BattleTech

[Unicron]

Woot! Finally a new thread in my forum. I'll probably add multipe segments to this, because it's simply impossible to add all the info in a single post. BattleTech was originally created in the early '80s by the FASA company, and when that company folded a few years ago WhizKids took over the license. They are currently producing new materials.

The political history and timeline are long and complex, so I'm only going to attempt some basic information on the powers here. I've often preferred to start the story in the year 2571, when the first Star League was established. Many of the books have been set in the mid to late 31st century, picking up during or after some of the more recent conflicts.



The Inner Sphere c. 3063

The Star League



In 2556 the Terran Hegemony, the oldest power representing Terra and its interests, persuaded the other interstellar states to form the basis of a union which would span across most of known space at that time. The Inner Sphere comprised the bulk of explored space, including hundreds if not thousands of worlds. The League initially included the Hegemony, the Capellan Confederation, and the Free Worlds League as members. The Lyran Commonwealth joined in 2558, the Federated Suns in 2567, and the Draconis Combine in 2569. Thus in 2571, the Star League was formally assembled. These five states had been built by noble houses, and only the four major Periphery states (the Rim Worlds Republic, the Outworlds Alliance, the Taurian Concordat, and the Magistracy of Canopus) remained outside the League. The Cameron family of Terra became the hereditary First Lords of the League, with the five nations represented as equals more or less on the ruling council.

During these times, the League members made many advancements in technology. The Hegemony had always tried to stay ahead of its political neighbors, and for a long time was able to maintain that dominance somewhat. In 2439 it created an entirely new type of war machine, the Battlemech, which revolutionized the concept of warfare. The other League nations eventually gained access to this technology as well.

But the League, which had been formed after the Age of War (in which the houses had warred against each other in minor conflicts), could not entirely avoid conflicts. Despite constant pressure, the Periphery states refused to consider joining the League and objected to taxes and other issues. Finally in 2578, full scale war broke out between the two groups. This conflict was somewhat dubiously named in history as the Reunification War.

The war lasted from 2581 until 2597, with the League's superior resources eventually giving them the advantage. The Taurian Concordat surrendered first, followed by the Outworlds Alliance, the Magistracy, and finally the Rim Worlds Republic. The war left considerable bitterness in some of the Periphery states against the Star League and its members.

In 2762, the true period of darkness began. Richard Cameron, an unstable and impressionable ruler, ascended to the rule of First Lord. His adviser, Stefan Amaris of the Rim Worlds Republic, secretly manipulated Richard into dismantling a number of League fleet assets, while simultaneously helping to flare up new hostilities between the Periphery and the League. General Aleksander Kerensky, the lead commander of the Star League Defense Force, was sent to quiet things down.

In December of 2766, Amaris made his move. He assassinated Richard Cameron and all of his relations, seizing control of what remained of the Hegemony in a military coup. Kerensky promptly called a truce with the Periphery states and rushed back, beginning the Amaris Civil War. By 2779, Terra was finally liberated and Kerensky had Amaris executed for his crimes. Since the heir to the lordship was not of age, Alexander took the title of Protector of the Realm.

[Unicron]

Unfortunately, history was not overly kind to Kerensky. The power vacuum that was left in the wake of the Cameron deaths was eager to be exploited by the five Houses, who each wanted to claim the rule of the League for themselves. They stripped Kerensky of his title, and in retaliation the general decided on a radical course of action.

