Battletech - Also known as Trannytech

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Wait, what? I could have sworn their house colour is yellow. Liao is green; Marik purple, Steiner blue, Kurita red, and Davion yellow. Right...?

Liao is bright (jade) green, Davion is more of an olive drab color.

What sorts of things would be "black market" for FRR? Everywhere except Canopus follows standard 1980s rules for what is illegal, yes (drugs, gambling, strong porn, prostitution)?

Everything, I would wager. Rasalhague is small, entirely reliant on support from the outside and their production capabilities are pretty much non-existent.
Imagine it like post-ww2 Germany. Sure, you can buy most stuff in stores, but it's either super expensive, super rare or super hard to find. You can also check the black markets, where it's maybe cheaper (cause it's fenced goods) or even more expensive, but at least it's in stock.

 

[Balr0g]

Rasalhague wasn'T small when they got their indepencdence. Though post war seems to be right given the fact that Ronin from the Combine waltzed through there. And I wqould wager that several neighboring Lyran merchants were just rubbing their hands anticpating good sales for years to come

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Rasalhague wasn'T small when they got their indepencdence. Though post war seems to be right given the fact that Ronin from the Combine waltzed through there. And I wqould wager that several neighboring Lyran merchants were just rubbing their hands anticpating good sales for years to come

I am talking FRR post Clan invasion though. And what is a great way to increase your revenue? Why, cutting out taxes and tariffs, of course. So smuggling and the attached black market structure would be a flourishing business model, even if it didn't exist beforehand.

But even ante Clan invasion, the FRR would be an attractive area for illegal shenanigans, cause it was kinda sorta wedged in between two Great Houses and not as tightly connected to their resources as it might need to.

 

[Tenko Star]

Wait, what? I could have sworn their house colour is yellow. Liao is green; Marik purple, Steiner blue, Kurita red, and Davion yellow. Right...?

Davion is heavily associated with green - their 'Mechs are green, their uniforms are green (there's a pic in the old Mercenary book of some ELH dude in a green shirt and it's described as "unmistakably Davion" or something) and even their dress uniforms are green post-Civil War when they were dark blue before the Federated Commonwealth union. On the other hand, a lot of the old material has Davion stuff associated with yellow instead: the regimental listing in the old House Davion sourcebook is printed on a yellow background, Davion units are marked yellow in the Fourth Succession War Atlas, etc. I'm guessing the publishers are avoiding colour clash with their neighbouring fanciers of green given the regularity of them fighting.

What about weapons? Is there a Space Second Amendment in FRR, Steiner, and/or Kurita space?

Kurita heavily restricts civvie weapon use, at least. The description of a gunmaking company (People's Protector or something) specifically mentions that they're actually talking about the ones who are permitted to carry a weapon, like the nobles, and I'm guessing officials and other people rated for a need-for-protection permission. Everywhere else I'd look at the legality rating of the gun (like in the MWRPG and AToW books) versus whatever you can dig up on the planet in the faction sourcebooks. Solaris VII has gunshops in the city, for example, unless my memory fails me.

As for prostitution, that goes on Solaris as well. There's an anecdote about a mercenary unit in the Chaos March that got into a scandal when it turned out that the leader had been a madam on Solaris, but that wasn't the full reason for the scandal: it was that she was running members of her unit as courtesans/infiltrators/spies.

Davion's House Color is green though... but a lot of their high profile forces use red white and blue

There's a bit about the regimental Mechwarrior kit in the old House Davion book that never ceases to amuse me. It's about the shorts the various units wear, so if you see a 'Mech driver in grey shorts you know he's in the Ceti Hussars, and so on. However the Brigade of Guards is mentioned having red-white-blue shorts, which always makes me think of a regiment's worth of people in Apollo Creed's ring gear.

 

[Solid Snek]

Davion is heavily associated with green - their 'Mechs are green, their uniforms are green (there's a pic in the old Mercenary book of some ELH dude in a green shirt and it's described as "unmistakably Davion" or something) and even their dress uniforms are green post-Civil War when they were dark blue before the Federated Commonwealth union. On the other hand, a lot of the old material has Davion stuff associated with yellow instead: the regimental listing in the old House Davion sourcebook is printed on a yellow background, Davion units are marked yellow in the Fourth Succession War Atlas, etc. I'm guessing the publishers are avoiding colour clash with their neighbouring fanciers of green given the regularity of them fighting.


