Battletech Story Brainstorming

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Hmm, my preferred map would keep the great houses, but make a series of periphery-type 3rd-world nations as buffer states in between them, used both as client states by the great houses and as scapegoats, with a lot of bushfire wars and sub rosa maneuvers against each other.

My reasoning is that this would justify all sorts of minor actions supporting Battletech's preferred format of maybe four units on each side, twelve if it's an especially big game, which is much harder to pull off when it's great house on great house action (and indeed we increasingly see "and then they threw three regiments at it" in the fluff, while players are expected to just ignore the fiction and keep doing their small unit games and pretend it's actually the three regiments action.) But if it's "Ruin the farmland and personal guard of Baron Bumstick so that our preferred candidate will get an economic edge and win the next election on planet Sheepdip" it makes perfect sense that they'd only send a single lance to take care of it and Baron Bumstick can only afford once lance himself. This also allows for a lot more room for levels of action in the canon, whereas as things stand you basically have "mostly at peace" and "Entire Inner Sphere at war at once!" because every Great House will nigh-automatically attack their neighbors if that neighbor starts throwing hands with another neighbor. Further, it makes the existence of so many mercenary companies more justifiable, a lot of these border states are constantly jostling their neighbors and mercenaries are a nice deniable asset for avoiding getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar, something a lot less reasonable if the mercenaries are in a known contract with the Federated Suns and go raiding the Combine.

So basically, it being the future of the 80s, recreate the cold war of the 80s with the Great Powers doing the lion's share of their fights by proxy in third world countries, while keeping large stockpiles of war material and being ready to touch off a major war at any time.
 

namar13766

Well-known member
What if the The Dark Age happened after the Jihad in as a final gesture of spite towards their enemies by the Word of Blake , the instigators of the Jihad, rather than during the Republic of the Sphere era in canon BattleTech and resulted in the destruction of 80% of HPG communications networks ?

What effect would it have on interstellar politics?
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Some local leaders would see this as a good excuse to keep more power to themselves, so there would be multiple brush wars right after Jihad.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Amanda Hasek decided to invaded the Victoria Commonality, after receiving intelligence that CCAF transferred a number of units that were usually stationed there. Now OTL she decided to jump the gun as soon as possible, but what if someone in her circle, who put character points into IQ instead of hair volume, managed to convince her that transferred units can still be sent back for counterattack and since the transfers probably signify the round two with Republic or invasion of former FWL, it would be best to wait until the fighting starts and the forces are committed, while masking her preparations as contingency plans.

If the Capellan March forces hit the Capellans while they were balls deep in Republic, there would be no way they could pull out their forces to counterattack, so they would have to rely on forces in the the theater of operation, plus MAF reinforcements to halt the AFFS onslaught, but they would still likely lose more worlds than OTL and it is unlikely they would capture any FS worlds. Also with MAF more committed to FS front, Andurien and Oriente are likely to be more successful.
 

Orangeduke38

Well-known member
An AU where the Rift Republican Army takes advantage of Amaris's long absence from the RW and runs a sophisticated media campaign to convince people Amaris has turned his back on the Rim Worlds and slowly and surreptitiously grow their support among the 2nd line military and industrial magnates. Then when he launches his coup the RRA launches a coup of their own and seizes Finmark (as a new capitol), about 60% of the Rim Worlds and 40% of the RW industry. Then while they don't like the SL they come to an arrangement with Kerensky and agree to sell him all the military equipment he needs to retake the Hegemony while cooperating to defeat Amaris loyalists in the RW. The end result is a Rim Worlds that still retains most of its industry by the end of the liberation of Terra but Kerensky and a substantial part of the remaining front line SLDF dies when Amaris sets off his entire remaining nuclear arsenal as a 'screw you' at the last minute. I don't know where it would go from there, but the Succession Wars complicated by the remaining SLDF splintering would cause some interesting butterflies. Maybe some would go out to the outer reaches of the OWA and support the colonies there formed from Hegemony citizens and create a new nation or a subnation as a loose part of the OWA.
 