Recognizing the corruption that had grown in the Houses, and that the Hegemony was effectively destroyed, Kerensky knew that the house lords wouldn't wait long to begin warring on a scale not seen before. He therefore decided to remove the bulk of the SLDF from the Inner Sphere and go into exile, thereby removing the greatest potential for harm that the member states could do. The last consensus among the lords, after removing Kerensky's authority was the appointment of Jerome Blake to manage the advanced communications grid.

in 2784, General Kerensky gathered approximately 80% of the SLDF and departed the Inner Sphere forever, hoping to recreate what the Star League had been elsewhere. His fleet included 1,349 vessels escorted by 402 warships, and was so large that it took an entire day and night for all of the ships to jump out of Terran orbit. Within two years, in 2786, the Draconis Combine declared its ruler First Lord of the Star League, and began the first in a series of horrible conflicts called the Succession Wars. Jerome Blake, who like Kerensky understood the dire situation, took advantage of his position as communications minister to create a new organization: ComStar. It took control of Terra and declared neutrality, offering the five warring houses a compromise: if they agreed to respect Terran neutrality, Blake would insure that all of them retained access to the communications system under ComStar supervision. Since war and other military matters could not occur without open lines of communications, the Houses agreed.

Blake then secretly began hiding away as much League technology as he could, so that when the self-styled Successor States had destroyed themselves, ComStar would be able to preserve humanity and not lose the advanced benefits which the Star League had developed. He also created a covert military force, the Com Guards, to be used as a safeguard against the Houses should it ever be necessary.



ComStar insignia

[Unicron]

The First Succession War was perhaps the most brutal, as the five nations used every means at their disposal to destroy each other. Few warships had remained in the Inner Sphere after Kerensky's Exodus, and many of those were lost by the end of the Second Succession War. The Federated Suns primarily fought against the Draconis Combine, and the Free Worlds League fought both the Capellan Confederation and the Lyran Commonwealth. Peace finally came in 2821, but only because the Houses had largely exhausted themselves. ComStar cut itself off from the wars, choosing not to intervene to focus on its mission; Jerome died in 2819 and was succeeded by Conrad Toyama, who privately eliminated a splinter faction that wanted to use ComStar's resources to seize power in the Inner Sphere. Many valuable resources and lives were destroyed, with the worst suffering occurring on worlds that relied on water purification systems to support their colonies.

Despite the horrendous carnage caused by the war, the Second Succession War broke out in 2830. The political fields were largely the same, although the Federated Suns also launched a few offensives against the Capellans. By now the Houses were losing the ability to maintain the advanced technology that had existed in the League era, and various designs slowly became rare or nonexistent when their factories were destroyed and individual units were cannibalized for parts. Outside of ComStar's limited fleet of covert vessels, warships had essentially vanished at the war's end in 2864.

[RJDiogenes]

Interesting and complex scenario; the Copyright owners should think about having it novelized. ComStar reminds me a bit of Asimov's Foundation. Do we know what happened to Kerensky, or is that left as a mystery?

[Unicron]

This is but one part of the story. There's more to come. After I finish describing the basic history, I'll post information on the specific factions. That should make the map a little clearer.

In 2866, the Third Succession War broke out. By now all five Houses were wrecked, and so it was impossible to launch the grand offensives that had occurred in the previous two wars. Technology degenerated almost to the point of being magic outside of ComStar; people understood how to use it, but no longer knew why the more advanced methods worked or how to repair and maintain the older systems. The third war ran off and on until sometime around 3022, with much of it consisting of smaller raids and operations. Jumpships, which were necessary to travel between star systems, could no longer be built, so the House lords established an unspoken rule not to attack them or other rare technologies such as water purification. Without jumpships, they could not wage the meager military efforts to which they had been reduced. Also by now there were several generations who had known only the horrors of the Succession Wars, and little to nothing of the glories of the Star League.

In order to maintain protection, many of the systems controlled by the Successor States evolved a sort of feudalism, with their leaders providing direct support to the central governments in return for whatever military support they could offer. The Free Worlds League was wracked with a civil war early in the 31st century, and later had to deal with a portion of one state declaring independence and allying with the Magistracy of Canopus against the Capellan Confederation. The fall of the Star League restored independence to the Periphery states, who remained neutral. The exception was the Rim Worlds Republic, which was quickly absorbed by the Houses closest to it.

In 3022, the Lyran Commonwealth issued an offer of peace to all of its adversaries. Only the Federated Suns showed any interest, and this laid the groundwork for a dramatic change. In a few years, the nobles of the respective Houses (Steiner and Davion) agreed to marry and politically merge their realms into the new Federated Commonwealth. In 3028, at the wedding, House Davion shocked its fellow Houses by declaring a new Succession War - with the Capellan Confederation as its target.

