Objective Raids

Objective Raids
Product information
Type	Sourcebook
Development	Mike Nystul Sam Lewis Donna Ippolito (Senior Editor) Sharon Turner Mulvihill (Assistant Editor)
Primary writing	Jeffrey Layton
Pages	192
Cover Artwork	David Martin (Art) James Nelson (Design)
Illustrations	Earl Geier Rick Harris Denis Nelson Tony Szczudlo
Publication information
Publisher	FASA
Product code	1665
First published	1992
ISBN-10	1555601731
ISBN-13	978-1555601737
MSRP	$15.00
Content
Era	Clan Invasion era
Timeline	3054

Description

Written from the perspective of the Com Guards as a "how to" guide on objective raids, the Objective Raids book details the most notable worlds of military and industrial importance in the Inner Sphere, be it Successor State or Clan, along with troop deployments circa 3054. The real meat of the book is the section covering the various manufacturers of each BattleMech, aerospace fighter, combat vehicle, DropShip, JumpShip, and almost every military component, weapon or piece of battlefield equipment produced in the Inner Sphere at that time. Among the manufacturing details, a number of new variants of existing designs are also briefly described.

The book gained notoriety for being inaccurate and containing a number of errors, oversights and omissions. For example, it curiously fails to mention Tikonov as a major industrial center and (wrongly) claims that the Taurian Concordat produces the Rommel tank.
(See also Objective Raids#Notes and Objective Raids#Canonicity below)

From the back cover

“

"The universe contains endless opportunities for those who have the guts to grab hold of their destiny." "Anything you will ever want or need is there for the taking. All you need to know is where it is." —Vance Rezak, notorious border pirate Objective Raids is an indispensable resource for BattleTech and MechWarrior players, providing current listings of units and industries on worlds along the border of the Clan occupation zone. A discussion of the tactics for conducting raids, two representative industrial floor plans, and a reference guide for locating the manufacturing site of any BattleMech, vehicle, aerospace fighter or component is also included.

”

Canonicity

Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II once made a statement to the effect that certain products including this one are considered "secondary sources" by the writers staff because of their numerous errors, but this should not be construed to mean they are not canonical. It is standard procedure in cases of conflicting information to treat later publications as accurate over earlier publications.

“	And, if Sarna used the Luthien scenario pack as a resource there, the fact is, that book proved to be so riddled with errors, it--like First Edition Periphery and Objective Raids--is now seen by our staff as a "secondary source": Canon only in areas where it does not clash with other canon.	”
	— Herbert A. Beas, BattleTech Line Developer, 08 Jul 2012

Content

• Briefing
• Situation Briefing
• Conducting Raids
• Frontline Forces
• Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth
  • Federated Suns State Command
  • Lyran Commonwealth State Command
• Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery
• The Clans
  • Steel Viper
  • Jade Falcon
  • Wolf
  • Ghost Bear
  • Smoke Jaguar
  • Nova Cat
• Free Worlds League Military
• Capellan Confederation Armed Services
• St. Ives Military Forces
• Rasalhague KungsArmé
• Periphery States
  • Alliance Military Corps
  • Magistracy Armed Forces
  • Taurian Defense Forces
  • Independents

• Industries
• Border Worlds
• The Clan Front
  • Federated Commonwealth
  • Jade Falcon/Steel Viper Occupation Zone
  • Wolf Occupation Zone
  • Ghost Bear Occupation Zone
  • Smoke Jaguar/Nova Cat Occupation Zone
• Federated Commonwealth
• Draconis Combine
• The Clans
• Free Worlds League
• Capellan Confederation
• St. Ives Compact
• Periphery States
• Typical Industrial Set-ups
• Product Index
• Map of the Federated Commonwealth

Author comments

In 2011, author Jeffrey Layton registered on the CBT Forum and posted some behind-the-scenes information about the production of this book. According to his postings,

• Tikonov was covered in the original manuscript and apparently lost to an oversight, either when Layton had friends type up his notes to submit them to FASA digitally instead of typewritten submissions, or during editing;
• his original notes aimed at providing a Succession Wars era sourcebook set for around 3025, but Sam Lewis "said "but I'm afraid you're going to have to revise your draft. We're making a big change to the BattleTech setting right now." Of course, the change was the Clan invasion."

Notes

• All the pages in Manufacturing Centers category on BTW, both content and format, are originally based on this book, albeit now expanded and updated from the mid-3050s era of this book.
• Despite being notoriously error-ridden, the book was popular with players. It spawned the Objective Raids: 3067 fan project, which in turn generated sufficient interest for the general concept to be revisited in the official "Objectives" PDF series (Objectives: Capellan Confederation, Objectives: Draconis Combine, Objectives: Federated Suns, Objectives: Lyran Alliance, Objectives: Free Worlds League, Objectives: Periphery, Objectives: Clans).
• FanPro republished this book in 2005 in electronic format as a searchable PDF.