23 replies to this topic

[Visyac Cephias]

I have come to the conclusion that I'd like to know more about the Houses.

Lone Wolf is cool, but it doesn't really have any sort of historical connections behind it
As such, I'm planning on dropping an open letter to each of the Houses asking why I should join, and what I should know.

After a little Sarna walking, I know Davion are the "knights" that have a feudal system based off mech ownership, they are currently the big hourglass territory in the inner-sphere map, and when the Clans invade the House will sustain heavy losses as a result of the large territory they hold.

Why should I join House Davion?

(aside from the fact that they have a banner depicting a sword going through a sun)

[Dan Baxter]

Well, if you were arguing semantics House Davion is currently part of the Federated Commonwealth.

[Strum Wealh]

Visyac Cephias, on 17 February 2013 - 04:12 PM, said:

I have come to the conclusion that I'd like to know more about the Houses.

Lone Wolf is cool, but it doesn't really have any sort of historical connections behind it
As such, I'm planning on dropping an open letter to each of the Houses asking why I should join, and what I should know.

After a little Sarna walking, I know Davion are the "knights" that have a feudal system based off mech ownership, they are currently the big hourglass territory in the inner-sphere map, and when the Clans invade the House will sustain heavy losses as a result of the large territory they hold.

Why should I join House Davion?

(aside from the fact that they have a banner depicting a sword going through a sun)

Technically, all of the Successor States (the five main nations that make up the Inner Sphere) utilize the feudal system.

As for why one might want to affiliate/ally with the FedSuns, specifically:

• Culturally, the Federated Suns is based on an Anglo-American model - in many ways, it is a lot like a mish-mash of the old British Empire, the current Commonwealth of Nations, and the modern United States (which, if that is or is close to one's real-world cultural affiliation, can provide a sense of comforting familiarity).
  
• As a result - and especially in contrast to the likes of the Capellan Confederation and the Draconis Combine - the Federation represents a generally more "open" and liberal society - to the point that the leadership is publicly criticized and challenged by the media without undue worry of being snatched out of their homes and offices at any hour and ending up with a 9mm third eye or a sudden case of headlessness .
  
• Given the combination of the Suns' mostly-British social model and the Davion family's ultimately-French heritage, the AFFS MechWarriors are typically depicted as filling a role analogous to that of (usually, the romanticized version of) the Western European knight.
  
• Moreso than the other realms, the FedSuns is usually depicted as being interested in the recovery and development of non-military technologies (as well as military technologies).
  
• The AFFS tends to have a fixation - almost to the point of obsession - and an affinity for the autocannon.
  
• The FedSuns was the only nation to respond favorably to the Lyrans' proposal to try to reunite humanity under a common banner - the result was the formation of the Federated Commonwealth.
  
• The current head of state, Hanse Davion, is basically what one would call a "magnificent b*****d". As an example, he addressed the most vocal critic of the Suns' nationwide education program (one Robin DeCaster) by making her the Minister of Education; "Now she is the one responsible for the government’s education policy and she’s the one forced to defend herself against the critics. It’s a beautiful example of how to handle your opponents."
  
• Also, the FedSuns is the home nation of the company that developed the Marauder - the Greatest BattleMech of All Time.

Though, it's not as though the FedSuns is without its own problems - the education system and technological prowess begins to become less prevalent and effective as one moves away from the largest population centers (to the point that some whole worlds might more closely resemble the stereotypical 19th or 20th century American South than what one might expect of a 31st century interstellar federation).

Literature-wise, the FedSuns comes off as "the White Knight faction", and occasionally "the Mary Sue faction" - FesSuns characters can often come off as arrogant, haughty, overly self-righteous, and even outright bland.

Your thoughts?

[JG52Krupi]

Strum Wealh, on 17 February 2013 - 07:41 PM, said:

Technically, all of the Successor States (the five main nations that make up the Inner Sphere) utilize the feudal system.