ComStar, though still neutral, had begun to manipulate the continuation of conflicts between the states, to ensure that they would not see the value in uniting. The creation of the Federated Commonwealth threatened that, so its agents along with those of the Draconis Combine urged what became the Concord of Kapteyn. This was a much simpler and looser alliance between the three remaining states, but was far less effective because it only promised that they would not attack each other and would share military intelligence. The considerable bad blood between House Marik of the Free Worlds League and House Liao of the Confederation didn't help, as the Marik ruler nearly walked out when his Draconis counterpart revealed their other partner.

With their resources united, the Commonwealth forces rolled like a steamroller. More was done strategically in this, the shortest war, than had occurred in the previous three. The Capellans lost nearly half of their original worlds to the onslaught, and the Combine forces suffered badly as well. House Marik did send military support but was somewhat more aloof. During this conflict, 17 star systems also seceded from the Commonwealth with help from the Suns, becoming the indepedent St. Ives Compact. House Steiner also tried to support the secession movement in the Rasalhague Principality of the Draconis Combine, an area that the noble house (House Kurita) had conquered earlier. But recognizing the threat posed by the Federated Commonwealth, the Kuritans agreed to give Rasalhague its own government in 3034, knowing that the Lyrans would have to let the worlds in those systems become independent, rather than holding them politically. Thus was born the Free Rasalhague Republic, to serve as a buffer on the Commonwealth/Combine border.

In a mere two years, the fourth war was over. The new alliance, despite the respective commands not being well integrated, had worked well. During this time the mercenary unit, the Grey Death Legion, uncovered a Star League cache on one of their planets. This cache allowed the factions to begin reclaiming the technology which had been lost, and to develop a technological renaissance.

The last relatively minor conflict was the War of 3039 between the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine. ComStar secretly provided House Kurita with some of its League-era technology, albeit modified to protect some key technologies, to even the score against the numerically superior military of the Commonwealth. Houses Steiner and Davion failed to conquer their old enemy, but the war had few direct political ramifications. By 3040, the Succession Wars were over.

[Unicron]

Meanwhile...



Whether General Kerensky actually had a plan for where he intended to relocate his followers after the Exodus has been the topic of much debate. At one point several ships attempted to turn back, and Aleksander kept them in line by landing troops on their hulls. He had several of the commanders tried and executed, which caused some division against his leadership. But he also posted a general order explaining why he felt that return to the Inner Sphere was all but impossible. At long last, having traveled 1300 light years from the Inner Sphere, Kerensky's forces settled on five planets that were marginally habitable. These planets - Arcadia, Babylon, Circe, Dagda, and Eden - became known as the Pentagon worlds.

Aleksander began organizing a new society in the vision of the old Star League, but problems soon arose. For one, many of his supporters were soldiers and others from the military; he lacked the cross-section of civilian skills needed to create a new society. Ethnic strife between former citizens of the member states also reared its head. Within a year, violence was escalating to a state uncannily not unlike that of the Sphere just before the Succession Wars. Kerensky's close friend Aaron DeChavelier, who had fought with him against Stefan Amaris, was killed trying to keep control. This blow hit the general hard, and he finally died of a heart attack while attempting to plan a campaign. Leadership fell to his son Nicholas in 2801.

Nicholas had the loyalty of much of the exiled navy, and other troops, but he chose not to stay and fight. By now he was convinced that the dream of the Star League could not be re-established as his father had hoped, because its essence had become tainted by the corruption of the Inner Sphere. As the Pentagon worlds descended into violence, Nicholas took 800 warriors and staged his own exodus to a group of worlds that had been named the Kerensky Cluster. There he settled on the planet Strana Mechty, whose name means "Field of Dreams" in Russian.

