I have been following Battletech since the 90s, and I have never found a more easy and complete source. I know I have said this before but thank you for all you do. It makes getting new people interested in Battletech so much easier. I get to play the pencil and paper RPG with friends and now even my twins. My twins are constantly rewatching your vids to pick up even the slightest edge lol.
Well thank you, I'm really pleased to hear you've all been enjoying them. I don't know if my channel is any good for tactics though, unless you're playing some high-level strategic game.
I think that's one of the biggest problems Battletech has always had. The way their central lore is scattered all over the place makes it extraordinarily beginner unfriendly. I'm hoping these videos and the upcoming lore sourcebook from Catalyst continue to mitigate this.
I 100% agree. In fact it's one of my main reasons for doing this series, to consolidate a lot of that information into one narrative that you can watch without having future events spoiled.
Comstar right after the Purification: "Eddy's got a cowl on his head." "Shut up." "He's mumbling incantations while he's debugging the new software" "Shut up!" "Now he's waving a hand in benediction over the snack table and commending part of his donut to the Holy Blake." "JESUS, SHUT THE FUCK UP! Do you want to get us thrown in a reeducation camp??!" "Weren't you supposed to say 'Blake's Blood' when you curse?" "...Let's just try and get through the com traffic today without getting disappeared, okay?"
For me it will always be an unanswered question if Blake truly went crazy on his death bed and convinced Toyoma to turn Comstar into a religion, or if Toyoma acted alone and just took advantage of the entire situation for his own gains.
I think Blake wanted the war resumed (the short story at the start of the 2ndSW sourcebook makes that clear) so definitely not innocent, but who knows if Toyama instituted his wishes as he would have liked. Certainly Karpov comes along later and goes WAY further in his actions than either of his predecessors discussed.
How does this man only have 17.3k subscribers? After your collab with pretty much some of the biggest Battletech youtubers, I would have thought that subscriber count would have flown upwards...
What a great start. Your overall professionalism has reached new heights, a world apart from when you began these works. Also the way you use your voice is so much better; even, metered, and tonal. I don't know anything about acoustic set-ups but I do know about using ones voice to create feeling and drama and you Sir, have cracked that. Thank you, keep it up, I'm looking forward to more.
Thank you very much. Exactly for the reasons you mentioned, I can't watch those old videos of mine anymore because of how I talk. I'm never super happy with my vocal performance. There are much better voices out there but I work with what I've got. To my ears I sound so much more natural in the outros where I'm not reading from a script, but that's just not possible if I want to go into this level of detail. Thanks again, hope the rest of the series lives up to the same standards.
I got into BattleTech in 2018 when the BattleTech game released then again when MechWarrior's 5 came out these 2 games where my introduction to the BattleTech universe and got me absolutely hooked found your channel a couple of months ago and I've loved the in-depth lore that you're providing me it's just sad that the only way i can get the books or models is from ordering overseas
Toyama with the first flex of "Redde Creditori Tuo Fucko" and Comstar is off the rails and once more humanity plunges into war. Better buckle up, store that tray and make sure the ejector seat works.
The more a learn about Blake the more I realize he just wasn't a good person, maybe he had good intentions at the start but he became indistinguishable from the leaders of the other successor states
Absolutely. He definitely deserves a portion of the blame for what ComStar does later. Blake is deified in the early sourcebooks but that's when ComStar still controlled the narrative (they were the in-universe publisher for every new release early on). I think some folks see it as a retcon but I like the change in perception that's happened over time. He's no more innocent than the rest of them.
@@seanmac1793 he tried to save the Inner Sphere from the corrupt House Cameron, but he was stopped by the warmonger, Kerensky, and then was slandered after his death by Blake's propaganda machine.
Out of curiosity do you think there's enough content to do a video or two on The Third War? As everyone knows the third war only has a handful of pitched battles, it's mostly raids and counter-raids.
I am still unsure how I want to cover it. I may do a whole slew of short 6-7 minute videos like my recent Age of War fragments. Or I might do one hour long vid covering it more traditionally.
