Clanners: We are the future! Comstar: No WE are the future The great houses: NO! WE are the future! Civilians: guys? Did you know that there’s been a famine going on out here for three centuries?
@@CatholicDragoon great houses Clans and even comstar self might one day all pass into the annals of history, nothing more than myths and legends. But BattleTech mercenaries will keep roaming the battlefields for a paycheck until the day mankind is extinct.
@@CatholicDragoon we're out of C-Bills but we do have House Bills belonging to a house Ka-Mur-In? we've got like 80 Trillion of these things so they must be worth something right?
As far as incredibly emotional single lines in Tex Talks Battletech, "They dismissed him as a joke, and failed to respect him - and for that, he fucking broke them." is up there with "...And then he blew his fucking brains out."
@@nickbarrett3163 That just makes it more dangerous because if the mad cat pilot is distracted choking from laughter as ye sees UrbanMech try to waddle to firing position from behind a building, he won't notice the rest of the UrbanMech emerging from behind a building with the AC20 aimed point-blank at the mad cat's crotch.
@@greatlyreducedgameplay9939 The Inner Sphere's experiences have been largely defined by a willingness to grind every last thing into dust for the sake of wanting what they want. Really, so long as anyone else exists in the universe, if they are not openly and willingly committing to a single source of governance, war will continue. On and on and on and on. Without stability, there is no "winning". Everyone will just fight on and on and on, generation after generation, until the Inner Sphere Clans are ground down as much as the Houses were. In the end, on the path they all are on, everyone and everything will eventually die.
"A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness." Gul Dukat; Fredrick Steiner in another life apparently.
The Battle of Tukayyid was such a monumental loss that Clan culture was changed. Some even downright abandoned the crusader mindset and adopted the warden mindset. A good example is Clan Ghost Bear, who, after the war, merged with the Free Rasalhague Republic to create the Rasalhague Dominion, a nation where Inner Sphere and Clan people lived in a conjoined, united culture and way of life that would basically resemble space Norsemen.
It also gave an already highly effective clan access to a massive industrial sector that could benefit from said clanner tech. The Dominion became an absolute powerhouse. Long live Clan Ghost Bear!
In all honestly while I believe Comstar absolutely wrecked the shit out of the clans this event. This invasion is what ultimately led to the downfall of Comstar. When Operation Scorpion blew up in their faces.
Tukkayid is one of the best examples of a modern set piece battle in sci-fi. It's a multifront defense in depth that shows exactly how to conduct a defensive operation against an invasion force. High usage of arty, airspace, ambushes, willingly letting go of defensive positions to get to a better spot, recon assets constantly roving and harassing enemy units to stop them from gaining any sort of initiative. This battle was basically modern day military force vs a Children's Crusade.
Remember the Wolves and Jade Falcons, along with the Bears, were the only ones who really adapted, with the Dogs pulling out a full win and showing that change was needed. I would also like to point out that the Clans were not playing war, but cause they went thru a war that was worse that what happened in the IS, the rules were developed to keep themselves from self destructing during their self imposed exile. Their way of fighting was good considering their situation, but bad against people who could use their rules against them. Just saw this comment and it fits perfectly to what happened to the Clans: The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war.
'Children's crusade' is inaccurate. The failings of the clans in this campaign were due to a mountain of factors, one of which being internal sabotage. In most cases, the clans punched way above their weight. Taking the Smoke Jaguars as an example, since everyone likes to pick on them: They were two galaxies (roughly equivalent to three Comstar Divisions, each) both of which were depleted from prior fighting, against 8 fresh divisions that had the luxury of being on the defensive. Of these 8 divisions, several were mauled to such a degree that ComStar disbanded them rather than reconstitute them. So while they failed to take their objectives, and decidedly lost, it isn't as if they were helpless 'children.' Rather, they were undermanned and on the offensive.
@@revolrz22 yeah, it was more of Carl XVIIs Napoleons and Nazi Germanys offencives vs Russia... three elite armies equipped and trained for quick, violent conquests counting on beeing able to forage what the intentionally under dimensioned logistics couldn't supply from their home bases forced into an extended war of attrition on a scorched earth battlefield with supply chains so long it's impossible to monitor them, let alone actually defend them against enemy partizans and troop remnants conducting guerilla warfare as they see fit behind enemy lines cut off from their own high command.
@@Robert-wf7xu Not really, the greatest strength of Defense in Depth is that you're running your logistical tail in reverse. You execute a planned retreat to your resupply points instead of bringing them up to you. This means your reserves and resupply are in hardened locations that are difficult to destroy, while the other guy's supplies have to come to them in the open from farther away. It also means that you can devote every single soldier in the field to the fight, because you don't need them running supplies to the front. The front is coming to the supplies. Defense in depth is really rough on the land you're retreating across, after all, it basically makes the whole area the "front lines" at one point or another. So you don't _want_ to do it if you don't have to, but Comstar prepared the entire planet ahead of time. They had time to remove anything they cared about. And, of course, that's another aspect of logistics.
@@Rathmun and what is this? They just arrived to the place there was ammunition and shiet and it magically made clan disappear. That is why I like to paraphrase the quote "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics - soldier knows that they both don't know shit about both"
Tbf, they did also inflict proportionally the worst damage TO ComGuard. CNC may have left with 15 mechs... but ComStar had about that much left too, and threw way more into the fight to begin with. But also goes to show, nearly completely destroying your foe doesn't matter much if they still held the objectives at days end and you died nearly to a man.
The ComGuards are basically the military division of Comstar's Customer Service department. The Inner Sphere submitted the biggest Support Ticket in human history, and so management pulled everyone out of the phone queues and trained them to fight at Tukayyid. The mandatory overtime and risk to life and limb sucked, but it looked good on a resume if you survived, and you could tell your grandkids about how you and Steve from the Rigel V call center blew up a Mad Cat with rocket launchers and then apologized for the inconvenience.
What Focht figured out and brought into his general strategy was, that the clanners are an assault force made for swift overpowering of enemies. He was also for a while the guest of the Il-Khan and learned their ways in person. His general Strategy included two things mainly: Smack em silly with all you've got but more importantly, wage a war of attrition the clanners were ill equipped, nor trained for. The latter really broke the back of most of them. Well except Clan Wolf of course. But they had recruited a young fellow from the inner sphere and their Khan was actually wise enough to listen to him.
Everyone likes the better heat management of ballistic weapons, but if you can't get ammo resupply you've suddenly got 10 tons of useless dangling off your melee-ing arms.
One point on Clan Wolf achieving their objectives. They went last. And probably bid more forces than the rest put together. So Comstar simply shifted it’s focus onto the poor sods in the other clans. Hell, Comstar might have let Clan Wolf walk right in. They were on good terms, the former garrisoning the latter’s worlds. Comstar had no need or desire to screw over Clan Wolf. In fact, maintaining their military strength when all the other Clans lost theirs? When Clan Wolf had not only voted against the invasion, but had sent the Dragoon’s to prepare the Inner Sphere … well, with enough plausible deniability when it comes to the other clans. Hell, with this in mind, Comstar probably prioritized the Clans with particularly toxic world views, and were a bit lax on say, Clan Ghost Bear. Social engineering , with guns! Comstar’s speciality. How much do you bet they kept mentioning Clan Wolverine just to piss the Clanners off?
@@iwatchyoutubealot Fair. Though it was hardly a single battlefield, Focht was anything but subtle. Any social benefits regarding the Clams were either accidental, or a crushing of spirit bought by innumerable lives.
Tukkayid was a major turning point, not just for the Invasion, but for the Clans. Tex isn't kidding when he says it changed their culture. The events of the Wars of Reaving can be linked back directly to the failure at Tukkayid. The definition of Clan honor changed pretty quickly once they realized that it was costing them their sole purpose in life. This is really one of the basic tragedies of Battletech. Both Clanners and IS want to reinstate the Star League and unite the Inner Sphere. However, no one can help but keep doing the very things that tore it apart to begin with.
When IlKhan Osis was killed, the Clans halted the advance and took a year break , giving the IS time to mount a defense. If they'd kept rolling they would've taken Terra easily. Ulric Kerensky was working against the Clans, he was a Warden by ideology. There was no reason to make a truce available as an option to the IS. So, in my opinion it wasn't the battle itself as much as it was an ideological civil war that brought the Clans down.
And fans of other Clans that lost spectacularly and were subsequently annihilated... 😏 I wonder who that could be... >coughChimneyKittenscough< Sorry about that, I'm having a hard time breathing all of a sudden. Must be all the Smoked Jaguar in the air...
@@dubuyajay9964 Or they lose them because plot demands it. That door swings both ways. It's how plots actually work. "I need this person around exactly this long." Even Natasha K wound up losing hers.
Funny enough the Clans almost, *almost* discovered Focht's obscured command bunker nexus where he was directing the defense by accident (the scouts were dying elements of the Smoke Jaguars who kept pressing on even as they were falling apart) but the Clan scouting force was destroyed before they could announce their findings and let off a signal.
Could be misremembering but I also recall that a few stray shots from Clan forces also nearly hit the bunker, almost destroying it and Focht with it. Wonder how things might have changed if that *had* happened...
@@Tayvin4042 maybe a little bit, but not a whole lot. Focht’s planning was mostly done, and as part of his preparations he likely had selected secondary staff that could execute and adapt his plans. The sheer fanaticism of Comstar probably would mean their morale would barely take a hit at losing their commander. I’d guess a few more clams would achieve their objectives. However, the single largest benefit of Tukkayid would remain; the Inner Sphere now has access to all the clan tech salvage they could want. I know it goes against their culture, but I would have nuked Tukkayid into a radioactive snowball to slow down IS tech progression.
@@willdavis3802 Will Davis has it right - it's Comstar. Nobody would know Focht was dead until after the battle who didn't strictly need to know. Commands would keep coming and fighting forces wouldn't find out.
@@theblackpantslegion Let me commend you sir, though. I felt your analysis was absolutely spot on while being entertaining. I hope you will examine further lore.
Not quite. It was more, beating the clanners to death with the rulebook. It is learning the rules better than the writers and proceeding to use it to hamstring them. Clanners couldn't imagine taking such losses and still fighting, because resource management was paramount. Hence the bid system, use the least amount of resources and keep as much as you can.
