I had forgotten about this. The Davions were the second to last house to join the Star League and not only had they negoiated very lucrative economic conecessions out of the Camerons, but had managed to get the founder of Star League to sign off on a deal that said if there was ever evidence that the Draconis combine looked they might attack House Davion, Star League would launch premptive strikes meant to destroy the Combine's military. This, of course, never happened and I believe it seriously damagaed Star League's credibility for not one but two signatore houses. In this light, it is little wonder, then, that the house lords, espceially Kurita and Davion, barely lifted a finger to help Star League fight off a newly resurgent periphery. As history tells it, it was the manipulatios of Amaris vis-a-vis the disasterous taxx edicts and toothless edicts to stirp the house lords of their regiments
2:38 "the unimaginatively named 'Task Force Samurai'..." Runner up names were: Task Force Katana Task Force Dragon Task Force Combine Task Force Super Dragon Task Force Super Samurai Task Force Super Katana Task Force Honor Task Force Super Honor Task Force We Killed The Guy Who Came Up With These Names
I love how you're detailing the lesser known history of the Star League. It provides awesome context for the more well known aspects of the lore. Thank you!
FEEDBACK WANTED BELOW Damn, UA-cam processing 4K videos much quicker than it used to. One more episode in the Golden Age series to go but don't expect it up tomorrow. I'm not even 25% done with editing. Questions: I'm experimenting with some new ways of displaying information and I would like to hear what you guys think. (1) I have all the unit icons set to 75% transparency. I found anything less and it all blurs into mud. The idea is that you can read the planet names behind them. Even if it isn't fully clear, with me saying the names in my script I'm hoping your brain can fill in the gaps. HOWEVER, it adds a massive amount of render time to make them all transparent. The question for you is, is it even worth it? Let me know. (2) I've smoothed out the animations so they glide more naturally into place rather than crash to a halt. This makes it more challenging to match text (unit and commander name) to them as they move like I did throughout the Reunification War. I instead opted for static text and I would like to know what you think. I'm hoping it is a bit more readable and remains onscreen for longer. (3) Is the font okay? I was fine with the more stylised BattleTech font for the thumbnails and text popups in the past because I used it sparingly, but now that I have a lot more information appearing onscreen, is it all getting a bit ugly? I imagine display size makes a big difference in this one. Anyway, onto the video itself. Believe it or not, but this is actually the origin of all the Davion vs Kurita conflicts since. The Draconis Combine spent the early Age of War fighting Steiner as their realm hadn't even expanded to the Fed Suns border yet. By the end of the era, Siriwan McAllister had brought relative peace to the realm and so there was barely any raiding going on between them. This is the kind of thing I imagined doing for the 4th Succession War, only on a much smaller scale. We also get planetary maps for the battles of the 4thSW so they'll have a bit more variation in the visuals. This one is a little too static for my liking. We're reaching the point in the timeline where we have more character portraits though which I'm enjoying a lot since they add a lot of life to the stories for me. Era Report: 2750 (on which this video is based) is FULL of errors regarding unit names. It's like the unit bio section of the book was written in complete isolation from the actual history section. Two from memory are the 1st/9th Proserpina Hussars and the 1st/21st Royal Jump Infantry Div, but there were others too. I've defaulted to those mentioned in the history section since they are often mentioned multiple times but I've also tried to include the "alternate history" units as well in some capacity. You can at least be assured that everything I say in this video is backed up by a sourcebook, but which parts of those books are in error is not known.
Honestly the transparency is alright, you could decrease it to make things easier, but this is fine as it is. The animations are cool, but I'd rather it'd be easy for you to keep the information readable and viable, so a bit of wonky animations, but easier time for you sounds better. And lastly, the font? It's downright cool for me, easy to read but distinct enough for me to tell it's your video. And more batshit Kurita lore is always welcome, almost always we hear of everybody else but Kurita. Happy they getting some love(and a LOT of Davion hate apparently).
Thank you for the feedback. Decreasing the transparency past 75% looks really bad. I tried it and it was like ghosts. Smoothing the animation takes nanoseconds. Barely any additional time at all. But the text animation has to exactly mirror the unit (which doesn't work when I want the text to appear out of sync with when the unit does) so that's where the problem lies. This video was considerably less effort than managing all the moving text in the Reunification War (before I learned how to smooth out the animations).
