Combined all 14 episodes into one complete history of the first age of BattleTech. Work is well underway on the Reunification War. I've finished doing all the voicework and it's over THREE HOURS! Thank you to KingsofWinter & Awesome-Autocrat for creating some early faction logos for me. Really great work.
I must admit, I wish I'd been aware of these videos of yours while I was working on finalizing Operation Lancaster. They would've been extremely helpful in my efforts to ensure that the background information I'd written conformed with canon as much as possible. Regardless, thank you so much for these videos! They're fantastic work! You've got a new subscriber here. Excited to see your future work! ^_^
Good thing I made popcorn then! Seriously though, this helps me a lot with the background as I really only started getting into Battletech from the game from Harebrained Schemes in 2018. You got yourself a subscriber.
Don't take this the wrong way, but I've been using this video to sleep the past few days, it's great. Love your stuff and long lore videos really cures my insomnia. Thanks for your deep dives and comprehensive map/timeline work!
Ha, that's hilarious. Don't worry, I get it. I've been using ASMR to sleep/relax since 2016, including one channel that has nothing to do with it. How anyone could find MY voice relaxing is beyond me though. Always glad to hear someone is enjoying the videos no matter what the context.
@@SvenVanDerPlank accents that people arent raised with tend to be appealing, and you have a very calm voice, so i could definitely see being able to fall asleep to this if i was tired.
I just started playing Mechwarrior 5 and I find the politics of this universe utterly fascinating. Thank you for this video. I always wondered about the factions from the MechAssault games I played as a kid, and now I've got somewhere to go for explanations.
Thanks, I'm glad you've been enjoying the videos. The political manoeuvring and backstabbing is my favourite part of the series, the 'Mechs are just a fun backdrop.
A 4x game would be cool, but I have zero confidence that a movie would be anything but terrible. Same with a series; someone would use the name to push a personal project. See stuff like Wheel of Time.
Cant be a 4x since its factions are established and its already explored. A grand strategy with ck2 dynasty space opera with unit customization detail of hoi4.
@@winzyl9546 Good point about the 4x. And while we're at it with ck2 and Hoi4, do also mix in the pops system from Imperator to give dynamic culture and identity to all the populace.
So I played this when it came out, it was called "Battle Droids" and was sued by George Lucas over the word "Droids". So it became "Battletech", then it was sued for it use of mechs from Robotech, and Macross. Then there was the Fasa, then the Harmony Gold fiasco. So its incredible to see so much of the lore, and so much politics that has come out and really fleshed out the inner sphere and its people and politics, local, planetary, and even interplanetary. I can't imagine where it all came from but I am glad there is so much love for this game and it's many iterations and it's slow growth and the painfully slow releases of new games. But I still love it and play everyday. One of the best things that could've ever happened to this game was the invasion by Gen. Kerenskis descendents, the Clans. This game needed a new and fresh infusion of mech designs that would not get the franchise sued. With the the return of the clans and the star league was a master stroke of genius. Now battletech was newer and fresher with its own mech designs and a new story line from its base history of the "Exodus" from the inner sphere by the star league. A master stroke. Clan mechs can trace their orgins back to the exodus battle mechs they took with them. Here we are, seeing how it all began, before the mech redefined warfare.
I think you are misunderstanding what plagiarism means. The Fighting Urukhai are a direct reference. As far as I know there are no orcs in BattleTech. Naming something after something else isn't plagiarism. Team Banzai is one of the most important merc units in the series and their name is straight from Buckaroo Banzai.
@@Duchess_Van_Hoof I believe basically anyone can add something to Sarna, it's a co-op wiki-pedia of battletech. But the early design of mechs used were absolutely rip offs from Macross and Robotech, even the name still utilizes part of its inspiration "tech" in battle"tech". In an effort to further distance themselves they went to calling it "Mechwarrior". That one definitely stuck.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 Almost anyone can edit Sarna, I believe you need to set up an account, which anyone on the internet can do. But The Fighting Uruk-Hai and Team Banzai, among many others, are canon formations that exist in the lore. There's a difference between "plagiarism" and "shout-out," which can admittedly get a little thin if the owner of the thing you're shouting out to take umbrage. Plucking a name from another work is generally not plagiarism, even a made-up name that could not be confused as anything but having come from that work, like Uruk-Hai, especially if the fictional universe the shout-out appears in has the fiction being shouted out to in it. BattleTech is based on actual Earth humans, so Lord of the Rings likely exists, thus it's entirely probable some MechWarrior who was also a LotR fan dubbed their merc command "The Fighting Uruk-Hai" because they thought it was funny. Similarly, the 42nd Adder Cavaliers of Clan Star Adder go by the unit nickname "The Answer." Also, the game has not been "renamed" MechWarrior. It has always been BattleTech. MechWarrior, in universe, is a term specifically describing someone trained to pilot 'Mechs. MechWarrior was first used, to my knowledge, as a product name for the role-playing supplements released alongside the BattleTech tabletop combat game, allowing for integration of character-scale RPG with lance- or company-scale 'Mech combat. MechWarrior was then applied to the first "flight sim" BattleTech game, the original first-person perspective shooter where you piloted a 'Mech, and the name has stuck for entries in that segment of the franchise. Those games happen to be very accessible to BT outsiders, so it is many people's first exposure to the setting and lore of BattleTech, but the MechWarrior games still exist under the umbrella of the BattleTech franchise. MechWarrior was also used for the clix mini game "MechWarrior: The Dark Age," which advanced the timeline quite a bit. While the main franchise (still in the throes of the Jihad) was catching up, it was rebranded "Classic BattleTech" for reasons which remain unclear, since just "BattleTech" and "MechWarrior: The Dark Age" share precisely zero words in common. Dark Age was eventually discontinued, and the franchise overall went back to being just "BattleTech." Also, Robotech IS Macross, just imported and redubbed completely by Harmony Gold and mashed up with two other anime series. When BattleTech was using Super Dimension Fortress Macross designs for some 'Mechs, the rights to that artwork had been legally purchased (thus, they were not "rip-offs"). Then Harmony Gold licensed the entirety of Macross, the situation was live-and-let-live for a time, then ExoSquad and BattleTech: The Animated Series were in the works, the toy company working on toys for ExoSquad made something a little too close to the Mad Cat for FASA's liking, FASA sued, Harmony Gold (who licensed some stuff for ExoSquad) countersued, and the whole Unseen debacle came about. A good chronicle of the whole sordid story is here: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ScrewedByTheLawyers/BattleTech
Bud, I've been looking for a comprehensive insight in the Battletech universe history for a long time and this video you made is amazing...you make the lore seem so real, thank you!! 😊
I’m extraordinarily new to the Battletech universe and I’m absolutely loving it so far. Thank you for making such well written and interesting content about the lore. Keep up the fantastic work! Looking forward to making my way through this playlist
This was very well done. I enjoyed this as much as the Tex talks Battletech series by the Black Pants Legion. You did an excellent job telling the story, and I loved how you used the map as a backdrop. That really tied everything together. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. I've just finished uploading the next compilation video which should be going live in the next couple of days (as soon as it's done processing), or you can watch the individual chapters already on my channel if you're interested in seeing more.