Kurita heavily restricts civvie weapon use, at least. The description of a gunmaking company (People's Protector or something) specifically mentions that they're actually talking about the ones who are permitted to carry a weapon, like the nobles, and I'm guessing officials and other people rated for a need-for-protection permission. Everywhere else I'd look at the legality rating of the gun (like in the MWRPG and AToW books) versus whatever you can dig up on the planet in the faction sourcebooks. Solaris VII has gunshops in the city, for example, unless my memory fails me.

As for prostitution, that goes on Solaris as well. There's an anecdote about a mercenary unit in the Chaos March that got into a scandal when it turned out that the leader had been a madam on Solaris, but that wasn't the full reason for the scandal: it was that she was running members of her unit as courtesans/infiltrators/spies.


There's a bit about the regimental Mechwarrior kit in the old House Davion book that never ceases to amuse me. It's about the shorts the various units wear, so if you see a 'Mech driver in grey shorts you know he's in the Ceti Hussars, and so on. However the Brigade of Guards is mentioned having red-white-blue shorts, which always makes me think of a regiment's worth of people in Apollo Creed's ring gear.

OK, thanks. One of my earlier ideas was to have the Yakuza running a geisha outfit, and per the character creation rules I needed a "dark secret" that would prove incredibly scandalous to my character and company if it got out. That Solaris thing sounds like it would fit the bill quite nicely! So maybe the trade route goes like this:

Using merc units as a "legitimate" cover, the Yakuza enters Steiner space; smuggles in a bunch of geisha assassin-spies, which the Steiners would bang without question because they're all rich deviant Germans. While there, Yakuza operatives pick up Steiner heavy weaponry on the cheap. Take some contracts, go back to Kurita space, sell the Steiner weapons to private buyers and unscrupulous garrison commanders who need more firepower on account of dang mercenaries blowing everything up. After the mission, scour the bombed-out ruins of cities for Japanese schoolgirls and Swedish Rasalgram models who'd like to assassinate social generals. Repeat. Maybe the Yakuza could dip into arms and geisha sales on both sides of the border - light mechs to LCAF field officers, Germano-Scottish honeypot girls to DCMS samurai - but the basic guns-to-Japan, thots-to-Germany loop would be in itself a lucrative trade route, I think. Later, we could partner up with the Diamond Sharks and expand into running Clan weapons and Elemental porn in exchange for something the Clans would like.

What would the Clans buy, anyways? Would they be in the market for IS military secrets? Or exotic, non-Elemental porn perhaps? "Freebirths Gone Wild: You'll Never Believe What These Lower Caste Barbarians Do When Their Primitive Society is Deprived of Iron Wombs"? I'd imagine that Clanners, especially Clanners far from their homeworlds and new to the wealth and leisure of the Inner Sphere, would have a lot of needs that need meeting.

 

[Snekposter]

Oh, one important thing is that Davion MechWarriors always wear spurs without any rowels installed. This small fact might possibly save your life, or at least someone else's at one point. Goddamn it Aldo Lestrade.

Also, the Yakuza is everywhere the Combine used to be. Yes, that includes large parts of the Draconis March for obvious reasons, although the yakuza there aren't quite so pro-Kuritan as the ones in the Combine are since that's a good way to get some Enforcers kicking open your warehouse walls. And that's very bad for business.

 

[White Devil]

Oh, one important thing is that Davion MechWarriors always wear spurs without any rowels installed. This small fact might possibly save your life, or at least someone else's at one point. Goddamn it Aldo Lestrade.

Sure as hell didn't save Jeana Clay's life.
iirc, she also caught the heel click the assassin did, which was something they learned at Sanglamore.

 

[Snekposter]

Sure as hell didn't save Jeana Clay's life.
iirc, she also caught the heel click the assassin did, which was something they learned at Sanglamore.

No, it didn't save her life, but she was a body double, and they're expendable and she knew it. Managed to stop the Space Italians from pulling off their coup though, which is a good thing considering they're just as competent as IRL Italians. As demonstrated by their complete inability to even pretend to look the part given they wore their actual uniforms under their fake ones for that.

 

[Tenko Star]

What would the Clans buy, anyways?