The Second Succession War is what would begin the real decline of Star League era tech before the Successor States could no longer produce the technology that made the Star League powerful. By the time the war finally came to an end, the Successor States have agreed to adhere to the Ares Conventions and add new addendums to them so that they can prevent the technology they have from going to practically the Stone Age.
You are exactly right. This really is the lowest point for technology. A few more bits and pieces will go extinct early in the 3rdSW but the decline has largely plateaued after the cliff that was Operation HOLY SHROUD.
By this moment, there are four succession wars, the last two Mechwarrior games, Battletech and Mechwarrior 5 begin in the 31th Century, there are also the clans that are the descendants of the exiles, lead by the son Kerensky, that become even more zealot than then nobles houses of the inner sphere creating a rigid social hierarchy, destroying everything that his father stood for, to the point that the clans try to invade the inner sphere, and then battle with each other, making the whole exile pointless.
@@SvenVanDerPlank glad to hear that! Between this and the last, I've been between Big Red 40 Tech and Critical Rocket to keep myself primed for lore, as well as Mech Overviews!
We'll get to it one day, promise. It was sitting on the bus, reading the 4thSW Atlases, listening to the HBS BT soundtrack that first gave me the idea of drawing maps to illustrate the conflict in video form, so it's something I've been working towards for a long while now.
My second watch-through and I can hardly control my anticipation for the next episode! I wonder if and how Toyama ever reconciled himself with the absolutely horrendous toll his machinations cost the people of the Inner Sphere in pursuing his interpretation of Jerome Blake's vision for Comstar after his death.
Well it's rendering now so will definitely be out next weekend (or Patreon within the next 12 hours). It's difficult to make a judgement on Toyama. His later actions suggest more than just begrudgingly carrying out his old master's wishes, but they don't go nearly so far as his successors. He was probably a believer in the old "the ends justify the means" adage.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I've always though Toyama was a born follower. Having Blake tell him "okay here's what you're going to do" allowed him to sidestep the question of morality by telling himself Blake said to do it, and Blake knew what he was doing. Basically, he wants someone to tell him what to do so he can just go down a path chosen for him. Kind of like Victor, now that I think of it.
Lords after the First Succession War: "I guess when you drag out a war long enough it ends up costing you so much it teaches a valuable life lesson." Jerome: "Which is?" Lords: "I should start MORE wars to get EXTRA LIFE LESSONS!"
Y'all, I've been trying to find the song section that plays at the "Dawn of a New Era" and I haven't been able to find the source or the timestamp. Can you help ya boi out here? The soundtrack gives me chills on par with "A Second Life" and I haven't been able to find it. Love your work, Sven! Your videos have been the best, most comprehensive entry points for Battletech lore that I've been able to find!
Thank you. The name of the song you're looking for is Kingdom from the Mirror's Edge: Catalyst soundtrack by Solar Fields. It's the same song throughout this video, but it's only specific sections looped.
I wouldn't say most destructive. The carnage was more focused on the militaries with fewer civilians caught in the WMD fallout. Death toll is no more than 10% of the First Succession War. Just as many planets were lost but that's largely because of the lingering effects of the First as much as the Second.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Granted, poor choice of word from me in that regard. But again, the fact that a lot of both common and advance knowledge and military capacity will be completely lost during it for centuries to come does make the Second the most destructive. Not in terms of casualties per say, but more it basically created a litteral dark age (lostech) and it could have stayed for longuer if not the meddling of a mercenary group.
Many lessons were learned by Lyran's example - One they somehow didn't "make our own HPG network, with blackjack and hookers" But no one in BT keeps blueprints after something is built in their territories Great vid as always, thanks
Plus the amount of work and effort it would take to make your adhoc HPG network for your whole realm whiles not attracting the attention of Comstar and ROM would make it super problematic.
@@Shadowdrag00n I find it hard to belive that ComStar had enough resources to prevent one house from doing that much less several at once But BT has a lot of quirks like that
@@redrobot4909 You've also got to remember that inverse, everyone relies on Comstar but, (someone correct me if am wrong) everyone knows they're dodgy but not to the live and scale that we as views are, as they do most of their moves in the shadows. If all the houses found out what they were really really up to it would be the end of them. Easier to just content with one house and silence the rest then feel the wrath of the either inner sphere all focused on killing you?
