Terran Supremacy before 3095
So, Empires
Aflame gave us a bare bones campaign setting, a ‘what if’ Battletech. So I’ve some loose thoughts on how we got
there.
First Succession War.
There are two major events in the opening salvos of the FSW. The first is the seizing of the systems ‘within
60 light years’ of Terra. Per Sarna’s lovely map and Wiki entry, we see
that this was 54 systems, 55 including the Sol system. Per Liberation of Terra II roughly 1K
regiments of combined arms and Comstar has 170.
We’ll assume that 128 defected to the great houses, but I’d say it is
maybe half that, with DeChevallier and Blake welding the SLDF together with charisma
and rage.
And of course 414 warships of varying sizes and ages. So 55 systems could be ‘seized’ quickly with
those forces.
The second event is the first shots in the FSW took place
differently. While we can spitball 114
or so Mech Regiments in the SLDF/Comstar makeup, that put them on par with the
other Successor states. I would say the simultaneous attacking of the FWL armies
and the DCMS armies had help. Either by
tossing around nukes, orbital bombardment or subterfuge. Or, more likely, D) all of the above. Operation Black Shield, as mentioned above,
allowed the Terran Supremacy to hold planets and most importantly… heal.
The interdictions of Black Shield played to the TSDF’s strengths. The Great Houses suddenly both had to worry
about if their neighbors were also interdicted or if they could take advantage
of the blackout. It also meant that they
couldn’t concentrate their forces in any one place, for fear that someone would
move elsewhere. This allowed the
Supremacy to bring their numbers to bear in force, overwhelming unprepared
troops by two or more to one. It also
allowed for ‘removing’ some of the rogue units who had pledged to the Great
Houses.
What resources aren’t spent stabilizing the budding
Supremacy are spent rebuilding it. Regardless
of the timeline, the planets of the former Hegonomy/future Supremacy were devastated
by war. Within the breathing space provided
by Black Shield, the Supremacy would focus on repairing the environmental, physical,
and financial losses of the war. Mental as well as physical health would be essential. Both the Kerensky boys, and Jennifer Winson/Jez
Cole seem to be better adjusted in this reality Not being cooped up on the dropships and warships of the Exodus seems to have meant that they, and likely other SLDF soldiers got the help they need. She
also seems to be the Jennifer adopted by Aaron DeChevallier. Amusingly this could mean that a Cameron
leads the Terran Supremacy.
Adventure Seeds.
- Repo Men: The players are SLDF troops. Someone has decided to take his services, and his PHX-1c, to the Capellan Confederation. You’re sent to stop him. Oh, did they mention he took his entire lance?
- Kentares Redux: The players are on Kentares IV providing relief when they receive word of the assassination of Minoru Kurita. They’re hearing rumors of refugees being rounded up and slaughtered. Then a transmission come in with a plea to get video off world. Can the players get the news of the Kentares massacre out to the Terran Supremacy? Or do they engage on a mission of revenge on their own?
- Should I stay or should I go? The players are a diplomatic corps, sent to the Magistracy of Canopus to establish relations between the Supremacy and the state. Things are going well, too well in fact. Is Stephan Ebon exceeding the mandate given by the Terran Supremacy?
- The Nightwings: The players are SLDF special forces. They have the latest in light armor, the Nighthawk Mk. XXX. So what could go wrong in a HALO drop into Atreus? Did we mention it is an assassination mission, with the target to be revealed once on the ground?
- Black Shield/Black Sword: Another special ops mission. An unscrupulous tech has made off with several Supremacy designs, including the schematics for the advanced SLDF neurohelmets. With Black Shield going on he can’t send the plans over the HPG net, not even encrypted, so he’s on a dropship, making its way to Tharkad. Can the players recover the plans and eliminate the threat without causing a major diplomatic incident?