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Atarlost

Well-known member
Kerensky ... dies
This probably butterflies Comstar away. Without a reputation like Kerensky's backing him, Blake isn't senior enough to take hold SLComNet together and negotiate with the house lords as a unified network.

And the lack of Comstar changes the entire character of the succession wars. Without Comstar holding the Sol system in trust for the future First Lord the title becomes valueless except to John Davion who needs it for internal reasons and future First Princes probably won't need it the same way. My guess is that the Combine annexes Sol because they're first off the mark and care least for things like making sure the people in the parts of the Hegemony they annex don't starve. With no Comstar War I expect the FWL and CapCon just don't reenter the wars after the 1SW winds down leaving the Lyrans, RWR, and Feddies to focus on slaying the Dragon.
 

Aaron Fox

Well-known member
You know what, I've got a crazy idea for a BT fic.

So, the basic idea is to fuse (most of) Nexus: The Jupiter Incident with BT. Noah Colony was an old Terran Haegemony colony group that suffered a misjump, leading to the discovery of an N:TJI wormhole and a pristine garden world that the colonists decided to call Noah on the other side. Centuries have passed, and the colony has done well, despite being pressed into the Gorg Wars... before the SLDF-in-Exile showed up at one of the few wormholes to the Inner Sphere.

Centuries later, with the latest round of the Gorg Wars heating up, a ComStar exploration ship is spotted in the periphery of one of the systems near a wormhole...
 

Knowledgeispower

Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
so for a fix fic for modern battletech ie stuff being actively developed would a Harrison Davion SI be a good pick as a basis?
also need some help on finding sources on the pre blackout darkage sarna is pretty bare.
 

The Whispering Monk

Well-known member
Osaul
I'm great on Battletech till you get to the Dark Ages...I kinda washed my hands of it b/c it was so full of stupid pills I couldn't take it. Best bet would be to find digital copies of the dark age fiction prior to the black out.
 

Guardian Box

Radioactive Cognitohazard
Sotnik
You know what, I've got a crazy idea for a BT fic.

So, the basic idea is to fuse (most of) Nexus: The Jupiter Incident with BT. Noah Colony was an old Terran Haegemony colony group that suffered a misjump, leading to the discovery of an N:TJI wormhole and a pristine garden world that the colonists decided to call Noah on the other side. Centuries have passed, and the colony has done well, despite being pressed into the Gorg Wars... before the SLDF-in-Exile showed up at one of the few wormholes to the Inner Sphere.

Centuries later, with the latest round of the Gorg Wars heating up, a ComStar exploration ship is spotted in the periphery of one of the systems near a wormhole...
If we cut out some parts of Nexus like the Mechanoids, this has potential for greatness.
 

Aaron Fox

Well-known member
If we cut out some parts of Nexus like the Mechanoids, this has potential for greatness.
Yeah, the Mechanoids are no-go in general. They're reality-editing AI when they decide to go all-in, and given that humanity was implied to be made to counter the Mechanoids as part trap and part creator of the eventual Mechanoid killer AI herself... they went all in by the end of it.
 

Jormungandr

The Midgard Wyrm
Founder
This came up in another thread (Of Things Retro-Futuristic), but basically it's boils down to this: While Clan Wolf/the Dragoons were doing their reconnaissance of the Inner Sphere, they accidentally discover another force basically doing the same thing they're doing -- acting as a mercenary company to scout the Inner Sphere, its politics/nations, and their technological capabilities.

Recordings and data gathered show clear mismatches between what look like bog standard/typical mechs used by mercenaries, their weapons, and this Third Party's capabilities. They're too good. Basically, the way their "mechs" move is too fluid, the armour too tough/resistant, the weapons significantly overpowered for what they supposedly are, et cetera.

