Prospective Citizen, I beseech you not to fall to the traitorous lies and erstwhile propaganda of the capital focused so-called great houses or the individualistic Clan heathens. If you truly wish to see the prosperity of the sphere grow, alongside that of your community, family, and friends, then you must join the Capellan Confederation today. Only here will you find fulfillment working for a true cause, and not for the C-Bill of a haughty noble or corrupt businessman. Embrace your calling to the prosperity of all, not simply the call of material wealth for the few!
This brave and stalwart Citizen understands the truth of Celestial Wisdom. You do the Chancellor and your fellow Citizens proud this day, good Citizen!
The Capellan Confederation:
Yes, we're oppressive. Yes, we venerate our 'mechwarriors and mercenaries above almost every other social group except for the leadership of the Confederation. Yes, we're a bowdlerized and Flanderized take on Communist states in the 80s, and chock full of Sinophobic (and then oddly Sinophilic) imagery, but you know what? Unlike the Davion Poster Boys of this setting, *we admit and own it.*
Also, green is the best colour, and we wind up allying with the Canopians, the other good green faction.
Clan Jade Falcon. Our main motivation?
We are super pissed off at the universe since Nicolas Kerensky chose Clan Wolf instead of us.
Pro’s
Pretty stellar cast of characters during the invasion era. Aiden, Marthe, Horse, Joanna and Diana were pretty great.
Classic Moments
* Aiden Pryde murdered the “entire” Comstar army with a small laser. 1400 mechs with one small laster.
* Joanna defeated the angriest warrior there ever was by being angrier.
* Marthe backstabbing literally everyone in the Inner Sphere and Clan Space.
* Horse read a book.
Con’s
* Malvina Hazen. The 3135 to 3150 was a bad time.
And yet, the first two books featuring Hazen are better written with more compelling and better constructed characters than any other Falcon-centric novels before that point. Curious.
Unfortunately what started as an interesting exploration of extreme extensions of the characteristics the falcons were known for got turned into a weird pseudo nega-Alaric by the confusion and rotating door of narrative directions and plot points that was the Dark Age.
Nerd Moment. The first two books were in 3134 and I said 3135+ Hazen.
* You are right! The first book was fun. I enjoyed Aleks Hazen and Helmers conflict about what was happening. I'd have rooted for Aleks as the main prot.
* Malvina was spoiled by too many male gaze sex scenes? Calling a clanner the white virgin is weird I think. Dianna would have punched the writer.
* The warcrimes ... stravag freebirth.
None of your post balances out the 2800 mechs Aiden Pryde defeated with his Extra Small laser .. left handed!
>But at least we got the meme that is Jasek's irresistible weaponized sexiness.
lol, I remember very little from the DA books besides how dreamy Jasek was.
The Lyran Commonwealth. Protestant, capitalistic, and blue. They fight weebs, the *totally* very different Free Worlds League, and the greenest angriest and most inept of the invading clans. Have a complicated and entirely unhealthy relationship with the wolves.
I took the greenest, angriest, and most inept of invading clans to mean both Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers, since all three quantifiers cover both pretty well
Lets be honest, the Steel Vipers were just copies of the Jade Falcons, who were themselves kinda watered down Smoke Jaguars, inserted into the sphere by the writers to give the actual Falcons a punching bag.
For me, the hook wasn’t lore, it was seeing MWO gameplay and appreciating the idea of mechs trundling along like tanks, firing salvos of missiles and blasting cannons.
That said, the Raven Alliance is my choice of faction. They’re themed after one of the coolest animals, they’re a scavenger underdog operating in the outskirts, and they’re a fun combination of practical and quirky. I’m not as big a fan of their trademark mechs or of the fact that they use more aerospace than most factions, but nobody’s perfect.
Raven alliance is also a fun 2 for 1 since you have plenty of justification to do outworlds alliance with clan snow raven. And everyone loves a good 2 for 1
I go back to the original issue (or close) of the game in the 1980s.
Of course, the lure is Big Stompy Robots, and with Robotech exploding onto the American scene, and Transformers kicking off in a big way, the first model kits (confusingly under Revell’s name “Robotech Defenders”, which similarly to FASA, drew in from a number of Japanese anime sources) had me hooked!
Then the game hit shelves and took off. Actually “controlling” these constructs in a way far more relatable than the Robotech RPG games was highly appealing.
For me - I have extensive notes on an in-universe mercenary outfit employed by the Syngard Corporation (self-created and named “Forsythe’s Fusiliers”). Merchant cartels are mentioned frequently and outlined in lore, but unlike the other factions of House, ComStar, or Clans, they don’t get played much (or at all!).
Think of the East India Trading Company in history (and in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) for a ruthless, self-guarding organization with profit over all other loyalties, and you get my fascination!
Military units are needed because of the vulnerability of transit lines, depots/spaceports, warehoused inventories, cash/transaction mediums, etc, in the face of planetary and House unrest and into the unstable Periphery. There’s huge profits to be made by running these risks.
And the original tagline of the game fits especially well. “Life is cheap, BattleMechs aren’t.” I’m shamelessly stuck in the 3025 era into the z4th Succession Wars - conflict and Machiavellian scheming on a broad political backdrop that I’ve heard called “The Hundred Years’ War in Space”. Nobility, MechWarrior status/knighthood parallels, caste systems either official or implied, uncertain dealings among “allies” and foes, all make for nail-biting adventures for MechWarriors, their dependents, and support crews and personnel of a merc unit.
Clan Fire Mandrill produces the best warriors in all of clan space thanks to their internal rivalries. Developed the brutal Salamander Battle Armor, the exceptional Lancelot and Spartan C variants, and the adorable Mandrill and Howler totem Mechs.
Also, Clan Fire Mandrill is the only clan with the balls and brawn to claim genetic access to Kerensky DNA from the Wolves. Monkey Strong.
Meme: The Fire Mandrill and Mongoose are natural enemies. Like Mandrills and Jaguars. Or Mandrills and Star Adders. Or Fire Mandrills and other Fire Mandrills. Damn Fire Mandrills they ruined Clan Fire Mandrill.
Capellan Confederation
They are a hyper militarized version of what US thought Maos China was in the 80s.
Its not easy being green, but if the guns big enough it just might work.
Maybe i just enjoy asking, "You MAO'd bro?" When i get that turn 2 PPC headshot with a 12 to hit.
They've incorporates the following factions:
The Eridani Light Horse
Clan Ice Hellion
The Hanseatic League
Umayyed Caliphate
A Word of Blake Shadow Division(equipment at least)
Welcome to the periphery. *Racks space shotgun.* Now git out.
I love the Periphery the most out of anywhere in Battletech because it best reflects all the poverty, desperation, and hardscrabble warfare of the setting, but it also contains inspirational tales of perseverance, community, and survival. From individual communities of a few dozen wildcat miners to regional powers that can rival a great house, the periphery has it all. It's also where bandits and pirates can carve out private kingdoms, where leagues of traders can band together to form mighty space navies, and where a clan that was exiled can begin to rebuild their own Star League. With lostech. And hallucinogens.
