132 replies to this topic

[Alcom Isst]

Even though I've played Mechwarrior 2, 3, and 4, as well as Mech Commander II, and read an entire Mechwarrior trilogy, I know next to nothing about Mechwarrior or Battletech canon. The various cutscenes, breifing, debriefings, loading screen timelines, and chapters have only served to confuse me. I wish to understand more so I can enjoy Mechwarrior better, but don't know of an effective guide into the canon. Help?

Edit: Oh hey I found a wiki...

Edited by Alcom Isst, 04 January 2012 - 09:11 AM.

[Seth]

Sarna.net is by far the best place to read up on canon information. Any reference to BattleTech usually includes a link to Sarna somewhere.

[Catamount]

Sarna.net is a good place to start


I haven't gotten through MW2 yet (still trying to get it to play nicely with Dosbox and not freeze on the second mission!), so I don't know exactly what it covers, but MW3's storyline would make sense if you read up on Operation Bulldog, Operation Damocles (MW3's story) and the Great Refusal (that's the battle at Strana Mechty mentioned at the end).


If you want to know what was meant by "fighting by clan rules" in the MW3 ending, understand this: The clans invaded (with all in agreement except Clan Wolf, who did not want to invade), and brought with them vastly more sophisticated technology, because the Inner Sphere had lost much of their technology by ransacking their civilization with centuries of warfare (see the Succession Wars), loosing much of the technology of the body that did exist, called the Star League, technology that the clans retained much of, because they had split off centuries earlier (Read the MW3 instruction manual for a real brief overview). What they didn't have was the first clue about how to fight a war (*dons flame suit*). They basically came in with these notions of honorable combat, expecting the IS to play by all this etiquette of theirs in war, and the Inner Sphere went "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, now hold on, we didn't ASK you to invade our worlds, and we'll fight you back as we damn well please", and having spent centuries fighting real wars, not structured bouts of glorified honor duels, the IS may not have had tech, but they did have some clue of how to make an enemy suffer, and that's what they did, bogging down many of the clans, and inflicting considerable casualties, still losing overall at first because of tech disadvantages, but eventually getting their footing, and, despite inferior tech and supposedly inferior pilots, eventually beginning to turn that trend back on the Clans (see the Battle of Luthien). Comstar (another power you should read up on) actively cooperated with the clans at first, seeing them as a way to crush the successor states like the Fed Suns and Lyrans, until, as I understand it, they realized what the clans were, and went and kicked their rear ends at the Battle of Tukayyid, at which point the tide really started turning against the clans. Then the clans agreed to a truce, another egregious mistake on their part, because it allowed the IS time to sit down, start sorting through some clan tech, and at least start to close the tech gap a little bit (as if the clans weren't doing badly enough by mid 3052 with their tech advantage!). So by the time Operation Bulldog started against Smoke Jaguar and the IS really began fighting back and pushing the clans back, you started seeing a lot of new IS designs get fielded. The rest is history, ending with the clan defeat on Strana Mechty, an invitation for the clans to become friends with the IS, and the opening of a new chapter in history with tons of new problems to solve.



Mechwarrior 4 covers the FedCom civil war between Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth (who had briefly joined as the Federated Commonwealth), two powers on opposite sides of the galaxy (the Federated Suns under Davion, and the Lyrans under Steiner). The conflict was not necessarily as one-sided as is portrayed in the games... but not necessarily a whole lot less one-sided, morally. You can make those judgements yourself, taking the games and other material into consideration.


There's some good basic guides around too that people have been trading about, but that gives you an idea of the clan invasion and Fedcom civil war.



Basically:

-Star League exists for awhile, but breaks up (eventually creating the successor states)

-At some point amidst that, Alexandr Kerensky leads much of the military out of the Inner Sphere, and that society he founds eventually gets contorted into the Clans

-The clans are split between Wardens and Crusaders, who respectively see themselves as either the ultimate guardians or conquerors of the IS people (I don't know much about the details there, admittedly)

-After an IS vessel happens upon the clans and is capture, the clans garner data on the state of the IS, and seek to invade; Clan Wolf attempts to stop the invasion, but fails, and is made to be the tip of the sphere as punishment for their opposition (as payback for the payback, Clan Wolf ends up being way more successful than the other clans)

-The clans invade, Comstar, who doesn't like the successor states, cooperates with them, and the IS in general gets lambasted by clan tech early on. I've heard stories from friends more familiar with BT than I of single Dire Wolves (Daishis) parking on ridges, and sniping huge swaths of IS mechs who can't even return fire without first having to close way in because of the range disparity

-Comstar pulls their heads out of their rear ends eventually, and the IS goes "Oh, hey! A war! We remember how to fight these!", and the clans gets their ***** kicked


-Amidst the clan war, Fedcom is formed (3055?), but Katrina Steiner sets events into motion that begin a civil war between the Fed Suns and Lyran portions of the alliance between the two houses. The Fedcom civil war starts in 3062.