This is actually a plot point in one of the Camacho's Caballeros books, so I'll spoiler it if you haven't read them: There's a Clan dropship spotting on Hachiman, the Kurita planet the Caballeros are hired to guard. At the end Chandrasekhar Kurita - ie. the Caballeros' employer and all around best guy - reveals that the dropship belongs to the Jade Falcon merchant caste, not the warrior caste. He's selling the green birds, who are among the most traditional and conservative Clans around, stuff like music players and other consumer electronics, up to and including toys. This is because whilst they're now hanging around on Lyran planets with great consumer wealth, that's only for the subjugated Spheroids to enjoy: no fancy 'Mech Gunplas for the real Clanner kids present, no washing machines, music players, films or video games for the warrior caste who is in charge. Uncle Chandy has realised three things: 1) after seeing the material wealth denied them, the warriors are eventually going to want what they're being denied, 2) the Clan merchant caste is eager to do business with both sides and 3) this would eventually corrupt the Inner Sphere Clans "us superior to the grogtech Spheroids" mentality. And the best part: it worked. There's a snippet in the Wars of Reaving book that even Clanners in the Homeworlds have seen the holographic adventures of Adam Steiner and his merry crew, and remember growing up watching it. Also, the Caballeros books are excellent (though Cassie Suthorn is an acquired taste) and probably my favourite ones after Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon.

Also, the Yakuza is everywhere the Combine used to be.

Or even where Japanese settlers went, so it doesn't necessarily end at the FRR/LC border: it's equally likely that there is a healthy (to speak) Yakuza scene on New Kyoto, the planet that's so Japanese people think it was occupied by the Kuritans in the past, and I wouldn't put it past those Japanese-named planets in Oriente either to have Yakuza gangs roaming about either.

 

[Balr0g]

As for prostitution, that goes on Solaris as well. There's an anecdote about a mercenary unit in the Chaos March that got into a scandal when it turned out that the leader had been a madam on Solaris, but that wasn't the full reason for the scandal: it was that she was running members of her unit as courtesans/infiltrators/spies.

Gael's Grinders. And the "bedside-diplomacy! worked for a while (not sure which planet that was but it was the Chaos March). Until the Word of Blake showed up and blasted all opposition to bits. The survivors linked up with the Dismal Disinherited but that unit also went down.

And in the Interstellar players it is noted that Chandrasekar tried to open trade routes with all clans. And as you mentioned he was offering simple goods like toys, consumer electronics and so on (which would probably become quiet scarce in the Clan OZ) Though it also went the other way (though mostly military production) when for example Clan Ghostbear managed to bring J.E.S back to the Dominion while cooperating with the Fedsuns where J.E.S had it's HQ after fleeing from Alshain

 

[Solid Snek]

This is actually a plot point in one of the Camacho's Caballeros books, so I'll spoiler it if you haven't read them: There's a Clan dropship spotting on Hachiman, the Kurita planet the Caballeros are hired to guard. At the end Chandrasekhar Kurita - ie. the Caballeros' employer and all around best guy - reveals that the dropship belongs to the Jade Falcon merchant caste, not the warrior caste. He's selling the green birds, who are among the most traditional and conservative Clans around, stuff like music players and other consumer electronics, up to and including toys. This is because whilst they're now hanging around on Lyran planets with great consumer wealth, that's only for the subjugated Spheroids to enjoy: no fancy 'Mech Gunplas for the real Clanner kids present, no washing machines, music players, films or video games for the warrior caste who is in charge. Uncle Chandy has realised three things: 1) after seeing the material wealth denied them, the warriors are eventually going to want what they're being denied, 2) the Clan merchant caste is eager to do business with both sides and 3) this would eventually corrupt the Inner Sphere Clans "us superior to the grogtech Spheroids" mentality. And the best part: it worked. There's a snippet in the Wars of Reaving book that even Clanners in the Homeworlds have seen the holographic adventures of Adam Steiner and his merry crew, and remember growing up watching it. Also, the Caballeros books are excellent (though Cassie Suthorn is an acquired taste) and probably my favourite ones after Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon.


Or even where Japanese settlers went, so it doesn't necessarily end at the FRR/LC border: it's equally likely that there is a healthy (to speak) Yakuza scene on New Kyoto, the planet that's so Japanese people think it was occupied by the Kuritans in the past, and I wouldn't put it past those Japanese-named planets in Oriente either to have Yakuza gangs roaming about either.

Hmmm... ok, yeah, that sounds like it would work, yeah! Also, Snekposter's reply made me think of something else

although the yakuza there aren't quite so pro-Kuritan as the ones in the Combine

The Yakuza IRL are pretty based and nationalistic, yes? And I take it the Yakuza in Battletech have a similar attitude towards the Combine?

