Battletech/Mechwarrior Lore : The Amaris Civil War / Collapse of Star League - Part 1
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2019
- Tex Talks Battletech is a new series where Tex talks Battletech, Battletech lore, history, and mech combat in the glorious 31st Century. Avast Clanners, its Fightin' time. No guts. No Galaxy.
In the setting of Battletech, all histories eventually stem from this event - the Amaris Civil War. Who was Stefan Amaris and why was he a bad guy? Watch and find out. Who was Alexander Kerensky and why did he later go on to found the Clans? Watch and find out. How the hell did star league collapse in a burning shitpile? Watch and find out.
This hour-long ramble covers the Rise and Fall of Star League, The catastrophic failures of house Cameron, the best attempts of Alexander Kerensky, and everything you probably ever wanted to know about Stefan Amaris. There's also some top-tier music work from the legion, editing from the Courtesy Flush, and my tired voice doing its best.
Seriously, everything stems from this event. Also, goddamn, good job Catalyst on their Kickstarter.
Editing Guru - THE COURTESY FLUSH
ua-cam.com/channels/von.html...
MUSICS:
Kumakin - Tex Talks Battletech Theme
Epidemic Sound - Mars Adventure - Brendon Moeller
Epidemic Sound - Aftermath 2 - Håkan Eriksson
Epidemic Sound - Enrich - Valter Nowak
Kumakin - Tex Talks Battletech More Big
Epidemic Sound - The Architect - Bonnie Grace
Epidemic Sound - Highland Sights - Trabant 33
Epidemic Sound - One Hour Countdown - Bonnie Grace
Epidemic Sound - Defeat Accepted - Experia
Epidemic Sound - Enemies Defeat 4 - August Wilhelmsson
Epidemic Sound - Lords and Ladies - Dream Cave
Dr. Jekyll - Dropship Thunder (Cover) - Originally Created by Battle Technology Magazine
THE ARTISTS!
KUMAKIN - / user-738052488
GOAT - / user-168042611-872573264
DR JEKYLL - / doctor_jekyll
ALSO OTHER Music: EPIDEMIC SOUND ATTRIBUTION
Production Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound www.epidemicsound.com - Ігри
Sarna editor here. Thanks for shouting us out, we appreciate it.
hell, that's an understatement. yall are the only reason this god damn fucking mess of lore and tech is moderately comprehensible and doesent look like shit in a blender. My hat off to yall for one hell of a job done.
Thanks to Sarna from here as well; you guys are awesome and have made BattleTech so much better than it would be on its own
And @@Colonel_Overkill reading your comment was a real adventure. I wholeheartedly agree with all of it, but the imagery left me disoriented.
Sarna is the Helm Memory Core of the modern era, thank you all.
You guys rock, I'm reasonably new to the Battletech universe and between yall and the BPL I've gotten a solid grasp on what amounts to a greased up deaf guy of a storyline.
Can you get rid of anything after the jihad? Thanks
Amaris: *Harms the Camerons*
The Blackwatch: *P L A Y S B A G P I P ES W I T H M A L I C I O U S I N T E N T*
Amaris: *Nukes the Blackwatch*
The Blackwatch: *B A G P I P E S I N T E N S I F Y*
Amaris: Kills the Black Watch
The Black Watch: B A G P I P E S S T I L L P L A Y I N G
@@arthurdotson9579 Amaris: **goes to bed**
His closet: *B A G P I P E S I N T E N S I F Y*
@@arthurdotson9579
Star League: **falls**
The Black Watch: **becomes Northwind Highlanders... bagpipes continue playing, but now as mercenaries**
Ya cannuh be mockin' the pipes of people that consider nukes an inconvenience, or bring a sword to a gunfight... and win.
"has been kicked out of an all you can eat buffet because unlimited crab legs is a theory and not a fact"
10/10 - its a bib
That is when I decided to get into battletech.
It’s a bib two years later it’s still a bib.
That's why the Crab and King Crab are so popular, right?
@@philipped.r.6385 and one of the more reasonable 3100's mechs. Hermit Crab.
…
I love this place
"Men of Black Watch, do you want to live forever?!"
- Angry Gaunt from his Urbie loaded with nothing but megaphones and a chainsaw
I could imagine a Black Watch member in an UrbanMech stalling an entire regiment by employing the Urbie as it was designed to such a perfect degree, sticking to the buildings, firing careful shots then hopping away and slinking behind corners other 'mechs might slide around.
“Let me tell you about the Black Watch...” line gives me goosebumps errytime!
It's one of my favorites
@@theblackpantslegion When I finally got around to watching this video and heard those words and that reverent tone, I _knew_ I was in for a good time and that _this_ was what would get me hooked on this setting.
NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT!!!
@@crysisrevelation6132 The bagpipes are Warming up in the background!
Basicaly Adeptus fucking Custodes 😬😬.
The Black Watch. Damn... if your enemy kills their own troops with a nuclear strike just to get *you*, you know you're one hell of a badass.
The Blackwatch are what the clanners wanna be when they grow up
Don't forget, they fought off what three entire battalions with only eight mechs. That is some insane-level skills.
And then some of them actually survived. Because fuck your nukes, and fuck you!
If you get a chance, look up the battle records of the regiment that inspired the Battletech regiment. The Royal Blackwatch regiments are hardcore.
the royal black watch from its foundation till today is probably the only unit I have ever worked with that would do that shit. their exploits to this day are far more impressive imo. those boys don't have normal blood, they say, they have black watch blood. and I would have to agree with them in that reguard
"You are to flank the enemy positions, supported by armor and artillery"
Blackwatch: fix bayonets
*but don't stop the artillery*
stompy mech loving scottish kriegers *what could go wrong?*
NOTHING, NOTHING GOES WRONG, THEY SURVIVE NUKES! *PLURAL*
Call an ambulance… for everyone
@@ben2741 "Do not bother with an ambulance. Call the morgue. I have no intention of surviving and a dead man cannot take prisoners."
@@ladywaffle2210 "Don't bother with an Ambulance, they're leaving the battlefield pre-buried."
