Battletech technical archive

[PainRack]

I just thought I create a thread where I could combine technical quotes all into one spot.... This saves me the problem of struggling to remember where the hell is so and so supporting quote.

As it is, i don't think its possible for me to find out the 360 degree holographic view aerospace neurohelmets offer(given to some hovertanks), the calibre of SRMs and some other technical details....

Contributers are welcome.

[PainRack]

Field Manual Mercenaries :
Giovanti stabbed down on the Caesar's right thumb trigger, sending a 250 pound nickel ferrous slug toward the Victor.

Yellow Jacket TR 3058:
This massive weapon, which constitutes the bulk of the craft's weight, can hurl rounds at speeds up to Mach 2.2

So, the "real" weight of the shell, figuring in feed and the like is 114 kg.The upper limit of the impact thus should be approximately 31MJ.

[PainRack]

Storms of fate, chapter 28, pg 243
Quote:
Grinding his teeth in defiance, Rudolf Shakov divided his fire between the Nigh Hawk and whenever he could get a targeting lock, the Barghest.A laser brightened the armor over his left leg, carrying off a half-ton of his protective shell. The Barghest missed again with its heavy gauss, the recoil throwing the seventy-ton Mech back on its armored haunches and nearly knocking it to the ground.

Additional supporting quotes are found in Avanti Angels novelisation, where two Clantech ER PPCs melt a ton of armour.

[PainRack]

The Warrior is designed around the SarLon AutoCannon. Firing a ten-round burst of 30 mm hypervelocity slugs with each pull of the trigger, the SarLon AC/2 is the most accurate direct fire weapon in any arsenal, which makes it one of the most deadly

TR 3026, Warrior.

[PainRack]

The SarLon is mated to a N&D HandsFree tracking and targeting system. Using a HUD display and slaving the autocannon and missile packs to a helmet sight worn by the pilot, the N&D frees the pilot’s hands for other functions. To engage a target, the Warrior pilot has only to look at it and to pull a trigger.
TR 3026, Warrior

The Lancelot's Krupp KBC Starsight Model 3 targeting and tracking system can single out enemy 'Mechs targeting it and instantly identify the most serious threat, highlighting it for immediate attention. This gives the Lancelot a major advantage in a large-scale battle, where hundreds of projectiles can shoot through the air in just a few seconds.
TR 2750 Lancelot

(additional entires, related to T&T ability to track multiple targets will be posted as soon as I can find it.)

[PainRack]

One barrage of twenty such missiles can devastate a large area. Thunder missiles, another favorite, contain 100 mines that spread out in the path of advancing BattleMechs and then detonate, crippling the legs of an attacking force.

TR 2750, Bombardier.

[PainRack]

Ferro-fibrous armor added to the frame gives the 'Mech a very bulky appearance. Because flat areas of armor are easily penetrated, as many surfaces as possible are angled in order to deflect blast damage to the 'Mech and thereby reduce stress on the frame during combat.

TR 3055, Phoenix Hawk IIC.

The Schrek’s high-angle, sloped armor and low profile make it a difficult target to spot and destroy

Shreck PPC carrier, TR 3026 rev.

[PainRack]

1 20mm Gatling Gun

The 20mm Gatling gun is a time-proven weapon, giving the Scorpion good defensive firepower with plenty of punch. Though some users of the tank have tried 30mm machine guns, the Gatling gun’s high rate of fire makes larger shells unnecessary.

TR 3026, Scorpion.

The Bulldog Minigun is a small machine-gun mounted on the bow of the tank. Like most miniguns, it sacrifices a heavy-caliber round for a high rate of fire.

TR 3026, Bulldog

The Puma carries a sizeable amount of AmberStar Weave armor, but many military experts point out that the angle of the armor is too steep and the edges of the tank too sharp to deflect shots.

[PainRack]

Like the original, this new design has many of the same operational specifications. The recognized improvement over the original is the integration of fixed sensors across the front and back of the torsos-including the head assembly. The Ostscout is not required to slow down to gather accurate information, a vulnerability of the previous design. The new sensors use side-scanning with look-ahead and phased Doppler and triangulation sensors, allowing it to gather information very quickly. All data is filtered through TRSS's Beagle Active Probe and monitored by a high-speed computer capable of processing terabytes of information in seconds. The inclusion a Guardian ECM suite only improves the Ostscout's mission success potential while the C3i Computer allows better-coordinated fire missions, including the processing of real-time data feeds. Finally, Krupp's Target Acquisition Gear allows the Ostscout to make pinpoint strikes with artillery- and air-delivered guided munitions.

Ostscout Project Phoenix

The Tek Tru-Trak targeting computer system was a highly advanced piece of equipment, giving the Phoenix Hawk's ranged fire a deadly accuracy. Since the destruction of the Star League's major computer industries, maintenance and repair of Tru-Traks has declined considerably, as very few Techs have the specialized knowledge to service them. In many cases, the complex circuitry has simply been removed and replaced with simple line-of-sight magnification systems.
The multi-channel Tek BattleCom communications gear, which is heavily shielded to protect against battlefield interference, makes the Phoenix Hawk well-suited to a command/forward operations role. The swift 'Mech may also be outfitted with jamming and ECM gear.

Phoenix Hawk TR 3025 rev

The Beagle Active Probe is the latest in detection equipment. It has the longest range of any scanner available and is able to pierce standard jamming devices at a much longer range than any other. Built into the Beagle is a state-of-the-art memory system, which provides the pilot with information on previous damage, abilities, and fighting style of any 'Mech, fighter, or ground vehicle it has ever encountered. It can even forecast probable enemy moves, based on previous experience. The Beagle has also received high marks as a training device, as it can recreate any situation on its tactical display. Pilots use a joystick to enter in alternate actions and then are able to see the consequences of tactical changes. This new system is among the most requested pieces of hardware in the SLDF.

