OBT Forum

Hmmm...
Regarding your first question I also cannot remember a capital of the Periphery March to have ever been mentioned.
A quick scan of the 20 Year Update sourcebook and Handbook: House Steiner also reveals that no capital of the Periphery March is mentioned in these products, only the seats of the Theaters and the OA's.

It really seems like the Lyran Periphery March is a Quasi (organization) March. There is no mention of its structure but taking into account several things we can make an educated guess. Maps in various canon sources (20 Year Update, Era Report 3052, HBHS, etc.) show Coventry and Alarion retaining their status in spite of FedCom reorganization. Another vital clue comes from the Lyran Alliance reorganization following the 3057 War. The Alarion and Coventry Province include both of the Periphery OAs without change. There is also this blurb from 20 Year Update;

Thomas Bradford, Duke of Coventry, has assumed his late father's role as unofficial spokesmen for primitive Lyran worlds near the Periphery He has pointed to the enormous resources there as reason enough to justify assigning a high priority to increased modernization, colonization- and industrialization - Perhaps because Duke Bradford's extensive land holdings on those worlds stain his credibility and perhaps because the unification of the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns has placed every other concern in the back seat . His arguments have been given short shrift in Tharkad and no audience at all in Ne w Avalon- Duke Bradford, a notorious ladies' man, has recentl y turned an eye toward Jacqueline Brewer, the beautiful CEO of Defiance Industries . Though it appears to be simple romantic involvement, cynics among the Lyran nobility believe the hand some Duke may be trying to persuade Duchess Brewer to build a 'Mech factory on his land.

So it seems like the Periphery March was a Provisional organization that was still taking shape in the Federated Commonwealth at this time. Perhaps this was done to provide the region with a hope for self government or better defense. It could have also been a test bed for a future Outback March in the Federated Suns. There are three reasons the region was likely not given full autonomy or powers of a March. One, the holdover factor from Lyran pre-FedCom organization when Alarion and Coventry were Provincial Capitals. Traditionalist here don't want to lose their status and might fear change - giving them a March or half March of their own to govern is a nice political concession. Two, Davion experience with the Outworlds March could make the First Prince wary of a Fringe Governor with power of their own. Lastly, the Rim Worlds Republic encompassed much of the Periphery March's territory. All kinds of reasons here not to give them power. Tamar who lost out on Rasalhague worlds might be asked to surrender more worlds in the future. Then there is the fear factor. 

Regarding your second question: Even after Tukayyid and the formation of the Word of Blake ComStar was weakened by continuing defections to the Word of Blake, not to mention all the Word symapthizers that remained with ComStar and aided their Word brothers. And at least one successor state also experienced defection to the WoB: the FWL. That Com Star's ROM was filled with WoB sympathizers at least partially explains the Word's success in hiding many of their assets. Furthermore the Word used shell games to conceal duplicate forces in plain sight. And the rank-and-file Blakists were seemingly as surprised by the appearance of the Shadow Divisions as the rest of the Inner Sphere which suggests to me that the Word was really good at hiding its secrets(or at least concealing and obfuscating the truth). The famous "Hidden Five" come to mind...
Some explanation of what the Word did is found in the Blake Documents(page 88 ).

What I'm really looking for is a look at the Dark Star circa 3052. Master Arminas' Operation Revival Reborn does a great job of describing this organization but does he have it right. Is Thomas Marik the Master of the Blood and Shadow Primus at this time? What units does he have at this time? Are they on Mars or elsewhere? Does he have control of the Five and all hidden assets of the Order??

What I'm really looking for is a look at the Dark Star circa 3052. Master Arminas' Operation Revival Reborn does a great job of describing this organization but does he have it right. Is Thomas Marik the Master of the Blood and Shadow Primus at this time? What units does he have at this time? Are they on Mars or elsewhere? Does he have control of the Five and all hidden assets of the Order??

To the best of my knowledge there are no definite canon informations on these topics (yet; personally I hope that Final Reckoning will shed some light on these topics). So Dread Moores is correct: You'll have to answer most of these questions yourself.

Ciao
Hessian

Quote from: Hessian on October 02, 2011, 02:24:30 PM

To the best of my knowledge there are no definite canon informations on these topics (yet; personally I hope that Final Reckoning will shed some light on these topics). So Dread Moores is correct: You'll have to answer most of these questions yourself.