You had me a fixed bayonets. Death Korp of Krieg
"Oh god, the Inner Sphere is invading because they need something to do!"
If that isn't brilliant social commentary, I don't know what the hell is.
The Periphery doesn't like each other, let alone outsiders.
Yeah, that sounds like how one plays Total War.
@@banthisyoutube4552(looks around at normal vehicles) Had we 'mechs, I'm pretty sure I'd have been a pilot, rather than radio repair...
That Blackwatch Segment is better than 85% of the films I've seen in the last 10 years.
Thank you, but to be fair movies are terrible mostly.
"Kerensky, said no." Probably the most badass declaration of war and bit of narration I've heard before.
It was how the Greeks did it against the Italians in 1940.
If only he had said no to the attacks on the Periphery, which was an illegal act from Star League, as he well knew.
@@willdavis3802 You mean supressing Terror is Illegal ? It was Illegal for Star League to COnquer them under Cameron but trying to keep the peace was the Duty of the SLDF , as Tex said Kerensky never saw them as Lesser just as Citizens of Starleague who deserved to be Protected thats the Problem .
@@jimmyseaver3647 That's not even the first time they've done so. When Persia Invaded Greece King Xerses of Persia demanded the Spartans lay down their spears. King Leonidas responded "Molon Labe" which translated too English means "Come and take them"
Given the current situation in Ukraine, and the similarities between the names Zelensky and Kerensky, I feel as though it's only right to say these words:
*"Zelensky... said no."*
For all the people begging for the lyrics (this is the second time I'm typing this out, because it didn't post the first fucking time):
Our Dropships peal out thunder, shrieking down through cloven skies.
As a planets grim defenders gather in a host to die.
Then open hatch! Forward men! Enemy in sight!
They're closing now, the battle's joined, all 'Mechs prepare to fight!
Our heavy 'Mechs deliver volleyed stroke upon burning stroke,
As the company advances through the battle fog and smoke.
Now open fire! Target lock! Deploy the Recon Lance!
Then it's blasting guns and stabbing beams as BattleMechs advance!
The enemy line is broken by our BattleMechs' last push,
And we hunt down fleeing foemen as they scatter through the bush.
We beat them, boys! Weapons up! Now cheer the Colonel, then
It's time to loot, salvage parts, and tend the wounded men.
One day we'll win our landholds. We'll go raiding never more.
That will mean an end to plunder. That will mean an end to war.
We'll raise our cups, set the feast, with women, wine and song,
To celebrate survival, home where warriors belong!
Until the Dropships thunder, dropping down through cloven skies,
While we gather with our people, gather with them all to die.
Then open fire! Hold the line! Though hopeless, we will try
To defend our homes and families. As warriors we will die!
Thanks bud
You got a song name we can search?
@@seand.g423 Dropship Thunder is the song name
I get the feeling this song was born out of the Amaris Civil War...
@@MrRavenBlackwing if I remember correctly it’s a DCMS song.
The first 3 versus are all apart of the original song, however the final 2 were added during the succession wars as they went on and on - the complete collapse in morale as soldiers began to become more niolistic towards life.
What they don't tell you is that in the shadows behind the throne of Comstar, there is an angry Scotsman quietly whispering " Never Forget lads."
THE CHOSEN PROTECTORS OF HOUSE CAMARON😎 because this will happen, Scots will rule the biggest interstellar empire in history.
Gloryhammer is just another part of Battletech then?
@@dannylamb456 YES.
But it appears that the Camerons eventually overthrew the McFife dynasty after Hootsman destroyed the Earth to stop Zargothrax, hence why "Earth" is just called Terra. XD
@@toddhughes2859 big E is just watching from the shadows be like: Heh, that'll never happen to me.
@@michelveilleux2075 Until the day that word comes through of several pre-Dark Age of Technology humans, alive through unknown means, that have managed to escape the Black Cells...
Amaris: I've killed the star lord now I will.. why do I hear bag pipes?
Did the Black Watch have LAM Stinger units?
@Michaelle Green hey replace the head laser with a tag and replace the autocannon with an arrow 4 with nukes. Who needs the Urbie when I have a fast delivery system.
Barry Bend KAM’s, hoorah!
@@barrybend7189 of they did they didn't survive the first nukes on their hangers. Given that they were THE top of the royal SLDF units and those units almost always had some for recon duty it's possible. But their job was heavy principle protection so I find it unlikely they had LAM assets and instead depend on nonorganic intelligence assets. Like most royal guard forces they would have every asset on terra and off at hand plus every battle report that made it to SLDF command plus every civilian camera and news agency, so any recon units they might have would weaken their ability to hold the royal family, the royal residence and the ruling body and the facilities of state in the most effective manner. Static defense requires overwhelming firepower and near impregnable staying power. The weakest part of a defense is it's static nature and the people manning it. Since it was the black watch it wasn't the people who broke. Furthermore if they needed LAM and recon they would simply ask politely with a Cameron written order in their back pocket at any SLDF unit just in case they got resistance... which I find highly unlikely for them to recieve in the 2700s since today they don't get told no very often as it is lol
*Furious Scottish people noises*
ua-cam.com/video/PZiomS6CzBA/v-deo.html
I love the idea that Amaris invaded earth and did everything he did, to gain full and complete access to Golden Corral, which has been proclaimed the only legal restaurant in the Empire.
To those who thought jan 6th was an insurrection I say "You have not met Amaris"
"You WILL bring me endless crab legs as per advertising, and you will bring them to me NOW!" -- Amaris, at his victory celebration dinner at Golden Corral, 2067
Who would have thought that Nissan, General Motors, and Golden Coral would be the companies to survive to the far future
@@charlesballiet7074 No, that was a Terrorist Attack by Retards.
@@Sierra026 🤣🤣🤣👏🎉🥇🎖🏆🏅... "and bring that Chocolate fountain thingy too!"
"Kerensky...said NO!"
Gave me chills across my arms and back.
That is high praise. Thank you
When you Drop a nuke on someone and they report "thank you sir, may I have another? " You done goofed....
You have to feel bad for Alexander during this time period. It must have been heart breaking to see the league he loved fall.
You can't really blame him for going 'to heck with this, I'm leaving and who else wants to come with me?'
