Historical BattleMech Gallery

As a supplement to both the Irregulars BattleMech gallery and the NPC/OpFor gallery, this gallery represents "historical" BattleMechs that predate the current game.

Annika Magyari's TDR-9M Thunderbolt, circa 3075. This BattleMech was heavily customised, including both experimental and Clan-tech components

Audio Log File #75267-Rho

Major Irisz Magyari: So they’re off?

Nikola Kardos: Apparently so. Air defence command tracked the launch of a single dropship from somewhere north of us, headed into space. While there was no solid ID on it, given the timing I think it’s safe to assume that was Carson.

Magyari: Agreed. It’s also what I would have done if I was in his position. He got to leave with most of his unit intact before he was at the devastating, unrecoverable losses stage. And I have no doubt that he pillaged as many of their supply caches as he could find before he left as well. Again, what I’d do.

Kardos: Speaking of, Stanley had a look at the cache we found his men at. It’s the same stuff; high-quality parts of standard manufacture. And while most of it was your normal, open-market stuff, there was a quantity of the mysterious ‘OB1/OB3’ stuff there as well.

Magyari: Interesting. We’ll have to look into that further, but for now I think we should focus on more pressing matters.

Violette Juste, MRBC Report

Irisz - found the identity of the hunter who came after Zhen. While I was able to identify them courtesy of their distinctive BattleMech, I still don't know who hired them. I'm wondering if it might not be connected to Eckart Stein, however, given his actions so far. On the other hand, it also seems that there are bounties on the heads of two of the Assault Lance now
 -NK


Juste, Violette
Date of Birth: 14/04/3110

Homeworld: June, Federated Suns

Affiliation: Independent/Bounty Hunter

Rank: None

From the personal journal of Violette Juste

I arrived on Kamenez in pursuit of Lee Zhen based on known good information on his movements. Since he had been last known in the employ of Magyari’s Irregulars, it stood to reason that he would still be with the unit. My only concern was that he might have been already killed in action, which would have rendered this entire expedition somewhat pointless. Fortunately, such was not the case.

After making planetfall, it was relatively easy to make contact with Connor Carson. As expected, he was open to negotiation and willing to make a deal, especially in light of the reversals he and his unit had suffered in the last few weeks of operations. Carson was looking for a victory, and saw me as a way to achieve that. At the same time, he would give me the means to deal with that target and his allies. We both win.

The Long Road Back

From Mercenaries in the 32nd Century,  Galatea Free Press

One of the MRBC’s more controversial and ill-advised decisions during the Word of Blake Jihad was to outlaw any units working for the Word of Blake and their allies. Any unit that was doing such faced not only an immediate ban by the MRBC, but was then subject to punitive bounties on the heads of their officers and select members. While this move was intended to discourage units from ‘jumping ship’ to the Word’s employ, it ended up doing more harm than good.

The blacklists and bounties served to discourage any unit that was wavering in its commitment to the Word from out and abandoning their employ or breaking contract. Such a unit would not only be still wanted by the MRBC, but also now have nowhere else to go. It also served to further ‘lock in’ those units that had been coerced or blackmailed into serving the Word, such as Blanc’s Coyotes, knowing that they’d receive no help from any outside agency. Finally, it seemed to only serve to encourage other banned units to actively join the Word’s cause; after all, if they were already wanted criminals, then being wanted criminals with a steady source of income could only be an improvement.

From the personal journal of Carrie Bull

On Solaris, it was all too often the case that the outcome of a match would be decided before the fight. I’m not talking ludicrously one-sided matches where it’s obvious that one side doesn’t have a chance (see the infamous Carl “Bossmonster” Kaled versus Herbert Wilks match, for example) but those where someone had a vested interest in seeing one side or the other lose and was going to do everything he could in order to make it happen. Usually that somebody is a criminal, and usually they’re very unsubtle when they decide to lean on their target to make it happen.

Eckhart Stein may not have been a criminal (may) but he certainly was on the slimy side of things. His offer to me seemed innocuous enough, but his second one definitely was the sort of “gentle persuasion” one associates with Solaris Mobsters, even if the threat wasn’t immediate. So when we found out that the Royals were hiding out in some resort town, I was actually hoping that he’d be there with them, if only so I could give him a little bit of a ‘talking to’ about things.

LIC Force Report 6459-8-D/Kamenz (extract)

Based on confirmed battlefield losses and cross-referenced with the known force strength at the point of hiring, it is considered that the Liberty City Royals no longer represent a credible threat or a viable combat force. A brief summary of their current situation is given below in order to elaborate on this assessment.

At present, the Liberty City Royals are believed to possess the following combat assets:

*Six BattleMechs; HMH-6E Hammerhands (Badly damaged, no longer combat effective), CRD-5K Crusader (Moderately damaged), BZK-D1 Hollander III, BLD-7R Blade, MLR-B2 Mjolnir, Koshi 3
*A seventh BattleMech, a PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk was known to be in their possession but has not been seen since they fled the spaceport
*Two Winterhawk APCs
*Two squads of Battle Armour

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

Oybin, southern Saxony; Kamenz

"It's inevitable that your employer will go behind your back and pull something without letting your know in advance what they're doing. The only real question is when it will happen and how bad it will be".

I don't remember if that was from Sel's journals, or one of Sonya Brie's terrible pulp novels. Either way, it's a depressing truth of the mercenary trade, as we've learned today. The only good side to this is that it's an employer stunt that hasn't immediately hurt us.