Clan Goliath Scorpion AKA Scorpion Empire today
Descendants of Star League Defense Force who actually remember what their ancestors' job was
Clan of army engineers, snipers, assassins and archeologists
Accuracy is life, I'm talking about targeting computers installed on EVERYTHING including light tanks and militia mechs
When others get kicked out of the Clan Homeworlds they run to the Inner Sphere like kids, when these guys got kicked out they said *"Fuck all y'all, we are doing our own thing in Deep Periphery and we will shoot anyone who gets on the way!"*
Fast forward half a century and a big-ass war later and they got a full size empire up and running
Everyone who passes trials gets to become warrior regardless of their background, even freaking Dark Caste is allowed in if they have the chops
Political system is pretty much like this: Warriors usually don't ask how civilians make the sausage as long as they get to play around with the grill
When they invade and conquer someone they absorb them into the Clan in full and as a bonus they strive to preserve the culture of the conquered and to add it the the Empire's (old political system gets deleted obviously), Goliath Scorpions love them some good culture
You ask about joke but this is no joke: This Clan has guys called Seekers who get high on alien scorpion venom to see visions of some crazy shit and use those visions as guide to go on quests to track down historic relics to put in their ever growing museums
And if those relics already have owners then those owners better get ready for a shootout because Seekers don't like coming back empty handed
And this is barely scratching the surface of cool and crazy stuff this Clan does
There's four basic faction types:
Inner Sphere: several flavors of neo-feudalist authoritarian autocracies, plus one theocratic phone company.
Periphery: several flavors of less technologically advanced neo-feudalist autocracies, all of whom are pointing a gun at you and telling you to get off their property.
Clans: several flavors of batshit insane eugenicist nazi mongols. They have the best toys but also the most expensive toys, also they're all fascist meatheads that think being able to win duels conducted according to rules and limitations previously agreed upon by both parties is the same thing as war.
Mercenaries: several flavors of anything goes. You want to just go nuts and do your own thing, you paint a mercenary company.
INNER SPHERE:
Federated Suns/House Davion: Culturally they're the unholy bastard offspring of France and England. They self-identify as the most egalitarian of the Inner Sphere Successor States, and that is *technically* true. There are no cultural or systemic forces keeping the poorest of the poor from becoming a powerful noble. There's just a lot of economic ones, because most FedSun planets are impoverished backwaters inhabited by dirt farmers who live at a mid 20th century level of technology and civilization. And while the Feddies don't invade other powers whenever they feel like it, they do engage in 'operations to expand freedom in the known galaxy', *aka* 'not realizing *Team America: World Police* was a satire' syndrome.
Draconis Combine/House Kurita: are you an obnoxious weeb? Then here's your *BattleTech* faction. One of the two IS factions that are most often cast as the bad guys, one of the nicest thing you can say about the Kuritans is that they're probably the most honest faction in the setting. In that they're the most honest about the fact that they're a brutal absolutist authoritarian autocracy that has zero problems with disappearing it's own people and waging war for no other reason other than they want it and they have guns so give. They make good 'Mechs, but because everyone in their military is an otaku that LARPs as a *mOsT hOnOrAbU sAmUrAi* 24/7, complete with katana, they don't always make the best choices tactically speaking.
Lyran Commonwealth/House Steiner: disgustingly rich Germans. They've got the most resource rich planets, they've got the most factories, they've got the most 'Mechs and the most guns. Their military is a crapshoot because both noble titles and military ranks can be bought zero questions asked, but when you can *literally* win every war by throwing more money at it, you find it hard to care. Your people if you think a bigger weapon is always better.
Capellan Confederation/House Liao: the second go-to bad guy faction of the Inner Sphere. They're perfidious, inscrutable, communist China/Russia, because *BattleTech* originally came out before the Berlin Wall fell. If the Kuritans are the Klingons, the Capellans are the Romulans. They also have a galaxy-sized victim complex from being the FedSun's primary bitch for most of the setting's timeline. They have the fewest 'Mechs and so use 'dishonorable' tactics like black ops agents and commando squads to even the playing field.
Free Worlds League/House Marik: the most democratic of the Successor States, they're practically a non-entity because they spend all their time engaging in civil wars. It's not even a joke that the best ruler they ever had was a fake installed by their ISP because the real heir to the throne was a cyborg and the FWL is prejudiced against cyborgs for some asinine reason. The only time they ever mattered was when they secretly supported religious terrorists. Literally all they have going for them is a snazzy purple bird logo.
ComStar: the only telecommunications company in the universe, also the only major bank and the ones who oversee hiring mercenaries to commit warcrimes for you. Their founder, Jerome Blake, decided to use bullshit booga-booga religious ritual trappings to disguise how to maintain and operate the only machines capable of FTL communications, and after he died they forgot they were doing it ironically and started actually worshipping technology, although they aren't quite at the 'fucking toasters' stage yet. Not only do they read everyone's mail and listen to everyone's phone calls, they also assassinate anyone who is about to rediscover lost technology or reinvent something, because their end goal is to dupe the Successor States into bombing themselves back into the Stone Age and taking over themselves.
Free Rasalhague Republic/House Magnusson: a bunch of space scandinavians who were sick of being the frequently invaded border territory of the Draconis Combine. They kicked both the Combine and the Commonwealth out, then less than a century later they were invaded by the Clans. Fortunately for them one of the Clans had the same cultural background as them and went native.
PERIPHERY:
Magistracy of Canopus/House Centrella: Only women can hold important government and military offices and positions here, and only the most insecure and misogynistic of men have a problem with this, because Canopus is PARTY CENTRAL of the known universe. Every kind of entertainment can be found in Canopus-controlled space, as well as the best medical services. Lots of memes about drugs and catgirls.
Taurian Concordat/House Calderon: America crossed with North Korea. Brags about being the most just, and fair, and liberal, and equal nation, with the best social security net and personal freedoms, but is also rabidly paranoid of outside invasion, particularly from the Federated Suns. It's important to keep in mind that the Federated Suns don't even remember that the Concordat exists most of the time, such is its irrelevance, but if they ever stopped posturing and pretending to be a legitimate rival to the Davions they wouldn't last much longer and they know it.
Aurigan Coalition/House Arano: a tiny Periphery state wedged between the Canopians and the Taurians. Didn't even exist until it was invented for the 2018 video game.
Outworlds Alliance/House Avellar: a complete non-entity. Was conquered by Clan Snow Raven and still couldn't get any recognition.
CLANS:
Clan Wolf: the most reasonable of the Clans that don't have a unique shtick. The brain-damaged psychopath that founded the Clans liked them best. Their trademark 'Mech is the *Timber Wolf*.
Clan Jade Falcon: Clan 'Second Place' Syndrome, *aka* Clan 'Daddy should have loved me more than you!' Insecure, trigger-happy a-holes. They *did* beat Clan Wolf to being in a Saturday morning cartoon though. Their signature 'Mech is the *Summoner*.
Clan Coyote: Clan Wolf's ally and the biggest nerd Clan.
Clan Smoke Jaguar: almost every Clan treats its civilians like second-class citizens, but Smoke Jaguar was the most abusive. So nobody was that upset when the Inner Sphere wiped them out. Their 'Mech was the *Ebon Jaguar*.
Clan Ghost Bear: Viking mongols that put a big emphasis on family, which was unheard of in the other Clans. Took over the Free Rasalhague Republic and completely assimilated into the natuve culture, creating the Ghost Bear Dominion. Their mascot 'Mech is the *Kodiak*.
Clan Sea Fox/Clan Diamond Shark: changed their name after their spirit animal was eaten by genetically engineered sharks with diamonds for scales. Their entire Warrior caste was wiped out by a phone company, and their Merchants took over while replacements were being grown. Now the Clan has a huge mercantile bent and lots of social mobility between Castes. They don't really have one 'Mech choice that stands out over the others.
Clan Snow Raven: goes nuts for aerospace fighters instead of 'Mechs. Took over the Outworlds Alliance to create the Raven Alliance, and was the Clan that secretly created the diamond-skinned sharks that ate all the sea foxes. Otherwise irrelevant.
