I’m telling you now, y’all better love this episode because I worked through the night until 6am to get it finished on time for the holidays. Don’t want to hear one bad word 😂 MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!🎄
Don't stress the length, Sven. I explain to newbs that Battletech is a thousands years of history, each one filled with as much skullduggery, violence, honor and betrayal as the entire Song of Fire and Ice. It takes as long to tell the tales as it takes, and as long to to produce each one as it takes. Thats part of why I hate the idea of stringing everything into mega videos rather than playlists. But also why I love every video. You're as good as anything on the History Channel in the past six or seven years, and not an alien in sight.
I think when I made that post about hoping to get one more out, what I was really doing was subconsciously forcing myself to get it finished no matter what it took as I'd already teased it by then and would feel obliged.
This series is perhaps the most well produced, researched and overall entertaining that I’ve ever watched on UA-cam. It’s been with me through good and bad times over the past years. Thank you for all your hard work and Merry Christmas!
Not only is this a great episode and a great holiday present from Sven, but we get an appearance by my favorite Mechwarrior of all time, Cranston Snord!
@@SvenVanDerPlank For me that's actually *why* he works; the Battletech universe can be a pretty grim place. It gets oppressive without the occasional bit of levity and, arguably, silliness. You need a Cranston Snord to explain why Jamie Wolf is cool. ...part of that might be that I'm just the kind of nerd to love the low-key Buckaroo Banzai references, too, admittedly 🤣
Kuritans: at least killing Ian Davion will put a weaker Davion on the throne... Hanse: "There is only darkness for you, and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army, and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light has been extinguished. You are strong, child, but I am-" Kuritans: "weve made a terrible mistake."
The sourcebook actually says Takashi was thrilled to have Hanse as an opponent and that he became one of very few he respected. But the Combine as a whole would certainly come to regret it.
Please know, you are documenting the inner sphere like no one has done before. Your work is an absolute dream come true! Please, please continue through the events up to the 4th Succession War, the war of 3039, the period of disharmony and the Clan invasion. NO ONE HAS EVER DONE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. From someone who has loved BattleTech since 1984, I thank you.
Thank you. I'm really pleased that folks both old and new to the setting are enjoying the videos. I certainly plan to continue the series all the way through to the ilClan eventually, but that's a multi-year project.
These have been amazing, between you and Tex the lore is so much easier to navigate, and just in time for a new FLGS in my residence to try and expose. Thank you and looking forward to the next one.
39:23 this segment made me realize that you rarely ever mention Battlemechs by name despite this being Battletech lore. Would loved to have known what mechs the Dragoons came back with.
This is something I noticed myself in the last couple chapters. It's not something I deliberately avoid, I think it's just that other channels have already covered the individual designs so comprehensively that I don't feel I need to dwell on it. The new designs that appeared after WD's supply run were the Annihilator and Imp. Shortly thereafter, they commissioned Blackwell to begin construction on the Marauder II as well. There were also a whole bunch of Star League designs that only ComStar had besides them.
That's not so odd for Sven honestly. He's very rarely ever detailed any battlemech designs in his vids largely because much of his focus is on virtually every other aspect of BattleTech, from the political events at play to the actual armies involved in their wars and conflicts from the strategic layer. Indeed, I can only imagine how ridiculously terrified anyone, ComsStar include, would be who are paying any real attention to the Dragoons. I can't wait to see what anyone in the Sphere does once they realize they are an Uno reverse card by Kerenski's kiddos. I also can't wait till Sven inexorably starts down the path of chronicling the SLDF-turn-galactic-weirdos and how they turned out. Just remember...no contractions!
Oh man this is going to rock! Thanks for this. I have alot of errands to run today so at least instead of being bored waiting around I get plenty of BT universe lore.
oh yeah actually gonna catch the premier for once. These videos have been great to listen to whilst at work, always nice to have something interesting to listen to during repetitive sections of the day.
Ok, I am unreasonably excited It's been a hell of an end to the year (my lovely wife had emergency surgery and will need cancer treatment) and this is just wonderful to have It's a light in dark times And I am very grateful for it
I'm very sorry to hear that your partner is going through such a difficult time at Christmas. I really hope things work out okay for you both. Glad I can provide you with some distraction from it all for an hour. Take care.
One of the fascinating aspects of BattleTech is that because we have a nearly unbroken history going back one thousand years, every event has a proceeding one that explains or influences what comes after, and that continues on afterwards.
I am absolutely exploding with excitement now that the story has finally reached the totally action packed 31st century. This is helped by the fact that i just recently did another playthrough of MW5 Mercs and got to participate in and keep up with so many of the upcoming events through the in-game news lore blurbs, doubly so with the mention of soon to be Nik's Cavaliers here. Battletech as a whole is enriched tremendously by having someone so dedicated as you take up this incredibly detailed chronologically based method of storytelling for the entire 1000+ years of history that is jam packed into this amazing setting. I wasn't here when you first started this massive project just over 3 years ago, but I will most certainly be here for every chapter until the end.
Thank you very much. I'm glad folks have enjoyed the series so much. I wouldn't have been able to get so far without everyone's sorry. One more cameo by the Cavaliers to come in Ep.9 as well.
