And oh what a pinnacle it is. Thank you, George, for satiating us mad Btech fans since MW4 Mercs and letting us enjoy your cocaine and whiskey soaked voice for years to come.
You mentioned the double "B" of Team Banzai. That's a canon merc group from the old lore. A direct reference to the The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension film (with their jumpship the Nth Dimension) the merc group based on New Avalon was known for being commanded by quirky scientific geniuses who worked with the NAIS to recover or reinvent lost tech while piloting giant robots into battle. In lore the unit suffered greatly during the FedCom Civil War and was afterward reformed as the New Avalon Cavaliers, a reference to the band The Hong Kong Cavaliers also from the film, but IRL this was primarily done due to fear of lawsuits.
Thank you very much for being the announcer in MW4: Mercenaries, my fondest memories were of listening to the announcer while in the arenas of Solaris!
I know it’s technically one of Tex’s stylistic embellishments, but I’m absolutely in love with the idea that Amaris spent the rest of his life after the coup having nightmares of bagpipe music.
I love the idea of it absolutely traumatized Amaris. He's not gloating, he's genuinely got PTSD over having nearly gotten killed in an unfortunate bagpipe related accident.
Kerensky was a genius military general, but he was no Jerome Blake nor Stefan Amaris when it came to diplomacy He could have easily restored the SLDF with his might of power without declaring a single war, knowing that the House Lords will NEVER work together, basically assuring a sort of MAD if anyone struck first But he didn't.
I would say that he wasn't: The IS did slide into Arnarchy... or at least, 4 massive wars that almost (but saddly failed to) erradicated an entire Great House and it's attendant State.
He still put the fucker against a wall and did what had to be done though. The man destroyed the Star League, and got what he damn well deserved for ending the brightest and most peaceful period in human history.
I have issues with Kerensky. He had 10 years as regent to do something about the intelligence reports regarding Amaris and Rim Worlds Republic. 10 years to start changes in periphery territories that would make them more members of the Star League than unrepresented second class citizens, because that throughout history has bit empires in the butt. Maybe that wasn't all his fault but for 10 years he was the one in charge. His duty to the Cameron's and the Star League above all seemed to make him forget a duty to the citizens of the Star League and the Hegemony and carry out orders that some might have considered illegal even before the civil war. The SLDF had supply depots and facilities across the innersphere not just in the Terran Hegemony, most were untouched by RWR forces, and for years the great houses didn't touch them either. The SLDF loyalists at such facilities in some cases joined the general but others would be attacked by Kerensky's loyalists simply because the depot didn't know what was going on due to communications being nonexistent. Others would be forgotten by Kerensky because they did not have transport capabilities to join Kerensky so were abandoned when the great general decided he could do nothing to save the citizens of the Star League and Terran Hegemony and took the troops loyal to him and left. Not to mention that 2 out 3 of the children he raised were failures at life choices and morality. To bad the clanners didn't take Kerensky's last words the way I think he intended. Yes, he was a great general and he accomplished much. Yes, the political situation sucked across human space. However, his failures had much to do with the fall of his beloved Star League.
@@jlokison He was a fundamemtally dutiful and mostly good man, but deeply flawed. Ultimately, he was human. It's hard imagining who really could have done better in his position.
Speaking as a refugee from 40k, Kerensky is easily one of my favorite characters so far. I can’t quite put it into words, but he taps into the same appreciation for characters that *live their fucking principles* that I had for, say, Ibram Gaunt. The kind of man who willingly devotes his life to the service of an ideal, and to hell with all the thankless work and despair his devotion will bring him. Characters like this are, in my opinion, the *most* crucial components of any “grimdark” setting. Like candles in a pitch-black room, heroes shine the brightest in a setting of universal assholery.
As a fellow 40k refugee, I 100% agree. If the setting is all darkness and hell all the time, then it is not interesting. We want to see those exceptional individuals who, despite all that surrounds them, still manage to do the right thing.
Welcome 40K Refugees: I know what you are going through, having left shortly after Daemonhunters were split off from Inquisition. Battletech and Alpha Strike are games I never thought I would revisit. But I dusted them off, and found them still fun. And the background is Human. We don't need extra-planar demons of infinite evil. We have Amaris, Capellans, and clan Snek Jaguar ;-)
Kerensky is the John Galt in Atlas Shrugged. He took the brightest and left the society in chaos. This is why hope was made that the exodus would come back and repair what was caused by their exile. Blake must felt like it was the end of the world when Kerensky told him that he would leave the inner sphere unprotected, with only the guards left he created the comguard to protect communications who even the most stupid factions wouldn't dare to destroy. By the time the clans arrived to inner sphere, the society had fell to pre-star travel and computers devolved into pre-space age.
I've always liked the idea that General Kerensky was watching the map in his planning room, looking at his situation, looking at what to do next. His eyes fall on the color marking the systems of the Rimworlds Republic. And alone. In that moment of decision, one of the greatest military minds to ever live in all of human history muttered to himself "I'm gonna burn Stephen Amaris's tree house down." Also this is probably the sixth time I've listened to this while doing random shit all the way through.
@@theblackpantslegion Right, it's absolutely the correct strategic thing to do. Amaris is going to fight like a cornered animal regardless once you bruise your way through the Hegemony worlds to Terra, so why leave him any possibility of reinforcement, retreat or resupply?
Not to mention Kernesky was already closer to the rimworlds republic from fighting in periphery. Closer target and less well defended due to Amaris putting so many men in Terran space to keep control over the occupied hegemony. As every military man knows, he who defends everything, defends nothing.
@@kingheath97 all I can picture is a tv at Golden corral in a more Mongolian themed Dora like show blasting the phrase “can you say “punitive expedition”, yes good! punitive expedition! Yay!”
45:18 as a son of the Federated Suns, I hate to say it, but Kurtia had a fairly legitimate reason to cooperate with Amaris. His nephew, Drago, was held hostage by Amaris' forces on Terra, and Minoru's father requested he attempt negotiations over war. Doesn't change that as soon a Amaris was dealt with, Ol' Minoru went back to being a typical Kuritan and claimed dominion over all, and turned to being a warlord as soon as the SLDF was gone. So even with context, fuck Kurita and the Combine.
@@stuartwald2395 Sword of Light: we have liberated terra SLDF: you did more damage to the city than the Rimworlds troops Sword of Light: truly we have done most honorable work SLDF: are you even listening to a word where saying?
Kerensky:"Black Watch, you see that palace?" Hazin: "Aye, sir?" Kerensky: "is it a burning heap of rubble?" Hazin: "No, sir." Kerensky: "Change that!" Hazin: "Aye, sir! With greatest pleasure!" *Bagpipes revving up menacingly in the distance*
Just to put into more understandable terms. Kerensky's conquest of the Rim Worlds Republic was so rapid that he conquered two whole ass planets nearly every week for 3 years.
I think the thing to bear in mind, a colonized planet isn't likely to be a billion plus population planet with multiple continents full of millions plus populated cities. We're probably talking planets with early Middle Ages level populations highly concentrated around the primary colony centers.
@@jamesbuchanan4414 pretty much, i imagine most colonies would instantly surrender too. since yknow. the alternative is devastation in Straight combat.
@@jamesbuchanan4414, Populations tend to grow exponentially when well below their sustainable equilibrium (as happened with the relatively recent population explosion in our time) and that level would be far higher than early humanity by default with modern technology, even higher if you go out of your way to quickly build up the infrastructure with said technology. I personally find it more believable that colonies would tend to grow extremely quickly until hitting a similar order of magnitude to the Earth of their time, but both scenarios seem plausible.
@@thisnamewerx0350 still an insane feat. Earth has a mix of al sort of consolidations, so it's almost like taking 3 zeolite earths every 2 half a months including with mech support still it's so sad to know in his speech everything he feared came try and his fears, his children brought upon the IS
After seeing what the man went through, what kind of man he was, what he believed in and hearing Alexander's final words to the inner sphere again I can't help but find the perversion of the SLDF into the clans to be one of the greatest tragedies in battle tech.
It is interesting how much of the Clans is reflected in this story. "Star league above all" became "The Clan above all," Kerensky's disagreement with DeChavilier is basically the question that divides the clans to this day. What kept the SLDF fighting through the civil war was the idea that Star League was not dead so long as they kept fighting and 300 years later they are still fighting for it. There is something both tragic and admirable about that.
Are the Clans really that far from Alexander and the SLDF? SLDF were the attack dogs of a conquering empire that dragged the Periphery into the Star League at gunpoint. Alexander thought it was fine to shove Star League ideology down everyone's throats and he stamped his boots on anybody who didn't fall in line. Alexander set a bad example and the Clan's followed it.
I dont blame Kerensky for walking away from the Sphere. He's a damn intelligent man,and I'm sure he seen the writing on the walls years before it actually happened. He tried to save it,tried to help everyone,and all he got was a shot in the back from the Houses who saw a chance to 'rule' it all. His descendants however..are the reason why we can't have nice things. And ComStar.
@@theblackpantslegion I think in Kerensky and many of the post Amaris SLDF had come to see that only in death does duty end. They held their values far better than the Houses did imo.
@@NikolaiMihailov1 If you knew what happened during their Exodus you'd think differently... This is why I'm begging Tex to make a vid on the SLDF exodus...
Its always been a head cannon of mine that Kerensky's knee jerk decision to execute Amaris alongside his freaking wife and kids (they look to both be younger then 16) was what really sealed his fate. Funny how when bashing the house lords people glance over this fact. Kerensky took the law into his own hands and doomed the entire inner sphere not just once, twice, but three times.
From another perspective, it was the folks that bothered to stick around finding enough reason to take it to a bunch of deserters. Like most things, there's more than one way to see things.
The clans and comstar were, if not friendly, not hostile initially. The clans recognized comstar as an inner sphere successor of sorts to star league and comstar intentionally obfuscated the clan invasion to the inner sphere great houses and to an extent facilitated the clan invasion. Only when it became clear to comstar that the clans ultimate target was always going to be terra did comstar decide to act against them
They were Crusaders, so Comstar was more in line with Kerensky than the Clans. ...Although Comstar eventually becomes Word of Blake which also makes them assholes
Tex is like a mix between Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood, with a dash of Duke Nukem. He could read the ingredients label of canned tuna and tell a better story than most novelists do. The team behind these videos have made the best lore series I’ve ever seen, period. It’s not just research, it’s insight and buildup you just don’t get in other lore series, with the perfect balance of jaded comedy applied at a surgical level by people who genuinely give a fuck about what they’re saying. I’ve heard the star league primers from other places, but I’ve never spat at the name of a fictional character until this video. You just don’t get this effort anywhere else. It moves you.
More of that one guy that should have retired to Bermuda three campaigns ago. No, the only reason Tex is in the museum is that he refused to get out of his 'Urbie when they sent it to be displayed. The security guards have been talking about paying him in Jack and ammo to handle night shift.
@@ChumpVice you should read further into it. It has an extensive and all around satisfying lore to read. Don't take Tex's anti-clan bashing to heart. Yes their invasion was based around stupidity caring more about honor and relying on superior tech to allow them to keep focus on honor for honor sake, but the clans have heaps of great lore around them and I have had no shortage of enjoyment reading about how they became what they did and how this particular event had ultimately shaped their culture and war tactics. If you pay attention to this you'll see the earliest pregenitor of the crusader philosophy (DeChevalier) and wardens (Kerensky), how Kerensky's logistical tactic of constantly rolling depleted divisions into each other creating mixed units is the foundation of what became the clan's mixed units (battlemechs tanks, aerospace fliers,and battlearmors making up stars as opposed to strictly one unit type or another), their underlying goal to reclaiming Terra to fulfill Kerensky's vision way back when, the list goes on. Everything else was Nicholas Kerensky (Alexander's son) creating systems to prevent further full scale bloodshed that had happened in the civil war and later on the Pentagon world's (clan space 0.1.0) Hell Tex pokes fun at Jade falcon's logo, but even it pays homage to their first Khan and badass mad scot bitch Elizabeth Hazen and one of her most legendary actions with the falcon being her pet falcon she had tamed (and was the first person to tame that specific breed) and the sword being part of her legendary rampage she went on where she killed a mind numbing number of people with a sword she stole after she was forced out of her mech on the Pentagon worlds.