If that's the case, then would it be believable for a Yakuza-gumi to support the Ronin cause during the Ronin War? My understanding is that the Ronin War was similar to the irl Boshin War - the modernist Emperor (Theodore Kurita) and his Western allies (Space Google) betrayed the shogun and traditional samurai class (DCMS units along the Lyran front), which led to a samurai revolt put down by foreign guns. Trad Sams would be reluctant to get help from mercs and Yakuza, I think, but the Yakuza would probably be willing to help Trad Sams against Google-loving traitors like Theodore, yes?

 

[Tenko Star]

If that's the case, then would it be believable for a Yakuza-gumi to support the Ronin cause during the Ronin War? My understanding is that the Ronin War was similar to the irl Boshin War - the modernist Emperor (Theodore Kurita) and his Western allies (Space Google) betrayed the shogun and traditional samurai class (DCMS units along the Lyran front), which led to a samurai revolt put down by foreign guns. Trad Sams would be reluctant to get help from mercs and Yakuza, I think, but the Yakuza would probably be willing to help Trad Sams against Google-loving traitors like Theodore, yes?

Plenty of Yakuza Mechwarriors were pro-Teddy K (their reasoning being they were finally allowed to do their bit for the Dragon, much like the other offbeat recruitment sources Theodore went for, such as the women's trade colleges) but many were pro-Takashi as well, and these latter ones were really hard-headed ones. The Caballeros books go into that as well, but suffice to say their oyabuns were really, really traditional and considered Teddy's reforms to be an affront to everything the Combine stood for. I'd say a pro-Ronin Yakuza crew would be totally possible.

Really, the Ronin Wars were a massive tragedy of errors. First you have the Rasalhague Regulars that had the dual drawback of being comprised of the most ISF/O5P-approved, rah-rah-the-Dragon Rasalhagians. Then you station them in their home province instead of, say, the Fed Suns border - and then you give said province independence. Not to mention shit like the pro-Takashi Warlord of Rasalhague Sorenson dying in an accident right before the war kicked off, and the nearest Warlord being Vasily Cherenkoff whose military competence could be summed as "completely loyal to Takashi", and it's no wonder things went to hell in a handbasket right quick. Then again, you had Ronin units that were completely selfless, like the Second Night Stalkers, who literally went to war simply to protect the pro-Luthien citizens of Rasalhague and surrendered when they found out what was going on.

And then the Clans come in 15 years later and crump the FRR into a seven-system midget state in the span of about three real-time months. I'm still so salty about that I could be declared a health hazard.

 

[Solid Snek]

Plenty of Yakuza Mechwarriors were pro-Teddy K (their reasoning being they were finally allowed to do their bit for the Dragon, much like the other offbeat recruitment sources Theodore went for, such as the women's trade colleges) but many were pro-Takashi as well, and these latter ones were really hard-headed ones. The Caballeros books go into that as well, but suffice to say their oyabuns were really, really traditional and considered Teddy's reforms to be an affront to everything the Combine stood for. I'd say a pro-Ronin Yakuza crew would be totally possible.

Really, the Ronin Wars were a massive tragedy of errors. First you have the Rasalhague Regulars that had the dual drawback of being comprised of the most ISF/O5P-approved, rah-rah-the-Dragon Rasalhagians. Then you station them in their home province instead of, say, the Fed Suns border - and then you give said province independence. Not to mention shit like the pro-Takashi Warlord of Rasalhague Sorenson dying in an accident right before the war kicked off, and the nearest Warlord being Vasily Cherenkoff whose military competence could be summed as "completely loyal to Takashi", and it's no wonder things went to hell in a handbasket right quick. Then again, you had Ronin units that were completely selfless, like the Second Night Stalkers, who literally went to war simply to protect the pro-Luthien citizens of Rasalhague and surrendered when they found out what was going on.

And then the Clans come in 15 years later and crump the FRR into a seven-system midget state in the span of about three real-time months. I'm still so salty about that I could be declared a health hazard.

Shit, yeah, ok. This website is saying that the Yakuza were pro-Teddy, too, and it might be difficult for an anti-Teddy Yakuza-gumi to keep operating in FRR space between 3035-3050. (also, what's up with the Genyosha? I don't know much about them. I actually named my merc unit the Blackocean Ronin, which is a reference to the IRL Genyosha Society. I wasn't aware that there's already a DCMS Genyosha unit, but if there is one - and especially if there is one staffed by Yakuza jocks - then maybe the gumi should have been Loyalists during the Ronin War?)