Hellcat II TR 2750

It boasted enough missiles to support almost any number of units within range and a new radar guidance system that guaranteed superior indirect fire capability.

The final solution was a combination of missile-fire strips and a new terminal guidance system. One missile rack was mounted facing up and slightly forward in the right and left rear top deck of the tank. The new guidance system launched the missiles straight up and then arced them toward their target. The other missile rack was mounted in the turret, firing on a much flatter arc. This guaranteed that there would be no missile collisions.

Mounted coaxially to the turret missiles are a machine gun and the SturmFeur HighLight tracking module with BlindFire Radar targeting system. The HighLight keeps track of each missile rack’s target, no matter where it is.

The BlindFire Radar system can track over 200 targets simultaneously, and is one of the fastest and most advanced units available.

Sturmfeur TR 3026.

[The Dark]

Most MechWarriors avoid fires because they incapacitate infrared sensors and can cause Battlemechs to overheat

From HER-2S Hermes II, Battletech boxed set

This advanced system (Irian E.A.R. comm) enables a Hermes to communicate with distant 'Mechs, satellites, DropShips and Jumpships via short-burst, narrow-beam signals

From HER-2S Hermes II, Battletech boxed set

Atlases have been rumored to pick up lightweight 'Mechs and toss them to the ground like children's toys

From AS7-D Atlas, Battletech boxed set

[PainRack]

The sophisticated Virtutrak targeting system allows the vehicle to track up to fifteen targets simultaneously and provides the Regulator gunner with a pseudo-360-degree viewing system comparable to that provided by most BattleMechs.

TR 3058, Regulator

I searching my RPG sourcebooks for the corresponding quote for mechs, but essentially, the HUD can be configured to display a 360 degree view, shrank into IIRC 120 degree view inside the neurohelmet.

And just for laughs

but the cooling jacket that surrounds it deserves note. The jacket possesses water intakes mounted around the forward end. By dipping the end of the barrel in a lake, river, or pool, the pilot allows intakes to draw up the water to cool the inner workings of the PPC. The resulting steam exits via a nozzle at the opposite end of the weapon housing. Because a 'Mech rarely finds ten seconds of safety in a battle during which to kneel motionless while drawing water, engineers placed three additional heat sinks on the Vindicator.

TR 3025 rev, Vindicator

[PainRack]

This is going to be an extended post and discussion.

This is with regards to the calibre of autocannons for different classes, armour protection and more importantly, range implications.

Before the supporting data comes out, here's a brief preview about the calibre and range "problem".

As any btecher will know, the calibre for a specific type of autocannon differs for different models. While some of the difference may be explained due to type(Ultra vs LBX vs normal), some of it can't. The AC/20 is probably easier to explain, using the "mass penetration" model.*
However, the overlap in calibre officially(20-50 for light, 40-120 and above for medium and heavy autocannon) is a bit more problematic, especially since range comes into play.

So, what makes a 40mm autocannon both a AC/2 and AC/5?What makes it more ludricious is this.

The Mithras’s turret-mounted Series 2b autocannon allows accurate, sustained fire against targets up to one thousand meters from the vehicle. The system’s advanced autoloader allows the gunner to select a variable rate of fire, and at full speed the 50mm cannon can fire twelve rounds a minute

Mithras TR 3060.

That's right. A 50mm autocannon, can reach up to 1k.... Its an ultra AC/2, h owever, a lower calibre cannon has more firepower.

The Zorya's primary weapon is a 40mm LB-X series autocannon.

Zorya, TR 3060.

A probable workaround would be the mass impcater. If as theorised, the main factor of the damage comes from mass and velocity is not significant, then a higher calibre autocannon may work by firing less rounds in a single burst(instead of the standard ten round, it may fire perhaps 4 or 5). Assuming that a tight grouping is neccesary to penetrate the armour and score a hit, ablating armour, that could increase the range involved as its easier to score a tight grouping with only 2 rounds, as opposed to ten rounds.
In that case, the question should be why more manufacters do not simply build higher calibre autocannons and achieve this effect. The answer may be that manufacterers do not wish to incur the additional cost of higher calibre weapons that deal the same amount of damage as a lower calibre and that there may be some unknown engineering factor(aka, handwavium) that requires multiple impacter to do damage( which can't be very high, due to physical attack calcs)

Of course, a similar argument may be made for muzzle velocity. The 50mm autocannon is Clantech after all, the clans may have perfected means of firing a larger shell at higher velocities, thus improving range. Of course, this begs the question of why the damage isn't increased, and why the 40mm autocannon deals more damage when its range has shrunk.

Clearly, the KE deformation energy model cannot be used to explain armour penetration for Btech, as per this example, and the best that can be done is a workaround. Nevertheless, basic assumptions about Btech weapons performance, with regards to calibre and muzzle velocity simply cannot hold true.

Btech projectile weapons range cannot be a function of muzzle velocity alone, and neither is the damage a result of KE used to do work(as can be seen from the 40mm shell has improved range, yet decreased damage). Armour protection is also problematic, as can be seen from the below.

The rotors’ armor protection does prevent accidental damage and keeps them operational even when struck by fire of up to 40mm caliber. Larger-caliber weapons frequently destroy a section of the rotor, forcing the Donar to crash-land, but structural reinforcement normally allows the crew to survive low-speed and low-altitude crashes.

Donar TR 3060.