Whenever I describe the Wolf's Dragoons showing up out of nowhere with mechs unseen since the Star League, I always thought I was being a bit hyperbolic. Turns out that, nope, they show up with all the subtlety of a brick to the face. XD
Yeah, it's amazing that it was any mystery at all. Anyone looking at it should have immediately concluded "okay, so these are obviously Kerensky's descendants." Who could have possibly imagined the Clan culture though?
I don't get the aversion some folks have towards including the games in the story if it doesn't clash. I always try to drop some references to them in if I can.
While the Inner Sphere continues to tear itself apart, Cranston Snord is "ohhh,,,, shiny!" *yoink* Another great video. I cannot wait until you cover the FedCom Civil War and Jihad.
Merry Christmas Sven, Another fantastic episode and probably my favorite historical snapshot in the setting. You always do it justice but I paid special attention during this one. The inclusion of the events out of the MW5 Mercs novel was a particularly nice touch I thought.
Thank you, I'm pleased you liked it. I didn't want to dwell on the Cavaliers too much because in universe they'd be too minor to mention normally, but I did want to include one or two minor references to MW5 at some point. There'll pop up again once more at the beginning of Ep.9.
Cheers, I'm glad this one seemed to resonate with folks. Maybe it's because we're starting to see some of the main characters make their first appearances.
Haha, as much as I love that outro song, I do wonder if people are more often disappointed to hear it than excited, because you know by now it heralds the end.
Thank you for all of your hard work! I read these books like 20 years ago and you are bringing back so many memories. MW4 was the game that got me into the lore and I'm old enough to remember a proto MW2 arcade seated game. Your videos should be required viewing for anyone getting into Battle Tech.
You're welcome. It was my hope when I started this series that it could be used by anyone new to the setting to familiarise themselves with the prehistory without having any of the novels spoiled.
Depends on how you count it. Galtor 3025 is the largest BattleMech engagement of the entire Succession Wars era with 20 regiments of 'Mechs involved. New Aragon 3008 has 18, but four of those are RCTs which could add up to as many as 50 regiments if you include conventional assets which were mostly absent from Galtor. We don't have exact figures except for the 'Mechs though so can't be sure. Skye 2895 had 39 regiments involved, of which only 8 were BattleMech units.
@@SvenVanDerPlank wow, Galtor with 20 regiments of battlemechs was the largest 😮? I would have thought they're definitely would have been larger battles of mechs in the first and second war. Okay cool, now I know 😎.
Nah, there are greater numbers of units deployed in a campaign over multiple years in the 1stSW, but no single battle surpasses 8 BattleMech regiments on one side. So New Aragon and Galtor both surpass that. Of course you've got things like Jinjiro Kurita throwing 150 regiments (including 50 'Mech) at the Davion border in a single year, which would be unheard of by the 3rdSW, so it's a different kind of conflict.
We probably know too much about them relative to other bigger units. Even though it doesn't make much sense for our high-level overview, I thought I'd give them some attention anyway just because they're fan-favourites.
I absolutely loved this video. I learned a lot about units I only had passing knowledge of (like Snord's Irregulars) and it even filled in some gaps in my knowledge that I didn't know I had. Top work Sven, hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Thank you. I'm happy I can still talk about things with enough depth that even folks who are familiar with the main history can still learn something from the video.
Wonderful work you've been doing. Actually sent some of your videos to my son and his friends to help get them into the setting, and signed up for Patreon as I should have months ago when I first came upon this series. Looking forward to see what comes next!
Thanks for the great Christmas present you gave us all! Always look forward to when one of your videos come out! I hope you plan on going beyond 3025. Hope you have a great Christmas and a happy New Years!
I certainly am. I just chose 3025 as a starting point so anyone could watch this series without having any events from the novels spoiled, but one day I hope to reach the ilClan.
Another excellent episode Sven. Love seeing all the political back and forth and the rise of so many of our notable heroes and regiments for the years to come. Plus even I’m learning stuff I only had minor knowledge of during this period. And it’ll be interesting in the vids running up to 3022 and 3025, as we’ll see both the end of the 3rd but also the rise of probably the most influential mercenary group to ever step foot in the Inner Sphere.
Now we're coming towards 3025, we're starting to see more and more character art as we get into the more recognisable era of the timeline. Ep.9 is going to focus on all the events that will one day lead to the Fourth Succession War.
@ awesome to hear. And 4th Succession War, I believe you mean the “The day the Confederation was saved by Comstar” or “Davion should own the Inner Sphere” …. No my Davion bias is not showing. But can’t wait for the next episode mate, keep up the good work as always.
mallory's world is a favorite, I'd love to see it actually plotted out on a planetary map, really gives the feel of a proper planetary campaign rather than the usual one and done battles for most worlds.
So I could have done this using the map in the back of the respective Historical Turning Points, but it wouldn't have been very interesting since the whole battle takes place in one tiny corner of a continent and there are only three place names mentioned. Galtor has much more to look at in that respect.