"Hey Mom! Uncle Tex read us a bed time story! It was the bestest! And then we threw empty Whiskey bottles at the AT&T guys the next day. Can he babysit us forever?! PLEEEEEAAASEEEE??"
@@jasonthomas9596 It's been happening for ages. Tex is that awesome uncle that the parents would claim that calling him a bad influence is the understatement of the 31st century.
To be fair, Wolf landed last and Comstar had already won 51%+ of the objectives. So, Comstar didn't have to try and win those objectives. In fact, the only objective Jade Falcon "won", they actually lost, but Comstar gave Jade Falcon the draw "because JF's Aiden Pryde fought so well", but really just gave them the victory because Comstsr already won the planet at that point. This show of respect was only done to encourage Jade Falcon to honor the terms and bo go on a rage filled vengeance crusade against the Sphere .
Actually that is why they still pushed to try and beat the Wolves: It was also to prove that they could take on each Clan. But the Wolves were the only Clan that actually brought enough troops to take their objectives and taught the ComStar forces that they were to be a force to keep an eye on.
Ulric wasn't fooled by Focht; he manipulated the rest of the Clans through their pride into dropping first and to "punish" him and Clan Wolf by having them drop last. He studied what C* and Focht were doing, and adjusted his troops' kit accordingly. More reliance on energy weapons (so no running out of ammo), and also bringing sufficient ammo for an extended offense.
@@mkang8782 The ultimate Crusader mistake. Jaguar, especially, compounded that mistake by putting the dezgra upon its survivors, instead of acknowledging any fault in perspective.
"An entire invasion force relegated to the past tense." Not one army in the existence of society was F'd that hard. Well done Comstar, and well done Tex for explaining it so accurately!
One of the Roman Legions actually did. The relevant Emperor supposedly would occasionally break into cursing at it's (dead, I believe) commander on occasion for years afterward.
"How many dudes we got?" "A bunch" "How many dudes they got?" "Like a bunch times.....100? 500?" "......yeah but our mechs are cooler and we have power armor, let's invade their shit" "....k" *Clan Great Council minutes, November 3048*
Like the opposite of what happened in the Winter War. Yeah Russia tried to crush them with overwelming forces... And lost about almost their entire force only to take 11 percent of Finland... And their real plans was a bit oh I don't know BIGGER than that. Yeah it was a failure no matter how much you say to that
@@amymeadows9834 Sure but the Russians decided to shoot 3/4 of their own officers and 1/10 of their common soldiers, focusing on the most experienced personal, before the invasion. They destroyed their own army's morale and institutional competence and then decided it was the perfect time to invade Finland in winter.
To quote Sun Tsu "If you know yourself and your enemy, you dont have to fear the results of a thousand battles..." Comstar knew themselves and their enemey. They went in and came out victorious.
SO IT HAS BEEN: ONE FOUGHT FOR HONOR AND ONE FOR FINALITY, STEEL AND MAN FACING DOWN THEIR MORTALITY, FOR THEY ARE HARDENED WARRIORS THAT SHAPED THE GALAXY, AS THEY CLASHED IN THE BATTLE OF TUKAYYID
It's actually pretty telling that the only clan force that beat the crap out of Com Star to the point of nearly breaking them entirely was also the original Warden clan that opposed the invasion. I wonder if the writers did that on purpose as a point of irony while the fanatically crusader clans were shredded. Clan Wolf really didn't mess around and Natasha broke 3 entire divisions with just her Dragoons.
That was half the point of Tukayyid. The clans who fought like Inner Sphere won, those who fought like clanners lost. Dishonoring the clanlike and honoring the unclanlike invalidated their traditional way of life and gave real power to the pragmatics and reformers in their ranks, leading to internal upheaval and schisms - like a reverse Operation Klondike if you will. Clan Wolf is the best example: Comprehensive victory on Tukayyid, and within a few years it tore their clan in half. Focht didn't just beat the Clans on the battlefield, Focht broke their philosophy and their society. He set up a scheme that would kill the Clanner soul no matter who won the fight on the ground. Strategic level psychological warfare.
@@abelbabel8484 clan Wolf didn’t fight like the inner sphere. They’ve always been more adaptable than the other clans. The only one that was even more progressive was Clan Wolverine. As for Focht breaking their culture, not really. The IlClan era exists and Clan Wolf is still very clan-like.
@@Muscovy7 Sure they did, they didn't bid away forces and accepted the dishonor of dropping last for the real world advantage of numbers. They suspended zellbrigen and set up actual supply lines for an extended campaign instead of a one and done bumrush. That's not Clanner procedure, that's the Sphere way. Tukayyid created such societal rifts that clan Wolf suffered a formal schism between their Crusader and Warden forces, the Clans fought a proxy civil war in all but name (Refusal war) and allowed the Sphere to get their shit together to come down on the Clans like a hammer. Then you get Clans actually settling in and merging with inner Sphere polities instead of aiming to conquer and rebuild Star League. Also the modern ilClan has no continuity with the original Clan Wolf but is a product of the changes and reforms since Nicholas' death. The original Clanner culture was already in decline by 3052, but received its deathblow on Tukayyid.
You seem very knowledgable about the Battletech universe, I'm a refugee from a certain other IP that went to shit and I have been trying to find which books are the chronologically most important books to understand the universe, could you help a fellow Mechwarrior out? Most videos reference events but not the source material so I am a bit at a loss as a newbie
I chose this video, on this day, to formally introduce my youngest sister to BattleTech. She's genuinely interested in the setting because of this. Thanks for this chance for some precious family bonding, Tex. It's been a rough few years for her and I.
"When they landed they had an army, when they left it was gone." The best narratives. I lost it. I had to stop the video. Laughing too hard. I love this so much.
@@thegardenofeatin5965 get a wh40k warhound titan with two turbolaser arms, it's the closest thing to a direwolf in wh40k anyway and about the same size and weight though a bit more powerful XD
Well, later we get the Jihad where elements of Comstar basically kick everyone around hard until they all unite against them. Also, nukes. Batchall this Clanner!
"They dismissed him as a joke and failed to respect him. And for that, he fucking broke them." So good. I second everyone here who says Tex should do more lore vids. This was fantastic and I'd love to hear Tex recount other events like the War of 3039 and the lives of Justin and Daniel Allard.
Tex should do a video on the Allards. Justin, Daniel and Kai were probably the three best Mechwarriors in the Inner Sphere. According to some articles, shortly after the beginning of the Clan Invasion, Jaime Wolf had the more proactive IS leaders and notable Mechwarriors fight it out in a pseudo-Trial of Position. Kai was the second-last standing, just narrowly losing to Jaime Wolf and downing at least five of his opponents (which was exceptional even by Clan standards. Achieving that kill count in a ToP would net you the rank of Galaxy Commander or even Khan). Wolf even admitted to Kai that had Kai managed to down Jaime's Mech he would have had to hand Wolf's Dragoons over to Kai.
This video is great. It also doesn't mention another key element as to why ComStar won: IlKahn Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf. (You know the only clan to actually succeed?) See Ulric Kerensky HATED the invasion being a Warden not a Crusader. So much so that during the time ComStar was basically working alongside the Clans (not openly as allies, but secretly as "third party arbitrators for the transferal of power, and manipulating the HPG network to the Clan's benefit), he not only taught Focht everything about Clan way of life and philosophy, but also told him the goal of the invasion was Terra itself. See up to that point Comstar believed they could manipulate the Clans into recreating the Star League the way ComStar wanted it to be, partially believing that simply restarting the Star League was ultimately the Clan's goal and bringing the unruly Successor States to heel was merely a part of that plan (which is also something ComStar wanted, IIRC). Ulric Kerensky disabused them of that notion when he told Focht that they intended to take Terra, the place ComStar kept for themselves. Why would Ulric Kerensky tell Focht these things? Because telling Comstar they weren't going to be the power behind the throne was his best shot at ending the Clan Invasion without Clan Wolf being the ones to take Terra. So yes, Focht deserves every bit of praise Tex can heap on him, but let's not forget that Tukkayid would not have happened if Ulric had kept his mouth shut.
I loved reading the third book in the trilogy, when it describes how Focht is directing his forces, and, in one case, has to reign in a commander that wants to keep fighting in a zealous fit. Focht has to sternly, but not unkindly, remind him of the plan of attrition. Stackpole gets a lot of flak for some of this writing (arguably justified), but, man, he gets a lot right in that part of the third book.
Ive read the books, I knew how the battle goes, I knew which Clans lost. What I didn't know, was how hard they lost. Well now I know, and I can only find one word to describe it. That one word... EPIC.
The wolves put up a good fight, but they were effectively bloodied and allowed to win, mostly because Comstar had already won the war. With all other clans losing and two having a draw, Wolf's win hardly mattered. The wolves fought well, but the loss of their Khan was quite a blow dealt by Comstar.
Georgi Zukov fought in a bloody manner but was damned effective, and was immensely effective well worth study. Not studied deeply enough by anyone outside of military colleges, the study of this Soviet commander has given me many victories in Battletech,fantasy, and historic battles.
Soviet doctrine was incredibly advanced. They had a huge supply of trucks from the US which dramatically boosted their whole armies mobility. The Germans were still moving supplies around by horse and men by foot.
@Comstar: Space AT&T Soviet battle doctrine is indded called deep battle. The effectiveness of it, and Zhukovs by proxy, comes from the fact that it took the experiences of 39-41, and examined them through a statistical lens. It is aimed at winning wars in a manner most efficient considering the resources availible to the belligerents. In case of the soviets, they posessed a number of advantages. Thabka to their more efficient procurement, and massive foreign aid, they could replace material losses more easily. Thanks to their larger pool of men, and less rigorous training, they could replace front line units more easily. They also posessed large swathes of nonessential land close to Germany. Therefore the key to soviet victory lay in strategy of trading land for time to build up parity in matériel and unit cohesion, and then trade manpower and equipment to destroy German equipment that could not be so easily replaced. Deep battle in essence is the tactical reality proven by the fall of France and Poland to combat an enemy with superior individual units but inferior logistics. It consists of, on an operational scale frontwide attacks, to identify weak apots, multiple armoured spearheads aimed at exploiting said weaknesses, then operational scale encirclements to cut off the enemy frontline and strike at its high value support units. Strategically, it consist of a string of such operational scale setpuece battles, all aimed at methodically reducing the enemy fighting force, and effecting a relatively slow, but steady advance, taking great care to prevent succesful counterpushes. All in all it results in an extremely costly, and relatively slow advance, that has enormous logistical cost, however it inflicts similarly horrendous casualties upon the enemy, and all but ensures athat any gains made are secured, as it involves no high risk strategic depth manouvers like blitzkrieg does. So basically it mirrors the situation with the clanners to a T, and is a devastatingly effwctive strategy to employ in such a scenario.
