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One Rabid Fox changes the Succession Wars [A Battletech Isekai]

Honestly the Merlin needs more dakka or armor not heatsinks. It's oversinked
Why not just turn that extra heatsink into another medium laser? But I general always like more armor rather then more firepower like the Hellbringer. Especially if it's for front line heavy/assault mechs.

Imperator Pax is there a chance an Armored Cowl can be added on?
 
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Ironically the Behemoth is cheaper than the Mammoth, and they're boht actually cheper than a mule due to the wae aerospace values are calculated (its very silly).

He can make design, thats one of the things of Megamek lab is there is a unit creation, and that will show up later with mechs with quirks in particular, but I'm honestly shit at aerospace designs

Well thats an easy fix.

"Kallon you have what?< Okay I want to build mechs liscence me the design, no I don't care that you think it won't be profitable take my fucking money."

Alexandria "are you sure you're not Lyran?"

Which successor state likes aircraft... the capellans .... *angry face*

You really would think the Dracs would do more with ASF especially given their Reimi ring as well, and their Shinobis but like its the capellans who have the ASF shtick in the lore it seems

I think only the basic model Merlin is available but we could always have the bullshit Snow Bird model show up early

Jaime / Wolf : "What the fuck is that?"

"Its a Merlin, its the first new design of heavy battlemech in the inner sphere in a hundred years."

Jaime looks at the Clan ER PPC, "Oh really?" and "They're made by a company called Mountain Wolf ?"

"Yeah they were founded during the Star League."

"Is that a Snow Raven emblem on that DropShip?"

"No. I mean whats a snow raven, those are clearly Jarnfolk."

Huh, I forgot that the Capellans have a larger naval structure (3 ASF for a flight/element and so on) compared to other states.

Well, as Deep Periphery sailors, Jarnfolk are one of the few that could have conceivably interacted with the Clans. Huh, and I just checked sarna, yep, they've had contact and were deemed harmless. Though if we're talking about technological trade, the Diamond Sharks/Sea Fox would make sense as well.
 
Huh, I forgot that the Capellans have a larger naval structure (3 ASF for a flight/element and so on) compared to other states.
of course they have no native heavy ASF production save the eagle knockoff and most of their production by volume is lights. also 3 bird flights are a lot less tactically flexible. mind you the 6 bird squadron in general is dumb so....yeah
 
of course they have no native heavy ASF production save the eagle knockoff and most of their production by volume is lights. also 3 bird flights are a lot less tactically flexible. mind you the 6 bird squadron in general is dumb so....yeah

I imagine that the 3 ASF element was to rely on a greater concentration of force to compensate for the fact that they have the smallest armies, but I do agree that making the squadron 2 elements then doesn't make sense to me. Though I don't know how they compare to the other Houses in terms of aerospace size specifically.
 
I imagine that the 3 ASF element was to rely on a greater concentration of force to compensate for the fact that they have the smallest armies, but I do agree that making the squadron 2 elements then doesn't make sense to me. Though I don't know how they compare to the other Houses in terms of aerospace size specifically.
they have less than others in large part due to them having less stuff overall.
also the big problem with 3 asf elements was proven in WWII. the 2 wingmen spend more time focusing on staying on station and not crashing into each other rather than fighting/ covering the leader and the unit is less flexible in being able to defend itself/others. also means you got less elements which reduces offensive capacity
 
they have less than others in large part due to them having less stuff overall.
also the big problem with 3 asf elements was proven in WWII. the 2 wingmen spend more time focusing on staying on station and not crashing into each other rather than fighting/ covering the leader and the unit is less flexible in being able to defend itself/others. also means you got less elements which reduces offensive capacity

I did not know those things, thanks.

Why not just turn that extra heatsink into another medium laser? But I general always like more armor rather then more firepower like the Hellbringer. Especially if it's for front line heavy/assault mechs.

Imperator Pax is there a chance an Armored Cowl can be added on?
I'm wondering how the Design Quirks work in this Essence as well (seeing as MegaMekLab by itself doesn't allow you to alter Quirks, though you can edit it for specific units and entire designs in MegaMek the app). Does it trade in with Negative Quirks or an increase in cost when creating new designs and modifying existing designs, or can you just add them in, like in MegaMek?

Edit: I mostly house-ruled it to a % increase in BV myself.
 
I'm wondering how the Design Quirks work in this Essence as well (seeing as MegaMekLab by itself doesn't allow you to alter Quirks, though you can edit it for specific units and entire designs in MegaMek the app). Does it trade in with Negative Quirks or an increase in cost when creating new designs and modifying existing designs, or can you just add them in, like in MegaMek?
The Merlin already has the both the Easy to Maintain and Rugged (1) Quirks, if you add the Armored Cowl then you you would get a mech that would be love by the both the their Mechwarriors and the Technicians. Becoming the AKs of Mechs.
 