Kerensky. The man who only let his anger just slightly show at the sight of the whole royal family's end. He's probably my favourite character in this whole universe. What a bad-ass.
Actually as far as I can tell Gundam has one storyline that plays out nearly the exact same way no matter the timeline, more or less flashing "One Trick Pony"... On ther other hand, if Gundams were let loose upon the Battletech universe, the force controlling them would be the next empire of mankind cause they'd blow away our precious battlemechs due to a completely different manner of function and statistics alone.. Our Atlas vs Heavyarms Mk 1, Heavy would win due to just being able to move in a completely different way, nevermind that the destructive level of both is more or less evenly match (depending on the Atlas's loadout).... So backstory wise Battletech trumps Gundam easily, but if Gundam ever felt butthurt over that, they'd easily trounce use with technology! XD
I actually just tore my way through the entire Twilight of the Clans series (most of it anyhow), and I think my favorite is Exodus Road. Nice job, sir.
@@the_protectorof_smols3563 Urbanmech goes as fast as it needs to. If you need your Urbanmech to go faster, what you actually need is a different goddamn mech.
The way the SLDF fought this war puts Clanner culture in a whole 'nother context. You can see that they took the lessons of Kerensky's leadership to heart... and then took every lesson learned way too far.
I think they took Kerensky’s lessons so far that they mistook adaptation for correctness. Kerensky was able to fight a war with few resources and only what logistics he can manage. The clans mistook that as the norm, forsaking logistics (with the nominal exception of clan wolf) for honor.
@@danielshin4526 (because mercs was classified as abandonware by the time I played it so yar-har) I was unaware the physical mercs box came with an e-book.
Honestly, Mech 4 especially Mech 4 Mercenaries offers some great teasers for the lore. I love running across clans in Mercenaries and hearing their Shakespearian over-the-top banter about honor contrasted to everyone else in the Inner Sphere.
I thought you were using a metaphor when you mentioned the GG sacking Rome, then as you kept saying it I realized you literally meant they sacked Rome, Italy.
@@angrytigermpc Same here my friend. USMC myself. I honestly felt for Kerensky and the SLDF. And can fully see and agree with the stand they made at the end. To leave to keep the Inner Sphere safe, self imposed exile. They had balls of steel and their sense of honor earns my respect.
@@TheCrackedFirebird As the ultimate REMF (sat in an air-conditioned trailer fixing radios behind MND-C Headquarters, Baghdad), the way Tex handles the SLDF is so goddamn respectful, I can't help be touched. The fact that so many of us vets think so is a testament to great writting.
As quoted in the Dark Knight: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” I’m sure Kerensky is rolling in his grave with such speed to power a small city at what the Clans are now.
When you go to Sarna to pull up the Smoke Jaguar Khan's name and you see Tex talks right up there in the announcements. The two dislikes are clearly from the Khan and Amaris.
BlackPantsLegion Nah, it was the Smoke Jaguar Khan and a clan Dimoand Shark merchant who was miffed that their logo looks too much like Amaris' logo LOL Not something you want to be reminded of.
Also, to put into perspective, he ONLY had 113 divisions left at the end of the conflict. A division, in Battletech Inner Sphere military standards is just over 2000 troops, not counting the support aircraft and other vehicles. If just counting only main personnel, battlemechs, front-line combat vehicles and leave out aircraft and support vehicles, as well as auxiliaries, that rounds up to a total of 2025 troops. Multiply that by 113 and that's 228,825. *That's all Kerensky had left of his forces. Not counting Amaris's forces, Kerensky's casualties were staggering.*
I'm not sure your numbers match Sarna info. An SLDF Division was 36 Battalions (3 Per Regiment, 3 Regiments per Brigade, 4 Brigades per Division for 36 total Battalions). For a Division to be only 2000 strong each Battalion would have to be only 50 men, which might be workable for Mechs (and only counting combatants) doesn't work for Armour or Infantry. Then when you bear in mind each SLDF division had at least one Infantry Brigade of 2844 men (and that's just the frontline troopers) the idea of a 2000 man Division really doesn't add up. Alternatively you could take the average total of 2-300 men per Battalion (which has a good few assumptions and is easily a low ball estimate) then a Division would be 7200-10800 men. So if we assume full paper strength the post-war, pre-Exodus SLDF Army had 860,400-1,290,600 men (because he had 113 Division plus probably 78 Independent Regiments (63 are known to have gone on exodus, which would mean 78 total if we assume 80% of the force joined Kerensky) which is equivalent to another 6.5 Divisions). However, to highlight your point in a different way. The post civil war SLDF fielded (according to the numbers above) 1434 Regiments of troops. Sounds like a lot. Until you consider that before the Periphery uprising they fielded over 15,000, split between 450 Divisions and nearly a thousand Independent Regiments (Those numbers don't seem to add up, as most SLDF Corps seem to have fielded approximately equal numbers of Divisions and Independent Regiments, certainly not the 1:2 ratio required here). That would mean that the SLDF lost 88% of it's total strength between the Periphery and Amaris conflicts.
@@robertivey7644 The idea that BattleTech would use both the terms regiment and brigade within the context of a single division bothers me. Lance, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, div, corps, army... Call me a monster, but regiments and brigades should be either/or, not one under the other... Gods, I hate the composition of the US Army. 2/22 may be my favorite battalion in the whole freaking US Army, but that doesn't mean I have to like the naming conventions...
Amaris: *takes Over Terran Hegemony* "I'm in your base, killing your dudes." Kerensky: "You just activated my trap card." *Reveals Uno Reverse Card* *Kerensky Invades Rimworlds Republic* Amaris: "NANI?!"
Kerensky should have immediately gone for the Hegemony. Richard Steiner would have supported him if he had just told Steiner"the Rim Worlds Republic is in rebellion against the Star League keep what you conquer"
@@jamesricker3997 Didn't have the time to, remember: the communications were fucked by Amaris and Star League were operating under the assumption that Lord Cameron and his family still live. SLDF were also limping essentially.
A note to Tex, We’re all on a road that ends with our deaths. We are, all of us, junkie or sober judge, lost in a miasma of ignorance caused by our waking consciousness and our limited perception. We can only “see” a very narrow slice of reality with absolutely no way to confirm the veracity of what our “senses” report to our unhappy, and ever starving Minds. We are faced with a wall of fog that no amount of our questions about what “is” and what “is not” will ever penetrate. it is hard, perhaps impossible, to determine our direction and our surroundings. We stumble. We crawl. We latch on to others hoping against all hope that somebody else has a better bead on things. They don't. They are lost too. My friend, my heart goes out to you and I wish you the very best in your searching. Do not judge yourself harshly in your endeavors. Your mistakes are mine...Your struggle is my struggle.
BlackPantsLegion Thank you for putting my thoughts vis-a-vis the Battletech Setting into words. Thanks for your passion about the setting. Battletech, the Battletech you entertain us with, the deep Battletech is criminally under appreciated. It’s great to see people as passionate about this stuff as I am.
1:38:35 Ghosts of the Black Watch: we also hacked a line into the palace cameras and speaker system. Everytime Ameris was alone or about to sleep, we piped in the recording of the regimental band Oh Danny Boy on the bagpipes. Alexander Kerensky: psychological warfare? Ghosts of the Black Watch: Nah, we did it just to fuck with him. Psychological Warfare just happened to be a bonus.
Grandchild: "What did you do in the war grandpa?" Grandfather: "We sacked Rome boy" Grandchild: "Why did you do that grandpa?" Grandfather: "Because it was traditional, don't they teach you anything in school boy?"
He kinda is. The very Kickstarter he showed at the end made him cannon as a stretch goal. Randolph P. Checkers is now in several NOVELS. Same with Van Zandt.
I have two great loves for sci-fi universes. This and 40k. 40k has some damn fine lore. Until watching your vids, I thought battletech was like comparing a sandcastle to fort Knox. In reality battletech lore is much more appealing than 40k. There are no demigods. No superhumans soldiers. (Elementals don't count) There are just people. Flawed people who do extraordinary things. You sir ignited a passion in me for this universe. Thank you.
I prefer 40k as i am just now getting into battletech, this is literally my 3rd video ever on this franchise put against 30+ novels of 40k, and i have to say, in terms of quality and depth this is well beyond 40k, it's like comparing Warhammer fantasy to lord of the rings, Warhammer fantasy is way more fun but lord of the rings is clearly the superior product. If we ever get a full story of the unification of terra i want battletech writers to write that story, i don't know nor care how it happens, i will not accept any alternative.
Elementals aren't even all that crazy, its the armor that does most of the work. They're just humans with genes twisted towards muscle mass and height.
@@colbycoolby1592The joke is that clanners are too literal and don't get colloquial sayings. So when they hear "take your pick," they look for a pickaxe, not for a shovel that they would pick.
This honestly makes me wish Battletech never went beyond the 3025 era in a way. That last speech of Kerensky has such a bittersweet touch to it. In my head as the speech is made I have this image of a mech warrior in the midst of his downtime, glancing up at the sky and wondering. Maybe even hoping for Kerenskys return but also having this conviction to be the best he can to honor the generals memory. Maybe he’s just survived a major battle and lost some buddies but in his mind he sees the sacrifice as worthy and holds out hope that one day the descendants of the SLDF will return. He’s able to keep going because he believes in them. That small, fragile optimism keeps him going. That while he may not live to see it, one day the decendants will return to fix the inner sphere. Around his neck he keeps his ancestors Star league era metal for bravery, in his pocket he keeps a book on the generals life and in moments of calm between the shelling a he looks up into the sky and thinks to himself “some day…..”. Sometimes the mystery is better than the answer and it’s better to have that small sliver of hope rather than a massive compendium of answers.
On the philosophical side, I agree. However, without the Clan Invasion, there would be no Mad Cat and Mad Cats are awesome. I love Mad Cats. So, we're kinda screwed. :P I do prefer the succession wars era though.
@@philipped.r.6385 can’t fault ya there. I do like me the angry kitty. And I’m a huge Daishe fan. (For when an Atlas is too cute and cuddly for you). I can totally understand where you’re coming from there. Clan tech is sexy as hell and it’s fun to play because it’s basically the win button. No overheating. Always hits what you aim at. Runs twice the speed of its IS counter part and can shrug off Autocannon fire like rain on a tin roof. I guess the baggage that comes with the clans is what makes me stay with the succession wars era. Because after they show up now you have the win button and it makes everything but an assault mech kinda pointless unless it’s retrofitted with lost tech and then everyone at the table just has to be a pilot that just happened to be a guy with some ancient SLDF mech and was an Ace pilot and all that jazz instead of being more grounded and being just a guy in his family’s ancient beat up mech just doing what they can to survive till tomorrow. The very essence of Battletech. Sorry for the long man style reply. Im on the spectrum. Tend to go way too long on stuff. 😂
But arguably, everything that happened afterwards was directly His fault. If He had just accepted Amaris' terms and taken the generalship of Star League under the new Regime, than the Succession Wars and the Clans would have never come to pass. Is that to say that Amaris would have been a benevolent dictator? No. Would it have been out of character for Kerensky to accept the yoke of rule from a man who, for all intents and purposes, murdered his surrogate son? Absolutely. But a LOT of bloodshed and heartache could have been averted if Kerensky had just accepted Amaris as the new Star Lord and carried on business-as-usual. Perhaps that was Amaris' mistake: beginning his reign with imperial auspices and not just declaring himself the head of Star League. Truly, his hubris and avarice would become his greatest downfall.