The trouble is, the character I rolled up has this War Orphan background, and the Ronin War would be the perfect time and place for that to happen. I also want her to be highly Xenophobic against commies, on account of her biological family getting fragged by Capellan mercs (possibly operating as part of some behind-the-scenes, Game of Thrones-style shadow war) - but that would only make sense if the family were Ronin, rather than Loyalist.

 

[Tenko Star]

wasn't aware that there's already a DCMS Genyosha unit, but if there is one - and especially if there is one staffed by Yakuza jocks - then maybe the gumi should have been Loyalists during the Ronin War?

The Genyosha aren't made up of Yakuza, they're the elite of the elite of the DCMS, created by Yorinaga Kurita, an absolute badass and a legendary commander, and they were some of the best regiments the Dracs had to offer. The Yakuza were formed into the Ghost Regiments - which were incidentally the ones the Comstar giftmechs were concentrated - to create a force the LC and the FS wouldn't pay attention to. The 1st and 2nd Genyosha and the first Ryuken (a unit founded to emulate the Wolf's Dragoons) fought in the Ronin War on Teddy's side, and kicked arse all round.

If you want a descendant of the Ronin that hates the Capellans, you might want to have the character be someone whose parent was KOd by the Shin Legions, who are composed of Capellan expats. The First and Second Shin Legions fought in the Ronin War on Teddy's side, and kicked the Ronin forces around on several planets. Unless I remember wrong, no Capellan-origin mercs fought in the Ronin Wars.

 

[Snekposter]

The Yakuza IRL are pretty based and nationalistic, yes? And I take it the Yakuza in Battletech have a similar attitude towards the Combine?

The Yakuza IRL are weird as fuck since they're this quasi-legitimate business operation, complete with publicly-advertised front offices and all other sorts of stuff. Dead serious on the offices by the way. Nationalistic, but also very dependent on not pissing off the locals too much with their operations. As a result, especially since they got used this way right after WW2, they're also a back-channel civilian aid and rebuilding group in addition to being a mafia, able to "convince" people to work together and get aid organized, which given the Inner Sphere is a pretty damn handy capability that goes a long way towards endearing them to the locals. The chances of FRR and Draconis March yakuza being rather more loyal to their localities over the Dragon is about 100%, mostly because the people aren't going to help them out if they backstab them and let the DCMS invade. Especially since there's that nasty business called the Kentares Massacre that makes the Rape of Nanking look like a sand castle being kicked over.

 

[Solid Snek]

The Genyosha aren't made up of Yakuza, they're the elite of the elite of the DCMS, created by Yorinaga Kurita, an absolute badass and a legendary commander, and they were some of the best regiments the Dracs had to offer. The Yakuza were formed into the Ghost Regiments - which were incidentally the ones the Comstar giftmechs were concentrated - to create a force the LC and the FS wouldn't pay attention to. The 1st and 2nd Genyosha and the first Ryuken (a unit founded to emulate the Wolf's Dragoons) fought in the Ronin War on Teddy's side, and kicked arse all round.

If you want a descendant of the Ronin that hates the Capellans, you might want to have the character be someone whose parent was KOd by the Shin Legions, who are composed of Capellan expats. The First and Second Shin Legions fought in the Ronin War on Teddy's side, and kicked the Ronin forces around on several planets. Unless I remember wrong, no Capellan-origin mercs fought in the Ronin Wars.

OK, thanks. I'm not opposed to rolling up a non-canon merc company to war orphan me, but the Shin Legion sounds like it might work. The Sarna Wiki says they were at Kandis (which was a Commonwealth world at the time) and Skandia (which was Draconis) during the Ronin Wars, but I guess it's possible they could have sent elements elsewhere, too.

I guess the last thing to do would be to actually settle on a home planet. Skandia is probably too coreward; I'm thinking of some remote backwater outpost, like St John maybe? Or an OC planet that doesn't appear on any canon maps, maybe because it was too small, or it got depopulated, or because there was some military need to scrub it from the records (got taken over by a Comstar special forces group or something)?

Here's what I've got so far:

Spoiler

My character's parents were samurai officers in the DCMS; Mizuno Naganori and Nakano, minor landholders and heroes of the Third Succession War, who served as commanding officers in one of the units that served as an ongoing antagonist force for the player characters in my old, 3025 pnp campaign. Following the wind-down of hostilities, they "retired" to garrison duty on their home planet, being called up again to serve in the Fourth Succession War, and finally retiring to garrison "for good" in 3030. They had several children - their eldest was born in 3015, and my character (the second youngest) being born sometime between 3025 and 3030. It's possible she was actually the biological daughter of a different character, a Swedenese ace mechwarrior who was the main Draconis "bad guy" for my old campaigns, but I'm on the fence about that. War Orphans and Yakuza are already plenty melodramatic, without adding in cuckery to the mix.