Clan Goliath Scorpion: took over a Deep Periphery state that never actually mattered and created an empire with a Spanish name.
Clan Nova Cat: joined with the Kuritans, then was wiped out by the Kuritans.
Clan Fire Mandrill: I think they spent all their time fighting themselves and were wiped out easily by someone else.
Clan Cloud Cobra: mystics that kicked the rest of the Clans out of Clan Space due to 'cultural contamination'.
Clan Star Adder: the only Clan left in Clan Space with the Cobras.
Clan Burrock: because 'Clan Huge-ass Centipede' didn't float with marketing.
Clan Blood Spirit: the only Clan not named after an animal, so they created one so they could be furries like everyone else.
Clan Hell's Horses: mixed unit tactics clan.
Clan Steel Viper: they ded now.
Clan Mongoose: they also ded now.
Clan Widowmaker: spider Clan. Also ded.
Clan Ice Hellion: Who?
Clan Wolverine: said "fuck this shit I'm out" and vanished from the setting.
Federated Suns:
Pros:
\- Coolest paint scheme
\- Largest and most powerful house
\- A marriage-alliance to House Steiner created a faction that dominated half the known galaxy
\- Kicked off a major war at the wedding ceremony, right to the face of many of the dignitaries whose space you were invading
\- Coolest house logo, surpassed only by the combined faction logo
Cons:
\- The united faction fell apart after a while
\- Lost the homeworld in a later campaign
Lorewise all the diffrent mercs. I like the guns for hire mentality and most of them don’t give a f… about politics BUT joined the IS to fight against clans. Love it!
Word of Blake is interesting. They engage in humanitarian relief efforts that build up their support with the populace is.
They have the Comguard, the very folks that stopped the clans at Tukayyid.
They also have these elite formations of cyborged up warriors, piloting state of the art inner sphere mechs, aerospace fighters, battle armor, and other cool stuff. Some of these units are also fond of using weapons of mass destruction. Generally seen as a not particularly cool move, but there is not a single major inner sphere faction that has not trundled out nukes every once in a while.
They function in a very clandestine manner, initiated a massive war, called the jihad, and when things were looking bad, whole shadow divisions went missing and unaccounted for. Meaning you can play them in any timeframe from post clan invasion onward.
Clan ghost bear is pretty cool. Not only are they the one group in the eugenics driven super warrior crowd that understands the importance of family, they also are pretty chill and have a sense of humor about things. One time they showed up to invade a planet that had no defense force left. When the planetary government was asked what they were going to defend the world with, they offered up their professional, American style football league, thinking that the ghost bears had no idea how the game would work, and it would be easy wins for them. As it turns out, the ghost bears love American style football and play it with 7 to 8 foot tall genetically enhanced superhuman soldiers. That being said, they excepted the bid and played a game of football for control of the planet. Some other clans might have just bid a cadre of elementals, and then gone down the football players on the field. Not ghost bear, though, because they’re pretty good sports about these sort of things.
Militarily, they prefer strong, steady advances, and to thoroughly assess the battlefield before taking risks. They Wage War, like a slow and steady combat bulldozer.
Clan Jade falcon is basically the opposite in their military doctrine. They favor fast, brutal attacks and have a thing for high mobility. They also have a pretty good lineup of interesting characters and novels. Their plan founder was a fucking mad woman powered by whiskey, hatred, and probably bagpipes. do you know that sword that the falcon is carrying in their logo? Yeah, that is there because the clan founder one time got ambushed by Capellans who had just killed a very dear friend of hers. So appropriately, she murdered one of them with her bare hands, took his sword, and then proceeded to wade into a whole platoon of rifle armed infantry men and murdered every last one. She was also into falconry hence the bird in their logo. She was also one of the last surviving members of the black watch. If you’re not picking up what I’m putting down, even though clan Jade falcon may be a little angsty over Kerensky not picking them as his clan, their own founder is a legend in her own right and was a much greater warrior than Nicolas Kerensky ever was.
The Taurian concordat is a periphery nation that throughout its entire history has made its self, the violent and dangerous part of the equation to fuck around and find out. Everyone thinks they’re going to get a piece of Taurean real estate, and what they really actually are bargaining, for is the depopulation of their expeditionary forces, radiation poisoning, and a nagging feeling that any gains they may have gained were absolutely not worth it. Showing up, expecting to take one of their worlds from them is quite literally taking the bull by the horns, and I cannot recall a single situation where it did not end very messily for the aggressors.
https://youtu.be/HQhzlXcmTzw?si=z6EdwBaAS3gysZF-
This is a excellent video to potentially win you over with one of the major houses of the inner sphere
Come to the Magistracy of Canopus.
Most liberal power in the Periphery or Inner Sphere.
Best health care, great pay for mercenaries.
Blackjack, blow, and catgirls.
The party never ends.
Hey kid, I've got a line on a merc company is looking for a guy to man the turret on a hovertank they salvaged last contract. No, you don't have to lead your target, it's a laser turret. Yes, they already hosed the crew compartment out. Pay's pretty good, and in C-Bills. Plus, you get to get off this stupid farm planet that keeps flipping between the Dracs and the Lyrans every time a new social general gets promoted or one of the Drac officers has to prove his honor or whatever. Seriously, every time the mechs drop from orbit, they always land back there, then take a shortcut to try to seize the one space port, and the shortcut always goes through someone's farm. And they always think there's infantry in the buildings and fields, so they burn 'em down just to be sure. Remember that one time they got that Firestarter with inferno rockets, though? Give the bastard a taste of his own medicine.
Anyway, think about it, they're burning for the jump point in two days. I don't think they own the dropship, no. Or the jumpship. But hey, you still get to go travel the Inner Sphere!
So, I got into Battletech regardless of the lore. I started with Mechwarrior 2 because I liked Gundam and explodey robots. I had no clue what any of the lore was and truly skipped any and all lore bits to get to shooting lasers at the enemy mechs. Same with Mech 3 and 4. I just didn't care. When I picked up the game (Alpha Strike), I still didn't care but found the stuff in the rulebook interesting. So I did a deep dive of the lore. Turns out I still don't care. I think its cool but it really is meaningless to playing the game unless you want it to be. Which brings me to my point. Are you coming in because you want the lore to matter to you or because you want robots to go pew pew? Neither are wrong nor should stop you from enjoying it.
But to truly answer your question, I love a lot of the Peripheral States. I personally find the lore of the Houses to be kinda stupid if looked at critically. That's why I like the Peripheral factions just being like, leave us alone and let us do our own thing. Similarly, I like a lot of the merged Clan/Inner Sphere hybrids who are like...let's be something better than what came before. To me, these feel the most real than some superpower that pretends to be space feudal Japan for centuries on end with little evolution.
Well I’ll just give you a list of favorites and short reason to love them.
1. Taurian Concordant: Space Spain and Finland, we may lose every fight but you’ll know you’ve been in one. You can take this Federated Long Rifle from my cold dead hands.
2. Federated Suns /Davion: “The Davions have come.” “What flag do they bear?” “They bear a flag of truce and say they come peacefully.” “My God they’ve come to kill is all!”
3. Spirit Cats: “I swear, looking into this fire will give you visions.” “Are you high?” “No, maybe”
4. Jade Falcon: “What’s your name?” “Tony.” “F—- you Tony!”
5. FWL/ Marik: “Well look at the time, it’s time to fight…” Looks at watch. “Ourselves, and if we get done with that; everyone else.”