@@GMorgan84 you have to realize the numbers of the 2-1/2 ton 6x6 truck in the US military industrial complex at the time to know how significant they were. The GMC CCKW, the most common version had over 560,000 produced between the years of 1941-1945. It was the second most produced US vehicle of the war, behind the Jeep. The one that saw use by soviets, the Studebaker US6, had 195,000 produced by studebaker, with another 22,000 from REO… and you have to remember, one of these means that a squad could move up to 45 MPH/72 KMH at max, and had a max operational range of 236 miles, or 379.8KM. Those numbers could be carrying any number of wonderful anti tank ordinance to provide free redecorating services, machineguns for wonderful surprises, or artillery to landscape. In terms of supplies, it’s even more significant, as one of these could carry any assortment of food, water, fuel ammo, etc, at that speed.
Aww yiss, this will be the most enjoyable 25 minutes X) Dude, seriously, continue this. There must be a lore channel for Battletech with your level of production quality, to rival Warhammer and Star Wars ones. Keep it up, good sir! Edit: Now that I watch this proper - I stand by my point ever firmly. This is your best Battletech work this far, Tex. You actually made me feel that nightmare of a battle through that narration. Atmospheric as all hell. Nice work indeed. tldr: MOAR
I wholeheartedly agree. I think this is the stride episode right here. The voice, narration, the jokes, down to even just the pictures, transitions, and even the voice and narration, all the way to the end credits. All future episodes should follow this as a template. (apart the odd beginning and ending). I loved the logo at the end with a part of the narration. "Hippity Hoppity get off my property" was absolutely hilarious!
@@umngyr Much to my wife's dismay, I take the 20th of May off every year and play BT all day. HBS BattleTech, MechAssault 1 and 2 along with MWO. Drives her nuts :)
Pay your debts, indeed. I would say the clans defeated themselves. They had a long supply line and many of the invading clans were hardcore believers in eugenics, thus they never thought to make as many omnimechs and let the freeborn pilot those. They deliberately hobbled their pool of manpower. Sure they might make awesome warrior- but that might take years, The IS can train a person and toss them into the meatgrinder in months. The clans played at war, Federick Steiner practiced war.
Funny enough their was one clan that was fully prepared to bring everything they could to invade the inner sphere cause they actually looked and did the math on what it could take to invade.They also where like the only combined arms clan they where perfect for the invasion but because they made a reasonable bid they got laughed at.
@@efffvss yes they did, that was due to Ulric trusting Phelan when it came to battle planning. Oddly enough when Ward decided to off Ulric because "muh honor". Phelan reached out to Focht for help to move the Wolves in Exile to Arc Royal. After that the Wolf Dragoons, Wolves in Exile, Kell Hounds and Space AT&T er... ComStar worked closely in anti-crusader training. What's even funnier is that the Hounds with the help of the Wolves science techs created some impressive Omnimechs. Plus the wolves adopted the Hounds as honorary wolves because of reasons (many bar fights that lead to respect).
Comstar erased diamond shark from existence, even the memory of them had been destroyed and comstar was just standing there wondering why they were shooting into an empty field
My favorite part is this: At the same time that ComStar pulls off Tukayyind, where the did everything right, they also performed Operation Scorpion, where they failed spectacularly at trying to conquer the Inner Sphere. They tried to force the great houses to bend the knee, threatening to shut off the HPG network... so the Great Houses just took over the HPG facilities. It's a bad idea to say "You and what army" when the other guy has an army and yours is fighting a battle elsewhere.
Sorry for the thread necromancy; Operation Scorpion primarily failed because Precenter Dieron - Sharilar Mori - was a mole for the Draconis Combine, and passed on information about the planned activities.
After that battle they became the most battle-hardened bastards known to man which was going to be needed cuz there's sons and daughters were going to need to fight the dirty clanners come all over again.
I have been arguing for years and will continue to argue that if there is a future show primed and ready to fill the Game of Thrones void, it's most likely gonna be pulled from Battletech lore. For me, Tukayyid was bigger than either of the Deathstar brawls. And BT is still thriving where many of her peers have fallen off and died.
Tukkyid I find to be the crucible that truly brought forth Kurinski's dream. Not Nicholas, but Alexander's. Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, and Wolf truly are Alexander's vision.
This video led me to binge the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. Kai Allard-Liao and Phelan Kell are ridiculously OP. I actually started laughing when the big emotional breakthrough for Liao in book 3 was "Wow, I really AM that awesome!"
Inglonias He’s a 1/2 pilot. Basically god mode in old tabletop Battletech when you play scenarios with him. A light mech/tank/vtol (some mediums too) could come screaming in at over 100kph by Liao, and all he’d have to do is stop moving and snipe it’s ass. Still rolling on a 5 at short range. As long as he’s in range he can hit what he’s aiming at. Worst case scenario without severe complications: Liao ran +2, target moved 10+ hexes +4, target is at long range +4, Kai’s Gunnery +1. To hit: 11. A shot impossible to even attempt for almost every IS pilot and most Clanners, he can do it.
@@JeremyRyanWren Having an OP character in a game is one thing. Not giving them any character depth beyond "awesome at everything" in a novel about them is another.
The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war. Hmm... I wonder how this would sound if Gotterdammerung from the Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries soundtrack kicked in at 8:00 or so...
As AWESOME as an 80 ton Steiner mech with a trio of PPCs. I love how you tell the story your own way, with your own style instead of just read it out of some sourcebook. Gonna re-watch this one a few times today.
Tbh im surprised the Comstar army leader given his peculiar heritage didnt drop a few dozen Steiner scout lances in the middle of the enemy group. No amount of high tech can argue with steiner scout lances.
I tell you what: I happened upon this channel last year, and have listened to all the lore episodes a dozen times. It never gets old, and is still compelling. The humor is top notch.
The Clans came out soon after I started playing Battletech. Early on, I got into an argument with a Clan Fan over what I felt were terrible practices after his description of the Clan bidding process. It took me mere *minutes* to figure out there was a problem. But, he knew the lore and read all the books, while I just played the game. So, I lost the argument, unable to enunciate what should have been obvious. Later, I drifted away from the game, playing a little MechWarrior but not much else from the franchise. Fast forward to May 20, 2019, after years out of the loop and following this channel for like a week (bumped into the Catapult video), I learn the exact problems I pointed out were real. I'm not stupid or crazy. Well, not about the Clans, anyway. All of that to say, thanks, Tex.
@@Splozy I'm not sure I understand. You're asking what wrong with the Clan bidding process, past what was already explained in the video? I'm also curious if you think the Clan bidding process is actually a good idea?
@@annagramgaming8934 no I don't I'm just curious about your story :) I watch these while I do other things and might have missed a bit out. You don't have to go into more detail of you don't want to.
@@Splozy The issue of the clan bidding process is wrapped up in efficient use of force. Purposely benching portions of your projectable force, barring situations where more units in an area results in them fighting ineffectively (al la Agincourt), only leads to negative results, such as increased losses on your side and increased chance of failure to achieve the tactical objective. Terms of engagement are so critical that sometimes the battle is more about the terms than the fighting. Jutland comes to mind. So, to put into perspective of the Clan nonsense, what I was referring to was being told how cool the Clans were because of their bidding process, when it is strictly at odds with effective military doctrine. At the time, I wasn't as knowledgable of the Battletech setting, the Clans specifically, or military history in general. So, I could not formulate an effective defense of my feeling that there was something wrong with the bidding, even if it seems 'cool,' which is all the Clan Fan seemed to actually care about. I hope that explains it adequately.
Remembering May 20th as a day of Will, Resolve, Strategic Vision, and of course my favourite, Crazy. Everyone says it cannot be done until some great genius bastard comes along and says 'hey, yes it can. And this is how we do it.'😎
This is the third year I've spent in Tex's lecture on my birthday. It never gets old hearing the Clans get their shit pushed in by a telecom company and makes May the 20th that much more special.
@@Solon_The_Lich what can be said? It was task from General Kerensky himself! Armored as much as possible, armed as much as possible, ugly as possible so the fear could become our ally.
@@GonnaDieNever why not? For example there are Mobile Orbital Guns on the surface, but your fleet battles enemy fleet. So only ways to save as many lives as possible - destroy enemy fleet or smash those MOGs asap. But your enemy is not an idiot and MOGs are properly defended. So you order dropships to land forces and destroy MOGs at any cost, because fleet is under attack from both sides.
I have just watched this video for the 2nd time. First was around 3 week ago. I didn´t have any clue about Inner Sphere and Claners then. I was totally new to Battletech universe. After this Tex´s video, I have pre-orderdered Clan Invasion box, all wave 1 mechs, bought Beginners box a and Core game - Battletech A Game Of Armored Combat, plus 4 battlemats. This is thanks to you, Tex. You have brought me to this magnificent universe. Thank you, I´m in your debt.
So, basically the Clans expected to fight a conventional ground war against an upjumped Telecommunications Corporation, but happened to run into the fucking Imperial Guard.
Been looking forwards to this for a few months! I knew you wouldn't pass up making a video about intergalactic "Rub a Clanner's nose in it" day. Great work from Crowind, MadAsgardian, and yourself as always. Really appreciate the love and dedication you guys so obviously marinate these in.
See, as much as I love the clans (Coyote fan here) the big thing is that Tukayyid wasn't just Foct spanking the clans that were there and teaching them a lesson, but it was something else entirely: In a fight between a group of warriors and a group of soldiers, the soldiers will either win, or make the warrior victory so costly that it won't look like victory. Sure, most of the Comguard involved were green, but they had been drilled every day and moment they could have been leading up to this moment. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that their lives were being spent to grind the clans to a halt. They KNEW what they were getting into, where the clans thought this was going to be Thursday. In short, Foct was the mastermind, but it would have cost the Clans quite a bit even if Foct wasn't there given the same chance to prepare. Foct's strategies and tactics were simply a massive force multiplier on a group who were already resigned to likely being meat in the grinder, if only in hopes the gristle would jam up the gears.
