BattleTech Lore & History - Second Succession War: Darkest Hour (MechWarrior Lore)

[@NotThereJustGone]

And that's when ComStar realized that the real treasure were all the friends they assassinated along the way.

[@Archangelm127]

You win the Internet for today, Sir/Madam. ❤

[@NotThereJustGone]

@@Archangelm127 My goal since the start of the Second Succession War series has been to have a well-received, ridiculous comment for each video/stage of the conflict. You've made my day.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

But wait... IT GETS WORSE!

[@ebla83]

Worse? How could it get any worse? Take a look around you Ellen! We're at the threshold of hell! -Clark Griswold

[@tzeentchlordoffates9268]

Eh, atleast the great houses haven't birthed a new chaos god that devours half the inner sphere yet.

[@AAX11111]

(Yet)

[@RevanBartus]

Jebaited.

[@DDVargas1983]

Worse? or Better?

[@jotarofatso5743]

Blake - created the kool aid Toyama - knew it was the kool aid Karpov - drank the kool aid

[@foenrik8941]

As "Intentions" showed, Toyama had started to drink the kool-aid as well by the time he started manipulating Jeanette.

[@bthsr7113]

And in just 3 successive leaders, the fate of the entire sphere is sealed.

[@volcanicusrex7884]

It’s kind of amazing just how depressing the first two Succession Wars are

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

You mean you're not enjoying the terrible human calamity brought about by unrestricted WMD use and an order of religious fanatics hellbent on reversing all technological and societal progress thereby ushering in a new dark age?

[@NotThereJustGone]

@@SvenVanDerPlank I'll be honest, I'm not completely jazzed by it. But I'm sure once the Inner Sphere gets it-by which I mean brutal, amoral, genocidal violence-out of its collective system, the Great Houses will realize we can all agree to disagree.

[@mathewkelly9968]

They got the evil telecommunications company more right than anyone from the 80s could have possibly imagined .

[@redrobot4909]

Meh, maybe. In the real world AT&T got broke up instead of making sure the whole world was still using dial up, somehow.

[@mathewkelly9968]

@@redrobot4909 that was later still

[@redrobot4909]

@@mathewkelly9968 1982

[@michaelthomas5433]

The Successor States were true AOL users. ?;- )

[@CaptainBanjo-fw4fq]

Twitter/FaceBook make a pretty good AT&T substitute.

[@loreman2803]

Wasn't aware of the Kuritan Sexism in military affairs but I now understand how Theodore was such a reformer

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

One of several changes he made. Kurita society had become increasingly conservative over the Succession Wars.

[@a15godzilla]

Guys I swear women are just as effective as men in frontline combat roles, trust me bros.

[@mkang8782]

Surely nothing problematic will come from allowing the Coordinator's sister to build up her powerbase.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Yoguchi doesn't care much for his surviving children, so she's banking on getting named heir when the time comes. We'll see how that goes.

[@bthsr7113]

"walked out in protest, but this only allowed Karpov to replace them with loyal stooges." [facedesk followed by muffled screaming] Stop letting this happen!

[@foenrik8941]

That in particular stands out for me as a moment of utter stupidity, along with Duprea's refusal to back down....by resigning. This after already making the organization into a "no resignations accepted" type of operation.

[@bthsr7113]

@@foenrik8941 Even if she hadn't been acccidented for walking away, she gave up all her leverage and power to check Karpov's lunacy. And she was one of the few people who might have had an actual shot at that, keeping ROM from enacting assaults on places like medical colleges.

[@Cyberfender1]

"We are the priests of the temples of Syrinx(comstar) our great computers fill our hallowed halls( HPG stations)" From Rush 2112 .

[@Hillbilly001]

I'd rather be wrapped in smoke in Lebanon and sweet Jamaican pipe dreams. Oops, gotta catch that train to Bangkok because they only stop for the best. LoL. Cheers

[@Cyberfender1]

@@Hillbilly001 lol "you(P.B.I.) wake up lost in an empty town wondering why no one else is around you look up to see a giant boy( Atlas) you've just become his brand new toy"

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

As always, thank you for all the effort you put into this video. It was deeply enjoyed. I love the irony that Blake and Toyoma were convinced the arrogance of the House Lords fighting over the throne of the Star League would destroy humanity. And yet they were so blind to their own supreme arrogance when they decided to play god with the whole inner sphere by trying to accelerate the fall. The created a monster and they almost ensured that it would fall into the hands of a fanatic like Karpov who would misuse it.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

I agree, especially when you consider that Karpov wasn't some usurper who was corrupting the order for his own purpose. He fully believed he was carrying out their wishes but in reality was creating their nightmare.