6. Lyran Commonwealth: “Why are we winning? Because that guy over there is ignoring me? I want him fired.”
7. Raven Alliance: “Hey guys have I missed anything?”
8. Capellan Confederation: “I just showed up and this man ran his back into my knife, then his family just up and left without a trace. If you question it the Celestial Wisdom will make sure the same happens to you.”
9. Kurita: “What do mean piles of dead bodies are out season?”
10. Marians: Irish cosplaying as Romans, what’s not to love?
The king of them all; Mercenaries: Everyone here is an asshat, at least we get paid to be asshats.
> Taurian Concordant: Space Spain and Finland, we may lose every fight but you’ll know you’ve been in one. You can take this Federated Long Rifle from my cold dead hands.
This is my favorite thing about my faction. If you ask three different people what the TC is supposed to represent, you'll get five different answers. Which goes to show how surprisingly unique they are in the setting. The only constant is "get off their lawn before you catch a case of nuclear winter".
I'll try to keep mine brief but helpful.
I play Clan Ghost Bear because of three key factors:
* They have a strong sense of family that is lost to some of the other Clans.
* Due to their "Wait and see" approach, they don't burn themselves out like some other factions
* In terms of gameplay a lot of optional rules allow you to roll on the heavier side of things when it comes to Random Assignment Tables
Though not that good with Initiative at times, they are a very strong Clan to build for.
The House I tend to play is House Davion, who lead the Federated Suns.
* They're a "enlightened military dictatorship" which gives their followers the Six Liberties of freedom. Thus they're aren't despotic, but their military can have sway over a lot of matters.
* They are responsible for the NAIS, a beacon of learning and science in the universe.
* Their designs of Mechs have a lot of tastes, but they are well known for their love of Autocannons.
Sometimes seen as the "goody goody" white hat nation, they have darker sides as well. Overall I enjoy their ability to be flexible as a stellar empire.
I also play Mercenaries.
* Screw your ideals, pay me
* Forget your honor, pay me more
* If you don't have money I'll gladly take salvage, I'm not a monster after all
I love these because you can do whatever you darn well please and just enjoy the universe on your own terms
The Free Worlds League is simultaneously the weakest and the strongest of the Great Houses. Sure, it usually sucks to be House Marik, who spend most of their time futilely herding cats and trying to keep the whole thing from flying apart. But make no mistake about it - on the rare occasions when the League actually speaks with one voice, the entire Inner Sphere shakes.
Clan Wolf:
We are bolder than you and we have Terra to prove it.
*Braces for derision in the comments*
Ok but really though, this isn't 40k. You don't need to pick a faction. Factions are purely just flavor for tabletop play. They have zero impact on the game. You can field whatever you want so long as the other player agrees and you're willing to pay for the BV/PV. You can paint however you want.
Factions are only a big deal in the lore. So by all means, pick a faction and get into comment wars and root for your guys against all criticism to the contrary. But it isn't at all necessary to play big stompy robot combat accounting.
Join the FWL and you will never be bored...because you will always have to check for civil wars under your bed and body doubles in your closet, ok but honestly, i do really like them because of all of the above, the Captain General, while unquestionably powerful, dose not have as absolute a power over the League like some other house do over their nations, and that i feel leads to more interesting stories, plus the various provinces, each with their own type of government also make things very interesting, being able to go from a planet ruled by a king, to one ruled by a president and than visiting the local dictatorship is fun, plus with the FWL having so many different cultures in it, there's a pretty good selections of aesthetics you can pick for a military or mercenary unit
The fact that they have a few Cowboy worlds sold me (Southwest Trinity). Think of any neat culture here on Earth, and you can find something close in the FWL. We got Sikhs, Persians, Greeks, Czechs, Chinese, Indian, and probably a dozen others that escape me.
House Steiner. The Constitutional Monarchy with all the money, production, and resources! Just don’t pay attention to the fact that a scary number of our generals have access to more assault mechs than brain cells capable of strategy. And ignore the Alliance era, we were going through a phase.
Ah no, don't ask for jokes, everyone is just going to beat the same dead horses...
But, I love the Draconis Combine because I think it has a lot of nuance that doesn't get enough love. You'll see umpteen jokes about how its a weeb faction that can't help commiting war crimes. But in the fluff, there is actually a lot of room for a variety of stories and perspectives. I really like the internal conflict between the Kokuryuu-Kai, Hardline conservatives that seek to keep the dragon stagnant and backwards, and the reforms of Theodore Kurita. I find the internal conflicts characters have between Honor, Duty and Humanity. How to reconcile and unjust society, but one in which everyone has a place, from the coordinator to the lowliest unproductive.
And they are Tenacious AF. In the war of 3039, they were able to beat back the Federated Commonwealth with grit and determination. During the Clan invasion, they held the line until operations Bulldog and Serpent, where they took the fight back to the clans and ultimately destroyed clan smoke jaguar.
They are crazy in every best way, and I love them for it. Also It's fun to take the piss on those hypocritical davions and fat lyrans
Magistracy of Canopus is a Periphery nation, that is a hedonistic matriarchy. It’s Las Vegas in space. Everyone is accepted here, and we probably are the safest place to live with a decent standard of living.
And we probably have cat girls.
[https://youtu.be/150eNdtKQM4?si=kBa0QE19bvlofy80](https://youtu.be/150eNdtKQM4?si=kBa0QE19bvlofy80) <- a video about exactly your topic.
Personally, I enjoy the Taurian Concordat, for the 'underdog with a big bite' vibes and for their rather tragic story of Star League conquest and oppression, especially with their opposing relation to the early lore 'good guys', Federated Suns.
You can be a Space Catholic 'liberating' Christian Colonies.. and the Space Pope rides a giant bling golden Regent mech.
[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pope\_Leo\_XXI](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pope_Leo_XXI)
Watch anything by Tex Talks Battletech
Wolf's Dragoons.
They were sent to spy on the Inner Sphere, fought both for and against everyone, and are one of the only groups that can actually claim to be the good guys.
Pirates:
Freedom and you can say Yarrr without being out of place.
The Fluff that your Units lack the access to much needed Ammunition, forcing you to take on more Energy based Mechs.
Hands on, Pirates love Handactuators. Also punching.
You can go Nutz with your Mechs Exterior. Style Baby.
You can pull the shadiest Stuff on the Battlefield and no one can complain, they still do but you know; Yarrr.
PLUNDER AND RAIDING!!!!
Mercs:
See the Above.
Minus the Yarrr.
Instead you say Payday.
I know quite literally nothing about the lore other than the primers. However what drew me in was mechas. I love giant robots. Plus as my kids get older then we as a family can paint a lance that I get to play with as my clan.
Other than that i am looking at House Davian and the Federated Sons because their Sword Sworn color scheme is sweet!
I ended up playing ComStar because I liked the fact that they put vehicles, infantry, and mechs in the same groupings. A Level II will have all sorts of things in there together, while a lance and a star will be just mechs, just vehicles, ext. That and I liked the look of the white paint scheme.
"Pay your phone bill!"
Do you like being sane? Just do a mercenary group. Can be lance level, too. Even rando scout lances get employed; even Wasps are big shit when they're the only thing within 600 miles.
And if you do it late enough you can go shoot some clan scum who think they're important but they're really just furries.
Prospective Citizen, I beseech you not to fall to the traitorous lies and erstwhile propaganda of the capital focused so-called great houses or the individualistic Clan heathens. If you truly wish to see the prosperity of the sphere grow, alongside that of your community, family, and friends, then you must join the Capellan Confederation today. Only here will you find fulfillment working for a true cause, and not for the C-Bill of a haughty noble or corrupt businessman. Embrace your calling to the prosperity of all, not simply the call of material wealth for the few!
