Strike first,strike hard,no mercy sir

Thank you Big Red, glad you enjoyed it.

Nice poem!

your segment was amazing although now I'm curious about the cut joke

@@lorefox201 hopefully it will show up in the future!

My original vision for this episode was that it would cover the first month up to Amaris' election at the end of January. Then as it grew it changed that to just the opening days up to New Years 2767. Then it kept growing and it became, "okay, everything that happens in the first day," and then finally I settled on, "alright, just Earth." Next chapter begins with a 5-10 minute "Meanwhile" sequence that goes over the rest of the Hegemony.

Get a pigeon, put a space helmet on it, SORTED.

Thank you, it's really nice to hear that even people who aren't existing fans of the series have been able to enjoy the videos.

Ha, thank you. That's the joy of a platform like YT. You can find things specific to your interests that are more niche than anything you'd find on TV.

@@SvenVanDerPlank I came here from Tex talks BattleTech,and these really get into the lore of Battletech,as I was looking for something on the early lore of the InnerSphere. Looking forward to the next bit,whenever it's ready.

Yeah, you wonder how well a country could pull together in defence if an aggressor just set off a bunch of EMPs everywhere. How good are the fallback plans in the event of a technological blackout? Hope I never find out, lol.

Thank you man, appreciate your support.

@@SvenVanDerPlank Just happy to be here for the ride. Is there a patreon in the works? I'd throw money at this in a heartbeat.

Property prices in your area are going to up sharply in a few centuries. Probably want to be gone by this point though.

Thank you, it's great to see that old fans and new fans alike have been enjoying the videos.

Oh yeah, it was an evil classist Empire, it had to go

Thanks. It's been a great experience to collaborate with other folk in the community.

Thank you. Funny to hear you say it was over too soon when it's my longest video yet. Guess that means I got the pacing right. Wasn't my intention to have any individual episodes run for a full hour, but the recent restructuring I've done means CHIEFTAIN is almost certainly going to break that record. It's as many words as this chapter which includes the 15+ minutes of contributions from others.

@@SvenVanDerPlank The pacing certainly was great. I sat there in the end saying to myself: "That was never an hour. Maybe he compressed it over the last week." Then I looked at the time and it even said an hour and five minutes. Really looking forward to your next videos. And on a personal note, your videos are helping me through some dark shit right now. So thanks again for your work and the time you spend creating something great for all of us to enjoy and escape for a bit.

Aww man, I'm sorry to hear you're going through a tough time at the moment. Glad I could provide you with something enjoyable to watch for an hour. I hope things start to look up for you soon.

@@SvenVanDerPlank Thanks man. Keep on doing your great work. You're creating something awesome here.

I had forgotten that at the time of making the video but it's something I looked into while scripting the series earlier in the year. It's my conclusion that the whole thing is a myth. From a real-world perspective, maybe it was the intention to canonise it at one point but I don't believe that's the case anymore. I like the idea of twins as something people wished for while living under Amaris or during the horrors of the Succession Wars as a hopeful return to the former Golden Age. That makes it all the more tragic that it isn't real. I far prefer the other theory about a Cameron child that gets tiny hints throughout the Liberation of Terra sourcebooks. I never address it outright (as this series is supposedly based in 3025 and beyond knowing at that point) but you might be able to pick out the few lines in the next chapter and the finale.

@@SvenVanDerPlank understandable, heck I would actually like the idea that the Tripitz was just left abandoned out in the periphery cause its KF drive was damaged or something

Thank you, I really appreciate the comment. Glad you enjoyed the video.

@@SvenVanDerPlank Best way to donate? (and I won't do it in C-bills...)

I have Super Thanks enabled on YT for a one off payment or a Patreon linked in my latest community post.

In the sourcebook rules some of the RWA units have actual warcrime-based special abilities

Hope it lived up to your expectations. It was one of the most fun chapters to work on. I don't know if there are any other events in the timeline where I could dedicate a one hour video to just a single day.

@@SvenVanDerPlank it did, don't worry.