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

@@SvenVanDerPlank Yeap yeap! Allow me to unleash my any periphery patriot and possibly jump the shark a bit. First Kerensky takes what was left of the SLDF off into the deep black to ‘save humanity’ and ‘preserve the spirit of the Star League’. Only to have his remnants turn into the Clans which are the worst example of everything wrong with humanity and decide they need to conquer all of humanity and make them just like them. Them Blake decides he’s the absolute genius everyone already wants him to be and decides to play god by turning Comstar into a religion and secretly accelerate humanities collapse into a dark age. Only to see his ‘Holy Order’ fall into the hands of a fanatic who truly believes in the mission and is willing to achieve it at any cost. And eventually leading to the Word of Blake and the Blakist Jyhad. It’s starting to feel like everything that came out of the dying Star League is nothing but poisoned fruit.

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

@@SvenVanDerPlank Yeap yeap! Thank you for your response! Now allow me to be a proper periphery girl and possibly jump the shark a bit. First Kerensky took what was left of the SLDF on the exodus to ‘save humanity’ and ‘preserve the spirit of the Star League’. Only for them to devolve into the clans which represent the absolute worst of humanity and then they tried to invade and conquer us all. Meanwhile Blake decided that he was in fact the genius everyone hoped he was and decided to play god with the fate of humanity. Creating a monster that was just waiting for someone like Karpov to take the reins of and would eventually devolve into the Word of Blake. Why does it seem like everything the Star League produced turns into poison fruit with a messiah complex.

[@Rellana1]

@@Bluehairedgirl89 I think Kerensky had good intentions taking the SLDF on the exodus vs them staying. It was his son that started the nightmare known as the Clans,and I fail to see how he could have allowed for that.

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

@@Rellana1 just like Blake and Toyama had good intentions with turning Comstar into a religion and trying to make the Succession Wars so much worse. In both cases basically as soon as it was out of their hands it turned into some horrible monster that literally threatened the survival of all humanity. The Star League had a bad habit of producing leader with messiah complex’s determined to ‘save humanity’ and every time it goes spectacularly wrong.

[@devalk_]

The Second Succession War Episode 8: Comstar gets drip.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

They got that wizard chic.

[@Rellana1]

@@SvenVanDerPlank So does Holy Shroud teach the Great Houses to better protect their researchers from such things in the future?

[@ssjjshawn]

​​@@Rellana1I mean nowadays all the Houses and most of the Periphery can get domestically made Clan Level Tech, it's just usually super expensive and cheaper to buy from Sea Fox...

[@Rellana1]

@@ssjjshawn That's if you trust Clan Sea Fox not to insert lockdown codes in whatever they sell you. I'd be making sure if I were them that whatever i sold couldn't be used against me.

[@NomicFin]

Small correction: the bottleneck for building WarShips is the compact K-F drive, which is not really any more advanced than the standard K-F drive (which is to say, it's still very advanced technology but a shipyard capable of building one should be able to also build the other). In fact in many ways the compact K-F drive is actually closer to the original primitive K-F drive than the standard drive. And in any case we know for a fact that the Federated Suns was able to still build compact K-F drives at the end of succession war period. The actual bottleneck, which also rendered compact K-F drives effectively useless without it, is actually the transit drives, the massive sublight engines needed to allow a WarShip to accelerate to 1+ g and actually function as a viable combat unit (regular JumpShips have no transit drives, only station-keeping drives that allow them to maintain their position in orbit and very slowly move if necessary). The only shipyard still capable to building those was the O'Neil yards on the orbit of Titan, firmly under ComStar's control.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

My mistake. Thank you for the correction. I've read BattleSpace and TRO: 3057 and I don't remember either commenting on which specific parts went extinct first so I made an incorrect assumption. I do recall the FWL salvaging an old transit drive from a derelict when they started constructing their first prototype WarShip in centuries. Can you point to a source for that comment about the FS being able to construct compact KF? What use are they if you're not doing WarShips?