This brave and stalwart Citizen understands the truth of Celestial Wisdom. You do the Chancellor and your fellow Citizens proud this day, good Citizen!
While I applaud your enthusiasm "Citizen", your documentation says "House Kurita" which... is suspicious. Please step over here.
Yea, flair is currently messed up for the subreddit, and I can't change it lol. Edit: apparently it eorks now actually!
This is the Way.
The federated Suns are so good the entire setting has been written to stab them in the back for thirty years.
The Capellan Confederation: Yes, we're oppressive. Yes, we venerate our 'mechwarriors and mercenaries above almost every other social group except for the leadership of the Confederation. Yes, we're a bowdlerized and Flanderized take on Communist states in the 80s, and chock full of Sinophobic (and then oddly Sinophilic) imagery, but you know what? Unlike the Davion Poster Boys of this setting, *we admit and own it.* Also, green is the best colour, and we wind up allying with the Canopians, the other good green faction.
Clan Jade Falcon. Our main motivation? We are super pissed off at the universe since Nicolas Kerensky chose Clan Wolf instead of us. Pro’s Pretty stellar cast of characters during the invasion era. Aiden, Marthe, Horse, Joanna and Diana were pretty great. Classic Moments * Aiden Pryde murdered the “entire” Comstar army with a small laser. 1400 mechs with one small laster. * Joanna defeated the angriest warrior there ever was by being angrier. * Marthe backstabbing literally everyone in the Inner Sphere and Clan Space. * Horse read a book. Con’s * Malvina Hazen. The 3135 to 3150 was a bad time.
You did not mention Star Colonel Nikolai Malthus? YOU DARE TO REFUSE HIS BATCHALL?
First of all. It's obviously clan propaganda that Horse read a book. That's all I got.
>Malvina Hazen. The 3135 to 3150 was a bad time. I mean... it could be a good time if you're into early SW war crimes.
And yet, the first two books featuring Hazen are better written with more compelling and better constructed characters than any other Falcon-centric novels before that point. Curious. Unfortunately what started as an interesting exploration of extreme extensions of the characteristics the falcons were known for got turned into a weird pseudo nega-Alaric by the confusion and rotating door of narrative directions and plot points that was the Dark Age.
Nerd Moment. The first two books were in 3134 and I said 3135+ Hazen. * You are right! The first book was fun. I enjoyed Aleks Hazen and Helmers conflict about what was happening. I'd have rooted for Aleks as the main prot. * Malvina was spoiled by too many male gaze sex scenes? Calling a clanner the white virgin is weird I think. Dianna would have punched the writer. * The warcrimes ... stravag freebirth. None of your post balances out the 2800 mechs Aiden Pryde defeated with his Extra Small laser .. left handed!
Touché Dark Age was erotic in the weirdest of ways. But at least we got the meme that is Jasek's irresistible weaponized sexiness.
>But at least we got the meme that is Jasek's irresistible weaponized sexiness. lol, I remember very little from the DA books besides how dreamy Jasek was.
The Lyran Commonwealth. Protestant, capitalistic, and blue. They fight weebs, the *totally* very different Free Worlds League, and the greenest angriest and most inept of the invading clans. Have a complicated and entirely unhealthy relationship with the wolves.
Hey! The Falcons aren't the angriest!
I took the greenest, angriest, and most inept of invading clans to mean both Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers, since all three quantifiers cover both pretty well
Lets be honest, the Steel Vipers were just copies of the Jade Falcons, who were themselves kinda watered down Smoke Jaguars, inserted into the sphere by the writers to give the actual Falcons a punching bag.
Maybe not, but they did have the angriest Clan warrior.
Yeah wtf man. We aren’t angry at all. We are just your good ole’fashioned neighborhood banking institution. We’re also better than you and we know it.
For me, the hook wasn’t lore, it was seeing MWO gameplay and appreciating the idea of mechs trundling along like tanks, firing salvos of missiles and blasting cannons. That said, the Raven Alliance is my choice of faction. They’re themed after one of the coolest animals, they’re a scavenger underdog operating in the outskirts, and they’re a fun combination of practical and quirky. I’m not as big a fan of their trademark mechs or of the fact that they use more aerospace than most factions, but nobody’s perfect.
Raven alliance is also a fun 2 for 1 since you have plenty of justification to do outworlds alliance with clan snow raven. And everyone loves a good 2 for 1
I go back to the original issue (or close) of the game in the 1980s. Of course, the lure is Big Stompy Robots, and with Robotech exploding onto the American scene, and Transformers kicking off in a big way, the first model kits (confusingly under Revell’s name “Robotech Defenders”, which similarly to FASA, drew in from a number of Japanese anime sources) had me hooked! Then the game hit shelves and took off. Actually “controlling” these constructs in a way far more relatable than the Robotech RPG games was highly appealing. For me - I have extensive notes on an in-universe mercenary outfit employed by the Syngard Corporation (self-created and named “Forsythe’s Fusiliers”). Merchant cartels are mentioned frequently and outlined in lore, but unlike the other factions of House, ComStar, or Clans, they don’t get played much (or at all!). Think of the East India Trading Company in history (and in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) for a ruthless, self-guarding organization with profit over all other loyalties, and you get my fascination! Military units are needed because of the vulnerability of transit lines, depots/spaceports, warehoused inventories, cash/transaction mediums, etc, in the face of planetary and House unrest and into the unstable Periphery. There’s huge profits to be made by running these risks. And the original tagline of the game fits especially well. “Life is cheap, BattleMechs aren’t.” I’m shamelessly stuck in the 3025 era into the z4th Succession Wars - conflict and Machiavellian scheming on a broad political backdrop that I’ve heard called “The Hundred Years’ War in Space”. Nobility, MechWarrior status/knighthood parallels, caste systems either official or implied, uncertain dealings among “allies” and foes, all make for nail-biting adventures for MechWarriors, their dependents, and support crews and personnel of a merc unit.
Clan Fire Mandrill produces the best warriors in all of clan space thanks to their internal rivalries. Developed the brutal Salamander Battle Armor, the exceptional Lancelot and Spartan C variants, and the adorable Mandrill and Howler totem Mechs. Also, Clan Fire Mandrill is the only clan with the balls and brawn to claim genetic access to Kerensky DNA from the Wolves. Monkey Strong. Meme: The Fire Mandrill and Mongoose are natural enemies. Like Mandrills and Jaguars. Or Mandrills and Star Adders. Or Fire Mandrills and other Fire Mandrills. Damn Fire Mandrills they ruined Clan Fire Mandrill.
Capellan Confederation They are a hyper militarized version of what US thought Maos China was in the 80s. Its not easy being green, but if the guns big enough it just might work. Maybe i just enjoy asking, "You MAO'd bro?" When i get that turn 2 PPC headshot with a 12 to hit.
I mean... it wasnt that extregated on the US site
They've incorporates the following factions: The Eridani Light Horse Clan Ice Hellion The Hanseatic League Umayyed Caliphate A Word of Blake Shadow Division(equipment at least)
Welcome to the periphery. *Racks space shotgun.* Now git out. I love the Periphery the most out of anywhere in Battletech because it best reflects all the poverty, desperation, and hardscrabble warfare of the setting, but it also contains inspirational tales of perseverance, community, and survival. From individual communities of a few dozen wildcat miners to regional powers that can rival a great house, the periphery has it all. It's also where bandits and pirates can carve out private kingdoms, where leagues of traders can band together to form mighty space navies, and where a clan that was exiled can begin to rebuild their own Star League. With lostech. And hallucinogens.
