Edit: I just realised that I had the Liao Lancers disabled on all the 2835-36 maps. Doesn't affect any of the battles in the video but I'll make sure that's corrected before I upload the compilation vid. This marks the end of the first phase of the war. The next two chapters are dominated by the fallout between ComStar and the Free Worlds League. After that we get into the final phase of the war where things get much more political and there's less emphasis on launching as many offensive operations as quickly as possible. In hindsight, I'm not sure why I included the First Battle of Tikonov at the end of the last chapter and not just have them all in this one. Wouldn't have made that much difference to runtime. Oh well.
@patricksharpe11486 ай бұрын
You have a wonderful eye for detail.
@NotThereJustGone6 ай бұрын
No doubt, Tikonov will be the site of a historic peace accord that will bring an end to bloodshed in the Inner Sphere and usher in an era of cooperation and comity that will survive a thousand years!
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
I admire your continued optimism. Surely at some point things will play out as you say.
@NotThereJustGone6 ай бұрын
@@SvenVanDerPlank I share your hopes. I mean, this is the year 3025. If we've learned anything from recent history, such as the sudden and inexplicable appearance of the Wolf's Dragoon, we can only expect good things in our future.
@mathewkelly99686 ай бұрын
Hahahahaha Never
@Deridus6 ай бұрын
@@NotThereJustGoneBlessed Blake, surely this is a sign of great things!
@NotThereJustGone6 ай бұрын
@@Deridus The more of this "Second Succession War" business I hear about, the more I wonder if the Great Houses are all that serious about peace. Still, what are the chances they'd repeat the same, prior mistakes?
@TheThinKing236 ай бұрын
You know what would be really cool? When you’ve finally finished all this history, doing a giant time lapse video showing the entire map and all the changes across the various conflicts. That would be a great high level overview to show the ebb and flow, offensives and stagnations, etc
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
I may do that, but I rebooted the maps after the Reunification War so I'd probably have to start at the Star League Civil War.
@Sierra0266 ай бұрын
Damn, General Greer was done dirty. Imagine this: you are a high ranking General, with many years if not decades of leadership within your nation. You have been tasked with a near impossible goal by your leader to take and hold the capital of an enemy nation, with not nearly enough resources or time to do so. Predictably, you fail, and are forced to withdraw before all your forces are wasted in a fool's errand. And your reward for preserving your forces to fight another day? Demoted to busboy at a restaurant. Little details like this makes me love Battletech even more.
@Archangelm1276 ай бұрын
I agree. Battletech feels far more 'real' to me in the true sense than any other setting.
@marley78686 ай бұрын
and it's another good point to show why the davions are full of it
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Disagree. He had done the hard part and secured the major fortifications but when faced with an actual battle, he turned tail and fled.
@a15godzilla5 ай бұрын
Your mom was full of davion last night
@zachariahmorris8336 ай бұрын
Anytime Chopan is mentioned I think of the Tombstone scene with Doc Holliday " Frederick fucking Chopan"
@Ironhold_Watch6 ай бұрын
And they all lived happily ever after
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
In perfect harmony.
@CptChaos216 ай бұрын
Thanks for including maps with unit insignias while recounting the events. This is great content. Please keep up the good work!
@Archangelm1276 ай бұрын
Surely the creepy tech cult that's randomly decided to give me tons of intel couldn't have ulterior motives. Surely.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
"Blood runs thicker than water" no longer applies once ComStar gets a hold of you.
@zapdragon236 ай бұрын
the longer this series goes on the higher my opinion of the capellans. they've got two of the most competent militaries in the setting attacking them and they still manage to hold out. really punching above their weight.
@mathewkelly99686 ай бұрын
Welcome to the fold citizen
@zapdragon236 ай бұрын
@@mathewkelly9968unfortunately impressive performance doesn't equal good pay.
@DenienN6 ай бұрын
it's just a plot armor for the broader story of this setting, you don't have to defend them
@zapdragon236 ай бұрын
@@DenienNhonestly you could say that for practically any of the factions, the goal here is to make for an interesting story and good game scenarios. The capellan's story in the 1st and 2nd succession wars has been both of those for me, which is good enough.
@harbingerx77936 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for these lovely lectures. You are doing a wonderful service for all the battletech history fans!
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Cheers, Harbinger.
@cygryl6 ай бұрын
Another excellent video Sven. Cant wait to see more. Thank you for these in depth videos on the succession wars.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
You're welcome. Happy to hear you've been enjoying them.
@jamesperkins1915 ай бұрын
20:16 Seen that portrait heaps of times already, but I just realised that Jinjiro looks likeHugh Jackman
@roland26906 ай бұрын
Tikonov meatgrinder, let's go!
@MM229666 ай бұрын
Every time I see that starry opening now, I can't help but think of that quote from Star Trek:DS9 - *"Look out there, Quark. Millions and millions of stars. Millions upon millions of worlds. And right now, half of them are fanatically dedicated to destroying the other half. Now - do you think, if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice?"*
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
That's a good quote.
@MM229666 ай бұрын
@@SvenVanDerPlankThe guy saying it WAS an arms merchant. He'd be right at home in BT universe, especially during the Succession Wars.