[@NomicFin]

@@SvenVanDerPlank It should be somewhere in the information about the Fox-class corvette. Though I may be wrong. I recall in being mentioned in some book that the Galax yards was already theoretically able to produce the drives before the construction of the ships started, but couldn't find the source on a cursory search. In any case the designs for the ship were done in 3050, very soon after recovering the Helm memory core all things considered, which would support that idea (or if they couldn't make compact drives it at the very least it took very little time to recover the technology). However the construction suffered a delay in 3055 when ComStar refused to export components for the transit drives, showing that that was something Fedsuns had not yet recovered the ability to produce. And yes, compact KF-drives are effectively useless without transit drives, so even if they weren't technically lostech nobody would have any reason to build them (well, theoretically you could build a big armored and armed brick of a JumpShip, but with it being effectively unable to move after jumping in that'd just be kind of dumb (plus the whole convention of JumpShips being considered untouchable would probably go out of the window if you started strapping tons of guns on them).

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

I will go back and review that again but from memory, Fed Boeing, who runs the Galax yards, had recently bought an old abandoned shipyard elsewhere in the Commonwealth (Panpour if memory serves) and were rebuilding it with the intention of producing compact KF. You're right that ComStar blocked the sale of transit drives, so they obviously still had that technology. That's still 20+ years after the Helm Memory Core got disseminated so don't think anyone had that capability during the late Succession Wars.

[@mcinnisboy]

A fantastic description of a pivotal period. The evolution of Comstar is so disheartening (despite our already knowing the history).

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thank you. Karpov taking over really was a turning point in the history of not just ComStar but the whole Inner Sphere.

[@bthsr7113]

Just like when you're reading a history book and see one of THOSE moments and you just want to reach back through the ages to shake some sense into people while yelling.

[@jefferynelson]

thank you for the work you put into the channel, your audience appreciates you sir

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

You're welcome. Glad you're enjoying the series.

[@MrBCWalker01]

Adeptus Mechanicus, millennia later, reading these ancient historical archives on ComStar: "Hey, it worked LAST TIME!"

[@GalmLead]

I honestly hope you do get to covering the Clan Invasion Era. No joke, I find that perhaps the most fascinating part of the BATTLETECH lore.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Certainly plan to. I'm still reading through that era myself, so I've only done the reading up to 3057 so far, but should be complete by the time this series catches up.

[@GalmLead]

@SvenVanDerPlank Souneds good! I'm just rather enjoying the Twilight of the Clans Saga, myself! Not quite as good as the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, but still pretty damned good!

[@Hillbilly001]

Send in the Elementals! Been loving this compendium. Thanks. Cheers from Tennessee

[@griffingamer8624]

How does Charles Marik still keep getting by the skin of his teeth every time something happens? Man is either lucky or cursed.

[@HPGBlackout]

Another great video, Sven; keep up the excellent work!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thank you, will do.

[@MechanicalFrog]

Excellent BT content to listen to while I fuss around in Affinity. Thanks, Sven!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

You're welcome, MechFrog.

[@bthsr7113]

Congratulations, instead of the already dicey Brotherhood of Steel, you got proto mechanicus!

[@THWikiPodcast]

I have 4 battletech forces finished thanks to your videos. Guess ill start on some canopians.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Happy to hear that these videos have helped you get work done on your own projects.

[@TargetPractice76]

Always, awesome. And always awesome. ❤

[@ebla83]

Excellent work Sven! I only got to this today but it was fantastic.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thanks, ebla. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

[@voidofhope6259]

Hey man, I hope you know how appreciated you are for what you do here. I know it’s gotta be taxing on you at times, especially with the longer videos( which I do not mind at all). As I’ve watched and learned and gained understanding of the history of EVERYTHING that has happened in the IS. It all means a bit more to me now ya know? Absolute top quality channel man. 🖤🖤🖤

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thank you very much for the kind comment. I'm really pleased people have enjoyed the videos so much.

[@Deadmeat313]

Fantastic work! Well done.

[@jefferynelson]

if I'm able to repair my motorcycle, it's getting a House Liao themed paint job

[@Archangelm127]

Wow. I guess the Word of Blake came by their psychosis honestly.

