Clanners: We are the future! Comstar: No WE are the future The great houses: NO! WE are the future! Civilians: guys? Did you know that there’s been a famine going on out here for three centuries?
@@CatholicDragoon great houses Clans and even comstar self might one day all pass into the annals of history, nothing more than myths and legends. But BattleTech mercenaries will keep roaming the battlefields for a paycheck until the day mankind is extinct.
@@CatholicDragoon we're out of C-Bills but we do have House Bills belonging to a house Ka-Mur-In? we've got like 80 Trillion of these things so they must be worth something right?
As far as incredibly emotional single lines in Tex Talks Battletech, "They dismissed him as a joke, and failed to respect him - and for that, he fucking broke them." is up there with "...And then he blew his fucking brains out."
"A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness." Gul Dukat; Fredrick Steiner in another life apparently.
@@nickbarrett3163 That just makes it more dangerous because if the mad cat pilot is distracted choking from laughter as ye sees UrbanMech try to waddle to firing position from behind a building, he won't notice the rest of the UrbanMech emerging from behind a building with the AC20 aimed point-blank at the mad cat's crotch.
The Battle of Tukayyid was such a monumental loss that Clan culture was changed. Some even downright abandoned the crusader mindset and adopted the warden mindset. A good example is Clan Ghost Bear, who, after the war, merged with the Free Rasalhague Republic to create the Rasalhague Dominion, a nation where Inner Sphere and Clan people lived in a conjoined, united culture and way of life that would basically resemble space Norsemen.
It also gave an already highly effective clan access to a massive industrial sector that could benefit from said clanner tech. The Dominion became an absolute powerhouse. Long live Clan Ghost Bear!
In all honestly while I believe Comstar absolutely wrecked the shit out of the clans this event. This invasion is what ultimately led to the downfall of Comstar. When Operation Scorpion blew up in their faces.
Funny enough the Clans almost, *almost* discovered Focht's obscured command bunker nexus where he was directing the defense by accident (the scouts were dying elements of the Smoke Jaguars who kept pressing on even as they were falling apart) but the Clan scouting force was destroyed before they could announce their findings and let off a signal.
Could be misremembering but I also recall that a few stray shots from Clan forces also nearly hit the bunker, almost destroying it and Focht with it. Wonder how things might have changed if that *had* happened...
@@Tayvin4042 maybe a little bit, but not a whole lot. Focht’s planning was mostly done, and as part of his preparations he likely had selected secondary staff that could execute and adapt his plans. The sheer fanaticism of Comstar probably would mean their morale would barely take a hit at losing their commander. I’d guess a few more clams would achieve their objectives. However, the single largest benefit of Tukkayid would remain; the Inner Sphere now has access to all the clan tech salvage they could want. I know it goes against their culture, but I would have nuked Tukkayid into a radioactive snowball to slow down IS tech progression.
@@willdavis3802 Will Davis has it right - it's Comstar. Nobody would know Focht was dead until after the battle who didn't strictly need to know. Commands would keep coming and fighting forces wouldn't find out.
@@Robert-wf7xu Not really, the greatest strength of Defense in Depth is that you're running your logistical tail in reverse. You execute a planned retreat to your resupply points instead of bringing them up to you. This means your reserves and resupply are in hardened locations that are difficult to destroy, while the other guy's supplies have to come to them in the open from farther away. It also means that you can devote every single soldier in the field to the fight, because you don't need them running supplies to the front. The front is coming to the supplies. Defense in depth is really rough on the land you're retreating across, after all, it basically makes the whole area the "front lines" at one point or another. So you don't _want_ to do it if you don't have to, but Comstar prepared the entire planet ahead of time. They had time to remove anything they cared about. And, of course, that's another aspect of logistics.
@@Rathmun and what is this? They just arrived to the place there was ammunition and shiet and it magically made clan disappear. That is why I like to paraphrase the quote "amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics - soldier knows that they both don't know shit about both"
Tbf, they did also inflict proportionally the worst damage TO ComGuard. CNC may have left with 15 mechs... but ComStar had about that much left too, and threw way more into the fight to begin with. But also goes to show, nearly completely destroying your foe doesn't matter much if they still held the objectives at days end and you died nearly to a man.
To quote Sun Tsu "If you know yourself and your enemy, you dont have to fear the results of a thousand battles..." Comstar knew themselves and their enemey. They went in and came out victorious.