I'll get to that in a minute, however. The good news is that the Royals are no longer a threat to us. I'm not going to lie here; I didn't like Royale from the moment I met him, and when they turned on us there was a part of me that had suspected this would happen all along. I'm also going to admit that the opportunity to deliver a little payback for what he did to us felt good, to say the least.

Victoria Planetary News Internal Memo

From: Frank J. Harris II (Programming department)

To: Randy R. Georges

Subject: Expanding the scope

Randy, we just (well, as of me sending this, which could mean anything to you!) got the first package of material you sent back. The boys were looking at it, an, well, we love it. There's some great stuff in there. Very raw, very visceral, very dynamic material that's bound to grab the attention of the viewers and the sponsors. You've done a great job there so far, and this project has a lot of potential.

Also, that bit you pulled with the VTOL and claiming to be a government spook? Great stuff.

From the personal journal of Carrie Bull

I haven't updated this in a long time. I've had a lot of things on my mind, and that's left me with not much time to think. Though, in truth, I noticed that I wasn't that succinct in keeping it up to date before now.

I admit now that I didn't know Uncle Charlie that well. We hadn't seen each other in years, and we weren't that close. I didn't realise that I was his closest living relative either, so it did come as a shock to me to learn that he'd died and left me his BattleMech. His only wishes were that I use it as I saw fit, but there was a certain logic to joining the Irregulars, and taking his spot in the command lance. It was a chance at a regular paycheck, something that has been in short supply since I left Solaris. Besides, I think he'd be happy that I did. His Scourge may not be Mean Machine, but it’s a pretty sweet ride no less.

From the personal journal of Cecelia Stanley

You know, some days I hate those guys in the assault lance. And some days I love 'em

They're an assault lance. Their job's to stand there and get shot at. I do get that, and I appreciate all that. It does mean that they give me a lot of work to do. Nikola's Carronade seems to come back from every damned fight minus most of its armour and an arm. Not even the same arm each time, either. And don't get me started on trying to keep the Vulture together. I swear, the Foxes must have purposefully engineered it only to use proprietary parts.

But then they also have their moments of genius, and I'm not just talking about Randy's taste in drinks (which is, incidentally, impeccable. I don't know if it’s something he learned in Journo school, but the guy can pick a drink for every occasion). Like take what they came up with today which was genius and might just have been the breakthrough we've been looking for in ending this trainwreck of a campaign.

Quitting while you're ahead, or just plain quitting?

From Solaris City Sunrise, 27 October 3144

Chet Robwell: Now in Games news, the big story of the morning is the sudden resignation of Carrie Bull, not only from Team Red Truck but the games as a whole.

Joe Esposito: That’s right. Red Truck manager Pete Vogel announced her resignation at a press conference this morning. What’s interesting is not just that Bull didn’t give a reason for her resignation, but that she wasn’t even at the conference at all. Now while we can’t say for sure, rumour has it that she has already moved out of the TRT compound, so it looks like she’s really gone.

Robwell: If you ask me, it looked like Vogel himself was caught by surprise there. There are many words that I could use to describe his performance out there this morning, but ‘polished’ and ‘practiced’ are not among them.

Esposito: You and me both, Chet. In fact, I’d say he was about as surprised as everyone else was with this development.

Robwell: And he can’t be happy. He just saw Red Truck’s strongest prospect  since the, uh, change in management here on Solaris waltz off with nary a word to be said. Let’s be fair here, the last few years have not been kind to that team.

The decline and fall of the Steel Wolves

(From Conflicts of the Post-Blackout Era, Galatean Free Press)

Steel Wolf insignia

The Steel Wolves were one of the first of the so-called Splinter factions to emerge following the HPG blackout. Originating in the Bright Fang and Wolf Trap militia clusters under the command of Prefect Kal Radrick, the Wolves quickly grew to be the largest of the factions. At their peak, the Steel Wolves boasted between six and nine clusters of troops (the actual number is hard to find due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is the high turnover of ranking Steel Wolf officers), although only three of those possessed any actual BattleMechs.

Much of this early growth came from the large number of non-Wolves who flocked to the Steel Wolves banner. While many of them were from elsewhere in the Republic, some came from as far away as the Taurian Concordat. The Steel Wolves also soaked up a number of failed Wolf in Exile cadets, offering them a second chance at being Warriors that they would not have otherwise had.

Initially one of the most aggressive of the splinter factions, the Steel Wolves soon had carved out a small number of worlds for their own from Prefectures III and IV, centered on their capitol of Tigress. However, this initial aggression quickly stalled after their defeat on Achmar, with the Wolves switching largely to small raids of questionable value. The death of Kal Radrick at the hands of Anistasia Kerensky, followed by her taking command of the Steel Wolves, served to reinvigorate the faction.

LIC Interogation Log 6442-8-A/Kamenez

Leftenant Sofia Cruz, LIC: Let’s be straight here. We both know why you're here, so let’s not mess around by pretending to be nice to each other and get straight to the point.

Lieutenant Bruno Kazan, Liberty City Royals: Fine by me, sweet cheeks. These things get boring fast anyway.

Cruz: Kazan, we want to know why your unit turned on its employers. We want to know if you are in league with the rebels and, if so, how they made contact with you.

Kazan: Well let me see, babe. First up, I think it’s kind of obvious why we switched sides. We wanted to be onto a winning thing, and you Elises aren’t exactly it at the moment. You nearly lost Hesperus. You nearly lost Tharkad and you still have two clans in spitting distance of it.

