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"A Dark Age has engulfed the Human Sphere, the result of more than two centuries of
bitter and endless war. Where once a united Star League ruled, five splintered Successor
States now struggle for dominion. In their wars each House seeks mastery over the others, but
none can conquer unaided and none can be trusted as an ally. Thus, campaign succeeds campaign
and battle follows battle--all without lasting victory or defeat. Men die and worlds are smashed,
but the wars go ever on. Along the Periphery, hundreds of planets have fallen into chaos,
savagery, and barbarism. They are ruled by men who are nothing more than theives, brigands,
and warlords.
With each passing decade we fall further into darkness. Science is forgotten and
learning mocked. Once-proud universities are either empty or smoking rubble, and things
that were child's play for our ancestors are impossible for us. More than two centuries
have passed since a newly-built starship last roamed the Inner Sphere. Even the instruments
of war grow more primitive, though no less deadly. Our huge war machines, the Battlemechs,
can scarcely be built--the Successor Lords must strip their wrecked machines to find
needed spare parts. We have become nothing more than carrion birds feeding on the
wreck of our own civilization."
--Tamar Chandresekar A Time Of Troubles (c. 3017)
Table of Contents:
History
WAR AND CONSOLIDATION
By 2399, almost two hundred years after mankind began colonizing distant planets
through the use of Kearney-Fuchida JumpShips, ten separate inter-stellar nations had emerged
in human space. At the center was the technologically advanced Terran Hegemony, based on
the old home-planet of Terra (Earth), with authority over more that 100 worlds.
The Inner Sphere, which surrounded the Terran Hegemony to a distance of 300 light-years,
was divided among five powerful states: the Lyran Commonwealth (ruled by House Steiner),
the Draconis Combine (House Kurita), the Capellan Confederation (House Liao), the Free Worlds
League (House Marik), and the Federated Suns (House Davion). Four other states existed
along the Periphery of the Inner Sphere: the Rift Republic (later known as the Rim Worlds
Republic), the Outworlds Alliance, the Taurian Concordant, and the Magistracy of Canopus.
So many powerful states could not long coexist, and the 2400's ushered in what is
now called the Age of War. Fighting with advanced tanks and the first of the combat droships,
the ten states struggled inconclusively amongst themselves for two bloody and pointless
centuries. During this time the Terran Hegemony
developed the first Battlemechs to protect itself from the carnage.
"Why don't some maps show Andurien? Don't you know your
history man? Andurien is where the Age of War started! Almost
200 years of misery were let loose there. It's not not on the maps
because it's a place best forgotten. The land is cursed with lost
souls, the water polluted with the iron taste of blood. Andurien?
Friend, it's just Hell with jump-points."
--Captain Helen Redoar, 2549
Taking the role of mediator in the mid-2500's, the Terran Hegemony weaved alliances
among the rulers of the Inner Sphere. In 2571, the greater six states formed a coalition
called the Star League. Ian Cameron, Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, became First
Lord of the Star League with the rulers of the five Houses of the Inner Sphere becoming the
Lords of the High Council. Although the four states of the Periphery were determined to
keep their independence, a ferocious 20-year campaign called the Unification War brought them
into the Star League as well. Fought strictly following the lines of the new Ares-Conventions,
this near-bloodless combat focused on maneuver and tactics over brute force. While this reduced
casualties, it did drag battles on endlessly. In the modern times, the honor of the Ares
Conventions is nearly forgotten.
"I realize that I'm supposed to live up to the high ideals
of my youth and not cave in to the lure of comfort and security,
but I do like these Star League folks. Yes, I remember
all our war cries, but that doesn't change the fact that things
are better now than before the wars. We've got hospitals, we've
got farms where once there were deserts, and we've got more jobs
than people to fill them. And what do the Camerons ask in return?
That we get up and pledge allegiance to the League flag, that we
pay our taxes, and that we put up with a few Battlemechs stomping
around. I call that a fair trade. What can you rabble-rousers
offer me that's better? I am not a coward, and I'm not a fool either.
Remember that being independent means having to take care of
yourselves. If you didn't have the Star League to change your
diapers, what would you do?"