@@chesterstevens8870 I mean he didn't know his son would set the foundations of a eugenics warrior culture when he said no. I argue that the clans weren't his fault so much as his actions made the clans a possibility that was realised by the people who came after him.
@@chesterstevens8870 One argues most reigns begun by canoeing someone's head pointblank with a handgun are not likely to be effective, or to last; besides that, one isn't responsible for the actions of other people, let alone their Madcat-humping descendants. Do you blame the Emperor for every Exterminatus that happens in 40k?
And the people he left behind after his death twisted his principals to total perversion. It wasn't until the wardens/crusaders split in the clans that you began to see those 'oldschool' Star League attitudes and protector-mentalities return.
Time for my roughly yearly watch through of my favorite documentary about completely fictional events on the internet. Thanks for once again giving me the motivation to actually paint my minis instead of just leaving them sad and grey
BlackPantsLegion It was much appreciated! And it was like watching the best documentary in the history of media. Totally awesome! Now get some rest guys! You've earned it and then some.
God damn you Tex, the way in which you told the tragedy of Kerensky made me cry. The man did everything he could for the inner sphere only for the houses to betray him and act like spoil brats. I loved this two parter especially the end commercials which made me laugh quite hard. Keep up the good work.
Too bad that the closest things he had to descendants by the time it was heard was a bunch of disappointing bastards in Clan Coprolite Fuckweed, or wtfhe...
I'd say it's a crying shame that the saga of the Amaris Civil War hasn't been made into a film, but there isn't a movie studio in the world who would do it justice. Fortunately, our man Tex is more than up for the task. Kudos on a phenomenal video, Long Live the Legion, and for the love of God, get some rest.
we'd need a 4-parter for that. The Cameron-isms first with the initial periphery rebellions shown. Then comes Kerensky 'exiled' and Lord-Bib making cuddlebuddies with the Cameron Moron. Nexe up is the head-vaporized Cameron and Space Gengis Khan taking over - nuking the Blackwatch and the insane scots crawling out of the nuked hellscapes to go underground for a while, ending with some Kerensky saying.... NO to the new Lord of Bibs and some asskicking of Amaris' homeworlds. Last Movie would contain the SLDFs return, Mercs joining up, House-troops going rogue to join and help the SLDF..... finally rounding out with Kerensky finding the sealed-in-corpses of the Cameron bloodline and just finally snapping with executing Amaris and his family before leaving for the very deep periphery.
You know, I started playing computer games in 1980. Then I found Battletech and started reading books for fun too. I am now retired from law enforcement, still playing computer games and reading. I blame the creative folks involved with Battletech (and a few other endeavors) for all of this. I think Tex gets it... and me. Thanks for that... and this series.
@@theblackpantslegion too late... But as a consolation, your kind of "legendary" status doesn't rely on beeing a paragon. It only relies on you beeing your own voilatile, boozed up, sacriligious, loud and sarcastic self however you see fit, and to care about your own physical, mental and creative health enough to produce the occational lore and/or gameplay content with a heavy OD of whiskey, sarcasm and shitpost mixed in so well that it's almost impossible to detect where the lore shifts into shitposting or when the shitposting is part of the actual lore. :D
As a newbie to Battletech, these videos have been a goldmine of knowledge for me to dig in and learn about this awesome galaxy of lore. I love the humor, and I can't wait to sit down for more classes
@@JPG.01 yeah, but getting physically ill off that is little more than a mix of basic biology and good sense. Anyone who subscribes because of that would subscribe to all of TH-cam.
Having spent the last couple years playing MW5, MWO, HBS Battletech and learning classic battletech with my brother, I can say that we have both been welcomed by the community and really appreciate the heart the BPL crew put into their work.
Thanks for doing this with the older canon, instead of the newer shit that's doing its best to make Kerensky look like an incompetent political appointed officer instead of the living legend that he was supposed to be, also yes do a video on the SLDF Navy, please that'd be cool. At 44:50 You start to see the groundwork and logic being formed behind the Clans aversion to wastefulness, when you have a war to fight and no supplies, you'll be sorely missing the parts from those shattered mechs you left on that world a couple fights ago.
In defense of some of the Coordinator's actions, he was compelled by his father to be diplomatic with Amaris rather than help kick in his teeth because Amaris had taken Drago Kurita and his family hostage.
Yup, and Minoru Kurita did help Kerensky covertly, which confused Kerensky quite a bit considering Kurita's public stances. Tex's bias against the Dragon is coloring the presentation, and history did show Minoru was being blackmailed by Amaris and was bound by his vow to his father to seek a peaceful solution.
I must have watched, and re-watched this a dozen times. I can't express how happy I am to see the lore of one of my favorite universes presented so god-damned fantastically. You guys absolutely knocked it out of the park.
@@theblackpantslegion All any of us can do is try. That and let the people that love and enrich us the opportunity to do so. Sounds corny but, that doesn't make it any less true.
Gentlemen, thank you for your continued excellent work & dedication to BattleTech fans & fans of your videos. You are truly appreciated. Now have a drink, relax, and receive your good vibes
I also love the subtle detail of Amaris waving to the troops - in the Star League picture, there are people around him. Post coups... it's just him. It's like Stalin having people expunged from pictures post-purging.
As someone who just got into Battletech and wondering about what all of this Star League talk was about, and why this one Russian lad decided to just dip out from a galactic war. Now I know. I only hope my lance can one day become so Scottish that enemies are forced to decide nukes are the only tactically viable option to use against them. Since one of my Mechs, a Quickdraw, survived an enemy mech going nuclear after it kicked him while he was down. The enemy Locust standing behind my Quickdraw wasn't quite as lucky as my guy was. I also now can begin to get a grasp on how awesome this universe really is. No aliens, no gods, just people... and giant robots. Thank you for the two-parter. It was a great watch from start to finish. Throw your editor an extra hotdog for me.
The battletech universe had such an impression on my imagination when I was a kid... watching your videos really takes me back but also explains things that I didn't have the ability to know about the franchise pre-internet. Almost an emotional experience watching this 20 years later. 11/10 production thank you so much
This was beautiful. I am a 30 year old war veteran that just found you Tex. I have to say this is the most enjoyable thing I have ever watched. As someone new to battletech lore who are the descendants that left and how do I learn more of them coming back.
I think Tex glosses over Amaris’ most incredible achievement - having an Order 66 level of preparadness but no “chip” to trigger it, instead somehow THAT many people were ready and the SLDF MI operatus was unaware. No leaks, no early warning. Absolutely incredible!!
Finding this channel was like finding a treasure trove of well made 90s historic tragic comedy VHS tapes when deployed overseas. Can’t stop watching them.
If there is anything at all that can be said about the Amaris Civil War, it's that it showed what kind of man Kerensky was. He was given the opportunity to lord over worlds, offered immense power, perhaps even a position as heir to Star League...but he refused. Alexander Kerensky, the absolutely un-fucking-breakable Russian born badass he was, told Amaris to go suck off a shotgun and lead a weakened and battle weary SLDF through the single most horrific and intense war that Humanity had ever seen. He personally joined those under his command in the battles they fought. He never asked anything of his soldiers and sailors that he wouldn't do himself. Nobles and lords sit in their throne rooms and relegate battles to others so as to not get their pretty robes stained by blood and dirt. Kerensky, on the opposite end, was a warrior. Warriors do not sit idle in comfort while demanding young men to die for them. Kerensky was more than happy to kick ass when given the chance. And on top of that all, he never stooped to Amaris's level. He went out of his way to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. He didn't blame the soldiers under Amaris's rule for his mistakes. He did all of it to try to save the one chance Humanity had for a lasting peace, and that makes it all the more tragic upon the cold and bitter to stomach realization that Kerensky failed, while the descendants of him and his forces became space barbarians.
Tex! My son and I love your stories! BattleTech has always been my favorite universe. Mechs wowed me as a child, now my son has discovered the joys of stompy murder machines!
The speech from Kerensky honestly brought a tear to my eye. Inspire of all the failures, the long wars, the millions dead, and being spat on by the great houses; General Kerensky still believed in mankind’s ability to redeem themselves. He believed in his duty so much that he left everything behind to protect the people and all in the hopes of a brighter tomorrow. I sincerely pray that such men still live today and would keep their oaths should such madness ever occur in our world. It’s a beautiful speech. My compliments to Mr Ledoux for such a great performance and to the BPL for bringing this to life. Great Stuff guys.
a man without a home a general without an army an army without a nation and yet he rebuilds it and defends it and is betrayed by the lords that he tried to help and save
@@TheCrackedFirebird Pretty sure that makes the Amaris Civil War my favorite Greek tragedy. Also, the Homer's tales have a distinct lack of giant stompy robot murder.
What sets BattleTech apart from other fictional universes is the DETAILS. True fans like the 'mechs and LOVE the story. RESPECTS and thanks to Tex and the BPL Team for this epic work.
pretty close to how it was received when Task Force Serpent stumbled over it on the way to huntress in "Twilight of the Clans book 3: The Hunters". along with a dose of "how did they go from that to the clans?"
2:03:49 hey, thats me! I'm new folks! I got here as a result of a three-ish year journey through Mech Stuff, starting with Lancer, then continuing with Armored Core 6, and now Battletech. This leg has been great so far, and part of that has been these talks on Battletech lore. As I understand, they're not 100% perfect flawless retellings of things, but the narrative embellishments are great so I wouldn't want it any other way. Thanks to you, I know to hate clanners for being smug asshats, and to hate Kuritans and Capellans and Davions and Steiners for their own dumb reasons... though I already knew how to love trashcans. So, thanks.
Watching your video of Tukayyid made me feel as if the battle was simply a microcosm of the campaign for the Hegemony, where Amaris screws up Foch dose not, where Kerensky succeeds the Clans notably fail: Foch baits the clans with honor over Amaris using guilt. Clans attacks in separate unsupported attacks where Kerensky maintains overall pressure to keep Amaris from redeploying. Both Amaris and Kerensky study each other for weaknesses. Only clan Wolf really makes good use of intelligence collection. Both battles are campaigns for the fate of terra between an attacker and a defender (dug in to hell in back). Both Kerensky and the Clans are short on supply: but Kerensky will take what isn’t nailed down (and the nail gun) whereas I think (not certain) that the clans usually don’t loot mechs and equipment. There are probably more comparisons that I’m not aware of.
A fair bit late on my end, and I apologize for that, but the Clans actually DID loot a fair bit. They even brought ships that were designed SPECIFICALLY for that. The thing is, the Inner Sphere practices scorched earth tactics, which the more resource depleted clans saw as anathema. Really, that was the Clans biggest weakness. The environment they were in necessitated an entirely different mindset on how to do things like wage war, but when applied to combat in the Inner Sphere the practical suddenly becomes impractical.
Now to be fair to Kurita (As unpopular as that might be), if I remember right, the whole reason they sat on their duffs was that Amaris was blackmailing them with hostages (That, like the Camerons, were already dead) and the Combine didn't learn that until too late. Not excusing, just a motivation for their staying out.
...They had the bright idea of "The Horde" attack. Kurita are a bunch of idiots. But I really can't talk down on them too much. Davion has made quite a few...questionable moves themselves.
@@TheCrackedFirebird All the great houses are flawed and have done evil and stupid things. Which is one of the great things about all the factions none of them are perfect which makes them more believable.