Surprisingly only the one Red Bull during the day. I had two more on backup. I did finish the Bailey's and the Hendricks though, which maybe tells you something. My eyes do feel a bit like they've been subjected to the Ludovico Technique. Vision is starting to return now though 😉
@@SvenVanDerPlank Don't worry. If you didn't get your Red Bull directly from Austria it's harmless. AFAIK we have the double amount of Taurin in the drink, because they had to water it down for the international market due to health concerns (at least for the German market I am 100% sure it is that way). My brother drank a palette each week, till his doctor forbid him any more or else he would have been dead in a month or two later. I hope you get now finally some rest during the holidays. Merry Christmas!
@@SvenVanDerPlank I got your point 🤣. I would have replaced the Gin with whyskey or Brandy, but I understand you very very well, and I am glad that your vision is recovering. I cross my fingers for you, that you will have a full recovery😉 and wish you nice holidays and Frohe Weihnachten!
I already did a video specifically on the history of the Aurigan Reach, and I will have one more on the Arano Restoration after I've concluded the 3rdSW series: ua-cam.com/video/BIjvNv6M1fc/v-deo.htmlsi=BJyhPfTE-UiCyuZv
Another great vid! Thanks so much for all your hard work! Very entertaining to follow The Wolf Dragoons and The Kell Hounds. Its especially entertaining to imagine Comstar losing their minds and soiling themselves trying to figure out who the hell the Dragoons are and where they get all their toys. Looking forward to more of Hanse, as well. In my estimation, he probably pulls off the greatest deception/manipulation attack in the Inner Sphere since Amaris killed Cameron. Oh, the Free Worlds League Civil War next. I remember reading a bit about this one. Things ought to get pretty interesting. Have a Merry Xmas/Happy Holiday's!
Cheers, you're welcome. I'm with you on Hanse Davion. The 4thSW is the first thing since Operation APOTHEOSIS to successfully pull off a large-scale surprise attack.
Yeah, a bit later on the Inner Sphere did start to wonder if they were gathering intelligence about each Successor States fighting prowess, but for what purpose they couldn't work out.
Thanks, I'm glad you thought so, though I don't think I did anything different this time round. Hopefully Episodes 8&10 will stand out as something special.
Merry Christmas SVDP! You've come such a long way and I think your battletech lore is the best! Heresy to say but more complete (tho maybe less funny) than BPL and MF! I love all you BT lore guys and you all entertained me and help keep my happy during some hard times! I cant wait for 2025 and the clanner invasion... Glory to the purple parakeet! God bless and hap[y holidays!
These episodes have the research complexity and smoothness of macro/micro transitions that is normally reserved for a Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode. 👌
There's an irony that Frederick Steiner's Atlas during his time in Comstar was named Heimdall 41:35 *Chuckle* How many more Wolves indeed... 45:20 "Deny this man, Morgan Kell, nothing." - Katrina Steiner 1:16:55 Makes you wonder if Nikolai Mason and Jamie Wolf ever crossed paths. "Passes some codeword to Jamie upon meeting him" ... Ohhh really! I'm a from the deep periphery as well! Canonically I imagine Jamie Wolf sounds like theB33f
09:20 Ah yes Thomas Marik, there's a man who's going to have a steady but un-noteworthy career as one of Comstar's spiritual leaders before quietly retiring to Circinus to work on his sun tan...
I am surprised Comstar was not really do much in how to handle the Wolf Dragoons, and considering who they really were it could have saved a lot of lives during the Clan Invasion. Heck, Davion should have been freak out that one of his largest mercenary units just disappeared in his own territory, and worse is that he had information on Wolf Net which should have raised eyebrows in how a mercenary unit had a sophisticated spy network that rival Great Houses. Really as good as the Wolf Dragoons were as soldiers they had to many red flags, and perhaps if the succession war wasn’t at its peak they would have been squashed and examined by the Inner Sphere and would have realized that they were not from the sphere, and that they were the vanguard for the clans invasion.
There is an anthology series called "The Mercenary Life" which covers the units history more thoroughly if you're interested. Something to note, the MW5 Tutorial takes place in 3012, while it's still Chloe's Cavaliers, and then the attack on De Berry comes in 3015.
I loved the mention of Chole's Cavaliers in amongst the large and famous new mercs and the successor lords. It makes me wonder which english speaking world that had significant accent evolution, that she hired her chief ops and head mechanic from. And it's a shame Nik's son would turn out to be such a dumbarse meathead.
One question I have to ask: where did Wolf’s Dragoons develop tactical prowess? The Clans have the tactical proficiency of a piece of wood, and promote via dueling- they shouldn’t have the skills or the will to train officers.
Wait, so it is "canonically" correct to hate Takashi Kurita the DCMS when playing MW5 Merc given they caused the death of our character's mother? *loads nuke artillery hunchback with malicious intent* Also, yay for more MW5 Merc characters getting a cameo, even if a sad one. Comstar sweating bullets is always nice to learn.
I only recently became aware of that bit of lore. Seems strange to me when even Jaime and Natasha themselves were using IntroTech IS designs. I don't know how much ClanTech it had. In a sense it wouldn't have stood out and more than their three other exclusive 100 tonners in their arsenal.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Fair, though imagining some ComStar tech getting scrambled pict feeds, running it through analysis and getting the Matar as a probable match. Then ComStar going off on a wild goose chase of the former Rim Worlds to try and find where they could've gotten one is entertaining
When we finish the 3rdSW series, I'd like to do a one-off tracking the mercenary lineage for all the major ones and animate who is where at any given moment of the Succession Wars.
