#capellan confederation

[vexwerewolf]

Hey, I can't make a post for the Clans and not include the Inner Sphere as well.

[ross-hollander]

Everybody makes a joke of it...

...but the Liao delegation really did walk out of that wedding with a good forty or so plates. Not cheap, either, serious high-quality china. Custom work. The House still has them, and dines on them regularly. The Davions, for their part, still want them back, although their claims that it was unbecoming behavior for a wedding guest to steal the flatware fall flat to the typical riposte that declaring war is pretty unbecoming behavior for a host.

[agbpaints]

I couldn't sleep so now the Men Shen MS1-O is ready to cause problems. I'm getting a bit better at the squad markings- a friend of mine who actually knows how to read Chinese suggested I look up a stroke guide for the characters I was using instead of just trying to copy off of Wikipedia. I probably should've figured that out a bit sooner :/

[cal-1maf]

Minis 2 and 3 painted! After my second spackle attempt I'm going to follow the advice given me in the previous post and pick up some hobby sand for the base on the Griffin.

Anyways, we have a House Hiritsu Vindicator on the left and a Griffin in Laurel's Legion livery on the right. I'm crazy happy with the heat stressing on the Vindy's PPC barrel and the canopy on the Griffin went really well for only my second attempt at glass.

[kasperl-ruprecht]

Highlight on the finger trap

Humiliating defeat

Commission by @kasperl-ruprecht !

[legionofmyth]

BattleTech: The Succession Wars

🎲 Experience the epic conflicts of The Succession Wars board game, set in the BattleTech universe. Engage in strategic warfare reminiscent of Risk. Conquer, dominate, and seize your path to power! #BattleTech #MechWarrior #Gaming #SciFi #Mechs

Ah, The Succession Wars tabletop board game, a captivating embodiment of the tumultuous era that has shaped the very fabric of our noble houses of the Inner Sphere. As a House noble, I find myself drawn to the intricate tapestry of political intrigue and military strategy that unfolds upon the interstellar battlefield. It allows me to indulge in the art of grand manipulation, deftly navigating…

[sapphic-design-is-my-passion]

A Stinger of Warrior House Imarra, serving the Capellan Confederation.

[krinsbez]

BattleTech WorldBuilding Thought

So, I get why the BT devs have skimped out on giving the Great Houses all the pageantry and regalia and other nonsense that RL monarchs have, but I don't see why we can't make stuff up. But as a n00b I'm not confident of doing so myself.

I'm just gonna make some suggestions of things we can do, and see if any of y'all have ideas?

-So, traditionally, the Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth's throne is flanked by a pair of Griffin BattleMechs. I think they ought to have names. What would be best?

-Crown jewels. Nobody seems to have them, at all. the least we can do is come up with names for their main crowns (because monarchs often have several of those), although we have no descriptions of any of them, so we'd have to make that up ourselves, also.

-I believe the Kurita's Dragon Throne is the only named throne. We can do better (also, the Dragon Throne was the throne of the Emperors of CHINA, not Japan, but the Kuritas getting that detail wrong feels in-character)

-Again, to my knowledge, only the Steiners and Kuritas have their own mottoes, that being "Indomitable Will" and "Honor the Dragon", respectivaly

-To my knowledge, only the Davions have their own Coat of Arms, separate from that of the nation itself, which I don't know enough about heraldry to properly describe in heraldic language, but looks like this:

What would you give the other Houses?

-To my knowledge, the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation is the only one of the Successor Lords that has a Style of any kind, that being "Celestial Wisdom", which sounds impressive until you realize that the short version of King Charles' official royal style (IE, not including his lesser titles, knightly honors, military rank, etc.), specifically in the UK (because he is also King of the Commonwealth realms), is "Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith". The full version (again, purely royal UK titles) is "the Most High, Most Mighty and Most Excellent Monarch, our Sovereign Lord, Charles III, now, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter". This is in addition to being Addressed or referred as "Your/His Majesty"" (which depending on circumstances may be modified to "Your/His Gracious Majesty", "Your/His Most Excellent Majesty", or "Your/His Britannic Majesty")

Anyways, all the Successor Lords ought to have styles that are at least as grandiose as this, I think? Suggestions?

I have spent way longer on this than I expected, sorry.

[boinkingbattlemechs]

Urbanmech

The UrbanMech was designed for just what its name suggests: urban combat and defense, and may be classed as an ambusher. This was achieved by starting with a cheap, easily produced chassis, giving it six tons of Durallex armor to rival the protection found on many medium BattleMechs, and mounting a pair of Pitban 6000 jump jets for a jumping distance of 60 meters. The tradeoff was that it could only mount the miserable Leenex 60 engine, making the UrbanMech the slowest light 'Mech in existence with a cruising speed of 21.6 km/h and top speed of only 32.4 km/h. This was a severe disadvantage if the 'Mech attempted to fight in open country—something for only the foolish or desperate—but offset by the fact that fighting in the close confines of a Star League city left little room to maneuver anyways and the UrbanMech's low profile made it difficult to target. Thus the 'Mech was primarily used for fighting guerrillas and other light 'Mechs in an urban environment, an arena where it also achieved some success fighting medium and even heavy 'Mechs. Standard tactics for an UrbanMech lance was to split up into its constituent parts and occupy various buildings in order to snipe the enemy before falling back to the next defensive line.