Definitely.
The Clans did nothing wrong.
@@malusignatius If anything, it was because he went though the Periphery Wars that he decided he absolutely didn't want to take the SLDF and do it all again... Destroying everything he loved, killing those he served while paying with the blood of the men and women under him.
Kerensky could throw himself full heartedly into the Amaris Civil War because despite the destruction, he finally had a clear picture of who the enemy is and a clear objective. But what followed would be the Periphery Wars again but on a scale that would spread to the entire Inner Sphere, Kerensky just could not let the SLDF get involved with something like that.
*sniff*
The biggest quirk of the BattleTech universe... a Gigantic Monololithic Central Bureaucracy manages to be efficient. It's the most unrealistic part of the setting to me.
Efficiency is... Relative.
I'd say the neo-feudalism being effective in ruling interstellar nations is more unrealistic.
@@Fafnd That's a more complex question then you're assuming. Dynasties are much more stable then democracies, by design, and when warfare and banditry is commonplace you want stability in your executive. Democracies work best when the country itself is stable and secure enough that the holding of elections doesn't become a distraction from the necessities of government.
Now, yes, a bad sovereign is bad for as long as they rule. But France was neither the first, nor the last, to be faced with a crisis of leadership. And historically? States just found a better king or queen to take their place.
@@watchm4ker but isn't democracy just a more scientific way of finding a King?
@@jamesperkins191 No, it is a means of judging the mood of the electors. There is no scientifically superior sovereign to solve for. As history has shown, all have failings, and the electors have no means of predicting the future better then any noble.
What a democracy is meant to ensure is that the ruler is one their subjects will accept and obey, and to provide a legitimate means of removing a ruler that has lost the confidence of the electors. This means the sovereign is, by design, on unstable ground, and must balance any policy or decree against popular opinion, lest they find themselves out of confidence, and out of office. This is a good thing for a stable nation, as it allows for a faster iteration out of bad leaders and into good ones. In theory, at least.
Stephan Amaris: the CK2 run that we've all dreamed of.
I agree.
Literally just space Dong Zho tbh
Maybe if the last part hadn't happened. Becoming the king's best friend is easy.... Getting his throne after you punt him off a balcony is the hard part.
Just make sure you're a commander of the byzantine Empire and invite everyone to carousing.
The Star League was great if you weren't the Periphery. I'm not saying Amaris was a good man, but the Rim World's Republic had a legitemate grudge
Remember kids, a true SLDF soldier follows this motto.
"Nukes are merely inconvenient!"
Now kids let me tell you of the most successful pirate across the inner sphere...aye it may be nothing but legend but by God is it a good one.
Nah. Nukes were damn effective against the SLDF. They just irritated the blackwatch.
I'm sure it would be translated into Latin so that it could be translated back out of Latin for people.
"Can't get killed by nuke if you don't register on targeting computers" every 3rd- current generation Variable Fighter pilots.
I can hear the happy gas mask noises of the Kreigers agreeing with you... Oh wait, wrong universe.
I can see why things eventually went for Amaris as they did. He was a schemer and a planner but he was not a dynamic person per say, rather he was somewhat static. He planned and moved when no one else was; an ambush hunter. Put him in a dynamic battlefield situation with real time decisions and tactics to be considered, and he became more of a tantrum than a tactician.
He probably would have succeeded if not for Kerensky sometimes all the plan in the world isn't enough when up against a man like him.
@@romulusnuma116 "No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first encounter with the main enemy forces." - Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
You might know this proverb as "No plan survives first contact with the enemy"
@@JPG.01 or he more personal one from Mike Tyson, "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face"
More like, he didn't have a real plan for 'after'.
He was meticulous in his scheme. Thorough, and cunning, but once he had what he wanted... well, that's when his plan ran out. And he didn't have as thoroughly meticulous of a plan for that 'after'.
Meanwhile, Kerensky didn't have the greatest luxury of having time and secrecy in his line of work. So he's had to be adaptable.
I'd say it was a lack of foresight on his part. He thought that the SLDF could be bought. Offer Kerensky some titles, recognition, bling, and honors and that secures that. He believes it'll work because it has for well... pretty much everyone else he dealt with before seemingly, like the First Lord. Bad read of the character. But also just not realizing he was in a universe where Plot Armor can exist and people can go "... yeah a 80kt nuclear device went off in my face on a direct hit. So what?". As grounded as BattleTech can be (for giant stompy robot stuff by comparison) it has a lot of cases of that sort of thing no rational person should expect (like a mech pilot who survived, unprotected, a battlemech's gauss rifle shot to his torso). And then coming back to just destroy the person who tried to do it.
Kerensky and his SLDF loyalists were just the first ones in the setting to get to really do that... so he doubly couldn't have expected the reality warping for narrative. ;)
This was truly a thing of beauty. It even had my uncle, a man with little care for battletech, sat in rapt attention. Your passion comes through in a near magical way Mr. Tex. Thank you for sharing your love of the setting.
Welcome. Glad you both enjoyed it
@@theblackpantslegion Tex, I understand life delt you a crap hand, but how you overcame it, and still fight and overcome, is a thing that is legend. I listen to these, even as I play Mechwarrior 5, all to come up with a design I can call, Tex. So far, it is a rifleman 3n, and two lbx10 autocannons, with cluster rounds.
1st Rule of War :
Don't march on Moscow.
2nd Rule of War:
Don't fight a land war in Asia.
3rd Rule of War:
Don't f**k with the Black Watch.
4th Rule of War:
Never underestimate Kerensky.
@@ranekeisenkralle8265 Which is surprisingly easy to do, given his namesake
@@weldonwin I guess Stefan Amaris just didn't get the memo then, hm?
@@ranekeisenkralle8265 Its actually a historical reference. Nicholas Kerensky was the name of the Russian Minster for War during World War One, a man largely considered incompetent and mostly known for the utterly disastrous Kerensky offensive which is largely considered a major contributing factor to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution. I just find is strange that one of the greatest military geniuses and certainly the greatest military leader in the history of the Battletech universe, shares his name with a man who couldn't be more different
@@weldonwin Look at Maltkey and Maltkey. One generation apart, uncle and nephew. One, a visionary who helped bring about the rise of a new state. The other, a god damned idiot who looked to the past and led men to senseless slaughter, and as a result, his nation fell to ruin.