Keep the current transparency, it still looks decent, while telling us that more units are in a certain world. Plus it's good you found a way to decrease effort animation(sad it had an unintended sideeffect of mirroring) but the smooth animations are seen from this end. On a sidenote, I never knew that the SLDF actually used power armour in it's hayday, thought they never went past prototyping. Figures that they used the term "Nighthawk" of all names, these things looked more like strike troops(scalpels) compared to the bludgeon that the Clans did when they "perfected" their power armour(hatchet).
1. I find the transparency more useful for seeing what units are "on top of each other" than reading planet names, but that might be because we are dealing with fewer planets here than in the reunification war. 2. the animation and static text are very nice and I like them. I think it might be a good idea to include the unit symbols in the static text so that it is easier to tell who's who for people less familiar with these things. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember and I had no clue what unit the Prosperpina Hussars symbol represented until you mentioned them. Not a huge issue but it might matter when more troops are maneuvering. 3. The font is great and feels very appropriate, don't change it. On an unrelated note I'd like to say that your videos are great, and in my opinion, are one of the best ways to introduce new people to the setting. These feel more like history lessons than lore discussion. There's no presumption of preexisting knowledge beyond prior videos in the series. At the same time they do get into the deeper philosophical and sociopolitical concepts of the battletech setting.
I always found the Battletech History as I knew it a bit unrealistic in some points. Like the monolithic dynasties ruling for 700+ years or the simplistic depiction of Star League being brought down by one man's actions or even being created by one man and functioning in peaceful unity, even though all the participants had been fighting each other for hundreds of years at that point. It seemed a bit cartoonish at times. Your videos in the deeper lore give it the context it needs to fully suspend my disbelief. It's a much more nuanced and actually realistic history, than I knew. Like Star League never being that unified and already in decay when Amaris struck. Long story short, you make great videos!
Thank you. It's one of the central conceits of the franchise that everywhere is ruled by dynastic houses, and you just have to take them at face value that it works in universe. There is so much effort put into the history to get them to that point of being a believable (or narratively acceptable) that I really respect that. Looking forward to providing similar clarity/context to the upcoming Amaris conflict.
@@SvenVanDerPlank You actually made me appreciate Battletech even more than I already did. It's similar looking at the Mechs themselves. Once you realise they're not just there because of the rule of cool (I mean at the core that's still the case. Big stompy Robot goes brrrrr) but there's some (somehow) plausible in universe reasons for them working and being a valuable military assets, it makes everything even cooler. Looking forward to your future videos. Especially the succession wars, as I know close to nothing about them.
@WTFViewer Yeah but as you said, those dynasties being in power for hundreds of years (700+ is still a Stretch imo) decay in power over time, while in Battletech (without the more detailed context), the Davions, Steiners and Kuritans are constantly going strong and there's always a noble Davion, a savy Steiner or a honorable Kurita in charge. The only time this is really adressed are the Capellans, where we then have our nod to Chinese history.
@WTFViewer Yeah well, I didn't say it was completely unrealistic. But what's unrealistic is the states existing in their 3025 borders with undisputed rule of one family and only minor changes in power over that time. Which isn't the case, when you take into Account all this detailed history. And I still think 750 years is a bit of a stretch, looking at most dynasties in known history. But I can accept it, especially with the Info in These awesome videos. Also I don't the Zhou are aren't a very good example for the Point I think you want to make, because they didn't really have power over most of "their realm" for most of the Zhou period. Then you could also Name the Habsburgs or the Hohenzollern, them still being around with some kind of influence. And who knows maybe they'll rise in power again. Anyway, we're getting off topic and that is Sven doing Blakes work.
Thank you, I appreciate you saying that. Just finished editing the final episode. After that I'll make the changes to get it into one compilation and then it's on to the Star League Civil War. Hopefully I can keep the momentum up into that one but not adding the pressure of a deadline.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Good call, deadlines can sometimes be a powerful motivator but they can also sometimes cripple us with anxiety. You do good work but your own well-being is far more important than any fictional project. :)
I'm not sure whether to be happy that something with a terrible history is falling apart, or to be sad that the actual best shot at unity and peace is failing.