Shout out to Tex and the rest of the BPL crew. Love your content, love your work ethos, and most importantly love your work on behalf of charity. The style in which you present this lore is one that inspires my own writings. The phrase "tactical fuckery" will forever have a place in my lexicon.
@@hendrikgrotefend4098 You have to realize this was written during a period when the old company went belly up and the property was bought out by two different companies. Neither one seemed to really know what to do with it and it showed. It's finally been licensed out by it's new owner (Topps), to a company that somewhat seems concerned with the customer's wants. (Catalyst Games). Although it still has issues (mainly quality issues with minis. Minor, but they still exist.
We have lost time and time again to the Clanners...what can we do??!!? Commisar Anastasia: Throw more bodies at them. Mechs, Tanks, Planes, Men. Don't stop until their gears jammed with bones and bodies for the Empo...uhhh COMSTAR!!
Well after Stringstorm released his song yesterday it looks like I will be spending a while listening to you. Have been only 40k guy so far but BattleTech sounds awesome.
For someone who only knows like the Bare Basics of BattleTech, this was amazing and I believe you and your team have great talent and should do more videos based on battles and wars and different companies and important time periods in universe.
While the video is funny and cute, he really underplays the clan effort during the fight and makes it seem like a one-sided curb stomp. The clans punched well above their weight in most cases, and absolutely left most of the ComStar units in various states between 'mauled' and 'absolutely thrashed' by the end.Numerous Comstar divisions were just disbanded after the battle, the damage they had taken being so great that it wasn't worth it to reconstitute them.
@@revolrz22 well, he does mention afterward that Comstar's losses were incalculable, showing that he did acknowledge comstar's substantial losses, and he goes pretty in depth with Comstar's losses describing how they "bulldozed the corpses of their comrades aside and kept fighting."
*Real talk, Tex, this video gives me chills every time, hearing the insane and inhuman zealot killing machine that is ComStar turn a planet into such a grand execution world makes even Cadia in 40k blush*
I've always liked Battletech from a distance, played a few of the video games. You are pulling me in deep with these Tex Talks. Your style is just so good man, looking forward to more.
Best part of this event is its actually two twisted remnants of the SLDF facing off, both believing they are the future of the SLDF.
Clanners: We are the future!
Comstar: No WE are the future
The great houses: NO! WE are the future!
Civilians: guys? Did you know that there’s been a famine going on out here for three centuries?
@@benvacco8997 Mercs: We're the PRESENT. Now who's paying me wo kill whom. Oh, if you pay me enough I'll go grab some chow.
@@CatholicDragoon great houses Clans and even comstar self might one day all pass into the annals of history, nothing more than myths and legends. But BattleTech mercenaries will keep roaming the battlefields for a paycheck until the day mankind is extinct.
@@CatholicDragoon we're out of C-Bills but we do have House Bills belonging to a house Ka-Mur-In? we've got like 80 Trillion of these things so they must be worth something right?
*Spoilers* It was fucking ComStar
"Get bent weirdo" - Space AT&T
I loved the phrase so much I made a shirt design for it imgur.com/gallery/uAxtNwq
"AND PAY YO FUCKIN' BILLS"
@@marshall104 I want one :)
@@marshall104 I was going to say we need t-shirts
Why can't I like twice?
As far as incredibly emotional single lines in Tex Talks Battletech, "They dismissed him as a joke, and failed to respect him - and for that, he fucking broke them." is up there with "...And then he blew his fucking brains out."
Thanks. I enjoy writing, I'm glad you enjoy it as well
@@theblackpantslegion Tex, there's a reason the TVTropes BT page's quotes are a good third from you.
"Stefen had himself a fucking problem, the Gawd Dammed Black Watch." is at the top of my list.
@@FlyingWithSpurts "Angry Russians tend to make it into the history books."
Clanners: "So this is how it's gonna go down..."
Comstar: *clunk of AC20 loading* "Yeah that's great." *cores Omnimech*
Annnd were still gonna need ur stapler
Haha LBX-AC/20 go BANG *Crits clan omnimech and promptly watches as it's ammo burns to a crisp*
Plot twist: the AC/20 is mounted on an Urbanmech
@@nickbarrett3163 That just makes it more dangerous because if the mad cat pilot is distracted choking from laughter as ye sees UrbanMech try to waddle to firing position from behind a building, he won't notice the rest of the UrbanMech emerging from behind a building with the AC20 aimed point-blank at the mad cat's crotch.
@@funnyman4311 But omnimechs are immune to ammo explosions
"To make a long distance call, please insert 20 more Long Range Missiles. Thank you for choosing Space AT&T."
"If you don't pay promptly we'll send 12 armies to 'requisition' the funds directly."
Wait... i just this week joked about my LRM stockpile in MW5 being an alternative to C-bills in case i go broke or the ATM breaks.
We once again gather here to pay our respects to this event. The day the Clans Focht'd around and found out.
I see what you did there
Clan won and took terra stay mad
@@greatlyreducedgameplay9939 The Inner Sphere's experiences have been largely defined by a willingness to grind every last thing into dust for the sake of wanting what they want.
Really, so long as anyone else exists in the universe, if they are not openly and willingly committing to a single source of governance, war will continue. On and on and on and on. Without stability, there is no "winning". Everyone will just fight on and on and on, generation after generation, until the Inner Sphere Clans are ground down as much as the Houses were.
In the end, on the path they all are on, everyone and everything will eventually die.
"A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness."
Gul Dukat; Fredrick Steiner in another life apparently.
And Sun Tzu in a different Species, also apparently. :D
Except Focht had a far better capacity for strategy and truly understanding your opponent.
House Kurita: Then you kill them?
Steiner: eeeehhh... *wobbly hand wave* only if necessary
@@E100Omega123 that being All the Time
Dukat did nothing wrong.
The Battle of Tukayyid was such a monumental loss that Clan culture was changed. Some even downright abandoned the crusader mindset and adopted the warden mindset. A good example is Clan Ghost Bear, who, after the war, merged with the Free Rasalhague Republic to create the Rasalhague Dominion, a nation where Inner Sphere and Clan people lived in a conjoined, united culture and way of life that would basically resemble space Norsemen.
It also gave an already highly effective clan access to a massive industrial sector that could benefit from said clanner tech. The Dominion became an absolute powerhouse. Long live Clan Ghost Bear!
dont forget it is the only nation that is somewhat stable that also is a republic.
like an actual republic
In all honestly while I believe Comstar absolutely wrecked the shit out of the clans this event. This invasion is what ultimately led to the downfall of Comstar. When Operation Scorpion blew up in their faces.
Straight up BTFO'd the stupid out of the clans
Some clans were wardens the whole time like wolf who were only in the invasion to try to limit the damage done by the other clans
Tex has a voice that sounds like he could say, unironically, "The breakfast steak and whiskey is the most important steak and whiskey of the morning."
it is so i would agree with him if he said it
@@dwaynedittoe2248 it sounds like a surly hobbit aphorism.
it truly is. the second and third before lunch is good prep for a nice roast
Hey you go try to assault a atlas with out at least two steaks and 7 doubles of whiskey in your system and see how that works out for you.
“This is called ‘Asymmetrical Strategic Planning’. In layman’s terms, this is called ‘Tactical Fuckery.’”
God Bless Tex
"Hippity, hoppity, get off my property" was a close second.
(Yes, I know I'm late to the party. Just catching up with this wonderful series.)
@@Vulpine407 Welcome to the party! Welcome to the re-birth of Battletech!!!
☝️👌💯
This comment: Gold
Reading this comment for the first time while Tex actually says the line: Priceless
'If you ever find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck'
-some famous Australian general
Tukkayid is one of the best examples of a modern set piece battle in sci-fi. It's a multifront defense in depth that shows exactly how to conduct a defensive operation against an invasion force. High usage of arty, airspace, ambushes, willingly letting go of defensive positions to get to a better spot, recon assets constantly roving and harassing enemy units to stop them from gaining any sort of initiative. This battle was basically modern day military force vs a Children's Crusade.
So pretty much the peoples crusade?
Remember the Wolves and Jade Falcons, along with the Bears, were the only ones who really adapted, with the Dogs pulling out a full win and showing that change was needed.
I would also like to point out that the Clans were not playing war, but cause they went thru a war that was worse that what happened in the IS, the rules were developed to keep themselves from self destructing during their self imposed exile. Their way of fighting was good considering their situation, but bad against people who could use their rules against them.
Just saw this comment and it fits perfectly to what happened to the Clans: The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war.
@Crashie-J also Kursk. They had multi level defense there.
'Children's crusade' is inaccurate. The failings of the clans in this campaign were due to a mountain of factors, one of which being internal sabotage. In most cases, the clans punched way above their weight.
Taking the Smoke Jaguars as an example, since everyone likes to pick on them: They were two galaxies (roughly equivalent to three Comstar Divisions, each) both of which were depleted from prior fighting, against 8 fresh divisions that had the luxury of being on the defensive. Of these 8 divisions, several were mauled to such a degree that ComStar disbanded them rather than reconstitute them. So while they failed to take their objectives, and decidedly lost, it isn't as if they were helpless 'children.' Rather, they were undermanned and on the offensive.
@@revolrz22 yeah, it was more of Carl XVIIs Napoleons and Nazi Germanys offencives vs Russia... three elite armies equipped and trained for quick, violent conquests counting on beeing able to forage what the intentionally under dimensioned logistics couldn't supply from their home bases forced into an extended war of attrition on a scorched earth battlefield with supply chains so long it's impossible to monitor them, let alone actually defend them against enemy partizans and troop remnants conducting guerilla warfare as they see fit behind enemy lines cut off from their own high command.
It was at the Battle of Tukayyid where the Clans learned the truth behind the maxim, "Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
Still a great and true quote.
But they were defeated by tactics lol
@@Robert-wf7xu Not really, the greatest strength of Defense in Depth is that you're running your logistical tail in reverse. You execute a planned retreat to your resupply points instead of bringing them up to you. This means your reserves and resupply are in hardened locations that are difficult to destroy, while the other guy's supplies have to come to them in the open from farther away. It also means that you can devote every single soldier in the field to the fight, because you don't need them running supplies to the front. The front is coming to the supplies.
Defense in depth is really rough on the land you're retreating across, after all, it basically makes the whole area the "front lines" at one point or another. So you don't _want_ to do it if you don't have to, but Comstar prepared the entire planet ahead of time. They had time to remove anything they cared about. And, of course, that's another aspect of logistics.