Their story about being mercenaries from a "lost, Deep Periphery colony" is suspicious, they don't accept outsiders into their ranks, their supply chains are unknown, and they keep buying assets (weapons, mechs, et cetera) or claim salvage as payment for their services.

Worse still, it looks as though they're at least a century ahead of the Clans -- Basically, the original prompt was that instead of using Battletech stuff that was derived from what the 80's thought the future would be like, this Third Party, in the guise of in-universe Battletech technology, uses stuff what we, using our modern tech-base, would think what the world would be like several hundred years in the future, basically doing what FASA did in the 80's now.

Basically, their camouflage and deception are too good so they stand out to those actually looking, defeating their purpose.

After reporting back, the assembled Clan heads are incredulous, but there's no denying the evidence: Someone out there has basically "Out Clanned the Clans", and the Dragoons have been reassigned to investigate this mysterious Third Party as much as possible...

Obviously this could go in many different directions, such as the Inner Sphere itself about to be invaded by this Third Party, or if they're investigating to see whether they're just worth contacting, if they know the Clans are about to invade and are thinking about invading themselves to move to counter the Clans, et cetera.
 

Spartan303

In Captain America we Trust!
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Osaul
This came up in another thread (Of Things Retro-Futuristic), but basically it's boils down to this: While Clan Wolf/the Dragoons were doing their reconnaissance of the Inner Sphere, they accidentally discover another force basically doing the same thing they're doing -- acting as a mercenary company to scout the Inner Sphere, its politics/nations, and their technological capabilities.

Recordings and data gathered show clear mismatches between what look like bog standard/typical mechs used by mercenaries, their weapons, and this Third Party's capabilities. They're too good. Basically, the way their "mechs" move is too fluid, the armour too tough/resistant, the weapons significantly overpowered for what they supposedly are, et cetera.

Their story about being mercenaries from a "lost, Deep Periphery colony" is suspicious, they don't accept outsiders into their ranks, their supply chains are unknown, and they keep buying assets (weapons, mechs, et cetera) or claim salvage as payment for their services.

Worse still, it looks as though they're at least a century ahead of the Clans -- Basically, the original prompt was that instead of using Battletech stuff that was derived from what the 80's thought the future would be like, this Third Party, in the guise of in-universe Battletech technology, uses stuff what we, using our modern tech-base, would think what the world would be like several hundred years in the future, basically doing what FASA did in the 80's now.

Basically, their camouflage and deception are too good so they stand out to those actually looking, defeating their purpose.

After reporting back, the assembled Clan heads are incredulous, but there's no denying the evidence: Someone out there has basically "Out Clanned the Clans", and the Dragoons have been reassigned to investigate this mysterious Third Party as much as possible...

Obviously this could go in many different directions, such as the Inner Sphere itself about to be invaded by this Third Party, or if they're investigating to see whether they're just worth contacting, if they know the Clans are about to invade and are thinking about invading themselves to move to counter the Clans, et cetera.

I like this idea in concert with a modern Earth or near peer ISOT Earth. It's been my kick lately.
 

Jormungandr

The Midgard Wyrm
Founder
I like this idea in concert with a modern Esrth or near peer ISOT Earth. It's been my kick lately.
I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.

I mean, someone did a YouTube video that a modern processor (Ryzen Threadripper) has more memory in its L1 cache than an entire 80's computer (an Altair, IIRC), and that it'd take years for said computer to make a calculation that the Threadripper could do in one second.

The technological disparity between 80's stuff and what we have now is just that extreme.
 

Spartan303

In Captain America we Trust!
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Osaul
I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.

I mean, someone did a YouTube video that a modern processor (Ryzen Threadripper) has more memory in its L1 cache than an entire 80's computer (an Altair, IIRC), and that it'd take years for said computer to make a calculation that the Threadripper could do in one second.

The technological disparity between 80's stuff and what we have now is just that extreme.