I also enjoyed this. It's always a good time when you can find a Battletech channel where it isn't someone just reading passages directly from a splatbook or Sarna. You've earned a sub alongside Fritz and TBPL
Oh Kerensky, this is amazing! Thank you so much My only feedback is to maybe highlight the mentioned worlds on the map whenever they're mentioned? It was a bit hard looking for them, especially in the first third of the video where it's basically just border gore
Thanks for the feedback. I tried to keep the most important worlds centre frame. In the parts where lots of minor things are happening I made sure it was all in shot but it would have been a lot of camera pans (and a lot of editing work/time) for not much benefit. There's definitely improvements I could make there though. As we progress in the timeline the conflicts are more fleshed out so you'll see units moving to and from the worlds I'm actively discussing which'll hopefully make it easier to follow.
I have actually watched this a bunch of times over and over. Probably because I am a BattleTech fan that has a history degree and find Sven's voice quite soothing, lol.
Glad you're enjoying the video. I can't watch these early vids of mine because of my voice. Talking a million miles an hour and the sound levels are all off.
This is a mighty work on your part. The resources you had to scour to put this altogether must have taken a good deal of time. You mentioned about the introduction of the KF drives and how it expanded the breath of humanity to the stars. One part that you toched on for whey the Terran Alliance fell was the distances and the time for communications. Yet I did hear mention of the other benefit from the KF drives in that it lead to creation of the HPG network. Otherwise this was almost flawless.
So I deliberately didn't mention HPG (perhaps wrongly) because they had not been invented yet. In case you didn't know, the first working HPG entered service in 2630 which meant all communications before then relied on couriers.
Would be nice if when you actually went to a planet in Mechwarrior, it had at least a 2 sentence bio on the place. This is great information and Lore, many thanks.
While a few worlds do have bios, the game creators seem to have deliberately left the majority open for interpretation. With thousands of worlds, it would be a daunting task, but I'd buy such an atlas.
Outstanding work, my friend! I'm brand new to the franchise after picking up the PC game and I'm amazed that all this stuff happened before the game even begins.
BattleTech and Warhammer are the greatest pieces of fictional lore to ever exist, and I'll die on this hill!! Thank you for creating this masterpiece!!
Our Battalion fought on many of these Worlds. Fighting was very brutal but we always fought to help the oppressed. Damn, now, after so many years, I may have to dust off the old gear and see if the old BattleMech will fire up for me just one more time. :)
It is weird that the setting for a game about giant death robots is so intricate and so... beautiful in its tragedy. The formation of the Star League represents the victory of diplomacy against war itself, only for it to commit the most atrocious military campaign in human history. And its fall meant a galactic conflict that bombed civilization back to the proverbial stone age. And as an Earther myself the fall of the Terran Hegemony is a bit heartbreaking, especially considering what replaced it on this world of ours. If I had any pet peeve, then it would be that I would like more minor nations stubbornly struggling for their existence.
Consider that within the great houses, many minor houses and individual worlds are, nearly always, in conflict with each other. If not for their house lord's, they would be in open conflict. Look at the mess that is the ilkhan era.
Might sound weird but i think that's what the recent events with the Clans are hrading towards as a lot of clan splinter factions are creating their own regional powers and periphery kingdoms the tech and/or size of which could challenge the Taurian Concordant. And considering what all twenty clans (i know not all of them invaded) "working together" achieved in the Inner Sphere. Imagine what these splinter factions new clans, and the clan empires in the inner sphere will achieve all while being Capellan Confederation sized or much smaller.
If you were to live during the times of Terran Hegemony you'd remember it is a place with near infinite economical disparity, zero social lifts and evergrowing cultural degradation. There's a reason why everyone who's brains were worth a dime escaped it the first chance they got.
A bit late but one of my favorite parts about the setting being based around a tabletop game is that it encourages people like us to fill in the gaps. Pick a couple Periphery worlds or something with no established story and make something wild!
Incredible. Execellent produciton quality. I could watch hours of this. This is a great way to absorb battletech lore. I kind of want to model a stellaris playthough aroun the 2200 mark of battle tech, and this gives me the perfect amount of detail
No problem. I really did mean to do it sooner but for some reason couldn't force myself to do the 15 minute editing job necessary to merge it together. Going forwards I plan to upload a combined long video at the end of each era, only this time I'll work with that in mind from the get go.
I'm new to this universe, just got into it when I beat MechWarrior 5, then I found you. I'll be listening to this entire playlist. This is so interesting, and the main reason I'm doing this research is because I'd like to know more about who I'm working for on there I had no idea of the depth this universe has and I am NOT disappointed. Thanks so much for this. I'm subscribed and will be watching your videos for weeks to come.
A shame you never got to play mech warrior 4. Mech warrior 4 and its exansions are the pinnacle of mechwarrior. Mw5 isnt That great. Have you tried mechwarrior online ?
@@jeepsblackpowderandlights4305 I haven't, it's only on PC isn't it? And yeah, I wish there was more too MW5 but it still gets me by. Finally got a good playthrough going lol just hunting a Marauder 2
The Mechwarrior lore always seemed extremely elusive to me. It turns out writers at FASA established a universe as vast and developed as Star Wars’ ! Your video makes it readily accessible. Thank you very much.
Thank you. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. If you haven't already seen them, this is just the first in a long running series I'm working on. You should be able to find the full playlist on the channel.
I know you've been ridiculously swamped and gotten burned out doing BT videos once already, so feel free to completely ignore this. But one thing that would be extremely useful to me is sort of a "digest" version of this history, trimmed to maybe 20-25% of its current length, that hits the highlights and mostly glosses over the minutiae. As much as I love BT lore, I'm less concerned with remembering every little detail than just having a thorough understanding of the big picture. But again -- distilling this into a summary would be a huge amount of work, so I'm not really asking for this so much as saying "I would find this cool to have, *only if* you had both the time and motivation to do it."
For the reasons you said, I'd have to be honest and say I don't think it'll happen (definitely not soon anyway). It'd probably require a complete rewrite. Maybe when I've caught up to 3025 I'll do a brief 10-15 minute overview of the last 1000 years. BUT, I appreciate the feedback. I had to choose when I started this project how much I was going to write about and settled on about 50% of what was included in the Housebooks history sections, with a focus on what seemed the most important or most interesting. I actually recorded a whole episode I chose not to finish because although it was interesting to me, I could easily summarise it into two sentences near the start of the Davion Civil War video. For the upcoming Reunification War I ended up rewriting about 90% of the sourcebook which is probably too much. Depending on what others think, and if the consensus is that is too much, I'll keep things shorter in future. For now, I will continue to upload all my lore videos in shorter chunks to keep them digestible and only afterwards reupload the multi-hour specials for folks who want that.