[@thedocklighter]

_Leading Precentor:_ OhWaa Tajur Kwee Arr... OHWAA TAJUR KWEE ARR..! *OHWAA TAJUR KWEE ARR!!* _Adept Chorus:_ *OHWAA TABUNCHA JURKSWEE ARR!!* _- Suspected Comstar invocation._

[@randomnetsurfer]

I really like and appreciate your delivery of the story!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thank you, glad to hear it.

[@EndlessInfinity1]

Also, I hope we get to see what happened in clan space during the succession wars. Tex's clan video kinda covers the golden century as more of a cultural investigation and I'm curious about what shenanigans the clanners got up to in those interviening years

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

My current plan is to go back and cover clan history after the invasion is halted at Tukayyid.

[@lexington476]

Pregame thumbs up.

[@DarkPuppy9]

When you said people often speculate what would happen if a memory core was found, I was like wait the Helm core had been found by the time this history is being recorded. But nope that was 3028

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

I like to sneak some foreshadowing into this series whenever I can.

[@Echo1608.]

DAMN house Marik pulled themselves from the brink!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

This was their lowest moment ever in terms of territorial control at that point in their history. They would gradually win back much of their lost territory up until the next crisis in 3014.

[@kodiak_qp614]

I highly enjoy these lore/history lessons. It much different when you can see what happening.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thanks, glad to hear it.

[@jessestanley1690]

I love the long ones lol 😂 (that’s what she said )😎

[@usauk3605]

What can I say except great work, can’t wait for the next chapter!

[@JuergenGDB]

ComStar has to be the evilest of them all at this point.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

After watching everything unfold in the 1stSW, you could say that they learned from the best.

[@SlyGltch-vf5il]

BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!!

[@MysteryMastery69]

Sad i missed premiere again. Great stuff as always, Sven!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Thank you, and no worries.

[@wraith7989]

And now I remember why I love Comstar so much.

[@SuperVeganShark]

Comstar decided to cosplay Middle Ages Catholic Church!

[@beckhamgibson]

Ahh the Anti-Foundation

[@calumdeighton]

Damn ComStar. Damn them to oblivion. It's bad enough the Clans lost to these guys. The telephone company.

[@roostercaffeine426]

As time goes on I hate ComStar more and more. @SvenVanDerPlank SIC SEMPER INVICTUS and keep it up. This series is amazing. /James "Ramrod" Riker, Lance Leader, Nuclear Clubs mercenary corps/

[@TheKeyser94]

I finally finish The Legend of the Kestrels Lancers campaign, and o boy, the last mission was literal hell, I trough I would never finish, the whole campaign seemed really simple at first, but the final mission cut off your safety line and you couldn't get off the planets, even that was a lush forest planet, you were literally in enemy territory, surrounded by enemy mechs, outnumbered and your support couldn't hardly hang on, at least I could get two mechs and two pilots from this whole campaign.

[@robertreynolds442]

Woohoo! More Battletech!!

[@byrdman9833]

I feel like every major part of this series gradually reduces the amount of people I actually want to root for and increases the number of factions I want to see destroyed in nuclear hellfire. I miss how it was during the Star League Civil War when it was a righteous crusade against that POS Amaris. Now everyone's a mass-murdering monster, with the FedSuns being only a little lighter than the rest in my eyes. I was rooting for Comstar back in the first succession war but now they've become something just as insidious as the others.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Everyone in this setting has done bad things in their past. The Star League and SLDF are no exception. But there are certainly moments in their history when each was a force for good or specific rulers who do right by their people.

[@byrdman9833]

@@SvenVanDerPlank Right, The Star League certainly wasn't stainless, the reunification wars are more than proof of that. It just comparatively felt a lot easier to root for Kerensky on his way back to Terra compared to pretty much everything that has happened since, due in large part to the sheer desolation and human cost these first two succession wars are wreaking. That said, there have been exceptions, like the Davion comeback in the first SW, or even Marik's last stand in this episode. They're just kinda happening with the casual deaths of billions going on in the background is all.

