u/Old_Ad6111

I’m rereading Redemption Rites.

When Thomas Brubaker, who commanded the Battle of Terra, or Nicholas Crews, who went as far as mutinying to argue for joining the war, use “we had to stop Malvina Hazen” as an excuse, it really feels right for the Wolf’s Dragoons characters to say, “That answer isn’t good enough.”

When I read it before, I hadn’t read Hour of the Wolf yet, so I didn’t really understand it.

Now it really lands.

Hour of the Wolf is entirely about forcing you to “accept” that kind of argument, so rereading Redemption Rites now makes it much more interesting.

Since there are people who haven't read it yet, it's fine to ask later.

I finished reading Ghosts of Timkovichi.

I enjoyed reading the novel.

It was quite a combat-focused novel, and I read it enjoyably as expected.

I enjoyed it, but there's one thing I don't understand.

It seems like there's not enough explanation for why the Lyrans are sending so many troops to Timkovichi.

I wish there was a more specific political reason, like them wanting to occupy it because it's between the Arc-Royal Free Alliance and the still-unaligned Free Worlds.

Why are Lyran generals so fixated on Timkovichi just because it was originally a Lyran planet, to the point where they'd do anything to take it if opposed?

The first Lyran general clearly thinks that occupying this place will put pressure on Arc-Royal.

But the next general doesn't seem to have that idea.

Compared to how it was described early on as just one part of about 15 chaotic fronts the Archon has to deal with after reclaiming it, it doesn't really make sense.

Since I'm Korean, I might have missed something while translating the English.

I finally bought Ghosts of Timkovichi. Now all that's left is to enjoy reading it.

Now I can enjoy translating it and reading it, haha.

https://youtu.be/K8_Hr_nXG6w?si=PF7UQwtM32dop5mf

Since I'm Korean, the translation might be a bit off.

In MechWarrior 4, the AC/20 was described as a small-caliber rapid-fire weapon.

Now it's described as a weapon that fires large shells.

It's a somewhat consistent weapon now, but originally, BattleMech weapons were set up as quite different armaments depending on the manufacturer, including their firing methods.

Thinking about this, I think I get why changing weapons on a BattleMech takes so long and is so difficult.

Well, of course, game-wise I know that just making a Mech equipped with Clan weapons is normally good.

But from a setting perspective, the real advantage of OmniPods is that originally the AC/20 wasn't clearly described as firing large shells. It was basically just classifying cannons with 20 power as AC/20.

In the game, autocannon caliber has no direct relation to weight class or the internal BattleTech setting. The AC/2 was treated as a low-power autocannon because it fired a small amount of 120mm shells at long range, while the AC/20 could be either a high-power one firing 30mm shells at an insane rate of fire with short effective range, or the complete opposite.

This is because other weapons were also roughly grouped together if their power levels were similar. So OmniMechs, which can mount OmniPods anywhere and fire them from any location, are definitely an innovation.

Well, if you can produce enough variety of regular BattleMechs, that would be fine too, but for a small elite force or frontline assault units, OmniMechs are still the best.

It is a ridiculous novel, basically a romance book with shirtless Alaric on the cover, but I actually liked how the story portrayed Alaric making an effort to rebuild Terra, offering surrender terms to raiders, and thinking about how to use the outcome politically whether they accepted or not.

Even in the ilClan era, medium lasers do not suddenly become weak.

Personally, I like the idea, shown in some novels, that BattleMechs which can still operate properly, even if they only use double heat sinks, special ammunition, and otherwise basic weapons, are still valuable enough to remain in active service.

Well, cases like Fox Patrol, where everything except the Kit Fox looks like a 3025 version, are a bit unusual, but I do not think every unit would be using ER, Ultra, or Clan weapons.

Lower cost, lower heat generation, lower power than enhanced models, and a smaller size.

Given how the BattleTech setting rarely allows something to become stronger with no tradeoffs at all, there are obviously still places where that kind of weapon has a use.

Personally, I liked the clause in the mercenary contract in the novel *Without Question* stating that retreating after a defeat in a Clan-style duel would not be considered a breach of contract or desertion, and thus would not incur penalties or punishment.

It felt like a true sign that the Clans have finally integrated into the Inner Sphere.

Since I entered BattleTech through the ilClan era, I kind of accept things naturally, but is there a novel or story that covers the time when Diamond Shark changed its name to Sea Fox, or the problems and incidents that occurred when they were expelled from the Clan Homeworlds and settled in the Inner Sphere?

This is the Periphery universe! I like this version better because it feels more authentic.

In the Periphery universe, how do poor planets or pirates get their hands on an Assault 'Mech? It's the Charger.

So what do you do? You load it up with tons of disposable rockets.

The book that got me back into BattleMech.

I used to play MechWarrior 3? a bit back in the day, read a little about the Clan invasion and Operation Bulldog, and then left BattleTech for various reasons.

Last year, I re-entered BattleTech by reading the ilClan novel Trial of Birthright.

I knew there was something called the Dark Age, but I just picked it up because it looked fun.

At the time, I thought the Republic of the Sphere was something like Terra becoming independent after the Second Star League dissolved, and since I had no idea about the actions of characters from the Dark Age era, I just accepted the characters as described in Trial of Birthright and really enjoyed reading it.

After that, I looked up and read more ilClan novels and other stuff, and I thought Hour of the Wolf was a Dark Age novel, so I read it after finishing all the ilClan novels, and I mistakenly thought there really was nothing worth seeing in the Dark Age.

It was only a little later that I learned Hour of the Wolf was an ilClan novel and that it had a bad reputation and everyone hated it.

Now I'm actually looking up and reading a few Dark Age novels in reverse order.

Is there anyone else who jumped straight into the setting like I did, skipping entire eras?

I think there was a short story about a washed-out Clan Ghost Bear sibko warrior who became a pirate, piloted a Charger, and hunted down his former classmates. Do you happen to know the title?

The covers of Shrapnel issues are all so cool, and sometimes I want to read the specific story featured on the cover first, but it can be hard to tell which one it is. Is there any way to find out?

Of course, the best way is simply to enjoy reading through from the beginning.

I really like the new Grand Titan illustration, so I have been trying to track it down. Where is this illustration from?

Shrapnel, issue ?

Of course, because Alaric is effectively a “plague,” Rasalhague would have ended up with another serious problem on its hands.

Still, quite a few Ghost Bears were opposed to Alaric.

From the Star League’s point of view, though, this probably would have been the best possible scenario.

They could have threatened the Draconis Combine, boxed in between Rasalhague and the FedSuns, with: join us unless you want to fight a war on two fronts.

And they could have whispered the same constraint to the FedSuns as well, telling them that if they joined too late, the Draconis Combine might be able to shift all of its rear-area forces to the front.

Even in the short term, they would not have needed to squeeze every last bit of strength out of themselves in the war against the Capellan Confederation, nor would they have needed to make “concessions” to the people of Terra.

Well, in that case, the overall completeness of the Star League’s storyline would probably have suffered from an out-of-universe perspective.