SO IT HAS BEEN: ONE FOUGHT FOR HONOR AND ONE FOR FINALITY, STEEL AND MAN FACING DOWN THEIR MORTALITY, FOR THEY ARE HARDENED WARRIORS THAT SHAPED THE GALAXY, AS THEY CLASHED IN THE BATTLE OF TUKAYYID
What Focht figured out and brought into his general strategy was, that the clanners are an assault force made for swift overpowering of enemies. He was also for a while the guest of the Il-Khan and learned their ways in person. His general Strategy included two things mainly: Smack em silly with all you've got but more importantly, wage a war of attrition the clanners were ill equipped, nor trained for. The latter really broke the back of most of them. Well except Clan Wolf of course. But they had recruited a young fellow from the inner sphere and their Khan was actually wise enough to listen to him.
Everyone likes the better heat management of ballistic weapons, but if you can't get ammo resupply you've suddenly got 10 tons of useless dangling off your melee-ing arms.
One point on Clan Wolf achieving their objectives. They went last. And probably bid more forces than the rest put together. So Comstar simply shifted it’s focus onto the poor sods in the other clans. Hell, Comstar might have let Clan Wolf walk right in. They were on good terms, the former garrisoning the latter’s worlds. Comstar had no need or desire to screw over Clan Wolf. In fact, maintaining their military strength when all the other Clans lost theirs? When Clan Wolf had not only voted against the invasion, but had sent the Dragoon’s to prepare the Inner Sphere … well, with enough plausible deniability when it comes to the other clans. Hell, with this in mind, Comstar probably prioritized the Clans with particularly toxic world views, and were a bit lax on say, Clan Ghost Bear. Social engineering , with guns! Comstar’s speciality. How much do you bet they kept mentioning Clan Wolverine just to piss the Clanners off?
@@iwatchyoutubealot Fair. Though it was hardly a single battlefield, Focht was anything but subtle. Any social benefits regarding the Clams were either accidental, or a crushing of spirit bought by innumerable lives.
I chose this video, on this day, to formally introduce my youngest sister to BattleTech. She's genuinely interested in the setting because of this. Thanks for this chance for some precious family bonding, Tex. It's been a rough few years for her and I.
Tukkayid is one of the best examples of a modern set piece battle in sci-fi. It's a multifront defense in depth that shows exactly how to conduct a defensive operation against an invasion force. High usage of arty, airspace, ambushes, willingly letting go of defensive positions to get to a better spot, recon assets constantly roving and harassing enemy units to stop them from gaining any sort of initiative. This battle was basically modern day military force vs a Children's Crusade.
Remember the Wolves and Jade Falcons, along with the Bears, were the only ones who really adapted, with the Dogs pulling out a full win and showing that change was needed. I would also like to point out that the Clans were not playing war, but cause they went thru a war that was worse that what happened in the IS, the rules were developed to keep themselves from self destructing during their self imposed exile. Their way of fighting was good considering their situation, but bad against people who could use their rules against them. Just saw this comment and it fits perfectly to what happened to the Clans: The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war.
'Children's crusade' is inaccurate. The failings of the clans in this campaign were due to a mountain of factors, one of which being internal sabotage. In most cases, the clans punched way above their weight. Taking the Smoke Jaguars as an example, since everyone likes to pick on them: They were two galaxies (roughly equivalent to three Comstar Divisions, each) both of which were depleted from prior fighting, against 8 fresh divisions that had the luxury of being on the defensive. Of these 8 divisions, several were mauled to such a degree that ComStar disbanded them rather than reconstitute them. So while they failed to take their objectives, and decidedly lost, it isn't as if they were helpless 'children.' Rather, they were undermanned and on the offensive.
@@revolrz22 yeah, it was more of Carl XVIIs Napoleons and Nazi Germanys offencives vs Russia... three elite armies equipped and trained for quick, violent conquests counting on beeing able to forage what the intentionally under dimensioned logistics couldn't supply from their home bases forced into an extended war of attrition on a scorched earth battlefield with supply chains so long it's impossible to monitor them, let alone actually defend them against enemy partizans and troop remnants conducting guerilla warfare as they see fit behind enemy lines cut off from their own high command.