As for why one might want to affiliate/ally with the FedSuns, specifically:

• Culturally, the Federated Suns is based on an Anglo-American model - in many ways, it is a lot like a mish-mash of the old British Empire, the current Commonwealth of Nations, and the modern United States (which, if that is or is close to one's real-world cultural affiliation, can provide a sense of comforting familiarity).
  
• As a result - and especially in contrast to the likes of the Capellan Confederation and the Draconis Combine - the Federation represents a generally more "open" and liberal society - to the point that the leadership is publicly criticized and challenged by the media without undue worry of being snatched out of their homes and offices at any hour and ending up with a 9mm third eye or a sudden case of headlessness .
  
• Given the combination of the Suns' mostly-British social model and the Davion family's ultimately-French heritage, the AFFS MechWarriors are typically depicted as filling a role analogous to that of (usually, the romanticized version of) the Western European knight.
  
• Moreso than the other realms, the FedSuns is usually depicted as being interested in the recovery and development of non-military technologies (as well as military technologies).
  
• The AFFS tends to have a fixation - almost to the point of obsession - and an affinity for the autocannon.
  
• The FedSuns was the only nation to respond favorably to the Lyrans' proposal to try to reunite humanity under a common banner - the result was the formation of the Federated Commonwealth.
  
• The current head of state, Hanse Davion, is basically what one would call a "magnificent b*****d". As an example, he addressed the most vocal critic of the Suns' nationwide education program (one Robin DeCaster) by making her the Minister of Education; "Now she is the one responsible for the government’s education policy and she’s the one forced to defend herself against the critics. It’s a beautiful example of how to handle your opponents."
  
• Also, the FedSuns is the home nation of the company that developed the Marauder - the Greatest BattleMech of All Time.

Though, it's not as though the FedSuns is without its own problems - the education system and technological prowess begins to become less prevalent and effective as one moves away from the largest population centers (to the point that some whole worlds might more closely resemble the stereotypical 19th or 20th century American South than what one might expect of a 31st century interstellar federation).



Literature-wise, the FedSuns comes off as "the White Knight faction", and occasionally "the Mary Sue faction" - FesSuns characters can often come off as arrogant, haughty, overly self-righteous, and even outright bland.

Your thoughts?

Awesome, I have been trying to decide who to join and have been reading up on both Steiner and Davion houses.

Currently I am leaning heavily towards Davion and I am now trying to find a squad but is there any chance you could do a similar post on house Steiner (be as bias as you like )

EDIT:

Never mind I chose Davion

Now where do I sign up to the Robinson Rangers!

Edited by JG52Krupi, 18 February 2013 - 04:30 PM.

[Strum Wealh]

JG52Krupi, on 18 February 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

Awesome, I have been trying to decide who to join and have been reading up on both Steiner and Davion houses.

Currently I am leaning heavily towards Davion and I am now trying to find a squad but is there any chance you could do a similar post on house Steiner (be as bias as you like )

Well, I can't be quite as detailed with the Lyran Commonwealth, as I haven't read up on them as much as my own faction of choice.

In comparison to the FedSuns, the Lyrans are the IS economic powerhouse (as much as the Federation is the IS military powerhouse), and is also heavily influenced by Central European culture (as much as the FedSuns is based on that of Western Europe) - especially that of the Steiner family's ancestral Germany.
The Lyrans are also well-matched with the Suns in terms of non-military technologies as well.

Just as the traditional enemies of the Suns are the Draconis Combine and the Capellan Confederation, the traditional enemies of the Commonwealth are the Combine and the Free Worlds League. There are also some strongly-mixed feelings between the Lyrans and the FRR, due to some tensions created by elements of the former during the founding of the latter.

Traditionally, the Lyrans tend to favor assault 'Mechs - most notably, the Atlas, Banshee, and Zeus - and large-bore ballistic weapons (such as AC/20s, and later UAC/20s and Heavy Gauss Rifles).