Cruz: That's not exactly relevant

Kazan: Tell you what, why don't you move the capitol back to Arcturus? Oh wait, you lost that too.

From the personal journal of Bruce Wolf

I swear, the last few days it feels like me and everyone else have been given the bloody roundabout.

Not going to mince words here; the Royals were the biggest parts of stravag galahs I have ever met. I have met a lot of other mercenaries in my many jobs (Wolf, Bartender and everything else in between) and they were right dodgy even by normally right dodgy standards. I did not believe their story about a 'dropship malfunction' for one second. 'Dropship Malfunction' my arse! They were deliberately giving us the run-around so we would do all the hard work!

So when the bunch of bludgers took over our base, locking up our people and the Lyrans, I was not surprised. Such a dezgra action fits a bunch of bloody mongrels like them; I guess whatever the rebels offered them was worth more then their loyalty or any other cop like that. Of course, it also left us up a creek as we were cut off from our people, our ships and from our supplies, and with the rest of the rebels coming at us like a bunch of crazed numbats.

The Outreach Revival Movement (3133 - 3135)

Outreach from space, c3130

The So-called Outreach Revival was one of the unexpected side effects of the Blackout, and one who’s exact origins and purpose seemingly defies all reason. Scoured by the Word of Blake, Outreach had been left a desolate, irradiated and almost uninhabitable world by the end of the Jihad. The Republic's decision to keep the planet populated was less due to any strategic value of the world and more as a symbolic vicotry over the Word.

Abandoned by the MRBC, Outreach had become a largely forgotten backwater in the decades before the blackout. Its small, impoverished population, themselves the descendants of those who had survived the Jihad, clung to life in a handful of domed or subterranean cities. Living conditions on the planet were poor at best, with rampant poverty and crime adding to the grim conditions. The planet held nothing of any value, its wealth and place in the heart of the Mercenary trade but a distant memory.

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

Grass fires spreading across a wide front in southern Saxony
Image taken from Kamenez Weltweit News

Straight off the bat, I’ll say that I have no idea what prompted the Royals to turn on the Lyrans and, by extension, us. I have no idea why they would seize the spaceport and take them and our support staff prisoner. Unfortunately, the timing of it was far too good for this to be a random, spontaneous act.

Takahashi’s assault lance had just fended off an ambush that, while unsuccessful, had also done a good job of damaging their ‘Mechs and slowing our forces. I had to dispatch Stanley and a number of our support units to meet them, both to effect repairs and collect salvage. The result was a thinning of our personnel back at the spaceport, something that the Royals seemed to be well-prepared for. And then everything happens at once.

First thing we lose contact with the spaceport; both our ships and the Lyrans, which is never a good start. Then, far too conveniently to be just a coincidence, we receive reports of a thick bushfire front moving south towards us, kicking up massive clouds of black smoke – the sort of thing that could easily be used to cover an advance. (And given that we were dealing with a unit called the Incinerators who specialise in setting things on fire, it was a given that they were doing just that). We have a hostile force ahead of us and no idea of what's behind, which puts us in a bad place.

From the personal journal of Doctor Hadrian Cartwright

All the training and experience in the world cannot prepare you for the completely unexpected. But they can serve to put you in a good position to take advantage of what comes with it.

When the Royals decided to turn on us and the Lyrans for whatever reason, I was unprepared, I admit. It wasn’t something I had considered would happen; after all, they were pretty horrible people, but such an extreme (and potentially career-limiting) move would be normally be. causa latet, vis est notissima and all that. However, it was not surprised when I was one of the few that they did not immediately detain. I had clearly already proven to be useful to them, and locking me up would be counter to that value.

Asking me to impersonate the ship captain was an… odd move on their part, true. But then, with Royale away, it is clear that the average intelligence of the Royals as a whole drops considerably (As their need for my skills would attest). I used the opportunity to warn Magyari of what had happened; despite any short-term gain, I had no desire to remain in the Royals employ, especially not once the other sandal dropped. ut incepit fidelis sic permanent. Besides, banditry is such an unbecoming profession.

The battle for Komephoros, 3137-3138

Komephoros, like many of the worlds of the former Prefecture IX, was in a precarious situation by early 3137. Abandoned by the Republic, it was dangerously close to the Falcon Desant, leaving its leaders worried that their world might be the next to face the Falcon’s talons. The result was that it became one of the worlds within the former prefecture that joined the mutual defense coalition headed by Jasek Kelswa-Steiner’s Stomhammers.

However, matters changed for the worse in mid-3137 as the Wolf Clan began their invasion of the former Republic. While Komephoros was outside the thrust of their initial invasion, the world’s leaders suddenly became rather worried by their new situation. With the Wolves on one side and the Falcons on the other, they felt that an invasion of their world by either clan was inevitable. Or, even worse, that it might become a battleground for the two Clans.

With their planetary guard depleted (ironically by defections to the Stormhammers), the Komephoros leadership turned to hiring mercenaries to supplement their forces and provide some degree of protection. The government went on something of a spending spree, hiring up mercenaries as fast as it could, even if many of them were dubious units of questionable quality. Their hope was that they might serve as a discouragement to clan invasion, or at the very least serve to slow down one should it occur.

Blog Updates

In addition to the regular blog posts, there's also new images in the NPC/OpFor Image Gallery. On top of that, there are new pilot portraits and camouflage schemes in the Megamek Gallery to add to your MegaMek games.