To be fair, Wolf landed last and Comstar had already won 51%+ of the objectives. So, Comstar didn't have to try and win those objectives. In fact, the only objective Jade Falcon "won", they actually lost, but Comstar gave Jade Falcon the draw "because JF's Aiden Pryde fought so well", but really just gave them the victory because Comstsr already won the planet at that point. This show of respect was only done to encourage Jade Falcon to honor the terms and bo go on a rage filled vengeance crusade against the Sphere .
Actually that is why they still pushed to try and beat the Wolves: It was also to prove that they could take on each Clan. But the Wolves were the only Clan that actually brought enough troops to take their objectives and taught the ComStar forces that they were to be a force to keep an eye on.
Ulric wasn't fooled by Focht; he manipulated the rest of the Clans through their pride into dropping first and to "punish" him and Clan Wolf by having them drop last. He studied what C* and Focht were doing, and adjusted his troops' kit accordingly. More reliance on energy weapons (so no running out of ammo), and also bringing sufficient ammo for an extended offense.
@@mkang8782 The ultimate Crusader mistake. Jaguar, especially, compounded that mistake by putting the dezgra upon its survivors, instead of acknowledging any fault in perspective.
The ComGuards are basically the military division of Comstar's Customer Service department. The Inner Sphere submitted the biggest Support Ticket in human history, and so management pulled everyone out of the phone queues and trained them to fight at Tukayyid. The mandatory overtime and risk to life and limb sucked, but it looked good on a resume if you survived, and you could tell your grandkids about how you and Steve from the Rigel V call center blew up a Mad Cat with rocket launchers and then apologized for the inconvenience.
Tukkayid was a major turning point, not just for the Invasion, but for the Clans. Tex isn't kidding when he says it changed their culture. The events of the Wars of Reaving can be linked back directly to the failure at Tukkayid. The definition of Clan honor changed pretty quickly once they realized that it was costing them their sole purpose in life. This is really one of the basic tragedies of Battletech. Both Clanners and IS want to reinstate the Star League and unite the Inner Sphere. However, no one can help but keep doing the very things that tore it apart to begin with.
When IlKhan Osis was killed, the Clans halted the advance and took a year break , giving the IS time to mount a defense. If they'd kept rolling they would've taken Terra easily. Ulric Kerensky was working against the Clans, he was a Warden by ideology. There was no reason to make a truce available as an option to the IS. So, in my opinion it wasn't the battle itself as much as it was an ideological civil war that brought the Clans down.
And fans of other Clans that lost spectacularly and were subsequently annihilated... 😏 I wonder who that could be... >coughChimneyKittenscough< Sorry about that, I'm having a hard time breathing all of a sudden. Must be all the Smoked Jaguar in the air...
@@dubuyajay9964 Or they lose them because plot demands it. That door swings both ways. It's how plots actually work. "I need this person around exactly this long." Even Natasha K wound up losing hers.
It's actually pretty telling that the only clan force that beat the crap out of Com Star to the point of nearly breaking them entirely was also the original Warden clan that opposed the invasion. I wonder if the writers did that on purpose as a point of irony while the fanatically crusader clans were shredded. Clan Wolf really didn't mess around and Natasha broke 3 entire divisions with just her Dragoons.
That was half the point of Tukayyid. The clans who fought like Inner Sphere won, those who fought like clanners lost. Dishonoring the clanlike and honoring the unclanlike invalidated their traditional way of life and gave real power to the pragmatics and reformers in their ranks, leading to internal upheaval and schisms - like a reverse Operation Klondike if you will. Clan Wolf is the best example: Comprehensive victory on Tukayyid, and within a few years it tore their clan in half. Focht didn't just beat the Clans on the battlefield, Focht broke their philosophy and their society. He set up a scheme that would kill the Clanner soul no matter who won the fight on the ground. Strategic level psychological warfare.
@@abelbabel8484 clan Wolf didn’t fight like the inner sphere. They’ve always been more adaptable than the other clans. The only one that was even more progressive was Clan Wolverine. As for Focht breaking their culture, not really. The IlClan era exists and Clan Wolf is still very clan-like.