We might get lucky with, but like the Wolverines; a definitive connection is too good a boogeyman to ruin with concrete "facts."

I could certainly live with that.

BTW: I like your new avatar Knightmare. It surely made me chuckle when I saw it the first time.
Be the peace of Blake with you.

Ciao
Hessian

Not a bad idea on the Periphery March Blacknova.

Clearly I need to go back and consult the Jihad SBs again. Didn't even remember the link to Clinton's Cutthroats but I have an idea on them.

Clearly I could take this in a couple of different directions but another question for you guys. The appearance of the Wolf Dragoons did what to the Blood? I think they probably recognized them from their old Clan designs like the Annihilator. What would you do if you were them??

If I know they are from the Clans and I know that one day they will return I would likely conclude they are on their way. You might want to arm and ready yourself for defense especially if your the Wolverines.

According to the Blake Documents, apart from the remnants of Clinton's Cutthroats The Blood let their military slide into near nothingness over the long years.  Perhaps the rise of the WoB began with Thomas Marik re-birth and that by 3052, after 20 years, the framework was there, but without a lot of the heavy hitters lined up yet.

There's also some expiration time for a build up if you use the Manei Domini as your foundation. Remember, those advanced cybernetics reduce an individual's life expectancy exponentially, and the ones deployed by the WoB were their first and last (for canon reasons) two "releases" - meaning the tech was relatively new to a widespread deployment.

Here's some help to keep it in perspective...

VDNI for example had a base version and then a refined variant that was released a little time after. The tech itself was only available from dissecting captured Clan-Tech (so already 3052+), and then re-engineering the neural interface into something useful. Given what the WoB was doing prior to the Jihad, it seems pretty reasonable to see why the advanced VDNI was released AFTER the Jihad started, and not prior. The primary version was probably only released into general use only a year or two prior to the outbreak of the Jihad.

So if the VDNI was being researched and deployed after the start of the Clan Invasion, or even after the Schism (which is more likely for practical research with the intent of replication), then the idea that the Blood were actively preparing for combat prior to the invasion is pretty low if you're looking to keep the connection between the WoB and Blood intact.

It's one of the problems with using the Blood and the WoB.

There's simply no logical reason to refrain from preparing for the inevitable return of the Clans. Even with manpower losses, and fear of an immediate counter-invasion (unlikely given how large the clans were at the time - which the Wolverines would know.), you'd have centuries to develop effective countermeasures.

IMO, it's a mark against using the Blood as a "real" anti-Clan faction. 

 

Quote from: Blacknova on October 03, 2011, 06:06:04 PM

According to the Blake Documents, apart from the remnants of Clinton's Cutthroats The Blood let their military slide into near nothingness over the long years.  Perhaps the rise of the WoB began with Thomas Marik re-birth and that by 3052, after 20 years, the framework was there, but without a lot of the heavy hitters lined up yet.

There's also some expiration time for a build up if you use the Manei Domini as your foundation. Remember, those advanced cybernetics reduce an individual's life expectancy exponentially, and the ones deployed by the WoB were their first and last (for canon reasons) two "releases" - meaning the tech was relatively new to a widespread deployment.

Here's some help to keep it in perspective...

VDNI for example had a base version and then a refined variant that was released a little time after. The tech itself was only available from dissecting captured Clan-Tech (so already 3052+), and then re-engineering the neural interface into something useful. Given what the WoB was doing prior to the Jihad, it seems pretty reasonable to see why the advanced VDNI was released AFTER the Jihad started, and not prior. The primary version was probably only released into general use only a year or two prior to the outbreak of the Jihad.

So if the VDNI was being researched and deployed after the start of the Clan Invasion, or even after the Schism (which is more likely for practical research with the intent of replication), then the idea that the Blood were actively preparing for combat prior to the invasion is pretty low if you're looking to keep the connection between the WoB and Blood intact.

It's one of the problems with using the Blood and the WoB.

There's simply no logical reason to refrain from preparing for the inevitable return of the Clans. Even with manpower losses, and fear of an immediate counter-invasion (unlikely given how large the clans were at the time - which the Wolverines would know.), you'd have centuries to develop effective countermeasures.

IMO, it's a mark against using the Blood as a "real" anti-Clan faction.

Hmmm.... What you wrote makes sense, Knightmare.

Ciao
Hessian