Thank you, I'm glad to hear it. BattleTech history coverage on UA-cam seems pretty patchy so I wanted to try and create something continuous, even if it takes forever to get to the "modern" setting.
Jocasta was awesome. She ran Star League from her cloistered convent, serving her people and remaining true to her vocation. Many reforms were had under her guidance.
True enough. She kind of reminds me of Kerensky - a good leader dealt a bad hand and playing it as best able, making some very good calls, and a few bad ones at a pivotal time.
If you ever feel like your job is worthless, or meaningless, or too stupid to matter, remember that people had to serve on the Davion Succession Board.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Just Davion things. It's like hot-girl-summer, but it's beaurocratic and generally awful, and at the end of 15 years, you accomplish nothing.
Different sources say different things. The House Davion books and field manuals describe it as a former SLDF unit but the SLDF books makes no mention of the Deneb Light Cavalry and several earlier books probably mistakenly include it in Davion conflicts because of its later affiliation. Best way to retcon it is that it was some sort of hybrid, staffed primarily by the FedSuns citizens and remained in their territory, but some sort of League equipped irregular force.
No matter what Mother Jocasta did, both Davion and Kurita would have been pissed. Davion because her brother didn't intervene, and Kurita because they didn't get what they wanted. Ironically, Davion choosing to become more self sufficient was probably a good thing long term, since they barely fought off the Kuritans in the First Succession war even with their vast reserves, and would have been screwed without them.
Hopefully when/if this series gets to that point, it'll explain better why that went so badly for the Federated Suns, since the only thing I remembered was John Davion focusing on the Capellan Confederation initially (and the Combine initially attacking the Lyrans, perhaps lulling them into a false sense of security) being the reason they were caught off guard...but even that seems ridiculous when the Combine has almost always been a greater threat to them.
Yeah, it was relatively minor compared to what came before and after, but it was a legitimate invasion of a "friendly" nation that the Star League just swept under the rug.
@@BoisegangGaming Kurita is da most honaburu of all the great houses. It is NOTHING like the snakes in Liao. It has warriors thay commit sudoku when dishonaburu discharged. Jokes aside, as a lifelong Kurita fan, I agree with yhe sociopaths, but they do try(and fail, mostly fail) to keep that honor in tact. Sort of like a weirder weaboo version of the stubborn dwarves in DnD/warhammer serries. You get used to yhe stubborn bastards by the time the Clans come in tho, my character who was a Kuritan, turned Merc, shoo'ed off the Kuritans when they asked him for help ont he Clans, we'd rather help the Rasalhague than the Kuritans(but he has lineage with them weaboos).
I had forgotten about this. The Davions were the second to last house to join the Star League and not only had they negoiated very lucrative economic conecessions out of the Camerons, but had managed to get the founder of Star League to sign off on a deal that said if there was ever evidence that the Draconis combine looked they might attack House Davion, Star League would launch premptive strikes meant to destroy the Combine's military. This, of course, never happened and I believe it seriously damagaed Star League's credibility for not one but two signatore houses. In this light, it is little wonder, then, that the house lords, espceially Kurita and Davion, barely lifted a finger to help Star League fight off a newly resurgent periphery. As history tells it, it was the manipulatios of Amaris vis-a-vis the disasterous taxx edicts and toothless edicts to stirp the house lords of their regiments
2:38 "the unimaginatively named 'Task Force Samurai'..."
Runner up names were:
Task Force Katana
Task Force Dragon
Task Force Combine
Task Force Super Dragon
Task Force Super Samurai
Task Force Super Katana
Task Force Honor
Task Force Super Honor
Task Force We Killed The Guy Who Came Up With These Names
I normally refrain from comments like that but I had to call it out this time. Somebody actually wrote that and was like, "yeah, that's a cool name."
@@SvenVanDerPlank "Kurita, can you stop naming stuff 'samurai' or 'dragon' for one bloody second?"
(Screeches in muh honor)
@@BoisegangGaming Just go all in: Task Force Honor of the Dragon-Samurai's Super Katana.
@@AGS363 lol
they didn't kill him they had him commit seppuku.
with an old, rusty wakizashi.
I love how you're detailing the lesser known history of the Star League. It provides awesome context for the more well known aspects of the lore. Thank you!