@@Muscovy7 Sure they did, they didn't bid away forces and accepted the dishonor of dropping last for the real world advantage of numbers. They suspended zellbrigen and set up actual supply lines for an extended campaign instead of a one and done bumrush. That's not Clanner procedure, that's the Sphere way. Tukayyid created such societal rifts that clan Wolf suffered a formal schism between their Crusader and Warden forces, the Clans fought a proxy civil war in all but name (Refusal war) and allowed the Sphere to get their shit together to come down on the Clans like a hammer. Then you get Clans actually settling in and merging with inner Sphere polities instead of aiming to conquer and rebuild Star League. Also the modern ilClan has no continuity with the original Clan Wolf but is a product of the changes and reforms since Nicholas' death. The original Clanner culture was already in decline by 3052, but received its deathblow on Tukayyid.
You seem very knowledgable about the Battletech universe, I'm a refugee from a certain other IP that went to shit and I have been trying to find which books are the chronologically most important books to understand the universe, could you help a fellow Mechwarrior out? Most videos reference events but not the source material so I am a bit at a loss as a newbie
I loved reading the third book in the trilogy, when it describes how Focht is directing his forces, and, in one case, has to reign in a commander that wants to keep fighting in a zealous fit. Focht has to sternly, but not unkindly, remind him of the plan of attrition. Stackpole gets a lot of flak for some of this writing (arguably justified), but, man, he gets a lot right in that part of the third book.
"When they landed they had an army, when they left it was gone." The best narratives. I lost it. I had to stop the video. Laughing too hard. I love this so much.
"An entire invasion force relegated to the past tense." Not one army in the existence of society was F'd that hard. Well done Comstar, and well done Tex for explaining it so accurately!
One of the Roman Legions actually did. The relevant Emperor supposedly would occasionally break into cursing at it's (dead, I believe) commander on occasion for years afterward.
Ive read the books, I knew how the battle goes, I knew which Clans lost. What I didn't know, was how hard they lost. Well now I know, and I can only find one word to describe it. That one word... EPIC.
The wolves put up a good fight, but they were effectively bloodied and allowed to win, mostly because Comstar had already won the war. With all other clans losing and two having a draw, Wolf's win hardly mattered. The wolves fought well, but the loss of their Khan was quite a blow dealt by Comstar.
"They dismissed him as a joke and failed to respect him. And for that, he fucking broke them." So good. I second everyone here who says Tex should do more lore vids. This was fantastic and I'd love to hear Tex recount other events like the War of 3039 and the lives of Justin and Daniel Allard.
Tex should do a video on the Allards. Justin, Daniel and Kai were probably the three best Mechwarriors in the Inner Sphere. According to some articles, shortly after the beginning of the Clan Invasion, Jaime Wolf had the more proactive IS leaders and notable Mechwarriors fight it out in a pseudo-Trial of Position. Kai was the second-last standing, just narrowly losing to Jaime Wolf and downing at least five of his opponents (which was exceptional even by Clan standards. Achieving that kill count in a ToP would net you the rank of Galaxy Commander or even Khan). Wolf even admitted to Kai that had Kai managed to down Jaime's Mech he would have had to hand Wolf's Dragoons over to Kai.
Georgi Zukov fought in a bloody manner but was damned effective, and was immensely effective well worth study. Not studied deeply enough by anyone outside of military colleges, the study of this Soviet commander has given me many victories in Battletech,fantasy, and historic battles.
Soviet doctrine was incredibly advanced. They had a huge supply of trucks from the US which dramatically boosted their whole armies mobility. The Germans were still moving supplies around by horse and men by foot.
@Comstar: Space AT&T Soviet battle doctrine is indded called deep battle. The effectiveness of it, and Zhukovs by proxy, comes from the fact that it took the experiences of 39-41, and examined them through a statistical lens. It is aimed at winning wars in a manner most efficient considering the resources availible to the belligerents. In case of the soviets, they posessed a number of advantages. Thabka to their more efficient procurement, and massive foreign aid, they could replace material losses more easily. Thanks to their larger pool of men, and less rigorous training, they could replace front line units more easily. They also posessed large swathes of nonessential land close to Germany. Therefore the key to soviet victory lay in strategy of trading land for time to build up parity in matériel and unit cohesion, and then trade manpower and equipment to destroy German equipment that could not be so easily replaced. Deep battle in essence is the tactical reality proven by the fall of France and Poland to combat an enemy with superior individual units but inferior logistics. It consists of, on an operational scale frontwide attacks, to identify weak apots, multiple armoured spearheads aimed at exploiting said weaknesses, then operational scale encirclements to cut off the enemy frontline and strike at its high value support units. Strategically, it consist of a string of such operational scale setpuece battles, all aimed at methodically reducing the enemy fighting force, and effecting a relatively slow, but steady advance, taking great care to prevent succesful counterpushes. All in all it results in an extremely costly, and relatively slow advance, that has enormous logistical cost, however it inflicts similarly horrendous casualties upon the enemy, and all but ensures athat any gains made are secured, as it involves no high risk strategic depth manouvers like blitzkrieg does. So basically it mirrors the situation with the clanners to a T, and is a devastatingly effwctive strategy to employ in such a scenario.