Anyway, following the end of the Fourth Succession War, her parents turned to planetary administration. They were an earnest and honorable overseers, trying to balance the often conflicting needs of planetside dissidents, loyal DCMS soldiers, and remote Imperial bureaucrats. They also had a quiet relationship with the local Yakuza, the Itano-gumi, who in addition to arms smuggling and prostitution, ran several "legitimate" mercenary units known for their skill in sniping and massed LRM fire. These units were nominally employed as bodyguards, scouts, and rear-echelon liaisons, but off the books, served as a way of conducting "humanitarian" missions that were not otherwise authorized. For example, if a remote civilian outpost of no strategic value to DCMS command needed food and medical supplies, some local military stock might be "lost" to "pirate raids" - with the Itano-gumi quietly handling the deliveries. These "discrepancies" were, in part, what led to the family becoming noticed by a powerful and corrupt court official, Kira Yoshinaka (a wealthy minister who had served with Naganori during the Third Succession War, and in the years following his promotion to the Imperial Court, had become compromised by the Maskirovka). Despite the risks, they continued to rely on the discrete services of the Itano-gumi, as in this way, Naganori and Nakano hoped to straddle the line between duty to the Combine and duty to the local people they ruled. Sadly, of course, conflict between locals and the DCMS was ultimately inevitable, and nothing they could do would stop it.

By the start of the Ronin War, my family was still at least nominally committed to the Emperor. They were given a timeframe to leave the system, which would have been seen as a betrayal of their loyal service and feudal contract - after all, they'd fought in the vanguard of two major galactic wars, and now they were being forced to give up their ancestral land holdings, simply because the Emperor thought it would be easier to withdraw! However, they were dutiful bushi, and would not have countenanced rebellion, at least not at first. Besides, between trying to reign in disgruntled local soldiers, and setting up business arrangements so that the most at-risk locals would be able to survive after the DCMS withdrawal, the final days of their stay on planet would have kept them too busy to plan sedition, even if they'd wanted to.

However, what they hadn't counted on was their elder son, who by this time was a highly promising senior cadet in the Sun Zhang Academy. A student radical, he was part of the first wave of officers who refused the standdown orders and attempted to recapture planets for the Draconis Combine. His unit failed, of course, and he, having escaped destruction at the hands of the newly-formed Kungsarme, fled back to his parents' estate using blackmarket channels. Kira Yoshinaka seized this opportunity, declaring their son a criminal, and ordering Naganori and Nakano to hand over themselves, and their children - all of their children - on suspicion of disloyalty.

Faced with a choice between loyalty to the Dragon, and loyalty to their family, they chose their family. There was a brief military campaign as the newly-raised local Rasalhague forces attempted to move in and put down the "Ronin" rebellion on their world. However, lack of experience, combined with a lack of resolve (most of the local Kungsarme officers had been trained by the Lords Mizuno, and had even less desire to fight than they did), led to the Ronin forces achieving a rapid, though costly and clearly temporary, victory. Sensing the situation spiraling out of control (or perhaps, anticipating the situation spiraling out of control) Minister Kira authorized the deployment of an elite battalion of Liao expats to reinforce the Kungsarme, who landed on the planet in force not long after. Supported by land, air, and Mech forces, fresh and well-armed, both sides could see the coming battle would end only one way. (side note: I'm thinking maybe there's something of interest to the Maskirovka on this planet; perhaps, unknown to anyone outside the intelligence community, the family castle was sitting on a secret SLDF cache?)

Realizing that they had neither the numbers nor supplies to hold out against an experienced Capellan expeditionary unit, Naganori and Nakano resolved to make one final stand. Hoping to preserve as many lives as possible, they ordered most of their forces, including the Itano-gumi and the bulk of their household Guard, to stand down. In exchange for a general surrender of the bulk of their forces and a final, suicidal duel, with nothing but their Command Lance against whatever forces the Capellans wished to field, the two Samurai asked only that their soldiers, civilians, and youngest children be spared. The Capellans agreed to these terms.

.... and promptly reneged.

