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So, where are our "Social Generals"?


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#1 Lina Thoren

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 04:53 PM

The officers who owe their spots to who they know or how much their family's worth, as opposed to what they know. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're as much a part of life in House Steiner as are scout lances comprised of Atlases and Zeuses. Irritating, but they have their uses...and as we've seen with Thomas Hogarth, they can be fun to see in action. :lol:

My pilot qualifies, sort of: she got into the Nagelring only because her family was close to Duke Kelswa, and she pulled a lot of strings to get a 'Mech assignment and a front-line posting (which cost her dearly in the end). She's gotten better since then, and is now both a decent pilot and commander, but she's still not above using her connections and/or a bit of palace intrigue to help herself or a friend.

Anyone else? I've seen it said that anyone who's even a little bit competent doesn't qualify as a "social general," but let's be a bit more generous: anyone who owes their rank/title/whatever to being of noble birth, knowing the right people, social scheming on their part, or any mix of the above?

#2 DocBach

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Posted 21 November 2011 - 07:40 PM

I had a character named Derich Brenner who was a social general in a 3025 era game my friend ran - he was based a lot off of the character Flashman - abject coward who was more interested in chasing women than battle. Only made it through the Nagerling because of donations from his father. He got assigned to what was suppose to be a routine garrison post on Hesperus II just in time for House Marik and Wolf's Dragoons to invade it. After his whole lance was killed he ran away and was stopped by a Marik lance - he alpha striked as a last ditch effort because he had no grasp of any sort of tactics and managed to destroy a battalion commander's 'Mech with a lucky critical hit, sending the Marik forces into disarray.

As he was the only survivor, he was exalted as a hero and awarded with medals and even more, gifted a BNC-3S Banshee by Defiance Industries for his role in repelling the Marik assault, he was promoted to Hauptmann and given command of a company. Unfortunately he ended up getting discharged from the LCAF after a sting found him guilty of running an illegal card game ring, in which he was betting - and losing - his unit's spare 'Mech parts. The fact that the Regimental CO's daughter was found sitting in his lap pretty much sealed his dishonorable discharge.

He ended up going to Galatea and becoming a mercenary. He survived the campaign, and I brought him back when I ran a 3050 campaign as an NPC - he was the player character's CO in the 8th Donegal Guards but I never really explained how he got back into the AFFC. He ended up getting killed by Clan Wolf on the planet Chateau.

#3 Alistair Steiner

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Posted 22 November 2011 - 12:27 AM

Not many names have more throwing-around weight than 'Steiner.' Though perhaps not "social general," more like "social MechWarrior." Thanks to his last name, and grandfather's deeds in the Third Succession War (albeit, his grandfather on his mother's side), the young Alistair was able to join the Skye Rangers in his mid-teens, and was put straight into the MechWarrior training program, rather than being stuck as a tech or put in a low position as part of a tank crew. His skills were not stellar (he liked to modify his 'Mech loadout in the simulator for maximum firepower, though he often paid for it in heat increase), but he respected his superior officers and worked hard to become a better-than-average MechWarrior by the age that most young soldiers were just being recruited. His social personality is very laid-back, but reserved, and his fighting style has slowly changed to match. Where he used to concentrate on maximum, close-in punch, he now prefers designs with more medium- to long-range weaponry, and considers his lance as his most important weapon.

Ironically, he's not a fan of "nobility" and people with certain "rights" just because of their family name, despite his own history. As such, he's tied himself ever closer to Skye, looking to distance himself somewhat from the ruling house with his surname, as well as clarify that his loyalty is to Skye and its people, not some Archon on Tharkad.

Lastly, it should be noted he's seen very little true combat, being so young. In fact, his involvement in the Free Skye movement and failed raids account for the majority of his hostile combat experience. Once again, his name aided him in pulling out of that debacle with his head on his shoulders and nary a mark on his official record. However, he's begun to keep a watch over his shoulder, in case his involvement didn't go as unnoticed as the "official" reports claim.

Edited by Alistair Steiner, 22 November 2011 - 12:31 AM.


#4 Strayed

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Posted 22 November 2011 - 02:16 AM

Steiner command is like clan bidding, except they bid as many assault mechs they can bring to the field.

#5 DocBach

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Posted 22 November 2011 - 10:30 AM

I think I'm going to bring Derich Brenner back - retcon his story a little bit. I've decided to make a roleplaying mercenary unit for this game called Murphy's Law, and I think it would suit Derich pretty well.... now to reserve his pilot name.

#6 Derich Brenner

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Posted 22 November 2011 - 10:32 AM

And he lives again!

#7 Joseph Mallan

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 12:56 PM

I'm in my Atlas's cockpit of course!