I love eloquent build up of Amaris presenting the gun. Then followed up with "And then he fucking blew off Cameron's head." The total tonal shift is amusing to me. Also, i love the ending. Just the foreboding tone was perfect for setting the up coming war
Star League: What happen to your entire army of tanks, aerospace assets, and mechs?
Me: They fell into the lake.
IdleDrifter god bless space Philippines Taurian Concordet.
It was a very big lake
What is this story?
"the hole"
We took them with the Exodus fleet.
If only Kerensky had a badass mustache to challenge the influence of Amaris, then there would still be a Star League.
That said, Richard was a victim. Poor bastard was a Child thrust to power. He was space Mcully Kulkin
Something that happens a lot historically when you have true monarchy and succession by primogeniture. China certainly knows this well, from the sheer number of Empires that fell because they had a child on the throne and ambitious men to take advantage of them
@@weldonwin Oh yeah, hereditary rule is a bitch when your monarchs die and leave kids in charge. Sucks Karensky wasnt really a politican. He might have avoided the shit storm.
@@lelouche25 Which is the thing about the Battletech universe. I can believe in giant stompy robots, I can believe in genetically engineered mongol hordes invading and I can even believe in a technological dark age following a cataclysmic war, but what I cannot believe in, is mankind deciding that returning to a system of true monarchy would ever be a good idea, considering the long and sad history of our species and the oceans of blood spilled in the name of overly ambitious and under skilled monarchs or those who take advantage of them
@@weldonwin You have far more faith in your fellow man than I then.
@@weldonwin that's your tic? To me it is the Star League bureaucracy can be efficient at ALL...
Your devotion to detail, artful descriptions, masterful storytelling abilities, and willingness to give up so much of your personal time to bring these stories to us in such a way brings a tear to my eye. As a 24 year player, playing since age 13, these videos have been nothing short of intensely fascinating and are, in my opinion, some of the absolute best Battletech material ever produced, fan-written or official. The song from BattleTechnology, which I own, gives me goosebumps.
In all seriousness: thank you, Tex. Thank you, BPL. Thank you for all you've done and continue to do, from the very bottom of a lifelong fan's heart.
Thank you for your kind words.
@@theblackpantslegion Battletechnology 0102 which that song came from was the first BattleTechnology I bought together with the 2nd edition Battletech box set (the one after the original Battledroids) back in the 80's. I credit that magazine and that box set with making me a gamer for life! Awesome rendition of the song and fantastic work on the video. It should be required viewing for anyone who has questions about the end of the Star League.
Well stated.. I have not the words. Prehaps just a deeply felt sense of gratitude will suffice.
Damn straight. This shouldn't even exist, but the fact that it does makes me immensely happy
Please tell me you know of RogueTech. It's the tabletop game digitized bro. They really made it like we imagined it on those old sand tables.
I love how each time there's one of these history videos the classroom is steadily more shot up and damaged.
"Muh batchall" lol
I mean our professor told me that the best way to learn was with a hands on approach so then i started taking classes in the history of light mech tactics 101 and the next thing i knew the roof was gone cause i needed to jump jet NOW, not in a few moments but NOW
"YOU DARE TO REFUSE MUH BATCHALL?"
"Refuse your what?"
@@kybercat7 Light Mech Tactics 101? Possibly even the Steiner Scout Lance Doctrine?
Catch keeps having AD's
Along with the drawing above it was a little art from the horrible cartoon as well (available in its entirety on youtube) I paused for a good laugh too
That moment when nine angry scottish Mechwarriors stopped dozens of enemy mechs, survived nukes right on their head, crushed countless artillery, tanks, and aircraft.
Amaris was haunted by angry bagpipes. Nukes are only an inconvenience.
**Listening to the battle of the Amaris Dragoons vs The Black Watch**
Why, in the name of Kerensky's left nut, has this not been made into a movie?!?
Because Hollywood would ruin it.
Mechassault style game and reap the rewards of mindless destruction.
I would settle for a well made animated series or live action series. They tried this with Dune both as Movie and a as a Series. To mixed results. Dune is another SciFi series that ended before it was finished as its creator Frank Herbert died.
Interestingly enough, Tex asked about the rights during CGL's Kickstarter AMA last night. Apparently it's owned by The Tornate Company. That's one of Michael Eisner's companies. He's also CEO of Disney. It sounded like Tornate got the rights through their 50% ownership of Topps, but I think Disney also bought out Saban Entertainment (the company that made the Battletech cartoon).
Disney also owns the rights to Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They threw the Star Wars canon completely out the window, disregarding anything but the first six movies, Clone Wars, and Part 1 of Blade Squadron so they could take over creative freedom. They haven't taken quite as many liberties with MCU, but they've certainly made a few script, casting, and marketing decisions to target certain audiences or make a political statement at the cost of telling a good story. I don't really trust them with the rights to Battletech, but at least if they're just sitting on it they aren't doing any damage. Maybe they could licence the rights back to CGL or another company that will be faithful to the canon, but I wouldn't want to think about how much that might cost.
Because they can't possibly do it justice. Someone will try and make it woke.
The Black Watches last stand, made me tear up. only thing missing was them blaring Bagpipes while the nukes dropped.
Now I'm imagining a PA equipped Highlander blasting out 'Scotland the Brave' as the sky goes Atomic White...
Gives me a chill it does.
@@malusignatius This is my new headcanon for that event. I love it.
@@WPSent Not a problem.
"only thing missing was them blaring Bagpipes while the nukes dropped."
@@malusignatius one was doing just that i mean come on they were Scotsman
I simultaneously support the periphery’s bid for independence and morn the tragedy of Kerensky’s desire to end the bloodshed amicably
The "Reunification War", AKA the War of Star League Aggression, was a war of conquest that basically set the stage for Amaris Civil War. The Star League were Imperialist occupiers.
except he and star league did. leave the periphery alone. make peace. he never wanted peace. he wanted power. believing himself better. he was the worst type of tyrant. one who refused to see himself as one.