Thank you, that was one of my aims for going through the history chronologically, to shed light on those parts that aren't as well known.
You and the Black Pants Legion are one of the greatest Battletech loremasters!
Thank you, that's very kind of you to say.
FEEDBACK WANTED BELOW
Damn, UA-cam processing 4K videos much quicker than it used to. One more episode in the Golden Age series to go but don't expect it up tomorrow. I'm not even 25% done with editing.
Questions: I'm experimenting with some new ways of displaying information and I would like to hear what you guys think.
(1) I have all the unit icons set to 75% transparency. I found anything less and it all blurs into mud. The idea is that you can read the planet names behind them. Even if it isn't fully clear, with me saying the names in my script I'm hoping your brain can fill in the gaps. HOWEVER, it adds a massive amount of render time to make them all transparent. The question for you is, is it even worth it? Let me know.
(2) I've smoothed out the animations so they glide more naturally into place rather than crash to a halt. This makes it more challenging to match text (unit and commander name) to them as they move like I did throughout the Reunification War. I instead opted for static text and I would like to know what you think. I'm hoping it is a bit more readable and remains onscreen for longer.
(3) Is the font okay? I was fine with the more stylised BattleTech font for the thumbnails and text popups in the past because I used it sparingly, but now that I have a lot more information appearing onscreen, is it all getting a bit ugly? I imagine display size makes a big difference in this one.
Anyway, onto the video itself. Believe it or not, but this is actually the origin of all the Davion vs Kurita conflicts since. The Draconis Combine spent the early Age of War fighting Steiner as their realm hadn't even expanded to the Fed Suns border yet. By the end of the era, Siriwan McAllister had brought relative peace to the realm and so there was barely any raiding going on between them.
This is the kind of thing I imagined doing for the 4th Succession War, only on a much smaller scale. We also get planetary maps for the battles of the 4thSW so they'll have a bit more variation in the visuals. This one is a little too static for my liking. We're reaching the point in the timeline where we have more character portraits though which I'm enjoying a lot since they add a lot of life to the stories for me.
Era Report: 2750 (on which this video is based) is FULL of errors regarding unit names. It's like the unit bio section of the book was written in complete isolation from the actual history section. Two from memory are the 1st/9th Proserpina Hussars and the 1st/21st Royal Jump Infantry Div, but there were others too. I've defaulted to those mentioned in the history section since they are often mentioned multiple times but I've also tried to include the "alternate history" units as well in some capacity. You can at least be assured that everything I say in this video is backed up by a sourcebook, but which parts of those books are in error is not known.
Honestly the transparency is alright, you could decrease it to make things easier, but this is fine as it is. The animations are cool, but I'd rather it'd be easy for you to keep the information readable and viable, so a bit of wonky animations, but easier time for you sounds better. And lastly, the font? It's downright cool for me, easy to read but distinct enough for me to tell it's your video.
And more batshit Kurita lore is always welcome, almost always we hear of everybody else but Kurita. Happy they getting some love(and a LOT of Davion hate apparently).
Thank you for the feedback.
Decreasing the transparency past 75% looks really bad. I tried it and it was like ghosts.
Smoothing the animation takes nanoseconds. Barely any additional time at all. But the text animation has to exactly mirror the unit (which doesn't work when I want the text to appear out of sync with when the unit does) so that's where the problem lies. This video was considerably less effort than managing all the moving text in the Reunification War (before I learned how to smooth out the animations).
Keep the current transparency, it still looks decent, while telling us that more units are in a certain world. Plus it's good you found a way to decrease effort animation(sad it had an unintended sideeffect of mirroring) but the smooth animations are seen from this end.
On a sidenote, I never knew that the SLDF actually used power armour in it's hayday, thought they never went past prototyping. Figures that they used the term "Nighthawk" of all names, these things looked more like strike troops(scalpels) compared to the bludgeon that the Clans did when they "perfected" their power armour(hatchet).
1. I find the transparency more useful for seeing what units are "on top of each other" than reading planet names, but that might be because we are dealing with fewer planets here than in the reunification war.