--One-eyed Jack, 2609
The Star League ushered in a century and a half of peace, referred to as "The Good Years."
The time of prosperity lasted until the middle of the 28th century, when the hereditary First
Lordship fell to an eight-year-old boy, and the Lords of the Inner Sphere once again began
to move for power.
CIVIL WAR
In 2751, First Lord of the Star League Simon Cameron died, leaving his eight-year-old
son Richard as sole heir. Aleksandr Kerensky,
commander of the Regular Army, was named Richard's Regent and Protector, but the Lords
of the Star League immediately took advantage of the opportunity to seize control of
as much power as they could.
"Surprise is the best weapon to have in any arsenal.
With it, all things become possible."
--General Patrick Scoffins, Rim-Worlds Republic, 2780
By the time Richard Cameron was old enough to take over the duties of First Lord,
the Council Leaders were firmly entrenched in their positions of power and he was
thoroughly corrupted by Stefan Amaris, Lord of the Rim Worlds Republic. As relations
worsened between the Council and the puppet First Lord, territories began to rebel in
the Outworlds. General Kerensky was forced to dispatch the Regular Army to put down the
rebellion.
"Days of infamy, when some heinous act or crime is
committed, are almost always bright and sunny.
All have their faces pointed to the peaceful
heavens above, making it that much easier to slip
them the knife."
--Stefan Amaris, 2766
In 2766, Stefan Amaris carried out a coup on Terra. Weakened by the excessive drain of
military forces going to the Reunification War, the Terran Hegemony was virtually defenseless.
After executing Richard and the entire Cameron family, Amaris declared himself First Lord.
When news reached Kerensky in 2767, he immediately declared war against Amaris. Both sides
called upon the other Lords of the Star League for aid, but none of the High Council wanted
to risk betting on the loser. Only the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns aided in any way
by providing supplies to the warring Star League Defense Force.
"Soldiers of the Star League, I've a few words to say before we begin.
We've come a long way, my friends. From the far Periphery to just
outside our home, we have fought battle after battle. We've seen
our enemy fall before us. We've seen our friends die. It is hard
to put this into words, but when I look into the eyes of even the
lowest-rank trooper, I see the Star League. Friends, it is time to
go home. Godspeed to all of you."
--General Alexandr Kerensky, 2777
"You will fight to the last soldier, and when you die, I
will call upon your damned soul to rise and speak horrible
curses at the enemy."
--Emperor Stefan Amaris, 2779
Eventually Kerensky was victorious against Amaris and his captured Hegemony Space Defense Systems,
on some worlds coming to the rescue of SLDF forces hiding out in
Castles Brian
since the Coup started years earlier. The war was won, but the cost was devestating.
Communications with the Periphery were severed, hundreds of millions were dead, a third
of the SLDF was destroyed, and the administration of the Star League was shattered. Matters
only grew worse when the High Council reconvened and ordered Kerensky to disperse his troops
to create garrisons for the member states. In addition, an attempt to select a new First Lord
failed as each of the five remaining Houses backed its own candidate. The only thing the
Council did successfully was to appoint Jerome Blake as Minister of
Communications, charging him with restoring the Star League's communication network. His
creation of ComStar was an overwhelming success, but not quite in the way the Council had
hoped (as seen in the years to come).
In 2783, the Council disbanded, agreeing to never agree again. The Lords returned home,
each preparing for war, each trying to buy the services of Kerensky and the more highly
advanced Regular Army. In November of that year Kerensky summoned his commanders
to a secret meeting. In June of 2784 almost three-fourths of the Regular Army troops, with
their families, abandoned their posts and joined the General at New Samarkand in Kurita space.
Those that did not join him still had enough respect for the General not to let on about
what was about to happen. There, they boarded a fleet of ships and the armada jumped outward,
disappearing beyond the boundaries of known space in what is called "The Exodus." No one ever
saw them again.
"To those that we leave behind, let me say that we see no way
to continue living in a civilization that spruns the ideals it once
professed to hold so dear. Though we depart, our hope is that one
day we might return."