Edited by Catamount, 04 January 2012 - 09:48 AM.

[Adridos]

And this is the part most people hate, so they pretend it does not exist, but everyone should know about it.

P.S. When you're done with reading this little expansion of lore, you should head over to bg.battletech.com. Plenty of info.

- One of the leaders of previously mentioned ComStar (a big telephone company and I'm not joking ) wents mad and starts "a Jihad". He harrases important worlds and then takes Earth for himself and forms World of Blake (try to guess his name). It's members are religious fanatics and have really cool mechs, but get once again beaten by IS. Factions fight mostly amongst themselves.

- The man who defeated Blake makes a Republic of the Sphere. Noone likes it, because they had to give them their own territory.

- After a while he disappears and suddenly, communication wents dark (ComStar forgot to pay electricity bill?). Angered houses march towards Republic, because they hate them and get their territory once again.

- Everyone kills everyone else once again, probably without an end...

[Fatty Limes]

I was just about to post the exact same question. I'm in the same position of having played the games, having heard the house names thrown around and recognizing certain buzzwords, but not having any real understanding of the story behind them. Thanks to the guys who posted answers. And Alcom Isst for stealing my question, I guess...

[Catamount]

Ah yes, the Word of Blake Jihad... bleh

I'm middling, at best, in my BT knowledge, but even I know enough to know it's a rather silly storyline, but hey, it DID happen, so yes, it's important to know.



Of course, most of what we've mentioned happens after this game, which takes place in 3049 (just as the clan invasion is beginning). Sadly, I know little, if anything, about the specifics of what happens in the aftermath of the Fourth Succession War, so someone else would have to outline all that.

[Frantic Pryde]

Here you go: http://www.battletec...erseGuide-1.pdf

Read that and all will be made well

[Stormwolf]

Frantic Pryde's PDF would be a very good starting point, read that one first before you move on to Sarna.

A lot of stuff you saw in the videogames are going to make a lot more sense when you delve into it.

[Fatty Limes]

So correct me if I'm wrong, but in the time when MWO takes place, Steiner and Davion are allied, right? How's that going to work?

Also, anybody have any interesting conjecture about how the ideological qualities of each house will factor into the gameplay? That's the reason I'm most interested in trying to dive into the fiction, trying to figure out what the different houses are about.

[Catamount]

Steiner and Davion are in a defacto alliance, but not a formal one, as I understand it. I believe Fedcom was formally created in 3055.


The resultant shift in balance of power prompts treaties of cooperation between the other factions, which may or may not take effect by 3049


So we may actually have some kind of defacto Steiner/Davion and Marik/Liao kind of setup; who knows

[Adridos]

Fatty Limes, on 04 January 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

Also, anybody have any interesting conjecture about how the ideological qualities of each house will factor into the gameplay? That's the reason I'm most interested in trying to dive into the fiction, trying to figure out what the different houses are about.

Well, we are just sure, that the availability of mechs will differ from house to house. We don't have any other intro on differences between houses in the game.

[seraph]

I have to say, the best part about Battletech really is the universe. As someone already mentioned, sarna is a GREAT resource. I would definitely read up on the Succession Wars.

[Dihm]

Adridos, on 04 January 2012 - 12:14 PM, said:

Well, we are just sure, that the availability of mechs will differ from house to house. We don't have any other intro on differences between houses in the game.

Just to clarify, availability will differ only in price, the devs have said that all mechs can be acquired by any faction.

[Amarus Cameron]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

Sarna.net is a good place to start


[mostly IS leaning stuff that is too basic to really appreciate, let the man read for Kerensky's sake]



Basically:

-Star League exists for awhile, but breaks up (eventually creating the successor states)

[true enough]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-At some point amidst that, Alexandr Kerensky leads much of the military out of the Inner Sphere, and that society he founds eventually gets contorted into the Clans

[not contorted you revisionist]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-The clans are split between Wardens and Crusaders, who respectively see themselves as either the ultimate guardians or conquerors of the IS people (I don't know much about the details there, admittedly)

[he admits he does not understand, there is much more than just warden and crusader, there is homeworld and invader, there is eden and terra, there is Wolf and Falcon, Jaguar and Nova Cat, Bear and Horse, so many traditions and rivalries that a simple cutscene or synopsis cannot fill the void, there are over 50 books for a reason]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-After an IS vessel happens upon the clans and is capture, the clans garner data on the state of the IS, and seek to invade; Clan Wolf attempts to stop the invasion, but fails, and is made to be the tip of the sphere as punishment for their opposition (as payback for the payback, Clan Wolf ends up being way more successful than the other clans)