2. the animation and static text are very nice and I like them. I think it might be a good idea to include the unit symbols in the static text so that it is easier to tell who's who for people less familiar with these things. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember and I had no clue what unit the Prosperpina Hussars symbol represented until you mentioned them. Not a huge issue but it might matter when more troops are maneuvering.
3. The font is great and feels very appropriate, don't change it.
On an unrelated note I'd like to say that your videos are great, and in my opinion, are one of the best ways to introduce new people to the setting. These feel more like history lessons than lore discussion. There's no presumption of preexisting knowledge beyond prior videos in the series. At the same time they do get into the deeper philosophical and sociopolitical concepts of the battletech setting.
Thank you for the feedback and for the kind words.
I always found the Battletech History as I knew it a bit unrealistic in some points. Like the monolithic dynasties ruling for 700+ years or the simplistic depiction of Star League being brought down by one man's actions or even being created by one man and functioning in peaceful unity, even though all the participants had been fighting each other for hundreds of years at that point. It seemed a bit cartoonish at times. Your videos in the deeper lore give it the context it needs to fully suspend my disbelief.
It's a much more nuanced and actually realistic history, than I knew. Like Star League never being that unified and already in decay when Amaris struck. Long story short, you make great videos!
Thank you. It's one of the central conceits of the franchise that everywhere is ruled by dynastic houses, and you just have to take them at face value that it works in universe. There is so much effort put into the history to get them to that point of being a believable (or narratively acceptable) that I really respect that. Looking forward to providing similar clarity/context to the upcoming Amaris conflict.
@@SvenVanDerPlank You actually made me appreciate Battletech even more than I already did. It's similar looking at the Mechs themselves. Once you realise they're not just there because of the rule of cool (I mean at the core that's still the case. Big stompy Robot goes brrrrr) but there's some (somehow) plausible in universe reasons for them working and being a valuable military assets, it makes everything even cooler. Looking forward to your future videos. Especially the succession wars, as I know close to nothing about them.
@WTFViewer Yeah but as you said, those dynasties being in power for hundreds of years (700+ is still a Stretch imo) decay in power over time, while in Battletech (without the more detailed context), the Davions, Steiners and Kuritans are constantly going strong and there's always a noble Davion, a savy Steiner or a honorable Kurita in charge. The only time this is really adressed are the Capellans, where we then have our nod to Chinese history.
@WTFViewer Yeah well, I didn't say it was completely unrealistic. But what's unrealistic is the states existing in their 3025 borders with undisputed rule of one family and only minor changes in power over that time. Which isn't the case, when you take into Account all this detailed history. And I still think 750 years is a bit of a stretch, looking at most dynasties in known history. But I can accept it, especially with the Info in These awesome videos. Also I don't the Zhou are aren't a very good example for the Point I think you want to make, because they didn't really have power over most of "their realm" for most of the Zhou period. Then you could also Name the Habsburgs or the Hohenzollern, them still being around with some kind of influence. And who knows maybe they'll rise in power again. Anyway, we're getting off topic and that is Sven doing Blakes work.
Thanks for making these videos. I like your narration style more than any of the other UA-camr's that cover mechwarrior!
No problem, glad you're enjoying them.
I know you were struggling hard with motivation and writers-block when working on this but the result has been spectacular. Good job :)
Thank you, I appreciate you saying that. Just finished editing the final episode. After that I'll make the changes to get it into one compilation and then it's on to the Star League Civil War. Hopefully I can keep the momentum up into that one but not adding the pressure of a deadline.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Good call, deadlines can sometimes be a powerful motivator but they can also sometimes cripple us with anxiety. You do good work but your own well-being is far more important than any fictional project. :)
As a Taurian citizen im pleased to see the cracks in the main structure.
Great video as always.
I'm not sure whether to be happy that something with a terrible history is falling apart, or to be sad that the actual best shot at unity and peace is failing.
looks at 3151 *Laughs in Marian Hegemony*
Thank you for dropping so many of these. It’s a treat getting my Battletech lore each day.
You're going to have to wait a whole TWO DAYS before you get the finale I'm afraid. Should be live on Sep 1st.
@@SvenVanDerPlank my body is ready
Really enjoying this series,
Glad to see more coverage of the parts no one else really has yet
Thank you, I'm glad to hear it. BattleTech history coverage on UA-cam seems pretty patchy so I wanted to try and create something continuous, even if it takes forever to get to the "modern" setting.