@nicksprung436Ай бұрын
love these videos! i have always been a big battle tech fan never played the table top but played all the video games and read the books religiously when i was younger but watching the time line play out in this fashion really shows how brutal this universe is!!!
@SvenVanDerPlankАй бұрын
Cheers. I'm in a similar boat. Never played the tabletop game but read many of the books and several video games too.
@verysilentmouse6 ай бұрын
Love your work, getting a giggle of the game of what planets are in the wrong hands from circa 3025.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Well it's looking a lot more like 3025 now that the Terran Hegemony no longer exists.
@ebla836 ай бұрын
Excellent work Sven!
@AtreidesT6606 ай бұрын
Nicely done Sven. On a side note the KZbin algorithm recommended a Renegade HPG vid (never heard of them until it popped up) and I really enjoyed the vid with you and Tex. Is there any future plan of you doing a BPL podcast like Tex did with Big Red ?
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the video. Was good fun getting to chat with those guys, though it bugs me no end that I forgot to set up my mic properly before hand recording which is why my audio quality was so trash in that podcast we did. Maybe me and Tex will end up doing something together again in the future. We'll see.
@MysteryMastery696 ай бұрын
I can't believe I missed this one! Well, great content. Even if I'm a bit late for this one
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
No worries, glad you enjoyed it.
@Makaan6 ай бұрын
Late night saturday dinner, playing battletech, eating and listening to this.
@theodoremccarthy44386 ай бұрын
Great work, as always. Keep it up 👍🏻
@mkang87826 ай бұрын
It's really nice to see content based on this period in the setting. Far more stuff focuses on the 3rd Succession War (and beyond), which makes sense due to most books and video games being set during that time frame.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
It's an oft overlooked era, but it all influences events further down the line. The 2ndSW is particularly interesting because it sees the metamorphosis of ComStar from communications company into the pseudo-religious fanatics we recognise today.
@mkang87826 ай бұрын
@@SvenVanDerPlank oh, for sure on both points.
@sebastiang.50324 ай бұрын
You are the ultimate loremaster!
@Femerenden6 ай бұрын
Next time, Draconis Combine starts playing musical chairs, obsessions run high and the war continues
@derekburge52946 ай бұрын
Whoof. When the Kuritans start making 'tough calls,' you know there's a Sven special coming down the line.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Not exactly. The Combine is going to see some changes in the next chapter, but the main focus is almost entirely on ComStar and the Free Worlds League.
@derekburge52946 ай бұрын
@@SvenVanDerPlank Don't you threaten me with a good time!
@sawyermongrel6 ай бұрын
awesome stuff man appreciate it
@Wrangler-fp4ei6 ай бұрын
Another epic entry, thanks again Sven Van Der Plank!
@danpaulsen41236 ай бұрын
I cant thank you enough for this content
@takumicrary43966 ай бұрын
Lovin it
@devalk_6 ай бұрын
Don't have anything to contribute, Just here to help the algorithm Keep it up!
@patricksharpe11485 ай бұрын
And you rock for trying.
@misterk93016 ай бұрын
Great work
@mathewkelly99686 ай бұрын
Tikonov always was and always will be Capellan Land despite Davion and "Republic" claims
@Deridus6 ай бұрын
True... unfortunately for Tikonov.
@zapdragon236 ай бұрын
these get posted on the same day as the ww2 in real time series so I get battletech military history and real military history on the same day. It's great!
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
They complement each other like yin and yang.
@Ashasverus6 ай бұрын
Good work
@michaelman9574 ай бұрын
Zabu: "Maybe don't use nukes at the drop of a hat." Kurita military: "Boooo! Lame! Kill him!"
@SvenVanDerPlank4 ай бұрын
The guy was no fun.
@Deadmeat3136 ай бұрын
Nice to see sunny Tikonov doing so well. 😊
@sanguiniusonvacation18036 ай бұрын
We are headed into the point in time where all living memory of the Star League will be gone.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
I do make a note of that in a couple of chapters time. Very soon the only people who remember it will have been those born during the Star League Civil War and not the true Golden Age.
@jotarofatso57436 ай бұрын
Comstar working overtime, so far every engagement went like a wet fart for all parties involved.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
It's about to come back to bite them in the next chapter.
@calumdeighton6 ай бұрын
As bad a mess the first war was. The second so far is an even bigger mess. Damn you ComStar. And damn you Blake. Going with Kerensky was the better option.
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Percentage wise, more people died during the Pentagon War than did in the Succession Wars. Unless you are on one of the border planets during the 1stSW, the Inner Sphere was the safer place to be.
@TheKeyser946 ай бұрын
Really? Kerensky not even could complete the journey and his son was a fanatic, he created a rigid hierarchical system, worse than the inner sphere, all clans were in the same page for while, but Nicolas rigid and brutal leadership lead to conflict between the clans, and they began to fight between themselves, like the Nobles Houses of the Inner Circle, in the end, Kerensky dream and exodus was in vain.
@thecommuterzombie6 ай бұрын
All is proceeding in accordance with the Will of Blake. Surely his ultimate designs will be realised in the near future...