[@EndlessInfinity1]

I know we have a long way to go, but I hope that, despite you saying your videos are set in 3025, you continue past that. I'd love to learn more about the fedcom era but I feel most youtubers aren't keen on covering past the clan invasion.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

It is absolutely my intention to cover the whole timeline eventually, but that's still years away from being completed. In fact the reason I started this whole thing was as a way to help bridge the gap between the FedCom Civil War where people stop reading and the new ilClan era. I think a lot more people would be interested in that new material if they could get a summary of the Jihad/Dark Age.

[@imasspeons]

In fairness, the bulk of the fandom kind of sits in the 3025 through Clan invasion block, so that likely plays a significant role. The lore afterwards is a bit meh and I'm not in love with many of the tabletop changes post-invasion. I'm sure I'm not alone, though it doesn't stop me from listening to content creators focusing on those eras.

[@ero9841]

I realaly dig your lore vids. Keep up the good work and praise be to blake.

[@Geeko170]

The only thing that can kill a Marik is a Marik! GLORY TO MARIK!

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

The Marik is dead! Long live the Marik!

[@Bluehairedgirl89]

Purple birb stronk!

[@jasonfarley9025]

Awesome video, as always Love this series!

[@theodoremccarthy4438]

Great work, as always.

[@shagakhan9442]

Purple bird stronk!🎉

[@Deridus]

This was fun!

[@Ironhold_Watch]

This video is Touman approved.two talons up

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

True Jade Falcon warriors would make short work of these bickering fools.

[@patricksharpe1148]

What sad about the 300 top minds being eliminated. They were probably often a job at comstar a year beforehand.

[@marsar1775]

"the eagle united" is the operative phrase lmao especially as time goes on..... EDIT: i like longer form content personally. i have these on while doing chores or driving, and the long runtime means i dont need to worry about pushing buttons. Also, i can keep it organized in my head easier where to find a tidbit when i come back and look (seriously, voting to disband the FWL??????)

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Gotta make the most of it because as you say, they'll be at each others' throats again before too long. I'll do a poll at the end of this series and find out if people prefer 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The problem is that I've got to manage an extra 50% work to get out weekly episodes that length and I'm aiming for consistency at this stage, something I've never been able to maintain in the past.

[@marsar1775]

@@SvenVanDerPlank just dont forget that poll is audience prefrence! if ya cant do it, or u need to stick somewhere for your own goals, thats good too. im sure most of us will stick around for ya no matter the length. (its about how u use it huehuehue)

[@Vic-fj3qs]

Purple Bird Stronk!

[@arwing20]

Comstar slowly becoming as dumb as the Mechanicus of Mars

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Surely you mean "enlightened."

[@HoverLambo]

Wonder how much the Helm memory core contributed to the Inner Sphere, maybe enough regained tech to slow the clans and allow Tukayyid?

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Probably not much. Tukayyid was a victory for ComStar who never lost the technology the Memory Core gave access to.

[@HoverLambo]

@@SvenVanDerPlank I was thinking more about the advantages gained by the great houses and mercs, They slowed them down, which is something that Pre-helm core armies, lacking double heatsinks, endo steel or Ferrofibrous armour could not have done.

[@lexington476]

Next episode see rhe disappearance of the Invincible? Or will it be the episode after that?

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

"The Last WarShip" is the name of the tenth chapter in this series.

[@oriffel]

goodbye warships :'(

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Still a handful kicking around at this stage. The very last of them would finally disappear in 2853*.

[@DrendarMorevo]

How did Holy Shroud handle the planet Macintosh, since they were still producing near Star League level computers well into thr 31st century?

[@afitz34]

Comstar has much to answer for. At the same time though, they did manage to keep the great houses from killing the rest of the human race by slowly taking away the ability to produce and use big toys.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

I'm sure ComStar would argue that. The question of course is whether the Successor States would have learned that lesson by themselves? Certainly they begun the 2ndSW in much the same way throwing WMDs around, but they mostly came to a gentleman's agreement without any ComStar involvement.

[@firesb7791]

@@SvenVanDerPlank It's a bit of a flawed argument since Comstar was one of the major players responsible for starting the wars which led to the great houses killing each other

[@EricDKaufman]

FUCKING SPACE WIZARDS!!!! Blake did no wrong, I am so right.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Blake may have come up with the idea of a religious order but I'm not quite sure he anticipated the space wizard angle his successors went for.

[@kiepyon1]

Last time is the sun this time is free world league xD

[@milesh3651]

Moral of the story: No one learns anything.

