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[Taricus]

To be fair, the clans were more hindered by doctrine rather than any technological stagnation (Which meant they dropped the more... interesting bits of technology into disuse.)

And a resource advantage would be a misnomer. The worlds the clans held were pretty poor compared to those of the IS. They just didn't have the total warfare of the succession wars. Though the doctrines and tactics involved with avoiding all-out war was the thing that utterly screwed them over at Tukayyid against the ComGuard.

Also, given that the clans are still around nearly 100 after the invasion, an two of which have integrated into the IS, I don't think the IS factions around the time of the invasion could be likened to X-com, Except maybe the ComGuard.

[Neonivek]

The clans were more hindered by doctrine and a complete refusal to innovate their technology or mechs until they went toe to toe with the Inner sphere.

While the Inner sphere entirely recreated their strategies and technology from scratch. Becoming more sophisticated over time.

The Clans basically... incompetent. They are basically insane nobles who do not know how real combat works holding up their mighty book of honorable combat without really understanding its texts.

"Ohh no, it is dishonorable for us to retreat"
Me: "Thanks Clan... So... You have the greatest skirmish technology known that rivals the Star League... And you refuse to use it in a situation where it would be useful?"
"Yes that is right!"
Me: "How are you a threat again?"

As for them being Poor... really? They have never starved for resources... This sounds like "informed trait"

[puke]

And a resource advantage would be a misnomer. The worlds the clans held were pretty poor compared to those of the IS. They just didn't have the total warfare of the succession wars.

This actually changed drastically from the early fiction.  I dont think it was just a case of misinformation, I think it was retcon'd.  Originally, they were supposed to have invaded the sphere with a very small fraction of their forces (in the bidding tradition) and several clans were not even participating since they didnt win the bid.

Around the time they published the 'Twilight of the Clans' modules, it was all being changed.  Suddenly they were over-committed and barely had any forces back at home, and it could be a fair fight for players on either side.

[Flying Dice]

Oh hey, the social media types came through for us: the Black Widows are now a skirmish-game enemy unit, completing the set. Next up is the first of the campaign-game cameos.

[Hanzoku]

And a resource advantage would be a misnomer. The worlds the clans held were pretty poor compared to those of the IS. They just didn't have the total warfare of the succession wars.

This actually changed drastically from the early fiction.  I dont think it was just a case of misinformation, I think it was retcon'd.  Originally, they were supposed to have invaded the sphere with a very small fraction of their forces (in the bidding tradition) and several clans were not even participating since they didnt win the bid.

Around the time they published the 'Twilight of the Clans' modules, it was all being changed.  Suddenly they were over-committed and barely had any forces back at home, and it could be a fair fight for players on either side.

Oh? I actually read pretty much all the books up until the new era. I don't know what fluff was shipped with the boardgames, but book-wise, the clans did only commit a portion of their forces. The Invader Clans were pretty much overcommitted in the Inner Sphere, which ended up with a lot of them losing holdings back in the Clan homeworlds to those who had stayed behind and had fresh front line units to bash their garrison units around with.

Book-wise, The Twilight itself came down to two parts - a coordinated campaign of annihilation against Clan Smoke Jaguar that wiped out their forces, and then a Trial against the Clans as a whole to Clan-legally turn back their decision to invade. The campaign against Clan Smoke Jaguar took the smallest and most battered of the Invader Clans, and threw the best front line units from every nation in the Inner Sphere against them until they died. It was pretty much a statement of 'Look, if you really want to keep doing this, we'll kill you all one by one.'

[umiman]

Looks like the campaign is slowing down a lot now. Hopefully we'll reach $2m but I'm fine with it as it is.

I actually saw it dip under $1.85m the other day. It was confusing because it listed that stretch goal reached but was only at $1.84m.

[Anvilfolk]

Looks like the campaign is slowing down a lot now. Hopefully we'll reach $2m but I'm fine with it as it is.

I actually saw it dip under $1.85m the other day. It was confusing because it listed that stretch goal reached but was only at $1.84m.

This is also super confusing. They're also taking Paypal donations outside of the Kickstarter, so there's some amount of money that isn't showing up "officially" in KS.

We're about halfway through the campaign, and I might increase my tier just so we can increase the chance of getting multiplayer. Although, to be fair, it doesn't look like Multiplayer will have any "persistence", just PVP matches. I'm a sucker for persistence across MP matches. It just gives each match meaning.