Their current Archon (head of state), Melissa Steiner, is the wife of the Suns' Prince Hanse and co-ruler of the combined Federated Commonwealth.

One of the main issues with the Lyrans is their tendency to be bogged down with "social generals" and the like - the LCAF is stereotyped as having an officer corps and command structure staffed more by individuals promoted mainly because of who they know than by individuals promoted mainly because of what they know.

They also have the issue of sometimes coming off as either "FedSuns Lite" (in "good guy mode") or "WWII Germany Lite" (in "bad guy mode"), both of which are often combined with the "social general" aspect.

If you're interested, the original sourcebooks (covering up to 3025) are available through Sarna.net as free PDFs (here for the FedSuns book and here for the Lyran book).

[Visyac Cephias]

Strum Wealh, on 17 February 2013 - 07:41 PM, said:

Literature-wise, the FedSuns comes off as "the White Knight faction", and occasionally "the Mary Sue faction" - FesSuns characters can often come off as arrogant, haughty, overly self-righteous, and even outright bland.

Your thoughts?

An excellent response, thank you for simultaneously explaining your factions pros and cons.

An obsession with ballistic hardpoints is a heavy plus to their favor (HEAVY VEAPONS IZ CREDIT TO TEAM!!), and a clever noble with a flair for being clever means that I could probably support the faction in a political outlook (he makes stuff happen). But a White Knight faction is something I've actively decided to avoid.

IRL, Davion all the way, but in magical land where I pilot a hunchback with an Emergency tape paint job? No.

I don't like Mary Sues, and arrogance in bland characters has the rare trait of making me go blind with fury that strips away my rational though process and leaves me a raw nerve of explosive, murderous, irrational, hate.

I will, however, concede the badassary of the Marauder.

[Elandyll]

Because I think that one of the unspoken goal of any self-respecting Davion is to fill all Liao and Kurita Mechs with AC rounds, and I fully embrace this goal

[Goldhawk]

To simplify things I think I have this correct,
Comparison of Successor States to now

House Davion: American with small amounts of British thrown in the mixture Perhaps New England

House Steiner: More Germanic type countries and a blending of economic power countries.... I.E. Switzerland

House Kurita: Seems like more of the Japanese culture with Bushido, clearly Japan with a mixture of middle Eastern cultures

Capellan Confederation: More of a Chinese culture thus, China, India....

Free World's League: Completely British/U.K. from the nobility of the Knights of the Inner Sphere to "Parlament" And pretty much everyone else... Cowboys from frontier worlds etc....

Wow, almost forgot the
Free Rasalhague Republic

I apologize...
The Free Rasalhague Republic seems to me more of an Indian type of culture with their " The Riksforestandare, or Prince, is the political head of the Republic, the Commander-in-Chief of the Rasalhague KungsArme, and the Chancellor of the Riksbank which acts as the government's financial arm."

Edited by Goldhawk, 19 February 2013 - 10:24 AM.

[Taemien]

Strum Wealh hit it pretty spot on.

To go a little bit further into the government of the Federated Suns and specifically House Davion side of the Commonwealth. You have what could be called Neo-Feudalism. The First Prince and his Dukes/Duchessess are not elected and their titles are heriditary. But local governors and mayors are elected.

The First Prince and to a lesser extent the Dukes have very little impact upon the people. Their job by the constitution is to protect the people from the barons and such that control the individual planets and such (Dukes control the marches which have hundreds of worlds). When a lord becomes a tyrant and violates their version of the bill of rights (I think they have 12 total, but thats recalling from some old memories). Then the Prince or Duke will step in and remove the lord if necessary.

Other than having feudal lords for the vast expanses of space, it is very much like America in terms of freedoms. You have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, due process, and all that stuff. Businesses do very well in the Federated Suns due to the freedoms and are second only to the Lyran Commonwealth.