Excellent video. Very well done summation of the formative years of Interstellar Humanity in the Battletech verse. Honestly, all the talk of houses and feudal politics makes me wish for a Game of Thrones esque HBO show telling the story of these sorts of events. Maybe the first Succession War, or the Clan Invasion.
@@SvenVanDerPlank understandable. Well, at least the most recent Battletech Game was pretty fun, and I think it sold decently too, so hopefully there will be more of that. Seriously though, the more i listen to your vids and hear it all laid out, the more i realize that Battletech is Game of Thrones in space... or should it be Game of Thrones is Battletech on the ground, considering that Battletech came out most of a decade earlier?
It's story is inspired by feudal European nations constant squabbles and most of the tech is based on things that while we don't have them yet, are being heavily researched and could one day become a reality like fusion reactors and laser tech.
@@MrJack556 Thanks to square-cube law, realistically, any tech that would make mechs possible would make Infantry, Tracked Vehicles or Rotorcraft better for any role it'd fit.
@@SvenVanDerPlank yup, I made the battletech human sphere map without Faction borders. It's derived from the SUCKit. Love how you used it on your video!
@@SvenVanDerPlank let me know what maps you need. The full inner sphere map without borders is actually due for an update because of the new systems that appeared in newer source books.
this video is fantastic. thank you so much for the work that went into it. i've never heard of your channel prior to seeing this video so im really glad you made this combination, yt seems to favor longer videos in recommendations for some people
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. There is already a follow-up on the channel if you haven't seen it. I think you're right on the algorithm. When you have a long video, it's not uncommon for people to watch it across multiple sittings. YT sees that as people returning to a video which ranks highly in the algorithm but doesn't distinguish between where they stopped and started. If it's got a lot of return/repeat views it promotes it a little more to new folk. That's what I've observed anyway, supported by the fact that the compilation videos get more views in a day than all the individual chapters combined.
@@SvenVanDerPlank that makes a lot of sense, i'm glad you're getting views on this masterpeice. its well earned. i just don't get why it took until yesterday for YT to recommend me any of your videos since i basically watch all of no strings PRD's content on release and have been watching tex videos since day 1 basically. you'd think YT would show me your channel given the literal perfect overlap. either way im super grateful for this compilation, being able to sit down for a few hours and just absorb this is fantastic. a lot of the finer details i didn't know despite being a huge bt fan for years. like the finer details of operation Prometheus. im guessing you got that from the house steiner sourcebook? going to have to actually get around to getting them all lol
Excellent! Something to keep my mind busy while I go hunting in MW5 whilst also bringing me up to speed. Already listened to the first half hour on my other account, very well done.
Hi , kinda late to the video but I wanna say a few things. First of all congratulations. The lore video you made is one of the best I've ever seen /heard . and being a huge scifi fan means i've seen a lot , from warhammer to dune to starwars and so on and so on. thank you for that mate! Second of all I am a total newcomer to the Mechwarrior universe and I never expected Mecha Pew Pew would have such interesting and intricate lore and politics behind it.
You're never too late man, I read all the comments. I'm really glad you enjoyed the video and appreciate you saying it's one of the best. If you've not already seen it, there is another in the series that I posted to my channel in the last week that you might be interested in. And the political side of the franchise, which I've seen some people compare to Game of Thrones in space but really it's more of a Napoleonic War in space, is the main reason I'm such a fan of the series. I'm the sort of BT nerd who would happily read a novel purely about the high-level political manoeuvring and that had no 'Mechs at all, save maybe the two that are permanently standing guard beside the Archon's throne.
Didn't know the lore was THIS DEEP. I played Mech-assault 1 & 2 back on the OG Xbox, I didn't knew then it was part of a larger IP called the battletech universe. Then, when I did I was amused but now after a few more years, never realise the lore & the timeline was huge. ._. Edit: "Haha, Game of Thrones has alot of politics. The scheming, the manipulation, the backstabbing..." Battletech* "say wot?"
I had a similar experience. Played MechCommander as a kid, then understood there was some connection between it and the rest of the games around the time MechAssault 2 was coming out. Was another decade before I heard of BattleTech.
Holy bananas. This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for in regards to Battletech. I've got to say, your accent really adds to the "war documentary" feel of this video.
Thank you, glad you found what you were looking for. If you haven't seen it, the next chapter in the series is already up on the channel with more in the early stages of production.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Oh man, I'm totally going to check that out. I've been using the Battletech universe for inspiration in a novel series I'm creating. Extensive lore like this helps me plan through how I want the series to progress.
40:37 The map really gets filled in quickly at this time skip timeskip, huh? What an amazing video. Good job! This was much preferred over reading through bits and pieces on sarna. But I'll probably do that as well.
The earliest map we have of the Capellan Confederation is 2366. It's reasonable to say that all events described prior to that probably have much larger states than shown in the video but I can only go on which planets are specifically mentioned.
@@SvenVanDerPlank This is a very comprehensive history that you are putting together. I started playing BT and greedily devouring the lore when i was 7 years old. Im 42 now and still love the setting. I would love to be a part of this
If you'd like to contribute and have any artistic inclination, any unit insignias would be massively appreciated. Even if it's just adding colour to the black and white ones or doing some simple Black/White remakes of some of the very low res ones. Otherwise, everything is more or less covered for the next few videos.
@@SvenVanDerPlank That’s cool. Sadly, though I try, i cannot draw or make likenesses to save my life. I write, for the most part. At any rate, thanks for this and keep up the good work!!
Whoever owns the rights should hire you as a Battletech historian, I think there are a lot of people who want to understand the BattleTech universe, but there are no official resources out there nearly as comprehensive as this.
Most of this Age of War series is based on the Housebooks which came out in 1987-88. Only the GDL novels predate them so this info has been out there for a while if you knew where to look. The first book especially has no mention of ComStar because they didn't exist yet and only features the 'Mechs from 2nd Edition because TRO:3025 hadn't come out either. 1986's MechWarrior RPG was the first sourcebook to contain a lengthy history section which significantly fleshed out the universe (though nothing compared to later years).
Cheers. I've always felt it was an era that doesn't get much attention (understandably so because it's so far in the past) but you can understand the origins of so many later conflicts by looking into the Age of War.
So, fun fact: Those "jump-capable warships" McKenna had? Dreadnought-class, the first WarShips of the Inner Sphere, given to him basically as a toy to keep him busy, apparently under the belief that a combat-capable JumpShip was a terrible idea and would be useless in any real conflict. Boy, did he prove them wrong, huh?
Thank you, hope I make it worth your while. If you haven't already seen it, the next Complete History is already up on the channel, and I'm hard at work scripting the Amaris Civil War.
So much of table top gaming RUclips is just over caffeinated man-children screaming that is refreshing to have such a well researched and well presented lore video. I just found your channel and I’m looking forward to listening the whole series.