Nicholas created an entirely new society, one that would not be fettered to the fallen dreams of the old League. He divided his 800 into twenty new Clans, 40 soldiers each, with each Clan being named for a predator existing in the Exodus worlds. The Clans would have a caste system with the warriors on top, and four other castes. These are, in descending order, scientists (who conduct research and develop technology), technicians (who maintain that technology), merchants (who handle money and other resources), and laborers (who perform the menial work that maintains the infrastructure of a Clan).

Each Clan is led by a Khan and a second, a saKhan. These officers command the Clan's military Touman, though the actual leadership functions are carried out by an elected council. When multiple Clans are required, a Grand Council is formed headed by an ilKhan who speaks for all the Clans and arbitrates any disputes between individual Clans. Other officers include the Loremaster and Oathmaster, who record the history and the specific proceedings of the Clan respectively.

Nicholas' philosophy was motivated partly on a "survival of the fittest" ideal, and so he started an eugenics program to genetically engineer the next generation of warriors. The Clans refer to such individuals as "trueborn" while those born biologically are "freeborn," and different Clans have different attitudes although all of them tend to look down on the latter. Clan citizens do not have surnames at birth, but those aspiring to a profession such as warrior can earn them. These are called Bloodnames, and are the names of the 800 who supported Nicholas. Certain names, such as Kerensky, are reserved to specific Clans. Clan Wolf possesses this most coveted Bloodname. Earning the distinction of a Bloodname is one of the most important honors a Clan warrior can possess.

The Clans decide many political affairs through various Trials. The castes are hereditary, and children are generally expected to follow the caste into which they are born. Nicholas knew it would be foolish to try and ban warfare outright, so he sought to minimize its destructive aspects by ritualizing it in the Trials. Most begin with a batchall, in which the challenger identifies themselves and sets other details for the trial. The opponents then bid how many forces they will use, cutting the numbers down until one reaches the minimum required for the objective. This system limits the losses and also seems more honorable, as it is better to win against superior numbers when possible.

The Trial takes place in the circle of equals, one formed by fellow soldiers. None may enter the circle except those involved. Traditionally the Trial takes the form of a one-on-one duel and follows etiquette. In the case of individual disputes rather than military ones, there is no batchall and the two opponents decide how the Trial should occur - in mechs, in power armor, etc.

Trials might be held to attain things like a superior command, if a warrior does not feel justly promoted, or for a Bloodname. A Trial of Possession is often used to claim the right of a Clan to manufacture a technology invented by another Clan, or to claim a resource like a factory.

[RJDiogenes]

Kind of sad how Kerensky's Exodus fell apart so quickly; but if all he took were military people, it's pretty much to be expected. Even sadder that it led to a second Exodus that resulted in a militaristic culture. The Strana Mechty does have some interesting customs, though, such as the reserved Bloodnames.

[Unicron]

Yes, BattleTech is admittedly a somewhat grim universe. Unlike other series, no attempt is made to pretend that the majority of humans have risen above some of our baser instincts, or that the good we can do can be spoiled all too easily. Aleksander did have a core of civilians and families who accompanied him into exile, but that core was just too small to handle the challenges of survival and culture-building in the Pentagon worlds. And many soldiers, despite their considerable loyalty to both Aleksander and Nicholas, did not feel that being required to do more "menial" civilian duties was a fair reward after all that they had risked.

Nicholas waited a number of years for the Pentagon factions to wear themselves out in the civil war, then finally the Clans launched their campaign to retake the five worlds - Operation Klondike. They were largely successful, although there was still some bitter fighting, because they still had the technological edge of the Star League. Once the war was won, the Clans set about expanding their new society and continuing to develop.

In 2854, Clan Coyote (with assistance from Clan Diamond Shark) developed what has become one of the Clans' best achievements: the Omnimech. Traditionally, most battlemech designs had been designed with specific missions in mind, and equipment to suit those missions. While it was not that uncommon to modify a given design into several variants, the variety of available designs at the time the Star League fell meant that mechs, like smaller combat vehicles, were usually deployed and produced according to the perceived mission.