Also recently the New Avalon Institute of Science was erected to help rediscover LosTech and further the scientific goals of the Federated Suns. This is where many things are resurfacing. Even Comstar sees the NAIS as a threat and has already tried many times in its short life (being 3050) to destroy it and its scientists. The NAIS is also the most prestigious military academy, even surpassing the Nagelring of the Lyran Commonwealth.

As Strum Wealh said about the Lyran Commonwealth, gaining rank and prestige is less about what you know and more about who you know. In the Federated Suns, the difference is night and day. Performance and Leadership is highly valued and that is from any citizen. Be it AeroSpace Pilot, Infantryman, MechWarrior, Tailor, or even Painter, everyone is valued for their service to the state and encouraged to continue their patriotism.

[LordRush]

Hmmm...not trying to Troll but does anyone know what happened to the sticky for Davion units that was here?

[chewie]

yea, they borked the forums overnight from the looks of it, which means we need to get the admins to sticky them again.

They added new functions overnight:

Recently Updated
Start Date
Most replies
Most Views
Custom

And because of that its borked the stickies.

Well, thats my theory anyway

[Strum Wealh]

Visyac Cephias, on 18 February 2013 - 05:50 PM, said:

An excellent response, thank you for simultaneously explaining your factions pros and cons.

An obsession with ballistic hardpoints is a heavy plus to their favor (HEAVY VEAPONS IZ CREDIT TO TEAM!!), and a clever noble with a flair for being clever means that I could probably support the faction in a political outlook (he makes stuff happen). But a White Knight faction is something I've actively decided to avoid.

IRL, Davion all the way, but in magical land where I pilot a hunchback with an Emergency tape paint job? No.

I don't like Mary Sues, and arrogance in bland characters has the rare trait of making me go blind with fury that strips away my rational though process and leaves me a raw nerve of explosive, murderous, irrational, hate.

I will, however, concede the badassary of the Marauder.

Well, if it helps: the FedSuns' Mary-Sueism is largely (albeit not totally) confined to Victor Steiner-Davion and Kai Allard-Liao, and the most egregious white-knightism doesn't extend too far beyond them, either.

Also, I must now admit a somewhat-perverse curiosity regarding how you might then react to Clan Wolf (in particular: Natasha Kerensky, Ulric Kerensky, and especially Phelan Kell/Ward/Wolf/whatever) if the FedSuns draws that level of reaction...

Elandyll, on 19 February 2013 - 09:36 AM, said:

Because I think that one of the unspoken goal of any self-respecting Davion is to fill all Liao and Kurita Mechs with AC rounds, and I fully embrace this goal

I think that's more part of the means rather than the goal - the goal would, of course, be to see House Davion lead all of humanity to a return of the halcyon days of our fallen Star League.

Goldhawk, on 19 February 2013 - 10:19 AM, said:

To simplify things I think I have this correct,
Comparison of Successor States to now

House Davion: American with small amounts of British thrown in the mixture Perhaps New England

House Steiner: More Germanic type countries and a blending of economic power countries.... I.E. Switzerland

House Kurita: Seems like more of the Japanese culture with Bushido, clearly Japan with a mixture of middle Eastern cultures

Capellan Confederation: More of a Chinese culture thus, China, India....

Free World's League: Completely British/U.K. from the nobility of the Knights of the Inner Sphere to "Parlament" And pretty much everyone else... Cowboys from frontier worlds etc....

Wow, almost forgot the
[size=4]Free Rasalhague Republic

I apologize...
The Free Rasalhague Republic seems to me more of an Indian type of culture with their " The Riksforestandare, or Prince, is the political head of the Republic, the Commander-in-Chief of the Rasalhague KungsArme, and the Chancellor of the Riksbank which acts as the government's financial arm."