However, the rotor can only sustain 2 points of damage, as per everything else. Clearly, it can"t resist the Zorya 40mm cannon. Differences in cannon type is also probably not the answer. Ultimately, while a definitive model cannot be made, it should be made clear that conventional, normal anwers for Btech weaponery doesn't fit.

the primary armament of the Ishtar is a pair of turret-mounted 75mm autocannons. Though both are capable of firing standard 75mm rounds, their loading mechanisms and barrels have widely differing capabilities. The loader of the smoothbore KOV-series cannon can switch between standard rounds and cluster ammunition, which the gunner may select up to the moment of firing. The Type 9 cannot switch ammunition types, but makes use of a clip-reload system that provides gunner-selected volley-style fire. Both systems use 20-round ammunition bins, but the differing barrel types prevent cross-loading of ammunition.

Ishtar, TR 3060(Refers to both LBX and Ultra cannon)(with regards to calibre difference between Ultra and LBX)



*Mass penetration model is an unweildy, highly problematic attempt to explore the defence of Btech armour. It essentially builds on the fact that increased mass of shot= increased damage(physical attacks, gauss rifle round) to argue that similarly, a large amount of mass is also required to cause the secondary ablative defence of the armour. (partially supported by MG calibre and ROF statements, although that could be disproved by this)

The ScatterGun is a small-caliber machine gun mounted in the bow of the tank in a mini-ball turret, giving the driver an excellent arc of fire. The ScatterGun fires shells at very high velocity, which compensates for its small caliber.

Vedette TR 3026. Of course, the above statement does disprove the range is limited by muzzle velocity, as the MG range is still 90m.

Therefore, a tight grouping of rounds is required to first score a "hit" on a mech, and then the mass of the combined volley will cause an ablative reaction. There's a whole mess of problems, even before AP rounds came out and the only line supporting it would be this.

In either case, the mating of a sophisticated fire-control system with the launcher ensures a tight grouping of missiles and improves the volley's damage potential.

Donar TR 3060.

[PainRack]

Errata: I forgot to post this. As per warrior, we know that a AC/5 can fire a ten round burst per salvo, however, the variable rate as selected by the mithras is 12 rounds per minute. Considering that the Warrior ROF would be 60 rounds per min, the vast difference in ROF can be seen here(Btech turn in 10 sec, so, 6*10=60)

[Nephtys]

Don't forget the contraversial Mackie test. It's one of the few times a modern-comparable unit or weapon was tested on a (albeit primative and sub-par) battlemech.

[Editor's note: On February 5, 2439, the first BattleMech received its baptism of fire on a desolate series of steppes near the North American city of Yakima. The Battlemech, a joint effort by more than 20 of the best weapons manufacturers in the Hegemony, was tested against four ancient Merkava heavy tanks specially fitted with remote control devices. The commander of the BattleMech and the first MechWarrior was Colonel Charles Kincaid.

The few people allowed to witness the first combat run of the BattleMech were debriefed. What follows is a transcript of a verbal report filed by Professor Htov Gbarleman, chief research scientist for Karena's Fiber Optics Interstellar, manufacturer of the BattleMech's sensor systems.]

Colonel Kincaid, with his usual impatience, rushed through the pre-test warm-up and nearly ripped apart one of his umbilical connections trying to get the test started. As I began to monitor the sensor output, I noticed that the BattleMech's myomer-neural feedback circuits were faithfully echoing Colonel Kincaid's brain wave patterns. It was eerie - almost as though the 'Mech were technically alive and Kincaid was its spark of divinity. The Colonel's howl of sheer pleasure quickly cleared my head of that notion. He pushed the Mackie forward in a trot straight into the test range where four tanks waited among low, rolling hills.

One of the tanks opened fire. Its shot was true and hit the 'Mech just above the right hip. Everyone in the brightly lit bunker seemed to hold his breath as all the readouts fuzzed into snow at the blast interference. No damage! A piece of steel no thicker than my finger, strengthened by radiation casting techniques and impregnated with a sheet of woven diamond fibers, had stopped cold an armor-piercing shell. That same shell would have gone straight through a third of a meter of normal steel.

The tracking cameras watched as the Colonel swiveled his chest to bring his weapons to bear. Twenty years of my life seemed to focus into a single action that would take no more than five seconds. I watched as Colonel Kincaid used his sensors - my sensor - to pick out the tank hidden behind a group of small trees and bushes. He fired both his PPC and autocannon. Both shots were direct hits and the tank erupted into a ball of flame.

A thunderous cheer swept the bunker, while everyone present began to slap me on the back. Instead of feeling pleased at the 'Mech's performance, I felt increasingly sad.

I didn't realize why until Kincaid began to track down the last tank. The tank operator was sitting at his remote control panel next to me. I'll never forget the expression on the young man's face.

Outside, Kincaid had disabled the last tank. As he stood over it, he raised the 'Mech's right foot and brought it crashing down onto the tank. Before the hunk had a chance to explode, Kincaid twisted the 'Mech's foot deeper into the tank's carcass. Next to me, the operator of the tank was trying so hard not to show his fear that tears were streaming down his cheeks.

It hit me than that my colleagues and I had just turned loose one of the most powerful weapons ever conceived by man, but we were celebrating like giddy children. While my companions jumped up and down with glee, that poor boy was trying to hide the fact that in the instant his screens went black, he had wet his pants.

--From Terran Hegemony Document 0324610.04, Hegemony Research and Development Department, Military Weapon Systems Division, ComStar Archives, Terra.

Of note in this article is the Mackie stopping presumably either a 105 or 120mm modern AP shell with no visible armor damage on it's upper leg or lower torso armor, before destroying the tanks with a single volley each, and one melee attack.

Of questionable value is the RHA penetration value of the shell, which was previously stated by some to be far lower than the 'RL' value by about half. Take that as you will, but the article pretty much shows 'standard' materials in their most primative form are certainly better than plate steel, as mentioned as armor in some outdated TRO's.

[PainRack]

A hull-mounted 150mm LB-X autocannon provides devastating anti-vehicle firepower, but the gun can be raised only 10 degrees above horizontal and is of minimal use against aerial targets.