Kurita, Noble. Steiner, Noble. Davion, Noble. Canopus, Matriarchal Noble. Capellan, Backstabbingratbastardsdeservingoftotalexterminationbymeansofnuclearfire. I'm sorry for not using spaces, but I couldn't find the proper word in German.
That intermission was long enough for me to find a match in mwo at pilot rank 5 in an urban mech with rotary ac5 and kill an atlas. That speech from kerensky was a nice touch, thanks for the awesome talks tex, thanks to all your hard work too BPL editor and team!!
I always got a kick out of how the descendants of the SLDF, the Clans, got it's butt kicked by the descendants of the SLDF, Com-Guard; am I the only one that loves the irony in that?
Started watching this all excited and stoked, I love Battletech and the BPL. By intermezzo I was on the edge of tears and soberly reflecting on the real message of Battletech. It's one we all know and the lore keeps sharing it. After having that message so deliberately delivered for so long by Tex I don't think I can play Battletech right now. Maybe again soon but not today.
40k fan that's been enjoying dabbling in the Battletech lore/universe. I have to say I love Kerensky as a character. He reminds me of Sanguinius from 40k. Kerensky's last message to the Inner Sphere was so inspiring and hopeful. Despite all he had been through; despite all the betrayal, suffering and hardship; he never gave up in his convictions and belief that humanity and the inner sphere were worthy of safeguarding. That humanity could be better. He was the very definition of a hero.
Hey, im one of the new folks coming in to this fandom and i gotta say these videos are wonderful for getting me up to speed. My father used to play tabletop battletech and with the current state of how Warhammer 40K is currently shitting itself i thought I'd hop on over. I asked my dad about battletech and proceeded to get a MechWarrior guidebook thundercunted into my skull at mach yes and now im the proud owner of an absolute ton of battlemechs. My favorite being my ten urbanmechs that ive used on tabletop a few times now to great success somehow. I swear they're made out if magical tinfoil and not normal tinfoil. Anyways, ranting aside, these have been a wonderful help for me to understand the setting. And most old guard i run into are rather friendly. Ive had a few lemons, but overall nice folks.
Just another 40k refugee here, I've been putting the Tex Talks Battletech videos up while painting my forces. These are some inspiring stories and amazingly narrated. This Amaris civil war and all the insanity in its wake is awesome. From being an outsider a while ago, i can see why this universe and it's lore have survived for so long. Names like Alexander Kerensky, Amaris and Blackwatch are instant classics carved into memory. Partly due to the brutal story, partly due to the passion that went into the narration. This is awesome! Thank you for the inspiration Tex!
This is by far the most well researched piece of history on the fall of the league and the Great Father I have ever seen. General Kerensky was the reason I fell in love with the SLDF, and seeing this explained in such loving detail, I seriously teared up listening about the final moments of the Black Watch, or hearing the House Lords ignore the General. I have been into battletech since I was 6...and this is the first channel on youtube that GETS the depth of my adoration for the characters created in this universe. ...any mention of Clan Smoke Jaguar is appreciated, WE ARE STILL HERE............no seriously there are a bunch of us. ...and since you actually do read all the comments, yes I am bingeing your channel...this is GLORIOUS
![Battletech/Mechwarrior Lore Tex Talks Battletech : - A Primer on the Clans [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CDR_Zpb05uk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Battletech/Mechwarrior Lore Tex Talks Battletech : - A Primer on the Clans [Part 1]](/img/tr.png)
All those acting lessons my mom paid for but I skipped and spent the money on booze instead have led me to this, the pinnacle of my squandered career.
HI DUNCAN FISHER!
And oh what a pinnacle it is. Thank you, George, for satiating us mad Btech fans since MW4 Mercs and letting us enjoy your cocaine and whiskey soaked voice for years to come.
You mentioned the double "B" of Team Banzai. That's a canon merc group from the old lore. A direct reference to the The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension film (with their jumpship the Nth Dimension) the merc group based on New Avalon was known for being commanded by quirky scientific geniuses who worked with the NAIS to recover or reinvent lost tech while piloting giant robots into battle. In lore the unit suffered greatly during the FedCom Civil War and was afterward reformed as the New Avalon Cavaliers, a reference to the band The Hong Kong Cavaliers also from the film, but IRL this was primarily done due to fear of lawsuits.
Does this make you Drunken Fisher?
Thank you very much for being the announcer in MW4: Mercenaries, my fondest memories were of listening to the announcer while in the arenas of Solaris!
Amaris: I can't rest, the blackwatch are hunting me!
Psychologist: The blackwatch are all dead, they can't hurt you now.
*distant bagpipes*
*bagpipes... bagpipes in the deep... they are coming... they are here...*
Bagpipes intensifies.
@@SonsOfLorgar If i knew they were hostile that would be arguably just as fucking terrifying as goblin drums.
Amaris: Can't sleep... Blackwatch will eat me... Can't sleep... *Blackwatch will eat me...*
@@adamredmayne1326 exactly...
I know it’s technically one of Tex’s stylistic embellishments, but I’m absolutely in love with the idea that Amaris spent the rest of his life after the coup having nightmares of bagpipe music.
It's my head cannon now.
It's now my own headcanon that the elite unit's full name is "The God Damned Black Watch"
I love the idea of it absolutely traumatized Amaris. He's not gloating, he's genuinely got PTSD over having nearly gotten killed in an unfortunate bagpipe related accident.
@@WTFisTingispingis Good! Serves him right for ruining MY planet!
Now that, is how you "sign your signature" in things like this.
Amaris: Uses the Periphery to take over the Inner Sphere.
Kerensky: Uses the Periphery to take it back.
Amaris: Wait, no, that's illegal.
In The Star League, Soviet Russian Tables The Turns On You!
@@Solon_The_Lich this is multiple levels of "what the fuck?"
Kerensky was a genius military general, but he was no Jerome Blake nor Stefan Amaris when it came to diplomacy
He could have easily restored the SLDF with his might of power without declaring a single war, knowing that the House Lords will NEVER work together, basically assuring a sort of MAD if anyone struck first
But he didn't.
Kerensky:
Too moral to let a tyrant rule the sphere
Too principled to stop it's slide into anarchy
Quite true
I would say that he wasn't: The IS did slide into Arnarchy... or at least, 4 massive wars that almost (but saddly failed to) erradicated an entire Great House and it's attendant State.
He still put the fucker against a wall and did what had to be done though. The man destroyed the Star League, and got what he damn well deserved for ending the brightest and most peaceful period in human history.
I have issues with Kerensky. He had 10 years as regent to do something about the intelligence reports regarding Amaris and Rim Worlds Republic. 10 years to start changes in periphery territories that would make them more members of the Star League than unrepresented second class citizens, because that throughout history has bit empires in the butt.
Maybe that wasn't all his fault but for 10 years he was the one in charge. His duty to the Cameron's and the Star League above all seemed to make him forget a duty to the citizens of the Star League and the Hegemony and carry out orders that some might have considered illegal even before the civil war. The SLDF had supply depots and facilities across the innersphere not just in the Terran Hegemony, most were untouched by RWR forces, and for years the great houses didn't touch them either. The SLDF loyalists at such facilities in some cases joined the general but others would be attacked by Kerensky's loyalists simply because the depot didn't know what was going on due to communications being nonexistent. Others would be forgotten by Kerensky because they did not have transport capabilities to join Kerensky so were abandoned when the great general decided he could do nothing to save the citizens of the Star League and Terran Hegemony and took the troops loyal to him and left.
Not to mention that 2 out 3 of the children he raised were failures at life choices and morality. To bad the clanners didn't take Kerensky's last words the way I think he intended.
Yes, he was a great general and he accomplished much. Yes, the political situation sucked across human space. However, his failures had much to do with the fall of his beloved Star League.
@@jlokison He was a fundamemtally dutiful and mostly good man, but deeply flawed. Ultimately, he was human. It's hard imagining who really could have done better in his position.
Speaking as a refugee from 40k, Kerensky is easily one of my favorite characters so far. I can’t quite put it into words, but he taps into the same appreciation for characters that *live their fucking principles* that I had for, say, Ibram Gaunt. The kind of man who willingly devotes his life to the service of an ideal, and to hell with all the thankless work and despair his devotion will bring him.
Characters like this are, in my opinion, the *most* crucial components of any “grimdark” setting. Like candles in a pitch-black room, heroes shine the brightest in a setting of universal assholery.
Well said, comment solely to raise this post in the algorithm.
As a fellow 40k refugee, I 100% agree. If the setting is all darkness and hell all the time, then it is not interesting. We want to see those exceptional individuals who, despite all that surrounds them, still manage to do the right thing.
Well said, fellow refugee! Reminds me of, say, Dante and his constant struggles and inner demons.
Welcome 40K Refugees:
I know what you are going through, having left shortly after Daemonhunters were split off from Inquisition.
Battletech and Alpha Strike are games I never thought I would revisit. But I dusted them off, and found them still fun. And the background is Human. We don't need extra-planar demons of infinite evil. We have Amaris, Capellans, and clan Snek Jaguar ;-)
Kerensky is the John Galt in Atlas Shrugged.
He took the brightest and left the society in chaos. This is why hope was made that the exodus would come back and repair what was caused by their exile. Blake must felt like it was the end of the world when Kerensky told him that he would leave the inner sphere unprotected, with only the guards left he created the comguard to protect communications who even the most stupid factions wouldn't dare to destroy. By the time the clans arrived to inner sphere, the society had fell to pre-star travel and computers devolved into pre-space age.
I've always liked the idea that General Kerensky was watching the map in his planning room, looking at his situation, looking at what to do next. His eyes fall on the color marking the systems of the Rimworlds Republic. And alone. In that moment of decision, one of the greatest military minds to ever live in all of human history muttered to himself "I'm gonna burn Stephen Amaris's tree house down."
Also this is probably the sixth time I've listened to this while doing random shit all the way through.
it was likely something like that, but it makes sense. Charge into a trap or cut them off from resources?
@@theblackpantslegion Right, it's absolutely the correct strategic thing to do. Amaris is going to fight like a cornered animal regardless once you bruise your way through the Hegemony worlds to Terra, so why leave him any possibility of reinforcement, retreat or resupply?
Not to mention Kernesky was already closer to the rimworlds republic from fighting in periphery. Closer target and less well defended due to Amaris putting so many men in Terran space to keep control over the occupied hegemony. As every military man knows, he who defends everything, defends nothing.
Kerensky: "you're gonna burn my shit down? Ok....Ok..... I'm gonna blow your house up."
@@kingheath97 all I can picture is a tv at Golden corral in a more Mongolian themed Dora like show blasting the phrase “can you say “punitive expedition”, yes good! punitive expedition! Yay!”
"Battletech needs a movie."
Battletech has a movie. It has several of them, and they are all here care of Tex and the rest of the Black Pants Legion.
That's very nice to say
Don't forget the other producers, like Sven Van Der Plank
45:18 as a son of the Federated Suns, I hate to say it, but Kurtia had a fairly legitimate reason to cooperate with Amaris. His nephew, Drago, was held hostage by Amaris' forces on Terra, and Minoru's father requested he attempt negotiations over war.
Doesn't change that as soon a Amaris was dealt with, Ol' Minoru went back to being a typical Kuritan and claimed dominion over all, and turned to being a warlord as soon as the SLDF was gone.
So even with context, fuck Kurita and the Combine.
For better or for worse, we didn't get to see the Sword of Light leading the liberation of Terra.
@@stuartwald2395
Sword of Light: we have liberated terra
SLDF: you did more damage to the city than the Rimworlds troops
Sword of Light: truly we have done most honorable work
SLDF: are you even listening to a word where saying?