At this point, I'm just waiting for a super playlist of all these big videos that track all of battletech's history. It'll probably be 20 hours long, but I'm here for it
They're already in a playlist so you can just turn autoplay on if you want. It took 3.5 days just to render the Star League Civil War so don't think I'll be doing a mega-compilation anytime soon.
@@SvenVanDerPlank oh boy, that's quite a while. I did really enjoy the Star league civil war mega compilation cus I turned it on and listened to it all day. It was great. But I can understand not doing one on the succession wars, even that's a bit much.
Don't get me wrong, I'll do a compilation for each succession war individually, but I ain't gonna do them all in one. I heard YT comes after you if you upload the same things repeatedly, so that's another reason just to stick to what I have been doing.
@@SvenVanDerPlank oh, even I wouldn't do all the succession wars stuff together in the same thing, that's *far* too much to churn through, but yeah I'm looking forward to ur new videos. They look really good
The Davion Civil War in particular makes me wonder how no one ever pitched a BT tv show to HBO in the style of GoT. I mean hell, BattleTech is basically GoT IN SPACE (or, since it is the older property i believe, perhaps GoT is BT IN NOT SPACE!?)
Oh absolutely ASoIaF concept => what Martin lifted from BattleTech Great Empire Of Dawn = Terran Alliance Valyria = Star League Dorne = Federated Suns House Targaryen = House Kurita House Stark = Wolf's Dragoons / Clan Wolf Free World's League = House Arryn Summer Isles = Magistracy Of Canopus House Glover's banner = pretty much just the House Stiener mailed fist The Maesters = ComStar There's probably more...
Playing mechwarrior 5 and wanted to really understand this world more, so thanks for this awesome playlist I'll get through in a couple days 😂😂 have 2 weeks off work so why not lol
Please make more videos like this. Tex/Black Pants Legion are great, but I really enjoy your videos as well. I especially enjoy your animations of troop and fleet movements.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Think this was about 3 months in total, though I released it in episodes and then uploaded this compilation afterwards. If you haven't already seen it, I have a follow-up video on the Reunification War you might be interested in.
To think about the reality is pretty fascinating, despite that map and all that imaginary events and actions, the real milky way galaxy is so mindblowingly huge that this entire narrative can take place in a portion of the real galaxy that if you had the entire galaxy on your screen, all that territory would still likely be invisibly small to you. To further think, Things like this could be going on out there now, with alien races so far away they never met any other life but their own still, Despite encompassing countless empires of just their species, having countless wars across thousands of stars. Still, even then, Having no idea if anybody else is out there yet.
Combined all 14 episodes into one complete history of the first age of BattleTech.
Work is well underway on the Reunification War. I've finished doing all the voicework and it's over THREE HOURS!
Thank you to KingsofWinter & Awesome-Autocrat for creating some early faction logos for me. Really great work.
I must admit, I wish I'd been aware of these videos of yours while I was working on finalizing Operation Lancaster. They would've been extremely helpful in my efforts to ensure that the background information I'd written conformed with canon as much as possible. Regardless, thank you so much for these videos! They're fantastic work!
You've got a new subscriber here. Excited to see your future work! ^_^
What if the SLDF-in-exile went back in time to the year 1930?
Good thing I made popcorn then!
Seriously though, this helps me a lot with the background as I really only started getting into Battletech from the game from Harebrained Schemes in 2018. You got yourself a subscriber.
No problem, glad you found it useful/enjoyable.
Is it ready yet
Don't take this the wrong way, but I've been using this video to sleep the past few days, it's great. Love your stuff and long lore videos really cures my insomnia. Thanks for your deep dives and comprehensive map/timeline work!
Ha, that's hilarious. Don't worry, I get it. I've been using ASMR to sleep/relax since 2016, including one channel that has nothing to do with it. How anyone could find MY voice relaxing is beyond me though. Always glad to hear someone is enjoying the videos no matter what the context.
@@SvenVanDerPlank accents that people arent raised with tend to be appealing, and you have a very calm voice, so i could definitely see being able to fall asleep to this if i was tired.
I use a channel that does readings of SCP entries so I completely understand where your coming from.
@@michaelkimberling7307 exploring or volgun?
@@thelordofcringe volgun
This is awesome! You rarely hear so much information about the early, EARLY days of BattleTech. Keep up the great work!
It was definitely a neglected era in the timeline so thought I'd shed a little light on it. Glad you enjoyed it.
I just started playing Mechwarrior 5 and I find the politics of this universe utterly fascinating. Thank you for this video. I always wondered about the factions from the MechAssault games I played as a kid, and now I've got somewhere to go for explanations.
Thanks, I'm glad you've been enjoying the videos. The political manoeuvring and backstabbing is my favourite part of the series, the 'Mechs are just a fun backdrop.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Agreed
Good luck in your gaming sessions!
There's 3 things that sci-fi fans need:
1. A Battletech movie
2. A Battletech series
3. A Battletech 4x grand strategy game
Just so long as that 4x game allows me to get down to the level of detail/control that HBS Battletech does!
A 4x game would be cool, but I have zero confidence that a movie would be anything but terrible. Same with a series; someone would use the name to push a personal project.
See stuff like Wheel of Time.
Cant be a 4x since its factions are established and its already explored.
A grand strategy with ck2 dynasty space opera with unit customization detail of hoi4.
@@winzyl9546 How does the fact that the factions are established and explored preclude a 4x game? Star Wars and Star Trek have both had 4x games.
@@winzyl9546 Good point about the 4x. And while we're at it with ck2 and Hoi4, do also mix in the pops system from Imperator to give dynamic culture and identity to all the populace.
Anyone: "What time is it?"
Literally any person named Davion for 500 years: "Looks like it's time for a war against Capellans!"
Who better to attack? Who more deserving?
"The Davions, obviously."
-Taurian Concordant
"Everyone." -The Clans
So I played this when it came out, it was called "Battle Droids" and was sued by George Lucas over the word "Droids". So it became "Battletech", then it was sued for it use of mechs from Robotech, and Macross. Then there was the Fasa, then the Harmony Gold fiasco. So its incredible to see so much of the lore, and so much politics that has come out and really fleshed out the inner sphere and its people and politics, local, planetary, and even interplanetary.
I can't imagine where it all came from but I am glad there is so much love for this game and it's many iterations and it's slow growth and the painfully slow releases of new games. But I still love it and play everyday.
One of the best things that could've ever happened to this game was the invasion by Gen. Kerenskis descendents, the Clans.
This game needed a new and fresh infusion of mech designs that would not get the franchise sued. With the the return of the clans and the star league was a master stroke of genius. Now battletech was newer and fresher with its own mech designs and a new story line from its base history of the "Exodus" from the inner sphere by the star league. A master stroke.
Clan mechs can trace their orgins back to the exodus battle mechs they took with them. Here we are, seeing how it all began, before the mech redefined warfare.