The Merlin already has the both the Easy to Maintain and Rugged (1) Quirks, if you add the Armored Cowl then you you would get a mech that would be love by the both the their Mechwarriors and the Technicians. Becoming the AKs of Mechs.

True, and if you can add more Design Quirks freely, it can get ridiculous, though depending on how it is interpreted in fluff, the unmentioned cost and complexity of manufacturing (like high-tech software/hardware) for other people can increase. Easy to Pilot would make it more palatable for military for green pilots or as a training mech. You want a comfier mech, Improved Life Support. Want four free pseudo heatsinks? Get the Combat Computer, or heck if you have a lot of 2+ heat weapons, spam Improved Cooling Jacket . For a commander's battlemech, there's the Battle Computer or the Command Mech. Want to make a harder to hit heavy, use the magic of the Marauder and Marauder II and get the Narrow/Low Profile. Want to be able to run past a target and still shoot them without sacrificing movement (Or mimic the Urbanmech, or be a QuadMech that can twist), the Extended Torso Twist is there just for you!

Edit: I based my favorite custom on the Marauder, Enforcer and Urbanmech. The Pistolero series are dwarven cowboys with two laser arms and 1-2 lasers on their hips, with some extra weapons if there's excess weight. In varying weight class, it is a Rugged (2) design that uses two Barrelfists that doubles as Improved Cooling Jackets for dual lasers (usually LLs or PPCs, MLs for lights), its stout design makes it Stable and gives it a Narrow/Low Profile, and Extended Torso Twist because why not.
 
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True, and if you can add more Design Quirks freely, it can get ridiculous, though depending on how it is interpreted in fluff, the unmentioned cost and complexity of manufacturing (like high-tech software/hardware) for other people can increase. Easy to Pilot would make it more palatable for military for green pilots or as a training mech. You want a comfier mech, Improved Life Support. Want four free pseudo heatsinks? Get the Combat Computer, or heck if you have a lot of 2+ heat weapons, spam Improved Cooling Jacket . For a commander's battlemech, there's the Battle Computer or the Command Mech. Want to make a harder to hit heavy, use the magic of the Marauder and Marauder II and get the Narrow/Low Profile. Want to be able to run past a target and still shoot them without sacrificing movement (Or mimic the Urbanmech, or be a QuadMech that can twist), the Extended Torso Twist is there just for you!

Edit: I based my favorite custom on the Marauder, Enforcer and Urbanmech. The Pistolero series are dwarven cowboys with two laser arms and 1-2 lasers on their hips, with some extra weapons if there's excess weight. In varying weight class, it is a Rugged (2) design that uses two Barrelfists that doubles as Improved Cooling Jackets for dual lasers (usually LLs or PPCs, MLs for lights), its stout design makes it Stable and gives it a Narrow/Low Profile, and Extended Torso Twist because why not.
That is too much. I see the Merlin as being a better Vindicator, more maneuverable Centurion and slower Dragon.
 
I did not know those things, thanks.


I'm wondering how the Design Quirks work in this Essence as well (seeing as MegaMekLab by itself doesn't allow you to alter Quirks, though you can edit it for specific units and entire designs in MegaMek the app). Does it trade in with Negative Quirks or an increase in cost when creating new designs and modifying existing designs, or can you just add them in, like in MegaMek?

Edit: I mostly house-ruled it to a % increase in BV myself.
You can also manually edit them in MegaMek Lab they show up on the actual sheet. It is annoying to do though.
 
That is too much. I see the Merlin as being a better Vindicator, more maneuverable Centurion and slower Dragon.

Yeah, the Pistolero is for my power fantasy as an UberMech. As a more canon-compliant reliable mech, Armored Cowl is enough to make the Merlin even more popular for survivability. I'm mostly thinking of Easy To Pilot and Easy to Maintain because they're the most appealing for me in a mech, fluff-wise.

Edit:
You can also manually edit them in MegaMek Lab they show up on the actual sheet. It is annoying to do though.

Huh, did not know that. Nice.

Edit 2: Double posted so I just added it here.
You know, if you're ever hunting for units or spare parts and you're short on BV, I remember an old trick I read on the BT ideas thread. Upgrade your fusion engine to XL or XXL, downgrade your armor and fill the remaining tonnage and space with ammo, then watch the BV drop. I find Machine Gun ammo very useful for this.