I've seen movies less enjoyable and documentaries less researched in the last year. Tex, Crew, you guys are awesome.
Thank you kindly
Looks like these videos don't make you put your face into your keyboard. Makes me smile
But seriously tho...
Best 3+ hours ever. I'll be recommending this to everyone I know.
I have listened to part one and two many times, great work how about one on the Fourth Sucession War maybe?
"Nukes? Hah. Try bringing your A-Game, Steffy boy!"
- Anonymous Black Watch soldier
That was sergeant Cullen MacTagert
Kerensky: "Black Watch, you see that palace?"
Hazin: "Aye, sir?"
Kerensky: "I dont want to."
*Cue bagpipes*
Well fuckin' said.
@@theblackpantslegion thank you sir.
And bunny-hopping Highlanders.:)
Blackwatch: Amaris is hiding in that palace.
Kerensky: Is it on fire?
Blackwatch: ...It could be more on fire.
Kerensky:"Black Watch, you see that palace?"
Hazin: "Aye, sir?"
Kerensky: "is it a burning heap of rubble?"
Hazin: "No, sir."
Kerensky: "Change that!"
Hazin: "Aye, sir! With greatest pleasure!"
*Bagpipes revving up menacingly in the distance*
Kerensky’s speech hurt my soul, the inner sphere didnt deserve such a good man.
For fiction, this presentation really hits the feels
He was the last truly noble man in the Inner Sphere. He lived to 101 years old, and died having served.
He was a damn fine General. His philosophy reminds me of General Mattis. He remained true to his oaths until the very end.
Selya!
So say we all.
Just to put into more understandable terms. Kerensky's conquest of the Rim Worlds Republic was so rapid that he conquered two whole ass planets nearly every week for 3 years.
I think the thing to bear in mind, a colonized planet isn't likely to be a billion plus population planet with multiple continents full of millions plus populated cities. We're probably talking planets with early Middle Ages level populations highly concentrated around the primary colony centers.
@@jamesbuchanan4414 pretty much, i imagine most colonies would instantly surrender too. since yknow. the alternative is devastation in Straight combat.
@@jamesbuchanan4414,
Populations tend to grow exponentially when well below their sustainable equilibrium (as happened with the relatively recent population explosion in our time) and that level would be far higher than early humanity by default with modern technology, even higher if you go out of your way to quickly build up the infrastructure with said technology. I personally find it more believable that colonies would tend to grow extremely quickly until hitting a similar order of magnitude to the Earth of their time, but both scenarios seem plausible.
What about the half assed planets. Probably quicker I'd imagine
@@thisnamewerx0350 still an insane feat. Earth has a mix of al sort of consolidations, so it's almost like taking 3 zeolite earths every 2 half a months including with mech support
still it's so sad to know in his speech everything he feared came try and his fears, his children brought upon the IS
"Tex has been on fire more than one time in his life"
Ah I see you are a man of culture as well ~~Former pipe welder
Sometimes fire happens. That's all I'm saying
@@theblackpantslegion I we'd to use that for an oc Or as the basis for designing one
Wait... I was under the impression, that I was the only one that happend to. Good to know I'm not!
@@boneman-calciumenjoyer8290 I am pretty sure than anyone who has worked with welding machines and cutting torches has been on fire at least a little
@@TheRedneckGamer1979 I remember how my supervisor tried to teach me how to use a cutting torch and lost his eyebrows in the process, better days.
After seeing what the man went through, what kind of man he was, what he believed in and hearing Alexander's final words to the inner sphere again I can't help but find the perversion of the SLDF into the clans to be one of the greatest tragedies in battle tech.
such is life.
It is interesting how much of the Clans is reflected in this story. "Star league above all" became "The Clan above all," Kerensky's disagreement with DeChavilier is basically the question that divides the clans to this day. What kept the SLDF fighting through the civil war was the idea that Star League was not dead so long as they kept fighting and 300 years later they are still fighting for it.
There is something both tragic and admirable about that.
@@spectre111 did you know steel viper elementals squeak when you step on them with a mech foot?
@@Ironhold_Watch It would not surprise me.
Are the Clans really that far from Alexander and the SLDF? SLDF were the attack dogs of a conquering empire that dragged the Periphery into the Star League at gunpoint. Alexander thought it was fine to shove Star League ideology down everyone's throats and he stamped his boots on anybody who didn't fall in line. Alexander set a bad example and the Clan's followed it.
"Came under attack by mad bastards that loved kilts, bagpipes and murder."
You, sir, are making an otherwise difficult Monday good.
Who Jon hates, a non-exclusive list, in order:
#1) Clanners
#2) Kuritans
#3) Cappellans
#4) Cappellans
#5) ComStar and their fuck-
**gunshots**
Don't forget Cappellans
Yes and also Cappellans
Did I forget about Cappellans
Personally, I'd say Cappellans should be on that list. Not at the top mind you, Cappellans don't deserve to be first in anything.
@@FullmetalOrk Except for lost territory.
I dont blame Kerensky for walking away from the Sphere. He's a damn intelligent man,and I'm sure he seen the writing on the walls years before it actually happened. He tried to save it,tried to help everyone,and all he got was a shot in the back from the Houses who saw a chance to 'rule' it all.
His descendants however..are the reason why we can't have nice things. And ComStar.
Its complicated, and I think that's why we like it
@@theblackpantslegion I think in Kerensky and many of the post Amaris SLDF had come to see that only in death does duty end.
They held their values far better than the Houses did imo.
@@NikolaiMihailov1 If you knew what happened during their Exodus you'd think differently... This is why I'm begging Tex to make a vid on the SLDF exodus...
I don't blame Kerensky, I blame fucking Kurita.
Its always been a head cannon of mine that Kerensky's knee jerk decision to execute Amaris alongside his freaking wife and kids (they look to both be younger then 16) was what really sealed his fate. Funny how when bashing the house lords people glance over this fact. Kerensky took the law into his own hands and doomed the entire inner sphere not just once, twice, but three times.
So the battle of tukayyid was the descendants of the SLDF going at each other, that is tragically ironic.
From another perspective, it was the folks that bothered to stick around finding enough reason to take it to a bunch of deserters. Like most things, there's more than one way to see things.
The clans and comstar were, if not friendly, not hostile initially.
The clans recognized comstar as an inner sphere successor of sorts to star league and comstar intentionally obfuscated the clan invasion to the inner sphere great houses and to an extent facilitated the clan invasion.
Only when it became clear to comstar that the clans ultimate target was always going to be terra did comstar decide to act against them
@@cronoros
Because nothing destroys peaceful diplomatic solutions like the toxic emissions of ABSOLUTELY FUCKING ATROCIOUS FAMILY REUNIONS!
@@asdrubalvect6328 On Tukkayid they got along like a planet on fire
They were Crusaders, so Comstar was more in line with Kerensky than the Clans.
...Although Comstar eventually becomes Word of Blake which also makes them assholes
Tex is like a mix between Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood, with a dash of Duke Nukem. He could read the ingredients label of canned tuna and tell a better story than most novelists do. The team behind these videos have made the best lore series I’ve ever seen, period. It’s not just research, it’s insight and buildup you just don’t get in other lore series, with the perfect balance of jaded comedy applied at a surgical level by people who genuinely give a fuck about what they’re saying. I’ve heard the star league primers from other places, but I’ve never spat at the name of a fictional character until this video. You just don’t get this effort anywhere else. It moves you.
Thank you. It means much to hear this. I do appreciate it
I agree 100%. Tex talks Battletech is the best thing on youtube
I've had the same opinion. I listen to these two Amaris videos pretty often because of how good the storytelling is along with the production values.
Tex is like the official LoreMaster of battletech at this point. He’s the Kael Pershaw of TH-cam.
More of that one guy that should have retired to Bermuda three campaigns ago. No, the only reason Tex is in the museum is that he refused to get out of his 'Urbie when they sent it to be displayed. The security guards have been talking about paying him in Jack and ammo to handle night shift.
@@absalomdraconis ha
@@absalomdraconis I can totally see that happening XD
This video might be what officially gets me deep into battletech lore. It's fascinating how big this universe is.
@@ChumpVice you should read further into it. It has an extensive and all around satisfying lore to read.
Don't take Tex's anti-clan bashing to heart. Yes their invasion was based around stupidity caring more about honor and relying on superior tech to allow them to keep focus on honor for honor sake, but the clans have heaps of great lore around them and I have had no shortage of enjoyment reading about how they became what they did and how this particular event had ultimately shaped their culture and war tactics. If you pay attention to this you'll see the earliest pregenitor of the crusader philosophy (DeChevalier) and wardens (Kerensky), how Kerensky's logistical tactic of constantly rolling depleted divisions into each other creating mixed units is the foundation of what became the clan's mixed units (battlemechs tanks, aerospace fliers,and battlearmors making up stars as opposed to strictly one unit type or another), their underlying goal to reclaiming Terra to fulfill Kerensky's vision way back when, the list goes on. Everything else was Nicholas Kerensky (Alexander's son) creating systems to prevent further full scale bloodshed that had happened in the civil war and later on the Pentagon world's (clan space 0.1.0)
Hell Tex pokes fun at Jade falcon's logo, but even it pays homage to their first Khan and badass mad scot bitch Elizabeth Hazen and one of her most legendary actions with the falcon being her pet falcon she had tamed (and was the first person to tame that specific breed) and the sword being part of her legendary rampage she went on where she killed a mind numbing number of people with a sword she stole after she was forced out of her mech on the Pentagon worlds.
HAHAHAHAHAHA "A most *shameful* display."
Nice Shogun 2 reference, I actually chuckled
Thank you. Also, what a great game
@@theblackpantslegionlove shogun 2
@@captain-commander8138 last decent total war
@@honeybadger6275 I have not played much if the other total war games
Kerensky. The man who only let his anger just slightly show at the sight of the whole royal family's end. He's probably my favourite character in this whole universe. What a bad-ass.
Gundam: "We have a very deep backstory!"
Battletech: "Hold my beer..."
yep
@@theblackpantslegion Games Workshop: We'll catch up to you eventually.
That is exactly how I feel when anyone mentions Harry Potter in the same sentence with LOTR.
@@SonsOfLorgar Before or after a total reboot has to happen? ^.^
Actually as far as I can tell Gundam has one storyline that plays out nearly the exact same way no matter the timeline, more or less flashing "One Trick Pony"... On ther other hand, if Gundams were let loose upon the Battletech universe, the force controlling them would be the next empire of mankind cause they'd blow away our precious battlemechs due to a completely different manner of function and statistics alone.. Our Atlas vs Heavyarms Mk 1, Heavy would win due to just being able to move in a completely different way, nevermind that the destructive level of both is more or less evenly match (depending on the Atlas's loadout).... So backstory wise Battletech trumps Gundam easily, but if Gundam ever felt butthurt over that, they'd easily trounce use with technology! XD
Blaine bows his head in sadness at the loss of the Star League and toasts Tex
You even made the credits, fucko. Look at that.
Blaine Pardoe, I’m your 3rd subscriber?
You must have started your TH-cam account today.
Enjoy your vacation Tex. Hope you come back to this again at some point in the future.
No Way!!
I actually just tore my way through the entire Twilight of the Clans series (most of it anyhow), and I think my favorite is Exodus Road. Nice job, sir.
2:06:31
"We've got Urbanmech speedometers that go from slow to less slow."
Best speedometers right there.
"IS THAT A GOD DAMN NUKE?"
Why can't they make a faster urbie again?
@@the_protectorof_smols3563 Urbanmech goes as fast as it needs to. If you need your Urbanmech to go faster, what you actually need is a different goddamn mech.
@@RamadaArtist any good ambush mechs?
