11 replies to this topic

[Uncl Munkeh]

Anyone know enough about the lore of 3049 to give a description of where the game is starting?

Or even a book to read about it?

[Skwisgaar Skwigelf]

Probably Blood of Kerensky trilogy would be closest book series. It starts right as the clanners are invading in the Periphery.

[Joanna Conners]

In simple terms the Inner Sphere is war and politics as usual. Then the Clans invade.

[Halfinax]

3049 is when the clans start to show up to invade (AUG. 3049, The Rock). The early staging of the clans is missed by the IS and they continue to blast each other to bits. Then in March of 3050 the Clans begin their assault proper. IS is just starting to really implement technologies that had been lost to them for centuries thanks to having found some old databases that contained data on how to manufacture this so called "Lost Tech."

In short it's a very exciting time in the IS. Arguably the most exciting time. The Clans are on the cusp of invading, the IS is rediscovering and beginning to deploy technologies that have been lost to them for a long time.

[Skwisgaar Skwigelf]

I think this is the best era, I never got into the later eras like Dark Age or Jihad. 3025 - 3039 is cool too but I like the David vs. Goliath storyline during the Clan invasion and the limited new LosTech (don't talk to me about MRM, ATM, HAG, RAC, or Heavy lasers - too much to keep track of).

[Major Crash]

20 Year Update #1639 meets your criteria. It starts w a historical overview of 3030-3050.
Basically the 4th Succession War has been over for 20 years, Rasalhauge Military District broke w Draconis Combine to form the FRR, Houses Steiner & Davion gradually merge to form the Federated Commonwealth, an unexpected show of force from the Combine military under Theodore Kurita stops the Fed. Comm. invasion of 3039 cold in its tracks, Comstar revels a huge Mech army to garrison its thousands of HPG sites called the Comm Guards, Romano Liao fends off a Canopus-Andurien invasion & rebuilds the Capellan Confederation from the ashes left by her demented father,
then YOU arrive.

[AdamBaines]

One thing that is very important is that the IS is slowly coming out of the Succession Wars, and technologies that were lost are now being regained from the Helm memory core that was found by the Grey Death Legion. So its odd combination of new tech mixed in with old tech. Those who can afford it have it (Most of the Major House) and then the Periphery and most mercs (other then the Wolf Dragoons of course...sigh). New mech models are coming out and upgrade packages are being created to fit old mechs with new technology. And the boogieman is lurking just out of the reach of the IS.........

[Alistair Steiner]

UGH. I had a huge spiel, then the browser closed. Wasn't thinking. Anyway, I find BattleTech to be even better as a history major, because of all the lore involved. Had it started with a live-action series or movie, I dare say it would be on par with Star Wars, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica, all of which I am a casual fan of. I admittedly enjoyed the hokey cartoon (still had a facepalm a few times), and was blown away by the MW3 intro, and especially the live-action/CGI MW4 intro, really making me feel like it would make the jump to the big-screen, as long as the creators were behind it, not Hollywood. Also, managed to find MW2 videos here, though the site went dead years back and was resurrected by necromancy (and the WayBackMachine program, it seems), so the videos seem to not work anymore, even though I bothered downloading the RealPlayer.

I even played through both MechAssaults a few times, though I think that could be ret-conned later for Dragoon recruitment purposes after the Wobbies are dealt with (like how the afore-mentioned cartoon was ret-conned as propaganda for the FedCom). "Oh, yeah, totally. One guy pretty much wiped out the whole Word of Blake, as well as these impossible 'Lostech' monstrosities you never hear of again. Yeah, that giant spider had some kind of ancient Terra music as some kind of defense. Don't ask. Mech-jacking? Um, that's... not available anymore. Only the unnamed MechWarrior could do it. Oh, and just... just ignore the 360-torso twist. And the 'upgrades.' And the dialogue..." Yeah, it was bad, but it was pretty. And it at least introduced a few more people to the Battletech universe, though the majority probably don't realize it. For those of you who started with MA and are reading this, then you're not one of them.

I... have no idea what I'm talking about now. Sleep deprivation really is akin to being drunk. ANYWAY, point being, the history is awesome, and I wish it could get the recognition it deserves among the other sci-fi franchises. I want a BattleTech/Mechwarrior section in the next DragonCon (found an awesome, crazy-long video of the recent one). Make this happen, PGI. Make a hit!

Edited by Alistair Steiner, 02 December 2011 - 10:02 PM.

[WMC Gomez]

Skwisgaar has it correct. I would read the Blood off Kerensky trilogy to get a sense of what is going on. I would also read the Warrior trilogy that is set in 3025ish that made the Federated Commonwealth. Those two will give you enough cannon to know what is going on in this timeline.

[Jaroth Corbett]

Blood of Kerensky Trilogy & 20 year update.

[Deathwarrior]

Heir to the Dragon would be a decent book to read as well. From a DCMS point of view, it will cover the 4thSW to the conclusion of the War of 3039, the last major conflict before the Clans invade. You will also get a little insight on Comstar/Com Guards as they supply the DCMS with equipment (Revised 3025 TRO SL designs with some lostech thrown in) from their caches to help offset the AFFC.

[guardiandashi]

one thing I will mention is that the TRO 3050 makes a note in the 1st page that it had been intended for release in 3050, (the battletech equivalant of a janes or similar publications) the tro was not actually released until 3052

now contrary to what a lot of people will say, tro 3050 is not mechs that are just reaching the battlefield in 3050-52, it is also a summary of the stuff that has been hitting the field since ~3040 and a bit before,
this is when the equipment has started reaching enough deployment to be reasonable to actually run into it in "useful" numbers

prior to this point you had situations where you might find 1-3 upgraded mechs in a company (more or less) now you are finding it more and more common to have entire upgraded lances and companies