I appreciate everyone's response, and respect all of your opinions. I even happen to share most of them, to a certain extent. Let me try to address all of your concerns.
Faith McCarron, on 08 February 2015 - 08:34 AM, said:
Heaven knows, I am the last person to be accused to being a fan of the Gatekeepers, but at the same time, I'm not going to dismiss the possible merits of this venture just because it has a black hand-print on it. HLGK are not puppetmasters of this or anything, they just happen to be the ones taking the lead in handling it in these early stages. There are politics and e-peens that I don't understand at play.
What I'm trying to do is determine what the actual best course of action is, regardless of preconceptions.
Thank you, McCarron. It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime...what better place than here?
What better time than now?
Grynos, on 08 February 2015 - 08:42 AM, said:
Your best bet is to do what units like TCAF are doing.. Beat the Davions , then in your spare time help out Kurita if you choose to. As far as the politics go.. Would you support a politician that ignore your ideals , yet asks for you to trust them?
When have I ignored your ideals?
When we withdrew for a few weeks from CW, there were reasons behind it. HLGK is happy to get new players into the game, and we happily invite them to join us. However, after the CW launched we doubled in size and we had training to do. I never stated we'd not be taking part, and we returned to CW in battalion operations a few weeks ago.
What this whole thing is about is an attempt to quell the pointless fighting and get back to the basics.
If the numbers even out, we'll have plenty to do, but we need everyones' support. As the smallest Great House, we have an organizational advantage - if we can put our differences aside, both with each other and with Davion.
Faith McCarron, on 08 February 2015 - 08:48 AM, said:
That being said, it's a tough pill to swallow, giving up huge swaths of territory to the Davs in exchange for some vague notion of a ceasefire and peace in our time and all of that.
Don't think we didn't approach this with a large amount of calculation. As Davion gains territory from the Clans, we intend to posit that those planets, especially the Capitol worlds, must be returned to the Confederation - and by virtue of acting as the defenders of the other Great Houses (since we cannot attack) they will be obligated to hear our request.
Also, if there's a reset and the cease fire is in place this will not be an issue and it will put us far ahead of the game.
Faith McCarron, on 08 February 2015 - 08:48 AM, said:
It's also a tough sell to people like Maxwell and I because of the way we play. Most of my non-unit gaming hours are spent organizing ad-hoc faction groups to drop on the Dav border. Same thing with Maxwell. We're putting a lot of time and effort into herding pugs during off peak hours, kickstarting planetary queues, etc. It's going to be hard to sell that to groups of people to go get slaughtered as a meat-shield up on the Clan meatgrinder.
I am an extremist, like both of you. Trust me on that - I'm a hardcore Liaoist. However, remember that the political objective is integral to Liao military operations, at least so say the Battletech materials. So let's look at it:
Quit herding pugs. Join us, and forget about them.
We MUST develop tactics that weigh our inherent advantages - namely, organization. No IS 'mech should be expected to go toe to toe with a clan mech. That said, 2 lances vs. a star seems fair to me, and operations should focus on unity and doctrine. In this manner, we take away the Clan advantages.
Get close, and be firstest with the mostest.
Faith McCarron, on 08 February 2015 - 08:48 AM, said:
The Gatekeepers, no. Hell, I think I'm unofficially "banned" from Gatekeeper dress-up parties. But this is more than just the Gatekeepers, and if the Star League can stand on it's own merits, I'm not going to let HLGK association with it stand in the way of me supporting it. I just have a long way to go before being sold on the notion that it's a good idea in it's own right.
Ain't no thang like a Gatekeeper dress up party, because a Gatekeeper dress up party doesn't stop.
We're ready to put aside all enmities, McCarron. The ball is now in your court.
Maxwell Albritten, on 08 February 2015 - 09:03 AM, said:
The voice of reason! Can't wait for WoL to come home.
No further comment.
Grynos, on 08 February 2015 - 09:07 AM, said:
I agree faith, you and maxwell have been doing a great job in rallying troops for Liao. It is also going to be a hard sell to go fight against clans with nothing to gain and everything to lose if Davion decides to attack Liao.
If they attack us, they have a lot to lose. They aren't the unstoppable juggernaut they were a few weeks ago, and we have the backing (outside the Star League) of major Rasalhague and Marik units. Davion is pro-ceasefire, but we tried to make a show of good faith first. The units still attacking are setting back our political/military agenda.
Grynos, on 08 February 2015 - 09:07 AM, said:
The whole premise that of the " soft ceasefire" is a botched one. So if you are tired with fighting against the clans you can instead do the exact same thing most people are doing already and having IS vs IS. So does that mean when one of the Star League units decide that they have yet to gain anything by butting heads with the clans , then they are free to attack IS again? And if so , how would that work if the faction they are attacking against is in heated battles upon the clan fronts. BWC and Seraphs are with Kurita currently , now if Steiner decided that the hell with attacking the clans and losing, we are just going to focus on Marik , while Marik units are trying to help out with the clan effort, what happens then?? What happens if Seraphs and BWC start losing planets they have gained because of that?
The entire purpose of the Star League is to defend against and counter-attack the Clans. There will be plenty of things to lose from large swathes of units deciding to attack the IS, and we will be able to police this with weight of public opinion.
Grynos, on 08 February 2015 - 09:07 AM, said:
There is no way to police the actions of people wanting to play the way they want instead of the way other expect them to, nor should there be. Just remember, it is the Merc Units who decide for the most part the outcomes of CW. Because they have the freedom to do what they want, when they want, to whom they want.
Currently the merc units are expressly what is wrong with CW. I voted against allowing them into the Star League, but was outvoted...however I think that last night will actually give me the weight I need to push them out.
However - as it was discussed, the merc units will be organized into a "7th House" that will be used to counter-attack rogue IS units and hit the clans where the Strategos decide. They can do this by switching factions at the appropriate time.
There's a lot that went into our first meeting...around 50 reps from across the IS talked for three solid hours, and more is planned.
I would be happy to share ALL information - including our dastardly and Liaoist plans for the future.
However, the Cease-Fire is the first step, politically and militarily.
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