Personally, I would say that it's somewhat closer to:

• Federated Suns/House Davion: essentially the British Empire, with additional French and American overtones
  
• Lyran Commonwealth/House Steiner: essentially the Holy Roman Empire, with heavy German overtones
  
• Draconis Combine/House Kurita: essentially early Showa Era (roundabout WWI/WWII) Japan, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Arabic) represented
  
• Capellan Confederation/House Liao: essentially Qing Dynasty Era China, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Russian and Scottish) represented
  
• Free Worlds League/House Marik: essentially the Ottoman Empire, with some Indian (as in, from (post-British) india - not the Native Americans) and American overtones
  
• Free Rasalhague Republic: essentially the Swedish Empire, with some American overtones

[JG52Krupi]

Strum Wealh, on 19 February 2013 - 03:52 PM, said:

Well, if it helps: the FedSuns' Mary-Sueism is largely (albeit not totally) confined to Victor Steiner-Davion and Kai Allard-Liao, and the most egregious white-knightism doesn't extend too far beyond them, either.

Also, I must now admit a somewhat-perverse curiosity regarding how you might then react to Clan Wolf (in particular: Natasha Kerensky, Ulric Kerensky, and especially Phelan Kell/Ward/Wolf/whatever) if the FedSuns draws that level of reaction...

I think that's more part of the means rather than the goal - the goal would, of course, be to see House Davion lead all of humanity to a return of the halcyon days of our fallen Star League.

Personally, I would say that it's somewhat closer to:

• Federated Suns/House Davion: essentially the British Empire, with additional French and American overtones
  
• Lyran Commonwealth/House Steiner: essentially the Holy Roman Empire, with heavy German overtones
  
• Draconis Combine/House Kurita: essentially early Showa Era (roundabout WWI/WWII) Japan, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Arabic) represented
  
• Capellan Confederation/House Liao: essentially Qing Dynasty Era China, with a smattering of other cultures (mainly Russian and Scottish) represented
  
• Free Worlds League/House Marik: essentially the Ottoman Empire, with some Indian (as in, from (post-British) india - not the Native Americans) and American overtones
  
• Free Rasalhague Republic: essentially the Swedish Empire, with some American overtones

That's pretty much how I read into it when I was reading about the different factions , great post!

What turned me away from house steiner was all the politics, assassinations and such can't be dealing with all that

[Rebas Kradd]

My mom made me.

[Krelek1000]

Rebas Kradd, on 19 February 2013 - 09:12 PM, said:

My mom made me.

As the clans would say... Freebirth! Not a bad thing...

[Visyac Cephias]

Strum Wealh, on 19 February 2013 - 03:52 PM, said:

Also, I must now admit a somewhat-perverse curiosity regarding how you might then react to Clan Wolf (in particular: Natasha Kerensky, Ulric Kerensky, and especially Phelan Kell/Ward/Wolf/whatever) if the FedSuns draws that level of reaction...

Swayback with flamers. Just flamers.

[Visyac Cephias]

Actually thought of another question to ask. What is your relationship with the other Houses, and why?

[AmAce]

only house should be friendly with besides Davion None.*

DC and Capellan need die horrible
MericK knows not to mess ith us
Lyrans will kiss up to us be we will use them to gain more control
and all the rest like rassalhaugue just needs to be ignored


*Disclaimer tis is made as a role-play seance not to **** people off if you was offended sorry

[Strum Wealh]

Visyac Cephias, on 23 February 2013 - 06:36 PM, said:

Actually thought of another question to ask. What is your relationship with the other Houses, and why?

Are you asking if any given person role-plays the typical relationships between the AFFS (and its affiliates) with the other parties (other Houses's militaries, specific Merc Corps, etc) and to what degree, of are you asking for canon information on what those relationships would be at this point in the BT timeline?

[Visyac Cephias]

What are the canon relations that Davion currently has with the other houses? I'd like to know the baggage I might be taking on with an affiliation so I can no WHY Kurita samuri are swearing at me.