[@FosforitoDuracell]

So, who is the greatest villain in Battltech, and why is it Comstar?

[@AAX11111]

Also WHEW! MOAR COMSTAR TIEM!

[@Lemonhead209]

I’m still cheesed of by the loss of the Bolan thumb : (

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

The thumb deserved to die for no other reason than it was an eyesore on the galactic maps.

[@Lemonhead209]

@@SvenVanDerPlank I'm still painting up a lance of Bolan defender's; ; )

[@g3heathen209]

Can clan Sea Fox fill comstars role in the illcan era?

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

I'm not familiar with the ilClan era so can't really comment on it.

[@JetfireQuasar]

Thats it next play through of Battletech i do ComStar dies...

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Best of luck to you.

[@furagnar]

If they don't fix their portrayal of Storm and the kill the wolvie/cyce rivalry it's not going to be for me.

[@level98bearhuntingarmor]

Andurien and Irian stand!

[@ssjjshawn]

Glory To Marik

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Praise be.

[@patricksharpe1148]

o7

[@Jaeger_Bishop]

Hmm, guess a genocidal Ameris level sociopath, wasn't exactly a stretch to run Comstar. Not like Toriyama was a beacon of what a sane human being looks or acts like.

[@HoverLambo]

So Karpov WAS a warhammer 40k fan...

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Either that or certain 40K factions were a Karpov fan.

[@toxictoast6599]

Whew feels like the FWL got by on the skin of their teeth.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Somehow still kicking after all these disasters.

[@TheThinKing23]

@@SvenVanDerPlank it seems like the real superpower all the Successor States have is defense in depth. The offensives stall just because of the attrition and then ruling conquered planets. It kinda feels like even if the entire defensive military disappeared it would still be near-impossible for any of the States to become a hegemon. On the flip side, if the setting were a bit more realistic, it seems like this would make it functionally impossible for any of the Successor States to be as large and cohesive as they are through the centuries? More likely you'd see periodic large revolts, fracturing, changes of the ruling house, etc... The one thing I can say for the newer BattleTech history is that at least they show a reasonable amount of this type of upheaval, with some States collapsing into smaller pieces before reintegration (Liao, Marik both did at different times), and many new smaller entities splitting off successfully for long periods (Rasalhague et al). I love the dynamism a lot in the later eras!

[@firesb7791]

@@TheThinKing23 thats why the successor states are all broken up into various smaller districts

[@TheThinKing23]

@@firesb7791 yes I understand how and why feudalism works, that’s why I said we’d see more infighting *inside* each Successor State, as border regions eg betrayed their liege to flip to a rival, distant lords decided they could get away with a declaration of independence during a weak moment, etc

[@firesb7791]

@@TheThinKing23 True, fair points although I'd point out 2 things 1) declarations of independence by smaller individual planets and systems don't happen since they'd simply get squashed with ease 2) Nationalism plays a much bigger part in Battletech than fuedal systems in history, there is a lot of cultural distinction between peoples of different houses, more importantly I'd say there is a lot more unity based on that sense of a common enemy. EG Within the Federated Suns there are local disputes, but fighting the common enemy, in particular ones which are as hated as the Kuritans and Capellan, tends to take priority. Also while border regions exist within these conflicts, the conflicts aren't limited to those distant frontlines, you see quite commonly that with even with the more limited FTL in Battletech, Raids can occur deep into hostile territory

[@seanbrazell7095]

I hate me some drank-their-own-koolaide accidental space luddites! Mechanicum notwithstanding.

[@eugenehojo4403]

ACTIVATE AMS!

[@matthewthiebaut6188]

I did not see the adeptice mechanicus doing a crossover.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

This is where they got the idea, lol

[@Hunter_312]

How does your in-universe character know all this stuff about Comstar? Is this all common knowledge by 3025? Because the Warrior Trilogy ( the only books I've read so far) make it seem like Comstar is still an extremely secretive organization.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Excellent question. I have no idea. The stuff I'm covering would absolutely not be common knowledge, especially when I'm talking about private conversations between Blake and Toyama for example. While I limit myself on discussing future events and things happening in Clan space, I decided pretty early on I would present everything else readers would know regardless of how secretive that information is. Feasibly this is still far enough in the past that the Successor Lords and their intelligence agencies would have sufficient time to uncover most of this history. The sourcebooks themselves are in-universe documents and almost always begin with a brief about where the information was uncovered, but the major Historicals that much of these videos are built around are Jihad/Dark Age products in-universe.