--Last known transmission from the warship McKenna's Pride,
assumed to be written by General Kerensky: July 8, 2784
With the Regular Army out of the picture, the only military forces remaining were
House Troops, mercenaries, and a few SLDF units that stayed behind. The Five Houses of the
Inner Sphere moved in and divided the worlds of the Terran Hegemony among themselves while
ComStar used hired mercenaries to take the battle-torn Terra for itself, paying them with
recovered parts and quickly claiming neutrality.
THE SUCCESSION WARS
The Lords of the Five Houses lost no time in going to war with each other. When Minoru
Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, declared himself First Lord of the Star
League in 2796, the other lords quickly followed suit. The First Succession War that
followed was unparralled in brutality as the nearly-forgotten Ares-Conventions were
casually tossed aside--the worst event occuring on the planet Kentares IV, where the entire
population was wiped out in response to the assassination of Minoru Kurita. Cities were destroyed,
millions of civilians were killed, and vast industrial centers were wiped out. Trade and
commerce between all worlds were distrupted or stopped entirely. By 2915, the warring States
had lost most of their hyperspace shipbuilding capacity.
"One of the most telling pictures ever taken in the First
Succession War was of a Davion infantryman in a foxhole,
his rifle in his lap, reading a book whose cover asked the
question on the minds of billions: Where Did the General Go?"
--Telos Auburn, Steiner Historian, 3027
An exhausted interstellar civilization settled into an uneasy peace in 2921.
The five remaining ruling Houses (Davion, Marik, Steiner, Kurita, and Liao) rebuilt their
military might as best they could with their surviving scientists and crippled industries.
After a five year period of recovery, war broke out almost immediatly. The Second Succession
War was every bit as deadly and destructive as the First. Technology sunk to a level
barely above that of 20th-century Earth, the warlords cannibalized existing equipment to keep
fighting. This war ended in 2963 with the loss of the last Warship in the Inner Sphere.
The Third Succession War began in 2966 and has only officially ended three years ago in 3025.
Limited fighting still continues, and war has become a fact of everyday life for most people.
Fortunately, the level of destruction has decreased. All Houses see clearly that the survival
of humanity itself teeters on the brink. Though armies still fight over possession of industrial
facilities, all sides are careful to preserve the facilities themselves. The premier instruments
of war are still BattleMechs, the gigantic, manlike fighting machines first introduced in 2439.
Some major 'Mech battles are fought in stages, with truces that allow Techs time to repair the
damaged machines. Mercenary 'Mech units often surrender to superior forces, paying a ransom
for offworld release. Every side recognizes the sanctity of JumpShips, strictly obeying
the prohibition placed on attacking such craft--without which the war for supremacy could not
be waged at all.
CURRENT AFFAIRS
One result of these destructive wars has been the rise of fuedalism throughout the Inner
Sphere. Because the great Houses no longer possess either the military resources or
the administrative machinery to rule their territories through a central government, each
Warlord rules through a hierarchy of nobles, awarding them authority over worlds, and often in
exchange for the pledged services of their Battlemechs. In addition, pirates constitute an
ever-present threat to all worlds. As the wars spread, bandit kingstook over rulership the
Periphery, raiding any and all Houses at will.
"Justice? Justice died with Simon Cameron. The best
thing we can ask for is an occasional lapse in injustice."
--Archon Katrina Steiner, 3023
A powerful and mysterious force has arisen in the universe with the creation of ComStar.
Created originally simply restore HyperPulse communications, ComStar was transformed by its
brilliant, mystical creator, Jerome Blake, into an pseudo-religious organization whose goal is
to wait until the Houses destroy themselves, then to step in and take over. Often, however,
ComStar is not content with patience, and actively helps in the decline of the great dynasties.
CornStar has evolved into a secret society steeped in strange rituals, but are left alone
by the forces of the Inner Sphere for fear of crippling communications interdictions.
The current year is 3028, and each of the five Houses finds itself with problems and
advantages. The biggest news is the coming alliance between the Federated Suns and the
Lyran Commonwealth. A strong bond between Prince Hanse Davion and Archon Katrina Steiner
could tip the balance of power in the Inner Sphere, allowing one House to enforce its claim to
be First Lord of a new Star League.
