Secrets of BattleTech

@secretsofbattletech.substack.com

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I don't own #BattleTech or #MechWarrior, I just write about the lore at secretsofbattletech.substack.com

B/W Art from the old "House Davion (The Federated Suns)" sourcebook. The Federated Suns sword & sun emblem is in the top right. A sketch portrait of Hanse "the Fox" Davion is in a circle on the top left, a sketch portrait of an actual fox is in a circle on the bottom right. In the center there's... I'm going to say a transition piece that shows Hanse turning into or projecting the Fox. The 1980s were a strange time.
close-up with what might pass for the silhouette of a cat
A child labeled "IGNORANCE IS BLISS PEOPLE" flees from a goose labeled "Philosophers with questions".
Vostok, the design which carried Yuri Gagarin into space.
The "Iron Cheetah" 'mech from BattleTech. It's a big bird-legged walker bristling with weapons. This particular image shows a team of battle-armored infantry perched on the 'mech and using it as a fire platform.
Drawing of the BattleTech character David Santos from "Historical: Reunification War". Dave's a clean-shaven middle-aged dude with a crew cut. He looks pensive, as though he knows what happens after Tentativa.
BattleTech-ified Sickos meme. MechWarrior 5: Clans villain Cordera Perez looks out at us from the controls of his Timber Wolf. He happily says, "Aff... ha ha ha... AFF!"
Snip from MegaMek, a BattleTech emulator. Allied Free Worlds League artillery is firing on Allied Free Worlds League 'mechs. Mercenary command described the situation as "typical".
Black-and-white sketch of Janos and Hilda Marik from House Marik (The Free Worlds League) in the style of a holiday photo. They're a middle-aged couple wearing "future of the 1980s" getup. Hilda is smiling so hard you could check her molars for cavities. Janos looks like his feet hurt.
Screen snip from MegaMek (a BattleTech emulator). The partial shot shows a Table of Organization and Equipment from within the MekHQ campaign manager. Details: The Company shown is the 1st Somerset Volunteers, under the command of Supervisor Knut Espeland. The Volunteers have a Sphinx symbol and a combined Battle Value of 8720. They field four Platoons, each with four Units. 1st and 2nd Platoon each mass 280 tons and are marked with the Heavy Mech symbol. 3rd and 4th Platoons each mass 60 tons and are marked with the Light Mech symbol.
A promo graphic for the upcoming Secrets of BattleTech newsletter issue "Tintavel and Ares". In the background is a starmap showing the systems on the Free World League - Capellan Confederation border. The issue has the subtitle, "Sparing a thought for the lives of ordinary people in BattleTech's 25th Century."
Snip from the MekHQ app showing a BattleTech star map. We're zoomed in on the Free Worlds League - Capellan Confederation border near Andurien. The world Tintavel is highlighted.
Snippet of Pull Requests from the MekHQ subpage on GitHub. A list of six Improvements: Implemented Major Psychosis - Hysteria Implemented Clinical Insanity - Berserker Implemented Clinical Insanity - Catatonia Implemented Clinical Insanity - Regression Implemented Minor Psychosis - Clinical Paranoia Implemented Minor Psychosis - Confusion
Partial screenshot from MegaMek's MekHQ application. The interstellar map can be seen. The Coreward third of the Lyran Commonwealth is in the bottom half of the image with a thin slice of Draconis Combine worlds along the edge. Wrapped around the edge of the Commonwealth are the worlds of the Rim Worlds Republic, some in the Rim's olive, others in pink, most split between the two colors.
Scenes from "The Simpsons". In panel 1, Groundskeeper Willie stares out the winder and mutters, "It won't last. Brothers and sisters are natural enemies, like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Argh! Damn Scots! They've ruined Scotland!" In panel two, Principal Skinner mildly observes from his desk, "You Scots sure are a contentious people." In Panel 3, Groundskeeper Willie looms over Skinner's desk and roars, "You just made an enemy for life!"
Emblem of Clan Smoke Jaguar from BattleTech. It's a stylized silhouette of a powerful cat, leaping forward with its teeth and claws bared.