@@Rathmun and what is this?
They just arrived to the place there was ammunition and shiet and it magically made clan disappear.
That is why I like to paraphrase the quote "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics - soldier knows that they both don't know shit about both"
@@Robert-wf7xu Tactics are just the logistics of putting your warheads on their foreheads.
Nova Cats: Whee, lookit our mad skillz!
Comstar: That's cute. XO, clear my skies.
"piss off, you're ruining my sun tan"
Comstar: Banzai!
Prepare the riflemen.....clear the horizen.
**the demonic braying of a hundred RAC5s intensifies**
Tbf, they did also inflict proportionally the worst damage TO ComGuard.
CNC may have left with 15 mechs... but ComStar had about that much left too, and threw way more into the fight to begin with.
But also goes to show, nearly completely destroying your foe doesn't matter much if they still held the objectives at days end and you died nearly to a man.
My favorite thing about this is that it actually happened. All of this actually happened on the tabletop. What an amazing moment in storytelling.
You mean that they actually gamed this out at an event or something? That's really neat trivia!
I’d love to see the game happening if it exists on youtube
The ComGuards are basically the military division of Comstar's Customer Service department. The Inner Sphere submitted the biggest Support Ticket in human history, and so management pulled everyone out of the phone queues and trained them to fight at Tukayyid. The mandatory overtime and risk to life and limb sucked, but it looked good on a resume if you survived, and you could tell your grandkids about how you and Steve from the Rigel V call center blew up a Mad Cat with rocket launchers and then apologized for the inconvenience.
that is... if it weren't for the word of blake, this would be funny.
@@klortikterra4423 The Word of Blake ruined a lot. I try to ignore it.
@@CharlesUrban i can't, because they ruined the galaxy and forced the galaxy down a worse path.
What Focht figured out and brought into his general strategy was, that the clanners are an assault force made for swift overpowering of enemies. He was also for a while the guest of the Il-Khan and learned their ways in person. His general Strategy included two things mainly: Smack em silly with all you've got but more importantly, wage a war of attrition the clanners were ill equipped, nor trained for. The latter really broke the back of most of them. Well except Clan Wolf of course. But they had recruited a young fellow from the inner sphere and their Khan was actually wise enough to listen to him.
Exactly; the "freebith" Phelan (Kell/Wolf/Ward) was a tremendous asset that Ulric had the wisdom to make use of.
There is some suspicion in Clan Wolf that Garth Radick's death may have been planned.
Everyone likes the better heat management of ballistic weapons, but if you can't get ammo resupply you've suddenly got 10 tons of useless dangling off your melee-ing arms.
One point on Clan Wolf achieving their objectives. They went last. And probably bid more forces than the rest put together. So Comstar simply shifted it’s focus onto the poor sods in the other clans.
Hell, Comstar might have let Clan Wolf walk right in. They were on good terms, the former garrisoning the latter’s worlds. Comstar had no need or desire to screw over Clan Wolf. In fact, maintaining their military strength when all the other Clans lost theirs? When Clan Wolf had not only voted against the invasion, but had sent the Dragoon’s to prepare the Inner Sphere … well, with enough plausible deniability when it comes to the other clans.
Hell, with this in mind, Comstar probably prioritized the Clans with particularly toxic world views, and were a bit lax on say, Clan Ghost Bear. Social engineering , with guns! Comstar’s speciality.
How much do you bet they kept mentioning Clan Wolverine just to piss the Clanners off?
@@iwatchyoutubealot Fair. Though it was hardly a single battlefield, Focht was anything but subtle. Any social benefits regarding the Clams were either accidental, or a crushing of spirit bought by innumerable lives.
Tukkayid was a major turning point, not just for the Invasion, but for the Clans. Tex isn't kidding when he says it changed their culture. The events of the Wars of Reaving can be linked back directly to the failure at Tukkayid. The definition of Clan honor changed pretty quickly once they realized that it was costing them their sole purpose in life.
This is really one of the basic tragedies of Battletech. Both Clanners and IS want to reinstate the Star League and unite the Inner Sphere. However, no one can help but keep doing the very things that tore it apart to begin with.
I agree.
War... war never changes...
When IlKhan Osis was killed, the Clans halted the advance and took a year break , giving the IS time to mount a defense. If they'd kept rolling they would've taken Terra easily. Ulric Kerensky was working against the Clans, he was a Warden by ideology. There was no reason to make a truce available as an option to the IS. So, in my opinion it wasn't the battle itself as much as it was an ideological civil war that brought the Clans down.
The Battletech universe seems to operate under the saying "My way or the high way." more than anything else.
DIdn't change Clan Wolf to much at least their Warden parts
"Clan Wolf comprehensively defeated ComStar at every turn, even when facing four full Armies." This caused butthurt among the other clans.
And fans of other Clans that lost spectacularly and were subsequently annihilated... 😏
I wonder who that could be...
>coughChimneyKittenscough< Sorry about that, I'm having a hard time breathing all of a sudden. Must be all the Smoked Jaguar in the air...
@@thomascruise4966 Hey, they got theirs, didn't they? Still, at least the Green Turkeys were still around to laugh at.
@@kereminde Not everyone has plot armor or Gary Stu powers...until they don't because plot demands it.
@@dubuyajay9964 Or they lose them because plot demands it. That door swings both ways. It's how plots actually work. "I need this person around exactly this long."
Even Natasha K wound up losing hers.
@@kereminde Thus I said "until they don't" because the writers realized they wrote themselves in a corner due to the writers' version of fan wank.
Funny enough the Clans almost, *almost* discovered Focht's obscured command bunker nexus where he was directing the defense by accident (the scouts were dying elements of the Smoke Jaguars who kept pressing on even as they were falling apart) but the Clan scouting force was destroyed before they could announce their findings and let off a signal.
Could be misremembering but I also recall that a few stray shots from Clan forces also nearly hit the bunker, almost destroying it and Focht with it. Wonder how things might have changed if that *had* happened...
@@Tayvin4042 maybe a little bit, but not a whole lot. Focht’s planning was mostly done, and as part of his preparations he likely had selected secondary staff that could execute and adapt his plans. The sheer fanaticism of Comstar probably would mean their morale would barely take a hit at losing their commander.
I’d guess a few more clams would achieve their objectives. However, the single largest benefit of Tukkayid would remain; the Inner Sphere now has access to all the clan tech salvage they could want.
I know it goes against their culture, but I would have nuked Tukkayid into a radioactive snowball to slow down IS tech progression.
@@liamhogan4369 Given it was Comstar, I doubt anyone would even be told the commander was dead unless they were next in line.
@@willdavis3802 Will Davis has it right - it's Comstar. Nobody would know Focht was dead until after the battle who didn't strictly need to know. Commands would keep coming and fighting forces wouldn't find out.
Didn’t Focht have an Altas 2 ready to go just in case? That might have been… interesting.
Comstar: "We challenge you to a duel!"
Clans: "Alright, here's our rules."
Comstar: *Throws rulebook out the window.*
Quite true.
@@theblackpantslegion Let me commend you sir, though. I felt your analysis was absolutely spot on while being entertaining. I hope you will examine further lore.
Not quite. It was more, beating the clanners to death with the rulebook. It is learning the rules better than the writers and proceeding to use it to hamstring them. Clanners couldn't imagine taking such losses and still fighting, because resource management was paramount. Hence the bid system, use the least amount of resources and keep as much as you can.
@@RIVERSTYX1981 I can see your point.
More like:
Clans: Here's our rules
Comstar: *reads through the rules and proceed to use every loophole in the book*
“hippity hoppity get off my property”- Tex
love it
Yepp, and now I have to whipe my monitor.
Bloody sarge!
:-)
I want it on a shirt with an AWS-8Q silhouette.
Yeah, that's definitely t-shirt material.
My daughter has since taken this phrase as her own.
“Amphetamine-soaked circus monkeys”!😂😂😂🐒
"Hey Mom! Uncle Tex read us a bed time story! It was the bestest! And then we threw empty Whiskey bottles at the AT&T guys the next day. Can he babysit us forever?! PLEEEEEAAASEEEE??"
Hahahahah I love this I an imagine mom losing her Collective mind going what the f*** over
"Honey... you need to listen to Uncle Tex more, throw bottles at the dirty Clanners. Pay your AT&T Bills or else."
@@jasonthomas9596 It's been happening for ages. Tex is that awesome uncle that the parents would claim that calling him a bad influence is the understatement of the 31st century.
Can and will, my little learners. Scrap the System!
To be fair, Wolf landed last and Comstar had already won 51%+ of the objectives. So, Comstar didn't have to try and win those objectives. In fact, the only objective Jade Falcon "won", they actually lost, but Comstar gave Jade Falcon the draw "because JF's Aiden Pryde fought so well", but really just gave them the victory because Comstsr already won the planet at that point. This show of respect was only done to encourage Jade Falcon to honor the terms and bo go on a rage filled vengeance crusade against the Sphere .
Exactly.
Actually that is why they still pushed to try and beat the Wolves: It was also to prove that they could take on each Clan. But the Wolves were the only Clan that actually brought enough troops to take their objectives and taught the ComStar forces that they were to be a force to keep an eye on.
Ulric wasn't fooled by Focht; he manipulated the rest of the Clans through their pride into dropping first and to "punish" him and Clan Wolf by having them drop last. He studied what C* and Focht were doing, and adjusted his troops' kit accordingly. More reliance on energy weapons (so no running out of ammo), and also bringing sufficient ammo for an extended offense.
@@mkang8782 The ultimate Crusader mistake. Jaguar, especially, compounded that mistake by putting the dezgra upon its survivors, instead of acknowledging any fault in perspective.
@@erichpryde5309 #JustCrusaderThings TBF, Ghost Bear were somewhat as guilty of being ill prepared as the aforementioned Clans, and they were Wardens.
"An entire invasion force relegated to the past tense." Not one army in the existence of society was F'd that hard. Well done Comstar, and well done Tex for explaining it so accurately!
One of the Roman Legions actually did. The relevant Emperor supposedly would occasionally break into cursing at it's (dead, I believe) commander on occasion for years afterward.
@@absalomdraconis Teutoburg?
In WW1, at the Battle of Beaumont Hamel, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment took 90% casualties in a single day.