Obviously, Houses Kurita, Marik, and Liao do not wish this to happen and they have formed
a loose alliance to prevent it. The Draconis Combine of House Kurita is strong militarily and
economically, but it has been isolated culturally. Kurita has also had to fight the other two
strong military powers of Davion and Steiner, with whom it shares a common border. Coordinator
Takashi Kurita nevertheless seems up to the challenge.
Divided by three factions constantly fighting for control, House Marik can almost be
considered a microcosm of the Inner Sphere itself. This infighting has weakened the Free Worlds
League both militarily and economically. It looks that House Marik, currently led by
Captain-General Janos Marik is only a half-hearted member of the new alliance, likely to
take easy pickings wherever they may appear.
House Liao, led by Chancellor Maximillian Liao, is the weakest Successor State. Having
lost massive territories to House Davion throughout the Succession Wars, House Liao has the
least area, smallest military, and weakest economy. One major point in favor of Liao's
Capellan Confederation is that it has learned how to get what it wants in less obvious
ways. A vast network of spies and elite Death Commando units should help Liao survive the
crutial stages of any new conlfict.
Mechwarrior Families
SOLDIERS OF THE SUCCESSION WARS
THE MECHWARRIOR FAMILIES
The soldiers of the
Succession Wars are professionals, members of a hereditary warrior class. After
two centuries of war, the worlds of the inner Sphere can no longer build new BattleMechs, and
those that are left are patchwork machines handed down from one generation to the next. The
military families form a small, powerful elite in the Successor States, and they guard their
position with jealous vigor.
Their children are raised from birth to be MechWarriors. From the time they are old enough to
talk, the skills they need are hammered into them: Electronics, Mechanical engineering, tactics, and
strategy. The high manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination required are developed by drill, and by
constant practice on electronic simulators. Those who do not measure up are shunted aside,
to serve the family as 'Mech technicians, estate managers, or household guards. The best
are taught to pilot both battlemechs and aerospace fighters. They are kept in
readiness for the day they will succeed their elders on the battlefield.
Over the centuries, the MechWarrior families have gathered more and more power.
By the beginning of the 31st century, most own large estates, supported by large numbers of
servants. Colonels and captains are correspondingly richer, and regimental commanders often
own estates worked by thousands of civilians. Many have been made nobles by the
Successor Warlords. In return for their privileges and wealth, the MechWarrior families
guarantee protection to their tenants, swear allegiance to their officers, and owe fealty to one of
the five Successor Warlords. Mercenary families give their loyalty only to their regimental officers.
"Emphasize morale and minimize brute force,
for the largest army is useless if it has lost
the will to fight. The morale is to the physical
as three is to one."
--Napoleon Bonaparte, Ancient Terran General
The Dispossesed
SOLDIERS OF THE SUCCESSION WARS
THE DISPOSSESSED
Despite their wealth and power, a MechWarrior family's position is always precarious. It
rests solely on their BattleMechs, and these war machines must be risked time
and again in combat. Disaster on a distant battlefield can strip away afamily's lands and
prestige in a single instant. Those whose 'Mechs are lost fall into the ranks of the
Dispossessed. The Dispossessed regard themselves as members of the warrior class, but they are
scorned by warriors with BattleMechs, and hated by the ordinary folk they once
governed. They have no place in society.
Every child of the Dispossessed is raised with one, overriding ambition - to regain full
status as a MechWarrior by capturing a BattleMech. Many of them offer their services as
technicians to one of the MechWarrior families, hoping that years of hard labor will be
rewarded with a captured 'Mech. Others volunteer as infantry, taking desperate chances while
looking for the lucky shot that will "kill" a BattleMech without wrecking it. Some wander
through the Sphere as adventurers and treasure-seekers, always looking for a hidden cache of
Star League weaponry and other lostech equipment.
The Successor Warlords prefer to recruit their spies and scouts from among the
Dispossessed, who are perfectly suited to those roles. Because the Dispossessed are both
desperate and ambitious, they will to do almost anything in order
to regain their place among the elite.
