There's a conversation in the Davion House book that I've always really admired for how it makes Cynthia feel like a character with real agency who reacts believably. She's talking to a friend of hers years after the fact about when she told her uncle she was pregnant. And it's the way he reacts to that news that makes her realize he doesn't value her as a person, so she decides to throw in with Alexander entirely. It would have been really easy to just say that she fell in love with him and picked his side, but she doesn't. At first, she's ready to eventually forgive her uncle, because he's still family and she loves him. Varnay's own actions alienate her.
This is one of the best lore videos for a fictional universe that I've ever seen. The attention to detail in recreating these maps, and the troops movements, brings you up to the tier of the very best history channels on youtube. And you probably have less sources to work with!
Aww thanks man, appreciate it. Two of my big inspirations were Historia Civilis and The Operations Room so I tried to apply their styles to the BattleTech universe. It's been good fun so far.
Just a small correction but Cynthia Varnay was David's niece. As far as I can tell from the sourcebooks, Cassandra and David Varnay only had two sons which is why they selected the closest female blood relative to marry Alexander.
Thanks. Not sure if you saw my original comment but I explained how I made them, as no official map of the era exists. In a nutshell they're calculated based off all the locations we know the alliegence of, plus working backwards from the later combat regions.
Last video for the Age of War and the largest project I've yet attempted. I've a lot to say about it. Watching it back when it was uploading, I've learned an important lesson. This video would have GREATLY benefited from some breaks. I think the longest pause I take in the video is less than two seconds, which is fine when your video is only 5 minutes long, but it feels a bit relentless to me watching it now. You don't realise things like that when you're editing because you're constantly stop/starting. But hey, I know what to do better in the future now. Let's talk about the maps. There isn't a single map in existence of the original five Principalities (as far as I'm aware) but I knew I'd need to create some if I wanted to do this part of the story justice. I began by making a list of all known planets involved in the war and their affiliation. Looking at the Marches and smaller Combat Zones of later eras I was able to work backwards by maintain those later borders. I knew the Outer March was swallowed by the Crucis and the Terran March had chunks taken by all three of the surviving Marches. It went together so easily that I'm sure this is a pretty accurate portrayal. The only planets that ended up on the wrong side of a border were Salem and Talcott but they were still border worlds within the Crucis March so it was dead simple to redistrict them. As I say, this is the most complex project I've done yet. Still pretty basic by the standards of others but I knew I was going to have to get more familiar with moving multiple elements around the screen if I wanted to get into the later eras and their wars. In my mind the Davion Civil War was just practice for what comes later. I did spot a couple issues unfortunately. For some reason VEGAS is messing with the colours of certain elements and I don't know why. I had problems with my March logos not being transparent when I imported them and couldn't figure out where I was going wrong. I think the way I "fixed" it is causing the issue where everything is too dark. I also changed my design for the Terran March halfway through but forgot that I had a couple maps where it was part of the image instead of separate element in VEGAS. So early on it flips back and forth. In context you should still be able to follow it. Hope you've enjoyed the series so far. A few people have suggested re-uploading all the episodes in one long video for the Age which is something I'll definitely look at. I've got one more vid that'll be out by Sunday then I'll be taking a break to start on the next set of maps.
I really enjoy your content and don't really mind the lack of pauses. I really like the idea of a chronological history of Battletech like alot of Rome podcasts, and I think you offer something Tex and others don't provide. If you need sourcebooks CGL and DriveThruRPG have them and I for one am willing to wait for Star League and the Reunification War if it keeps the chronological pace of your series. Keep up the good work and you'll blow up soon!
I’m a big fed suns supporter but I never knew about the davion civil war. This is such a great video and you did awesome covering it. Keep it up big shot!
Thank you. A lot of the early history doesn't get much of a mention outside of the Housebooks so not surprising that most haven't heard of it. Glad you enjoyed the video.