Then there is blatant plagiarism like The Fighting Uruk-Hai which I stumbled on to on Sarna.
I think you are misunderstanding what plagiarism means. The Fighting Urukhai are a direct reference. As far as I know there are no orcs in BattleTech. Naming something after something else isn't plagiarism. Team Banzai is one of the most important merc units in the series and their name is straight from Buckaroo Banzai.
I bought my first FASA product in 85', I believe and have been deeply fascinated with the setting ever sense.
@@Duchess_Van_Hoof I believe basically anyone can add something to Sarna, it's a co-op wiki-pedia of battletech. But the early design of mechs used were absolutely rip offs from Macross and Robotech, even the name still utilizes part of its inspiration "tech" in battle"tech".
In an effort to further distance themselves they went to calling it "Mechwarrior". That one definitely stuck.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 Almost anyone can edit Sarna, I believe you need to set up an account, which anyone on the internet can do. But The Fighting Uruk-Hai and Team Banzai, among many others, are canon formations that exist in the lore.
There's a difference between "plagiarism" and "shout-out," which can admittedly get a little thin if the owner of the thing you're shouting out to take umbrage. Plucking a name from another work is generally not plagiarism, even a made-up name that could not be confused as anything but having come from that work, like Uruk-Hai, especially if the fictional universe the shout-out appears in has the fiction being shouted out to in it. BattleTech is based on actual Earth humans, so Lord of the Rings likely exists, thus it's entirely probable some MechWarrior who was also a LotR fan dubbed their merc command "The Fighting Uruk-Hai" because they thought it was funny. Similarly, the 42nd Adder Cavaliers of Clan Star Adder go by the unit nickname "The Answer."
Also, the game has not been "renamed" MechWarrior. It has always been BattleTech. MechWarrior, in universe, is a term specifically describing someone trained to pilot 'Mechs. MechWarrior was first used, to my knowledge, as a product name for the role-playing supplements released alongside the BattleTech tabletop combat game, allowing for integration of character-scale RPG with lance- or company-scale 'Mech combat. MechWarrior was then applied to the first "flight sim" BattleTech game, the original first-person perspective shooter where you piloted a 'Mech, and the name has stuck for entries in that segment of the franchise. Those games happen to be very accessible to BT outsiders, so it is many people's first exposure to the setting and lore of BattleTech, but the MechWarrior games still exist under the umbrella of the BattleTech franchise.
MechWarrior was also used for the clix mini game "MechWarrior: The Dark Age," which advanced the timeline quite a bit. While the main franchise (still in the throes of the Jihad) was catching up, it was rebranded "Classic BattleTech" for reasons which remain unclear, since just "BattleTech" and "MechWarrior: The Dark Age" share precisely zero words in common. Dark Age was eventually discontinued, and the franchise overall went back to being just "BattleTech."
Also, Robotech IS Macross, just imported and redubbed completely by Harmony Gold and mashed up with two other anime series. When BattleTech was using Super Dimension Fortress Macross designs for some 'Mechs, the rights to that artwork had been legally purchased (thus, they were not "rip-offs"). Then Harmony Gold licensed the entirety of Macross, the situation was live-and-let-live for a time, then ExoSquad and BattleTech: The Animated Series were in the works, the toy company working on toys for ExoSquad made something a little too close to the Mad Cat for FASA's liking, FASA sued, Harmony Gold (who licensed some stuff for ExoSquad) countersued, and the whole Unseen debacle came about.
A good chronicle of the whole sordid story is here: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ScrewedByTheLawyers/BattleTech
Outstanding. Phenomenal job with the research and crisp and clear story telling. I'm looking forward to your next series.
Thanks, I appreciate you saying so.
I love these types of science fiction universes where humanity and politics is in the forefront. Like The Expanse, Dune
Yeah, it's one of my favourite things about BT. The 'Mech stuff kind of falls into the background compared to all the political manoeuvring.
As someone just starting stepping into Mechwarrior, it's nice to have an easy to understand video to reference.
Never have I been more intrigued by the words of a genuine historian. A fantastic piece of work by a master of his craft.
Thank you, I'm glad you found it interesting. There are many more videos in this series if you haven't seen them already.
Bud, I've been looking for a comprehensive insight in the Battletech universe history for a long time and this video you made is amazing...you make the lore seem so real, thank you!! 😊
No problem, glad you enjoyed it. There is another video up on the channel that continues on from this one that you might enjoy.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Great stuff!! I'll check that out next mate 😉
I’m extraordinarily new to the Battletech universe and I’m absolutely loving it so far. Thank you for making such well written and interesting content about the lore. Keep up the fantastic work! Looking forward to making my way through this playlist
Thanks, I'm glad you've been enjoying it.
I totally found this content by accident and the way it is presented is absolutely amazing and I find the story engrossing
This was very well done. I enjoyed this as much as the Tex talks Battletech series by the Black Pants Legion. You did an excellent job telling the story, and I loved how you used the map as a backdrop. That really tied everything together. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. I've just finished uploading the next compilation video which should be going live in the next couple of days (as soon as it's done processing), or you can watch the individual chapters already on my channel if you're interested in seeing more.
I also enjoyed this. It's always a good time when you can find a Battletech channel where it isn't someone just reading passages directly from a splatbook or Sarna.
You've earned a sub alongside Fritz and TBPL
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Oh Kerensky, this is amazing! Thank you so much
My only feedback is to maybe highlight the mentioned worlds on the map whenever they're mentioned? It was a bit hard looking for them, especially in the first third of the video where it's basically just border gore
Thanks for the feedback. I tried to keep the most important worlds centre frame. In the parts where lots of minor things are happening I made sure it was all in shot but it would have been a lot of camera pans (and a lot of editing work/time) for not much benefit. There's definitely improvements I could make there though.
As we progress in the timeline the conflicts are more fleshed out so you'll see units moving to and from the worlds I'm actively discussing which'll hopefully make it easier to follow.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Too little too late, but could have used a pointer ping, so much easier, than panning to center on.
I have actually watched this a bunch of times over and over. Probably because I am a BattleTech fan that has a history degree and find Sven's voice quite soothing, lol.
Glad you're enjoying the video. I can't watch these early vids of mine because of my voice. Talking a million miles an hour and the sound levels are all off.
This is a mighty work on your part. The resources you had to scour to put this altogether must have taken a good deal of time. You mentioned about the introduction of the KF drives and how it expanded the breath of humanity to the stars. One part that you toched on for whey the Terran Alliance fell was the distances and the time for communications. Yet I did hear mention of the other benefit from the KF drives in that it lead to creation of the HPG network. Otherwise this was almost flawless.
So I deliberately didn't mention HPG (perhaps wrongly) because they had not been invented yet. In case you didn't know, the first working HPG entered service in 2630 which meant all communications before then relied on couriers.
This is really well done, I really enjoyed this.
Thank you, glad to hear it.
An exceedingly well done deep dive in to am Era of Battletech rarely explored. I'd love to see you do more of the history or faction overviews.