Type/Model: Centurion CN9-AL
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2915
Config: Biped BattleMech
Rules: Level 4, Experimental design
Mass: 50 tons
Chassis: Corean Model K7 Standard
Power Plant: 200 XXL Fusion
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Running Speed: 64.8 km/h
Armor Type: StarGuard III Standard Standard
Armament:
1 Large Laser
1 Medium Laser
1 Medium Laser
1 Small Laser
1 Machine Gun
1 LRM 10
Manufacturer: Corean Enterprises
Location: New Avalon
Communications System: System: Corean TransBand-J9
Targeting and Tracking System: Corean B-Tech

---------------------------------------------------------
Type/Model: Centurion CN9-AL
Mass: 50 tons
Equipment: Crits Mass
Int. Struct.: 83 pts Standard 0 5.00
Engine: 200 XXL Fusion 18 3.00
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: 10 Single 2 0.00
Gyro: 4 2.00
Cockpit, Life Supt., Sensors: 5 3.00
L: Sh+UA+LA+H R: Sh+UA+LA 7 0.00
Armor Factor: 16 Standard 0 1.00
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head: 3 9
Center Torso: 16 1
Center Torso (Rear): 4
L/R Side Torso: 12 0/0
L/R Side Torso (Rear): 0/0
L/R Arm: 8 0/0
L/R Leg: 12 1/1

Weapons and Equipment Loc Heat Ammo Crits Mass
---------------------------------------------------------
1 Large Laser RA 8 2 5.00
1 Medium Laser CT 3 1 1.00
1 Medium Laser CT(R) 3 1 1.00
1 Small Laser RA 1 1 0.50
1 Machine Gun HD 0 4200 25 21.50
(Ammo Locations: 1 LT*,1 LT*,1 RT*,1 RT*,1 RT*,1 RT*,8 LA,1 LL,6 RA,1 RL,2 RT)
1 LRM 10 LT 4 24 4 7.00
(Ammo Locations: 2 LT)
---------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 19 4 36.00
Crits and Tons Left:

Calculated Factors
Total Cost: 22,115,375 C-Bill
Battle Value (BV1):206
Battle Value (BV2):21

For 21 BV you have all the parts you need for an XXL FE-using Centurion -AL, just be sure to pull out the ammo unless you're planning to use a mech-shaped bomb. (Though that's in MechFactory, the closest I could get is 375 BV in MML, 67 if you strip out all the weapons).

Edit 2.1: Huh, that could be an infinite BV loop: buy an AmmoMech, remove said Ammo then recycle the unit with its increased BV, rinse and repeat.
 
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Sakhara 1.8
Sakhara 1.8
Yvonne Davion couldn't quite say honestly she was glad that Lord Aaron of House Sandoval had arrived... it did eliminate the waiting portion of the problem. It was difficult to deal with that her current conundrum was Jackson's age. The idea that Jackson could have given her these sorts of problems was absurd...

"I need you to repeat that again."

"Amaris had surviving children." He repeated, and shrugged. "The whys, how and specifics I don't know only that that's the case." The somewhat amusingly named Colonel Robinson of Clay's Armor Force, named the Assault Cluster, nodded eyes narrowed in a ferocious scowl but didnt' say anything. "Admittedly House Amaris surviving in the former rimworld was one thing, but besides cousins and nephews there were direct descendants and... "


And there were mad men who wanted to restore the Rim World's Empire, or fight the whole Inner Sphere. There was even some horrible little world on the periphery ruled by the von Strang's even.... that would bear looking into. It boggled the mind at times how the Combine could have such ardent supporters that the Amaris dynasty could still command loyalty and attempts at restoration was enough to flabbergast her. "Well," She sighed, "that is a positively ghastly matter to contemplate."

Jackson she reminded herself hadn't even started his time at Albion yet. God, what if the Taurians were supporting some Amaris pretender... that was horrifying for her to contemplate... but she decided not to bring it up. There was enough bad blood with the bulls as it was she didn't want to be the one to start a fresh wave of disgust and revulsion of the periphery tyranny over something that might not be true.

But that wasn't the focus of today... it had just been a topic that had come up... or that she had stumbled into. As if they needed one more hereditary enemy to appear. The Combine, and the Capellans were enough without having to deal with the delusions of taurian grandeur on their border rimward. Amaris? An enemy who might well bring back the worst of the succession wars' atrocities... she hoped not.

The warning, and the fact that Lord Clay considered it a serious enough danger to contemplate Amaris as equal to a threat as the Combine reprisal possibility was concerning. Perhaps it was the facet of his age but the fact he treated that as seriously as he did, in comparison to usual... admittedly that might well have been in the face of how his retainers acted. It was an oddity, but his armor officers were more present rather than the BattleMech company, but Colonel Robinson bordered on feral regarding the potential threat... and that would be hard to fake.