Mars TR 3060
My next post should be either about infantry combat, range & T&T spec or additional quotes about armour...... well, depending on the amount of free time I get.

I have to bury my way through several textbooks.

[phongn]

Of questionable value is the RHA penetration value of the shell, which was previously stated by some to be far lower than the 'RL' value by about half. Take that as you will, but the article pretty much shows 'standard' materials in their most primative form are certainly better than plate steel, as mentioned as armor in some outdated TRO's.

The problem was that the 120mm round from the Merkeva was weaker than an RPG-7, hence the controversy.

[PainRack]

From Inner Sphere Atlas

Waldorff:
The Waldorff City Police consituted the only armed force on the planet, when the Second Falcon Jaegars landed in June 3050. One company of infantry, two armoured cars and an Urbanmech put up a spirited fight.....

Apparently, police forces also contain battlemechs. Also, there is fluff text about lightweight security mechs meant for riot/security duty. Its more likely that these are the 10-20 ton range mechs, although we have seen a Wasp reconfigured to carry a water cannon used for riot duty in the novels.

[Chris OFarrell]

Found this on the net.

http://www.battletecharchive.net/weapon ... gauss.html

When I was looking for info about hte light gauss rifle. It has an interesting diagram of a Gauss rifle as well as a cross section of a gauss slug. I presume they were taken from some TR or RPG source.

[Hotfoot]

Of questionable value is the RHA penetration value of the shell, which was previously stated by some to be far lower than the 'RL' value by about half. Take that as you will, but the article pretty much shows 'standard' materials in their most primative form are certainly better than plate steel, as mentioned as armor in some outdated TRO's.

The problem was that the 120mm round from the Merkeva was weaker than an RPG-7, hence the controversy.

There's more controversy than that, as was detailed in the Btech vs. Heavy Gear thread. One of the key points was that the narrator was a researcher for the sensor suite, yet is supposed to be giving reliable testimony concerning the armor and penetration of everything involved. There is a more detailed analysis of the Mackie Trial on this page of the HGvBT thread.

Also, concerning the firepower of autocannons, one must take the mass of the round into account. This is not simply dividing one ton by the total number of shots per ton, as one "ton" of ammo includes containment, loading mechanisms, the shell, the propellant, and finally, the round itself.

Caseless ammunition gives us a good starting point from which to do the calculations (though it's not that good for Btech).

In a normal round, the metal casing that normally holds a standard shell's primer and powder is replaced with a solid propellant that also acts as a "case" for the round. Caseless ammo is therefore smaller and lighter than a conventional shell, and so a ton of caseless ammo contains twice as many rounds as standard ammunition. However, the ammo feed system for caseless ammo is significantly different from that used for cased ammo. For this reason, an autocannon that fires caseless ammo may not fire any other type of ammo during the same scenario.

Using this as a base, and removing a small amount of mass for ammo feed and structure of the ammo box, plus propellant mass, this gives as standard 200mm AC/20 with a ten round burst shells with a density right between water and sea water. AC/2's have a much more reasonable density value given similar conditions.

Additional sources from the HGvBT thread that have not yet been added:

The Support Machine Gun is similar in design to the machine guns used on 'Mechs. In general, most Sp-MG's are a smaller caliber than most 'Mech Equivalents, but have a higher rate of fire...the Sp-MG weighs 40 kilograms.

This quote mimicks several other vehicle mounted machine gun quotes in which a higher caliber round has been sacrificed for a higher rate of fire, indicating that it is roughly equivilant to a 'Mech mounted machine gun at least on some level.

[Gunhead]

Since this thread is up and running again, I'll put this here.

I think I know where there is a mention of a .50cal mech MG. It was in Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries computer game. In the fluff after the first missions. It was something about a merc "negoating" with a buch of protestors with his .50 cal. I can't check since I don't have the game.
I'd like to confirm this, so if anyone here has the game and could check it would be great.

-Gunhead

[Chris OFarrell]

Just re-reading 'Bread for War'. And picked up a few quotes. Much less on the technical side and more commenting on the political and social side of the Inner Sphere.

-PP 25.
"Beds, desks and chairs ought to be easy to get," Noble said. "I figured I could buy some computer gear for writing and all, but I wonder how available such equipment will be around here."
"Just a bit pricey, that's all. My son-in-law, Fabian, can you fix you up with something".

Interesting about the state of PC technology. On a relativly large world, PC's are apparently something that could easily be quite pricey and scarce in availability, even for a guy that does little but write books. Meaning the civiliain market probably doesn't build plants localy on major worlds, but ships them via jumpships which would make them rather expensive and difficult to get.

-PP 41
"Larry didn't think war had broken him, but it had come close. After being blown out of his BattleMech on Alyina, he'd wandered for days until the Clans captured him and took him to a ComStar deeducation and labor camp. Though his wounds were only superficial, healing had been slow on the sparse and at times nonexistent diet provided by ComStar. Many captives died from injuries that would have healed easily with proper medical attention and sufficient food.

From the first day he'd arrived at the Firebase Tango Zephyr camp, Larry had vowed to survive - and on his own terms. The camp's ComStar operator were more then willing to grant privileges to those who wanted to study their quasi-mystical doctrine and accept their ways. until then, Larry had always believed ComStar to be the benevolent organization that made possible hyperpulse communicatinos between the stars. But at tangoZephyr they were the ones who guarded the wretched prisoners of war, freeing up Clan troops to hunt down even more Federation Commonwealth troops on the planet. Meanwhile the camps operators offered their starving prisoners re-education, preaching the superiority of Inner Sphere humanity over the Clans and promising that the Clans woulkd one day be subject to ComStar.