Large numbers of UrbanMechs were produced by Orguss Industries from 2675 until the destruction of their assembly lines. The UrbanMech reentered production at the Betelgeuse facility of Hellespont Industrials during the Jihad, and continued to be manufactured up through 3149. As such, UrbanMechs could be found in all of the armies of the Successor States, however most military leaders saw the slow little 'Mech as a liability, confining their stockpiles to garrison duty or stripping them of parts. This dismissive attitude towards the UrbanMech saved it from the ravages of the Succession Wars and ensured its continued use into the thirty-first century. The Capellan Confederation remained the largest and only user of UrbanMechs to actually deploy them for front-line duty, a result of the devastation of the Fourth Succession War and their desperation for any 'Mech to replenish their losses. The Confederation Reserve Cavalry and Capellan Defense Force had the lion's share of UrbanMechs, followed by the Tikonov Republican Guard and St. Ives Armored Cavalry; outside the Confederation the Federated Suns' Capellan March Militia fielded the largest number of UrbanMechs due to the fact it was composed of large amounts of captured Capellan equipment. Its prominence within the Confederation meant the UrbanMech was among those 'Mechs within the CCAF to receive upgrades following the recovery of lostech; the other States followed suit with much less priority over improving other 'Mechs. Despite this the sheer cost necessary to replace the UrbanMech's engine and increase its top speed meant even the Confederation limited their refit packages to improving the weapons and armor only. At some point, the common 'Mech earned a cocktail in its name.

A testament to the desperation of the Word of Blake Jihad, Hellespont Industrials would reactivate a shuttered production facility on Betelgeuse to produce the UrbanMech alongside primitive "retrotech" designs for material starved Capellan garrison forces. This plant would maintain production of the UrbanMech in a steadily increasing volume of configurations throughout the Dark Age era as the CCAF secretly expanded before it waged war against the Republic of the Sphere. Rather than dramatic and expensive enhancements, Hellespont's new variants retain the venerable design's low ground speed urban combat focus and can be applied as refits as readily as new production.

The UrbanMech packs a powerful punch for its size. The standard version carries an Imperator-B AC/10 in its right arm and a Harmon Light small laser in the left arm for suppressing infantry as well as a backup weapon. With these two weapons the UrbanMech can constantly harass, or if piloted by an experienced enough MechWarrior, down 'Mechs up to twice its own size. A single ton of ammo for the autocannon, located in the right torso, leaves little endurance for a prolonged fight, though it fits in perfectly with the hit-and-run nature of the 'Mech; one way or another most observers agree the UrbanMech is good for about two minutes of combat.

[oshlet]

PHX-1 Phoenix Hawk of the 2nd Tikonov Lancers of the Capellan Confederation. Standard model retaining the machineguns, which the Federated Suns usually do away with, and the jump jets, which House Kuria tends to ditch. Fast, reliable and possessing solid firepower for its weight class, the PHX-1 and derivatives are popular across the inner sphere.

Also, I'm back. This should mean more consistent posting again (hopefully)

[house-liao-official]

Greetings representative of the Capellan Confederation, I have but one question for you. What is House Liao's opinion on putting the milk in first for cereal?

This is the worst thing that's ever been asked. Congratulations!

Put in the cereal first.

[austinramsaygames]

First pass of green on my new Capellan Confederation lance. Once the green is done, the black gets a light dry brushing of silver.

Also an example of what the finished paint scheme looks like.

[ross-hollander]

Before his quiet...

...removal from power, Maximilian Liao managed to issue a barrage of decrees in his mounting fits of stress and fury. He was a man with a troubled mind and a troubled life, and it was understandable to all that the war had put him off-kilter (even more so than he once had been), so a lot of these edicts- such as declaring the known universe the de facto territory of the Confederation, and a decree to publicly behead anyone who ever pronounced the name 'Davion' -were accepted from his desk and promptly tossed into the wastebasket outside his office.

One did slip through, though, wherein he declared that wedding cakes were now illegal in all the dominions of House Liao, forever and for all time, for their use in treachery and war against them by the House of No Meritorious Name. Through the pachinko machine of governance, this made it into national law, and though wedding cake wasn't a staple of the event in some cultures within the Confederation, there were enough that it was an issue.