@@lilyphoniex3757 I think his refusing to accept the position as the ruler of the Star League is evidence to the contrary.
@@lilyphoniex3757 The Periphery was invaded and reunification war conducted due to Ian Cameron's desire to unite and rule over all of humanity. He was the true tyrant. Kerensky was just a soldier who followed orders.
@@johndoe1.196Exactly. Kerensky helped conquer and oppress the same people he had the gall to ask to stop fighting because they were all fellow citizens.
*A Soldiers gets zapped by the throne room security system*
Soldier: Sir, we've got a report the Black Watch is already mobilizing
Amaris: Oh. Well we prepared for that. Nuke the garrison and overwhelm the survivors
Soldier: Yes sir!
*Some time later*
Soldier: Uh, sir. We nuked the site, but there were survivors and they are SLAUGHTERING our men! Orders?
Amaris: There were survivors? Oh my god, I'm gonna die!....I need a hug now
Black Watch: *(Angry Royal Guard Noises)*
@Michaelle Green Black Watch: YOUR PUNY WEAPONS CANNOT HARM ME!!!
@Michaelle Green Black Watch: We Are Steel, We Are Doom, We March For The Star League And WE KNOW. NO. *FEAR!*
@@weldonwin ANGRY BAGPIPE DOOTING
@@weldonwin whatever you say, Proteus.
Space West Virginia is angry. Beautiful. The wife and i absolutely lost it at that caption.
it's been a few months, and I still get swept away by "At Gorst Flats with Puget Sound to one side and forested hills on the other..." I'm pretty close to Puget Sound, relatively speaking, and it puts a ton of this into perspective for me. Thanks for this, Tex. I love getting lost on Sarna and going through the source material but, moreso than anyone else I've seen on youtube, you bring the Battletech world to life.
Thanks, I find detail makes a story.
One of the fatal flaws in the Star League was the Pollux Proclamation. Ian made the speech after he was snubbed by the Periphary states during the days when he was assembling the League, and basically declared a war of conquest upon them. This soured their opinion of the Camerons and their imperialistic Star league, and laid one of the seeds that would later allow Amaris to create an opening for his Coup by getting them to lure away the bulk of the SLDF with a bunch of rebellions.
I would say that it goes back even further, to the Reunification Wars themselves. Either leave the periphery states alone, or give them equal status, else this was inevitable.
Or perhaps it goes back to the Ares Conventions, and allowing the Capellans to get away with the “they didn’t sign, so WE don’t have to observe” billshit.
Star League was useful to the great houses for acting as a unifying force and framework against outsiders. Star League was useful to the powers of the Periphery for... conquering them and stomping on them whenever they dared complain about it. Not so useful at all, really. Then, in a single stroke, Star League went and made itself superfluous to everyone.
A great uncle of mine was in the Black Watch in WW1. Always loved the name of that Regiment.
>Shoot the high lord in the face.
Black Watch: *OI LADS, THE ENGLISH IS HERE.*
"Oh nae ye BLOODY DIDN'T!"
Funnily enough, the historical Black Watch was formed by the Lowland Clans (who had some support from the English) to keep the Highlanders in line.
@Crashie-J Well played good sir, well played.
"Local Royal Guards Literally Too Angry To Die!"
The Black Watch were a regiment recruited in Scotland, mainly from Whigs (Protestant Liberals and anti-catholics) that despised Jacobites (Scottish Nationalists supporting Catholics in a mostly protestant Scotland), they were originally principally tasked with tackling castle rustling by the more wild clans against the more civilised ones.
LOCAL SCOTS LITERALLY TOO ANGRY TO DIE
(film at eleven)
“Amaris aint nothin. The man can’t talk. The man can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs mech lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.” Kerensky Trash talk
TheCypherProtocol but he’s Clanner, so he doesn’t use contractions 🤣
@@JimBobJoeB0b Well yes but actually, no. His son developed the Clans
I was just joking around, but yes, you’re correct.
I'm starting to think that the Black Watch became Clan Wolf during the SLDF Exodus.
@@barrybend7189 Nope. Elizabeth Hazen was a founder of the Jade Falcons.
Amaris: Initiates a coup*.
Blackwatch: Extremely LOUD bagpipe noises*.
Jokes aside: The storytelling kept me ABSOLUTELY HOOKED, I LOVE THIS.
“My Little First-Lord: Friendship is Magic”
Fairly fitting, since the ideal outcome was essentially "Congratulations, Amaris. You're the new First Lord."
@@thundersoul6795 I get that reference!
"Local man ruins everything."
Amaris wasn't even local! He was from the Rim Worlds Republic, the Florida of the Periphery! _He was Space Florida Man!_
@@CharlesUrban Given their wealth and their massive military, I'd say the Rim Worlds Republic was more like space Texas
The true tragedy in my eyes is that nobody who saw Amaris' actions coming were willing and/or able to do anything to stop it until it was too late. Surely, _someone_ else at Unity Palace heard his scheming. Surely _some_ poor SLDF schmuck snuck a peek at the odd training schedule of their Rimworld Republic comrades. Yeah, people were concerned about the Rimworld Republic's military access to SLDF systems, but they had seemingly, up until the point where they started nuking SLDF soldiers en masse, been acting in good faith.
Surely, someone must have wondered why Amaris looked like Doctor Robotnik with a way-lamer mustache.
As WW2, climate change and other events have shown, it's astounding what people will ignore in order to avoid a horrific truth.
That's the thing, Richard was a complete and utter rube. It was even speculated that to lay this all down the Amaris family had been for decades trying to kill the heads of house Cameron. They got lucky with the spacing of Simon with that little mining accident. Though none of that could even be proven due any and all avenues of information just being up and gone (ie...the drone itself disappeared and any witnesses were too shocked, dead or worse). It's weird that the long gain was not just the destruction of House Cameron but to take over the League itself. I honestly believe that this is where Stephan pretty much turned his family's single sighted goal into one of the biggest fuckeries ever. Richard also was pretty much a spoiled child and with the first lords trying to court favor only made him realized how much he was 'worth' to others in the worst possible ways. He didnt know better nor knew how to handle power...it made him the perfect target.