With the Omnimech, derived from the League era Mercury class battlemech, all of the major equipment was modular and could be easily swapped out for other missions specific hardware, thus allowing a single mech design far greater versatility and ease of repair. Such units quickly became dominant in the Clan Toumans, but all of them still maintain older secondline mechs and vehicles.

The prospect of someday returning to the Inner Sphere was an old one, and started a debate over how the Clans should accomplish that task when the time arrived. Two political factions evolved, and although most Clans fall into one category or the other, few of them have proven to be fully dedicated to their extreme. One faction, the Warden Clans, believed that the Clans should return as guides to the Inner Sphere and dispense with conquering them, as the Clan way was supposed to place them above such petty squables. The other faction, the Crusaders, held the reverse view. They believed the Great Houses had fallen irrevocably into corruption, and that the Clans needed to cleanse the Sphere militarily to restore the Star League in the Kerensky image. A compromise was finally reached in 3005, when it was agreed to send a unit into the Inner Sphere to pose as mercenaries and report back to the Clans on how things had evolved. This unit was Wolf's Dragoons, which quickly established itself as the best mercenary unit in the Succession Wars.

While the Dragoon Compromise eliminated any immediate possibility of the Clans invading their former home, it did not stop preparations. Things came to a head in 3048, when the ComStar jumpship Outbound Light miscalculated its jump trajectory and wound up in Clan space, where Clan Smoke Jaguar promptly captured the crew. The crew of the Outbound Light had thought this region of space, containing the Jaguar capital of Huntress, was merely an unexplored sector. Khan Leo Showers took full advantage of the opportunity to interrogate the crew and gain information, because the Smoke Jaguars were staunch Crusaders. Khan Showers believed that he could use the incident to their advantage in the deadlocked Great Debate, but also worried that the presence of the Outbound Light meant the Inner Sphere might be close to discovering the existence of the Clans.

When the Khan finally announced the capture of the vessel to the rest of the Clans several weeks later, he selectively presented the Inner Sphere in the worst possible light, with no small amount of exaggeration (for example, he described the Federated Commonwealth being ready to essentially swallow the other states, when in reality its respective victory and defeat in the Fourth Succession War and the War of 3039 had established a new balance of power). This was enough to persuade the majority of the Clans that it was time to launch Operation Revival - the invasion of the Inner Sphere. Only Clan Wolf staunchly opposed the decision to invade, and was added to the list of invading Clans as a sort of punishment for voting against the operation, yet ironically they used this opportunity to claim the most worlds in the subsequent battles. Thus they were in a position to have Khan Ulric Kerensky succeed Leo Showers as ilKhan, after the latter was killed in battle during the Clan War by a brave Rasalhaguian pilot who rammed her damaged fighter into the bridge of his flagship.

[Unicron]

Thus in 3049, the world of the Great Houses changed forever. The Clans, with technology that was far superior to that of the Sphere and even of the old Star League, launched a massive invasion. Clan Wolf targeted the Free Rasalhague Republic and the Lyran half of the Commonwealth. Clan Jade Falcon, with Clan Steel Viper as a reserve unit, targeted Steiner space as well. Clans Ghost Bear and Smoke Jaguar attacked the Draconic Combine, with Clan Nova Cat supporting the Jaguars. Clan Diamond Shark did not participate in the invasion until the final battle on Tukkayid in the Republic.

For three years, the Clan juggernaut was largely unstoppable. Hundreds of worlds fell, with the respective Clans carving out their own occupation zones. The Houses did their best to band together for survival, and late in the war ComStar also intervened. Unveiling the Com Guards existence publicly for the first time in centuries, they learned some aspects of the Clan ideas of warfare and tactics. ilKhan Showers was unexpectedly killed in 3051 at Radstadt, where his heavy cruiser came into contact with the fleet escorting the defense minister of Rasalhague. The guard unit had thought initially this planet would be safe, while the Clans gathered there because Showers wanted to censure Clan Wolf for what he viewed as mishandling in their wing of the invasion. The Rasalhague unit, lead by several distinguished pilots including Tyra Miraborg, were able to make several passes against the ilKhan's heavy cruiser before the surprised enemy responded in kind. The minister's jumpship escaped to safety, but the guard unit had taken heavy damage by then. As they attacked one last time, Tyra flew her crippled fighter directly into the Dire Wolf's bridge, doing significant damage and killing Showers and several other officials. Her desperate bravery forced the Clan war machine to halt for a full year, as they were without a leader, and greatly impressed them. The Clans have since named a class of dropship in her honor and mentioned her in The Rememberance, an epic poem which records some of the history of the Clans.

