Lee to formally enlist. He assigns the lance to destroy a newly constructed Jade Falcon base in a remote region outside of New Glasgow and neutralize its garrison so that the Century can land and pick up the survivors of Winfield's Regiment. Star Colonel Evak Mattlov receives a report that the base is under attack, but arrives too late to save it. Facing the loss of his forward base, which was to support efforts to secure the entire sector, he worries that the delays on Butler will endanger the entire Jade Falcon advance. (Transcript)

Twycross[edit]

No dates are given in the game, but the "Battle for Twycross" scenario pack and "Lethal Heritage" date the FedCom counterattack on Twycross to September 10, 3050.

  • Mission 1 - As the Century is on its landing approach to Twycross, it takes heavy fire from the ground and, damaged, executes a forced landing behind Clan lines. The Century is surrounded by forces under the control of Star Captain Dominga Pryde, who challenges Winfield's Regiment to a Trial of Possession for their ship and their forces. Armstrong accepts the challenge, bidding the Century and the lance against Dominga's Trinary, but demands that she become his bondsman if she loses. After her forces are defeated, she submits and becomes a bondsman to Winfield's Regiment. (Transcript)
  • Mission 2 - With communications jammed by the Diabolis sandstorm, Winfield's Regiment is on its own in hostile territory. Joined by Dominga Pryde, the lance attempts to support the FedCom forces by destroying Jade Falcon rear area supply depots. (Transcript)
  • Mission 3 - Armstrong assigns the lance to fight their way into the heavily defended settlement of Istander, where the Jade Falcons have installed a regulator on the pump system at the water reservoir, allowing them to control the populace by limiting their access to the desert planet's scarce water. The lance successfully breaches the defense perimeter and destroys the water regulator, but must fight their way past Star Commander Revan's Dire Wolf before they can extract to the Century. (Transcript)
  • Mission 4 - Colonel Armstrong orders the lance to scout a path through the Great Gash to link up with Prince Victor's forces on the Plain of Curtains. As the lance approaches from the south, they hear a "Mystery Man" (Kai Allard-Liao) challenging the Jade Falcons to face him, followed by a massive explosion and seismic shockwave. The lance investigates (destroying a Falcon Guard staging base in the process) and finds the Great Gash completely blocked. (Transcript)
  • Mission 5 - September 10, 3050 - Colonel Armstrong orders the lance to capture a Jade Falcon supply depot. The seizure is easy, but the lance then has to defend it against counterattacks by six Stars of sibcadets, whose trainer declares that recapturing the depot will serve as their end-of-training Trial of Position. (Transcript)
  • Mission 6 - September 10, 3050 - One of the Clan warriors captured at the supply depot has agreed to guide the lance through a lava field to the Plain of Curtains. Though wary of betrayal, the lance follows the guide safely through, only to encounter a Star led by Eric Hazen on the far side. Hazen has tracked the lance from Winfield, across Butler, and now to Twycross, seeking to erase the shame of his previous failure. Hazen destroys the bondsman guide, calling him pathetic, but falls to the lance's counterattack. He laments that his honor has been ruined. (Transcript)
  • Mission 7 - September 10, 3050 - The lance reaches the Plain of Curtains and rendezvouses with the FedCom forces there. Colonel Armstrong assigns them to serve as bodyguards to Prince Victor during the battle. They fend off several headhunter attacks against the prince, who inspires his troops to hold the line against the Clan. Surveying the destruction, Kendra expresses doubts about their chances for the future. Victor reassures her that they can make a difference, and calls upon the lance to help him build on their successes. The five 'Mechs stride across the desert, disappearing over the horizon as the sun begins to set over the wind whipped, debris strewn battlefield. (Transcript)

Featured characters[edit]

Winfield Regiment[edit]

Draconis Combine[edit]

Clan Jade Falcon[edit]

Federated Commonwealth[edit]

People's Militia[edit]

  • Radio Host
  • Partisan
  • Tank Commander

ComStar[edit]

  • Operator

Featured places[edit]

Featured BattleTech[edit]

BattleMechs[edit]

Inner Sphere[edit]

Clan[edit]

Official Links[edit]

MechWarrior Tactical Command homepage