So are all these BattleTech lore videos a prelude to some kind of BT-related LP? A playthrough of any of the MechWarrior or MechCommander games would be awesome. (:
Yes, but I just haven't been in a gaming mood at all lately. I think I'll continue with these lore vids until I reach the point in the timeline when the games are set and then I'll segue into them.
Keep going as opposed to stop altogether or do you mean am I doing Star League next? I'm definitely going to continue the series, I'd like to cover the entire timeline eventually, but I'm actually not sure whether to do Star League next or jump ahead to 3025. I'm actually missing a number of sourcebooks like the Reunification War which would be the next logical thing to cover. I've a better grasp of the late Succession Wars era so it might be better to do that instead. Would be interested to hear other people's opinions?
@@SvenVanDerPlank I'd say if you're not confident with the lore you have then skip it until you can do it justice. That's why your videos are so enjoyable, you go into the nitty gritty of things.
@@SvenVanDerPlank And I meant mostly in terms of going past something like the FedCom Civil War, since a lot of people like to pretend that the Jihad onwards never happened
Eventually yes, I'm quite interested in those later eras because I know literally nothing about the storyline after the Clan Era, not even the FedCom war. I'd want to have covered everything prior to the Clan Invasion before going through it linearly from that point.
Alexander is literally the epitome of intellect: 8, charisma: 20
“My men have you surrounded!”
“You mean... my men?”
There's a conversation in the Davion House book that I've always really admired for how it makes Cynthia feel like a character with real agency who reacts believably.
She's talking to a friend of hers years after the fact about when she told her uncle she was pregnant. And it's the way he reacts to that news that makes her realize he doesn't value her as a person, so she decides to throw in with Alexander entirely.
It would have been really easy to just say that she fell in love with him and picked his side, but she doesn't. At first, she's ready to eventually forgive her uncle, because he's still family and she loves him. Varnay's own actions alienate her.
This is one of the best lore videos for a fictional universe that I've ever seen. The attention to detail in recreating these maps, and the troops movements, brings you up to the tier of the very best history channels on youtube. And you probably have less sources to work with!
Aww thanks man, appreciate it. Two of my big inspirations were Historia Civilis and The Operations Room so I tried to apply their styles to the BattleTech universe. It's been good fun so far.
@@SvenVanDerPlank love Historia Civilis.
Just a small correction but Cynthia Varnay was David's niece. As far as I can tell from the sourcebooks, Cassandra and David Varnay only had two sons which is why they selected the closest female blood relative to marry Alexander.
..26 page long suicide note. Dear god. Long winded even in death, quiaff?
Really cool I had never seen maps of the different marches during the Davion Civil War.
Thanks. Not sure if you saw my original comment but I explained how I made them, as no official map of the era exists. In a nutshell they're calculated based off all the locations we know the alliegence of, plus working backwards from the later combat regions.
I love listening to your lore videos. They are as good as many historical documentaries.
Thank you for making these.
Last video for the Age of War and the largest project I've yet attempted. I've a lot to say about it.
Watching it back when it was uploading, I've learned an important lesson. This video would have GREATLY benefited from some breaks. I think the longest pause I take in the video is less than two seconds, which is fine when your video is only 5 minutes long, but it feels a bit relentless to me watching it now. You don't realise things like that when you're editing because you're constantly stop/starting. But hey, I know what to do better in the future now.
Let's talk about the maps. There isn't a single map in existence of the original five Principalities (as far as I'm aware) but I knew I'd need to create some if I wanted to do this part of the story justice. I began by making a list of all known planets involved in the war and their affiliation. Looking at the Marches and smaller Combat Zones of later eras I was able to work backwards by maintain those later borders. I knew the Outer March was swallowed by the Crucis and the Terran March had chunks taken by all three of the surviving Marches. It went together so easily that I'm sure this is a pretty accurate portrayal. The only planets that ended up on the wrong side of a border were Salem and Talcott but they were still border worlds within the Crucis March so it was dead simple to redistrict them.