@@GMorgan84 you have to realize the numbers of the 2-1/2 ton 6x6 truck in the US military industrial complex at the time to know how significant they were. The GMC CCKW, the most common version had over 560,000 produced between the years of 1941-1945. It was the second most produced US vehicle of the war, behind the Jeep. The one that saw use by soviets, the Studebaker US6, had 195,000 produced by studebaker, with another 22,000 from REO… and you have to remember, one of these means that a squad could move up to 45 MPH/72 KMH at max, and had a max operational range of 236 miles, or 379.8KM. Those numbers could be carrying any number of wonderful anti tank ordinance to provide free redecorating services, machineguns for wonderful surprises, or artillery to landscape. In terms of supplies, it’s even more significant, as one of these could carry any assortment of food, water, fuel ammo, etc, at that speed.
"Hey Mom! Uncle Tex read us a bed time story! It was the bestest! And then we threw empty Whiskey bottles at the AT&T guys the next day. Can he babysit us forever?! PLEEEEEAAASEEEE??"
@@jasonthomas9596 It's been happening for ages. Tex is that awesome uncle that the parents would claim that calling him a bad influence is the understatement of the 31st century.
Aww yiss, this will be the most enjoyable 25 minutes X) Dude, seriously, continue this. There must be a lore channel for Battletech with your level of production quality, to rival Warhammer and Star Wars ones. Keep it up, good sir! Edit: Now that I watch this proper - I stand by my point ever firmly. This is your best Battletech work this far, Tex. You actually made me feel that nightmare of a battle through that narration. Atmospheric as all hell. Nice work indeed. tldr: MOAR
I wholeheartedly agree. I think this is the stride episode right here. The voice, narration, the jokes, down to even just the pictures, transitions, and even the voice and narration, all the way to the end credits. All future episodes should follow this as a template. (apart the odd beginning and ending). I loved the logo at the end with a part of the narration. "Hippity Hoppity get off my property" was absolutely hilarious!
@@umngyr Much to my wife's dismay, I take the 20th of May off every year and play BT all day. HBS BattleTech, MechAssault 1 and 2 along with MWO. Drives her nuts :)
@@theblackpantslegion Let me commend you sir, though. I felt your analysis was absolutely spot on while being entertaining. I hope you will examine further lore.
Not quite. It was more, beating the clanners to death with the rulebook. It is learning the rules better than the writers and proceeding to use it to hamstring them. Clanners couldn't imagine taking such losses and still fighting, because resource management was paramount. Hence the bid system, use the least amount of resources and keep as much as you can.
My favorite part is this: At the same time that ComStar pulls off Tukayyind, where the did everything right, they also performed Operation Scorpion, where they failed spectacularly at trying to conquer the Inner Sphere. They tried to force the great houses to bend the knee, threatening to shut off the HPG network... so the Great Houses just took over the HPG facilities. It's a bad idea to say "You and what army" when the other guy has an army and yours is fighting a battle elsewhere.
This video led me to binge the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. Kai Allard-Liao and Phelan Kell are ridiculously OP. I actually started laughing when the big emotional breakthrough for Liao in book 3 was "Wow, I really AM that awesome!"
Inglonias He’s a 1/2 pilot. Basically god mode in old tabletop Battletech when you play scenarios with him. A light mech/tank/vtol (some mediums too) could come screaming in at over 100kph by Liao, and all he’d have to do is stop moving and snipe it’s ass. Still rolling on a 5 at short range. As long as he’s in range he can hit what he’s aiming at. Worst case scenario without severe complications: Liao ran +2, target moved 10+ hexes +4, target is at long range +4, Kai’s Gunnery +1. To hit: 11. A shot impossible to even attempt for almost every IS pilot and most Clanners, he can do it.
