OBT Forum

To the Hellion sibko system I will add this comment which may have nothing to do with it at all. Taking into account their population statistics this Clan may have the deepest recruiting pool of anyone in the Homeworld especially since they are willing to use Freeborns which seem a major part of their Touman.

They might just have the lowest average age for pilots if they have such a high turnover rate.

Did some further work this weekend on the Turkina review (which is nearly completed) and what happened to Ice Hellion from Tukayyid (June 1, 3052) to the beginning of the Restoration Debates (December 31, 3052). These six months are a key setup period for the Clans in Salient Horizons and the real start of my alternate timeline. Let me run down the important personalities of the Clan for you all and get your opinions.

Asa Taney is approaching two years as Khan and his plot to bring the Home Clans together in some sort of political coalition to join the invasion is likely in its early stages. Now Ian Hawker is dead in this alternate defeated by a Warden Shark ristar of my creation following the Battle of Nyserta leaving him without an ally. Early word of Operation Restoration which would add the Home Clans to the Invasion must be a boon to his diplomatic efforts. However he is in charge of a Clan who is clearly overstretched in regards to territory and resources. I know he proved himself to be a schemer in the novels (which one?) and comes of to me as an aerospace diplomat per say. What do you think he does here.

Try to find a way to have more Warriors and more material as quickly as possible.

Oh most certainly I have basically come up with a list of Clans at this time and what their general goal is - the Hellions are definitely rebuilding from the Fury. But they are unlikely to sit back and do this - they are aggressive and will likely try to take what they need as quickly as possible.

Also been conducting a deep dive on Asa Taney. Suprisingly there isn't more about this super annoying and largely ineffective leader but here is what I found so far.

Asa Taney (FM Crusader Clans pg )
Khan Asa Taney is the senior Khan of Clan Ice Hellion. An avid Crusader, he has been pressing for the dissolution of the Truce of Tukayyid and a resumption of the invasion. However, Taney also advocates that the Homeworld Clans aid in the effort, citing the “ineffectiveness of our allegedly most powerful Clans” as the reason. Such statements have earned him few friends among the invaders, who remain a potent political force.
   Khan Taney rose to power after the death of Khan Stephen Tyler at the hands of the bandit caste. Though Taney’s record as a pilot was exemplary and his Bloodline is strong, the fact that he was only a Star Colonel at the time of his election has raised eyebrows among the Grand Council. Enemies of the Khan have tried to implicate him in Khan Tyler’s death, but have so far produced no evidence.
   Taney’s attempt to open the door to invasion for the Homeworld Clans was recently thwarted by the Wolf and Jade Falcon Khans. Angered by their actions, Taney is now seeking to renew his effort and avenge himself on the Khans who stopped it.

Grave Covenant (page 69)
Large headed (pilot phenotype) with red hair
A scheming antagonist from the Twilight of the Clans series whose plans never seem to work out, ineffectual

 Scylla Deployment (TRO3067 pg 134)
   The Tenth Assault Cluster on New Kent was the first Viper unit to receive the Scylla. There they made good use of the design, repulsing numerous Ice Hellion probes. In 3064, the long-expected Viper offensive against their neighbors on New Kent saw widespread use of the Scylla, its maneuverability allowing the heavy machine to make a surprise assault across the rugged Shandrake Massif into the heart of the Hellion holdings, devastating the enemy’s 175th Assault Cluster. With typical poor grace, the Hellions complained to the Grand Council, deriding the use of “freebirth” equipment and blaming “Spheroid tactics” for their defeat. The other Clans simply listened as Asa Taney validated the Hellion’s nickname of “Clan Temper Tantrum.”

The Great Refusal (Twilight of the Clans pg 39)
Khan Asa Taney (2/2), Visigoth Prime

Raina Montose (Wars of Reaving pg 188)
Her defining moment as a Hellion warrior was her Trial of Grievance against Hellion Khan Asa Taney for his ineptitude in handling a retaliatory attack on Brim against the Cloud Cobras. Taney, confident that none of his warriors could beat him in an aerial dogfight, accepted Montose’s challenge. Raina fought the khan with her Viper OmniMech. Nearly every Hellion warrior considered her either mad or suicidal. She used her terrain to her advantage, however, jumping from a tall sandstone peak in the Wick Steppes and timing her jump to land on the tail of Taney’s fighter. As the Viper slid off the out-of-control Visigoth, she unloaded all of her weapons into the fighter’s spine. Her salvo crippled the fighter and she jumped her ‘Mech clear before Taney’s fighter clipped another peak and crash-landed.