Somewhere out there was a threat that they'd been unaware of even existing... but further conversation had to be put aside as Lord Aaron was here. The Duke of Robinson was a natural ally for Yvonne Davion to have in most cases. You learned a lot about how a man responded to adversity but especially to physical adversity... Aaron had never been his father's heir only happenstance had lead him to the ducal throne. As third son of the ducal house he had run off to join, to enlist in service with the AFFS... he'd been a tanker, rising then to an NCO commanding a tank when he'd lost his legs to the Capellans. His actions on Rio had also cemented the subsequent lifelong friendship between himself and the heir, and current duke of Rio, such that the reigning duke's heir had gone to attend the Robinson Battle Academy.

They should have been on the same side. Their interests aligning.. but he now posed a potential complicating factor as competition in the great games of the nobility, while still remaining an ally in other factors.

"First Robinson Rangers." The duke's personal command, though truthfully the unit was more a facet of the Duke's administrative role. It wasn't a purely ceremonial role as colonel of the regiment, but he also wasn't leading them directly into battle. That was how it had been that Lord Aaron had been told of the actions of the Madison Plains on Halstead Station. Yvonne wasn't looking forward to the necessities of ceremony. As Field Marshal for the Draconis March Lord Aaron had seniority.
--
As heiress apparent to the duchy of Kestrel she had both seen the receptions her father had organized, as well seen receptions to receive House Cunningham and other potentates throughout her life. This was really no different. It might have felt that way, in the sense of her vantage point, because she was a student of Sakhara and not in the assembly as the countess of Kestrel, but she was still nominally representing her father.

... but it was still somewhat of a different experience.

"Oh god those are the Vols, we're gonna get our asses kicked twice this week." One of her classmates muttered... thankfully it wasn't Justin. Vice Chancellor Coleridge was too distracted to have overheard the comment... but if he'd planned to try and have them run the exercise before Lord Aaron's arrival he'd misjudged the timetable.

Now the duke of Robinson, and the RBA instructors were going to get a front row seat to their rematch... and she expected that as it was some of her classmates had yet to read the combined arms packets that had gone out the day before.

Someone who must have read the packet remarked that that would also be something the Duke of Robinson would likely sit in on. Being a former tread head, the fact that the New Avalon native had just called a sitting duke a tread head didn't even warrant a raised eyebrow... but she was more concerned looking around to make sure the instructors hadn't heard.

The sooner they were seated and could eat dinner the less... reduced chance of chattering among the ranks of cadets would get their class in trouble. Unfortunately the Chancellor yielded the podium to the duke of Robinson and there was a gathering of lesser speakers that followed lasting until about eight thirty before they were finally allowed to move to their seats and start dinner.

There was some ruffling of papers, and someone passed around a schedule sheet. The contents of which prompted more grumbling, and talk. Combined Arms exercises, engagement exercises against the Medium Mech Company, and then probably on top of that a trial run against the Robinson Rangers as their OpFor... all while under the scrutiny of the Field Marshal of the Draconis March, and the director for MI2 on top of that. The Vice Chancellor was sure to be breathing down their necks.

"What do you think they're talking about up there?"

"Nothing good for us I imagine." Justin replied to the cadet's question.. and Alexandria had to agree... it might have looked like an amiable discussion but it surely was bad news for them.
--
Her readouts showed the heavy vehicles by the heat of their fusion engines... but she could see them so it wasn't really necessary. By conventional wisdom you needed a battlemech to fight a battlemech... such wisdom had not precisely been constructed around a uniform formation of eighty ton vehicles that even if you managed to close in would likely maul you with assault auto cannon fire.

Her computer labelled the formation as 'Robinson's Assault Cluster' and according to the data from organization they were only part of the armored formation. No surprise it was thirty eighty tonners presumably there were lighter vehicles and possibly other forces being kept in reserve in case of a real emergency.

"Wouldn't want to attack these guys head on, especially not out here." one of her classmates observed emphasizing the point as their medium mech visibly turned its torso back and forth looking out over the wide expanse of red sands.

"Yeah there are easier ways to commit suicide." Someone else chimed in.

A third classmate observed that it made sense that the Schreks were paired up with their auto cannon equipped sibling design. 3 PPCs and the ability to fire them continuously they could focus on long range fire support while the Devastators fired their ChemJet Assault Auto cannons, SRMs and flamers at anything Mech, vehicle, or infantry stupid enough to get within range.

They were friendlies.

Today, her subconscious added. They weren't the opposition today, but rather an allied unit they were supposed to working in conjunction with. There were no sensor returns from the Rangers unit, their officers, and presumably the MechWarriors of the House Guard were all inside a nice air conditioned Operations Center.

Light beacons in the desert turned on illuminating visually the path as navigation radio signals fed data to their maps. "Don't over think things guys," Justin instructed his lance mates, "This is a pretty big formation, so watch your sectors and trust your adjoining units, we've got this."

Inside of a plush well apportioned and more importantly air conditioned command center Don Juan's much more boisterous pep talk to his lance followed. Henry Clay smiled slightly. He'd given Justin the instructions not to over think things. This was a fairly simple field exercise, but one intended to use a lot of moving parts which added its own complexity.