@@alexkilgour1328 Still not 100%
@@11Survivor the clans weren't destroyed 100% either.
"How many dudes we got?"
"A bunch"
"How many dudes they got?"
"Like a bunch times.....100? 500?"
"......yeah but our mechs are cooler and we have power armor, let's invade their shit"
"....k"
*Clan Great Council minutes, November 3048*
not....wrong
Seems about right.
Like the opposite of what happened in the Winter War. Yeah Russia tried to crush them with overwelming forces... And lost about almost their entire force only to take 11 percent of Finland... And their real plans was a bit oh I don't know BIGGER than that. Yeah it was a failure no matter how much you say to that
@@amymeadows9834 Sure but the Russians decided to shoot 3/4 of their own officers and 1/10 of their common soldiers, focusing on the most experienced personal, before the invasion. They destroyed their own army's morale and institutional competence and then decided it was the perfect time to invade Finland in winter.
@@FakeSchrodingersCat huh didn't know that... Thanks for that tid-bit friend.
War. War never changes.
Unless you don't pay Space AT&T.
I am so using that
Pay your HPG bills, fucko.
@@RedShocktrooperRST Comstar for life, baby.
ya im stealing that term Space AT&T LOLOLOL great opne lad got a sub for it
Hippity hoppity, get off my property!
Clan Diamond Shark ended up becoming Clan Loan Shark
Instead of conquering planets, they break your knees for late payments
they became clan Sea Fox once again.... wtf is this Diamond Shark you are all talking about lol
They learned from Space AT&T, the winners are the ones who make money off war.
Tell that to the Japanese....
Best thing to happen to them in a long time
To quote Sun Tsu "If you know yourself and your enemy, you dont have to fear the results of a thousand battles..."
Comstar knew themselves and their enemey.
They went in and came out victorious.
SO IT HAS BEEN:
ONE FOUGHT FOR HONOR AND ONE FOR FINALITY,
STEEL AND MAN FACING DOWN THEIR MORTALITY,
FOR THEY ARE HARDENED WARRIORS THAT SHAPED THE GALAXY,
AS THEY CLASHED IN THE BATTLE
OF TUKAYYID
Amen fellow Stringstorm Brother! "Await their fearsome brothers of 3 centuries divide!"
“And although Comstar won, they are harrowed and maimed”
Preach
Not their best work, even for Battletech.
@@bthsr7113true, but it's fantastic song
It's actually pretty telling that the only clan force that beat the crap out of Com Star to the point of nearly breaking them entirely was also the original Warden clan that opposed the invasion. I wonder if the writers did that on purpose as a point of irony while the fanatically crusader clans were shredded. Clan Wolf really didn't mess around and Natasha broke 3 entire divisions with just her Dragoons.
That was half the point of Tukayyid. The clans who fought like Inner Sphere won, those who fought like clanners lost. Dishonoring the clanlike and honoring the unclanlike invalidated their traditional way of life and gave real power to the pragmatics and reformers in their ranks, leading to internal upheaval and schisms - like a reverse Operation Klondike if you will. Clan Wolf is the best example: Comprehensive victory on Tukayyid, and within a few years it tore their clan in half.
Focht didn't just beat the Clans on the battlefield, Focht broke their philosophy and their society. He set up a scheme that would kill the Clanner soul no matter who won the fight on the ground.
Strategic level psychological warfare.
@@abelbabel8484 clan Wolf didn’t fight like the inner sphere. They’ve always been more adaptable than the other clans. The only one that was even more progressive was Clan Wolverine. As for Focht breaking their culture, not really. The IlClan era exists and Clan Wolf is still very clan-like.
@@Muscovy7 Sure they did, they didn't bid away forces and accepted the dishonor of dropping last for the real world advantage of numbers. They suspended zellbrigen and set up actual supply lines for an extended campaign instead of a one and done bumrush. That's not Clanner procedure, that's the Sphere way.
Tukayyid created such societal rifts that clan Wolf suffered a formal schism between their Crusader and Warden forces, the Clans fought a proxy civil war in all but name (Refusal war) and allowed the Sphere to get their shit together to come down on the Clans like a hammer.
Then you get Clans actually settling in and merging with inner Sphere polities instead of aiming to conquer and rebuild Star League. Also the modern ilClan has no continuity with the original Clan Wolf but is a product of the changes and reforms since Nicholas' death.
The original Clanner culture was already in decline by 3052, but received its deathblow on Tukayyid.
@@abelbabel8484 Yes! Someone gets it.
Where’s my double upvote button…
You seem very knowledgable about the Battletech universe, I'm a refugee from a certain other IP that went to shit and I have been trying to find which books are the chronologically most important books to understand the universe, could you help a fellow Mechwarrior out? Most videos reference events but not the source material so I am a bit at a loss as a newbie
I chose this video, on this day, to formally introduce my youngest sister to BattleTech. She's genuinely interested in the setting because of this. Thanks for this chance for some precious family bonding, Tex. It's been a rough few years for her and I.
HAPPY TK DAY!
"When they landed they had an army, when they left it was gone." The best narratives. I lost it. I had to stop the video. Laughing too hard. I love this so much.
"And they didn't Stop there" *Steel Viper ran into 321st and 401st division while outta ammo* "Are we boned yet?"
"Yeah we're boned"
21:53 "TLDR: The clans brought their best, and Space AT&T said 'Get bent, weirdo!'"
Great line.
Once again, we return
I see Comstar went to the same academy of warfare as the Imperial Guard.
Comstar infantry sees a Dire Wolf: AFFIX BAYONNETS!
Now I want a Dire Wolf with giant bayonets sticking out of its arms. In the words of Sniper: Stab Stab Stab!
@@thegardenofeatin5965 get a wh40k warhound titan with two turbolaser arms, it's the closest thing to a direwolf in wh40k anyway and about the same size and weight though a bit more powerful XD
@@SonsOfLorgar that's because 49k is incomprehensibly batshit crazy.
Well, later we get the Jihad where elements of Comstar basically kick everyone around hard until they all unite against them. Also, nukes. Batchall this Clanner!
Pour on the las fire lads we might just make it !
"They dismissed him as a joke and failed to respect him. And for that, he fucking broke them." So good.
I second everyone here who says Tex should do more lore vids. This was fantastic and I'd love to hear Tex recount other events like the War of 3039 and the lives of Justin and Daniel Allard.
What was the name of the music track playing during that
Tex should do a video on the Allards. Justin, Daniel and Kai were probably the three best Mechwarriors in the Inner Sphere.
According to some articles, shortly after the beginning of the Clan Invasion, Jaime Wolf had the more proactive IS leaders and notable Mechwarriors fight it out in a pseudo-Trial of Position. Kai was the second-last standing, just narrowly losing to Jaime Wolf and downing at least five of his opponents (which was exceptional even by Clan standards. Achieving that kill count in a ToP would net you the rank of Galaxy Commander or even Khan). Wolf even admitted to Kai that had Kai managed to down Jaime's Mech he would have had to hand Wolf's Dragoons over to Kai.
This video is great. It also doesn't mention another key element as to why ComStar won: IlKahn Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf. (You know the only clan to actually succeed?) See Ulric Kerensky HATED the invasion being a Warden not a Crusader. So much so that during the time ComStar was basically working alongside the Clans (not openly as allies, but secretly as "third party arbitrators for the transferal of power, and manipulating the HPG network to the Clan's benefit), he not only taught Focht everything about Clan way of life and philosophy, but also told him the goal of the invasion was Terra itself.
See up to that point Comstar believed they could manipulate the Clans into recreating the Star League the way ComStar wanted it to be, partially believing that simply restarting the Star League was ultimately the Clan's goal and bringing the unruly Successor States to heel was merely a part of that plan (which is also something ComStar wanted, IIRC). Ulric Kerensky disabused them of that notion when he told Focht that they intended to take Terra, the place ComStar kept for themselves. Why would Ulric Kerensky tell Focht these things? Because telling Comstar they weren't going to be the power behind the throne was his best shot at ending the Clan Invasion without Clan Wolf being the ones to take Terra.
So yes, Focht deserves every bit of praise Tex can heap on him, but let's not forget that Tukkayid would not have happened if Ulric had kept his mouth shut.
Let us not forget the brothers of the Wolves Dragoons...
They helped rally a standing alert
Yeah, see the Mad Cat video to see the actual value of the Wolf's Dragoons in terms of the clan invasion.
from macro to micro.
He let the others outbid themselves to be the first to drop, he dropped last but with the best/biggest force.
True Clan Wolf is unlike most other clans they wanted simply to let the Inner Sphere fixed themselves.
@@texteel And his clan won, but again, his clan was dragged into this invasion as punishment for resisting.
I love the line about how Comstar had plenty of ammunition and decided to share it with the Clans.
I loved reading the third book in the trilogy, when it describes how Focht is directing his forces, and, in one case, has to reign in a commander that wants to keep fighting in a zealous fit. Focht has to sternly, but not unkindly, remind him of the plan of attrition. Stackpole gets a lot of flak for some of this writing (arguably justified), but, man, he gets a lot right in that part of the third book.
Ive read the books, I knew how the battle goes, I knew which Clans lost.
What I didn't know, was how hard they lost.
Well now I know, and I can only find one word to describe it.
That one word... EPIC.
What books? I want to read them! Please!
The wolves put up a good fight, but they were effectively bloodied and allowed to win, mostly because Comstar had already won the war. With all other clans losing and two having a draw, Wolf's win hardly mattered.
The wolves fought well, but the loss of their Khan was quite a blow dealt by Comstar.
@@THEGRUMPTRUCK To be honest the Wolves didn't care they were dragged into this invasion as punishment, they never wanted it.
@@shannon1234550 Blood of Kerensky
@@shannon1234550 Yes, the Blood of Kerensky series by Michael Stackpole. They've been favorites of mine for years. Awesome video, Tex!
“Amphetamine soaked circus monkey” is going to be my new phase for crazy. I love these vids!
Gadget 19K I literally did a spit take all over my phone at that one.
i lost it when he said that funniest thing i have heard.
Also a Great BAND Name!
@@belliott538 And don't forget their hit song, "Technical Fuckery"
@@jbarton8508 No, not Technical. Tactical. Tex was talking about screwing with Asymmetrical Warfare. Listen to it again. And yes, it is very funny.