From the O5P archives

[I managed to source this from the O5P. While it's over a decade old, there's still some interesting information in here. I'm also forming some conclusions about the significance of this individual to Zhen, and why Stein might bring them up]

Gertz, Joaquim

Date of Birth: 14/04/3110

Homeworld: Van Deimen IV, Republic of the Sphere

Affiliation: Bannson’s Raiders

Rank: Lieutenant

LIC Communications Intercept 6439-3-B/Kamenez

WLF-2H Wolfhound, Carson's Carnivores

Carson: What the hell was that, Major?

Isling: That was a minor setback, admittedly. Things didn't go entirely to plan.

Carson: 'Minor setback' is a nice way of putting it. I lost another one of my already scarce supply of 'Mechs. You lost two tanks and your second. And we got nothing for it beyond beating up a couple of 'Mechs in reply. That's not a 'minor' setback. That's a grade A screw-up.

Isling: Captain Craswell's [EDITOR'S NOTE: Captain Marlene Craswell; see attached dossier] death was unfortunate, yes. However, at the same time, It would be easy to say that my men aren't to blame. Your 'Mechs didn't exactly put up much of a fight either.

Carson: I had a Recon Lance going up against an assault one. What were they meant to do? The heaviest of mine matched the lightest of theirs, and it's not like either of us could have matched that Akuma.

From the personal journal of Eckart Stein

The Halton Gardens

As expected, Magyari wasn't too happy about our delayed drop, but she accepted the reality of the situation. Even though the Halton Gardens is a wreck, it has its uses from time to time; even then, I do want to replace it, and do need to get Royale focused on that goal rather then wasting our money on fast cars, luxury apartments that we never use and the like. On the other hand, we do have a good potential replacement available to us.

Some days it's nice how things line up.

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

Section of Saxony Spaceport

Reading her journals, it's pretty clear that Sel Magyari had a number of skills as a commander, and luck was one of the ones that featured prominently in her career. As much as I want to give her skills as a leader and a MechWarrior credit, it does seem that she managed to achieve a lot through sheer dumb luck.

After today, I'm really wondering if it might not have been a hereditary trait.

The Kamenez campaign started with a drop on the Saxony spaceport, one of the rebellion's key assets. On the ground were elements of both the Leipzig Light Guards, a local armour regiment, and Carson's Carnivores, one of the two merc units that are known to be in their employ.

LIC Communications Intercept 6422-543-B/Kamenez

Voice 1 [Major Conner Carson, 98% match]: All units, pull back. We're abandoning the spaceport.

Voice 2 Colonel Helga Strakken, 93% match]: Nein, Major! I forbid you to abandon the port! It is vital to us!

Carson: Listen lady-

Strakken: Colonel!

Carson: Colonel lady, in case you didn't notice, we're getting hammered out there. My men are dying and so are yours. We've lost four 'Mechs and you're down at least a dozen tanks, if not more? We've hammered a few 'Mechs and have one of them down-

Journal Extract #75291-Rho

[Some of my targets aren’t that good at securing their personal noteputers, which means we can find the occasional tidbit. I think the following extract could be useful to us in a number of different ways]

Look, I ain't got nothing against Ronnie. I mean, he’s my baby bro (well half-brother) and I love him and all but he's also just a total pain in the ass some days.

He’s been making a real stink about this whole 'Mech thing for a while now, but it's really been a stick up his butt since our last mission. Ronnie’s recon lance got themselves into a whole world of trouble, and Ronnie's Cadaver went and got itself hobbled. They were trying to get away, but the fact was that he was now the slowest of them and dragging behind the rest of the lance. (I'm also gonna be kind and not repeat what he was saying on the comms, 'cause it ain't gonna help his rep none)

Liberty City Royals

MRBC Update 01-01-3145

(This report is a little out of date. I've done some digging and managed to update it where possible - Nikola)

Liberty City Royals Insignia

History

Even by the often strange standards of the Mercenary trade, the Liberty City Royals have an unusual origin. The Royals were originally a gang in Dronane, the capital city of Liberty, who had risen to prominence after a bloody turf war that had decimated their rivals. It also prompted a harsh crackdown by the authorities, one that the Royals managed to evade. As police swooped on their hideouts, the Royals were leaving the world with most of their wealth, having apparently been tipped off and having plenty of time to prepare.

The group vanished before re-emerging several months after the Blackout as a small mercenary unit. Initially composed mostly of IndustrialMechs and light vehicles, the Liberty City Royals (having retained their old name) found employment in the erupting conflicts in Prefectures III and IV. Several early successes (now believed to have been in the employ of Bannson's Raiders) allowed the unit to grow, adding BattleMechs and Battle Armour to its force. By 3136, the Royals had become a professional mercenary force, albeit one that retained its original gang "flavour".

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

So it turns out that what we hit on Keystone was deliberately targeted. The branches of the Earthworks factory we hit, as well as the people and stuff they took, were specifically concerned with the production of the Tomahawk II. I can understand why; Earthworks can use it as a way of getting around legal boundaries and boost their capacity to make Clantech. And anything that means there’s less of those monsters stomping around is fine by me.

On the other hand, I have mixed feelings about the newest contract. A part of me doesn’t like it, especially the thought of getting involved in a planetary civil war. They’re really pretty, but at least unlike with Hamilton, the dividing lines are pretty well defined and we have a clear objective. This isn’t an insurgency with potential enemies everywhere, but rather a battle where we’re going to be facing stand-up fights with discernable enemy forces. Really, it’s a planetary assault, just a blue-on-blue one.