@@JeremyRyanWren Having an OP character in a game is one thing. Not giving them any character depth beyond "awesome at everything" in a novel about them is another.
I have been arguing for years and will continue to argue that if there is a future show primed and ready to fill the Game of Thrones void, it's most likely gonna be pulled from Battletech lore. For me, Tukayyid was bigger than either of the Deathstar brawls. And BT is still thriving where many of her peers have fallen off and died.
@@thegardenofeatin5965 get a wh40k warhound titan with two turbolaser arms, it's the closest thing to a direwolf in wh40k anyway and about the same size and weight though a bit more powerful XD
Well, later we get the Jihad where elements of Comstar basically kick everyone around hard until they all unite against them. Also, nukes. Batchall this Clanner!
The Clans knew how to fight, but forgot how to wage war. Hmm... I wonder how this would sound if Gotterdammerung from the Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries soundtrack kicked in at 8:00 or so...
Comstar erased diamond shark from existence, even the memory of them had been destroyed and comstar was just standing there wondering why they were shooting into an empty field
This video is great. It also doesn't mention another key element as to why ComStar won: IlKahn Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf. (You know the only clan to actually succeed?) See Ulric Kerensky HATED the invasion being a Warden not a Crusader. So much so that during the time ComStar was basically working alongside the Clans (not openly as allies, but secretly as "third party arbitrators for the transferal of power, and manipulating the HPG network to the Clan's benefit), he not only taught Focht everything about Clan way of life and philosophy, but also told him the goal of the invasion was Terra itself. See up to that point Comstar believed they could manipulate the Clans into recreating the Star League the way ComStar wanted it to be, partially believing that simply restarting the Star League was ultimately the Clan's goal and bringing the unruly Successor States to heel was merely a part of that plan (which is also something ComStar wanted, IIRC). Ulric Kerensky disabused them of that notion when he told Focht that they intended to take Terra, the place ComStar kept for themselves. Why would Ulric Kerensky tell Focht these things? Because telling Comstar they weren't going to be the power behind the throne was his best shot at ending the Clan Invasion without Clan Wolf being the ones to take Terra. So yes, Focht deserves every bit of praise Tex can heap on him, but let's not forget that Tukkayid would not have happened if Ulric had kept his mouth shut.
I tell you what: I happened upon this channel last year, and have listened to all the lore episodes a dozen times. It never gets old, and is still compelling. The humor is top notch.
"How many dudes we got?" "A bunch" "How many dudes they got?" "Like a bunch times.....100? 500?" "......yeah but our mechs are cooler and we have power armor, let's invade their shit" "....k" *Clan Great Council minutes, November 3048*
Like the opposite of what happened in the Winter War. Yeah Russia tried to crush them with overwelming forces... And lost about almost their entire force only to take 11 percent of Finland... And their real plans was a bit oh I don't know BIGGER than that. Yeah it was a failure no matter how much you say to that
@@amymeadows9834 Sure but the Russians decided to shoot 3/4 of their own officers and 1/10 of their common soldiers, focusing on the most experienced personal, before the invasion. They destroyed their own army's morale and institutional competence and then decided it was the perfect time to invade Finland in winter.
As AWESOME as an 80 ton Steiner mech with a trio of PPCs. I love how you tell the story your own way, with your own style instead of just read it out of some sourcebook. Gonna re-watch this one a few times today.
This is the third year I've spent in Tex's lecture on my birthday. It never gets old hearing the Clans get their shit pushed in by a telecom company and makes May the 20th that much more special.
Tukkyid I find to be the crucible that truly brought forth Kurinski's dream. Not Nicholas, but Alexander's. Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, and Wolf truly are Alexander's vision.
Tbh im surprised the Comstar army leader given his peculiar heritage didnt drop a few dozen Steiner scout lances in the middle of the enemy group. No amount of high tech can argue with steiner scout lances.
Remembering May 20th as a day of Will, Resolve, Strategic Vision, and of course my favourite, Crazy. Everyone says it cannot be done until some great genius bastard comes along and says 'hey, yes it can. And this is how we do it.'😎
After that battle they became the most battle-hardened bastards known to man which was going to be needed cuz there's sons and daughters were going to need to fight the dirty clanners come all over again.