Certainly planning on continuing the series further into the timeline. Will maybe look at some more in depth faction videos when we reach circa 3025.
There's a palpable level of "We were right all along" in the Taurian Arc.
Would be nice if when you actually went to a planet in Mechwarrior, it had at least a 2 sentence bio on the place. This is great information and Lore, many thanks.
While a few worlds do have bios, the game creators seem to have deliberately left the majority open for interpretation. With thousands of worlds, it would be a daunting task, but I'd buy such an atlas.
Outstanding work, my friend! I'm brand new to the franchise after picking up the PC game and I'm amazed that all this stuff happened before the game even begins.
The most thorough history of the inner sphere, very well done!!
Thanks. Should be back to continue the series later this month.
BattleTech and Warhammer are the greatest pieces of fictional lore to ever exist, and I'll die on this hill!! Thank you for creating this masterpiece!!
It's a lovely hill. Great view.
Cheers!
Our Battalion fought on many of these Worlds. Fighting was very brutal but we always fought to help the oppressed. Damn, now, after so many years, I may have to dust off the old gear and see if the old BattleMech will fire up for me just one more time. :)
It is weird that the setting for a game about giant death robots is so intricate and so... beautiful in its tragedy.
The formation of the Star League represents the victory of diplomacy against war itself, only for it to commit the most atrocious military campaign in human history. And its fall meant a galactic conflict that bombed civilization back to the proverbial stone age.
And as an Earther myself the fall of the Terran Hegemony is a bit heartbreaking, especially considering what replaced it on this world of ours.
If I had any pet peeve, then it would be that I would like more minor nations stubbornly struggling for their existence.
Consider that within the great houses, many minor houses and individual worlds are, nearly always, in conflict with each other. If not for their house lord's, they would be in open conflict. Look at the mess that is the ilkhan era.
Might sound weird but i think that's what the recent events with the Clans are hrading towards as a lot of clan splinter factions are creating their own regional powers and periphery kingdoms the tech and/or size of which could challenge the Taurian Concordant. And considering what all twenty clans (i know not all of them invaded) "working together" achieved in the Inner Sphere. Imagine what these splinter factions new clans, and the clan empires in the inner sphere will achieve all while being Capellan Confederation sized or much smaller.
If you were to live during the times of Terran Hegemony you'd remember it is a place with near infinite economical disparity, zero social lifts and evergrowing cultural degradation. There's a reason why everyone who's brains were worth a dime escaped it the first chance they got.
hoof 'It is weird-'.
'-for a game about giant death robots is so intricate and so.... Beau-'.
Hrm. sure. or Whatever.
A bit late but one of my favorite parts about the setting being based around a tabletop game is that it encourages people like us to fill in the gaps. Pick a couple Periphery worlds or something with no established story and make something wild!
Very well done, especially on the early history, terran alliance and rise of the great houses have been my interest for a while
Incredible. Execellent produciton quality. I could watch hours of this. This is a great way to absorb battletech lore. I kind of want to model a stellaris playthough aroun the 2200 mark of battle tech, and this gives me the perfect amount of detail
Awesome so glad went through with what you talked about a while ago. I am so stocked to have this for one nice long listen session.
No problem. I really did mean to do it sooner but for some reason couldn't force myself to do the 15 minute editing job necessary to merge it together.
Going forwards I plan to upload a combined long video at the end of each era, only this time I'll work with that in mind from the get go.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Seems like a solid plan, Thank you again for making it, its nice to have it all in one chunk. :)
I'm new to this universe, just got into it when I beat MechWarrior 5, then I found you. I'll be listening to this entire playlist. This is so interesting, and the main reason I'm doing this research is because I'd like to know more about who I'm working for on there
I had no idea of the depth this universe has and I am NOT disappointed.
Thanks so much for this. I'm subscribed and will be watching your videos for weeks to come.
A shame you never got to play mech warrior 4. Mech warrior 4 and its exansions are the pinnacle of mechwarrior. Mw5 isnt That great.
Have you tried mechwarrior online ?
@@jeepsblackpowderandlights4305 I haven't, it's only on PC isn't it?
And yeah, I wish there was more too MW5 but it still gets me by. Finally got a good playthrough going lol just hunting a Marauder 2
This was excellent! I shared it to the Everything Battletech group because you deserve more subs!
Thank you. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to share the video. Glad you enjoyed the video.
The Mechwarrior lore always seemed extremely elusive to me. It turns out writers at FASA established a universe as vast and developed as Star Wars’ ! Your video makes it readily accessible. Thank you very much.
You're welcome, glad you found the video useful.
This is a work of art
Thank you, I'm glad you thought so.
Battletech is new to me so this is a blessed gift from heaven. Thanks
Dude you are the best. This is an amazing video for someone confused on the BT universe and you made me love it. Great work!
Thank you. I'm really pleased you enjoyed it. If you haven't already seen them, this is just the first in a long running series I'm working on. You should be able to find the full playlist on the channel.
I know you've been ridiculously swamped and gotten burned out doing BT videos once already, so feel free to completely ignore this. But one thing that would be extremely useful to me is sort of a "digest" version of this history, trimmed to maybe 20-25% of its current length, that hits the highlights and mostly glosses over the minutiae. As much as I love BT lore, I'm less concerned with remembering every little detail than just having a thorough understanding of the big picture. But again -- distilling this into a summary would be a huge amount of work, so I'm not really asking for this so much as saying "I would find this cool to have, *only if* you had both the time and motivation to do it."
For the reasons you said, I'd have to be honest and say I don't think it'll happen (definitely not soon anyway). It'd probably require a complete rewrite. Maybe when I've caught up to 3025 I'll do a brief 10-15 minute overview of the last 1000 years.
BUT, I appreciate the feedback. I had to choose when I started this project how much I was going to write about and settled on about 50% of what was included in the Housebooks history sections, with a focus on what seemed the most important or most interesting. I actually recorded a whole episode I chose not to finish because although it was interesting to me, I could easily summarise it into two sentences near the start of the Davion Civil War video.
For the upcoming Reunification War I ended up rewriting about 90% of the sourcebook which is probably too much. Depending on what others think, and if the consensus is that is too much, I'll keep things shorter in future.
For now, I will continue to upload all my lore videos in shorter chunks to keep them digestible and only afterwards reupload the multi-hour specials for folks who want that.
Thanks
Excellent video. Very well done summation of the formative years of Interstellar Humanity in the Battletech verse.
Honestly, all the talk of houses and feudal politics makes me wish for a Game of Thrones esque HBO show telling the story of these sorts of events. Maybe the first Succession War, or the Clan Invasion.
Thank you.
I'm never sure if a BT TV show is something I want or not. I don't think I trust anyone to do it properly.
@@SvenVanDerPlank understandable. Well, at least the most recent Battletech Game was pretty fun, and I think it sold decently too, so hopefully there will be more of that.