Communications Tap File #75228-Rho (extract)

Galatea City, Galatea; 1015 hr

Voice 1 [Male; 40s; no discernable accent, native English speaker]: I’m trailing the Snake [NOTE: Takahashi Oda] now.

Voice 2 [Female; 50s; accent suggests Capellan March or Taurian]: Well keep on him then. I want to know what they’re up to.

Voice 1: Find weaknesses, know your enemies and all that. I know. It’s what you pay me for.

Carson’s Carnivores

MRBC Update 01-01-3145

Carson's Carnivores insignia

History

Carson’s Carnivores grew out of the Jihad, formed from a collection of battered, barely functional mercenary commands that had managed to survive the conflict, some represented by only a single warrior. Drawn together by Claude Carson, himself a mercenary who had fought in the Clan Invasion and nearly every conflict since, he managed to form a coherent whole out of the hodge-podge mess that he’d been presented with.

The resultant unit, dubbed the Carnivores, saw their trial by fire in the early 3080s. Hired by the LCAF, the unit was sent to hunt pirates from the shattered Circrinus Federation that had been threatening border worlds. The low intensity conflicts, oft with groups that were more desperate then they were, served to help bring the Carnivores together as a unit, while netting them salvage that was used to build up their strength.

By the turn of the century, the Carnivores were a solid and coherent unit, a far cry from their origins after a remarkably short period of time. Now under the command of Claude’s daughter, Claire, the Carnivores stability was threatened by a new opponent, in the form of the slow winding down of conflicts that occurred over the next few decades. The Carnivores responded by restructuring, reducing the size of the unit while weeding out older or less capable ‘Mechs. The result was that the unit was almost entirely composed of the most modern designs. Even older ‘Mechs, such as Carson’s Ostol, received upgraded technology.

Isling’s Incinerators

MRBC Update 01-01-3145

Isling’s Incinerators' insignia

History

Initially formed as Tobruk's Torches, the unit first emerged from the seedy underside of the Galatean mercenary community at the turn of the century. Poorly equipped and composed of a dubious mix of cast-offs, unemployed warriors and the seemingly desperate, the Torches chose to play to the few strengths that they possessed.  Billing themselves as a counterinsurgency and 'scorched earth' unit, the Torches managed to land contracts in low-level periphery and minor conflicts that allowed them to survive and grow.

Within a decade, the Torches had managed to grow into a mixed battalion of infantry and armour, focusing on property destruction and intimidation. Field experience and combat attrition had weeded out the worst of the initial crew, leaving a corps of capable and skilled soldiers that also knew the limits of their unit. Despite several brushes with the review boards over potential contract breaches (usually not responding to enemy forces outside of those clearly defined by their contracts) and questionable actions (typically in response to insurgent targets) the Torches built a reputation for being willing and able to take jobs that other units shied away from.

Kamenz Archonette

Planetary crest of Kamenez

Background

Landgrave Karl Pelzer, ruler of Kamenez, was one of the nobles who openly spoke out against Archon Trillian Steiner and her policies. As ruler of a world bordered both by the newly formed Wolf Empire and the resurgent Free Worlds League, he felt that her polices and leadership were putting vulnerable worlds (like his) at further risk of predation. Even after the quelling of a near-rebellion, he remained strongly opposed to her rule, especially after his world was left without any LCAF garrison units.

In response to this, Pelzer opted to take matters into his own hands. Mustering the support of several local guard units, Pelzer staged a coup, taking control of the planet and imprisoning or killing most of the ruling council. From there, he declared himself leader of the Kamenz Archonette, inviting other nearby worlds to join him in forming an independent state within the Commonwealth.

From the personal journal of Mechwarrior Isaak

Keystone city outskirts

I have never been so disgusted at dezgra Spheroids and their lies as I am now! It is not bad enough that they lack honour, but their efforts at twisting our traditions to their own ends show just how truly contemptible and barbarous they are!

Black Fang Binary were on Keystone on the orders of our Star Colonel; however, when a force of spheroid barbarians attacked our factories, we chose to intervene. It proved to be necessary; the inept sibko washouts of the 5^th Garrison Cluster were completely incapable of stopping them, showing just how worthless they truly were. Our star dropped in pursuit of one of the mercenary lances, swiftly catching up with them. My Lobo, the lightest and fastest of us, led the charge.

Mercenary Raid on Keystone

RAF Intel Intetcept 3145-215132-Alpha

To: Galaxy Commander Robert Magnus, Grey Keshik

From: Star Colonel Angela, 5^th Wolf Garrison Cluster

Subject: Mercenary Raid on Keystone

Galaxy Commander, this report is to update you on the status of our forces following the recent mercenary raid on Keystone, specifically targeting the Earthworks Complex.

The mercenary Force is believed to have jumped in-world from a pirate point, its position unknown but likely provided by Earthworks informants who were familiar with the system. The mercenaries proceeded in-system, using Ea (Keystone’s Moon – Editor) to shield their approach. By the time we were in position to properly respond to their approach, they were already making planetfall.

Once landed, the mercenaries divided into lance-sized forces, striking simultaneously at different Earthworks sites. Based on both their movements and their targets, it is apparent that the enemy forces were deliberately targeting specific objectives. The mercenaries, composed of BattleMech forces supported by VTOLs and Battle Armour, engaged elements of Bravo, Charlie (Vehicle Binaries – Editor) and Delta (Conventional Infantry Trinary – Editor) arrayed in defense of the facilities.

