31 replies to this topic

[1453 R]

The Inner Sphere never formally adopted the Clan technology base - even in the most current editions of the books, close to a hundred years after the Invasion, an IS 300XL is functionally the exact same engine as it was when Comstar handed a bunch of them to the Combine in 3039. Strictly, the answer to your question is no.

What happens is that much later down the line, after several tremendous derp-ups on the part of practically every single great star nation's leader since Victor Davion and some unfortunate nonsense with Wizkids (who made a really fun game even if they thrashed the lore to within an inch of its life), there's not really much distinction between "Clans" and "Inner Sphere" anymore. The Clans have in some cases integrated themselves into an existing Inner Sphere power (the Nova Cats allying with and eventually being largely absorbed by the Draconis Combine, the whole Rasalhague Dominion thing which is one of the only cool things to come of this era), while other Clans were cut off from their resources back in the Homeworlds and essentially became regular Inner Sphere territories, governing a stretch of worlds in the Inner Sphere and functionally no different than a Great House.

By this point the Clan technology base and the Inner Sphere technology base were still treated separately in the rulebooks, but both Clan and IS powers made pretty free use of both technology bases in their newly developed units. A recent skimming of stuff from the 3145 TRO shows that mixtech is absolutely godawful everywhere, on both sides, and there are enough factories in the Inner Sphere producing Clan-spec technology at this point that while it's expensive, it's also readily available through normal logistics channels. Dem Sea Foxes, yo.

Or, TL;DR: IT'S A GIANT GODS DAMNED MESS.

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:03 AM, said:

I have a question. How does Lostech compare to Clan tech?

'Lostech' stops being a thing by around...3080, I think? Lostech simply refers to Star league-era stuff that the Inner Sphere couldn't produce anymore for a while following the fall of the League. By 3080 or so (I think, I could be wrong here), the Inner Sphere's mostly recovered all of that stuff and has started improving upon it. Technically, you've got a pile of lostech in all of your 'Mechs right now - endo, ferro, DHS, gauss rifles, most of the other tier 2 equipment was all considered lostech at some point.

[Johnny Z]

Joseph Mallan, on 18 September 2014 - 07:58 AM, said:

In that Scenario Pack Rhonda was a Shadow Hawk Pilot, She had her legs crushed and had bionic replacements. Hence the odd knee pads AND had an affinity for all things Elvis (Elvis is King Tshirt) Deb drove a Thunderbolt and like Nova Cat warriors collected "Veneers" from the bodies of her fallen opponents... And would never be giving a thumbs up!

Couldnt care less about the revisionist bs. When I looked up Natasha Kerensky sarna showed a picture of a 70 year old woman. Lets just say I prefer the original story.

Edited by Johnny Z, 18 September 2014 - 08:07 AM.

[Kyzar Kon]

SI The Joker, on 18 September 2014 - 07:40 AM, said:

What does this even mean? I'm just showing you that the cover of the Snord's Irregulars BT manual matches the image in your signature with a different name.

Forums are Full of crazies.....

[Mercules]

nehebkau, on 18 September 2014 - 07:29 AM, said:

IMHO ignore the lore and just blow crap up. Lore gets too many people acting like crazy cat ladies.

IMHO this game wouldn't be interesting if it wasn't linked to the BT/MW Lore. I didn't come to play "Generic Mecha FPS".

[Joseph Mallan]

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:07 AM, said:

Couldnt care less about the revisionist bs. When I looked up Natasha Kerensky sarna showed a picture of a 70 year old woman. Lets just say I prefer the original story.

Even so The young lady is Rhonda. Scroll through this. page 14... Head band, knee pads, thowing star necklace is... Rhonda Snord. Deb H'Chu... Page 10.

Edited by Joseph Mallan, 18 September 2014 - 08:34 AM.

[Johnny Z]

Joseph Mallan, on 18 September 2014 - 08:33 AM, said:

Even so The young lady is Rhonda. Scroll through this. page 14... Head band, knee pads, thowing star necklace is... Rhonda Snord. Deb H'Chu... Page 10.

A few months back the sig gets trolled, now again, but this time a little more prepared? ROFL

Edited by Johnny Z, 18 September 2014 - 08:43 AM.

[Mercules]

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:42 AM, said:

A few months back the sig gets trolled, now again, but this time a little more prepared? ROFL

I read this as, "Hi I know I'm wrong but if I just accuse you of being a horrible person for trying to help me out maybe I can ignore it long enough that I can pretend I didn't just make myself look even more ignorant than I did before."

[Tezcatli]

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:42 AM, said:

A few months back the sig gets trolled, now again, but this time a little more prepared? ROFL

He's just pointing out the truth. You're not getting trolled. : /

[Tyler Durden]

Lefty Lucy, on 18 September 2014 - 07:45 AM, said:

In TT, when Clan tech comes out it is straight-up better than IS tech in every way, even the upgraded IS tech that starts to be disseminated as a result of finding the Helm Memory Core.

Then, for the next several decades, the IS is simply hilariously bad at reverse-engineering Clan tech. By the 3080s the New Avalon Institute of Science gets CERMLs working and hand-manufacturable.

Let's just say that the writers of BT fiction don't really have a realistic view of how fast tech advances once engineers get their hands on a working copy.

That being said, Clan tech begins to proliferate in the more wealthy units in the IS through salvage, and eventually trade with Clan Diamond Shark, and then of course the Rassalhague Republic and Clan Ghost Bear fully merge at one point too.

To be fair to the writers, they did acknowledge that the Inner Sphere could have made clan weapons (more than just the medium laser, IIRC) after reverse engineering, but resources were a part of the equation. Some of the weapons used rare minerals not readily available in the Inner Sphere.

[Malcolm Vordermark]

Yes, the IS captured and reversed engineered clan tech. They were able to come up with their own versions of a lot of the equipment but it was still generally not as good as the clan tech.

While it is possible that the IS could salvage a clan mech getting it back on the field and keeping it there would have been tough since they couldn't make the parts. Also, I think they were generally expected to send it back to be reverse engineered.

I think the Wolf's Dragoons gifted some Dire Wolves to important figures in the story line. Otherwise, probably a very rare occurrence.

[Joseph Mallan]

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:03 AM, said:

I have a question. How does Lostech compare to Clan tech?

It is slightly inferior.

Johnny Z, on 18 September 2014 - 08:42 AM, said:

A few months back the sig gets trolled, now again, but this time a little more prepared? ROFL

not trolled, just nitpicked.

[Xulu]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all of the information. It's just what I was looking for. I wanted a lore standpoint/perspective. It doesn't change how I play or will play, but at least I know now "why". Very good reads.