Pay your debts, indeed. I would say the clans defeated themselves. They had a long supply line and many of the invading clans were hardcore believers in eugenics, thus they never thought to make as many omnimechs and let the freeborn pilot those. They deliberately hobbled their pool of manpower. Sure they might make awesome warrior- but that might take years, The IS can train a person and toss them into the meatgrinder in months. The clans played at war, Federick Steiner practiced war.
Funny enough their was one clan that was fully prepared to bring everything they could to invade the inner sphere cause they actually looked and did the math on what it could take to invade.They also where like the only combined arms clan they where perfect for the invasion but because they made a reasonable bid they got laughed at.
@@efffvss yes they did, that was due to Ulric trusting Phelan when it came to battle planning. Oddly enough when Ward decided to off Ulric because "muh honor". Phelan reached out to Focht for help to move the Wolves in Exile to Arc Royal. After that the Wolf Dragoons, Wolves in Exile, Kell Hounds and Space AT&T er... ComStar worked closely in anti-crusader training. What's even funnier is that the Hounds with the help of the Wolves science techs created some impressive Omnimechs. Plus the wolves adopted the Hounds as honorary wolves because of reasons (many bar fights that lead to respect).
I have just watched this video for the 2nd time. First was around 3 week ago. I didn´t have any clue about Inner Sphere and Claners then. I was totally new to Battletech universe. After this Tex´s video, I have pre-orderdered Clan Invasion box, all wave 1 mechs, bought Beginners box a and Core game - Battletech A Game Of Armored Combat, plus 4 battlemats. This is thanks to you, Tex. You have brought me to this magnificent universe. Thank you, I´m in your debt.
Shout out to Tex and the rest of the BPL crew. Love your content, love your work ethos, and most importantly love your work on behalf of charity. The style in which you present this lore is one that inspires my own writings. The phrase "tactical fuckery" will forever have a place in my lexicon.
Been looking forwards to this for a few months! I knew you wouldn't pass up making a video about intergalactic "Rub a Clanner's nose in it" day. Great work from Crowind, MadAsgardian, and yourself as always. Really appreciate the love and dedication you guys so obviously marinate these in.
The Clans came out soon after I started playing Battletech. Early on, I got into an argument with a Clan Fan over what I felt were terrible practices after his description of the Clan bidding process. It took me mere *minutes* to figure out there was a problem. But, he knew the lore and read all the books, while I just played the game. So, I lost the argument, unable to enunciate what should have been obvious. Later, I drifted away from the game, playing a little MechWarrior but not much else from the franchise. Fast forward to May 20, 2019, after years out of the loop and following this channel for like a week (bumped into the Catapult video), I learn the exact problems I pointed out were real. I'm not stupid or crazy. Well, not about the Clans, anyway. All of that to say, thanks, Tex.
@@Splozy I'm not sure I understand. You're asking what wrong with the Clan bidding process, past what was already explained in the video? I'm also curious if you think the Clan bidding process is actually a good idea?
@@annagramgaming8934 no I don't I'm just curious about your story :) I watch these while I do other things and might have missed a bit out. You don't have to go into more detail of you don't want to.
@@Splozy The issue of the clan bidding process is wrapped up in efficient use of force. Purposely benching portions of your projectable force, barring situations where more units in an area results in them fighting ineffectively (al la Agincourt), only leads to negative results, such as increased losses on your side and increased chance of failure to achieve the tactical objective. Terms of engagement are so critical that sometimes the battle is more about the terms than the fighting. Jutland comes to mind. So, to put into perspective of the Clan nonsense, what I was referring to was being told how cool the Clans were because of their bidding process, when it is strictly at odds with effective military doctrine. At the time, I wasn't as knowledgable of the Battletech setting, the Clans specifically, or military history in general. So, I could not formulate an effective defense of my feeling that there was something wrong with the bidding, even if it seems 'cool,' which is all the Clan Fan seemed to actually care about. I hope that explains it adequately.
Well after Stringstorm released his song yesterday it looks like I will be spending a while listening to you. Have been only 40k guy so far but BattleTech sounds awesome.
@@hendrikgrotefend4098 You have to realize this was written during a period when the old company went belly up and the property was bought out by two different companies. Neither one seemed to really know what to do with it and it showed. It's finally been licensed out by it's new owner (Topps), to a company that somewhat seems concerned with the customer's wants. (Catalyst Games). Although it still has issues (mainly quality issues with minis. Minor, but they still exist.