As I say, this is the most complex project I've done yet. Still pretty basic by the standards of others but I knew I was going to have to get more familiar with moving multiple elements around the screen if I wanted to get into the later eras and their wars. In my mind the Davion Civil War was just practice for what comes later.
I did spot a couple issues unfortunately. For some reason VEGAS is messing with the colours of certain elements and I don't know why. I had problems with my March logos not being transparent when I imported them and couldn't figure out where I was going wrong. I think the way I "fixed" it is causing the issue where everything is too dark. I also changed my design for the Terran March halfway through but forgot that I had a couple maps where it was part of the image instead of separate element in VEGAS. So early on it flips back and forth. In context you should still be able to follow it.
Hope you've enjoyed the series so far. A few people have suggested re-uploading all the episodes in one long video for the Age which is something I'll definitely look at. I've got one more vid that'll be out by Sunday then I'll be taking a break to start on the next set of maps.
I really enjoy your content and don't really mind the lack of pauses. I really like the idea of a chronological history of Battletech like alot of Rome podcasts, and I think you offer something Tex and others don't provide.
If you need sourcebooks CGL and DriveThruRPG have them and I for one am willing to wait for Star League and the Reunification War if it keeps the chronological pace of your series. Keep up the good work and you'll blow up soon!
I get ALL the dance of the dragons feeling out of this story
I'm positive Martin is a BattleTech fan
I’m a big fed suns supporter but I never knew about the davion civil war. This is such a great video and you did awesome covering it. Keep it up big shot!
Thank you. A lot of the early history doesn't get much of a mention outside of the Housebooks so not surprising that most haven't heard of it. Glad you enjoyed the video.
Very well done, keep up the great work.
Great video, found your channel after you got a shoutout on the On the Origins of Battlemechs podcast.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video.
An era that helped to settle the foundation of both House Davion and the Federated Suns for centuries to come.
So are all these BattleTech lore videos a prelude to some kind of BT-related LP? A playthrough of any of the MechWarrior or MechCommander games would be awesome. (:
Yes, but I just haven't been in a gaming mood at all lately. I think I'll continue with these lore vids until I reach the point in the timeline when the games are set and then I'll segue into them.
Cool video!
Excellent video, as always. Do you plan to keep going throughout history?
Keep going as opposed to stop altogether or do you mean am I doing Star League next? I'm definitely going to continue the series, I'd like to cover the entire timeline eventually, but I'm actually not sure whether to do Star League next or jump ahead to 3025. I'm actually missing a number of sourcebooks like the Reunification War which would be the next logical thing to cover. I've a better grasp of the late Succession Wars era so it might be better to do that instead. Would be interested to hear other people's opinions?
@@SvenVanDerPlank I'd say if you're not confident with the lore you have then skip it until you can do it justice. That's why your videos are so enjoyable, you go into the nitty gritty of things.
@@SvenVanDerPlank And I meant mostly in terms of going past something like the FedCom Civil War, since a lot of people like to pretend that the Jihad onwards never happened
Eventually yes, I'm quite interested in those later eras because I know literally nothing about the storyline after the Clan Era, not even the FedCom war. I'd want to have covered everything prior to the Clan Invasion before going through it linearly from that point.
Great video.
Thanks.
where's that king crab picture at 11.45 from?
It's all art from the HBS BattleTech game.
Nice work 👍
Love it.
So, yeah, about that time George R. R. Martin wrote Battletech lore....
Does feel a bit like that. Love a good bit of familial backstabbing.
It's the other way around, BattleTech influenced Martin
@@jamesperkins191 I was joking.
@@jamesperkins191 I was joking, and there are plenty of historical/real similar things for both to draw on for inspiration.
@@MM22966yeah but it goes deeper than that... banners, factions and people, not just the obvious allegorical stuff.