5th Wolf Garrison Cluster (Kappa Galaxy)

RAF Intel report; 01-01-3145

Wolf Empire Kappa Galaxy

Much like the rest of the Empire’s Kappa Galaxy, the 5^th Wolf Garrison Cluster has both spent years as a target for the Rasalhauge Dominion while also remaining near the bottom of the Empire’s supply chain. Even after the formation of the Wolf Empire, the Cluster has remained heavy with vehicles and conventional infantry, with very few BattleMechs or Battle Armour to speak of.

The 5^th has the added disadvantage of being at the bottom of Kappa's food chain for new recruits and replacement crews. It only receives the rawest of recruits and those that the other Clusters have allready rejected, leaving it both with poor quality and inexperienced warriors, but also mounting morale and discipline problems. Star Colonel Angela has repeatedly requested new transfers, but the simple fact that the 5th is the closest cluster to full strength in Kappa has undermined her case.

To compound these problems, the 5^th has been assigned to guard the vital factory world of Keystone, making them a prime target for potential raids, or any League efforts to reclaim their lost worlds. Despite the cease-fire between the Empire and the FWL, the result is a feeling of being in the crosshairs, one that has not helped the unit's morale situation any. Keystone’s polluted atmosphere also limits the unit’s effectiveness; its infantry are dependent on life-support equipment to operate outside, effectively tying them to either sealed structures or their transports. Similarly, its vehicles are vulnerable to hull breaches, making their commanders reluctant to commit to action.

Presently, intelligence suggests that the 5^th has been divided into Binary/Trinary-sized units to cover specific parts of the expansive and sprawling Earthworks facilities. Its few BattleMech forces are held as a quick reaction reserve force to bolster defences as needed or deal with the largest possible threats, but it is questionable how effective such a small force would be in the face of a full-scale invasion. For now, the 5^th’s greatest strength lies simply in the lack of an opponent who can readily threaten them.

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

Calling the last few days hectic would be an understatement. Between salvage, prisoner roundup, battlefield clean-up, debriefings, negotiations, talking to more suits and analysts then I’ve seen in a long time and an unexpected contract offer that came out of nowhere from a rep that must have been flown in specifically to headhunt us once they knew we were on-world, I’ve had very little time to myself. I can barely keep my eye open as I write this, but there’s a lot I need to say and I might as well do it while I have the chance.

First up, I'll just say that I agree with Roxana Zayros and her assessment of the QLF. The whole thing being a Mask operation makes a lot of sense, and to my eye would explain a lot. Obviously it's out of my hands now, but I think we can call this one closed. They've lost their leadership, their political allies, their base of operations and the better part of two battalions worth of troops and equipment. That's pretty crushed right there and then.

Behind the Scenes - The Battle of Red Sands City

The Battle of Red Sands city was the largest single Battletech battle I’ve ever run in my 26-odd years playing the game. It also had a number of highlights from a gameplay point of view that are definitely worth going into some detail on.

The Battle of Red Sands City

(From Brush Conflicts of the Post Republic Era; Galatean Free Press)

The ruins of Red Sands City

Acting on this Intel, major Irisz Magyari launched an attack on the reported QLF stronghold, seeing an opportunity to not only strike a decisive blow against the terrorist group, but also to eliminate or capture a good portion of their leadership.

That information proved correct, the Irregulars discovering that the QLF had made their home in the ruins of the old Qizilquam capitol. Several of the abandoned buildings had been reconstructed to serve as both headquarters and command facilities, as well as storehouses for their equipment. Additionally, a large area of the capitol had been cleared and reinforced to act as a landing pad for cargo dropships; when the Irregulars arrived, they found a Mule (Later identified as the Hal Warren, a free trader) was present and in the process of unloading

The Irregulars had a company of BattleMechs, supported by a VTOL lance and a platoon of mixed battle armour. Arrayed against them were two companies of QLF Armour, mostly the older Zhukov and Scorpion thanks they preferred. Supplementing this force was an oversized lance of BatleMechs, again mostly older designs save for a Marauder II, as well as several converted IndustrialMechs and conventional infantry.

QLF forces destroyed, leadership captured

(Extracted from the Hamilton Newsweb)

In a daring assault, Mercenaries employed by the Hamilton planetary government launched an attack on the suspected headquarters of the outlawed QLF. In a swift, decisive battle, the Mercenary forces were able to not only defeat the terrorist group, but were able to capture the organization’s apparent leader and a sizable portion of its command structure.

Following information believed to have been provided by a high-ranking QLF captive, the Mercenary forces attacked a meeting of several QLF cell leaders, being held in the ruins of Qizilqum City. Arriving on-scene, the mercenary forces discovered not only a large concentration of QLF troops, including conventional vehicles and BattleMechs, but also a Mule-class Cargo Dropship that was believed to be providing supplies to their forces.

NPC/OpFor BattleMech Gallery

As a counterpart to the Irregulars BattleMech gallery, this collection of images represents BatteMechs used by opponents and NPCs

RFL-6X Rifleman, Mao's Rifles

Raymond's Roughecks

StarCorps Update 01-08-3075

(I’ve taken the liberty of preparing this file to aid us with our little hound problem. The MRBC info on the Roughnecks is horribly out of date and likely has been compromised anyway – TW)

Raymond's Roughnecks Insignia

History

The history of Raymond's Roughnecks begins in the mid 30th Century, when the unit formed out of the remnants of several other smaller, fragmented units on Galatea. Unified under Major Jonny Raymond (himself a veteran of numerous campaigns with the now-defunct 777th Strike Regiment), the Roughnecks were able to grow in the low-intensity conflicts that were typical of the close of the 30th century.