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
If his ultimate design was the wholesale murder of hundreds of top academics across every field of science leading to a mass technological regression and the indirect deaths of millions over the next two centuries due to lost medical understanding, then yes, it will soon be realised.
@shagakhan94426 ай бұрын
The next AFFS operation on Tikonov would have been called Operation House Cat with the success they've had.
@Zenoflame6 ай бұрын
Blarg! I can't look... can we just skip to the 3150's already? 😜 As always, thank you Sven for this and I can't wait for the future installments (though take mental beaks when needed).
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
The CapCon doesn't have much to be proud of in the Second Succession War but you at least managed to hold onto Tikonov.
@williamchamberlain22636 ай бұрын
My physics may be off, but the thumbnail/17:20 doesn't look right to me - if they've already zeroed their orbital velocity to be able to come down vertically then isn't still thrusting down at that low an altitude going to leave a really heavy g-load for braking when they're low in the atmosphere?
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Classic case of artists not thinking about how space travel works. If they've been accelerating from the jumppoint then they would be traveling far too fast to slow down now. Perhaps they were in orbit and decided to descend. When you've got fusion engines and fuel is just water, deorbiting wastefully by burning straight down instead of opposite your direction of travel matters less.
@azou5th6 ай бұрын
Stop teasing me 😂
@tomrowlette95736 ай бұрын
Is it just me, or does the Draconis Combine have the ability to strike much deeper into its neighbors territory than the other houses? Do their jumpships go farther, do they do multiple jumps, or do other houses just choose closer targets?
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Many of those random deep strikes were first mentioned in the earliest lore where there wasn't a good understanding of what was where. The more recent sourcebooks that go into much more detail follow more conventional assaults along border worlds. But when somebody randomly appears half way across the Inner Sphere, there's a good chance they're just repeating something from the 1980s.
@marsar17756 ай бұрын
im writing this comment before watching the video i recently watched bigreds video on the warhamer iic. loved your appearences. do you have any plans to go that far in the timeline? i tried to find aterial post jihad to read as to why the map is so borked but its been difficult tracking down answers. i really like how you do these videos, it helps organise otherwise disconnected events. especially events in books written decades apart
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
I do indeed plan to cover that era. In fact, what you've described is the reason I started this whole series. There is a huge blind spot where the Jihad and Dark Ages take place that there is little material available for that I believe is preventing people from being able to pick up the modern ilClan setting because they've got a 80 year gap in their knowledge. At the moment I'm just continuing my chronological telling of the history so it'll be a while until I get there. For suggestions, I may be wrong but I believe both Big Red and MechFrog are both covering later eras in their own content and HPG Blackout has their own summary I noticed. Because I've only gotten to 3057 in my own reading, I haven't watched anything pertaining to that era, so can't comment on specific videos.
@marsar17756 ай бұрын
Oh awesome! I was going to stay either way, but now i will definitely keep watching. Its good to know im not just missing something incredibly obvious that everyone knows and thats why its not written down anywhere. I do follow big red and mechfrog as avidly as yourself, so i have picked up bits and pieces of the story but i could never tell if there was more yet. Thanks for a great episode, and i hope you have an excellent day!
@janwitts26886 ай бұрын
Best to drop 12 regiments of mech directly onto the fortifications and accept the 50 percent force reduction. Then clear out any pockets with regiments of heavy arty..
@mathewkelly99686 ай бұрын
What and destroy one of the biggest industrial complexes in the Inner Sphere ? What would be the point of that "victory" ?
@Bomfunker916 ай бұрын
Industrial cornerstones like Tikonov are such bastions for the same reason Hespherus II is. Leveling it would defeat the entire purpose of invading it, it's way too valuable intact.
@janwitts26886 ай бұрын
@mathewkelly9968 I would expect that 50 percent of the facilities would be salvageable that coupled with massive stockpiles of parts and the salvage of enemy war equipment would more than make up for the 6 regiments worth of material expended... its called a decisive strike... what your plans cause is the failure to achieve anything, the expenditure of war material for no gain and leaving the construction facilities in enemy hands which allowed the liao state to exist... LMF boy... get good or get cleaning dishes..
@janwitts26886 ай бұрын
@Bomfunker91 Reply below...
@Bomfunker916 ай бұрын
@@janwitts2688 So spending massive amounts of functioning materiel to basically end up with what you had before the battle, minus a few thousand experienced troops, and no long-term gain because you conquered a ruin; it's a short term win for sure, since it deprives the Capellans of Tikonov, but part of why the 4th Succession War was so good for the Davions was that they finally took it intact, y'know?
@mathewkelly99686 ай бұрын
I hope Traders Domain is still out there ....... Although i know its not
@SvenVanDerPlank6 ай бұрын
Gone by the end of the century :'(
@nikoclesceri22676 ай бұрын
Why you gotta tease us like this
@janwitts26886 ай бұрын
Davion guard were caught loading onto dropships... so the kuritans jumped in at a pirate point? Minimum several hours at high G burn to planet... so we are supposed to believe that a guards division has no high guard mounted for its dropships onworld.. no asf patrols etc.. hilarious