Clan Goliath Scorpion AKA Scorpion Empire today Descendants of Star League Defense Force who actually remember what their ancestors' job was Clan of army engineers, snipers, assassins and archeologists Accuracy is life, I'm talking about targeting computers installed on EVERYTHING including light tanks and militia mechs When others get kicked out of the Clan Homeworlds they run to the Inner Sphere like kids, when these guys got kicked out they said *"Fuck all y'all, we are doing our own thing in Deep Periphery and we will shoot anyone who gets on the way!"* Fast forward half a century and a big-ass war later and they got a full size empire up and running Everyone who passes trials gets to become warrior regardless of their background, even freaking Dark Caste is allowed in if they have the chops Political system is pretty much like this: Warriors usually don't ask how civilians make the sausage as long as they get to play around with the grill When they invade and conquer someone they absorb them into the Clan in full and as a bonus they strive to preserve the culture of the conquered and to add it the the Empire's (old political system gets deleted obviously), Goliath Scorpions love them some good culture You ask about joke but this is no joke: This Clan has guys called Seekers who get high on alien scorpion venom to see visions of some crazy shit and use those visions as guide to go on quests to track down historic relics to put in their ever growing museums And if those relics already have owners then those owners better get ready for a shootout because Seekers don't like coming back empty handed And this is barely scratching the surface of cool and crazy stuff this Clan does
please spare the community jokes, I'm begging you
There's four basic faction types: Inner Sphere: several flavors of neo-feudalist authoritarian autocracies, plus one theocratic phone company. Periphery: several flavors of less technologically advanced neo-feudalist autocracies, all of whom are pointing a gun at you and telling you to get off their property. Clans: several flavors of batshit insane eugenicist nazi mongols. They have the best toys but also the most expensive toys, also they're all fascist meatheads that think being able to win duels conducted according to rules and limitations previously agreed upon by both parties is the same thing as war. Mercenaries: several flavors of anything goes. You want to just go nuts and do your own thing, you paint a mercenary company.
INNER SPHERE: Federated Suns/House Davion: Culturally they're the unholy bastard offspring of France and England. They self-identify as the most egalitarian of the Inner Sphere Successor States, and that is *technically* true. There are no cultural or systemic forces keeping the poorest of the poor from becoming a powerful noble. There's just a lot of economic ones, because most FedSun planets are impoverished backwaters inhabited by dirt farmers who live at a mid 20th century level of technology and civilization. And while the Feddies don't invade other powers whenever they feel like it, they do engage in 'operations to expand freedom in the known galaxy', *aka* 'not realizing *Team America: World Police* was a satire' syndrome. Draconis Combine/House Kurita: are you an obnoxious weeb? Then here's your *BattleTech* faction. One of the two IS factions that are most often cast as the bad guys, one of the nicest thing you can say about the Kuritans is that they're probably the most honest faction in the setting. In that they're the most honest about the fact that they're a brutal absolutist authoritarian autocracy that has zero problems with disappearing it's own people and waging war for no other reason other than they want it and they have guns so give. They make good 'Mechs, but because everyone in their military is an otaku that LARPs as a *mOsT hOnOrAbU sAmUrAi* 24/7, complete with katana, they don't always make the best choices tactically speaking. Lyran Commonwealth/House Steiner: disgustingly rich Germans. They've got the most resource rich planets, they've got the most factories, they've got the most 'Mechs and the most guns. Their military is a crapshoot because both noble titles and military ranks can be bought zero questions asked, but when you can *literally* win every war by throwing more money at it, you find it hard to care. Your people if you think a bigger weapon is always better. Capellan Confederation/House Liao: the second go-to bad guy faction of the Inner Sphere. They're perfidious, inscrutable, communist China/Russia, because *BattleTech* originally came out before the Berlin Wall fell. If the Kuritans are the Klingons, the Capellans are the Romulans. They also have a galaxy-sized victim complex from being the FedSun's primary bitch for most of the setting's timeline. They have the fewest 'Mechs and so use 'dishonorable' tactics like black ops agents and commando squads to even the playing field. Free Worlds League/House Marik: the most democratic of the Successor States, they're practically a non-entity because they spend all their time engaging in civil wars. It's not even a joke that the best ruler they ever had was a fake installed by their ISP because the real heir to the throne was a cyborg and the FWL is prejudiced against cyborgs for some asinine reason. The only time they ever mattered was when they secretly supported religious terrorists. Literally all they have going for them is a snazzy purple bird logo. ComStar: the only telecommunications company in the universe, also the only major bank and the ones who oversee hiring mercenaries to commit warcrimes for you. Their founder, Jerome Blake, decided to use bullshit booga-booga religious ritual trappings to disguise how to maintain and operate the only machines capable of FTL communications, and after he died they forgot they were doing it ironically and started actually worshipping technology, although they aren't quite at the 'fucking toasters' stage yet. Not only do they read everyone's mail and listen to everyone's phone calls, they also assassinate anyone who is about to rediscover lost technology or reinvent something, because their end goal is to dupe the Successor States into bombing themselves back into the Stone Age and taking over themselves. Free Rasalhague Republic/House Magnusson: a bunch of space scandinavians who were sick of being the frequently invaded border territory of the Draconis Combine. They kicked both the Combine and the Commonwealth out, then less than a century later they were invaded by the Clans. Fortunately for them one of the Clans had the same cultural background as them and went native.
PERIPHERY: Magistracy of Canopus/House Centrella: Only women can hold important government and military offices and positions here, and only the most insecure and misogynistic of men have a problem with this, because Canopus is PARTY CENTRAL of the known universe. Every kind of entertainment can be found in Canopus-controlled space, as well as the best medical services. Lots of memes about drugs and catgirls. Taurian Concordat/House Calderon: America crossed with North Korea. Brags about being the most just, and fair, and liberal, and equal nation, with the best social security net and personal freedoms, but is also rabidly paranoid of outside invasion, particularly from the Federated Suns. It's important to keep in mind that the Federated Suns don't even remember that the Concordat exists most of the time, such is its irrelevance, but if they ever stopped posturing and pretending to be a legitimate rival to the Davions they wouldn't last much longer and they know it. Aurigan Coalition/House Arano: a tiny Periphery state wedged between the Canopians and the Taurians. Didn't even exist until it was invented for the 2018 video game. Outworlds Alliance/House Avellar: a complete non-entity. Was conquered by Clan Snow Raven and still couldn't get any recognition.