That did not strike Larry as a bright future because no-where did that message speak of freeing Inner Sphere humans who did not submit to ComStar. He'd resolved never to bend to their will and even made plans to escape, but the paucity of food and the prevalence of informrs amoung the prisoners made any escape attempt difficult. Punishment for attempting to flee was confinement in a small cage left open to the elements".

It's a long quote, but I think it makes the point. In short, during the Clan War, ComStar often played administrator to the Clans, so they didn't have to tie down troops to hold their worlds. They took charge of military prisoners and all manner of other people who might be a threat and put them in near death camps, brainwashing them, starving them, well you get the idea.

The fact is that this SHOULD have been a warning sign to the Inner Sphere. After the battle of Tukayyid and the WOB schisim, the Inner Sphere should have said enough is enough and disbanded ComStar. The Successor States by then had the technology and knowedlge to maintain and operate the HPG network and they could have formed a new neutral organisation to look after keeping the HPG's working between the Successor States, then just let each look after their own interests.

Because frankly letting ComStar keep going after it was shown just how far the fanatics in their order went (and these fanatics essentialy became Word of Blake) was absurd. The FC simply took over all their HPG stations when Waterly tried to launch Scorpion and interdict the entire Inner Sphere.
I can see ComStar technians and so on being folded into a new organisation, with a new level of 'senior management' over them loyal to their successor state. But ComStar really needed to go. Firm and decisive action at this point in history might have stopped the Jhiad from ever happening.

But back to work.

-PP 48
In adopting the name of Katrina - that of her beloved grandmother - Katherine had won over many Lyrans who might have criticzed her because she'd been raised on New Avalon.

Lyran 1: "I'm not sure about this new Archon. I mean she's a DAVION cause she was raised on New Avalon and is completly unknown and untested in this kind of position of authority."
Lyran 2: "Hey wait, she just changed her name to Katrina!"
Lyran: "WE LOVE YOU AND WILL SPLIT THE NATION IN HALF FOR YOU!"

Seriously. The populations of the Inner Sphere are f*(#ing sheep. Their media for all the books rave on about 'scandlevids' and what not are completly incapable of holding their royals accountable or discovering any kind of truth behind coverups and scandles that make watergate look look airtight.

-PP103

"Yes sir. A message was encoded and encapsulated and married to another message heading out from Atreus. We picked it up because of a size-error checking program we've been using to cut down on illegal messages and contraband imagery being encoded within messages".

Word of Blake have no problems decrypting messages that have been encoded by the Capellen Confederation. The Word of Blake who have taken residence in the FWL also are more then happy to do whatever Thommas says, helping him in inteligence gathering and so on. This alone means ComStar should have cut off all links to the ouside the HPG network from the Free Worlds leauge. Their allowing Thomas to support these lunatics of course gave them the base of operations from which to launch the Jhiad...which no-one noticed.

-PP 117 - 119.

Essentialy a DNA testing kit is availalbe on the 'black' market for cash and easy availability. At least on New Avalon. Where as today it's really only availalbe in large labs (which are also mentioned in this book). Also about Victors insane plan to replace Joshua Marak with a double simply to 'calm things down', whatever the hell that means. Apparently he thinks that as soon as the kid dies, the Free Worlds leauge will stop producing the Star Leauge equivilant tech mechs to even the odds against the Clans for the FC.

Which of course makes absoloutly no sense. Given that the FC is capable of producing its own L2 technology in mass production and the FWL is happily supplying the DC without preasure. Basicly said, Victor is a moron.

-PP 132 - 136

Bascily the Crusaders make an absurdly illogical, irrational and unsubstantiated argument saying that Natasha, Ulric, Phellen and Focht were working together to destroy the clans, form a new Star Leauge with Victor as its head as a new First Lord, marry off all his siblings to the other Inner Sphere states and rule the place.

An argument a fundie would be proud to tears of and the Khans of the clans happily go along with it. Some for political reasons, others because they are just plain idiots who are easily swayed by fancy talk.

-PP 137 - 139

Thomas decides in retaliation for Victor placing a double in his Son's place (and he acknowledges it was probably his fathers idea and that he didn't KILL his son and that he didn't really know the long term plans) that he would take back all the worlds lost in the 4th succession war. Now I grant you Hanse wasn't very nice when he decided to take them. But in revenge for Victor's acts, he decides to plunge the Inner Sphere into war. This from the liberal, peace loving enlightened man who's Knights of the Inner Sphere apparently were going to be the start in a new age of honorable combat and morality.

Yeah. So Thomas is happy to kill probably something between tens to hundreds of thousands in a war of revenge that bloody could have set the entire inner sphere into the FIFTH succession war if not for Katherine breaking the FC in two and leaving Victor helpless, letting the Clans sweep up the peices. He's clearly a nice guy. Oh and his democratic parlament didn't exactly have a say in this BTW.

Though officaly he first asked for political and planatery concessions in return for not going to war (now planets and the people on them are nothing but things to be traded around without any care for the people on them of course). Oh Thomas also treats Katherine like the leader of a seperate nation at this point, seriously was Victor the LAST to know she was planing to break away from the Commonwealth? Oh and Katherine at this point started to give orders to the FC Jumpship fleet, ordering jumpships that clearly were under Victors control deep into Lyran space so she could claim them when she broke away as her own.

-PP 149-152
NAIS security is pathethic given that they are supposed to be guarding a criticaly valuable son of a Successor State leader, letting armed MIB type guys casualy walk within striking distance of Joshua, they were only stopped by the FWL sleeper agent who had provided the DNA test that proved the child was not Joshua in the first place.

Neddle Pistols also shoot clouds of plastic flechettes that make the pistol act basicly as a pistol shotgun. It also implies that the plastic flechettes are the size of grains of sand, stripping the flesh off people with solid hits but also getting through business clothes and chewing up internal organs. Though one would think with armor the weapon would be damn near useless as it wouldn't have any real penetration.