[Flying Dice]

IDK, the description of the PvP is vague enough that there could easily be persistent stats and such, something like accumulating credits from matches and using them to hire mechwarriors and buy mechs & parts which stay in your garage for use in future matches, stuff like that. If it's more than 1v1 there's probably also the potential for specialization; one person might run a lance of lights to scout and harass, so on and so forth. The whole schtick about rewards from tourneys and leagues definitely sounds like it would align with that; win a tournament and get a set of freezers or a rare mech, &c.

[puke]

a coordinated campaign of annihilation against Clan Smoke Jaguar that wiped out their forces

How does a clan even survive when the Khan is an elemental?  Doesn't the first person to challenge him to a trial just stomp him?  Did they even think this through, beyond "hey, wouldn't this be cool for a change?"

[Neonivek]

Book-wise, The Twilight itself came down to two parts - a coordinated campaign of annihilation against Clan Smoke Jaguar that wiped out their forces, and then a Trial against the Clans as a whole to Clan-legally turn back their decision to invade. The campaign against Clan Smoke Jaguar took the smallest and most battered of the Invader Clans, and threw the best front line units from every nation in the Inner Sphere against them until they died. It was pretty much a statement of 'Look, if you really want to keep doing this, we'll kill you all one by one.'

But that was always the case. The only reason the clans were originally a threat was because the Inner sphere wasn't united and not only fought against eachother... but were also extremely uncoordinated.

[Hanzoku]

How does a clan even survive when the Khan is an elemental?  Doesn't the first person to challenge him to a trial just stomp him?  Did they even think this through, beyond "hey, wouldn't this be cool for a change?"

The challenges are balanced to be fair. In one of the books, Phelen Kell/Ward was fighting for the Ward Bloodname and fought elementals twice, once with equipment and once without. (If I'm remembering books I read more then a decade ago correctly.)

Without, they fought in a zero-G environment, if I recall, which balanced all the sheer edges the Elemental had over him (mass, size, trained infantry trooper etc.)

Armored, he was given a very light mech and they fought in a close in environment lousy with radiation and magnetic anomolies, which let the elemental close with his mech and climb on, negating most of the mech's advantages.

It's also really, really hard to stomp an elemental before they jump onto your mech and start cutting their way in.

But that was always the case. The only reason the clans were originally a threat was because the Inner sphere wasn't united and not only fought against eachother... but were also extremely uncoordinated.

Also true, but also the Inner Sphere were still a year or two away from a technology renissance from rediscovered Star League memory cores that ComStar hadn't managed to destroy in time. At the start of the invasion, everything clan built was 50%-100% better - lighter, stronger, longer ranged, produced less heat and cooled better. Once Star League equipment started going back into production and they started reverse engineering clan equipment, it really did become a matter of people getting their acts together and getting nations spanning a quarter of the galaxy each all pointed in the correct direction. (Liao didn't count at the start. >_>)

[puke]

It's also really, really hard to stomp an elemental before they jump onto your mech and start cutting their way in.

I remember playtesting the tabletop scenario.  Osis got smoked embarrassingly fast. 

I'm not sure if he was given greater terrain advantages or cover and such when the module was finally published, but the battle was a slaughter.  I guess that's in theme with what happened in the books, but it was pretty brutal for the clan players.

[Hanzoku]

True, an elemental at range and with only open terrain is going to get the crap kicked out of him and his buddies if you can spend the time to shoot at them.

[puke]

it was actually a canyon map if I remember, but maybe with no vegetation?  Like, there was enough cover for the clan mechs range advantage to be mitigated, but not enough to screen an infantry advance.

I dont think that mattered though, I'm pretty sure the clan players brought the elementals in mounted and they had to roll randomly each time one was hit to see if it was Osis... If I remember -- and this was neigh on 20 years ago, mind you -- they dismounted them pretty quick when the mechs started taking fire, to preserve the Khan.  If he wasnt there, they probably would have kept them on as ablative armor and survived a little longer.

[Sharp]

Not an official battletech novel by any stretch but
New World Order and Seekers in Shadow by the Wobbly Guy are pretty good reading even if you don't know lots of Battletech lore, although knowing it does help a lot.

Although doubtful Seekers in Shadow will ever get updated but still worth the read.

Btw, did any of you guys play Neveron? That seemed quite interesting but not too easy to get into, I only ever did a few arena battles which I lost.