Seriously though, the more i listen to your vids and hear it all laid out, the more i realize that Battletech is Game of Thrones in space... or should it be Game of Thrones is Battletech on the ground, considering that Battletech came out most of a decade earlier?
I love how based in reality this franchise is it continues to amaze me
I dont see any mechs and space lords in reality.
It's story is inspired by feudal European nations constant squabbles and most of the tech is based on things that while we don't have them yet, are being heavily researched and could one day become a reality like fusion reactors and laser tech.
@@MrJack556 Thanks to square-cube law, realistically, any tech that would make mechs possible would make Infantry, Tracked Vehicles or Rotorcraft better for any role it'd fit.
@@metaflight9495 That hasn't stopped anyone from trying to build mechs though. Time will tell. I can see many reasons to try and build them
@@metaflight9495damn, this ruined a whole genre for me. Feels bad man 😢 i understand why they say ignorance is bliss now 😂
Love your use of my borderless inner sphere map! Excellent work, keep them coming!
Thank you. Your maps?
@@SvenVanDerPlank yup, I made the battletech human sphere map without Faction borders. It's derived from the SUCKit. Love how you used it on your video!
Ah okay. Do you have a source for any more? I'll be sure to give you credit since the maps are an integral part of the videos.
@@SvenVanDerPlank let me know what maps you need. The full inner sphere map without borders is actually due for an update because of the new systems that appeared in newer source books.
Has the Sarna Unified Cartography Kit been updated yet do you know?
this video is fantastic. thank you so much for the work that went into it. i've never heard of your channel prior to seeing this video so im really glad you made this combination, yt seems to favor longer videos in recommendations for some people
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. There is already a follow-up on the channel if you haven't seen it.
I think you're right on the algorithm. When you have a long video, it's not uncommon for people to watch it across multiple sittings. YT sees that as people returning to a video which ranks highly in the algorithm but doesn't distinguish between where they stopped and started. If it's got a lot of return/repeat views it promotes it a little more to new folk. That's what I've observed anyway, supported by the fact that the compilation videos get more views in a day than all the individual chapters combined.
@@SvenVanDerPlank that makes a lot of sense, i'm glad you're getting views on this masterpeice. its well earned. i just don't get why it took until yesterday for YT to recommend me any of your videos since i basically watch all of no strings PRD's content on release and have been watching tex videos since day 1 basically. you'd think YT would show me your channel given the literal perfect overlap. either way im super grateful for this compilation, being able to sit down for a few hours and just absorb this is fantastic. a lot of the finer details i didn't know despite being a huge bt fan for years. like the finer details of operation Prometheus. im guessing you got that from the house steiner sourcebook? going to have to actually get around to getting them all lol
Amazing, thank you for this clear and entertaining explanation. Excellent content and visuals.
You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Basically what I'm hearing is, America won the cold war so the future is like cool robots but mostly sad.
Hearing about the Soviet Union dissolving into civil war in 2011 very firmly reminded me that this was originally written in the 80s
@@WASDLeftClick Well, turns out they only 30 years off on that one. 😝
You put that serious work in bro. Thank you for this. It is appreciated for real.
Dude, the amount of work you put into this is crazy.
Excellent! Something to keep my mind busy while I go hunting in MW5 whilst also bringing me up to speed.
Already listened to the first half hour on my other account, very well done.
Thank you. Glad you're enjoying it.
Hunting?
@@tacituskilgore2016 Mech hunting in the vide game Mechwarrior 5, I’m guessing
Hi , kinda late to the video but I wanna say a few things.
First of all congratulations. The lore video you made is one of the best I've ever seen /heard . and being a huge scifi fan means i've seen a lot , from warhammer to dune to starwars and so on and so on. thank you for that mate!
Second of all I am a total newcomer to the Mechwarrior universe and I never expected Mecha Pew Pew would have such interesting and intricate lore and politics behind it.
You're never too late man, I read all the comments.
I'm really glad you enjoyed the video and appreciate you saying it's one of the best. If you've not already seen it, there is another in the series that I posted to my channel in the last week that you might be interested in.
And the political side of the franchise, which I've seen some people compare to Game of Thrones in space but really it's more of a Napoleonic War in space, is the main reason I'm such a fan of the series. I'm the sort of BT nerd who would happily read a novel purely about the high-level political manoeuvring and that had no 'Mechs at all, save maybe the two that are permanently standing guard beside the Archon's throne.
EXCELLENT use of the Battletech opening theme !
Didn't know the lore was THIS DEEP. I played Mech-assault 1 & 2 back on the OG Xbox, I didn't knew then it was part of a larger IP called the battletech universe. Then, when I did I was amused but now after a few more years, never realise the lore & the timeline was huge. ._.
Edit: "Haha, Game of Thrones has alot of politics. The scheming, the manipulation, the backstabbing..."
Battletech* "say wot?"
Right? Makes them look civil haha
I had a similar experience. Played MechCommander as a kid, then understood there was some connection between it and the rest of the games around the time MechAssault 2 was coming out. Was another decade before I heard of BattleTech.
I'm positive Martin read BattleTech... there's just too many similarities
This is some seriously good stuff, kept me captivated the whole way through.
Your in depth work would do Tex proud. Consider myself subscribed.
Thanks, appreciate it. Taking a short break from BT at the moment but I'll have three more episodes out later in the month.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I look forward to everything you do.
Great video very detailed.
Holy bananas. This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for in regards to Battletech. I've got to say, your accent really adds to the "war documentary" feel of this video.
Thank you, glad you found what you were looking for. If you haven't seen it, the next chapter in the series is already up on the channel with more in the early stages of production.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Oh man, I'm totally going to check that out. I've been using the Battletech universe for inspiration in a novel series I'm creating. Extensive lore like this helps me plan through how I want the series to progress.
You just got yourself another subscriber, this was great.
Incredible Vibery
Wonderful History
Amazing Quality presentation
Beautiful Good work
Thank You so much
Thank you! I was waiting for a video like this for a long time.Keep up , brilliant work!
No problem, glad you enjoyed it.
Awesome work you put into this, nice one thank you.
40:37 The map really gets filled in quickly at this time skip timeskip, huh? What an amazing video. Good job! This was much preferred over reading through bits and pieces on sarna. But I'll probably do that as well.
The earliest map we have of the Capellan Confederation is 2366. It's reasonable to say that all events described prior to that probably have much larger states than shown in the video but I can only go on which planets are specifically mentioned.
Holy hell!! Way to go on these videos!!! So glad i found this! Keep up the fantastic work!
Thanks, glad you're enjoying them. Around 50% done with the next episode, aiming for release on Sunday.
@@SvenVanDerPlank This is a very comprehensive history that you are putting together. I started playing BT and greedily devouring the lore when i was 7 years old. Im 42 now and still love the setting. I would love to be a part of this
If you'd like to contribute and have any artistic inclination, any unit insignias would be massively appreciated. Even if it's just adding colour to the black and white ones or doing some simple Black/White remakes of some of the very low res ones. Otherwise, everything is more or less covered for the next few videos.