I feel like the channel started off as 'mech overviews and observations, but these "side" lectures have been so incredibly fascinating. Perfectly and reverently told, excellent topical material, and I would love to see as many of these as you wanted to do. The 'mech overviews are GREAT, but these lectures are some of the best lore telling of Battletech currently on RU-vid.
For someone who only knows like the Bare Basics of BattleTech, this was amazing and I believe you and your team have great talent and should do more videos based on battles and wars and different companies and important time periods in universe.
While the video is funny and cute, he really underplays the clan effort during the fight and makes it seem like a one-sided curb stomp. The clans punched well above their weight in most cases, and absolutely left most of the ComStar units in various states between 'mauled' and 'absolutely thrashed' by the end.Numerous Comstar divisions were just disbanded after the battle, the damage they had taken being so great that it wasn't worth it to reconstitute them.
@@revolrz22 well, he does mention afterward that Comstar's losses were incalculable, showing that he did acknowledge comstar's substantial losses, and he goes pretty in depth with Comstar's losses describing how they "bulldozed the corpses of their comrades aside and kept fighting."
*Real talk, Tex, this video gives me chills every time, hearing the insane and inhuman zealot killing machine that is ComStar turn a planet into such a grand execution world makes even Cadia in 40k blush*
I've always liked Battletech from a distance, played a few of the video games. You are pulling me in deep with these Tex Talks. Your style is just so good man, looking forward to more.
See, as much as I love the clans (Coyote fan here) the big thing is that Tukayyid wasn't just Foct spanking the clans that were there and teaching them a lesson, but it was something else entirely: In a fight between a group of warriors and a group of soldiers, the soldiers will either win, or make the warrior victory so costly that it won't look like victory. Sure, most of the Comguard involved were green, but they had been drilled every day and moment they could have been leading up to this moment. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that their lives were being spent to grind the clans to a halt. They KNEW what they were getting into, where the clans thought this was going to be Thursday. In short, Foct was the mastermind, but it would have cost the Clans quite a bit even if Foct wasn't there given the same chance to prepare. Foct's strategies and tactics were simply a massive force multiplier on a group who were already resigned to likely being meat in the grinder, if only in hopes the gristle would jam up the gears.
I have watched this several times and just notices the No Smoking sign in the smoke filled classroom. Thanks Tex and Crowind for always surprising me with the little touches like that. I don't think I am close to all of the little easter eggs you have put in, but when I do catch them I always enjoy them.
I come back and watch this every year or so because Tex has done such a wonderful job of summarizing this battle that I don't ever really get tired of listening to it, lol. This is better than a lot of war documentaries I've watched.
I have to avoid having anyone around when watching these. I end up spitting out my drink and cackling like a mad man (or Tex) when Tex drops some of his best lines. Good work all.
Tex, this story gives new meaning to the phrase: "Get Focht" (extending the middle finger is reccomended while quoting this phrase, but not mandatory.)
What i find great about this series, what brings me back to these videos time and again, is that it feels like someone who actually studied history. Not just in how accurate it is but how colorful the explanation is. This isn't some stuffy "ho ho ho i know all so much about history now listen up luddites as i educate you for your failure to learn." it feels like someone who passionately poored over history and will absolutely enjoy debating with you the actual problems of the past and the ramifications of it. This sounds like a real person talking about real events. A stuffy 'i am smarter then you' type would say that Diamond shark simply had minimal surviving forces. A person with real passion will say something like "An entire invasion force relegated to the past tense" in that kind of tone.
Thank you kindly sir. I am a historian by education, and I always felt it was . . . poor form to speak down to the audience. History of anything is a tangle of human stories. People forget that all too easily. Thank you for the kind words.
@@theblackpantslegion No, Thank you for doing this. This whole series renewed my interest in battletech which had come and gone over the years due to not having many reliable sources for it's knowledge. I had 1 friend who was as into the series as I was, but thanks to you I've at least shared a lot about this world with a few others and now we have some of your jokes as running gags in our group. It's been a wild ride and I hope to see more of it in the coming years, even in this chaos this series has helped me stay focused on the world around me by taking my mind off things for just long enough at a time to recenter myself. Now I'm going to get back to my AU writing, but thank you for making a fans day sir.