The sleeper was shot with a small holdout revolver. One bullet pulverised her left hip, one knicked her heart and lungs. Her prognosis was poor, but she managed to survive. It was said if she had been hit with a neddle pistol, she would have died instantly.

-PP 161 - 163

Thomas basicly telling his people because Victor had a double replace his son for an unknown reason who was dying, they need to launch an all out invasion of the FC. This would be like saying if Tony blair had a kind undergoing treatment in the US and it was found a double had replaced this one person, he should be allowed to send the country into an invasion of the US killing God knows how many people, rather then do something like demand compensation, a formal apology, diplomatic and trading concessions, whatever.

And hope the US didn't decide to strike back or something. Moraly, its questionable. Strategicly, it's downright insanse.

-PP 173 - 174.

Basicly Katherine declares the Lyran allience and delcares independence from the Federated Suns side of the Commonwealth. What is amazing is that all the Government departments, the media, the Federated Commonwealth military units who swore oaths to the FC and the chain of command happily betray their oaths because Victor did something of questionable morality.

NEWS FLASH, leaders through the Inner Sphere make crappy choices like this all the damn time! But somehow this time it justifys treason on a galactic scale (Katherine is NOT the Archon on the Lyran commonwealth, victor still is, she is just the regent).

It's just funny how so much of the FC military stayed loyal to Katherine when she flew in and took over after the Clan War without any opposition on pure BS media manipulation and unjustified claims that Victor was dead, because of respect of the chain of command. Yet here, just about the entire military in the Lyran side of the FC jumps ship and joins up with Katherine because she waves the Lyran flag after decades of work at integrating the two halves into a unified state at the Government level.

I mean just breaking appart the bureaucracy, military chains of command and everything else would take a decade in of itself! The kinda of inertia Government departments build up...

It's just one of my annoyences at this whole crap here.

-PP 175. Again after decades of FC rule that was franky positivly benign compared to the CC, the military, police and local Governments of a former CC world jump ship at the first opportunity and 'throw off the yoke of their Davion opressors' for some psudo communist PRC wanabe Government. Oh and once again the FC had no idea that an entire large planet's military, police and Government had been subverted. And the population was more then willing to go along with it. 5 out of 6 police and military units turned when the signal came and that was that.

-PP 181. In making an address to the nation, Victor gets dressed up in his 10th Lyran guards uniform. Rather then something logical like oh, say a suit. Who the hell does he think he is? President General Musharraf? Though at least he pushed home the point that Joshua was used as a hostage simply to get the material to fight the clans from Thomas because otherwise he was refusing point blank and quite possibly would have handed the Clans even more victories in their wars.

Victor also refuses to attack Katherine for her betryal, supporting her actions. Which is just bizzare.

-PP 194
Hanse Davions 1337 3-1 ratio of attackers to defenders is seen as one of his most amazing tactical breakthroughs and what granted him so much success in 3025 and is considered a brilliant military manouver...which is just scarry.

-PP 199-200

A major scouting and detection unit are 'sniffers' that sample the atmosphere for Mech coolent on scount mechs and recon units. Pick up coolent and you've found the enemy. And coolent always vaporises off into the atmopshere when a Mech is active apparently. The FC forces fighting the CC / FWL forces outmanouver the enemy simply by hanging buckets of coolent from trees, making them think the FC troops are still in one area when they are in fact in another. By moving said buckets, they made it look like they were trying to break out in one direction when in fact they were heading in another.

-PP 205, twin PPC's from a Warhammer melt a ton and a half of armor off a mech.

-PP 210. Somehow Katherine has taken over Victors Jumpships. I have no idea HOW as one would think these Jumpships specificaly identified as 'Victors' are probably Davion property crewed by Davion personnel. And Jumpships are damn near untouchable as far as attacks are concerned in the Inner Sphere. So either their crews mutinied, or Katherine seized them. Oh and later she decided to SELL them back to Victor. The media in both relms should have been screaming blue murder about this...but meh, no-one cares.

-PP 231 - 233, Back on our planet attempting to become the PRC, public executions start of popular media people, Government officals, senior military and police officers and so on. A a terrific way to get the population on your side when they appeared to support you ANYWAY.

-PP 236

Katherine SERIOUSLY belives that MORGAN KELL will belive her when she says she doesn't really think her Brother is a bad guy...but he is clearly evil, clearly had something to do with their mothers dead (which she of course doesn't provide the slightest bit of evidence for).

-PP 237. The Chaos march starts to form. Worlds that neither Sunny nor Thomas got to start to break away from the FC and the LA for no real reasons and neither Victor nor Katherine send forces in to reclaim them, which they could do with a minimum of fuss. Apparently content to let the area turn into...welll....chaos.

-PP 248 - 250.

Clan clusters which are down 50% or more in mechs but much less in personnel can't replace their losses easily, even with multiple enemy clusters defeated on planet with their wreckage all over the place, they are only expecting to regain a few percent more strength in the comming weeks from salvage and repair. It's interesting because other sources have suggested the Clans are amazing at putting almost destroyed stuff back together again in something like a 1:3 ratio.

-PP 262. The Lyran worlds on the boarder with the clans snear at Victors name and have clearly no respect for him, despite his bleeding again and again to try and hold the clans back for them. And the fact that now without his support, the Lyran Allience is at huge danger from either the Falcons or Wolves.

-PP 275. Home made plastic explosives that filled the rear area of a hover ambulance when detonated next to an armory building filled with military grade plastique sets off said plastique in a sympethetic detonation. Which is strange for this type of explosive.

-PP 285. Clan Mech radios are encrypted as a matter of course.