The mercenary juggernaut finally gets some attention. Maybe it's in response to the Wolf's Dragoon challenge that they end up growing to an enormous seven regiments by the start of the Clan Invasion.
I hope get good look project Tansient or K series interstellar communication device .how change games and help over overthrow Comstar monopoly also how change tactics and strange war involved in . 🤔 Smaller device can have big impact geopolitics battletech universe
I’m telling you now, y’all better love this episode because I worked through the night until 6am to get it finished on time for the holidays. Don’t want to hear one bad word 😂 MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!🎄
Merry christmas to you you beatiful nerd,now gow to sleep and love your family
Love all your work
Thank you for all your hard work, Sven
I love all the episodes Sir! Happy Holiday 😊
We love all your BattleTech videos ❤.
Don't stress the length, Sven. I explain to newbs that Battletech is a thousands years of history, each one filled with as much skullduggery, violence, honor and betrayal as the entire Song of Fire and Ice. It takes as long to tell the tales as it takes, and as long to to produce each one as it takes. Thats part of why I hate the idea of stringing everything into mega videos rather than playlists. But also why I love every video. You're as good as anything on the History Channel in the past six or seven years, and not an alien in sight.
Thank you. I'm pleased you've been enjoying the videos so much.
SVEN CAME THROUGH ON HIS PROMISE! HE GAVE US A VERY MERRY BATTLETECH CHRISTMAS! ❤❤❤
I think when I made that post about hoping to get one more out, what I was really doing was subconsciously forcing myself to get it finished no matter what it took as I'd already teased it by then and would feel obliged.
What an absolute thrill ride! Sven, your work is truly a labor of love, and we appreciate all the hard work you put into it.
Thanks Thomas
@SvenVanDerPlank you're most certainly welcome!
This series is perhaps the most well produced, researched and overall entertaining that I’ve ever watched on UA-cam. It’s been with me through good and bad times over the past years. Thank you for all your hard work and Merry Christmas!
You're very welcome. I'm glad you're still enjoying it after all this time.
Not only is this a great episode and a great holiday present from Sven, but we get an appearance by my favorite Mechwarrior of all time, Cranston Snord!
The Irregulars are one of the more whimsical elements of BT lore. I get why people like him but he can get a bit too silly for me at times.
@@SvenVanDerPlank For me that's actually *why* he works; the Battletech universe can be a pretty grim place. It gets oppressive without the occasional bit of levity and, arguably, silliness. You need a Cranston Snord to explain why Jamie Wolf is cool. ...part of that might be that I'm just the kind of nerd to love the low-key Buckaroo Banzai references, too, admittedly 🤣
Kuritans: at least killing Ian Davion will put a weaker Davion on the throne...
Hanse: "There is only darkness for you, and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army, and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light has been extinguished. You are strong, child, but I am-"
Kuritans: "weve made a terrible mistake."
Kurita - “we killed the First Prince! Why do I hear boss music?”
Kurita: kills Ian Davion.
Enter the greatest of the setting's magnificent bastards.
The sourcebook actually says Takashi was thrilled to have Hanse as an opponent and that he became one of very few he respected. But the Combine as a whole would certainly come to regret it.
Liao: Hahah, silly Kuritans! A Davion would never get the better of us this badly! Oh hey, a wedding invitation...
Please know, you are documenting the inner sphere like no one has done before. Your work is an absolute dream come true! Please, please continue through the events up to the 4th Succession War, the war of 3039, the period of disharmony and the Clan invasion. NO ONE HAS EVER DONE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. From someone who has loved BattleTech since 1984, I thank you.
Thank you. I'm really pleased that folks both old and new to the setting are enjoying the videos. I certainly plan to continue the series all the way through to the ilClan eventually, but that's a multi-year project.
These have been amazing, between you and Tex the lore is so much easier to navigate, and just in time for a new FLGS in my residence to try and expose. Thank you and looking forward to the next one.
Sven and Tex are the best for lore. If you ever need to know more about individual mechs, check out Big Red-40TECH and Mechanical Frog.
Thank you very much. One of my key goals for this series was to help make the lore more approachable, so I'm glad to hear it's worked.
39:23 this segment made me realize that you rarely ever mention Battlemechs by name despite this being Battletech lore. Would loved to have known what mechs the Dragoons came back with.
This is something I noticed myself in the last couple chapters. It's not something I deliberately avoid, I think it's just that other channels have already covered the individual designs so comprehensively that I don't feel I need to dwell on it. The new designs that appeared after WD's supply run were the Annihilator and Imp. Shortly thereafter, they commissioned Blackwell to begin construction on the Marauder II as well. There were also a whole bunch of Star League designs that only ComStar had besides them.
That's not so odd for Sven honestly. He's very rarely ever detailed any battlemech designs in his vids largely because much of his focus is on virtually every other aspect of BattleTech, from the political events at play to the actual armies involved in their wars and conflicts from the strategic layer. Indeed, I can only imagine how ridiculously terrified anyone, ComsStar include, would be who are paying any real attention to the Dragoons. I can't wait to see what anyone in the Sphere does once they realize they are an Uno reverse card by Kerenski's kiddos. I also can't wait till Sven inexorably starts down the path of chronicling the SLDF-turn-galactic-weirdos and how they turned out. Just remember...no contractions!