So when the Rim Worlds Republic started its build up the SLDF intel agencies made note and kept tabs often trying to sound alarms but none of the lords pushed for investigation and Gen. Kernesky was too busy wet nursing the most powerful leader in the Inner Sphere to do anything. This only made it worse when Richard came of age and started doing things his own way like a complete idiot.
@@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773 Rube, yes, but he also was a barely 20-year old who had been groomed to be a rube. If you look at a lot of the child-kings in history, that's a pretty common thread (Henry V of England being an exception). Richard Cameron reads to me as a more committed and less arrogant Nero, full of big ideas but lacking the social nouse to predict how others would react to his plans. Having Amaris whisper poison in his ear would certainly not have helped.
@@malusignatius : The thing is, I think Nero is probably a _really_ good example.
Nero was the last in a line of famous ancestors that brought wealth and power to the Empire, but accompanied with identical generations of _in house_ back-stabbing and general bad behavior. Nero's mother married Emperor Claudius, had him assassinated, then later maybe assassinated Claudius' blood-son Britannicus, then probably tried to get rid of Nero, and all that being firstly just what _she_ had done, AND only a _few_ events (you should go look up how she got her garden). The sum total of even just her actions, but reinforced by the rest of the family, including Nero, bring it to the point that when I read that she said to the assassin that Nero had sent to kill her "Smite my womb" because she rued the day she gave birth to Nero, and that Nero ultimately committed suicide because he didn't realize the Senate intended to keep him alive to produce an heir, all that I can really bring myself to think is "Good riddance". Nero even had a Kerensky of a sort... then another, then another, though unlike Kerensky they never took the questionably possible effort of journeying off to lands unknown with all their toys out of spite that someone hadn't approved of the innate psychopathy exhibited by the imperial family.
I find it very hard to sympathize with the Star League, and Camerons, and Kerensky with his "descendant" clans. They were abandoned because they, just like the Crusader clans, were the types that create things like the Amaris Civil War, and if it hadn't been the Free Worlds, it would have been someone else.
This is a story of "The Count of Monte Cristo" levels of revenge and fuckery. It is also a wonderfully made video.
True, but unlike Edmund Dantes, Amaris was greedy with power. Edmund wanted revenge on the men who had wronged him and would end his campaign there.
@@SulliMike23 Also, I don't know if angry Scots almost fucked things up for him.
Blackwach I swear those bugers still lurk in the shadows of the mechwarrior universe to bring the Camerons back to rule.
I'm thinking of running a Battletech rpg campaign one day in which the PC's are the descendants of the Black Watch still protecting the last descendants of the Cameron family that managed to escape the Amaris Civil War.
Clan Wolf is Black Watch descendents change my mind.
Barry Bend sadly it’s quite the opposite, Elizabeth Hazen was the founder and first Khan of Clan Jade Falcon. Not many of the rest survived to go with Kerensky on the Exodus.
Wasn't it revealed that they had a some sort of exchange program with the Northwind Highlanders?
Kissamies I’m honestly not sure about that but it would make sense after all Northwind was settled by people who considered themselves ‘Scots’ the direct ancestors of the Battletech Blackwatch. I wouldn’t be surprised if Northwind was a popular recruiting ground for the regiment. I do know that several Blackwatch survivors eventually joined the Highlanders forming a small elite ground dedicated to keeping the Blackwatch spirit and the dream of the Star League alive. Ironically there were eight of them when the second Star League founded and they immediately swore allegiance to Sun Tzu Liao as the new First Lord. They accompanied Task Force Serpent to Huntress along with the Highlanders to prove themselves to the new Star League. They marched into battle with the old Blackwatch iconography all over their mechs and it drove the fucking clanners berserk, Smoke Jaguar warriors literally launched suicidal attack’s against horrible odds trying to kill them for ‘staining’ the honor of the Blackwatch and the old SLDF. I’m not sure how many survived Operation Serpent and the Great Refusal but some did and went on to form the core of First Lord Sun Tzu Liao’s bodyguard.
The Cameron dynasty was pretty terrible from the get-go, the motives for a coup were always there. But beyond that, Tex shows he's a true hero of then Inner Sphere with another fantastic Battletech video
"I know, the solution to all these squabbles between dynastic powers is a bigger dynasty to rule over all of them!"
Kinda shocking how long it lasted, all things considered.
Military Response
The Periphery: "Who The Fuck Is This Kid?"
I lost it right there. That shit is funny.
Also, I'm liking how you guys at the BlackPantsLegion are finally using clips from the Battletech game. Your guy's story telling in the Battletech universe is unmatched. Keep up the awesome work.
Thanks much
@@theblackpantslegion Don't mention it
Battletech lore? Yes please.
Stupidly huge? Just mainline it into my body.
As someone who grew up in the puget sound area and also who is also of the cameron lineage(Taylor sept). The last stand of the black watch is inspiring. Also the fact the last stand happened in Gorst is especially hilarious, I can only imagine Toys Topless getting nuked twice as hilarious.
Tex I thank you for your hard work
Amaris was a crafty, crafty bastard when it came to planning an insurrection...but he couldn't hope to outwit Kerensky once that insurrection started. He could have ruled supreme as a grand vizier controlling his puppet ruler, but as with most such men, his ambition got the better of him.
Edit: Nae battle plan survives contact with the motherfookin' Scots! Good on ye, ye daft Black Watch bastards!
*bagpipe noises intensifies
Alestorm F you with an anchor intensifies.
Kerensky was an upjumped social general. It wasn't that hard to outwit him. Unfortunately for Amaris, Kerensky had the SLDF and enough force to smash the "Amaris Empire" through sheer brute force.
Kerensky spent 40 years of his life in a dropship heading to inspect shit.
While they apparently trace back to the Scots, the name of the leader there sounded very German.
"It's gonna be a unbarra, and a terror, and a scara, when I fight that Guerra on Terra" Kerensky Continuing the hype train
Guerra on Terra - Sponsored by Fiesta Pail
Lord knows the people on Terra gonna need a few Fiesta Pails.