Thank you, that's high praise. I suspect the raw audio without music isn't good enough quality for audiobook purposes. I'm recording in a quiet place and I do proper post-processing to reduce background noise, but you still hear the echo of the walls around me. I set up a makeshift sound booth for something I was recording lately. I may do that again for future BT videos and see how it compares. For now though it's just the videos.

I'll take it with the music. It's basically the fact that I love listening to this, but can't stand A) the fact that you can't do anything else on your phone, because KZfaq, and B) ads interrupting the flow of the episode

Remind me when the series is done and I'll look into making some tweaks for an audio only upload.

You rule SVP!

You watching this again now, Tzilandi? Yeah, not Richard's finest moment. I think he knew the RWA were positioning to do something that wouldn't be good, but his brain just couldn't accept (or desperately didn't want it to be true) that it was Amaris himself and not some other force within the Rim Worlds that was orchestrating everything.

@@SvenVanDerPlank Of course I'm watching it again - it's a great piece of storytelling you've done here (and the premiere was at midnight for me; I might have missed something)!

Ahh I see. Yeah unfortunately around 50% of my audience is in North America whereas Europe is around 35%. I try to pick a time that's got some slim hope of satisfying both groups but it's not ideal. Thanks for joining for the premiere.

Thanks, really happy you thought so. This was the key episode I wanted to absolutely nail and it came together well. That leaves the Liberation of Terra as the final, and largest hurdle. I've got ideas of how I want that one to go. Hoping I can see them realised.

Thank you. Was very happy with how this chapter came out. Hope you enjoy the rest of the series. Still working on the finale.

Thank you, really glad you enjoyed it. This is a very good comment regarding the BW to respond to as it goes back to a conversation I had with Tex back in May/June time when the idea of collaborating with other channels to create this first came up. After I did the Reunification War series, I knew that if I continued through the timeline linearly, before long I would be doing the Star League Civil War. I worried that any video I made would be compared to the BPL (and probably not favourably, lol). Needless worry because that hasn't happened once. Whereas initially I was concerned about rehashing old ground and going over the same things (but in a less good way), I realised that by coming after I actually had the benefit of being able to expand on whatever areas I thought deserved more focus, safe in the knowledge that 99% of my audience is already aware of the broad strokes of how things went down. The Black Pants Legion went through the last stand of the Black Watch in a better way than I could ever hope to do, but I didn't need to try and one up that. I can touch on that aspect of the story, rely on folks watching to make those associations, recalling the other videos that have come before mine, and then move on. I wanted to tell the story of the march of the generals or the desperate space battle overhead, because those were details I didn't know before. So I get what you're saying, Hanni Schmitt's last stand is an iconic part of the story and a cool visual that deserves some time dedicated to it, but I feel if I had lingered on it any longer it would be belabouring the point when it's already been done so well in the past. Not in any way insulted that you would ask for more of course, and it's a fair comment for you to make. Just explaining how I went from wondering how I was going to do what you're suggesting, to realising that I was lucky enough to not even need to.

@@SvenVanDerPlank I really enjoyed the whole vid. And while I see where you're coming from, I'll say this; don't worry about what others have done in the lore. Do what needs doing. Your fans aren't going to compare you to the BPL or Tex. You have 2 different styles, and 2 different audiences. Even if there's a bunch of crossover. Your production quality is every bit as good as anybody else out there. Your audio quality and everything else will shake itself out as you get more in your groove. Personally, I love BT and have since I started playing in the 90s. I'll take any and all lore that comes my way in the universe. I can't wait to see what you do for the next chapter!

Thank you, I'm pleased you're enjoying them.

Thank you, I don't know if there are any other moments in the BT timeline that merit a 1 hour video on just 24 hours, but I wanted to cover this key event in detail.

Thank you, pleased you enjoyed the video.

Ha, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. For many months before I started this series I worried about a comparison, but then I realised I was actually fortunate to come afterwards. Some aspects of the coup I could just briefly touch on and then move on because it'd already been covered so well by the BPL, and that gave me the opportunity to focus on other parts of the story that hadn't been told before that I felt were deserving of attention, such as the battle in space or the march of the generals.

The whole series is awesome too

Thank you, I'm really pleased you've been enjoying it. I'm very happy with the way this episode came out given what a pivotal moment it is in the timeline.