-PP 287. The Government computer system on the PRC wanabe planet uses a UPS with a 12 hour backup battery supply, though in poor repair means it's closser to four hours. Once the power is off, the computers loose all their data, which is kept in some kind of volitile storage and has no local backup. But they have to be reinstalled from CD-ROM backups. Which the Dancing Joker planed to replace with CD's that would install a virus to destroy all the KBG wanabe secret police databases about people on the planet. Hinting they are also not backed up and have full read-write access.

-PP 305-306.

Clan ER small laser on a Gladiator replaced by one that paints for LRM salvos from non LOS missile support mechs, in the UV frequency of the EM spectrum. It paints by rapidly painting one of a small group of mechs for a fraction of a second in sequence before moving onto the next and so on. Either the LRM's just keep following the switching targets until they impact or they look at which target is closest to them or something and hit it.

-PP 312
The Kell hounds explicitly have one regiment engaging a clan scout star. WIth the fire order including two companies for EACH MECH. As you can expect, this is bad for the Clan mechs who are promptly vaporised. Also shows the Kell hounds have at least 120 mechs in their lead regiment. Probably 36 per battalion and a Regimental command company.

-PP 316. After taking back all the worlds they lost in the 3025 and 4th war from Victor, Thomas *generously* offers a truce if Victor gives up the secrets of all the Lostech the NAIS had struggled over the years to peice back toegether, intelectual property worth God only knows how much.

-PP 326. The Falcons completly fail to secure their supply lines, have reletaivly even numbers to fight the Wolves, who are in heavy defensive positions and Phellen knocks out their ability to resupply. Which dramaticly reduces the effect of the Falcons who of course had loaded their Omni's with large amounts of balistic weapons for some insane reason.

-PP 323. Katherine selling Victor his own jumpships back to him is not seen as an underhanded and rather petty move by the people of the LA...because Katrina is just soooo Lyran and so perfect.

-PP 348. Massed Air strikes by Wolf and Kell Hound fighters completly shatter a Clan Galaxy. Though for some reason, Phellen lets them all leave rather then take their equipment as booty and ship the warriors home on an unarmed jumpship...

-PP 377. Victor is given conclusive evidence that the Captian General of the Free Worlds Leauge is an imposter. It's never used, ever, as far as I remember.

[LaCroix]

I just saw that diagram of the gauss..

Its actually no railgun, more a coilgun. (A railgun has two rails along the barrel without isolators, a coilgun (ineffective) consists of magnets in series)

But who the holy *** had the idea to make it hollow?? a hollow- thus self deforming projektile? killing all KE it has? are they only triggering an allergic reaction of the mech against nickel?

[PainRack]

-PP 25.
"Beds, desks and chairs ought to be easy to get," Noble said. "I figured I could buy some computer gear for writing and all, but I wonder how available such equipment will be around here."
"Just a bit pricey, that's all. My son-in-law, Fabian, can you fix you up with something".

Interesting about the state of PC technology. On a relativly large world, PC's are apparently something that could easily be quite pricey and scarce in availability, even for a guy that does little but write books. Meaning the civiliain market probably doesn't build plants localy on major worlds, but ships them via jumpships which would make them rather expensive and difficult to get.

Depends on the world. According to Atlas of the IS and the various FM, as well as Civil War Sourcebook, most planet industries are capable of producing computers, although places like Kesai IV are an exception.

However, there may very well be scarcity, due to the limited production of consumer goods for civilian consumption, as opposed to military use, something echoed in Mechwarrior 2nd Edt.

We do know that virtually all fusion engines are used for military purposes and even workmechs are being cannablised so as to maintain battlemechs in working order.

Even the industrial boom of the 3040s and the FC union may not had addressed commercial needs.

The fact is that this SHOULD have been a warning sign to the Inner Sphere. After the battle of Tukayyid and the WOB schisim, the Inner Sphere should have said enough is enough and disbanded ComStar. The Successor States by then had the technology and knowedlge to maintain and operate the HPG network and they could have formed a new neutral organisation to look after keeping the HPG's working between the Successor States, then just let each look after their own interests.

Why would you say that? Comstar Sourcebook plain outright states that the Great Houses were incapable of operating the HPG network. Although Intelligence Operations state that the FC had built a series of blackboxes to coordinate intel between the LIC and DMI/MIIO, the blackbox technology is still inferior to HPG. Assuming it is equivalent to those used during the Terran Hegemony, they were limited to words with no image capability and it is hinted that the data capacity is smaller than HPG tranmissions. The only beneft was "real-time", as Comstar still batched their messages.

Seriously. The populations of the Inner Sphere are f*(#ing sheep. Their media for all the books rave on about 'scandlevids' and what not are completly incapable of holding their royals accountable or discovering any kind of truth behind coverups and scandles that make watergate look look airtight.

The Civil War sourcebook, and even Federated Commonwealth 3030 update , Somerset Strikers Sourcebook address this pretty well. The union was already facing a lot of difficulties and the Clan invasion simply tore the nation apart. I mean, even during 3050 itself, the Steiners were unhappy about Victor, as seen in Somerset Strikers Handbook.

Just for laughs

Re: Is trouble brewing?
In answer to your question, I 'd say we won't have a problem if we watch for the early signs and stamp them out wherever we see them. The real determing factor in the long-term survival fo the Federated Commonwealth is Prince Victor, and on that score I have few worries. He's bright, perceptive, thoughtful and intelligent enough to spot the pitfalls of being the first ruler of a vast empire that used to be two independent states. He also cares enough about both his fathers people and his mother's to want to avoid those pitafalls. Provided the public sees that commitment in Victor's words and actions, I think he can keep the realm together against the separatist agitators who will always be with us.
I'll agree that the biggest potential problems are public rleations and outside forces beyond our control, like these dammed Clan invaders. They're cutting a swath through the Lyran half of the Commonwealth, which might well lead to fierce resentment. We can't do anything about that, though, so I'll go on to the PR problem.
Already, Victor tends to be seen as more Davion than Steiner, though this isn't yet a liability. We have to keep it from becoming one. People don't yet see him as exclusively Davion; it's more a vague feeling that he isn't like the famous Stiners of the past. If the Lyrans do start regarding him as Davion rather than Steiner, we could have major toruble-so let's head it off now, before it happens. Our job, starting now and ongoing after Victor ascends the throne, is to make him seem more like a Steiner in the eyes of the Lyrans. It is imperative that everyone in the Federated Commonwealth see Victor as both Steiner and Davion, and therefore acting in everybody's best interests. He's fairly well liked by most people now, and I see no reason why that should change. With a little judicious spin control, we can ensure that Victor's popularity with all th e Commonwealth's people goes up and stays up.
Let me know what ideas you have on the best way to give Victor a Steiner makeover. We should meet about it soon-say, next week?