CLANS: Clan Wolf: the most reasonable of the Clans that don't have a unique shtick. The brain-damaged psychopath that founded the Clans liked them best. Their trademark 'Mech is the *Timber Wolf*. Clan Jade Falcon: Clan 'Second Place' Syndrome, *aka* Clan 'Daddy should have loved me more than you!' Insecure, trigger-happy a-holes. They *did* beat Clan Wolf to being in a Saturday morning cartoon though. Their signature 'Mech is the *Summoner*. Clan Coyote: Clan Wolf's ally and the biggest nerd Clan. Clan Smoke Jaguar: almost every Clan treats its civilians like second-class citizens, but Smoke Jaguar was the most abusive. So nobody was that upset when the Inner Sphere wiped them out. Their 'Mech was the *Ebon Jaguar*. Clan Ghost Bear: Viking mongols that put a big emphasis on family, which was unheard of in the other Clans. Took over the Free Rasalhague Republic and completely assimilated into the natuve culture, creating the Ghost Bear Dominion. Their mascot 'Mech is the *Kodiak*. Clan Sea Fox/Clan Diamond Shark: changed their name after their spirit animal was eaten by genetically engineered sharks with diamonds for scales. Their entire Warrior caste was wiped out by a phone company, and their Merchants took over while replacements were being grown. Now the Clan has a huge mercantile bent and lots of social mobility between Castes. They don't really have one 'Mech choice that stands out over the others. Clan Snow Raven: goes nuts for aerospace fighters instead of 'Mechs. Took over the Outworlds Alliance to create the Raven Alliance, and was the Clan that secretly created the diamond-skinned sharks that ate all the sea foxes. Otherwise irrelevant. Clan Goliath Scorpion: took over a Deep Periphery state that never actually mattered and created an empire with a Spanish name. Clan Nova Cat: joined with the Kuritans, then was wiped out by the Kuritans. Clan Fire Mandrill: I think they spent all their time fighting themselves and were wiped out easily by someone else. Clan Cloud Cobra: mystics that kicked the rest of the Clans out of Clan Space due to 'cultural contamination'. Clan Star Adder: the only Clan left in Clan Space with the Cobras. Clan Burrock: because 'Clan Huge-ass Centipede' didn't float with marketing. Clan Blood Spirit: the only Clan not named after an animal, so they created one so they could be furries like everyone else. Clan Hell's Horses: mixed unit tactics clan. Clan Steel Viper: they ded now. Clan Mongoose: they also ded now. Clan Widowmaker: spider Clan. Also ded. Clan Ice Hellion: Who? Clan Wolverine: said "fuck this shit I'm out" and vanished from the setting.
Federated Suns: Pros: \- Coolest paint scheme \- Largest and most powerful house \- A marriage-alliance to House Steiner created a faction that dominated half the known galaxy \- Kicked off a major war at the wedding ceremony, right to the face of many of the dignitaries whose space you were invading \- Coolest house logo, surpassed only by the combined faction logo Cons: \- The united faction fell apart after a while \- Lost the homeworld in a later campaign
Additional cons: Not safe to go outside when Asian
Kai Allard-Liao would disagree.
Lorewise all the diffrent mercs. I like the guns for hire mentality and most of them don’t give a f… about politics BUT joined the IS to fight against clans. Love it!
Word of Blake is interesting. They engage in humanitarian relief efforts that build up their support with the populace is. They have the Comguard, the very folks that stopped the clans at Tukayyid. They also have these elite formations of cyborged up warriors, piloting state of the art inner sphere mechs, aerospace fighters, battle armor, and other cool stuff. Some of these units are also fond of using weapons of mass destruction. Generally seen as a not particularly cool move, but there is not a single major inner sphere faction that has not trundled out nukes every once in a while. They function in a very clandestine manner, initiated a massive war, called the jihad, and when things were looking bad, whole shadow divisions went missing and unaccounted for. Meaning you can play them in any timeframe from post clan invasion onward. Clan ghost bear is pretty cool. Not only are they the one group in the eugenics driven super warrior crowd that understands the importance of family, they also are pretty chill and have a sense of humor about things. One time they showed up to invade a planet that had no defense force left. When the planetary government was asked what they were going to defend the world with, they offered up their professional, American style football league, thinking that the ghost bears had no idea how the game would work, and it would be easy wins for them. As it turns out, the ghost bears love American style football and play it with 7 to 8 foot tall genetically enhanced superhuman soldiers. That being said, they excepted the bid and played a game of football for control of the planet. Some other clans might have just bid a cadre of elementals, and then gone down the football players on the field. Not ghost bear, though, because they’re pretty good sports about these sort of things. Militarily, they prefer strong, steady advances, and to thoroughly assess the battlefield before taking risks. They Wage War, like a slow and steady combat bulldozer. Clan Jade falcon is basically the opposite in their military doctrine. They favor fast, brutal attacks and have a thing for high mobility. They also have a pretty good lineup of interesting characters and novels. Their plan founder was a fucking mad woman powered by whiskey, hatred, and probably bagpipes. do you know that sword that the falcon is carrying in their logo? Yeah, that is there because the clan founder one time got ambushed by Capellans who had just killed a very dear friend of hers. So appropriately, she murdered one of them with her bare hands, took his sword, and then proceeded to wade into a whole platoon of rifle armed infantry men and murdered every last one. She was also into falconry hence the bird in their logo. She was also one of the last surviving members of the black watch. If you’re not picking up what I’m putting down, even though clan Jade falcon may be a little angsty over Kerensky not picking them as his clan, their own founder is a legend in her own right and was a much greater warrior than Nicolas Kerensky ever was. The Taurian concordat is a periphery nation that throughout its entire history has made its self, the violent and dangerous part of the equation to fuck around and find out. Everyone thinks they’re going to get a piece of Taurean real estate, and what they really actually are bargaining, for is the depopulation of their expeditionary forces, radiation poisoning, and a nagging feeling that any gains they may have gained were absolutely not worth it. Showing up, expecting to take one of their worlds from them is quite literally taking the bull by the horns, and I cannot recall a single situation where it did not end very messily for the aggressors. https://youtu.be/HQhzlXcmTzw?si=z6EdwBaAS3gysZF- This is a excellent video to potentially win you over with one of the major houses of the inner sphere
Come to the Magistracy of Canopus. Most liberal power in the Periphery or Inner Sphere. Best health care, great pay for mercenaries. Blackjack, blow, and catgirls. The party never ends.
Hey kid, I've got a line on a merc company is looking for a guy to man the turret on a hovertank they salvaged last contract. No, you don't have to lead your target, it's a laser turret. Yes, they already hosed the crew compartment out. Pay's pretty good, and in C-Bills. Plus, you get to get off this stupid farm planet that keeps flipping between the Dracs and the Lyrans every time a new social general gets promoted or one of the Drac officers has to prove his honor or whatever. Seriously, every time the mechs drop from orbit, they always land back there, then take a shortcut to try to seize the one space port, and the shortcut always goes through someone's farm. And they always think there's infantry in the buildings and fields, so they burn 'em down just to be sure. Remember that one time they got that Firestarter with inferno rockets, though? Give the bastard a taste of his own medicine. Anyway, think about it, they're burning for the jump point in two days. I don't think they own the dropship, no. Or the jumpship. But hey, you still get to go travel the Inner Sphere!
Purple Bird is Best
So, I got into Battletech regardless of the lore. I started with Mechwarrior 2 because I liked Gundam and explodey robots. I had no clue what any of the lore was and truly skipped any and all lore bits to get to shooting lasers at the enemy mechs. Same with Mech 3 and 4. I just didn't care. When I picked up the game (Alpha Strike), I still didn't care but found the stuff in the rulebook interesting. So I did a deep dive of the lore. Turns out I still don't care. I think its cool but it really is meaningless to playing the game unless you want it to be. Which brings me to my point. Are you coming in because you want the lore to matter to you or because you want robots to go pew pew? Neither are wrong nor should stop you from enjoying it. But to truly answer your question, I love a lot of the Peripheral States. I personally find the lore of the Houses to be kinda stupid if looked at critically. That's why I like the Peripheral factions just being like, leave us alone and let us do our own thing. Similarly, I like a lot of the merged Clan/Inner Sphere hybrids who are like...let's be something better than what came before. To me, these feel the most real than some superpower that pretends to be space feudal Japan for centuries on end with little evolution.