Weapons
WEAPONS OF THE SUCCESSION WARS
The battlefields of the Succession Wars are dominated by the most powerful war
machines ever built, the BattleMechs. They were developed by Terran Hegemony scientists
and engineers more than 500 years ago, during the Age of War. These huge, man-shaped
vehicles are faster, more mobile, better-armored, and more heavily armed than any 20th-century
tank. Equipped with charged-particle beams, lasers, rapid-fire DPU autocannons, and missiles, they
pack enough firepower to flatten anything but another BattleMech. A small fusion
reactor provides virtually unlimited power, and BattleMechs can be adapted to
fight in environments ranging from sun-baked deserts to subzero arctic icefields.
Tanks, VTOLs, and lightly-armed jeeps also can be found on 31st-century battlefields. Although
they are technologically primitive when compared to BattleMechs, they are the most advanced
weapons that many worlds in the Successor States and Periphery can manufacture. Tank and jeep
units are used as garrisons on planets throughout the Inner Sphere. On some worlds, even
infantry units may be thrown against an attacking BattleMech force. During the Succession
Wars, human life is cheap; weapons are expensive.
Small, fusion-powered fighters control both the skies and space. The warships and
battlefleets of all the Successor States were utterly destroyed during the First and
Second Succession Wars, now even the ability to construct spacecraft able to
travel faster than light has been lost. Automated factories produce a handful a year, barely
enough to keep up with age-related breakdowns and accidents--JumpShips being excluded from
combat by all parties. As a result, small aerospace fighters are the first line of defense
for any planet under attack, either in orbit, or in the atmosphere itself.
"Victory depends on the proper use of combined arms.
Light, medium, heavy, assault, air, infantry and the rest.
Variety is the spice of battle."
--Captain Natasha Kerensky, Wolf's Dragoons, 3009
Battlemech Design
PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION
Skeleton
Every BattleMech is built around a man-like "skeleton" made up of several dozen
composite "bones". Each "bone" contains a honeycomb, foamed-aluminum core wrapped with
stressed silicon-carbide monofilament and protected by a rigid, titanium steel shell. Every
strong ultra-light artificial bone provides attachment points needed for the "muscles" and
other servos that actually drive the BattleMech. Their skeletal construction helps make
BattleMechs less vulnerable and easier to repair than vehicles built with a stressed-skin shell.
Muscles
BattleMechs use two different systems to drive and control their movements. Light weapons
and sensor arrays are propelled by small, electrically-driven rotary or linear actuators. Larger
movements involving the limbs and main weapons are controlled by bundles of polyacetylene
fibers called myomers. The fiber bundles contract strongly under the influence of electricity,
duplicating the operation of human muscle tissue, though on a much larger scale. Battlefield
repairs to damaged limbs can easily be made by either replacing the fiber bundles or by
transferring bundles from other parts of the 'Mech's skeleton. Transferred fiber bundles cannot
restore full function to a damaged limb, but they can give it back limited mobility and strength.
Armor
BattleMechs are protected by two separate layers of armor. An outer layer of aligned-crystal
steel with good heat conductivity provides protection from lasers and particle beam weapons. It is
also rigid and tough enough to stop almost any conventional projectile. An inner layer of boron
nitride impregnated with diamond monofilament stops high-explosive armor-piercing (HEAP)
rounds and fast neutrons. This second layer of armor also stops armor fragments from spewing
into the BattleMech's interior. Both layers of armor are only a few inches thick.
Power Plant
BattleMechs require a lot of power for movement and combat, and a fusion power plant
provides enormous amounts of electricity from ordinary water. The fusion reaction used does
not release neutrons, so the power plant can be run indefinitely without becoming
radioactive. However, this reaction requires a temperature that current technology cannot
reach. As a result, destroyed power plants can only be replaced by reactors salvaged
from other, wrecked BattleMechs or from old Star League stockpiles.
The fusion plant produces electricity by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Plasma from the fusion
reaction is channeled by magnetic fields into a loop. This plasma is conductive, and the loop
functions as a generator coil, producing both electricity and waste heat. Every BattleMech
has radiators to help get rid of that waste heat.
Heat retention is always a serious problem for BattleMechs, as high internal temperatures
can disrupt the magnetic containment fields around their reactors. If a power plant's
magnetic bottle is disrupted, fusion reactions that do release neutrons could occur, causing
serious radiation damage to both the BattleMech's internal systems and to its crew.
