11/24/2023 0 Comments Battletech heavy metal fell off truck![]() They'd also have decommissioned mechs that were held in reserve, buried in some vault on a random planet somewhere. So way, way back, the Star League and the Great Houses would have set up a lot of equipment caches - stuff they produced that they didn't need at the moment, so they squirrel it away. Good thing ol' Snake was around, huh?Īs far as the overall "economy" of the Battletech world, and where people get all their mechs, I'd suggest it's a consequence of the wealth of the Star League era, as well as the brutality of the First and Second Succession Wars. Oh wait, here's a mechwarrior who can do it. Maybe he's seen as more loyal than you are, or maybe you go missing while an enemy raid is inbound, and the lord really needs somebody to pilot your mech. He's probably looking for a way to pump you full of lead, and steal your Shadow Hawk. You don't want to see Joey "the Snake" Johnson hanging around the local baron's court. They'd be seen as untrustworthy, always looking to stab you in the back as a way to get into another mech. ![]() Not only are they dumbos who managed to lose their mech, they're also dangerous. Since this is a game, if there's a question as how the background works, we should generally lean towards an answer that allows more roleplaying and more adventure over less.ĭispossessed mechwarriors would have a bad reputation. you're not long for this world I'm afraid. but of course if he does in fact have lying around another Dispossessed Mechwarrior whom he considers more loyal than you. So a lord can't just seize your Mech, not if he wants your skills as well. Remember another condition of the feudal era - there were fairly few individuals who were trained in the use of a knight's arms. 1 thing that is overlooked in BT, but I'm beginning to advance as a fan theory, is that Mechwarriors themselves are relatively rare - more common than Mechs, hence giving rise to Dispossessed, but far less common than other soldier classes. And you're not very unimportant, you are the "knight" supporting your liege. It's something I have remarked that the early MWDA novels have an advantage over CBT novels some of them do show the life of the average Mechwarrior in service to his planet.Įxactly. Because its more exciting that way, but a lot of world-building is skipped in the process. Now my descendants are part of the landed nobility, even if we're mostly unimportant. I make a generous cash donation, he gives me a big piece of land with an active farm on it, and I pledge to help him out during times of invasion. Twenty years later, I've made my fortune and I want to retire, so I strike a deal with some local noble to be one of his retainers. This gives me immediate legitimacy, and if I leave planet with them, no one will ever be the wiser. If I can manage to get my mech from here to there, I can probably join up no problem. "Roger's Rangers" are stationed somewhere on your planet. I'd bet that's when a lot of people run off and join mercenary units. The question is, when do you go from "dude who stole a mech" to "respected knight of the realm"? Once people know and accept you as being a guy who owns a mech, I don't think the cops come around and ask to see your papers. But if I've got a farm out in the country, with a big barn I can hide it in? A lot of worlds in Battletech seem pretty "wild west", so I bet I can just hide it there for a while and nobody will come snooping around. You know, take it out on the weekends, impress the ladies. I probably can't bring it back to my house in suburbia and park it in my driveway. Suppose I do find a mech that "fell off a truck". I also wonder how often conventional authorities challenge mech owners. Mechs are usually decades, if not centuries old. ![]() ![]() A lot of mechs suffer damage over time and parts are replaced. I suppose that anyone who actually has the skills necessary to maintain a battlemech also knows how to file off the serial numbers. Possession appears to be 9/10ths of ownership here. Remember that this is not the modern day, with our high-speed internet and massive government databases. But there generally doesn't seem to be much in the way of paperwork as far as these things go. I don't know if that is a common thing for private mech owners, or if there are much more mundane ways to get them. They have suitably dramatic origin stories that make them interesting to read about. They're a poor infantryman who manages to ambush an enemy mech pilot and steal his ride. Those things are on back order for like 20 years.Ĭharacters in novels seem to get mechs through unusual circumstances. It isn't a matter of walking into your local dealership, plopping down 1.6 million C-bills, and walking out with a shiny new Stinger. Well, the average guy isn't going to be able to buy a mech, because generally they aren't available.
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