The point wasn't to make anyone fail, but give them some idea of working with a large number of conventional units. "This force would have been useful on Mallory's world fox." Bard Cameron remarked.

"Yes well they weren't with me at the time." He replied to the Robinson Ranger's officer. "It certainly would have helped... and if the Combine wants to try here, well I'd just as soon have my slantbacks splash their DropShips," and he'd almost just said JumpShips, which would have been a faux pas, "On the ride in. If they do make it to the surface, well then I hope they like sand."

The Wolverine BattleMech pilot laughed, "Yeah, I hear ya." The conversation the night before had been quick to touch on their ability to supply 240 rated fusion engines.

They had only touched on what those engines meant for tanks. Tanks that wouldn't have to use ICE engines. There were advantages to that... and of course the Partisan tank mounting a lighter fusion engine meant it could carry more armor... or any number of other modifications that the DMM Armor Force might decide it wanted to implement. He wasn't going to meddle in that he'd just sell them the engines and let them go for it.

Robinson though was also definitely onboard with expanding local BattleMech production. The Centurion might not have been an amazing mech, but it was a good entry mech. It would be, along with the trebuchet a nice standard design... and light enough weight to not cost too much. They could bring in other things. "Slantbacks?" A younger Davion guards officer in BattleMech spurs questioned.

"Oh, the F 90. I think they're official marketing name is actually Stingray. They're a swept wing design based off the F 77. Same engine just a lot lighter air frame."

"And this engine wouldn't happen to be a 240?" Yvonne Davion asked.

"Yep, you got it. Its a really great fusion engine. The only thing I'd think you get more mileage out of is the VLAR 300, which is arguably hands down the best engine ever made..." He paused, "In terms of wide scalable application since you can even use it to power buildings and crack hydrogen for water purification." He trailed off. "Its a really good engine." The cadets were coming up on their first skirmish of the exercise. The Field Marshal gave a shuddering sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose. He blinked, "Oh that was a rhetorical question wasn't it? My bad."
 
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Hoh, do you think either Yvonne or the Duke would request/agree to an engagement with the Robinson Rangers against your unit? Like for a demonstration of combined arms using the Assault Cluster, or at least a Mech-to-Mech spectacle between two house units with your medium company.
 
Hoh, do you think either Yvonne or the Duke would request/agree to an engagement with the Robinson Rangers against your unit? Like for a demonstration of combined arms using the Assault Cluster, or at least a Mech-to-Mech spectacle between two house units with your medium company.
Not at this junction. That will occur down the road, but right now no.
 
Sakhara 1.9
Sakhara 1.9
With almost sixty individual combat assets to keep track of the data was distracting. That was part of the lesson. She was a mech company commander, each class was an over strength Mech Company built on ancient square company units of the star league and the armored vehicles were divided into sub groups of ten operating basically as light companies... which she found mildly ironic given that since at eight hundred tons ten tanks out massed even her twelve heaviest mechs taken together, and there were three such light companies.

That allowed them to form different close order formations for attack though, which gave them tactical flexibility and cover multiple sectors of fire... there wasn't much in the way of cover. She found it somewhat unrealistic that they didn't see the enemy approach before they actually went active given the wide expanse of open sands on three sides...

In a real engagement they'd have a better idea of of an attacking enemy... but it created an artificial difficulty as the enemy often started appearing at about six hundred meters, which was fairly close, and that forced them to scramble to react.

As an exercise this was not based on a specific enemy unit. It wasn't even really a generic enemy unit of a hostile sucessor house. There were fake sensor returns to show Vindicators of the Capellan Confederation, or Dragons of the Draconis Combine and there were others more commonly associated with House Marik's Free Worlds League.

The image from inside her cockpit flickered.

It was projected forward in the center of the screen... not exactly the best place but her class mates were similarly put up and spread out over the screen group by the lances they had assembled in. The cadets were supposed to graduate and be commissioned as lieutenants and sent to their duty stations... thus in theory they would be getting paired up with a senior non comm MechWarrior to command a lance.

The Duke of Robinson, Aaron Sandoval sat in his simple unpowered wheel chair with his hands folded in front of him. Sakhara was a world that fell under his responsibility, and its academy had been paired with troops from the march to test their skills before. Of course that wasn't the only reason he was here. The current students had an instructor who had the attention of the First Prince for the very understandable reason of breaking a Sword of Light regiment.

There was some light banter going on. That was to say among the officers, the cadets were still, probably a little nervous, and not yet ready to banter. Aaron Sandoval watched one of his promising officers shoot the shit with the younger mechwarrior. There had been slices of that when he'd been a tanker with the other enlisted... he'd never expected to rule, and frankly wasn't even sure he wanted to commission into the officer corp. He was able to drive a mech but being a TC, being a part of a team had felt natural. He appreciated being apart of that larger unit... even a 'mech company felt too small to him.