Ambushing Naganori and Nakano as they moved to the designated battlesite, the Liao Mechs slaughtered the Ronin command lance like dogs, blasting Naganori in the back and crushing Nagano's escape pod in flagrant disregard to the Ares Convention. They then turned on the Ronin units that had stood down and were in the process of surrender - blasting several lances of dismounted Mech pilots away as they stood on a parade ground in front of their powered-down Mechs - as well as the local city and outlying communities, still swollen with refugees from the weeks-long fighting that many thought had just come to an end. Of course, the after-action reports were "edited" so that the Ronin units shot first, and the excessive violence that leveled much of the surrounding province was an unfortunate, but necessary, reaction to an insurgency that in its last moments had turned desperate and suicidal. (side note: the Liao expats are not just dumb savages, of course. Being Capellans, they're clever savages; leveling the city and slaughtering everyone nearby would provide the perfect cover for their covert mission. In the chaos and destruction, it would be easy to abscond with Star League tech from a cache neither Rasalhague nor the DCMS even knew was there; the former site of the cache just one more smoking hole in a broken sea of rubble and carnage)

Several Ronin units did manage to hold on, however, buying time for civilians and non-essential military personnel to escape. The Itano-gumi was at the forefront of the fighting and one of the last units to evacuate; the Yakuza oyabun personally rescued both my character and her youngest sibling, stashing us both in his mech mere moments before the family castle was leveled by artillery fire. Knowing that there would be no quarter given, my second-eldest sibling - barely old enough to pilot a Mech - offered to stay behind and cover the Itano-gumi as it escorted the last of the withdrawing forces into orbit. While this final group made it into orbit and withdrew safely, all of the remaining Ronin DCMS were massacred, as well as any civilians unlucky enough to miss the dropships. Several days later, after cordoning off the area and meticulously hunting down starving stragglers who'd tried to hide in the wreckage, the planet was declared pacified, and formally part of the FRR.

Of the now leaderless DCMS personnel who remained alive on the Yakuza ships, a small cadre of 47 survivors were organized into a combat unit within the Yakuza organization; this unit, in turn, would form the nucleus of what would, in 15 years time, become my character's personal mercenary company.

Anyways, it's kind of long and autistic, and it doesn't get into her adoption into the Yakuza, nor all the training and criminal shenanigans she gets involved in prior to 3049, when her adoptive father dies and internal politics isolates her and her fledgling merc company from the main body of the Gumi - but would that first bit work with canon? It's silly and melodramatic, I know, but would it be believable as part of the Battletech universe?

The Yakuza IRL are weird as fuck since they're this quasi-legitimate business operation, complete with publicly-advertised front offices and all other sorts of stuff. Dead serious on the offices by the way.

Yeah, I've seen documentaries on the Yazkua where they just show off their offices like it's nothing. At one point they even bust out a notebook with their employment roster, and they're showing it off to the camera, like - "heeey, look at all these guys! Here's their names and addresses and everything. Good Yakuza earners, these boys."

That's one of the reasons why I think it'd be neat to have merc companies run by the Yakuza serve as legitimate front offices for all the blackmarket stuff they do. You KNOW the mercs are with the Yakzua, but... well, they're a legitimate business too, right?

 

[Balr0g]

That's one of the reasons why I think it'd be neat to have merc companies run by the Yakuza serve as legitimate front offices for all the blackmarket stuff they do. You KNOW the mercs are with the Yakzua, but... well, they're a legitimate business too, right?

I think one of the Ghost regiments (the 9th) deserted from the Combine during the Jihad after being labeled as trators (wrongly IIRC) The unit labeled themselves Ronin. I would assume that unit kept it's Yakuza ties even though they don't serve in the combine (ironically I think they ended up in Fedsuns space) And there is also Blue Saphire Metal a Mechproducer with ties to the Yakuza (I think one Oyabun is a shareholder or so) So there is precedence for your idea imho.Though I doubt the Yakuza would try that during Takashi "Death to all mercenaries" Kurita's reign. Maybe after 3052 when mercenaries helped saving Luthien

 

[Tenko Star]

The Sarna Wiki says they were at Kandis (which was a Commonwealth world at the time) and Skandia (which was Draconis) during the Ronin Wars, but I guess it's possible they could have sent elements elsewhere, too.

The 1st Shin Legion fought on Kandis (July 3034) and served as the occupation force on Skandia (August 3034) alongside the 2nd, but the 2nd Shin Legion was then deployed to Nox (the First remaining on Skandia until pulled back to the Combine in October). The Second fought on Nox in September and October against Lyran-hired mercenaries with the 11th Legion of Vega. Incidentally that battle on Kandis was also against Lyran-hired mercenaries. Duke Kelswa really wanted those old Tamar Pact worlds back, but thankfully he didn't manage to pull off a masterstroke of idiocy by setting the 3rd Lyran Guards against a Drac unit on Kandis.