Damn straight! 😅

I've just this week started scripting the First Succession War. I do not plan to cover clan history until I reach 3052, after which I'll go back and fill in the timeline. Will be a long wait for the Pentagon Wars.

I mean, you say that as if there were somehow better options on offer. Sure, the Star League suffered from bad leadership, but should the Draconis Combine be broken up because of Leonard Kurita?

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

lol we're almost at feature length now. I think Chapters 7&8 might actually stray over into that territory. Mercifully the next two are a bit shorter.

As a side note, are there any books for the amaris civil war era? I would LOVE a series on this.

Unfortunately, the only novels are German language ones. If it's sourcebooks you're interested in, the two Liberation of Terra historical volumes are a great read. That's where the vast majority of my info comes from but I still cut out so many of the minor details.

@@SvenVanDerPlank is that just for the coup or of the whole civil war? Karensky's re-conquoring of Hegemony seems like a wildly lucrative opportunity for a novel series in the same way the Horus Heresy was for 40k

Think it's set from Coup to Liberation. I've not read it. My BattleTech obsession isn't quite at the point where I'm learning a whole new language to read pulpy novels. There's also a short story in the No Greater Honour anthology that follows the Eridani Light Horse, and another short I think was from the 25 Years of Art & Fiction book.

@@SvenVanDerPlank I will have to check out all of those. The civil war and the battle of tukyid (im sure thats spelled wrong) are the 2 chunks of the timeline I am most interested in, though learning German might be a bit far to go.

I'm glad you've been enjoying it. Almost finished the finale now.

Thank you, I appreciate you saying so. Glad you've been enjoying the series.

Happy to hear you enjoyed it enough to see it through. Was very happy with the way this episode ended up coming together.

We don't, this is a modern day map of the region, hence why Unity City is just the Kitsap Peninsula with little urban development in it. It's the right location (goodness it was way more difficult to work out where than it needed to be) but by 2767, "The Court of the Star League" is bigger than any of the neighbouring cities. I tried making my own custom map that was a little more abstract, but when we get to the battle of Earth later on I'm going to need dozens of cities. Decided it was easier, quicker, and probably better, just to use real maps. The sacrifice was that Unity City is a ghost.

@@SvenVanDerPlank Thats what I was afraid of. I live in the area and I was kinda hoping I could do a foot-tour of some of the places where stuff was. Very least, I can always go out to Gorst. Dammit FASA, you shoulda given us a map like they did for the invasion of Geneva.

I very nearly had Unity City in a completely different place, north of Seattle half way to Bellingham. Searching for Gorst Flats revealed nothing but BattleTech links so I assumed it was fictional. It was only when I was grabbing the Google Earth screenshot I did a search for Gorst and it came up, and suddenly so many other statements like "travelled *under* Puget Sound" made more sense. The final liberation of the region kind of suggests the writer thought it was on the eastern ride of the water but it doesn't contradict a placement on the peninsula, which fits much better with everything else we know. The North American map in Lib of Terra 2 places it there, but then right next to it mistakes Tacoma as a Castle Brian, which it isn't, so I don't consider that conclusive on its own.

@@SvenVanDerPlank The city of Gorst, Washington does exist, so presumably "Gorst Flats" would be the area around the town following its consumption by everything else (as the modern day town of Gorst is literally nothing more than a gas station and a couple hundred people in the surrounding area). So your logic makes complete sense.

I'm glad I could resolve it as it allowed me to use real world maps with a little more accuracy. I did a search for military bases in the region, found one to the north (which is the heading that the 4th Dragoons are supposedly based in) and one outside Tacoma, which became Fort McKenna. The Royal Palace and Citadel are just arbitrary coordinates.

Amaris had four security guards with him, two of which survived, one of which later reveals what transpired when he defects during the Liberation of Terra. Additionally, they found Amaris' personal audio logs centuries later.

Yes there were cameras... But the Clans tinkered with the footage

I give them the option. Some folks just want a talking point and they'll go from that, whereas others want something I've scripted and then they'll adapt to their own style. I'm always happy to do either.