#8 McQueen

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Posted 21 June 2012 - 02:01 PM

I think the shiny gold badge under my name says it all. Now if only we could trade MC for house loyalty points I would be set.

#9 Hedy Metal

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Posted 22 June 2012 - 06:38 AM

Wouldn't our social generals be busy setting up social events in which ROM field operatives can be taken out with discretion? Hmm...maybe I'm thinking too much 3rd-4th Sucession War era. :rolleyes:

#10 LtPoncho

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Posted 22 June 2012 - 09:49 AM

I hear Steiner social functions are usually quite successful...

#11 kroner

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Posted 22 June 2012 - 07:33 PM

A future social general.....


Karl Helmut Kaufberg, aka Kroner, age 21, Mechwarrior, 5th child of Fredrick and Helene Kaufman of Pandora, in the Tamar Province. The Kaufberg's are a minor noble family who own a Red Devil Industries factory which manufactures B3M medium lasers on license from Defiance Industries of Hesperus.


Karl grew up as the 5th of 6th children (2 older brothers and 2 older sisters and one younger sister) in a life of relative, but not spectacular luxury on Pandora. He and his sister are the youngest children by 8 years, and his oldest brother is nearly 20 years his senior. His parents were very busy with the family business and spent little time with him, instead shipping him off to standard minor noble quality prep schools. As a youth, he was also mentored and befriended by an old family retainer, a one Klaus Gerhard, a retired LCAF infantry soldier.

#12 Ramblin

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Posted 23 June 2012 - 04:18 AM

View Postkroner, on 22 June 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

A future social general.....


Karl Helmut Kaufberg, aka Kroner, age 21, Mechwarrior, 5th child of Fredrick and Helene Kaufman of Pandora, in the Tamar Province. The Kaufberg's are a minor noble family who own a Red Devil Industries factory which manufactures B3M medium lasers on license from Defiance Industries of Hesperus.


Karl grew up as the 5th of 6th children (2 older brothers and 2 older sisters and one younger sister) in a life of relative, but not spectacular luxury on Pandora. He and his sister are the youngest children by 8 years, and his oldest brother is nearly 20 years his senior. His parents were very busy with the family business and spent little time with him, instead shipping him off to standard minor noble quality prep schools. As a youth, he was also mentored and befriended by an old family retainer, a one Klaus Gerhard, a retired LCAF infantry soldier.


Read your story.... good stuff.

#13 Arturus

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Posted 23 June 2012 - 06:29 AM

Yeah, I think I qualify LOL...click my forums profile here for my background if interested...

The way I figure it, someone has to attend the Royal Court on Tharkad and entertain the Archon to get those cushy assignments and latest gear for our unit, the Skye Rangers :blink:

.../Salute

#14 Johan Karl Steiner

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Posted 24 June 2012 - 10:03 AM

Social generals is it? If trading on your good name is a Steiner emblem, then cadet branches like Kelswa-Steiner or my own branch, Grecco-Steiner, have bled that vein of family generosity bone-white. Pulling strings for "full bloods" may be very well, but for half-breed Steiners (as some detractors would label us), the string often breaks and takes out an eye.

After the eldest brother gained access to the Nagelring, it was made rather brutally clear that the descendants of Archon Tatyana Borge-Steiner could die on the vine for all it mattered. The privileged body of ruling Steiners cant be reminded of coat-tail relatives who don't hold on to power. Conversely, they also can't have "little Steiners" running around in sub-status roles. What's an elite family of social power snobs to do?

Enter the administrative Steiner. Say what? It's a logical fit. We little Steiners run the administration of Lyran government. Ever since Cohen Steiner we have been pushing out excellent administrators. My father, Konnor Steiner, is just such a brilliant administrator. As a senior march liaison official, he knows everyone and has been everywhere in his life so far. Thanks to him, my brother and I have been able to return our family to the military.

Don't get me wrong, there was no bloody Nagelring for me! All I really wanted was to be in Skye where I was born, on Summer, to Kamila Anna Grecco. But my father blazed a trail across the Lyran Alliance in the pursuit of government initiatives dragging us behind him. Eventually I got it into my head to join the Skye Rangers, just another way to get back to Skye. With one last plucking of that tired family string, I made it to the Blackjack School of Conflict.

Such a patriot...and a young fool. Yes, I got into the Rangers, yes I am back in Skye. But what now? Me in the Rangers and my brother in 1st Royal Guards, we are writing a new chapter in the Steiner family history. But unlike those other Steiners, we are not so much manipulating the political future as being thrown at it. It's coming. More war. Can you smell it?

What are we to do but adhere to whats immediate, important, and at the heart of your soul.

Free Skye!
Johan Karl Grecco-Steiner





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