In 3052, ComStar arranged a proxy battle on the planet Tukayyid against the invading Clans. They would hold a series of battles, and if the Clans won a majority, then they would be allowed to proceed to Terra. If however ComStar won, there would be a 15-year truce between the Clans and the Houses. The Clans would not be able to make any military offensives, but would keep all of the worlds they had conquered in the interim. ComStar had recognized that the invaders, some more than others, often failed to prepare for the possibility of a long drawn out battle since many of the forces they had defeated were inferior technologically. That factor weighed heavily against them on Tukayyid, and only two Clans - Wolf and Ghost Bear - had any degree of success over the tactics of the Com Guards. Thus the Clan War finally ended, and the Houses were given a short period of breathing room. But the Truce of Tukayyid did not sit easily with the Crusaders, and though it helped the Inner Sphere by dividing Clan leadership on the invasion, it also increased political tensions between the two factions.

[RJDiogenes]

Interesting. I like how the different political factions evolved, each with their own interpretation of how to carry out Kerensky's dream.

[Unicron]

With the end of the Clan War, there was a relative peace in the Inner Sphere for the first time in centuries. Around the time of Tukkayid, a splinter faction within ComStar launched what they dubbed Operation Scorpion - an attempt to seize control of both worlds in the new Clan Occupation Zones and the HPG communications systems from the Great Houses. The attempt failed, but lead to a schism within ComStar. The dissidents became known as the Word of Blake, and would be able to capture Terra in 3057. They believed that ComStar should have used the presence of the Clans as a way of claiming control over the Inner Sphere.

With the succession of new lords in several of the Great Houses, they began to reclaim some of what had been lost with the Star League. The presence of a common enemy had shown what the Houses could achieve when they acted together, but old hatreds do not die easily. The Free Worlds League, having been the most distant from the battlefields against the Clans and having one of the strongest industries, agreed to help provide technological support to the other Inner Sphere powers. In return, House Davion agreed to provide the best medical care possible to the League's heir, Joshua Marik, who suffered from leukemia. By 3055, the Houses had begun fielding new battlemech designs using knowledge from ComStar and captured Clan units.

But by 3057, new crises were quick to erupt. The Word of Blake successfully captured Terra, and gained some covert support within the Free Worlds League. Clan Jade Falcon, attempting to circumvent the truce and Clan Wolf, attacked the Lyran world of Coventry near its occupation zone. The invasion was repulsed, but did serve to increase tensions between the two halves of the Federated Commonwealth. Many Lyrans felt that the Davion state was not as willing to provide for a common defense against the Clans as it should be.

When a formal secession attempt broke out in the Lyran provice of Skye, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion managed to contain it but in the process, unintentionally, alienated many Lyran citizens. To make matters worse, it leaked out that Joshua Marik had died at the Davion medical facility from complications of his illness. Fearing the loss of Marik support, Victor had reluctantly agreed to substitute a double for Joshua but the deception failed.

In response, his half-sister Katrina Steiner-Davion withdrew the Lyran state from the Commonwealth and renamed it the Lyran Alliance. Many of the Marik worlds which the Steiners had captured during the Fourth Succession War were returned to the League. Captain-General Thomas Marik, outraged at the death of his son, launched his own campaign to retake other worlds from the Davion half of the Commonwealth, which would keep that name until 3067. The Capellans joined in as a Marik ally, hoping to reclaim many of their losses from that war, but had more limited success. Thomas, despite his grief, was not interested in a personal vendetta; having succeeded in liberating a number of worlds, he withdrew his forces. The Capellan offensive soon shut down as well.