The_Protector Of_Smols an uziel is petty good at ambushs
The way the SLDF fought this war puts Clanner culture in a whole 'nother context. You can see that they took the lessons of Kerensky's leadership to heart... and then took every lesson learned way too far.
whereas the Inner Sphere just proved to be massive assholes as usual and used the assholery they'd use on each other against the Clans...
@@Feiora *Hey, if it works don't fix it.*
@@josephstahl9119 Other than the fact that its that very same assholery that caused the creation of the clans in the first place?
It didn’t help Kerensky’s son was completely nuts in ways that made Amaris look good. That is the guy who founded the Clans...
I think they took Kerensky’s lessons so far that they mistook adaptation for correctness. Kerensky was able to fight a war with few resources and only what logistics he can manage. The clans mistook that as the norm, forsaking logistics (with the nominal exception of clan wolf) for honor.
As a filthy casual who only played Mech4 and 4 mercs, this is awesome. I never could have imagined the depth of the lore in this universe.
Its a truly mad universe
You have some reading ahead of you.
why not read the ebook that came with Mercs as well?
@@danielshin4526 (because mercs was classified as abandonware by the time I played it so yar-har) I was unaware the physical mercs box came with an e-book.
Honestly, Mech 4 especially Mech 4 Mercenaries offers some great teasers for the lore. I love running across clans in Mercenaries and hearing their Shakespearian over-the-top banter about honor contrasted to everyone else in the Inner Sphere.
I thought you were using a metaphor when you mentioned the GG sacking Rome, then as you kept saying it I realized you literally meant they sacked Rome, Italy.
yes, yes they did.
@@angrytigermpc Same here my friend. USMC myself. I honestly felt for Kerensky and the SLDF. And can fully see and agree with the stand they made at the end. To leave to keep the Inner Sphere safe, self imposed exile. They had balls of steel and their sense of honor earns my respect.
@@TheCrackedFirebird As the ultimate REMF (sat in an air-conditioned trailer fixing radios behind MND-C Headquarters, Baghdad), the way Tex handles the SLDF is so goddamn respectful, I can't help be touched. The fact that so many of us vets think so is a testament to great writting.
As quoted in the Dark Knight: “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” I’m sure Kerensky is rolling in his grave with such speed to power a small city at what the Clans are now.
@@sithisarcanis IlClan Wolf... (shudder)
When you go to Sarna to pull up the Smoke Jaguar Khan's name and you see Tex talks right up there in the announcements.
The two dislikes are clearly from the Khan and Amaris.
well, Amaris is in a dumpster. So maybe its some nut in the periphery
@@theblackpantslegion his son maybe.....that may or may not of gotten away....
BlackPantsLegion Nah, it was the Smoke Jaguar Khan and a clan Dimoand Shark merchant who was miffed that their logo looks too much like Amaris' logo LOL Not something you want to be reminded of.
@@theblackpantslegion dumpsters is 2 good for amaris
@@theblackpantslegion Well if I recall correctly Amaris left a concubine with his demon spawn.
Also, to put into perspective, he ONLY had 113 divisions left at the end of the conflict. A division, in Battletech Inner Sphere military standards is just over 2000 troops, not counting the support aircraft and other vehicles. If just counting only main personnel, battlemechs, front-line combat vehicles and leave out aircraft and support vehicles, as well as auxiliaries, that rounds up to a total of 2025 troops. Multiply that by 113 and that's 228,825.
*That's all Kerensky had left of his forces. Not counting Amaris's forces, Kerensky's casualties were staggering.*
Terrifying casualties. It shows the madness of the war in a single block of statistics
@@theblackpantslegion Battletech universe has always been crazy. There's none better at describing this than you.
I'm not sure your numbers match Sarna info. An SLDF Division was 36 Battalions (3 Per Regiment, 3 Regiments per Brigade, 4 Brigades per Division for 36 total Battalions). For a Division to be only 2000 strong each Battalion would have to be only 50 men, which might be workable for Mechs (and only counting combatants) doesn't work for Armour or Infantry. Then when you bear in mind each SLDF division had at least one Infantry Brigade of 2844 men (and that's just the frontline troopers) the idea of a 2000 man Division really doesn't add up. Alternatively you could take the average total of 2-300 men per Battalion (which has a good few assumptions and is easily a low ball estimate) then a Division would be 7200-10800 men. So if we assume full paper strength the post-war, pre-Exodus SLDF Army had 860,400-1,290,600 men (because he had 113 Division plus probably 78 Independent Regiments (63 are known to have gone on exodus, which would mean 78 total if we assume 80% of the force joined Kerensky) which is equivalent to another 6.5 Divisions).
However, to highlight your point in a different way. The post civil war SLDF fielded (according to the numbers above) 1434 Regiments of troops. Sounds like a lot. Until you consider that before the Periphery uprising they fielded over 15,000, split between 450 Divisions and nearly a thousand Independent Regiments (Those numbers don't seem to add up, as most SLDF Corps seem to have fielded approximately equal numbers of Divisions and Independent Regiments, certainly not the 1:2 ratio required here). That would mean that the SLDF lost 88% of it's total strength between the Periphery and Amaris conflicts.
@@efffvss That math checks out.
@@robertivey7644 The idea that BattleTech would use both the terms regiment and brigade within the context of a single division bothers me. Lance, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, div, corps, army... Call me a monster, but regiments and brigades should be either/or, not one under the other...
Gods, I hate the composition of the US Army. 2/22 may be my favorite battalion in the whole freaking US Army, but that doesn't mean I have to like the naming conventions...
"As it turns out, you can't kill the God damn Blackwatch. Nukes are a Inconvenience."
The ones that went on to be Jade Falcons and Blood Spirit... Hmmmmm.
Question was the founding members of the Northwind Highlanders survivor of the black watch?
@@jasonthomas9596 They eventually became Jade Falcons. Famous for being Jealous Backstabbing Assholes.
@@orionhan2431 and not dead.
Wait, wait, I got it. Here, this one’s for free: four Urbies in a trench coat pretending to be an Annihilator.
Glorious.
OmegaBigRed
My God
Do Urbies pack Gauss in some loadouts? Because maybe that was the Rifleman III...
That could work.
4 Urbies in a trench coat can run quad AC20's
I think the Anni' is outgunned 🤣🤣
Amaris: *takes Over Terran Hegemony* "I'm in your base, killing your dudes."
Kerensky: "You just activated my trap card." *Reveals Uno Reverse Card*
*Kerensky Invades Rimworlds Republic*
Amaris: "NANI?!"
Amaris: What?! How did you play an Uno card in a Yugioh game?
Kerensky: Because fuck your feelings.
Kerensky should have immediately gone for the Hegemony. Richard Steiner would have supported him if he had just told Steiner"the Rim Worlds Republic is in rebellion against the Star League keep what you conquer"
Amaris- "I'm in your base killing your dudes"
Kerensky- "No"
@@jamesricker3997 Didn't have the time to, remember: the communications were fucked by Amaris and Star League were operating under the assumption that Lord Cameron and his family still live.
SLDF were also limping essentially.
"Message from Kerensky, my Emperor: All your base are belong to me!"
A note to Tex,
We’re all on a road that ends with our deaths. We are, all of us, junkie or sober judge, lost in a miasma of ignorance caused by our waking consciousness and our limited perception. We can only “see” a very narrow slice of reality with absolutely no way to confirm the veracity of what our “senses” report to our unhappy, and ever starving Minds. We are faced with a wall of fog that no amount of our questions about what “is” and what “is not” will ever penetrate. it is hard, perhaps impossible, to determine our direction and our surroundings. We stumble. We crawl. We latch on to others hoping against all hope that somebody else has a better bead on things. They don't. They are lost too.
My friend, my heart goes out to you and I wish you the very best in your searching. Do not judge yourself harshly in your endeavors. Your mistakes are mine...Your struggle is my struggle.
Thank you for your very kind words
BlackPantsLegion Thank you for putting my thoughts vis-a-vis the Battletech Setting into words. Thanks for your passion about the setting. Battletech, the Battletech you entertain us with, the deep Battletech is criminally under appreciated. It’s great to see people as passionate about this stuff as I am.
Well said, Lucas. I agree.
After a second 2-hour long video about a made-up universe, this comment is exactly what I need
Stefan Amaris may have usurped the Star League Throne, but Tex and the Black Pants Legion have usurped their way into my heart.
Awwwww
1:38:35
Ghosts of the Black Watch: we also hacked a line into the palace cameras and speaker system. Everytime Ameris was alone or about to sleep, we piped in the recording of the regimental band Oh Danny Boy on the bagpipes.
Alexander Kerensky: psychological warfare?
Ghosts of the Black Watch: Nah, we did it just to fuck with him. Psychological Warfare just happened to be a bonus.
Grandchild: "What did you do in the war grandpa?"
Grandfather: "We sacked Rome boy"
Grandchild: "Why did you do that grandpa?"
Grandfather: "Because it was traditional, don't they teach you anything in school boy?"
It is tradition
@@theblackpantslegion Top 3 traditions
1: Saint Patrick's Day
2: Sack Rome
3: Bagpipes, Whisky and Murder
Grandchild: Steiner Scout Lance incinerated our school to create a smoke screen for their stealthy approach
"a dumpster behind golden corral..."
I haven't laughed this hard since Kyalla Centralla was deposed by her own daughter.
I'd love to see Tex be canon. He's the only reason I care about the lore of Battletech rather than just play the games.
Thank you for the kind words
@@theblackpantslegion maybe we'll get lucky and they'll add the BPL as a reference in works derived from the upcoming Mercenaries KS.
He kinda is. The very Kickstarter he showed at the end made him cannon as a stretch goal. Randolph P. Checkers is now in several NOVELS. Same with Van Zandt.
Yep. Randolph P. Checkers, Callsign ‘TEX’. Deep Periphery mercenary and tenured professor.
Congratulations on the tenure Prof. Tex.
I have two great loves for sci-fi universes. This and 40k. 40k has some damn fine lore. Until watching your vids, I thought battletech was like comparing a sandcastle to fort Knox.
In reality battletech lore is much more appealing than 40k. There are no demigods. No superhumans soldiers. (Elementals don't count) There are just people. Flawed people who do extraordinary things.
You sir ignited a passion in me for this universe. Thank you.
I prefer 40k as i am just now getting into battletech, this is literally my 3rd video ever on this franchise put against 30+ novels of 40k, and i have to say, in terms of quality and depth this is well beyond 40k, it's like comparing Warhammer fantasy to lord of the rings, Warhammer fantasy is way more fun but lord of the rings is clearly the superior product.
If we ever get a full story of the unification of terra i want battletech writers to write that story, i don't know nor care how it happens, i will not accept any alternative.
Elementals aren't even all that crazy, its the armor that does most of the work. They're just humans with genes twisted towards muscle mass and height.
@Druid of Scosglen What now?
@@PeachDragon_ capipitalists know the real shit.
This is exactly why I left 40k for Battletech - both are tragedies, but where 40k is mythic, Battletech is all too human.
How do you confuse a clanner . Show him some shovels and tell him to take his pick.
oof
An elemental would bend a shovel into a pick then bury it into your head.
I don't get it.
@@colbycoolby1592 Pickaxe...
@@colbycoolby1592The joke is that clanners are too literal and don't get colloquial sayings. So when they hear "take your pick," they look for a pickaxe, not for a shovel that they would pick.