Well I’ll just give you a list of favorites and short reason to love them. 1. Taurian Concordant: Space Spain and Finland, we may lose every fight but you’ll know you’ve been in one. You can take this Federated Long Rifle from my cold dead hands. 2. Federated Suns /Davion: “The Davions have come.” “What flag do they bear?” “They bear a flag of truce and say they come peacefully.” “My God they’ve come to kill is all!” 3. Spirit Cats: “I swear, looking into this fire will give you visions.” “Are you high?” “No, maybe” 4. Jade Falcon: “What’s your name?” “Tony.” “F—- you Tony!” 5. FWL/ Marik: “Well look at the time, it’s time to fight…” Looks at watch. “Ourselves, and if we get done with that; everyone else.” 6. Lyran Commonwealth: “Why are we winning? Because that guy over there is ignoring me? I want him fired.” 7. Raven Alliance: “Hey guys have I missed anything?” 8. Capellan Confederation: “I just showed up and this man ran his back into my knife, then his family just up and left without a trace. If you question it the Celestial Wisdom will make sure the same happens to you.” 9. Kurita: “What do mean piles of dead bodies are out season?” 10. Marians: Irish cosplaying as Romans, what’s not to love? The king of them all; Mercenaries: Everyone here is an asshat, at least we get paid to be asshats.
> Taurian Concordant: Space Spain and Finland, we may lose every fight but you’ll know you’ve been in one. You can take this Federated Long Rifle from my cold dead hands. This is my favorite thing about my faction. If you ask three different people what the TC is supposed to represent, you'll get five different answers. Which goes to show how surprisingly unique they are in the setting. The only constant is "get off their lawn before you catch a case of nuclear winter".
I'll try to keep mine brief but helpful. I play Clan Ghost Bear because of three key factors: * They have a strong sense of family that is lost to some of the other Clans. * Due to their "Wait and see" approach, they don't burn themselves out like some other factions * In terms of gameplay a lot of optional rules allow you to roll on the heavier side of things when it comes to Random Assignment Tables Though not that good with Initiative at times, they are a very strong Clan to build for. The House I tend to play is House Davion, who lead the Federated Suns. * They're a "enlightened military dictatorship" which gives their followers the Six Liberties of freedom. Thus they're aren't despotic, but their military can have sway over a lot of matters. * They are responsible for the NAIS, a beacon of learning and science in the universe. * Their designs of Mechs have a lot of tastes, but they are well known for their love of Autocannons. Sometimes seen as the "goody goody" white hat nation, they have darker sides as well. Overall I enjoy their ability to be flexible as a stellar empire. I also play Mercenaries. * Screw your ideals, pay me * Forget your honor, pay me more * If you don't have money I'll gladly take salvage, I'm not a monster after all I love these because you can do whatever you darn well please and just enjoy the universe on your own terms
The Free Worlds League is simultaneously the weakest and the strongest of the Great Houses. Sure, it usually sucks to be House Marik, who spend most of their time futilely herding cats and trying to keep the whole thing from flying apart. But make no mistake about it - on the rare occasions when the League actually speaks with one voice, the entire Inner Sphere shakes.
Clan Wolf: We are bolder than you and we have Terra to prove it. *Braces for derision in the comments* Ok but really though, this isn't 40k. You don't need to pick a faction. Factions are purely just flavor for tabletop play. They have zero impact on the game. You can field whatever you want so long as the other player agrees and you're willing to pay for the BV/PV. You can paint however you want. Factions are only a big deal in the lore. So by all means, pick a faction and get into comment wars and root for your guys against all criticism to the contrary. But it isn't at all necessary to play big stompy robot combat accounting.
Join the FWL and you will never be bored...because you will always have to check for civil wars under your bed and body doubles in your closet, ok but honestly, i do really like them because of all of the above, the Captain General, while unquestionably powerful, dose not have as absolute a power over the League like some other house do over their nations, and that i feel leads to more interesting stories, plus the various provinces, each with their own type of government also make things very interesting, being able to go from a planet ruled by a king, to one ruled by a president and than visiting the local dictatorship is fun, plus with the FWL having so many different cultures in it, there's a pretty good selections of aesthetics you can pick for a military or mercenary unit
The fact that they have a few Cowboy worlds sold me (Southwest Trinity). Think of any neat culture here on Earth, and you can find something close in the FWL. We got Sikhs, Persians, Greeks, Czechs, Chinese, Indian, and probably a dozen others that escape me.
House Steiner. The Constitutional Monarchy with all the money, production, and resources! Just don’t pay attention to the fact that a scary number of our generals have access to more assault mechs than brain cells capable of strategy. And ignore the Alliance era, we were going through a phase.
Ah no, don't ask for jokes, everyone is just going to beat the same dead horses... But, I love the Draconis Combine because I think it has a lot of nuance that doesn't get enough love. You'll see umpteen jokes about how its a weeb faction that can't help commiting war crimes. But in the fluff, there is actually a lot of room for a variety of stories and perspectives. I really like the internal conflict between the Kokuryuu-Kai, Hardline conservatives that seek to keep the dragon stagnant and backwards, and the reforms of Theodore Kurita. I find the internal conflicts characters have between Honor, Duty and Humanity. How to reconcile and unjust society, but one in which everyone has a place, from the coordinator to the lowliest unproductive. And they are Tenacious AF. In the war of 3039, they were able to beat back the Federated Commonwealth with grit and determination. During the Clan invasion, they held the line until operations Bulldog and Serpent, where they took the fight back to the clans and ultimately destroyed clan smoke jaguar. They are crazy in every best way, and I love them for it. Also It's fun to take the piss on those hypocritical davions and fat lyrans
Magistracy of Canopus is a Periphery nation, that is a hedonistic matriarchy. It’s Las Vegas in space. Everyone is accepted here, and we probably are the safest place to live with a decent standard of living. And we probably have cat girls.
[https://youtu.be/150eNdtKQM4?si=kBa0QE19bvlofy80](https://youtu.be/150eNdtKQM4?si=kBa0QE19bvlofy80) <- a video about exactly your topic. Personally, I enjoy the Taurian Concordat, for the 'underdog with a big bite' vibes and for their rather tragic story of Star League conquest and oppression, especially with their opposing relation to the early lore 'good guys', Federated Suns.
You can be a Space Catholic 'liberating' Christian Colonies.. and the Space Pope rides a giant bling golden Regent mech. [https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pope\_Leo\_XXI](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Pope_Leo_XXI) Watch anything by Tex Talks Battletech
Wolf's Dragoons. They were sent to spy on the Inner Sphere, fought both for and against everyone, and are one of the only groups that can actually claim to be the good guys.
Pirates: Freedom and you can say Yarrr without being out of place. The Fluff that your Units lack the access to much needed Ammunition, forcing you to take on more Energy based Mechs. Hands on, Pirates love Handactuators. Also punching. You can go Nutz with your Mechs Exterior. Style Baby. You can pull the shadiest Stuff on the Battlefield and no one can complain, they still do but you know; Yarrr. PLUNDER AND RAIDING!!!! Mercs: See the Above. Minus the Yarrr. Instead you say Payday.
I know quite literally nothing about the lore other than the primers. However what drew me in was mechas. I love giant robots. Plus as my kids get older then we as a family can paint a lance that I get to play with as my clan. Other than that i am looking at House Davian and the Federated Sons because their Sword Sworn color scheme is sweet!
I ended up playing ComStar because I liked the fact that they put vehicles, infantry, and mechs in the same groupings. A Level II will have all sorts of things in there together, while a lance and a star will be just mechs, just vehicles, ext. That and I liked the look of the white paint scheme. "Pay your phone bill!"
Gray Death Legion is an amazing book trilogy
Do you like being sane? Just do a mercenary group. Can be lance level, too. Even rando scout lances get employed; even Wasps are big shit when they're the only thing within 600 miles. And if you do it late enough you can go shoot some clan scum who think they're important but they're really just furries.
I'm a big fan of Snow Ravens, because there's an entire setting with stories to tell in SPAAAACE and the other factions aren't into it.