Meanwhile, trouble had also been brewing between ilKhan Kerensky and the Jade Falcons. The two Clans invoked a formal Trial of Refusal in 3058, in which Ulric nearly succeeded in his objective of weaking the Falcons. But he fell in battle alongside some of his lieutenants, and this provided the Crusaders within Clan Wolf to gain political control of the Clan. A small group of Warden Wolves fled into the Inner Sphere, taking refuge in the Lyran Alliance. They are Clan Wolf-in-Exile.

[Unicron]

3058 also saw the inaguration of a new Star League, with the Great Houses gaining more of an equal footing technologically with the Clans. In 3060 the League launched Operation Bulldog, an all-out assault on the occupation zone held by Clans Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat. The combined forces of the Inner Sphere were successful in essentially annihilating the Smoke Jaguars, with the Nova Cats choosing to side with the houses rather than the Jaguars, who were a longtime political rival. But the Jaguars did have a new technology they had developed secretly shortly before the fall of Huntress: the protomech, a new weapon designed to bridge the gap between light mechs and powered infantry armor. Though still somewhat experimental, several other Clans have acquired the technology.

Victor led the combined force, and the Capellans had been given the First Lordship in recognition of having suffered the worst losses in the former wars. Yet while he was away, leading the fight against the Clans, Katherine took the opportunity to claim leadership of the Davion half of the former Commonwealth. Despite protests over her increasingly tyrannical behavior, Victor did not initially challenge her upon his return. He felt he lacked the political support he needed for such a challenge, but changed his mind when Katherine began committing atrocities against the civilian populations. This led him to seek allies, and begin the FedCom Civil War. It raged for nearly a decade until Katherine's loyalists were defeated in 3067.

Other lesser conflicts erupted during the same time. Clan Steel Viper attempted to wrest control of their dual occupation zone from the Jade Falcons, but was defeated and ejected from the Inner Sphere altogether. And House Liao, under somewhat dubious League authority, militarily reconqured the St. Ives Compact. Shortly after the civil war ended, it was decided that the new Star League was little more than a paper tiger; its intentions were honorable, but it was not what the first League was. It was more of an alliance of convenience. The Houses voted to dissolve it in 3064, with only House Kurita remaining interested, and this brought considerable anger from the Word of Blake as they were being considered for membership. It was hoped that this would allow them to fulfill what they viewed as ancient prophecy. This led to their jihad in 3067, against many of the other factions. Although the novels have explored some of the timeline after the Jihad, many of the game expansions are currently set during it.

[RJDiogenes]

Wow. Endless grudges and ancient hatreds; just like real life. Most of the people probably don't even know or care why they fight.

[Unicron]

Finally getting my lazy butt around to updating this thread. I'll be posting some info on the major factions, though given how many there are, it will be brief snippets.

Inner Sphere - The Successor States



The Federated Suns (House Davion)

Founded in 2317, the Federated Suns is mainly descended from the peoples of western Europe and the former United Kingdom. It is essentially a sort of constitutional monarch headed by the First Prince, with the assistance of a Privy Council (who assist in running the state) and the House Council, which functions as a "rubber stamp" body effectively. The state's military body is the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns (AFFS), and the Suns remain one of the most powerful states in the Inner Sphere. Its capital prior to the Jihad was New Avalon.



Former symbol of the Federated Commonwealth. The combined military during this era was the AFFC.



The Draconis Combine (House Kurita)

Primarily of Japanese and eastern Asian ancestry, the Combine is a feudal state headed by the Coordinator of Worlds. It was founded in 2319, and the name Kurita comes from Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, who served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII. The Combine military is the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery (DCMS). Its capital is Luthien.