Oh man this is going to rock! Thanks for this. I have alot of errands to run today so at least instead of being bored waiting around I get plenty of BT universe lore.
Glad I can entertain you while you get things done.
Makes my day when you put up something new to watch. Thank You.
oh yeah actually gonna catch the premier for once. These videos have been great to listen to whilst at work, always nice to have something interesting to listen to during repetitive sections of the day.
Thank you. Glad I can provide you with some small distraction from work for a bit.
Not to discount the amount of work that goes into these; but you're also clearly very good at it. Thanks for it all.
Ok, I am unreasonably excited
It's been a hell of an end to the year (my lovely wife had emergency surgery and will need cancer treatment) and this is just wonderful to have
It's a light in dark times
And I am very grateful for it
I'm very sorry to hear that your partner is going through such a difficult time at Christmas. I really hope things work out okay for you both. Glad I can provide you with some distraction from it all for an hour. Take care.
Best wishes for better times for you and your partner.
Man, the back story for all this is crazy. I love it, it makes so much more sense of what happens with the Warrior Trilogy and the Marik Civil War
One of the fascinating aspects of BattleTech is that because we have a nearly unbroken history going back one thousand years, every event has a proceeding one that explains or influences what comes after, and that continues on afterwards.
@ which is one of my favorite things, yet that bit of lore was something I couldn’t find in more than snippets for the past 30’years
I am absolutely exploding with excitement now that the story has finally reached the totally action packed 31st century. This is helped by the fact that i just recently did another playthrough of MW5 Mercs and got to participate in and keep up with so many of the upcoming events through the in-game news lore blurbs, doubly so with the mention of soon to be Nik's Cavaliers here.
Battletech as a whole is enriched tremendously by having someone so dedicated as you take up this incredibly detailed chronologically based method of storytelling for the entire 1000+ years of history that is jam packed into this amazing setting. I wasn't here when you first started this massive project just over 3 years ago, but I will most certainly be here for every chapter until the end.
Thank you very much. I'm glad folks have enjoyed the series so much. I wouldn't have been able to get so far without everyone's sorry. One more cameo by the Cavaliers to come in Ep.9 as well.
Whenever I describe the Wolf's Dragoons showing up out of nowhere with mechs unseen since the Star League, I always thought I was being a bit hyperbolic. Turns out that, nope, they show up with all the subtlety of a brick to the face. XD
Clanner rats.
Yeah, it's amazing that it was any mystery at all. Anyone looking at it should have immediately concluded "okay, so these are obviously Kerensky's descendants." Who could have possibly imagined the Clan culture though?
This was a very delightful episode. I love these long episodes.
Thanks, I'm glad you thought so. I do like the longer episodes as there's more to digest, but anything over an hour is a bit too much in my opinion.
Thank you sven! Now I can enjoy this when I start my Christmas vacation tomorrow!
You're welcome. Have a nice holiday.
What a mess. Superbly presented as always. Merry fracking Christmas, Sven! ❤🎄
Excellent work Sven! It was quite the gift for Christmas! A bit long, but very much worth it. Have a wonderful holiday!
Awesomevideo. Really loved you also made Nicolai Mason and his Cavaliers part of the History. Makes them feel legit.
I don't get the aversion some folks have towards including the games in the story if it doesn't clash. I always try to drop some references to them in if I can.
Nice Job and in the next one we'll some characters within the dragoons. Really been enjoying the series.
While the Inner Sphere continues to tear itself apart, Cranston Snord is "ohhh,,,, shiny!" *yoink* Another great video. I cannot wait until you cover the FedCom Civil War and Jihad.
Thank you. Still a few real years away from those eras, but I certainly hope to have covered the whole timeline one day.
But this ep is a preview for Clan invasion
Love the video and can’t wait for the next chapter.
Should be out some time in January, and then finish up the 3rdSW in February.
Thank you for this Christmas gift Sven!! have a merry Christmas.
Thanks, you too.
My favourite history channel.
Cant wait for the Marik Civil War, always had a soft spot for Janos.
Happy new year/kristmas from the Concordat :P
Cheers. It's all gone wrong for Janos this episode after such a promising start last time. We'll see how he fairs during Anton's Revolt.
Awesome job Sven! I really appreciate your hard work.
The Marik civil war was the inspiration for an event with about 20 players recently here in MN
Merry Christmas Sven, Another fantastic episode and probably my favorite historical snapshot in the setting. You always do it justice but I paid special attention during this one. The inclusion of the events out of the MW5 Mercs novel was a particularly nice touch I thought.
Thank you, I'm pleased you liked it. I didn't want to dwell on the Cavaliers too much because in universe they'd be too minor to mention normally, but I did want to include one or two minor references to MW5 at some point. There'll pop up again once more at the beginning of Ep.9.
Amazing video! I’ve enjoyed everything up until now, but this one felt special.
Cheers, I'm glad this one seemed to resonate with folks. Maybe it's because we're starting to see some of the main characters make their first appearances.
I was hanging on every moment... and when the ending music started playing, I was "noooooo!" ... Love this!! How thrilling!