Can you link me? Also, what other areas does Modern Earth dominate? What areas are we deficient? And how can Earth maintain Dpace and air Neutral skies in a concerted invasion?
 

Jormungandr

The Midgard Wyrm
Founder
Can you link me? Also, what other areas does Modern Earth dominate? What areas are we deficient? And how can Earth maintain Dpace and air Neutral skies in a concerted invasion?

It's a long but interesting video. :)

While a lot of Battletech's stuff is advanced, it's still derived from what they thought technology would be like as extrapolated from 80's stuff in the future; it'd basically be the Fallout Principle all over again, albeit with Fallout's stuff being from the 40's and 50's.

Yes, while they do have stuff like powered armour which we don't have, the technology underneath it is either archaic by our standards (such as metallurgy or needing CPUs the size of bricks) or could be done better once analyzed and reverse-engineered (such as using a CPU the size of a thumb to take over the job of said Brick CPU, or our use of modern alloys which make the end result lighter, smaller, and faster, or refining certain Battletech materials because of more accurate processes/computations, et cetera).

Basically, if we got working examples of their technology and information about the processes behind it, it's likely we'd be able to do it a lot better because of modern processes and technological advancements, if we dumped enough R+D into it.

Fuck knows what would happen if we managed to get our hands on a working example of Elemental or Nighthawk Armour. Iron Man-type shit, maybe? And if they found even a fragmented core on par with the Helm Memory Core? Yeah, that'd be a massive cheat for a Modern Earth, heh.

But anyway, a lot of our emerging stuff in things like military networking are actually on par with or outpacing Battletech's stuff already, especially in things like smart weaponry. FASA, or anyone at the time, never dreamed things would develop like this in real-life, and everything they thought of what the future would be like was basically constrained by the times, just like how we are now with what our future may look like.

Ironically, and to use another universe as an example of this principle, we see a lore example of this in Starcraft: Apparently, the UED back home has stuff which makes the Umojans, the most technologically advanced Terran faction in the K' Sector, look primitive in comparison, but their initial invasion fleet used locally-produced resources and assets to "keep the cost down" (to explain the gameplay reasons why they were using stock Terran stuff).

In bringing some local stuff "up to spec" (so basically taking the local version of a WW2 Sherman and giving it enough upgrades so it'd be like an Abrams) while still trying to keep the technology compatible with factories and other machinery, however, they unintentionally and drastically advanced Terran technology in the entire sector by at least a generation, with Medics, Valkyries, UED Goliath retrofits basically shitting over their K' Sector counterparts, improved Battlecruiser reactors, et cetera.

Although, as a interesting thought exercise, if Modern Earth acquired a Nighthawk or other powered armour and instead began to develop from those instead of outright Battlemechs, we might see a Starship Troopers (book)/Iron Man situation going on, with Battlemech-like powered armour suits basically rampaging across the battlefield in regiments or squads?

If Modern Earth got ahold of easier interplanetary travel, we'd have enough resources (especially in the Asteroid Belt) to set up solar colonies everywhere and have more resources to use in R+D than we could ever really use.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.

I mean, someone did a YouTube video that a modern processor (Ryzen Threadripper) has more memory in its L1 cache than an entire 80's computer (an Altair, IIRC), and that it'd take years for said computer to make a calculation that the Threadripper could do in one second.

The technological disparity between 80's stuff and what we have now is just that extreme.
Per Price Of Glory the Helm Memory Core was half a meter long. So their floppy drives ain't too small either.

Although, as a interesting thought exercise, if Modern Earth acquired a Nighthawk or other powered armour and instead began to develop from those instead of outright Battlemechs, we might see a Starship Troopers (book)/Iron Man situation going on, with Battlemech-like powered armour suits basically rampaging across the battlefield in regiments or squads?