Nicely covered, detailed like no other has before by video. Thank you for taking time and efforts to make it.
No problem. Thank you for your continued support.
Jocasta was awesome. She ran Star League from her cloistered convent, serving her people and remaining true to her vocation. Many reforms were had under her guidance.
True. But as shown, she wasn't without flaw, and this would continue the degradation yet to be.
True enough. She kind of reminds me of Kerensky - a good leader dealt a bad hand and playing it as best able, making some very good calls, and a few bad ones at a pivotal time.
If you ever feel like your job is worthless, or meaningless, or too stupid to matter, remember that people had to serve on the Davion Succession Board.
What were they even doing for FIFTEEN YEARS?
@@SvenVanDerPlank Just Davion things. It's like hot-girl-summer, but it's beaurocratic and generally awful, and at the end of 15 years, you accomplish nothing.
Best part is that it took them that long to finally just say "It's a FAAAAAKE!" and tell Kurita to eff off.
Weren’t the Deneb Light Cavalry part of the SLDF that joined the AFFS in the first succession war?
Different sources say different things. The House Davion books and field manuals describe it as a former SLDF unit but the SLDF books makes no mention of the Deneb Light Cavalry and several earlier books probably mistakenly include it in Davion conflicts because of its later affiliation. Best way to retcon it is that it was some sort of hybrid, staffed primarily by the FedSuns citizens and remained in their territory, but some sort of League equipped irregular force.
No matter what Mother Jocasta did, both Davion and Kurita would have been pissed. Davion because her brother didn't intervene, and Kurita because they didn't get what they wanted. Ironically, Davion choosing to become more self sufficient was probably a good thing long term, since they barely fought off the Kuritans in the First Succession war even with their vast reserves, and would have been screwed without them.
Hopefully when/if this series gets to that point, it'll explain better why that went so badly for the Federated Suns, since the only thing I remembered was John Davion focusing on the Capellan Confederation initially (and the Combine initially attacking the Lyrans, perhaps lulling them into a false sense of security) being the reason they were caught off guard...but even that seems ridiculous when the Combine has almost always been a greater threat to them.
Indeed. And... then Kentares happened.
Thank you for the maps, they are awesome.
Sven! You're back!
I am indeed. In case you missed them, this is the third video I've put out in the last few days.
@@SvenVanDerPlank kick ass, I'll definitely check em out
Very well done.
well done
I never realized the second hidden war had frontline combat, I always thought it was a shadow war.
Yeah, it was relatively minor compared to what came before and after, but it was a legitimate invasion of a "friendly" nation that the Star League just swept under the rug.
Honestly, Kurita is the worst. At least you know the Capellans are going to betray you. Kurita is just full of sociopaths at the highest level.
@@BoisegangGaming Kurita is da most honaburu of all the great houses. It is NOTHING like the snakes in Liao. It has warriors thay commit sudoku when dishonaburu discharged.
Jokes aside, as a lifelong Kurita fan, I agree with yhe sociopaths, but they do try(and fail, mostly fail) to keep that honor in tact. Sort of like a weirder weaboo version of the stubborn dwarves in DnD/warhammer serries. You get used to yhe stubborn bastards by the time the Clans come in tho, my character who was a Kuritan, turned Merc, shoo'ed off the Kuritans when they asked him for help ont he Clans, we'd rather help the Rasalhague than the Kuritans(but he has lineage with them weaboos).
@@macrux152__8 A Federated Combine would make for an AWESOME alt-history though
Yeeee more history!
Something I noticed. We need to kill a Davion. "Hasek-Davion? Your turn now."
Just once can a Davion get married without starting a war?
To be fair, wasn't their fault this time.
Klendathu?! BUGS!
I've always wondered if this was a reference. The names are just so similar, but then why not just name it Klendathu?
Numenor is a Davion planet.
Ha, now you bring my attention to it, its an obvious reference. Had I written it into a script I probably would have pronounced it like "Summoner."
That makes sense. I also work at a trash transfer station. Loud noises everywhere.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I mean, there's a Merc unit called "The Fighting Uruk Hai" so you can bet that Numenor is an intentional Middle Earth reference. :P