I guess the last thing to do would be to actually settle on a home planet. Skandia is probably too coreward; I'm thinking of some remote backwater outpost, like St John maybe?

You mean Skandia is too rimward. St John, out on the Periphery edge, is coreward.

would that first bit work with canon?

The bit about having a hardcore son in the Sun Zhang Academy that goes rogue definitely holds with canon: the 1st and 12th Sun Zhang Academy Cadre regiments went ronin with Marcus Kurita. The 1st was on Kempten, and fought there, and was run to ground and surrendered in August 3034 upon hearing the 2nd Sword of Light was coming in. Half the survivors committed seppuku, the rest were imprisoned and later executed. The 12th started out on Rasalhague the planet, fought the 1st Tyr Regiment (the fanciest outfit of the FRR Kungsarmé) from March to May, then jumped to Predlitz. They and the 8th Rasalhague Regulars were destroyed by a combined force of the 1st Tyr, the 2nd Sword of Light and the 2nd Drakons in August. So you have a case where the Rasalhague regiment fights alongside the über-Kurita-salute-the-dragon regiment of the Sword of Light.

I'm a little iffy on the elite Liao battalion rolling around the coreward Periphery. Not only were the Capellans handed the beating of a century just six years before and were thus short on everything even during that time, they were also fighting a full-scale war against the seceded Andurien and the Magistracy of Canopus. Why not, say, have the character's parents killed by a ex-Capellan mercenary lance or company commander in cold blood? Given that the parents are both retired DCMS, they likely have their personal 'Mechs and an appointment in the planetary militia before the FRR independence. The local varldherre orders all fence-sitters not signing up for the new and improved FRR militia to either surrender their 'Mechs or join up, sending mercenaries to enforce the order, and if they're pro-Combine the parents would most likely say hell no to that. The Capellan leader then blows the parents away and steals their 'Mechs, considering that a pragmatic way of securing their rides.

But the Yakuza ties certainly work, even if the family is a Nordic one that fully immersed themselves in the Combine culture. A Japanese name means nothing in the Combine - hell, the best samurai looks as Japanese as John Shaft, and half-Japanese or even fully non-Japanese people are accepted into the 3000s Yakuza. Patrick Kell's illegitimate son, Christian, was a Yakuza, complete with the irezumi and all, although for the life of me I can't remember if he was half-Irish/half-Japanese or not.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

So... When making bases, I use spackling paste from the hardware store and as tools I used to use thin pieces of sturdy cardboard that I cut into the desired shape.

Out of a whim, I bought a set of 3 sculpting tools with various tips and tried them out just now.
It's like being a caveman and using bronze tools for the first time. Goddamned is it fun and effortless working with them. The spackling paste would usually be somewhat hard to apply to the plastic bases and I had to be super careful not to accidentally smear it on the miniature, but now it really works like a charm.

I want to make ice and swamp/water bases in the future, so I also bought UV Resin and some acrylic-based "still water". Looking forward to trying that stuff out.
The "still water" seems to shrink and be a bit of bitch to work with, but on small bases, it should not be too much of a problem (or so I hope)...

 

[Snekposter]

Christian, was a Yakuza, complete with the irezumi and all, although for the life of me I can't remember if he was half-Irish/half-Japanese or not.

Christian Kell (Born 3026- Died 3073) was a MechWarrior officer in the Kell Hounds Mercenary Unit. He was the son of Patrick Kell and ethnic Draconis Combine artist Takara and nephew of Morgan Kell.

Sounds like a hapa to me. Again, not like that really matters in the Combine since Urizen did a pretty good job Nipponizing the place. While things would end up becoming less uniformly Japanese, it was persistent enough that even Rasalhague would end up speaking I shit you not, Swedenese, which is exactly what it says on the tin. Keep in mind that one of his sons was named Christopher, and one of the most celebrated Coordinators both in and outside the universe is named Theodore, so things aren't as purely Japanese as one might imagine, regardless.

When Urizen stepped down, he had established his legacy as the Combine's most influential Coordinator (outside of First Coordinator Shiro Kurita). Because of his many official and unofficial policies, the Dragon had adopted a nearly uniform culture and awe-inspiring fanaticism. Urizen capitalized on the citizenry's love for the culture of a Japan that had not existed for more than a millennium.

Fucking weebs...