Sakhara had a history of preparing its mechwarriors for combined arms operation, it arguably did a better job of it than the Nagelring but that was neither here nor there. One of the things he hadn't been expected for his arrival was the landhold's development.

The masses of eighty tonner tanks were largely a testament to extremes. A PPC, the weapon of the Shrek, had a minimal engagement envelope, while the Demolsiher's 185mm Assault Auto Cannons lost velocity and thus armor penetration against standard battle plate rather quickly. These weren't standard demolishers but the fusion powered version, and that meant they carried additional weapons.

They hadn't been expected, but he supposed there had been a lot going on. Ian... the first Prince had installed him on Sakhara in part as a compromise. Well, it seemed as if New Avalon had over compromised. As to the Centurion, as a Battlemech there were existing 'mechworks on Robinson, though they were just refit and repair yards. Production was a bit beyond them, and for the mech itself Lord Aaron had no strong opinions on it one way or another. It was a BattleMech and he was open to the arguments regarding logistics that investing in the production would be useful, and that they could benefit from New Avalon having recently completed its factory.

He'd have some one else review the math side of the proposals. But the idea, that struck him as sound. A factory on Robinson, say building up the existing mechworks, a factory here on Sakhara, and the existing factory on New Avalon would surely mean that the AFFS could produce more machines and that meant more BattleMech units, and thus they could take the fight against the Combine.

If that was the case, if it was real, then Lord Aaron couldn't find a reason to disagree, but it hadn't been why he had come... but it was something of a nice surprise.
--
It was, it had been unavoidable of course and it made sense to bring the Duke of Robinson in on the motion of the Mech Factory. Having the Field Marshal of the Draconis March on side to pitch the motion to Corean would give it further legitimacy... assuming that she was wrong about the intent to just wave a mountain of liquid capital underneath the company's nose as leverage. The shipyards had thus far remained out of the discussion.

As Duchess of Victoria she nearly had to consider whether or not her own domain wouldn't benefit from being enriched by joining the not really a cabal... but she doubted her steward would appreciate signing on to such a large financial expenditure without consultation. She wasn't sure if her holdings could support that at the moment on such short notice.

Military Intelligence had already postulated that Clay was probably an insomniac, or that his work hours were a result of the compulsive 'workaholic' type. That was to say he kept long hours in the evening, and his general work space rarely was limited to singular topics, or projects that were occupying his attention at any given time. Part of that split attention was simply a facet of being a feudal potentate, her own concern for her domain, conflict with her long standing position, the dynasty as a whole, and the realm were nothing new.

Henry Clay made a show of checking his palm pilot, and asking the cadets if they were ready. They were withholding the results of the earlier exercise, which might have been construed as petty but they needed to see what the class could do, and the rematch was going to be in the simulators anyway.

Once the cadets confirmed they were ready and the simulator pods booted up and networked then it was just a matter of preparing for the next part of the exercise. The Duke of Robinson didn't comment on the Medium BattleMech Company's composition, or its armament. Coleridge wasn't comfortable with the scenario, but it mirrored the generic Sakharana terrain of the first simulation as it filled the operation's center's forward screen from a top down perspective.

The cadets had their slight numerical advantage. That probably explained in part their head long front attack with their heaviest units in the center and faster mechs on the flanks. It was a sensible plan, and unfortunately that made it predictable. The majority of pilots tended to be better at driving a mech than they were at shooting. The simple fact was that green pilots needed to worry more about keeping their bipedal war machine up right and moving than they did about firing at the enemy, and even at higher skill levels being able to maneuver a multi ton walker insured you stayed in the fight.

The dozen mechs they were choosing to attack had already moved up onto a high point in the desert. It was instantly telling how this would play out, to Yvonne, if the numbers equal. A dozen mechs fired their LRM 15 launchers and continued to fire them concentrating on the central formation... more than that they were prioritizing pilots with heavier mechs.

The entire point of Trebuchet's missiles was to soften up enemy units before they could enter range and return fire. That thinking was based on individual mechs, not 270 missiles going out and raining down on a handful of targets. One Enforcer simply disappeared during the third volley, and by that point the large lasers had opened up.

The Centurions had by that point already been through nearly half of their missiles so the extra heat meant nothing for their cooling systems. Not when they were stationary. The Medium company subdivided into two units to face Alexandria's weakened four. By the time the company had emptied its missile bins they coupled with the large lasers had attrited the attacking square company of its heaviest units, and both units inside three hundred meters were forced to face what quickly turned into an individual mech match.

Points tallied.

"Congratulations."

"For what?" Henry replied shaking his head. "Attacking head on probably the best idea."