This honestly makes me wish Battletech never went beyond the 3025 era in a way. That last speech of Kerensky has such a bittersweet touch to it. In my head as the speech is made I have this image of a mech warrior in the midst of his downtime, glancing up at the sky and wondering. Maybe even hoping for Kerenskys return but also having this conviction to be the best he can to honor the generals memory. Maybe he’s just survived a major battle and lost some buddies but in his mind he sees the sacrifice as worthy and holds out hope that one day the descendants of the SLDF will return. He’s able to keep going because he believes in them. That small, fragile optimism keeps him going. That while he may not live to see it, one day the decendants will return to fix the inner sphere. Around his neck he keeps his ancestors Star league era metal for bravery, in his pocket he keeps a book on the generals life and in moments of calm between the shelling a he looks up into the sky and thinks to himself “some day…..”.
Sometimes the mystery is better than the answer and it’s better to have that small sliver of hope rather than a massive compendium of answers.
Beautiful....
@@TallboyDave thank you brother.
On the philosophical side, I agree. However, without the Clan Invasion, there would be no Mad Cat and Mad Cats are awesome. I love Mad Cats. So, we're kinda screwed. :P I do prefer the succession wars era though.
@@philipped.r.6385 can’t fault ya there. I do like me the angry kitty. And I’m a huge Daishe fan. (For when an Atlas is too cute and cuddly for you). I can totally understand where you’re coming from there. Clan tech is sexy as hell and it’s fun to play because it’s basically the win button. No overheating. Always hits what you aim at. Runs twice the speed of its IS counter part and can shrug off Autocannon fire like rain on a tin roof. I guess the baggage that comes with the clans is what makes me stay with the succession wars era. Because after they show up now you have the win button and it makes everything but an assault mech kinda pointless unless it’s retrofitted with lost tech and then everyone at the table just has to be a pilot that just happened to be a guy with some ancient SLDF mech and was an Ace pilot and all that jazz instead of being more grounded and being just a guy in his family’s ancient beat up mech just doing what they can to survive till tomorrow. The very essence of Battletech.
Sorry for the long man style reply. Im on the spectrum. Tend to go way too long on stuff. 😂
Kerensky a man of principal that the universe didn't deserve.
But arguably, everything that happened afterwards was directly His fault. If He had just accepted Amaris' terms and taken the generalship of Star League under the new Regime, than the Succession Wars and the Clans would have never come to pass.
Is that to say that Amaris would have been a benevolent dictator? No. Would it have been out of character for Kerensky to accept the yoke of rule from a man who, for all intents and purposes, murdered his surrogate son? Absolutely. But a LOT of bloodshed and heartache could have been averted if Kerensky had just accepted Amaris as the new Star Lord and carried on business-as-usual.
Perhaps that was Amaris' mistake: beginning his reign with imperial auspices and not just declaring himself the head of Star League. Truly, his hubris and avarice would become his greatest downfall.
@@chesterstevens8870 I mean he didn't know his son would set the foundations of a eugenics warrior culture when he said no. I argue that the clans weren't his fault so much as his actions made the clans a possibility that was realised by the people who came after him.
@@Usernamesdontmatter1 Shame the other one didn't become the next leader.
@@chesterstevens8870 One argues most reigns begun by canoeing someone's head pointblank with a handgun are not likely to be effective, or to last; besides that, one isn't responsible for the actions of other people, let alone their Madcat-humping descendants.
Do you blame the Emperor for every Exterminatus that happens in 40k?
And the people he left behind after his death twisted his principals to total perversion. It wasn't until the wardens/crusaders split in the clans that you began to see those 'oldschool' Star League attitudes and protector-mentalities return.
Was worried the scout squad had been discovered.
Good to see no one notices a 100 tonne scout mech.
I mean, you can't see something that big if it's fucking stepped on you and scouted you to death.
You can't discover the scout when it puts a Guass round through you...and your building...and the Mech in front of your building he was aiming for.
If you can't discover a 100 tonne mech 'scouting' then you deserve EXACTLY what you get.
Steiner Scout Squad follows the Warframe school of stealth - They can't raise the alarm if there is nobody left alive to raise the alarm!
Time for my roughly yearly watch through of my favorite documentary about completely fictional events on the internet. Thanks for once again giving me the motivation to actually paint my minis instead of just leaving them sad and grey
Tex, this was abso-fucking-lutely amazing. I feel like I just watched a goddamn movie. Truly fantastic work.
it was a herculean effort, but I'm glad you enjoyed!
BlackPantsLegion It was much appreciated! And it was like watching the best documentary in the history of media. Totally awesome! Now get some rest guys! You've earned it and then some.
With after credit scenes no less!
@@g3heathen209 I was laughing so hard at those!
God damn you Tex, the way in which you told the tragedy of Kerensky made me cry. The man did everything he could for the inner sphere only for the houses to betray him and act like spoil brats. I loved this two parter especially the end commercials which made me laugh quite hard. Keep up the good work.
thank you kindly for saying so
Whoever did the Voice of Kerensky for this actually brought me to tears.
Kerensky's last speech to the inner sphere was never have been represented so well.
He sounds like Gru. "And now, the 21 fart gun salute!"
It's George f***ing Ledoux
@@RyanTheScar His name is legend
George Ledoux. One of the voices of battletech and the man behind Duncan fucking Fisher
2:00:06 the greatest speech ever delivered in fiction in my humble opinion.
Certainly up there.
Too bad that the closest things he had to descendants by the time it was heard was a bunch of disappointing bastards in Clan Coprolite Fuckweed, or wtfhe...
"I'd rather suck up to comstar, at least they pay me on time."
4
"Hippity hoppity, get off of my property"
Best line of the whole entire 2 hours and 19 mins.
...Can't wait for the Episode on the Star League Navy. *prepares whiskey in advance*
You and about 669 other people. facebook.com/groups/battletechinterstellaroperations/
schnarre0 Rum*
I'd say it's a crying shame that the saga of the Amaris Civil War hasn't been made into a film, but there isn't a movie studio in the world who would do it justice. Fortunately, our man Tex is more than up for the task. Kudos on a phenomenal video, Long Live the Legion, and for the love of God, get some rest.
A film? No.
A Game of Thrones style feature length series? Much more realistic.
@@tanall5959 ^This. I was thinking the same thing.
@@tanall5959 that would have to last for 14 years or longer to cover the entire conflict in a substantial way to do it justice.
we'd need a 4-parter for that. The Cameron-isms first with the initial periphery rebellions shown. Then comes Kerensky 'exiled' and Lord-Bib making cuddlebuddies with the Cameron Moron. Nexe up is the head-vaporized Cameron and Space Gengis Khan taking over - nuking the Blackwatch and the insane scots crawling out of the nuked hellscapes to go underground for a while, ending with some Kerensky saying.... NO to the new Lord of Bibs and some asskicking of Amaris' homeworlds. Last Movie would contain the SLDFs return, Mercs joining up, House-troops going rogue to join and help the SLDF..... finally rounding out with Kerensky finding the sealed-in-corpses of the Cameron bloodline and just finally snapping with executing Amaris and his family before leaving for the very deep periphery.
I might trust Peter Jackson and weta workshop with oversight from Tex and team.
You know, I started playing computer games in 1980. Then I found Battletech and started reading books for fun too. I am now retired from law enforcement, still playing computer games and reading. I blame the creative folks involved with Battletech (and a few other endeavors) for all of this. I think Tex gets it... and me. Thanks for that... and this series.
You're most welcome
Commenting just to hail the legendary Black Pants Legion
I'm no legend. I dont want to be one.
@@theblackpantslegion Oh no, you aren't getting out of it that easily
BlackPantsLegion Legends rarely choose to become such. It just happens.
@@theblackpantslegion too late...
But as a consolation, your kind of "legendary" status doesn't rely on beeing a paragon. It only relies on you beeing your own voilatile, boozed up, sacriligious, loud and sarcastic self however you see fit, and to care about your own physical, mental and creative health enough to produce the occational lore and/or gameplay content with a heavy OD of whiskey, sarcasm and shitpost mixed in so well that it's almost impossible to detect where the lore shifts into shitposting or when the shitposting is part of the actual lore. :D
@@SonsOfLorgar I think with that comment everyone that lives or works around him disliked you atleast a little bit ^^
“Kilts are also banned” 😂 plus you singlehandedly got me into the miniature game. Catalyst games should thank you
I think they have very little reason to thank me.
As a newbie to Battletech, these videos have been a goldmine of knowledge for me to dig in and learn about this awesome galaxy of lore. I love the humor, and I can't wait to sit down for more classes
Glad to hear it! Welcome aboard. I find battletech a welcome respite in the day and age where everything is a bit, well, goofy.
"Mike once got physically ill by speaking, aloud, verbatim, lines from Star Trek Discovery." Okay, that was enough to finally get me to subscribe.
Why? Everyone knows that StreamTrek is space-covid-herpes-cancer with a silo of Krokodil on the side...
@@seand.g423 Well, getting physically ill by quoting STD should be the norm for a proper human being.
@@JPG.01 yeah, but getting physically ill off that is little more than a mix of basic biology and good sense. Anyone who subscribes because of that would subscribe to all of TH-cam.
Kudos and hats off to the lunatics that worked their butts off to make these videos.
The amount of work they put into these blows my mind.
Thank you Black Pants Legion!
The editor(s) and I worked like mad fucks.
Having spent the last couple years playing MW5, MWO, HBS Battletech and learning classic battletech with my brother, I can say that we have both been welcomed by the community and really appreciate the heart the BPL crew put into their work.
Thanks for doing this with the older canon, instead of the newer shit that's doing its best to make Kerensky look like an incompetent political appointed officer instead of the living legend that he was supposed to be, also yes do a video on the SLDF Navy, please that'd be cool.
At 44:50 You start to see the groundwork and logic being formed behind the Clans aversion to wastefulness, when you have a war to fight and no supplies, you'll be sorely missing the parts from those shattered mechs you left on that world a couple fights ago.
I find when they try to do new canon, they inevitably fail
They what?
@@theblackpantslegion this saddens me as I am very very new to this universe ;-;
Great point! I was out once CGL settled on Devlin Stone. Dumbest storyline ever.
You know the longer Kerensky's campaign against Amaris was described the more you see the early kernels of clan war tactics
Kerensky = Gigachad,
Amaris = waterboard with napalm.
That's what I'm taking away.
In defense of some of the Coordinator's actions, he was compelled by his father to be diplomatic with Amaris rather than help kick in his teeth because Amaris had taken Drago Kurita and his family hostage.
Yup, and Minoru Kurita did help Kerensky covertly, which confused Kerensky quite a bit considering Kurita's public stances. Tex's bias against the Dragon is coloring the presentation, and history did show Minoru was being blackmailed by Amaris and was bound by his vow to his father to seek a peaceful solution.
Breaking open a bucket of fiesta pail and handle of jack daniels for this one
Because plan A didn't work and plan B requires money.
Bro, get help, you got some serious self-harm issues if you're mixing perfectly good Jack with that shit. :P
@@McDonaldWilliamT Some people are just sufficiently masochistic. Digs into fiesta pail.
*Someone starts on a fiesta pail*
Local funeral services: *Free real estate!*
I must have watched, and re-watched this a dozen times. I can't express how happy I am to see the lore of one of my favorite universes presented so god-damned fantastically. You guys absolutely knocked it out of the park.
Thanks bud.
Anyone else feel like a 5 year old on Christmas eve?
all I got for Christmas was disappointment
@@theblackpantslegion Here's wishing you a much better one this year bud. Sincerely, you have earned and deserve some joy in your life.
Thank you. I'll try but I'm more or less perennially miserable.
@@theblackpantslegion All any of us can do is try. That and let the people that love and enrich us the opportunity to do so. Sounds corny but, that doesn't make it any less true.
Is there anything the fans can do to cheer you up bro?
Gentlemen, thank you for your continued excellent work & dedication to BattleTech fans & fans of your videos. You are truly appreciated. Now have a drink, relax, and receive your good vibes
I'm gonna do my best.