While never spectacular, the unit was more chracterised as being rugged ad reliable, determined to fulfill their contracts rather then cutting and running at the first sign of trouble. The result was a unit that grew in experience and capability, stabilising as a BattleMech battalion with attached infantry support. By the turn of the century, the Roughnecks, now led by Jonny's son, Jacob, were rated by the MRB as a Veteran unit and considered to be both reliable and capable. Its troops also developed a reputation for rowdiness and unruliness, considered to be an acceptable trade-off for their clear quality

However, in 3009, he Roughnecks suffered their first major setback with the death of Jacob's daughter and heir-apparent, Julia during a raiding mission. While saddened by the loss, Jacob also knew that it was a part of the mercenary life and named his son Clifford as is new second and heir. When Jacob stepped down in 3012, citing age and injury, Clifford was accepted s their new commander.

Untitled Mercenary Expose, production notes

[Establishing shots of Rashid’s house; there’s some in the footage Randy sent us]

Narrator [V/O]: Using a decoy, they hoped to lure their target out.

Governor Rashid Zaydid [Recording]: I told him never to contact me here [EN: These are in Kazakh; obviously we’ll have subtitles]

Messenger [Recording]: I have orders, and you need to follow them too. This is important. Head to this location and wait for instructions.

Zaydid [Recording]: All right; but this had better be important. We’re all risking a lot by your coming here, especially after what’s happened in the last few days. They’re watching me, I’m sure.

[Shots of government car in motion. Not sure if Randy has any in the package, but I’m sure we can just use some stock if we need to]

Narrator [V/O]: The target had taken the bait, Governor Rashid Zaydid leaving his home to head towards what he thought was a vital meeting, unaware of what was really in store.

Hamilton Planetary Guard prisoner interrogation log (extract)

Agent Kryztov Hussan (Hamilton Planetary Guard): Let’s be honest here, mister Nurzal. Those alarms? That was a group of your QLF ‘comrades’ trying to get in here to kill you. Not extract, kill.

Biebol Nurzal (QLF):  You’re bluffing.

Hussan: Am I? You’re a self-proclaimed cell leader, Biebol. You should know that you’re too valuable to be left in our custody. And you should know that it’s a lot easier to leave a dead body then to try to smuggle out a wounded man, especially in the middle of a gunfight.

[Pause]

Hussan: Now your associates weren’t very successful. Two of them are dead, and we have three more in custody. They might be willing to talk, especially as they saw one of theirs chopped in half with a Vibrokatana. That sort of thing can loosen a few tongues.

[Pause]

Hussan: And if they give us something useful, well, that means you’re less valuable to us. That mean we’ll downgrade your protection, which means that you’ll be more accessible to your QLF ‘friends’. Now as touching as a reunion might be, I suspect you don’t want that.

Business Leader slain in terrorist bombing

(Hamilton Newsweb Archives; November 23 3132)

Kazan City – Authorities have today confirmed the death of Sayyid Niyazi, a prominent local business leader, in what appears to be a random terrorist attack.

After being missing for several days, Niyazi (47) was confirmed killed by a roadside bomb or landmine. According to a police statement, Niyazi was driving alone when his groundcar struck an explosive device on or about the 8^th of November. The explosives completely destroyed his vehicle as well as his body, leaving only trace DNA evidence and behind. An extensive police search recovered the vehicle two days later, but at the time no evidence of his death could be found or confirmed.

Bart McGraw, MRBC Report

Irisz - I think I tracked the identity of the hunter who came after Takahashi.  Fortunately, his 'Mech was nicely distinctive. It doesn't tell us much about who posted the bounty immediately, but we could track back from there.

-NK

McGraw, Bart

Date of Birth: 21/09/3108

Homeworld: Cygnus, Fronc Reaches

Affiliation: Independent/Bounty Hunter

Rank: None

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

"It was a seemingly inevitable part of a Mercenary's life. In every unit, it seemed that everyone had something in their past that they were not proud of, and eventually, whatever it was, would catch up to them one way or another."

I have a fondness for Sonya Brie's terrible pulp novels. They're not my "thing I'm not terribly proud of", but at the same time, for all the dross there's still the odd nugget of truth within them which makes me wonder. The quote above is one of the most that I've found to be the most poignant since I took command of the Irregulars. Everyone does have a past, and eventually it will come back to haunt them.

(God alone knows that Dad left me with plenty of that)

Audio Log File #75213-Rho

Major Irisz Magyari: I can guess why you asked to see me.

Commander Roxana Zaryos: I think we both can agree that we should be honest with each other here. After what’s happened in the last few days, I can’t see anything that will be gained by doing otherwise, and I certainly think that we both want the same things here.

Magyari: Given what my men discovered, I can agree entirely. Commander Zaryos, I’m not the sort of mercenary who’s going to rigidly stick to a contract and not deviate from it an inch, and I’m not going to sit idly by and do nothing because it’s not what I’m being paid for. What the QLF showed was a capacity to do a lot more than we had anticipated, and I want to prevent that from happening.

Zaryos: Understood and appreciated, Major. However, I would like a full accounting of exactly what happened today.

Magyari: As long as nothing I say goes beyond this room, and there are no repercussions on my men. I take full responsibility for their actions.

Zaryos: Entirely fair. Of course, right now, punishing them is the last thing on my mind. My people have been hamstrung by integration into the League, and SAFE oversight is strangling a lot of our efforts to infiltrate and gather information on the QLF. They achiever a massive breakthrough. I still need to know how they did it.