Automatically generated gif showing the shape of a MegaMek (emulated BattleTech) battle on a hex map with a long north-south axis. The friendlies are denoted by green rectangles and start in the south, meeting opfor (red rectangles) in the south-center region before a large allied force (blue rectangles) arrive to carry the day.
Partial screencap from MegaMek, a BattleTech tabletop emulator. OpFor's Rifleman takes an SRM6 and Medium Laser to its paper-thin rear armor and suffers catastrophic engine damage.
Black-and-white drawing of the BattleTech character James McKenna. He's presented as a lantern-jawed blond man just entering middle age. McKenna seems to be deep in thought, as though contemplating a coup against a tottering democracy.
Black & white image of Hilda and Janos Marik, characters from the BattleTech franchise. The two are posing for a holiday snap in front of an alpine landscape. They're a middle-aged couple wearing sunglasses and "future of the 1980s" outfits. Janos is a bearded man with light hair. He might not be having a good time. Hilda is a tall brunette woman smiling so hard you can inspect her molars.
A version of the "Apology Form" exploitable for Khan Ian Hawker, a BattleTech character. Reasons for behavior are; (1) I was jealous of Khan Ian, (2) I did not study his codex, (3) Living in the degenerate atmosphere of late-stage capitalism has conditioned me into a slavish adoration of parasitic merchants, (4) ChatterWeb convinced me that everything was his fault, and (5) My Transit Disorientation Syndrome was acting up. The bottom line tick box is "I will hereby respect Ian Hawker and I will NOT talk down on the savior of Clan Diamond Shark"
Star Colonel Aidan Pryde from BattleTech. He's a hard-faced man with dark hair and dark eyes. Aidan wears an armored mechwarrior vest and seems to be standing inside a hive built by giant bees. (Or he's in front of a hex map, you decide.)
The logo of Clan Diamond Shark from BattleTech. It's a big honking grey shark in front of a blue diamond. Three red arrows behind the diamond point to the top left, top right, and bottom. If I ruined these guys for you by associating them with that song, don't worry - they mostly operate under a different name.
Khan Bjorn Jorgensson from BattleTech, as portrayed in Era Report 3052. Bjorn's young and new on the job as Ghost Bear Khan at this point. He's a lantern-jawed dude with a widow's peak.
Difficult decision meme. Top panel shows a hand hesitantly reaching towards two buttons, one labeled "offend people by only talking about catgirls" the other labeled "offend people by mentioning anything else". In the second panel, a man mops his brow.
Khan Lincoln Osis from BattleTech. He's a thick-necked man with a short mohawk and a furrowed brow.
The logo of BattleTech's Clan Nova Cat. A snarling black cat's head imposed on a red-yellow sunburst on a blue circle.
Anastasius Focht, a character from BattleTech. He's a lean old white dude with long hair. He has an eyepatch on his right eye, the other is blue-grey. He's wearing a white-grey ComGuards uniform with a high collar and stares out over the viewer's left shoulder.
Logo for Clan Smoke Jaguar from BattleTech. It's a stylized grey-eyed cat captured in the moment of the pounce, claws and teeth bared to strike.
BattleTech-ified Sickos meme. MechWarrior 5 villain Cordera Perez can be seen in the cockpit of a Timber Wolf battlemech. He announces his approval, "Aff... ha ha ha... AFF!"
Snip from a MegaMek round report. A squad of Elemental Battle Armor makes a Leg Attack against an undamaged Turkina, blowing off the omni's leg with a lucky critical hit roll.
Victor Manuel Leza Moreno's illustration of Ulric Kerensky from BattleTech: Legends. Ulric is a middle-aged white dude with sunken blue eyes, short grey hair and a circle beard. He wears a grey Clan Wolf uniform (easily identified by the insignia on the right breast). His expression is impassive but he's probably fitting us into one of his complicated plots.
A Direct Blow from a Clan Large Pulse Laser takes the head off one of OpFor's Stormcrows.
Margarita Bourkova's depiction of Elizabeth Hazen from BattleTech: Legends. Hazen is a white woman with brown eyes and dark, braided hair. She wears the green uniform and yellow sash of the Royal Black Watch.