Combat damage that causes an abrupt shutoff of the reactor's containment fields will not
always cause an explosion. It will, however, wreck the reactor.
Regimental Organization
BATTLEMECH REGIMENTAL ORGANIZATION
During the Succession Wars, BattleMech armies are organized into regiments. Regiments are
combined arms outfits containing heavy, light, and medium BattleMechs, aerospace fighters, and
transport Dropships. Occasionally, several BattleMech regiments are combined to form a division,
but only for very rare, large operations against heavily defended worlds.
The basic structure of a BattleMech regiment is triangular. That is, it is made up
of smaller units in multiples of three. After several hundred years of BattleMech warfare and
tactical experimentation, a standard regimental organization has evolved. In practice, few
regiments are well-equipped enough to conform exactly to this standard organization, but
all units in the Successor States are modeled on it. A model BattleMech regiment is broken
into the following smaller units: lance, company, battalion, regiment:
LANCE
The smallest BattleMech unit is called a lance. It is the equivalent of a 20th-century
tank platoon and contains four BattleMechs: one light, one medium, and two heavy 'Mechs.
A full-strength lance should have four 'Mech pilots and four 'Mech technicians. Lances are
sometimes labelled with their commander's name. As an example, a BattleMech lance commanded
by Lieutenant Gray would be called "Gray's Lance". Roughly a third of all lances contain two
aerospace fighters in addition to their BattleMechs. These variants are called "air lances."
Full-strength air lances have four 'Mech pilots, two fighter pilots, and six technicians.
COMPANY
Two regular lances and an air lance form a company. Companies are commanded by
captains or senior lieutenants. Like lances, they are called by their commander's name.
In all, companies contain 12 BattleMechs, 2 aerospace fighters, and 28 men.
BATTALION
Three companies make up a battalion. Battalions are commanded by majors or by
senior captains, and they are called by their commander's
name. Full-strength units contain 36 'Mechs, 6 fighters, and 84 men.
REGIMENT
Three battalions plus a Dropship transport section form a BattleMech regiment. Every
regiment is commanded by a colonel and contains 108 'Mechs, 18 fighters, and 252
men. Regiments are known by either a traditional title or by their
colonel's name, such as The 216th Crucis Lancers or Yamashita's Regiment, for
example. The transport section contains enough Dropships to carry the entire regiment in
one lift.
DROPSHIP TRANSPORT
There are three different Dropship classes. The smallest, the Leopard class,
can carry a lance or an air lance of four 'Mechs and up to two aerospace fighters. Union class
ships can carry twelve 'Mechs and up to two fighters. Overlord class ships can transport a full
battalion of 36 BattleMechs and six fighters. Most regimental commanders prefer a mix of
different Dropships in their transport section, believing thatit adds flexibility and
survivabilty. Dropships are armed, but they also rely on aerospace fighters for protection
in space and in the air, and onBattleMechs while they are on the ground.
"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your
enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him
as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep
moving on."
--General Ulysses S. Grant, 1865
The Great Houses
"They'll get you somehow. One way or another, there'll be
an employer who teaches you the true meaning of paranoia.
Let's face it, one claimant is pretty much like the other.
Some just hide it better."
--Captain Natasha Kerensky, Wolf's Dragoons, 3027
Hanse Davion--Federated Suns
Takashi Kurita--Deaconis Combine
Katrina Steiner--Lyran Commonwealth
Janos Marik--Free Worlds League
Maximilian Liao--Capellan Confederation
The Famous Mercenaries
"The lowest, dirtiest, nastiest kind of assignment a
hard-luck merc can draw... is whatever mission he's
on at the moment. No job too tough, no fee too high."
--Major Fran Delmarre, 12th Star Guards, 3025
Wolf's Dragoons (Kurita)
Eridani Light Horse (Davion)
Northwind Highlanders (Liao)
Snord's Irregulars (Steiner)
Waco's Rangers (Davion)
McCarron's Armored Cavalry (Liao)
Team Banzai (Davion)
21st Cantauri Lancers (Marik)
Decker's Derelicts (Steiner)
"Forget the casualties, how much did we make?"
--From the comedy holoplay Major Minor, 3007
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