Breaking News: Terror in Kazan City

(Extracted from the Hamilton Newsweb)

Terrorists believed to be connected to the Qizilqum Liberation Front struck Kazan City in an attack apparently directed at key government and military officials. However, support from mercenaries hired by the Hamilton planetary government allowed planetary guard forces to swiftly resolve the situation while limiting losses and damage.

Details are still unclear, but it appears that at approximately 2000 hours Kazan City time, a force of at least a dozen QLF insurgents stormed the Kazan City convention center, interrupting an event in progress. Securing the building and shutting off the power, the QLF forces took those inside hostage, including district governor Rashid Zaydid, Planetary Guard district commander Roxana Zaryos and mercenary commander Irisz Magyari.

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

Reading my great-great grandmother's journals were rather helpful to me when I unexpectedly inherited command of the Irregulars. In some ways, her situation mirrored mine, and she was likely even less ready to lead than I was. However, in reading them, two other things also became apparent to me. The first was just how vain and self important Sel could be at times, and yet how well she did in spite of it.

The second was just how much trouble her men would manage to get into, and how difficult they could make her life. Even when the unit was on a quiet, low-key contract they could still cause trouble. Looking back at it, I'm beginning to wonder if the feud with the Roughnecks wasn't caused by some of them picking a fight or inadvertently insulting someone else.

Today's events reminded me a lot of some of her stories.

From the personal journal of Bruce Wolf

So the newcomers have been with us a bit now, and had their first, real, live mission. And what can I say but crikey, it was a bloody success! They took down umpty-dozen of those QLF mugs and captured their Grand Poo-Bah. Now that’s that is some bloody good fighting! I mean, we all still miss the old guys, and what happened to them, well, that’s that is what you should expect from dezgra Falcons, but at the same time, these new blokes seem to be shaping up all right.

Of Drinks and Dogs

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was overheard in the Irregulars’ common room, during a discussion between Takahashi, Lee and Randy. After a few attempts to get a a “real drink” from Bruce Wolf, Takahashi related the following tale)

There was, at one time, a lady that I was quite enamoured with and due to some opposition from her maternal grandfather we had complicated meeting arrangements.

We had found a location that suited our purpose and she was using the excuse of walking her Sapsaree (it's a dog, you know) to leave her family's house. One evening, in the autumn, it was becoming too cold to leave the animal outside so she brought it in with her.

Now Sapsaree are known for being gentle, playful, loyal and protective. This example of the breed was all except the first. I'll never know whether the hair had covered the beast's eyes, but it went for me as soon as it entered the room. Though only medium size, Sapsaree are quite strong. In my valiant efforts to fight the thing off without doing it a permanent injury I fear that I completely lost the lady's respect. It's not helped that the breed's nickname is "ghost hunting dog" perhaps she

believed me to be some kind of bakemono.

I only saw her once more after that, in completely different circumstances, and I fervently hope that she didn't recognise me.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Any further explanation was cut off by Takahashi’s passing out)

Hamilton's Ten Worst Buildings (extract)

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following post was discovered by Randy R. Georges during his investigation into local politics)

Previously in the Architecture Blog, we’ve looked at buildings that were the wrong design for the right time, and ones that were the right design for the right time. Today’s building is that most unique of types; the wrong building at the wrong time built for the wrong reasons.

The Kazan City convention centre was first proposed in 3129 to fulfil a need that simply didn’t exist. Kazan City had no existing major convention space and was neither a major tourist nor business destination. On paper, the idea was to create a convention space that would draw people and business to the city, but at the same time, there were a lot of questions as to if a convention centre alone would be a major draw. Regardless, district Governor Sukhrab Kentau was convinced that the project was a good idea, and had thrown the weight of the district government behind it.

Kazan City politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following blog post was discovered by Randy R. Georges during his investigation of the local media)

So how’s this for a thankless job? Be the governor of a region that’s both economically depressed and the hotbed for a terrorist/revolutionary/whatever movement? And on top of that, have somebody further up the food chain bring in outside contractors as a way of telling people that hey, you can’t do your job so we’ve hired someone to fix your mess for you.

Want that job? Because I’m beginning to think that Rashid Zaydid, the governor of the Kazan district, certainly doesn’t.

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

We not only had out first engagement with the QLF today, but it was also the first time that the newcomers had seen actual combat as a lance. I’m going to say now that I was impressed, especially given the circumstances they found themselves in and the aftermath.

As per our agreement with the Hamilton Planetary Guard, we’d been running patrols around the perimeter of Kazan City, probing the regions were QLF forces were known to prowl. It’s a ‘show of force’ kind of thing, designed to impress the rebels with our ‘Mechs and discourage them from making any moves. So far, it had seemed to work; we’d had fleeting contacts and the like, but the QLF definitely didn’t want to pick a fight.

However, we were also following up leads, just in the off-chance that something turned up. As much as the Planetary Guard wanted us to stand around and look good, I could tell that Roxana really wanted a solid victory.

Well, I think we delivered one. And as I go over both the report and the BattleROMs, it makes for a rather interesting picture.

Qizilqum Liberation Front force assessment, January 3145

The following is an assessment of the Qizilqum Liberation Front’s (Henceforth QLF) forces and abilities, as of 1 January, 3145. It is for distribution to planetary militia forces and FWLM units, as well as any affiliated mercenaries. While the information is admittedly sketchy, the information contained within is none the less considered to be accurate and a fair summary of their abilities.

Roxana Zaryos, Hamilton Planetary Guard

01-01-3145