Haha, as much as I love that outro song, I do wonder if people are more often disappointed to hear it than excited, because you know by now it heralds the end.
Thank you for all of your hard work! I read these books like 20 years ago and you are bringing back so many memories. MW4 was the game that got me into the lore and I'm old enough to remember a proto MW2 arcade seated game. Your videos should be required viewing for anyone getting into Battle Tech.
You're welcome. It was my hope when I started this series that it could be used by anyone new to the setting to familiarise themselves with the prehistory without having any of the novels spoiled.
Since you've done all this research, what was the largest battle in the Third Succession War?
Love your channel, love these videos!
Depends on how you count it. Galtor 3025 is the largest BattleMech engagement of the entire Succession Wars era with 20 regiments of 'Mechs involved. New Aragon 3008 has 18, but four of those are RCTs which could add up to as many as 50 regiments if you include conventional assets which were mostly absent from Galtor. We don't have exact figures except for the 'Mechs though so can't be sure. Skye 2895 had 39 regiments involved, of which only 8 were BattleMech units.
@@SvenVanDerPlank wow, Galtor with 20 regiments of battlemechs was the largest 😮? I would have thought they're definitely would have been larger battles of mechs in the first and second war. Okay cool, now I know 😎.
Nah, there are greater numbers of units deployed in a campaign over multiple years in the 1stSW, but no single battle surpasses 8 BattleMech regiments on one side. So New Aragon and Galtor both surpass that. Of course you've got things like Jinjiro Kurita throwing 150 regiments (including 50 'Mech) at the Davion border in a single year, which would be unheard of by the 3rdSW, so it's a different kind of conflict.
Man, these are amazing! This series has been incredible.
Thanks, glad to hear you've enjoyed it.
And here I thought my morning would suck. Thanks for proving me wrong!
Not a problem
Great work on the video. Thanks for such informative videos 😊!
Thank you for showing some love to Snord's Irregulars! :)
We probably know too much about them relative to other bigger units. Even though it doesn't make much sense for our high-level overview, I thought I'd give them some attention anyway just because they're fan-favourites.
I absolutely loved this video. I learned a lot about units I only had passing knowledge of (like Snord's Irregulars) and it even filled in some gaps in my knowledge that I didn't know I had. Top work Sven, hope you have a Merry Christmas!
Thank you. I'm happy I can still talk about things with enough depth that even folks who are familiar with the main history can still learn something from the video.
Awesome work. love this. Looking forward to the next FWL Civil War
Cheers. I'm already looking forward to getting started on that one when I get back home after New Year's.
As always, thank you for all the time and effort you put into these videos it’s hugely appreciated and I loved the video! Happy Holidays!!!
Cheers, same to you.
Happy Holidays and enjoy, thank you for all your work on these spectacular
Cheers, you're welcome.
Thanks for doing these, Love listening to them.
You're welcome, glad you like them.
Wonderful work you've been doing. Actually sent some of your videos to my son and his friends to help get them into the setting, and signed up for Patreon as I should have months ago when I first came upon this series. Looking forward to see what comes next!
Thank you very much for your support. I hope they found them interesting. More to come in January.
As always, this video made my day! Happy Holidays, Sven, and I look forward to more from you in the New Year!
Cheers, certainly more to come.
The intro/outro music lives in my head rent free these days.
Even though I've moved away from using the BattleTech videogame soundtracks, I couldn't possibly consider changing that outro music.
Now this is a documentary!!!! Hot damn dude, i actually forgot i was in UA-cam listening to this….THIS should be on a tv somewhere!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.
Thanks for the great Christmas present you gave us all! Always look forward to when one of your videos come out! I hope you plan on going beyond 3025. Hope you have a great Christmas and a happy New Years!
I certainly am. I just chose 3025 as a starting point so anyone could watch this series without having any events from the novels spoiled, but one day I hope to reach the ilClan.
@SvenVanDerPlank Awesome! Looking forward to seeing it all.
You made it 😃 That's great, thank you very much!
Happy holidays, you lunatic scribe, you purveyor of knowledge!
Ha, thank you Derek, same to you.
Another excellent episode Sven.
Love seeing all the political back and forth and the rise of so many of our notable heroes and regiments for the years to come.
Plus even I’m learning stuff I only had minor knowledge of during this period.
And it’ll be interesting in the vids running up to 3022 and 3025, as we’ll see both the end of the 3rd but also the rise of probably the most influential mercenary group to ever step foot in the Inner Sphere.
Now we're coming towards 3025, we're starting to see more and more character art as we get into the more recognisable era of the timeline. Ep.9 is going to focus on all the events that will one day lead to the Fourth Succession War.
@ awesome to hear.
And 4th Succession War, I believe you mean the “The day the Confederation was saved by Comstar” or “Davion should own the Inner Sphere”
…. No my Davion bias is not showing.
But can’t wait for the next episode mate, keep up the good work as always.
This is a very good episode. Very nicey done and Happy Holidays to you and yours and everyone else in this community.
Cheers, Merry Christmas to you too
Great work - totally enjoyed this :)
Cheers, glad to hear it.