"Could she really have done anything else, but attack head on in this situation?"

The digital battlefield was a fake after all. It wasn't real. The terrain that comprised the map wasn't real. It wasn't even a copy of real terrain, and its boundaries were invisible glass. "In that you think the other cadets might not have listened? Or that she didn't have sufficient missile weight or PPC to hold them in place... because realistically barring Marauders or Warhammers energy boats would have been painted for concentrated fire until they were brought down."

It said something of course that they hadn't broken contact or gave up. Justin made a better attempt at his flanking attack this time, better coordinating with the other mechs and the light mechs had actually scored simulated kills but Large Lasers had no minimum range and massed medium lasers had knocked his Black Jack out of the fight.

The casualties were enough that they'd be pyrrhic. Was it an improvement, probably technically, but he was having a hard time being satisfied with it. "The Cadets need better 'mechs. Realistically against medium, and light weight mechs they've demonstrated they can mostly hold there own, but their equipment is too uneven." There was no point in having someone like Justin in a dedicated AA Mech like a Black Jack when there wasn't an air threat present or... and while not as egregious there were other problems. The jager mech was not a great option either... in his opinion at least not if you wanted to be up front. "And to be blunt simply providing them new build centurions won't cut it, there are limits to what skilled pilots can do with short endurance battle companies against superior numbers. Excuse me."

Yvonne got a feeling he had expected one side or the other to decisively win not for both sides to maul each other. She had a feeling from his response whatever he was going to do to 'fix' the problem would give her a headache.
 
Time to turn this mixed light cav unit into a dragoon unit?
 
Also occurs to me Aaron Sandoval is also probably there since the SOL regiment our SI broke was one of the big units responsible for the kentares massacre. And they still godamm had the flag of kentares painted on their mechs as apparently the unit is somehow collectively proud of that being a thing in the history of the unit. So yeah the Lord of the Draconis March wanting to meet the dude who put said unit down makes a lot of sense from a political POV
 
Time to turn this mixed light cav unit into a dragoon unit?
What unit was historically used to historically conduct the OpFor for Sakhara, and guess who is going to be reconstituted in the near future.
Not immediately but the 4th Robinson Chevalier is Clay's nominal home command in the Draconis March.
Also occurs to me Aaron Sandoval is also probably there since the SOL regiment our SI broke was one of the big units responsible for the kentares massacre. And they still godamm had the flag of kentares painted on their mechs as apparently the unit is somehow collectively proud of that being a thing in the history of the unit. So yeah the Lord of the Draconis March wanting to meet the dude who put said unit down makes a lot of sense from a political POV
It is certainly one of the reasons Lord Aaron appreciates Clay
…and now I'm imagining droppers loaded with heavy and light mechs showing up on the next supply run from the SI's jumpships.
Not quite that fast, but basically literally start of next chapter "I'm sending Haakon to go talk to Mountain Wolf Battlemechs" #clearly Jarnfolk
 
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the robinson chevaliers are a brigade that no longer exists (along with the dragonlords, tancredi loyalists, and the Arcadian Cuirassiers) due to the events of the 1st and 2nd SWs. The Robinson Rangers are their much smaller successor brigade.
 
the robinson chevaliers are a brigade that no longer exists (along with the dragonlords, tancredi loyalists, and the Arcadian Cuirassiers) due to the events of the 1st and 2nd SWs. The Robinson Rangers are their much smaller successor brigade.
That is correct, but well suffice to say that with a more robust economy Ian's going to need to recreate certain units
 
That is correct, but well suffice to say that with a more robust economy Ian's going to need to recreate certain units
more likely to stand up a 3rd and maybe 4th robinson rangers though, or recreate the tancredi loyalists. Or if Michael has his way the acardian cuirassiers (or more sytris fusiliers) since despite the name their traditional home is Chesterton aka in the capellan march.
or if wanting to increase his own power the dragonlords since they're traditionally from the golden 5 and the worlds around them due to how they got recreated aka paid for and raised by the citizens of said worlds for the reunification wars. or honestly speaking most likely at least for several years bring depleted units back up to strength and maybe finally get the Broken Wheel CMM back its mech regiment and one of its armor regiments since they went MIA in a misjumping monolith back in 2979 and its been on the list of things to do ever since then.
mind you new mech unit could be a thing just probably not till the 3020s at the minimum.
 
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more likely to stand up a 3rd robinson rangers though, or recreate the tancredi loyalists. Or if Michael has his way the acardian cuirassiers since despite the name their traditional home is Chesterton aka in the capellan march.
or if wanting to increase his own power the dragonlords since they're traditionally from the golden 5 and the worlds around them due to how they got recreated aka paid for and raised by the citizens of said worlds for the reunification wars. or honestly speaking most likely at least for several years bring depleted units back up to strength and maybe finally get the Broken Wheel CMM back its mech regiment and one of its armor regiments since they went MIA in a misjumping monolith back in 2979 and its been on the list of things to do ever since then.
mind you new mech unit could be a thing just probably not till the 3020s at the minimum.
Trancredi is out because it hasn't been liberated yet though I'm sure thats on Ian's list of things to do and I'm sure only his death in canon is why it took Hanse until 21 to do that.