Georgi Zukov fought in a bloody manner but was damned effective, and was immensely effective well worth study.
Not studied deeply enough by anyone outside of military colleges, the study of this Soviet commander has given me many victories in Battletech,fantasy, and historic battles.
Soviet doctrine was incredibly advanced. They had a huge supply of trucks from the US which dramatically boosted their whole armies mobility. The Germans were still moving supplies around by horse and men by foot.
@Comstar: Space AT&T Soviet battle doctrine is indded called deep battle. The effectiveness of it, and Zhukovs by proxy, comes from the fact that it took the experiences of 39-41, and examined them through a statistical lens. It is aimed at winning wars in a manner most efficient considering the resources availible to the belligerents.
In case of the soviets, they posessed a number of advantages. Thabka to their more efficient procurement, and massive foreign aid, they could replace material losses more easily. Thanks to their larger pool of men, and less rigorous training, they could replace front line units more easily. They also posessed large swathes of nonessential land close to Germany.
Therefore the key to soviet victory lay in strategy of trading land for time to build up parity in matériel and unit cohesion, and then trade manpower and equipment to destroy German equipment that could not be so easily replaced.
Deep battle in essence is the tactical reality proven by the fall of France and Poland to combat an enemy with superior individual units but inferior logistics.
It consists of, on an operational scale frontwide attacks, to identify weak apots, multiple armoured spearheads aimed at exploiting said weaknesses, then operational scale encirclements to cut off the enemy frontline and strike at its high value support units.
Strategically, it consist of a string of such operational scale setpuece battles, all aimed at methodically reducing the enemy fighting force, and effecting a relatively slow, but steady advance, taking great care to prevent succesful counterpushes.
All in all it results in an extremely costly, and relatively slow advance, that has enormous logistical cost, however it inflicts similarly horrendous casualties upon the enemy, and all but ensures athat any gains made are secured, as it involves no high risk strategic depth manouvers like blitzkrieg does.
So basically it mirrors the situation with the clanners to a T, and is a devastatingly effwctive strategy to employ in such a scenario.
"He always asks for more. More men, more tanks, more artillery, more planes ... but he also gets more results!"
- Josef Stalin, on Georgy Zukov
@@GMorgan84 you have to realize the numbers of the 2-1/2 ton 6x6 truck in the US military industrial complex at the time to know how significant they were. The GMC CCKW, the most common version had over 560,000 produced between the years of 1941-1945. It was the second most produced US vehicle of the war, behind the Jeep.
The one that saw use by soviets, the Studebaker US6, had 195,000 produced by studebaker, with another 22,000 from REO… and you have to remember, one of these means that a squad could move up to 45 MPH/72 KMH at max, and had a max operational range of 236 miles, or 379.8KM. Those numbers could be carrying any number of wonderful anti tank ordinance to provide free redecorating services, machineguns for wonderful surprises, or artillery to landscape. In terms of supplies, it’s even more significant, as one of these could carry any assortment of food, water, fuel ammo, etc, at that speed.
Question? Didn’t Zhukov get Murdered by Stalin once he showed the world the might of the Soviet military: when ran correctly?
Foch proved an age old adage at Tukayyid, knowing is half the battle... the other half is violence.
LOTS of violence...
It's a shame that while Foct was putting everything on the line to save the Inner Sphere Myndo was being Myndo and fucking everything up for everyone.
Yin and Yang, brother. Yin and Yang
@@theblackpantslegion Such as it is with most factions.
Aww yiss, this will be the most enjoyable 25 minutes X)
Dude, seriously, continue this. There must be a lore channel for Battletech with your level of production quality, to rival Warhammer and Star Wars ones. Keep it up, good sir!
Edit: Now that I watch this proper - I stand by my point ever firmly. This is your best Battletech work this far, Tex. You actually made me feel that nightmare of a battle through that narration. Atmospheric as all hell. Nice work indeed.
tldr: MOAR
Yeah thanks Tex this was fantastic.
I will be officially celebrating Tukkayid day every may 20th from this moment forward. CHEERS!
Yes, please! Battletech deserves so much more recognition than it has now. Such an awesome universe!
-random 40K fan just learning about the setting
I wholeheartedly agree. I think this is the stride episode right here. The voice, narration, the jokes, down to even just the pictures, transitions, and even the voice and narration, all the way to the end credits.
All future episodes should follow this as a template. (apart the odd beginning and ending).
I loved the logo at the end with a part of the narration.
"Hippity Hoppity get off my property" was absolutely hilarious!
@@umngyr Much to my wife's dismay, I take the 20th of May off every year and play BT all day. HBS BattleTech, MechAssault 1 and 2 along with MWO. Drives her nuts :)
Christ these videos are like ASMR for Battletech nerds like me. Can't convey how much I enjoy listening about Battletech lore. :) Thank you Sirs.
So say we all!
So true, I've listened to this and the fall of star league video at least 20 times each just to listen to Tex's voice and storytelling...
Pay your debts, indeed.
I would say the clans defeated themselves. They had a long supply line and many of the invading clans were hardcore believers in eugenics, thus they never thought to make as many omnimechs and let the freeborn pilot those. They deliberately hobbled their pool of manpower. Sure they might make awesome warrior- but that might take years, The IS can train a person and toss them into the meatgrinder in months. The clans played at war, Federick Steiner practiced war.
Funny enough their was one clan that was fully prepared to bring everything they could to invade the inner sphere cause they actually looked and did the math on what it could take to invade.They also where like the only combined arms clan they where perfect for the invasion but because they made a reasonable bid they got laughed at.
Didn't the Wolves also work out that Focht was Frederick Steiner, and therefore took him seriously?
@@efffvss yes they did, that was due to Ulric trusting Phelan when it came to battle planning. Oddly enough when Ward decided to off Ulric because "muh honor". Phelan reached out to Focht for help to move the Wolves in Exile to Arc Royal. After that the Wolf Dragoons, Wolves in Exile, Kell Hounds and Space AT&T er... ComStar worked closely in anti-crusader training. What's even funnier is that the Hounds with the help of the Wolves science techs created some impressive Omnimechs. Plus the wolves adopted the Hounds as honorary wolves because of reasons (many bar fights that lead to respect).
I thought Crichell killed Ulric under truce and Ward (for all his Crusader arseholery) avenged Ulric.
The wolves weren't too up their own superiority and took everyone seriously.
Comstar erased diamond shark from existence, even the memory of them had been destroyed and comstar was just standing there wondering why they were shooting into an empty field
My favorite part is this: At the same time that ComStar pulls off Tukayyind, where the did everything right, they also performed Operation Scorpion, where they failed spectacularly at trying to conquer the Inner Sphere. They tried to force the great houses to bend the knee, threatening to shut off the HPG network... so the Great Houses just took over the HPG facilities. It's a bad idea to say "You and what army" when the other guy has an army and yours is fighting a battle elsewhere.
But Operation Scorpion was earlier.
Sorry for the thread necromancy; Operation Scorpion primarily failed because Precenter Dieron - Sharilar Mori - was a mole for the Draconis Combine, and passed on information about the planned activities.
Tex good sir I salute you for this absolutely glorious video
You are the credit to the Inner Sphere
And the number one enemy of every clanner!
The 3052 ComGuards were green, well trained, but most importantly, they were fanatical.
After that battle they became the most battle-hardened bastards known to man which was going to be needed cuz there's sons and daughters were going to need to fight the dirty clanners come all over again.
@@mikecampos1193 ...and everyone else
I love that the phone company's secret weapon was Charlton Heston. At least going by that last picture.
Remembering May 20th.
o7
It is now a yearly tradition to listen to tex talk shit about clanners. Couple days late this year but eh. Keep doing what you’re doing Tex.
I have been arguing for years and will continue to argue that if there is a future show primed and ready to fill the Game of Thrones void, it's most likely gonna be pulled from Battletech lore. For me, Tukayyid was bigger than either of the Deathstar brawls. And BT is still thriving where many of her peers have fallen off and died.
Well, it looks like Anastasius...
*puts on sunglasses*
...Focht the Clans up real bad.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH
oof
:::throws sheep plushie at OP:::
Bhhhaaaaaadddddd!!!
Tukkyid I find to be the crucible that truly brought forth Kurinski's dream. Not Nicholas, but Alexander's. Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, and Wolf truly are Alexander's vision.
The equivalent of bringing up The battle of Teutoburg forest to win an argument.
This video led me to binge the Blood of Kerensky trilogy.
Kai Allard-Liao and Phelan Kell are ridiculously OP. I actually started laughing when the big emotional breakthrough for Liao in book 3 was "Wow, I really AM that awesome!"
Inglonias He’s a 1/2 pilot. Basically god mode in old tabletop Battletech when you play scenarios with him. A light mech/tank/vtol (some mediums too) could come screaming in at over 100kph by Liao, and all he’d have to do is stop moving and snipe it’s ass. Still rolling on a 5 at short range. As long as he’s in range he can hit what he’s aiming at. Worst case scenario without severe complications: Liao ran +2, target moved 10+ hexes +4, target is at long range +4, Kai’s Gunnery +1. To hit: 11. A shot impossible to even attempt for almost every IS pilot and most Clanners, he can do it.
@@JeremyRyanWren Having an OP character in a game is one thing. Not giving them any character depth beyond "awesome at everything" in a novel about them is another.
The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war.
Hmm... I wonder how this would sound if Gotterdammerung from the Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries soundtrack kicked in at 8:00 or so...
Funfact... Götterdämmerung Battlemech:
www.sarna.net/wiki/G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung_(BattleMech)
As AWESOME as an 80 ton Steiner mech with a trio of PPCs. I love how you tell the story your own way, with your own style instead of just read it out of some sourcebook. Gonna re-watch this one a few times today.
The Awesome is a Free Worlds League design though... ;)
Tbh im surprised the Comstar army leader given his peculiar heritage didnt drop a few dozen Steiner scout lances in the middle of the enemy group. No amount of high tech can argue with steiner scout lances.
Guten Tag Guten Tag! Ve have come for ze scouting.
Happy "Get Focht" Day!
I need to use the term "amphetamine soaked circus monkey" at some point in my life.
I tell you what: I happened upon this channel last year, and have listened to all the lore episodes a dozen times. It never gets old, and is still compelling. The humor is top notch.
Clanner: is that a star-league-era royal regiment variant catapult?
Comguard: Yes. AND YOU MADE ME TAKE IT OUT OF THE PACKAGE!!!