The "Confection Dark Age" that followed saw wedding pies, the return of the turducken, jellos, a foray into mousse, and cupcakes, before the victor emerged from the free-for-all; the "Capellan wedding donuts", which were often arranged in stacks or on skewers to build all kinds of fanciful designs like flowers or palaces. The honor of taking off the the first donut from the arrangement replaces cutting the cake.

[agbpaints]

Ah, the Cataphract, what happens when you throw a big pile of scraps and production spares at a bunch of engineers with no resources and too many problems and tell them to make it work. In fairness to the Capellans, they did somehow manage to make a pretty decent design by stuffing a Marauder, Shadow Hawk, and Phoenix Hawk in a blender with whatever else was on hand on Tikanov at the time. Shame the Davions stole the production facility when they came a-knocking

[cal-1maf]

A little more detail. I'm very happy with the hazard striping, though I cheated a bit and used sharpie for the black lines.

[waluigis-biggest-fan]

So I wanted to explain some stuff for a friend who's not into Battletech so that he knows what I'm talking about.

Timeline

Pre-Star League

humanity expands out to form the Inner Sphere (basically the closest planets to Earth which is called Terra because sci-fi story) and the periphery (planets further than the Inner Sphere). Then humanity had a big war, like we do, and formed the Star League.

Star League (2570-2780)

Humanity forms space United Nations but this United Nations has an emperor and 5 great houses, namely House Steiner, House Merik, House Davion, House Kurita, and House Liao (we'll get to them in a second). It was all Star Trek and happiness (except for the fucks at House Kurita who kept trying to samurai duel people with mechs to the point there was an elite organization called the Gunslinger Program specifically trained for dealing with their bullshit). Then this fucker Ameris came along and tried to take it all over. This not fucker called Karensky kicked his ass then took all the Star League Defense Forces (space UN peacekeepers) and fucked off beyond the periphery where nobody heard about them for hundreds of years.

Succession Wars (2781-3049)

Ok so now we get to the most commonly used era in Battletech, the Succession Wars. Basically, every House wanted to create a new Star League with themselves as the leader. This is followed by two centuries of warfare encouraged by the fucks at Comstar (we'll get to them too don't you worry your pretty little head).

Clan Invasion (3050-3061)

OH HEY SO YOU REMEMBER KARENSKY AND HIS FUCKERS!?! So they came back but now they're a warrior cult based around fighting in Battlemechs. Whereas the rest of the galaxy was involved in war that destroyed all their tech production bases, the Clans were having a technological renaissance so their shit is better than the Inner Sphere shit. They fight a lot and kill a lot until eventually Comstar challenges them to a Batchal (their version of a duel but on a planetary scale with multiple armies involved). The clans all sent basically 2/3rds of their entire armies to fight Comstar...

and Comstar kicked their fucking asses.

The general who Comstar chose to do so was named Focht and that's exactly what he told the Clans to get. They retreated and could no longer threaten the newly reforged Star League.

Civil War (3062-3067)

So now the newly reforged Star League immediately started infighting and destroying itself. Go figure.

Jihad (3068-3080)

The Word of Blake, a religious cult offshoot of Comstar, starts jihading everybody after Star League 2: Electric Boogaloo falls apart.

Dark Age (3081-3150)

Nobody liked this era and it doesn't matter. Basically, the internet shut down and everyone lost their minds.

IlClan (3151-Present)

(Credit to KingsofWinter on Deviantart for the map)

The Clans form a massive big clan called the IlClan (pronounced ill-clan) who conquer Terra and form a new Star League but with tech-fetishism and batchals.

Everyone is still fighting.

The Big Factions

There are a couple big factions with a lot of lore to them so I'll get the main ones out of the way just so you know them.

House Steiner (Lyran Commonwealth)

Germans with attitude and no sense of stealth. Basically just take the biggest mechs possible and throw them at the enemy.

House Merik (Free Worlds League)

'Murica fuck yeah.

House Kurita (Draconis Combine)

You know japan? Its that but in space.

House Davion (Federated Suns)

Also 'Murica fuck yeah but with a more knightly aesthetic.

House Liao (Capellan Confederation)

China plus Soviet Russia.

Comstar

A cult that runs all the faster than light telephones. They basically stop technology from progressing and keep everyone at war with stealth operations. They also control Terra and nowhere else. Their plan is basically to blast humanity back to the stone age then everyone will have to follow their cult's teachings. Fun stuff.

Terms and Definitions

Battlemech: Just a mech designed to fight.

Autocannon (AC): An automatic canon. The higher the number after it, the bigger the rounds it fires.

Particle Projector Cannon (PPC): It takes a particle and accelerates it massively. Its the worst weapon you can get hit by in Battletech short of a Gauss Rifle or a Heavy PPC.

Extra Range (ER): Some weapons have extra range variants. It does what it says on the tin.