@@Shadowdrag00n It's just weird how magically powerful ComStar is for being such a tiny faction. It was really galling when the clans were stopped by them instead of the inner sphere- but ComStar maybe is guided by god
Worth remembering that ComStar was only in a position to stop the Clans because the ilKhan allowed them the stop the Clans. The invasion was undermined by its leader.
I like the new intro. Oh, and how do we know what Blake actually said on his deathbed? Toyama was the only one there, and he killed everyone who disagreed...
Wow. Given that I wanted to learn BT history with this videos when i first found them ( why read when you can watch an very well made documentary), I always thought that the second war was just the Great Houses not learning from the heavy price that the payed in the first war. Learning that it was ComStars fault is quite something. Plus that it was Blake’s fault that ComStar became what it was. That really makes me think. And that Intro. Stellar work again with that looks very good.
Glad you're finding the videos insightful. There isn't no much different in the ways the first two wars were fought, but so much of the latter was being manipulated behind the scenes that it gives it a different flavour.
@@SvenVanDerPlankI just never realised how much manipulation was ate play. Makes me nearly fell sorry for the great houses for this Desaster compèred to before I saw this. (But only nearly given that without the first war no one would be in this mess. Heck with much of there selfish actions no one would be in this mess) And it makes me dislike ComStar even more. One question: will there be some insights of Toyamas mind in regards to his actions? Given of the severity of what he is going to do?
I don't know how much we can say about Toyama. He's committed to the bit, if nothing else. He may not have truly believed at first, but he does so much later on that he's no longer just simply carrying out Blake's wishes.
It would be a lot of work gleaning information out of the original House books, but I hope you carry through to the Third Succession War as well. It lasted 159 years after all so there'd be enough content for a couple of episodes. The Forth is much easier with the 2-volume series and the Warrior trilogy novels.
Certainly plan to do that later Succession Wars. As you say, the 3rd might be far longer but less happens, while the 4th is just a flash in the pan, so I expect both of those to be shorter.
I mean, if Schweppes had his way, ComStar would have been dead far sooner. Anyway, a few centuries of constant war is a fair trade for our boys in white.
Gotta say, the fact that Comstar arose is yet another reason why I look down on Kerensky's Exodus. Stupid Phone Company was somehow even more harmful to humanity than the Mechanicum from 40k! Also, maybe you know, did the identity of the Minnesota Tribe ever get confirmed and made part of Canon? I know who many people think they are, but everything I have ever found in the lore is always left inconclusive.
So in the next video I'll pretty conclusively link them to the SLDF. Popular theory I've heard is that they were Clan Wolverine exiles fleeing the Clan worlds, heading who knows where. Apart from the fact that this specific unit was led by Khan Saran McEvedy's father during the Star League Civil War, I'm not aware of any other links between the Minnesota Tribe and Wolverine specifically, but that's probably because I've simply not gotten that far into the timeline yet. I'm only up to 3056 in my reading.
@@SvenVanDerPlank that is the theory I meant. I personally don't care for it, but that's because I am a fan of Clan Wolverine, and the Minnesota Tribe is later linked to the Word of Blake, who I dislike.
It's not know to humanity at large, but us, the audience know that they were the Wolverines, they were given sanctuary by a clique within Comstar, and evolved into the Word Of Blake
Maybe not 100% outright but there's enough breadcrumbs there Wolverine became the Minnesota Tribe became The Blood became the Word Of Blake and by the mid 32nd Century, The Clave.
The Urbanmech LAM was actually just an Urbanmech battlemech on an oversized flying vehicle that largely resembled an old earth "seadoo". Honestly still more practical than a true LAM.
Second Succession War starts out just as hot-blooded as the First but everyone quickly realises that they're in a very different place than before, so that intensity quickly drops off. Like I said in the outro, the Second is very much ComStar's War, as so many of the major events are orchestrated by them, usually working behind the scenes but sometimes more overtly. It's that manipulation (and less extreme WMD usage) which separates the two.
Blame Comstar, huh? Pretty much everyone misses them now that they are gone. Plus I can't blame the phone company for that *shudder* Dark Age stuff. I mean that's just baaad writing.