Hankyu [Arctic Cheetah] (TRO 3058 pg 164)
MechWarrior Eva Hordwon: Eva comes from an Asa Taney-Lysa Hordwon sibko. From an early age, she managed to gain her genefather’s attention by challenging him to a personal trial at age 16. Eva then went on to win her Trial of Position by defeating three of her opponents, but Khan Taney assigned her to the Seventh Attack Cluster as a Star Commander. She lost the Trial of Refusal against her genefather, as well as both her legs, but after they were re-grown her performance in a Hankyu was considered exemplary in her Clan. Assigned to saKhan Weiland Cage’s Lithe Kill Keshik as a “surprise” for Khan Ward, Star Commander Eva continued to excel, nearly defeating the Wolf Khan. Much to Asa Taney’s chagrin, Vlad Ward took her as a bondsman. Eva quickly proved herself worthy to be a Wolf Warrior, and serves in the Golden Keshik. She traveled back to Babylon in 3066 to gain her Bloodname.

Surkai (Jihad Hot Spots 3072 pg 81)
saKhan Connor Rood asked Raina Montose not to mimic ‘Asa Taney and his psychotic ways’

1. The Ice Hellions rebuild quickly in two very important and simple ways. Manpower, they use all available to fill out their Touman from Freeborn to Abtakha to Trueborn. Equipment, as a lightweight force concentrating on speed their manufacturing doesn't suffer from longer term builds like Heavy and Assaults.

2. I will comment more on their evolving fighting style later but it is always based on speed.

3. Their founder introduced their core beliefs but more recently Khan Stephen Tyler introduced Flurry Clusters to safeguard territory taken during the Fury.

1. The Ice Hellions rebuild quickly in two very important and simple ways. Manpower, they use all available to fill out their Touman from Freeborn to Abtakha to Trueborn. Equipment, as a lightweight force concentrating on speed their manufacturing doesn't suffer from longer term builds like Heavy and Assaults.

2. I will comment more on their evolving fighting style later but it is always based on speed.

3. Their founder introduced their core beliefs but more recently Khan Stephen Tyler introduced Flurry Clusters to safeguard territory taken during the Fury.

I think you are going a bit quickly here (perhaps because of some Ice Hellion influence ).

1. The Ice Hellions despise the necessity of having Freeborns in their combat units.
2.
3. Stephan Cage was a member of a Dragoon Regiment. We might have forgotten that but independent units were combined-arms.
And for Flurry units, I read both Field Manual Crusaders and The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky. The first stated that they are a new type of unit after the Hellion's Fury but the second states nothing apart that most Freeborns serve in Flurry units, militia units that contain regular armour and infantry.
Could this be the reason behind their capacity to endure? They are quick to gather militia units when needed and have already done so a few times. When other Clans would show muscles and do 'Mechs, 'Mechs and more 'Mechs (which take time to build and train Warriors). Ice Hellion could quickly gather these militia units and quickly disband them afterwards.

That sounds more like Trueborn prejudice than a real policy Ice. The fact is the Clan needs Freeborn warriors and some or most of its Trueborns can whine about how much they do not like it but unless they change their high attrition rates which given their lightweight nature and life fast die hard attitudes ain't happening.

I think they were trained separately too and didn't fight in the same units. Clans have this prejudice but it seems they had it more.

Thank you Loremaster that is a great historical justification for the return of armored units to the Touman. However, your ignoring the natural progression of the Clans which except for Blood Spirit (orthodox combat doctrine) and Hell's Horses (philosophical practice) went away from vehicles as a combat option. Interestingly enough both those Clans were also almost required to use these inferior war machines in their line units given their resource poor situation.

My comment was more a way to find a way for Clan Ice Hellion to justify this use of "combined-arms" units. A vague reference in the Remembrance and here you go.

I disagree. Smoke Jaguar and Steel Viper have this 'prejudice' the most as they outright forbide freeborn warriors. That means zero in their touman probably right down to their Police Clusters.

It would be perhaps easier to find who is more liberal and grade them according to that.

Oh I like the historic justification of the Flurry concept.

 

Again what did you think of my rise of Asa Taney theory?

He was a bit short-sighted and tempered to plan something like that. But then again he could have been manipulated.