Fiesta pail, A Rim worlds Republic trademark...
Well, Kublai Khan got kicked out of an All You can Eat Mongolian BBQ? No wonder he was a little bitter.
Tex and all the editors. This was... overwhelming, epic and awe inspiring.
Thank you all. I have not the words to adequately describe my appreciation or deep gratitude for the work, love and talent it took to put this together.
The Amaris dragoons had manpower, equipment, and months of exhaustive training on their side in the battle against the Black Watch. But apparently what they lacked was plot armor.
Every story needs unlikely heroes. Heroes that got horribly nuked
When a man of the Black Watch swears an oath, God Himself could not make him forsworn. And the Devil dare nae try.
Plotinium is rather expensive donchknow?
This scenario was actually run on the tabletop with published stats. The average 4th dragopn unit rated a 3/4 on the tabletop, with some 2/3 umits - basically a veteran/borderline elite unit. The 9 Black watch pilots were all around 0/1. It was a one-sided slaughter. The black watch MURDERED them with minimal loss of battle value.. It got evem worse when fought at night. The Watch 9 walked away with 95% pf their battle value still intact. The 4th dragpons... didnt.
The lore actually undersells the tabletop here. The Black Watch were walking death. Bagpipe, whiskey, and murder-fuelled death.
Crazier shit has happened IRL.
Part one, one hour nine minutes forty seven seconds. Just do some stretches, limber up, get a bowl with some pop corn, pretzel sticks, raisins, peanuts... Hunker down, people. We're getting an education.
Huh, it never even clicked that this came the day after my birthday, meaning Tex got me the best birthday gift I've received.
The turn when you get to the blackwatch part get's better every time. Makes me patriotic to a place I've never been in a fictional timeline many moons from now.
DAM IT TEX
Stop teaching me lessons in restraint! I saw this as I am going to bed and now I will be up half the night wondering what went down between Baldy McBald and Fu Manchu.
WHY TEX!!!
WHYYYYY!!!!!!
I found the BPL just a few days ago. Within 5 minutes I subscribed. The writing, editing, and production are top notch spearheaded by my new favorite narrator: Mr. Tex. Being a fan of both history and philosophy seeing Thomas Hobbes' The Leviathan has made The Black Pants Legion my new favorite channel! Edit: it just so happens I watched this on Dec. 27.
Thank you much sir. I appreciate hearing this.
Im here after bailing on warhammer. I wasn't disappointed
welcome to BattleTech.
welcome to the inner sphere. come for the mechs, stay for the tragedies.
aint no grimdark like theoretically realistic grimdark. aint no blaming aliens for this shit.
Yep same here.
This is great! I considered myself a pretty big BattleTech nerd, and have quite a bit of my brainspace taken up just by BT lore, but I'd never actually known the history of the Amaris Civil War and the Star League collapse. It's fascinating that, on the surface, the story plays out as though Amaris and the Periphery states are villainous and evil and the SLDF and Inner Sphere as a whole are good guys just trying to maintain peace in the universe, yet it was the Inner Sphere violently subjugating free and independent worlds that ultimately seeded the whole conflict. So often there are factions in BattleTech that are posed as just and noble, but in the end it's all just space fascism.
¹r eY@g
Why does Stephan Amaris look like Ming the Merciless...?
And you can FEEL the pure 80's in the art and writing!🥰🥰🥰 Next you'll be telling me his entire intelligence arm was made up people who draw their lineage from the deadliest ninja clans known in history!!!🤪🤪🤪
TEX this is one of ur best videos yet, even though there is much less humor, You did the battletech universe a great service with this video, There was nothing funny about the Amaris civil war, You gave the utmost respect to the heroic sacrifices, and the uncountable amount of innocent lives lost over one man's greed and lust for power.
I am awe struck by the care and dedication you put in this video
you deserve 10X the subs you have, just for this content
Thank you. And well, subs are a number. I'm just happy making things
I had a great roommate once, who was a BT fan, and told me how good the lore was, but that it would take too long to explain it to me, and now I've run into this. He was absolutely correct and I just picked up a copy during the latest Steam sale, and it's got quite a grip on me. Thanks for taking the time to make these. I'm really looking forward to more great lore videos, so thanks for tuning me into a fan, as new as I am.
You're most welcome sir.
This Epic drama is why I LOVE Battletech! To remember that all Houses and Clans also carry their equally epic histories is mind boggling.
O-one hour of Text Talks Battletech? Double heat sinks couldn't dissipate this warm feeling!
Seriously, you are one hell of a storyteller. I discovered this channel for the humorous Battlemech videos that you made a while ago, but the quality continues to grow. Please keep this up.
Your Blackwatch part was great. Though in my humble opion you should have also mentioned the heroics of the citadel staff. The Citadel was the seat of the SLDF High command. It was nuked at the start but the surviving command staff managed to sortie in their own fighters. For that several supoport staff ventured outside in the radiated front of the citadel clearing the rubble for the command staff to flee and for the lower staff to sortie with their aerospace fighters and help the Black Watch to do so much by ripping the RWA aeropspace fighters over Unity City to shreds. Not to mention the battle for the Terran space where the Rimworlds fleet managed to suprise and overwhelm a good part of the staioned 1st fleet but how the 1. Fleet fought back with all it's available skill and manged to nearly wipe out the entire attacking fleet (including the flagship the Stefan amaris the Rimworlds very first capital battleship).
And for the end. Amaris didn't order Kerensky to suppress the Concordat. his order was "Crush the Periphery rebellion". He betrayed his erstwhile allies having gotten what he wanted (a third of the SLDF was lost in the Periphery uprsing alone)
It was already an hour plus, my editor was going to off himself if I kept adding in parts.
@@theblackpantslegion That was just my opinion. I mean your story was really great. I bet you could make an hour long version of it for the battle of Terran space alone. I always wanted to do some Battletech videos myself but I have no clue how to edit properly. I often reread the source books and imagine the big battles and how they would look in a video game sequence. Keep up the good work :)
I think it's about time for a Highlander mech spotlight video. Please?
Please?
Or a LAM spotlight.