[The Jaguar's capture the 'Outbound Light"' a Comstar explorer corps vessel, the explorer corps were created to find the exodus fleet so that Comstar could make sure that they never interfered with their plans for the IS (continual war) When the vessel was captured and Khan Leo Showers realized that they IS would eventually find them he thought it best to attack before they were on the defense, and he was right (with a Grand Council vote of every clan but the Wolves, you can be sure he was right)]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-The clans invade, Comstar, who doesn't like the successor states, cooperates with them, and the IS in general gets lambasted by clan tech early on. I've heard stories from friends more familiar with BT than I of single Dire Wolves (Daishis) parking on ridges, and sniping huge swaths of IS mechs who can't even return fire without first having to close way in because of the range disparity

[It was the best of times]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-Comstar pulls their heads out of their rear ends eventually, and the IS goes "Oh, hey! A war! We remember how to fight these!", and the clans gets their ***** kicked

[It was the worst of times. Actually what the IS had was a clan traitor unit called the Wolf's Dragoons, a Wolf unit sent for recon that went rouge and prepared the IS in how to defeat us. It was not the ISes usual tactics that beat us but specifically underhanded tactics meant to play off of clan honor and lure many of our warriors to ignoble deaths and defeats. Even with all of this it was not until Comstar stepped in, with a secret army about x20 the size of the entire clan invasion force, to stop us]

Catamount, on 04 January 2012 - 09:44 AM, said:

-Amidst the clan war, Fedcom is formed (3055?), but Katrina Steiner sets events into motion that begin a civil war between the Fed Suns and Lyran portions of the alliance between the two houses. The Fedcom civil war starts in 3062.

[Just wrong, the Federated Commonwealth became a legal entity after the war of 3039, it was a war that was meant to test the new command structure of the Commonwealth and gain them a bit of land. The Federated Commonwealth effectively split in the year he says it was created, 3055, with Katrina Steiner pulling the steiner half into the Lyran Alliance.]


This is not a personal attack on the guy trying to help the OP, just his version of events. I like that people want to help but let us get things straight shall we?

Also to the OP, there is absolutely NO substitute to reading the books, it is worth the time and money to do so.

Edited by Amarus Cameron, 05 January 2012 - 05:41 AM.

[Adridos]

I knew why did I posted only things about Jihad and later. Noone likes it and so every mistake I make is overseen.

[William White]

I thought it was actually 2 to 1 with "the rite of possession" for terra and comstar did fight for a week. Some would say the clans were very arrogant in out bidding each other in order to take a planet, reducing their forces to the lowest one won. War is not honorable (i know there are rules) it is about killing the enemy and taking objectives etc. It was like the japanese in the middle ages there warriors we very good but fought in a rigid and stylised way. Also the clans failed to see the obivious that their technological advantage would not last forever and the IS would always have picked it up.

[William White]

Also due respect but I thought all the clans did breakdown into two basic philosophies one being the crusaders (conquerors) and wardens (protectors). I understands there are many factions within the clans but from what i read (admittedly limited reading) this is correct.

[MilitantMonk]

That pdf is a great start. Other things to keep in mind is that for the last few hundred years the Great Houses all operated at least partly as scavenger economies. Everything is old, worn down, or poorly understood. That's how you can have these super powerful warmachines and interstellar travel, but many worlds it's still a farmer with a plow and hand tools that gets the days work done.

This all started to change by the early 3040s when an old Star League database was uncovered distributed around the Inner Sphere. This is where the MWO universe is kicking off now.

PS - Feel free to ignore the Jihad and most everything that came after that. It was a poorly executed excuse to reset the universe to that scavenger system while tying into real world issues.

[William White]

Further to "honorable" clans they did not like Melee and said it was dishonourable but I believe it just took away there range advantage. After an axe is an axe and tends to mess up mech anyway.

[Catamount]

Amarus Cameron, on 05 January 2012 - 05:40 AM, said:

[not contorted you revisionist]

Oh no, not at ALL. One of our resident clanners, a crusader no less, is here to say just how faithfully Kerensky's ideals were upheld. Yep. Sounds legit

Quote

[It was the worst of times. Actually what the IS had was a clan traitor unit called the Wolf's Dragoons, a Wolf unit sent for recon that went rouge and prepared the IS in how to defeat us. It was not the ISes usual tactics that beat us but specifically underhanded tactics meant to play off of clan honor and lure many of our warriors to ignoble deaths and defeats. Even with all of this it was not until Comstar stepped in, with a secret army about x20 the size of the entire clan invasion force, to stop us]

In other words, the clans had no idea how an actual war was fought, and concerned themselves more with purely arbitrary etiquette than winning, and lost because the IS was willing to do what was necessary, while the Wolves showed themselves to be the only honorable human beings in the clans (and an honorable human being is basically tantamount to a traitor to clan ideals it seems; it's good to get a clanner's confirmation there ), and that combined with Clan etiquette, or rather I should just say seething arrogance, lost them a war they might otherwise have... dragged on longer before loosing anyways to the IS's apparently vastly superior industrial capacity.

Edited by Catamount, 05 January 2012 - 07:42 AM.