I love it!! Merry Christmas!
mallory's world is a favorite, I'd love to see it actually plotted out on a planetary map, really gives the feel of a proper planetary campaign rather than the usual one and done battles for most worlds.
So I could have done this using the map in the back of the respective Historical Turning Points, but it wouldn't have been very interesting since the whole battle takes place in one tiny corner of a continent and there are only three place names mentioned. Galtor has much more to look at in that respect.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I meant in an official product, the community doesn't have enough info to do it ourselves.
I am glad that you made it, but I hope without spending all your energy drinks and without now beeing in need of a rehab.
Surprisingly only the one Red Bull during the day. I had two more on backup. I did finish the Bailey's and the Hendricks though, which maybe tells you something. My eyes do feel a bit like they've been subjected to the Ludovico Technique. Vision is starting to return now though 😉
@@SvenVanDerPlank Don't worry. If you didn't get your Red Bull directly from Austria it's harmless. AFAIK we have the double amount of Taurin in the drink, because they had to water it down for the international market due to health concerns (at least for the German market I am 100% sure it is that way). My brother drank a palette each week, till his doctor forbid him any more or else he would have been dead in a month or two later.
I hope you get now finally some rest during the holidays. Merry Christmas!
@@SvenVanDerPlank I got your point 🤣. I would have replaced the Gin with whyskey or Brandy, but I understand you very very well, and I am glad that your vision is recovering. I cross my fingers for you, that you will have a full recovery😉 and wish you nice holidays and Frohe Weihnachten!
It's all coming together, the lore, to the commencement of the game's timeline. Woot, what a journey!
It's been a longtime coming but we're finally getting there. Just the more episodes and then we've concluded the 3rdSW.
Sven, this is on my list to watch today. My tablet battery was not charged. I suspect Comstar. I will catch it later today!!!
Not to worry. Hope you enjoy it.
This has been a fun series.
Continuing to enjoy this series :) Please tell me you will also include some coverage of the Aurigan Coalition.
I already did a video specifically on the history of the Aurigan Reach, and I will have one more on the Arano Restoration after I've concluded the 3rdSW series: ua-cam.com/video/BIjvNv6M1fc/v-deo.htmlsi=BJyhPfTE-UiCyuZv
Excellent work!
Another great vid! Thanks so much for all your hard work!
Very entertaining to follow The Wolf Dragoons and The Kell Hounds. Its especially entertaining to imagine Comstar losing their minds and soiling themselves trying to figure out who the hell the Dragoons are and where they get all their toys.
Looking forward to more of Hanse, as well. In my estimation, he probably pulls off the greatest deception/manipulation attack in the Inner Sphere since Amaris killed Cameron.
Oh, the Free Worlds League Civil War next. I remember reading a bit about this one. Things ought to get pretty interesting.
Have a Merry Xmas/Happy Holiday's!
Too bad he got Wolf's Dragoons move order wrong🤣
Cheers, you're welcome. I'm with you on Hanse Davion. The 4thSW is the first thing since Operation APOTHEOSIS to successfully pull off a large-scale surprise attack.
If i remember the old lore, Wolf Dragoons purposely rotated between each House every 5 yrs, gathering intel on each house along the way.
Spies.
That was their real mission, but the Inner Sphere didn’t know about it until the Clan Invasion happened and the metaphorical cat was out of the bag.
Yeah, a bit later on the Inner Sphere did start to wonder if they were gathering intelligence about each Successor States fighting prowess, but for what purpose they couldn't work out.
Thank you so much for your lore series.
You're welcome.
This was maybe the best episode of this "season" :D
Thanks, I'm glad you thought so, though I don't think I did anything different this time round. Hopefully Episodes 8&10 will stand out as something special.
Thanks Sven,
Have a clean human christmas.
We have a dirty alien Christmas at our house
I guarantee you Cranston Snord plays the "Lupin the Third" theme song on repeat in his Mech on every mission.
Merry Christmas SVDP!
You've come such a long way and I think your battletech lore is the best!
Heresy to say but more complete (tho maybe less funny) than BPL and MF!
I love all you BT lore guys and you all entertained me and help keep my happy during some hard times!
I cant wait for 2025 and the clanner invasion... Glory to the purple parakeet!
God bless and hap[y holidays!
Cheers, that's very kind of you to say. Special spotlight episode on the FWL next time, though not much glory to be had I'm afraid.
These episodes have the research complexity and smoothness of macro/micro transitions that is normally reserved for a Dan Carlin's Hardcore History episode. 👌
Thank you very much. That's high praise indeed.
Wolf's Dragoons: * be composed entirely of hand-picked personnel *
Comstar: "Why do our infiltration attempts keep failing???"
SLDF infighting
Wow this episode is a beast!
Crazy that the last two were originally supposed to be just one 45 minute chapter but ended up totally 2.5 hours.
Sven and BPL posting the greatest content on UA-cam this December.
Glory to Marik and all BT fans. Happy holidays!
Thank you. Marik fans will get a special episode next time, but it's as like to make them cry as cheer.
Love it thank you muchly!
Before even hitting play... just seeing the thumbnail... Oh... i recognize THAT Archer.
Yes! I'm so fucking stoked!
There's an irony that Frederick Steiner's Atlas during his time in Comstar was named Heimdall
41:35 *Chuckle* How many more Wolves indeed...