YES. JUST YES.
The next two TTBT that focus on 'Mechs are to be the Highlander and the Black Knight; there's a poll going on on the BPL's home page as to what order to do them in.
Its coming!
Hello There from Europe, Switzerland... listenong to your Vids not only once or twice....
Thats the 4th or 5th Time now... i love listen to you telling History of Battletech! You do it with charme humor and sometime with very very hard Sadness!!!
Sorry for my writing faults... im no english mothertongue type ;-)
It's okay. Thank you for saying so
With Mech Warrior 5 coming out my brother has informed me that I will be a member of his "lance". Having never played a mech warrior game or having any experience with the lore whatsoever, thank you for your countless hours of hard work by making this series of videos so people like me can have some idea of what is going on. It is very appreciated!
So, did you play MW5?
Tex...thank you. I have all of the pre jihad paperback books and have played the tabletop since it was cardboard standies. This video was an amazing plunge into the lore.
All I can afford is to make my own cardboard standies...
As soon as I saw this was 'Part 1' I knew this would end with Kerensky hearing about the coup and just going "Sigh... now THIS asshole." Still, enjoyable ride. Eagerly awaiting part 2 to see just how many star systems Amaris gets his face smeared across when all is said and done.
The fun thing is that Kerensky _didn't_ go straight for Amaris' throat. He took the time to methodically destroy absolutely every last piece of military infrastructure in the Rim Worlds Republic first. This probably wasn't strictly strategically necessary, but at this point it was also starting to get a bit personal for Kerensky.
@@GaldirEonai there's an argument to be made for the avoidance of a two-front war. By destroying the RWR first, he not only avoids having to leave a significant rear guard, but also can use whatever former RWR infrastructure remains to support the liberation campaign in the Hegemony.
First, thanks for the rise of PTSD with that VBIED Tex. Lol, but seriously, that was very visceral. Second, I'm so glad you did this and, Christ I haven't seen or thought of Dropship Thunder in decades, but once I recognized what it was I immediately grabbed my 87' copy of Battle Technology 102 and sang along. Excellently done.
Thank you based Tex for massaging our ear holes with Battletech kino
welcome
I can't wait for us to get to the part with the dead clanners.
One hour. One hour of spectacular Battletech lore, narrated by this goddamn voice.
Glorious. More please. Can’t get enough.
This is a benchmark standard of what a UA-cam presentation is supposed to be. Keep it up you mad lads.
youtube disagrees
I watch this at least once a month Just to listen to the last stand of the God Damned Blackwatch.
The way you tell that battle gives me goosebumps Every single time.
Yes more Tex talks battletech! Was running out of ss13 stories.
the ending was perfect and good damn job making the word NO sound so epic
God. I think this is like the fifth time I have watch your two part series on the Amaris Civil War. Your editing. Music choice when it is need. And just over all quality with how you delivered this lore was just amazing. The second part has somethings, in it that just really hit close to home from someone that deployed twice to Afghanistan. All I am going to say.
This almost feels like the first time I learned of the Horus Heresy. Epic battles, betrayal, shit going absolutely fucking sideways...ok, I'm in.
You think that's crazy? Watch Exodus to Elementals . . .
@@theblackpantslegion oh, you better believe I'm gonna. This shit's metal as fuck! I'm kicking myself for sleeping on it so long.
@@xenogorwraithblade2538 It's ok pal, you're not alone👍 discovered this recently myself and it is indeed awesome
Tex's voice is audible chocolate
It's damaged, but thank you
ahhhh....after a long night working the salt mines in the retail pits, this video is just what I needed.
I have listened to this lecture at least a dozen times, and the description of the last stand of The Black Watch gives me goosebumps every single time.
I am fascinated by the background history of the Star League.
WOW the last time I heard Dropship thunder I was at Gen Con 88 or 89 that brought me back
I got 1,000 C-Bills on the Black Watch coming back for Revenge somewhere, somehow.
Ye don't fook with the Scots and get away with it, laddie.
Alestorm F you with an anchor intensifies.
If it ain't Scotish, it's crap.
Well, a Black Watch commander (Elizabeth Hazen) did go on to become the first Khan of Jade Falcon, the Crusader's Crusader Clan, so there's that...
@Michaelle Green Oh yeah, I saw that above.
Does anyone else want a book series detailing the beggining of the Amaris Coup and the Amaris Civil War? I would love to see how Richard Cameron really was, as well as the personalities of Amaris and Kerensky.
I could get behind fiction, but there's two source books on this already. Liberation of Terra 1&2.
Your telling of the Black Watch's final stand was goddamned masterful. Thanks for this.
10/10 Tex. Great work. I was curious at some contradictory lore I’ve learned from other sources, will need to re-read and the build-up to the civil war when I have time.
I could of swore that I read when I was younger that AlekK switched to one of the first atlases right before moving on unity city. However it's clearly written he's still in his orion in the two part historical sourcebook released like 6 ish years ago?
He piloted an Atlas II on his retreat from New Vandenberg at the beginning of the Periphery uprising.
lol as a West Virginian, I like that, Space WV is Angry.
That outro music is fucking AMAZING.
I need to go listen to it on a loop for an hour or two...
My poor Taurian bois *cries in bitter nostalgia*
God I can't wait till he gets to the greatest wedding in the history of fiction. GTFO Game of Thrones.
Ah, the union of Prince Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner....
"My dear, I give you the Capellan Confederation~..."
@@wonderfulfable "Oh, you sly bastard. If you wanted a giant fight in lieu of a reception, why didn't you just say so?"
"I'm a hopeless romantic."
Quick grab the wedding plates!
@@CharlesUrban okay... that got me to laugh a little too hard.
Battleteach basically is Game of Thrones in space, just with less incest, especially given how much inspiration they take from real history
This whole thing single-handedly reignited and cemented my love for Battletech.
This whole story is fantastic, and it is todl so very well with this series of videos.
Stefan Amaris: *shoots Richard Cameron and sits down on the throne*
The Goddamn Motherfucking Black Watch: *Bagpipe BFG Division starts playing*
Yes, Yes indeed.
SCOTLAND FOREVER!