@@SvenVanDerPlank That’s cool. Sadly, though I try, i cannot draw or make likenesses to save my life. I write, for the most part. At any rate, thanks for this and keep up the good work!!
No problem. Thanks for your support all the same.
Excellent job 👍
Whoever owns the rights should hire you as a Battletech historian, I think there are a lot of people who want to understand the BattleTech universe, but there are no official resources out there nearly as comprehensive as this.
Noooo way.....I so needed this.
Nice video man
Been following Battletech for 20 years. This would have been so very useful when I first started reading the novels. Thank you.
To be fair, most of this lore didn't even exist when the novels came out. They filled in the past later.
Most of this Age of War series is based on the Housebooks which came out in 1987-88. Only the GDL novels predate them so this info has been out there for a while if you knew where to look. The first book especially has no mention of ComStar because they didn't exist yet and only features the 'Mechs from 2nd Edition because TRO:3025 hadn't come out either. 1986's MechWarrior RPG was the first sourcebook to contain a lengthy history section which significantly fleshed out the universe (though nothing compared to later years).
Ah, that makes sense. The early books really never fleshed out the history that well - understandably now.
Awesome Video and great Base Lore for all to come!^^
Cheers. I've always felt it was an era that doesn't get much attention (understandably so because it's so far in the past) but you can understand the origins of so many later conflicts by looking into the Age of War.
So, fun fact: Those "jump-capable warships" McKenna had? Dreadnought-class, the first WarShips of the Inner Sphere, given to him basically as a toy to keep him busy, apparently under the belief that a combat-capable JumpShip was a terrible idea and would be useless in any real conflict.
Boy, did he prove them wrong, huh?
It's kinda crazy to me that the first WarShips would remain some of the most powerful and largest for hundreds of years.
Exceptional work on the history of the Inner Sphere. Kudos!
Thank you. Hoping to get the next installment on the Golden Age out sometime in June.
I would really love more Battletech games. Such a rich universe!
Great vid, my only note would be having an onscreen date/year range at all times in the corner for better context on when each event takes place.
I just stumbled on your channel. I thought I was well read on BattleTech lore , but I take my hat off to you sir.
Keep up the good work.
Awesome job. Thank you for your research and presentation. Looking forward to the Reunification War.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
Beautiful, so much work! Thank you!
Great job. Looking forward to more content.
this was REALLY impressive!
When RUclips hides channels like this from me for years I understandably get quite aggrieved!
Excellent stuff, good sir.
Aaaaand subscribed. Very well done.
Thank you, hope I make it worth your while. If you haven't already seen it, the next Complete History is already up on the channel, and I'm hard at work scripting the Amaris Civil War.
So much of table top gaming RUclips is just over caffeinated man-children screaming that is refreshing to have such a well researched and well presented lore video. I just found your channel and I’m looking forward to listening the whole series.
Watched it on one go while playing Mechwarrior 5 thanks!
This is great pls make more
There's a whole playlist if you haven't seen it already.
Wow, these videos are criminally underliked. FOR THE ALGORITHM!
Appreciate it, always tough for a small channel to get traction on RUclips.
Well done, I enjoyed this while playing RogueTech.
Amazing as always comments for the algorithm this must be spread more
Thank you, I always appreciate it.
This is awesome! Thank you very much!
At this point, I'm just waiting for a super playlist of all these big videos that track all of battletech's history. It'll probably be 20 hours long, but I'm here for it
They're already in a playlist so you can just turn autoplay on if you want. It took 3.5 days just to render the Star League Civil War so don't think I'll be doing a mega-compilation anytime soon.
@@SvenVanDerPlank oh boy, that's quite a while. I did really enjoy the Star league civil war mega compilation cus I turned it on and listened to it all day. It was great. But I can understand not doing one on the succession wars, even that's a bit much.
Don't get me wrong, I'll do a compilation for each succession war individually, but I ain't gonna do them all in one. I heard YT comes after you if you upload the same things repeatedly, so that's another reason just to stick to what I have been doing.
@@SvenVanDerPlank oh, even I wouldn't do all the succession wars stuff together in the same thing, that's *far* too much to churn through, but yeah I'm looking forward to ur new videos. They look really good
If I can ask, where did you get the music for this video? I love the atmosphere. Especially during the Age ofWar
Music in this video all comes from the HBS BattleTech game.
That's amazing,
As a very recent return fan I did not realize how much lore there was
Yeah, there is quite a bit. This video is only just scratching the surface as well.
Sir you deserve way more views and subs!
Omg the song at 3rd min gives me goosebumps!
It's the opening theme for the HBS BattleTech game, in case you didn't know.
The Davion Civil War in particular makes me wonder how no one ever pitched a BT tv show to HBO in the style of GoT. I mean hell, BattleTech is basically GoT IN SPACE (or, since it is the older property i believe, perhaps GoT is BT IN NOT SPACE!?)
Oh absolutely
ASoIaF concept => what Martin lifted from BattleTech
Great Empire Of Dawn = Terran Alliance
Valyria = Star League
Dorne = Federated Suns
House Targaryen = House Kurita
House Stark = Wolf's Dragoons / Clan Wolf
Free World's League = House Arryn
Summer Isles = Magistracy Of Canopus
House Glover's banner = pretty much just the House Stiener mailed fist
The Maesters = ComStar
There's probably more...
Good work! Holy shit i love Battletech.
Thanks. I could make that the motto of the channel.
Playing mechwarrior 5 and wanted to really understand this world more, so thanks for this awesome playlist I'll get through in a couple days 😂😂 have 2 weeks off work so why not lol
Amazing work telling the rich history of this war torn universe.
Please make more videos like this. Tex/Black Pants Legion are great, but I really enjoy your videos as well. I especially enjoy your animations of troop and fleet movements.
Will do. I've already got another 2+ hours scripted but not able to work on them at the moment because I'm moving between flats.
Subscribed. You are amazing.
Well damn! This was incredible! I don't even want to think about the time and effort that went into making this!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. Think this was about 3 months in total, though I released it in episodes and then uploaded this compilation afterwards.
If you haven't already seen it, I have a follow-up video on the Reunification War you might be interested in.
Just starting to get into the Battle tech universe so this video is greatly appreciated!
To think about the reality is pretty fascinating, despite that map and all that imaginary events and actions, the real milky way galaxy is so mindblowingly huge that this entire narrative can take place in a portion of the real galaxy that if you had the entire galaxy on your screen, all that territory would still likely be invisibly small to you.
To further think,
Things like this could be going on out there now, with alien races so far away they never met any other life but their own still,
Despite encompassing countless empires of just their species, having countless wars across thousands of stars.
Still,
even then,
Having no idea if anybody else is out there yet.
1:07:03 Goosebumps by the music and the mister talking about the dawn of Mechs