[@Hunter_312]

@@SvenVanDerPlankA unorthodox approach, but certainly a necessary one. It would be really hard to make a concisive timeline of events involving Comstar if all you could do when it came to anything related to them was shrug and say "we just don't know'.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Funnily enough my original idea for this series was to go full Black Ops and have the screen glitch and jump ahead whenever it came to cover ComStar history, as well as beeping out names and using black marker to obscure info. Ultimately I decided the novelty wasn't worth it since understanding ComStar is essential to understanding the Second Succession War.

[@Hunter_312]

@@SvenVanDerPlankHah, that would have been fun to watch. But, I think, only for a video or two. Because yeah, actually knowing Comstar's role and actions is important and the black ops shtick could confuse people as well.

[@Hunter_312]

@@SvenVanDerPlankAlso, great video, as always. I can't wait for you to get to Hanse Davion and that bitch Myndo Waterly.

[@lorefox201]

press F for Jinjiro may he teach the angels how to commit warcrimes

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Death of a hero. Sad times indeed.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

​@@SvenVanDerPlank Sad times for kurita are the best of times

[@AGS363]

In the Name of Blake! The tale of Primus Raymond Karpov forces me to raise my voice, so that not the ignorant and foolish prevail with their complaints and slander! While certainly ruthless and brutal, Primus Karpov was also cunning with great foresight. To do him justice, you have to keep some facts in Mind: 1. He was a witness to the first Succession War, then the House Lords and their minions gleefully ended the lives of Billions; just to deny them to the other Lords. Sacrificing a few hundred scientists (employed by the military-industrial complex) was a comparable small deed. 2. As the Primus of ComStar, Karpov's foremost duty was to safeguard the organization's interests and prosperity, not to act as a benefactor to the Successor States or as redeemer of the entire Inner Sphere. With his acts, he ensured the stability and growth of ComStar as an independent entity. 3. Despite his eccentricities, Karpov's emphasis on rituals and symbolism served a strategic purpose by distinguishing ComStar from other factions and reinforcing its isolation from the power struggles of the House Lords. ComStar would barely get involved in outside politics until 2931 and only joined "The Political Game" after 2979! 4. Ultimately, Karpov's leadership ushered in a "Golden Century" for ComStar and Terra. Under his guidance, ComStar flourished, preserving and expanding upon Star League knowledge while fostering peace and prosperity on Terra. May the Blessing of Blake be upon you, and his wisdom guide you

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

Wow, reading this comment made me think I'd done him dirty. Then I remembered all the terrible things he did! But you're right, he absolutely strengthened ComStar and ensured their longterm survival after Toyama's botched effort to take over the Free Worlds League almost had them undone. Just for god's sake don't stand in his way.

[@zaphikel4578]

Completely true, couldnt have said it better. Karpov might have been horribly ruthless, but he was a child of his time, and having a lot of bad options, he seems to have chosen the least or less bad ones.

[@imasspeons]

God, I hate religious Comstar.

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

But you like secular ComStar?

[@imasspeons]

@@SvenVanDerPlank I don't hate Focht's or earliest Blake versions, no, as short-lived as they both were.

[@imasspeons]

The organization doing self-serving or reprehensible things is less problematic for me than the ridiculous superstition they attach to technology. Committing various atrocities and engaging in political ****ery to serve their own interests is pretty much what every Battletech faction is about.

[@TheKeyser94]

@@SvenVanDerPlank I hate both versions of Comstar, mostly their missions consist in making the living hell of farmers or people that want to live outside of system and the nobles houses, lucky for them, the nobles houses are so busy fighting each other mostly ignore them, if not get in the way of their interest, but Comstar want to destroy a facility there or a farm for fun, I got tired of being a puppet of Comstar and began to reject their missions, not matter how much they pay me.

[@nono2645]

Booo purple bird lol

[@SvenVanDerPlank]

You Steiners have gone far enough. It's all downhill for you on the Marik front for the rest of the 2ndSW.

[@nono2645]

@@SvenVanDerPlank one day the commonwealth will rule you all lol