45:20 "Deny this man, Morgan Kell, nothing." - Katrina Steiner
1:16:55 Makes you wonder if Nikolai Mason and Jamie Wolf ever crossed paths.
"Passes some codeword to Jamie upon meeting him" ... Ohhh really! I'm a from the deep periphery as well!
Canonically I imagine Jamie Wolf sounds like theB33f
09:20 Ah yes Thomas Marik, there's a man who's going to have a steady but un-noteworthy career as one of Comstar's spiritual leaders before quietly retiring to Circinus to work on his sun tan...
Haha, one of my favourite bits of BT art is the cover to Final Reckoning.
Looking forward to the next 20 years with the Grey Death Legion, Helm Memory Core and the rebirth of technology in the Inner Sphere.
Another great video for me to put on while i paint some davion royal guard mechs and tanks
Davion Guards are the best. They were the stars of my first introduction to the series in MechCommander.
Likes for the Like God,Comments for the Comment Throne,Advertisments for the Scrapcode Alogarithim! Another great BT History Vid. Thanks Sven.
You're welcome. Thanks for the support.
Milk for the khorne flakes! Ink for the administratum!
I am surprised Comstar was not really do much in how to handle the Wolf Dragoons, and considering who they really were it could have saved a lot of lives during the Clan Invasion. Heck, Davion should have been freak out that one of his largest mercenary units just disappeared in his own territory, and worse is that he had information on Wolf Net which should have raised eyebrows in how a mercenary unit had a sophisticated spy network that rival Great Houses. Really as good as the Wolf Dragoons were as soldiers they had to many red flags, and perhaps if the succession war wasn’t at its peak they would have been squashed and examined by the Inner Sphere and would have realized that they were not from the sphere, and that they were the vanguard for the clans invasion.
The arrival of Wolf's Dragoons will be pivotal in the years to come.
The Inner Sphere dodged a bullet when the Dragoons were ordered to defect.
1:19:58 Uhh, isn't Michael Hasek-Davion Hanse's _Brother-in-Law_ not half-brother?
Damn, I must have misspoke. Thank you for the correction.
Merry Space Christmas!
Oh wow... So that's how Nikolai Mason came to lead Nik's Cavaliers in Mechwarrior 5..
There is an anthology series called "The Mercenary Life" which covers the units history more thoroughly if you're interested. Something to note, the MW5 Tutorial takes place in 3012, while it's still Chloe's Cavaliers, and then the attack on De Berry comes in 3015.
I loved the mention of Chole's Cavaliers in amongst the large and famous new mercs and the successor lords.
It makes me wonder which english speaking world that had significant accent evolution, that she hired her chief ops and head mechanic from.
And it's a shame Nik's son would turn out to be such a dumbarse meathead.
Are you talking about Fahad? I think he's from Al Na'ir, one of the Combine's Azami worlds.
1:17:42 Body? What body? two PPC hits to the cockpit, there's a stain there perhaps..
They were Clanners who wanted his giftake 😄
excellent fuckin episode, king
One question I have to ask: where did Wolf’s Dragoons develop tactical prowess? The Clans have the tactical proficiency of a piece of wood, and promote via dueling- they shouldn’t have the skills or the will to train officers.
You're maybe right. It would make more sense if they won by sheer weight of numbers early on, but gradually improved their tactics over time.
Wait, so it is "canonically" correct to hate Takashi Kurita the DCMS when playing MW5 Merc given they caused the death of our character's mother?
*loads nuke artillery hunchback with malicious intent*
Also, yay for more MW5 Merc characters getting a cameo, even if a sad one.
Comstar sweating bullets is always nice to learn.
That's one way of looking at it. But let's be honest, there are already plenty of reasons to hate Kurita. What is one more?
Enter, Wolf's Dragoons. Still curious how they got away with bringing Zed's Stone Rhino, even with the downgrade
I only recently became aware of that bit of lore. Seems strange to me when even Jaime and Natasha themselves were using IntroTech IS designs. I don't know how much ClanTech it had. In a sense it wouldn't have stood out and more than their three other exclusive 100 tonners in their arsenal.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Fair, though imagining some ComStar tech getting scrambled pict feeds, running it through analysis and getting the Matar as a probable match. Then ComStar going off on a wild goose chase of the former Rim Worlds to try and find where they could've gotten one is entertaining
Chang from Star Trek VI in da house
Has anyone on here been keeping a score card of which merc unit has been signed on with which great house
When we finish the 3rdSW series, I'd like to do a one-off tracking the mercenary lineage for all the major ones and animate who is where at any given moment of the Succession Wars.
Big Mac !!!
The mercenary juggernaut finally gets some attention. Maybe it's in response to the Wolf's Dragoon challenge that they end up growing to an enormous seven regiments by the start of the Clan Invasion.
I hope get good look project Tansient or K series interstellar communication device .how change games and help over overthrow Comstar monopoly also how change tactics and strange war involved in . 🤔 Smaller device can have big impact geopolitics battletech universe
Yesss!!!
Spoiler alert: The Wolf's Dragoons aren't actually mercenaries.
Still think Snord is a Goliath Scorpion Seeker
👁️ IT'S BEAUTIFUL 👁️
👄