Historically House Kurita has been on a near par with the Federated Suns, its primary rival along with House Steiner. The Succession Wars saw much bitter fighting between Davion and Kurita forces, and only the Clan invasion prompted the two enemies to work together. Combine society is based on five philosophical pillars, each one representing an important aspect. These are the Pillar of Gold (socioeconomics, structure of the government), the Pillar of Ivory (religion and philosophy), the Pillar of Steel (the DCMS), the Pillar of Teak (daily life, education etc.) and the Pillar of Jade (economy). House Kurita was the first IS power to successfully reverse engineer Clan omni technology.



State emblem



Steiner crest

The Lyran Alliance (formerly Commonwealth, House Steiner)

The Lyrans are mainly descended from Scandanavian and eastern European (German) stock, although influence from House Davion has led to many western European names being common as well. Prior to the FedCom Civil War, House Steiner possessed the single strongest economy in the Sphere. It evolved from three smaller mutual defense pacts in 2340 (the Tamar Pact, the Federation of Skye, and the Protectorate of Donegal) and its capital is Tharkad. The Steiner military, the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces (formerly LCAF) are famed both for their emphasis on heavier units and, to an extent, the ineptness of some of their commanders. Up until the Fourth Succession War, when the newly formed Federated Commonwealth rolled like a steamroller over its enemies, the Draconis Combine had been steadily nibbling away at Lyran territory.

The head of state has the title of Archon, assisted by the Alliance Council and the Estates General. The Council consists of representatives from the five major provinces, the commander of the LAAF, and the five internal branches of the state who manage finance, intelligence and so forth. The Council mainly acts as a middleman between the Archon and the Estates General, who have evolved to handle much of the day to day care of the society.



The Free Worlds League (House Marik)

The oldest and most multicultural of the Successor States, the League was founded in 2271. It includes strong descendants from America, Asia and Europe, and the political structure was for many years far less centralized than in the other Successor States. The four major regions - the Marik Commonwealth, with the capital at Atreus - the Principality of Regulus, the Grand Duchy of Oriente and the troublesome Duchy of Andurien have not always acted as a single state, and Andurien once tried to attain formal independence. Until the dissolution caused by the jihad, the state's military force was the Free Worlds League Military (FWLM). The FWLM was fond of using combined arms tactics.

The major opponent to House Marik during the Succession Wars was the Capellan Confederation, and although the two states have become allies in more recent decades, there is still bad blood. When the Clan invasion hit, the League agreed to provide newer technologies and equipment to the other Houses since it was the most geographically remote from occupation zones. It is somewhat ironic therefore that when the Word of Blake unleashed their jihad on the Inner Sphere, the Marik realm was devastated and has fallen into chaos.



The Capellan Confederation (House Liao)

The smallest and last of the major states to form, the Confederation is ethnically of Chinese descent. Its structure is not unlike that of the Draconis Combine, with the Chancellor as the single head of state. Theoretically this office is elected by the Protectorate, representing the major regions of the state (Commonalities), while the House of Scions (minor nobles) handles the day to day affairs, but in practice the Chancellor has direct authority. The Confederation is unique in that the state handles far more aspects of daily life than is the case elsewhere, and citizenship in the normal sense must be earned through completion of state-sponsored examinations. The governing philosophy is that such service to the state is an expression of serving oneself.

House Liao formed the Capellan state in response to strong attempts by House Davion to annex regions settled by the Capellans, an enmity which they have not forgotten. The Confederation's role in the Succession Wars was usually against either the Mariks or Davions, and the last was particularly brutal. The Federated Commonwealth cleaved the Liao state effectively in two, and it's taken many years for the Capellan resources to recover. The Liao military is the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces (CCAF) and the capital is at Sian. During the early wars, there was a strong emphasis on aerospace forces in the hope of stopping invaders before they could land. While the CCAF is sometimes mocked for its relatively small size and the losses it suffered in the Fourth Succession War, it should not be underestimated. House Liao is as capable as any other power in single combat.

[RJDiogenes]

Interesting. The Federated Commonwealth and the Lyran Alliance seem to use the same symbol.