I also love the subtle detail of Amaris waving to the troops - in the Star League picture, there are people around him. Post coups... it's just him. It's like Stalin having people expunged from pictures post-purging.
As someone who just got into Battletech and wondering about what all of this Star League talk was about, and why this one Russian lad decided to just dip out from a galactic war. Now I know.
I only hope my lance can one day become so Scottish that enemies are forced to decide nukes are the only tactically viable option to use against them. Since one of my Mechs, a Quickdraw, survived an enemy mech going nuclear after it kicked him while he was down. The enemy Locust standing behind my Quickdraw wasn't quite as lucky as my guy was.
I also now can begin to get a grasp on how awesome this universe really is. No aliens, no gods, just people... and giant robots.
Thank you for the two-parter. It was a great watch from start to finish. Throw your editor an extra hotdog for me.
Your editor seems to really love their job. Not ONE complaint or subliminal message ever. GIVE THAT MAN ANOTHER HOT DOG!
he gets half. He cried when I told him my timelines.
@@theblackpantslegion sleep is for the weak?
The battletech universe had such an impression on my imagination when I was a kid... watching your videos really takes me back but also explains things that I didn't have the ability to know about the franchise pre-internet. Almost an emotional experience watching this 20 years later. 11/10 production thank you so much
Thank you much for saying so.
This was beautiful. I am a 30 year old war veteran that just found you Tex. I have to say this is the most enjoyable thing I have ever watched.
As someone new to battletech lore who are the descendants that left and how do I learn more of them coming back.
they eventually became the clans, there's a two part series explaining the story about them following on from this one on this channel
I mean, after the entire civil war and ending on a Kerensky transmission, you've gotta cover the Orion when you do your next mech talk!
watch the credits
I think Tex glosses over Amaris’ most incredible achievement - having an Order 66 level of preparadness but no “chip” to trigger it, instead somehow THAT many people were ready and the SLDF MI operatus was unaware. No leaks, no early warning. Absolutely incredible!!
Finding this channel was like finding a treasure trove of well made 90s historic tragic comedy VHS tapes when deployed overseas.
Can’t stop watching them.
If there is anything at all that can be said about the Amaris Civil War, it's that it showed what kind of man Kerensky was. He was given the opportunity to lord over worlds, offered immense power, perhaps even a position as heir to Star League...but he refused. Alexander Kerensky, the absolutely un-fucking-breakable Russian born badass he was, told Amaris to go suck off a shotgun and lead a weakened and battle weary SLDF through the single most horrific and intense war that Humanity had ever seen. He personally joined those under his command in the battles they fought. He never asked anything of his soldiers and sailors that he wouldn't do himself. Nobles and lords sit in their throne rooms and relegate battles to others so as to not get their pretty robes stained by blood and dirt. Kerensky, on the opposite end, was a warrior. Warriors do not sit idle in comfort while demanding young men to die for them. Kerensky was more than happy to kick ass when given the chance. And on top of that all, he never stooped to Amaris's level. He went out of his way to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. He didn't blame the soldiers under Amaris's rule for his mistakes. He did all of it to try to save the one chance Humanity had for a lasting peace, and that makes it all the more tragic upon the cold and bitter to stomach realization that Kerensky failed, while the descendants of him and his forces became space barbarians.
Tex! My son and I love your stories! BattleTech has always been my favorite universe. Mechs wowed me as a child, now my son has discovered the joys of stompy murder machines!
The speech from Kerensky honestly brought a tear to my eye. Inspire of all the failures, the long wars, the millions dead, and being spat on by the great houses; General Kerensky still believed in mankind’s ability to redeem themselves. He believed in his duty so much that he left everything behind to protect the people and all in the hopes of a brighter tomorrow. I sincerely pray that such men still live today and would keep their oaths should such madness ever occur in our world. It’s a beautiful speech. My compliments to Mr Ledoux for such a great performance and to the BPL for bringing this to life. Great Stuff guys.
a man without a home
a general without an army
an army without a nation
and yet he rebuilds it and
defends it and
is betrayed by the lords
that he tried to help and save
This is called tragedy.
@@theblackpantslegion A damn Greek tragedy. He did his best, sticking to his oaths, and got shafted by greedy 'Lords'.
Only years later do members of the Great Houses realize their mistake and want him back.
@@SulliMike23 Only to realize it's far too late
@@TheCrackedFirebird Pretty sure that makes the Amaris Civil War my favorite Greek tragedy. Also, the Homer's tales have a distinct lack of giant stompy robot murder.
What sets BattleTech apart from other fictional universes is the DETAILS. True fans like the 'mechs and LOVE the story. RESPECTS and thanks to Tex and the BPL Team for this epic work.
I can only imagine that SOMEONE on Task Force Serpent must have had a reaction that was essentially:
"This hasn't aged badly at all."
More likely, "What the fuck happened to *that* Kerensky?"
pretty close to how it was received when Task Force Serpent stumbled over it on the way to huntress in "Twilight of the Clans book 3: The Hunters". along with a dose of "how did they go from that to the clans?"
2:03:49 hey, thats me! I'm new folks! I got here as a result of a three-ish year journey through Mech Stuff, starting with Lancer, then continuing with Armored Core 6, and now Battletech. This leg has been great so far, and part of that has been these talks on Battletech lore. As I understand, they're not 100% perfect flawless retellings of things, but the narrative embellishments are great so I wouldn't want it any other way. Thanks to you, I know to hate clanners for being smug asshats, and to hate Kuritans and Capellans and Davions and Steiners for their own dumb reasons... though I already knew how to love trashcans. So, thanks.
Watching your video of Tukayyid made me feel as if the battle was simply a microcosm of the campaign for the Hegemony, where Amaris screws up Foch dose not, where Kerensky succeeds the Clans notably fail:
Foch baits the clans with honor over Amaris using guilt.
Clans attacks in separate unsupported attacks where Kerensky maintains overall pressure to keep Amaris from redeploying.
Both Amaris and Kerensky study each other for weaknesses. Only clan Wolf really makes good use of intelligence collection.
Both battles are campaigns for the fate of terra between an attacker and a defender (dug in to hell in back).
Both Kerensky and the Clans are short on supply: but Kerensky will take what isn’t nailed down (and the nail gun) whereas I think (not certain) that the clans usually don’t loot mechs and equipment.
There are probably more comparisons that I’m not aware of.
A fair bit late on my end, and I apologize for that, but the Clans actually DID loot a fair bit. They even brought ships that were designed SPECIFICALLY for that. The thing is, the Inner Sphere practices scorched earth tactics, which the more resource depleted clans saw as anathema.
Really, that was the Clans biggest weakness. The environment they were in necessitated an entirely different mindset on how to do things like wage war, but when applied to combat in the Inner Sphere the practical suddenly becomes impractical.
Now to be fair to Kurita (As unpopular as that might be), if I remember right, the whole reason they sat on their duffs was that Amaris was blackmailing them with hostages (That, like the Camerons, were already dead) and the Combine didn't learn that until too late. Not excusing, just a motivation for their staying out.
...They had the bright idea of "The Horde" attack.
Kurita are a bunch of idiots. But I really can't talk down on them too much. Davion has made quite a few...questionable moves themselves.
@@TheCrackedFirebird All the great houses are flawed and have done evil and stupid things. Which is one of the great things about all the factions none of them are perfect which makes them more believable.
@@logandeathrage6945 Truth.
Kurita, Noble. Steiner, Noble. Davion, Noble. Canopus, Matriarchal Noble. Capellan, Backstabbingratbastardsdeservingoftotalexterminationbymeansofnuclearfire. I'm sorry for not using spaces, but I couldn't find the proper word in German.
@@logandeathrage6945 what have we capella ever done wrong
That intermission was long enough for me to find a match in mwo at pilot rank 5 in an urban mech with rotary ac5 and kill an atlas.
That speech from kerensky was a nice touch, thanks for the awesome talks tex, thanks to all your hard work too BPL editor and team!!
Thank you for the kind words!
That intermission is lucky. During it me and my friend essentially won an assault match by extermination by ourselves.
I always got a kick out of how the descendants of the SLDF, the Clans, got it's butt kicked by the descendants of the SLDF, Com-Guard; am I the only one that loves the irony in that?
Oh n o, its beautiful irony
All hail tex can't wait to see this one take care of yourself tex and have a vacation
vacation ins boring. I'll be in space station 13 land
@@theblackpantslegion Just want to thank you Tex for this wonderful video this is truely a work of art
"It was on like Donkey Kong..."
I lost my shit. It's all gone.
4 yrs. later and still a great story told better than anything most movie studios have produced lately.
Started watching this all excited and stoked, I love Battletech and the BPL. By intermezzo I was on the edge of tears and soberly reflecting on the real message of Battletech. It's one we all know and the lore keeps sharing it. After having that message so deliberately delivered for so long by Tex I don't think I can play Battletech right now. Maybe again soon but not today.
Reflection is a powerful thing bud. Sometimes painful, but ultimately enlightening.
@@theblackpantslegion Thank you on behalf of the community for such moving and well produced lore.
Poor Editor he doesn’t even get to see the sun because he has to get busy on the Star League Navy video.
Could I mail him some pizza rolls?
I PAY HIM IN HOT DOGS.
@@theblackpantslegion We all know the Pizza roll to Hot Dog conversion rate is terrible.
40k fan that's been enjoying dabbling in the Battletech lore/universe. I have to say I love Kerensky as a character. He reminds me of Sanguinius from 40k.
Kerensky's last message to the Inner Sphere was so inspiring and hopeful. Despite all he had been through; despite all the betrayal, suffering and hardship; he never gave up in his convictions and belief that humanity and the inner sphere were worthy of safeguarding. That humanity could be better. He was the very definition of a hero.
It is good to see that a respected company like Golden Corral is still making the dream happen into the 2700s.
"You hear something?"
*BAGPIPES INTENSIFYING ON THE HORIZON*
"Oh no."
Hey, im one of the new folks coming in to this fandom and i gotta say these videos are wonderful for getting me up to speed. My father used to play tabletop battletech and with the current state of how Warhammer 40K is currently shitting itself i thought I'd hop on over. I asked my dad about battletech and proceeded to get a MechWarrior guidebook thundercunted into my skull at mach yes and now im the proud owner of an absolute ton of battlemechs. My favorite being my ten urbanmechs that ive used on tabletop a few times now to great success somehow. I swear they're made out if magical tinfoil and not normal tinfoil.
Anyways, ranting aside, these have been a wonderful help for me to understand the setting. And most old guard i run into are rather friendly. Ive had a few lemons, but overall nice folks.
Just another 40k refugee here, I've been putting the Tex Talks Battletech videos up while painting my forces. These are some inspiring stories and amazingly narrated. This Amaris civil war and all the insanity in its wake is awesome. From being an outsider a while ago, i can see why this universe and it's lore have survived for so long. Names like Alexander Kerensky, Amaris and Blackwatch are instant classics carved into memory.
Partly due to the brutal story, partly due to the passion that went into the narration. This is awesome!
Thank you for the inspiration Tex!
This is by far the most well researched piece of history on the fall of the league and the Great Father I have ever seen. General Kerensky was the reason I fell in love with the SLDF, and seeing this explained in such loving detail, I seriously teared up listening about the final moments of the Black Watch, or hearing the House Lords ignore the General. I have been into battletech since I was 6...and this is the first channel on youtube that GETS the depth of my adoration for the characters created in this universe.
...any mention of Clan Smoke Jaguar is appreciated, WE ARE STILL HERE............no seriously there are a bunch of us.
...and since you actually do read all the comments, yes I am bingeing your channel...this is GLORIOUS
Thank you kindly