My logic here is that for the 4th its a traditionally a unit associated with Sakhara, now yes a Crucis March command would make sense as well , we know that canonically multiworld domains, and holdings across multiple worlds is something that happens with FedSun demesnes. what wouldn't happen in this situation is that Michael wouldn't have a lot of wiggle room, Ian's still first prince and he's got several major victories under his belt, part of the reason that Michael doesn't have that kind of wiggle room he had was with Hanse's succession. That doesnt mean Michael woulnd't argue for that honor, but unlike in ghost, as in canon, where Hanse has to humor Michael for dynastic reasons Ian's position is for the moment much more stable.

Let me put it this way

Michael canonically threatened to rebel if Hanse didn't let his kanagaroo court martial for Justin go forward

Michael trying to pull that here would be near on suicidal, Ian is very popular with his Crucis and Draconis March vassals given the victories over the Combine in the last two years, never mind the economic growth Ian's foreign policy with the Commonwealth has started to see dividends.
 
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honestly speaking I really hope Ian is dating someone so he can have a heir who isn't his brother for stability reasons in the long run. if nothing else probably a good idea to have a girlfriend/wife to make sure he isn't on the front too much needlessly risking his life.

also i suppose could be ian is building up battalion or so sized cadres to start building the full mech regiments around once he has the people, mechs, ASFs, and above all else the eternally in short supply vs the demand dropships and jumpships for them. Hell if he's planning on making some of them RCTs and doing that proportionally with the other assets...could develop the LCT early which would be a amazing fit for the compostion of the Tancredi Loyalists if they come back given their whole light and fast and raiding/anti piracy/ counter to raiding experts.
 

The victory was pyrrhic for whom exactly? If it was for Clay's company that's still quite an improvement, but if the graduates managed to win this one, well they're going to be quite the dangerous unit right out the gates (if they stay together anyway, but they can carry over their experience to where they get assigned to) and their test with the Robinson OpFor will be fun.

I think Henry's gotten too used to the accessibility of tech and money with his Essence, and he's forgotten to take into account that at this era technology is taking the slow crawl to restoration and the current scarcity of units and sheer demand means you just use what you have on hand or can salvage (or wait for years on a product that doesn't have a line so long you might very well die of old age before you receive it). I wonder what he's going to acquire this time.

Huh, considering the butterflies, I wonder if Dana survived Halstead Station. Because if so and Ian's still willing to sign on a FedCom treaty in the 3020s, Melissa might have a fiancee actually around her age in case Ian's still heirless.

…and now I'm imagining droppers loaded with heavy and light mechs showing up on the next supply run from the SI's jumpships.

Yeah, I really would like that to happen as well, just for the lulz of seeing their reaction. If you're given an excuse to reinforce the FedSuns and Sakhara specifically, well why not.
 
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The victory was pyrrhic for whom exactly? If it was for Clay's company that's still quite an improvement, but if the graduates managed to win this one, well they're going to be quite the dangerous unit right out the gates (if they stay together anyway, but they can carry over their experience to where they get assigned to) and their test with the Robinson OpFor will be fun.

I think Henry's gotten too used to the accessibility of tech and money with his Essence, and he's forgotten to take into account that at this era technology is taking the slow crawl to restoration and the current scarcity of units and sheer demand means you just use what you have on hand (or wait for years on a product that doesn't have a line so long you might very well die of old age before you receive it).

Huh, considering the butterflies, I wonder if Dana survived Halstead Station. Because if so and Ian's still willing to sign on a FedCom treaty in the 3020s, Melissa might have a fiancee actually around her age in case Ian's still heirless.



Yeah, I really would like that to happen as well, just for the lulz of seeing their reaction. If you're given an excuse to reinforce the FedSuns and Sakhara specifically, well why not.
The Medium 'mech company won. And Henry is too used to what his essence allows him to do, so everyone tends to side eye him when he says stuff, and then contemplate what that is going to have once he starts organizing actual factories.

Like to reiterate this Henry has a pretty frightening rep as a mech pilot, but his age coupled with the way he talks tends to mean people right now don't really take his non combat related claims that seriously, which in a couple years is going to be a case of "i did tell you I was doing this' when everyone starts seeing stuff actually happening..

As for Dana, yes she survived her and Hanse were married Henry attended the wedding and got introduced to people by drunk!Ian which is how he knows Alexandria.
 
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