If Modern Earth got ahold of easier interplanetary travel, we'd have enough resources (especially in the Asteroid Belt) to set up solar colonies everywhere and have more resources to use in R+D than we could ever really use.
It seems to me that in general, on modern earth we have the opposite thinking process as BattleTech. In BT, hardware is expensive and lives are cheap, so making a very cheap 'mech is often desirable, even if you're making something several generations old, like the retrotech builds using introductory tech all the way past the FedCom Civil War.

Earth doesn't do that, nobody with a working brain is going to decide to build a P-51 Mustang factory and think that it might compete with F-35s if you just build enough. So I'd expect that we'd go to all infantry having power armor fairly soon, probably the first generation would only be rolled out to special forces and Tip Of The Spear types but as soon as mass manufacturing is underway, they'd move towards having everybody on duty wear them. There's just too much advantage to not doing so, even a PA(L) with 2 points of armor can take multiple bursts to the chest from a heavy machine gun emplacement and can be carrying significantly more firepower than that machine gun by himself.

'Course in-game, throwing down 200 power armor squads in a game is just going to make the other guy hit you over the head with his dice box when he realizes you'll be needing to make four or five thousand rolls per turn.
 

Spartan303

In Captain America we Trust!
Administrator
Staff Member
Founder
Osaul
How would a Modern Day Earth, say Circa 2030 handle a concerted invasion from...:

1.) Pirates from the Periphery. 2800 to 2900 era.

2.) A major House like say, The Draconis Combine. 2900 to 3000

3.) The Clans. 3000 to 3050.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
How would a Modern Day Earth, say Circa 2030 handle a concerted invasion from...:

1.) Pirates from the Periphery. 2800 to 2900 era.
Probably fail utterly the first time, due to the pirates getting in and out faster than the politicians have come to grips with what is happening and sent any military assets. By the time the pirates return for another bite six months to a year later, there's likely to be a doctrine to deal with them. My first guess would be an overwhelming aircraft/cruise missile spam hitting their 'mechs and possibly DropShips with copious amounts of explosives.

2.) A major House like say, The Draconis Combine. 2900 to 3000
The inverse of the pirates. Since the Combine won't grab and run, but instead will send possibly a 'mech company. They'll also open talks to arrange for a surrender, and thus sit there long enough for a diplomatic envoy to show up. Relations are going to break down pretty quickly since Combine's gonna Combine. The 'mechs will likely rampage once it's clear Earth isn't going to roll over, followed by cruise missile and aircraft bombardment taking the 'mech company down.

However, the second response from the Combine will be much harsher. Earth will likely get at least a Sword of Light dropped on them, and the Combine is in a position to take up orbit and plan their attacks carefully, lifting back off the ground rapidly as needed and sending ASF bombardments to soften up and destroy offending missile batteries. The timeline is a touch dicey, in 2900 the Combine still had a few WarShips left, probably not enough that they'd peel one off just to do an orbital bombardment, but maybe they would, especially if they look at how much Industry Earth has.

3.) The Clans. 3000 to 3050.
It's worth noting that the early clan invaders were not the caricatures they became later, they were quite keen on maintaining stealth, gathering intel, and generally being sneaky gits during their initial phase of invasion. The whole opening up with a Batchall on day 1 came later.

They also both absolutely have WarShips, and have Elementals which will give them an infantry-like force that's tougher than a Tank and hits harder too without being a walking skyscraper for all to see and paste with missiles.

The upshot of this is that the clans have a lot more options in their toolbox than the Combine or the Pirates and can select a much more measured response. The 3050 clans have also not yet become idiots who look at five million infantry and a hundred thousand tanks, then bid a trinary of 'mechs in a frontal because that just means the victory will be all the more glorious.

This means the Clans have the best chance of taking Earth by far, though that would have some hilarious knock-on effects down the line because you don't add eight billion people to your relatively small population without them irreversibly altering your culture and ways into their own. It would be the Mongols conquering China all over again.
 

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