Apparently, the ISF hope was more accurate.

Basicly said, Victor is a moron.

hahaha. Thank god the Civil War sourcebook FINALLY address his idiocy.

Bascily the Crusaders make an absurdly illogical, irrational and unsubstantiated argument saying that Natasha, Ulric, Phellen and Focht were working together to destroy the clans, form a new Star Leauge with Victor as its head as a new First Lord, marry off all his siblings to the other Inner Sphere states and rule the place.

An argument a fundie would be proud to tears of and the Khans of the clans happily go along with it. Some for political reasons, others because they are just plain idiots who are easily swayed by fancy talk.

It is a valid argument in their eyes. Remember, the Clans think in terms of martial powress. The battle of Conventry, Vlad Harvest Trials and the Jade Falcon Incursion, GB Dominion war and so on all demonstrate this very same mentality. Aka, if you don't fight, you lose your edge.

Thomas basicly telling his people because Victor had a double replace his son for an unknown reason who was dying, they need to launch an all out invasion of the FC. This would be like saying if Tony blair had a kind undergoing treatment in the US and it was found a double had replaced this one person, he should be allowed to send the country into an invasion of the US killing God knows how many people, rather then do something like demand compensation, a formal apology, diplomatic and trading concessions, whatever.

And hope the US didn't decide to strike back or something. Moraly, its questionable. Strategicly, it's downright insanse.

Wasn't it established in the Chaos March manual that the reason for war was simply a desire to reclaim more territory? Its likely that a political compromise was made here, a balance between parliamentary powers which wanted more political power and benefits vs Thomas "peaceful" outlook. Of course, let's not forget that Thomas seized this oppurtinity to further strip the provincal governments of their own private militaries and mercenaries(FM Mercenaries, Kristen Krushers entry)

Hanse Davions 1337 3-1 ratio of attackers to defenders is seen as one of his most amazing tactical breakthroughs and what granted him so much success in 3025 and is considered a brilliant military manouver...which is just scarry.

This was also echoed in the earlier Warrior series novel. It expands on it though, by saying that Hanse brillance was in choosing to send multiple regiments and combined arms to take a planet instead of just sending in isolated units, attempting to suggest that this was the norm in the 3rd Sucession war.

However, the Wolf Dragoons sourcebook amply disprove this. To invade New Aragorn, Ian Davion dedicated 3 entire RCTs, the Wolf Dragoons themselves and reinforced them with MULTIPLE free armour and infantry regiments. All this on top of garrison forces.

-PP 237. The Chaos march starts to form. Worlds that neither Sunny nor Thomas got to start to break away from the FC and the LA for no real reasons and neither Victor nor Katherine send forces in to reclaim them, which they could do with a minimum of fuss. Apparently content to let the area turn into...welll....chaos.

FM Covert Ops as well as the Chaos March manual address this. The Chaos March WERE hit by Liao and Marik forces, well, most of them. Epilison Iradini and the insane Comstar guy is one exception.
The problem was that Thomas stopped sponsering Liao incursions into the region. Given that the CC had enough troops to conquer those worlds but not hold them(FM CC as well as Capellan Solution pt I, plus title name IIRC is noble ambition), its likely that Liao wanted exactly what Hanse got from Katrina. Jumpships.

Katherine opposition was a power play, to demonstrate her peacefulness and the Lyran unwillingness to finance another "Davion" war.

Victor........ was sheer idiocy as usual. The sheer idiocy wasn't the Chaos March though. That's semi-excusable, the Sarna March wasn't the most stable of Victor holdings. However, the damned Cappellan March and Crucis March weren't mobilised to hold onto the Disputed territories........ regions of space where Davion troops were still present and FIGHTING, in semi-control of the worlds, still considered Davion territory and screaming for supplies and reinforcement.

At least the Chaos march had the excuse that most FC troops were no longer fighting there(The Lyran Guards AWOL, other than 2 other scattered commands, there were no Regular Army troops left)

[PainRack]

The new Phoenix Hawk's torsos were given more angles for better deflection of incoming weapons fire

Project Phoenix, Phoenix Hawk entry.

Direct proof that mech armour isn't just ablative in nature.

[PainRack]

The Bug-Eye's outward appearance is intended to mimic the Buccaneer, Sylvester, and other commonly sighted classes of merchant vessels, but beneath its drab exterior are some of the most sophisticated sensing devices and computers developed to date. Probes, dishes, even the hull of the vessel can pick up communications from either ships or planetary surfaces.
This equipment is so sensitive that enemy vessel captains have been known to forbid their bridge personnel to speak, for fear that a Bug-Eye would overhear. This caution may have a solid basis, as late-model Bug-Eyes are reported able to hack into some vessels' computer systems and listen in on a ship's interior communications.
The famed Tokina Imaging Company of Terra has provided a collection of optical and electronic equipment that the Bug-Eye uses to collect such detailed information that crew members can read material held by a person thousands of kilometers below.

TR 2750, Bug-Eye.