Snip from MekHQ (fan BattleTech game) showing the basics of the "Black Flag" Mercenary Company. They're a Veteran unit with a 69% Mission Success Rate.
Repurposed Futurama "technically correct" meme. A cartoon of an old man looking up over his reading glasses from a report. He announces, "This is technically SFW. The best kind of SFW."
BattleTech-ized version of the Sickos meme. Cordera Perez, piloting a Timber Wolf omnimech, observes events and approvingly declares "Aff.... ha ha ha... AFF!"
Class 135-K "Lifesaver" Coolant Truck from BattleTech.
The BattleTech character Leo Showers as depicted in Era Report 3052.
Emblem of Clan Smoke Jaguar, a faction in the BattleTech universe. A powerful cat springs forward with its teeth bared and claws ready to strike. It looks happy to me.
Capture of user Bick_Donald @bickdonald.bksy.social insisting that "he" (Nicholas Kerensky) has "a number of traits of a sociopath [including] lack of empathy".
Emblem of Clan Jade Falcon, one of the factions of BattleTech. A great green bird with its wings spread clutches a Japanese-style sword in its talons.
Depiction of the crowning of Henry II as Holy Roman Emperor. The Monarch is seated, holding an orb and sword. Clergymen crown him while nobles look on.
MegaMek summary of a physical attack. A Victor VTR-9B performs a push attack on a Warhammer WHM-6R. The already-damaged victim falls into Depth 2 Water, causing catastrophic flooding of all of its torso compartments, as well as the left arm and leg.
Logo of BattleTech's Clan Widowmaker. A stylized Black Widow spider - black with a red "hourglass" patch on its back - descends over a gold disk. The edge of the disk is marked with rune-like symbols, with the hourglass frequently repeated. The interior of disk seems to be carved with an outline map of some alien world.
MegaMek logo, showing a Timber Wolf omnimech of Clan Smoke Jaguar viewed through a hex-shaped "window". The Timber Wolf menaces with spurts of weapons fire. The title "MEGAMEK" (with a stylized "A") is imposed over the 'mech's lower legs.
Capture of a post from @btnotis.bsky.social hyping up Clan Wolverine as the best faction of BattleTech.
Mobile Headquarters from BattleTech's Technical Readout 3025. It's an armored truck pulling two trailers - the first with communications gear jutting from its roof.
BW sketch illustration of Myomer research. Two members of the research team stand in the foreground, seemingly in disagreement. Behind them, the myomer bundle has been attached to gym equipment and is ready to be tested. Signs reading "DANGER" and "MYOMER RESEARCH AREA | STAND CLEAR" are on the back wall.
Text snip from MegaMek showing a Phoenix Hawk successfully kicking a Wyvern in the head. The 45t mek's foot does 9 damage, enough to strip off the victim's armor but not enough for a critical hit roll.
Logo of the 331st "North American" Royal Battlemech Division, a military unit in the #BattleTech franchise.
Photo of a Wolverine (Gulo Gulo) in the snow.
Clan Wolverine symbol
Our old friend Nicholas Kerensky.
Snip from MegaMek showing battle salvage. The contract terms are for a 30/70 split in favour of the employer. 2 Hunchbacks, 1 Guillotine, the drowned Wyvern, the Bulldog Tank go to the Hegemony remnants, while the Visionaries lay claim to an Orion.
MegaMek snippet showing a Capellan Hunchback getting a lucky AC/20 hit on a Visionaries Griffin piloted by "Rude Dog". The damage ruins the armor off the Mek's Right Torso but doesn't affect its internals.
MegaMek snip showing a Capellan Confederation Wyvern pilot failing a piloting skill check caused by damage. The pilot fails and their Mek goes underwater, exposing the breached armor on its head. Flooding disables the Wyvern and drowns its pilot.
Snip from MegaMek showing the final SRM salvo that destroyed the Capellan Confederation Bulldog Medium tank carrying their VIP.
MegaMek snip showing the pending mission "Frontline VIP Capture" and a forcelist for the Visionaries (Mek Lances A1, A2, A3 and two Aerospace Flights, Gold and Diamond), plus entries for the Hegemony allied force of 4444BV, Confederation OpFor (BV8398) and the Confederation VIP (BV523).