The Clans came out soon after I started playing Battletech. Early on, I got into an argument with a Clan Fan over what I felt were terrible practices after his description of the Clan bidding process. It took me mere *minutes* to figure out there was a problem. But, he knew the lore and read all the books, while I just played the game. So, I lost the argument, unable to enunciate what should have been obvious. Later, I drifted away from the game, playing a little MechWarrior but not much else from the franchise. Fast forward to May 20, 2019, after years out of the loop and following this channel for like a week (bumped into the Catapult video), I learn the exact problems I pointed out were real. I'm not stupid or crazy. Well, not about the Clans, anyway. All of that to say, thanks, Tex.
Welcome, bud
can you go into more detail? what's wrong with the bidding process?
@@Splozy I'm not sure I understand. You're asking what wrong with the Clan bidding process, past what was already explained in the video? I'm also curious if you think the Clan bidding process is actually a good idea?
@@annagramgaming8934 no I don't I'm just curious about your story :) I watch these while I do other things and might have missed a bit out. You don't have to go into more detail of you don't want to.
@@Splozy The issue of the clan bidding process is wrapped up in efficient use of force. Purposely benching portions of your projectable force, barring situations where more units in an area results in them fighting ineffectively (al la Agincourt), only leads to negative results, such as increased losses on your side and increased chance of failure to achieve the tactical objective. Terms of engagement are so critical that sometimes the battle is more about the terms than the fighting. Jutland comes to mind.
So, to put into perspective of the Clan nonsense, what I was referring to was being told how cool the Clans were because of their bidding process, when it is strictly at odds with effective military doctrine. At the time, I wasn't as knowledgable of the Battletech setting, the Clans specifically, or military history in general. So, I could not formulate an effective defense of my feeling that there was something wrong with the bidding, even if it seems 'cool,' which is all the Clan Fan seemed to actually care about.
I hope that explains it adequately.
"Get bent, weirdo"!!!!
"Amphetamine soaked circus monkeys. "
Classic Tex
I lost track of how many times I've listened to this... and it only gets better every time.
EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
*Sips tea*
*Strokes Beard*
*Laughs in "Freebirth"*
Remembering May 20th as a day of Will, Resolve, Strategic Vision, and of course my favourite, Crazy. Everyone says it cannot be done until some great genius bastard comes along and says 'hey, yes it can. And this is how we do it.'😎
This is the third year I've spent in Tex's lecture on my birthday. It never gets old hearing the Clans get their shit pushed in by a telecom company and makes May the 20th that much more special.
For real
Love me periphery, 'ate the great houses. 'Ate Clanners. Simple as
Yet another glorious May 20th
ROFLMAO: "When Diamond Shark landed, they had an army. When they left, it was gone." OMG, Priceless!
Guess the Clans....
*le glasses*
got Focht!
*YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!*
Battletech, the only tabletop wargame with with plausible war fiction and military strategy.
Well, except for the giant, stompy robots. But that's just part of the charm
I've known Battletech for a long time, just recently approaching some lore because tex is hilarious, i still find the mechs ugly as hell
@@Solon_The_Lich what can be said? It was task from General Kerensky himself! Armored as much as possible, armed as much as possible, ugly as possible so the fear could become our ally.
Don't know about the plausibility of mass scale ground combat in a setting with Warships tbh.
@@GonnaDieNever why not? For example there are Mobile Orbital Guns on the surface, but your fleet battles enemy fleet. So only ways to save as many lives as possible - destroy enemy fleet or smash those MOGs asap. But your enemy is not an idiot and MOGs are properly defended. So you order dropships to land forces and destroy MOGs at any cost, because fleet is under attack from both sides.
New game= Drink whiskey every time Tex says honour.
Die at around 4:30
I like my liver, thanks.
I have just watched this video for the 2nd time. First was around 3 week ago. I didn´t have any clue about Inner Sphere and Claners then. I was totally new to Battletech universe. After this Tex´s video, I have pre-orderdered Clan Invasion box, all wave 1 mechs, bought Beginners box a and Core game - Battletech A Game Of Armored Combat, plus 4 battlemats. This is thanks to you, Tex. You have brought me to this magnificent universe. Thank you, I´m in your debt.
You owe no man a debt, other than to yourself - to learn the game, to teach others, and to continue your good works.
Oddly it has become a tradition to watch this every year
So, basically the Clans expected to fight a conventional ground war against an upjumped Telecommunications Corporation, but happened to run into the fucking Imperial Guard.
The imperial guard without interservice limitations. One combined wall of *No*
Happy gasmask noises
They expected to fight a bunch of star vs star level mech duels
They FOUND the Imperial Guard.
Imperial Guard with all the tech from before Horus and co had their tantrum
you have the voice of an 80s action hero, brilliant. better than actually.
Asymmetrical warfare, otherwise known as tactical fuckery - that made my day. Love your videos Tex!
Clanners be sweatin when the trees start asking them about their cars extended warranties.
The moral of the story is don't mess with Space AT&T.
Been looking forwards to this for a few months! I knew you wouldn't pass up making a video about intergalactic "Rub a Clanner's nose in it" day. Great work from Crowind, MadAsgardian, and yourself as always. Really appreciate the love and dedication you guys so obviously marinate these in.
See, as much as I love the clans (Coyote fan here) the big thing is that Tukayyid wasn't just Foct spanking the clans that were there and teaching them a lesson, but it was something else entirely:
In a fight between a group of warriors and a group of soldiers, the soldiers will either win, or make the warrior victory so costly that it won't look like victory. Sure, most of the Comguard involved were green, but they had been drilled every day and moment they could have been leading up to this moment. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that their lives were being spent to grind the clans to a halt. They KNEW what they were getting into, where the clans thought this was going to be Thursday.
In short, Foct was the mastermind, but it would have cost the Clans quite a bit even if Foct wasn't there given the same chance to prepare. Foct's strategies and tactics were simply a massive force multiplier on a group who were already resigned to likely being meat in the grinder, if only in hopes the gristle would jam up the gears.
"Get Bent Weirdo"
This is the best video you have ever made. I love the lore stuff on your channel!
A hypocritical comment coming from the Priesthood of Mars rip-off that is Comstar. They have no right to call anyone "weirdo."
@@NodDisciple1 Except battletech predates Warhammer 40k by about 3 years
@@malachai1381 Exactly. They had 3 years to see how screwed up Comstar was and that it shouldn't be copied.
As someone who HATES the clans.
That was cathartic.
Shout out to Tex and the rest of the BPL crew. Love your content, love your work ethos, and most importantly love your work on behalf of charity. The style in which you present this lore is one that inspires my own writings. The phrase "tactical fuckery" will forever have a place in my lexicon.
Because planning, tactics and a shorter supply line with a larger industrial base beats honor every time. "Get bent Weirdo" indeed.
Imagine being one of the best warriors in Clan history and dying failing to take a place called Humptulips
Can't wait for the Word of Blake edition. Now with extra crazy.
Tex won't do it. He hates post 2001 writing-even if it's canon. Badly made canon, but still canon.
@@dubuyajay9964 Huh, thank you. Just started getting into Battletech, didn't know this was so unpopular.
@@hendrikgrotefend4098 You have to realize this was written during a period when the old company went belly up and the property was bought out by two different companies. Neither one seemed to really know what to do with it and it showed. It's finally been licensed out by it's new owner (Topps), to a company that somewhat seems concerned with the customer's wants. (Catalyst Games). Although it still has issues (mainly quality issues with minis. Minor, but they still exist.
Hey Mechassault was fun. Also Word of Blake fortress buster mechs we cool looking. And come on its Comstar they hide battleships.
I wouldn’t mind Tex explaining why the Jihaad is stupid and impossible.
We have lost time and time again to the Clanners...what can we do??!!?
Commisar Anastasia: Throw more bodies at them. Mechs, Tanks, Planes, Men. Don't stop until their gears jammed with bones and bodies for the Empo...uhhh COMSTAR!!
Well after Stringstorm released his song yesterday it looks like I will be spending a while listening to you. Have been only 40k guy so far but BattleTech sounds awesome.
Welcome to the battletech universe! I hope you enjoy your stay.
@@donttreadonmemes Well so far I am enjoying my time with Tex.
@@donttreadonmemes I wish tex had more videos like this, but his mech overviews are cool as well
Welcome brother! As a fan in a similar situation, it is a nice setting.
@@nikoclesceri2267 His "Mackie" video is one of my favorites. As well as his lead up to the Clan exodus.
Remember pay your bills
Or Space AT&T will come for you!
Hippity Hoppity: get off my property!
*AT&T
but close ^^
Corrected
Thank you
@@thepbg8453 You are welcome ^^
Redde creditori tuo=pay your creditors! :D
This needs to be a tee shirt.
Damn Tex, you should definitely be doing more of this stuff. I'm an ooold school battletech lore nerd and would love to see more.
For someone who only knows like the Bare Basics of BattleTech, this was amazing and I believe you and your team have great talent and should do more videos based on battles and wars and different companies and important time periods in universe.
While the video is funny and cute, he really underplays the clan effort during the fight and makes it seem like a one-sided curb stomp. The clans punched well above their weight in most cases, and absolutely left most of the ComStar units in various states between 'mauled' and 'absolutely thrashed' by the end.Numerous Comstar divisions were just disbanded after the battle, the damage they had taken being so great that it wasn't worth it to reconstitute them.
@@revolrz22 well, he does mention afterward that Comstar's losses were incalculable, showing that he did acknowledge comstar's substantial losses, and he goes pretty in depth with Comstar's losses describing how they "bulldozed the corpses of their comrades aside and kept fighting."
Greetings from the imperium, just want to wish you all a happy "dunk on clanners" day
*Real talk, Tex, this video gives me chills every time, hearing the insane and inhuman zealot killing machine that is ComStar turn a planet into such a grand execution world makes even Cadia in 40k blush*
thanks.
I've always liked Battletech from a distance, played a few of the video games. You are pulling me in deep with these Tex Talks. Your style is just so good man, looking forward to more.
Hear hear!
Enjoy the heartbreak of trying to find the books at less than exorbitant prices, my friend. It is one of our greatest burdens.
@@WolfHreda some of them are affordable on audible.
Oh! I just learned a little while ago that a bunch of the classics are now available as ebooks. Search Amazon for Battletech Legends.