@@justinhammer3196 Out of universe bad righting is certainly a factor, but in universe, by setting up the 2nd Succession War, they are at least partly culpable for the next two Succession Wars and the drastic technological imbalance between the Sphere and the Clans. Further, the Word Of Blake is the culmination of the religious elements Jerome cooked up. So all the wobby crimes can be at least partly attributed to Comstar and Blake.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Very weird... I made this comment on UpIsNotJumps new video and somehow it ended up here. Hmmmm. Sorry for the confusion. Great video btw, love your work.
I have always suspected that the "true" version of comstar's history could not be trusted. it seems awfully convenient the all the horrible ideas came from blake who could do no wrong.
I'm not sure I understand which you're saying is true/false. Throughout most of the early lore, all the craziness is blamed on Toyama in the sourcebooks, but the Second Succession War sourcebook includes a lengthy deathbed conversation between him and Blake which reveals it was mostly Jerome's idea to force the others into war again. That's not to say that Karpov didn't later send things spiralling into true madness, far beyond either Blake or Toyama's intentions.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I'm not saying that you won't cover what really happened but I mean that it seems a lot of crazy happened that we only know about indirectly. yes we have that conversation but it is one of the few things we can place much trust in regarding comstar's history since we mostly see it from the outside. I'm essentially saying that even if there was a plan, no matter how bad an idea it was, it was off the rails pretty much from the beginning.
I have been following Battletech since the 90s, and I have never found a more easy and complete source. I know I have said this before but thank you for all you do. It makes getting new people interested in Battletech so much easier. I get to play the pencil and paper RPG with friends and now even my twins. My twins are constantly rewatching your vids to pick up even the slightest edge lol.
Well thank you, I'm really pleased to hear you've all been enjoying them. I don't know if my channel is any good for tactics though, unless you're playing some high-level strategic game.
I think that's one of the biggest problems Battletech has always had. The way their central lore is scattered all over the place makes it extraordinarily beginner unfriendly. I'm hoping these videos and the upcoming lore sourcebook from Catalyst continue to mitigate this.
I 100% agree. In fact it's one of my main reasons for doing this series, to consolidate a lot of that information into one narrative that you can watch without having future events spoiled.
@SvenVanDerPlank not necessarily high-level tactics, but with our GM knowing the history and how different factions act is a big advantage.
Comstar right after the Purification:
"Eddy's got a cowl on his head."
"Shut up."
"He's mumbling incantations while he's debugging the new software"
"Shut up!"
"Now he's waving a hand in benediction over the snack table and commending part of his donut to the Holy Blake."
"JESUS, SHUT THE FUCK UP! Do you want to get us thrown in a reeducation camp??!"
"Weren't you supposed to say 'Blake's Blood' when you curse?"
"...Let's just try and get through the com traffic today without getting disappeared, okay?"
Hahahaha!
LMAO
For me it will always be an unanswered question if Blake truly went crazy on his death bed and convinced Toyoma to turn Comstar into a religion, or if Toyoma acted alone and just took advantage of the entire situation for his own gains.
I think Blake wanted the war resumed (the short story at the start of the 2ndSW sourcebook makes that clear) so definitely not innocent, but who knows if Toyama instituted his wishes as he would have liked. Certainly Karpov comes along later and goes WAY further in his actions than either of his predecessors discussed.
Raymond Karpov...the man that introduced the robes and the chants...@@SvenVanDerPlank
We can definitely write off Toyama acting alone. We see Blake talk him into following the religion plan.
Part of any good story is permitting mystery and never explaining everything.
*HINT HINT GAMES WORKSHOP*
@@AtlatlMan Mystery is not always required, but in a case like this, it's a very valid choice.
When people ask how to get into Battletech, I always tell them, "Sven's got you covered."
Sven, Tex, Mechanical Frog, Big Red 40tech, we've got options for the newcomers.
Sven and many others!
Tex if you want an in universe documentary of battletech, sven if you want a college lecture on the history of battletech
Sven you are the best at these timeline for sci-fi and other universes.
Thank you very much.
How does this man only have 17.3k subscribers? After your collab with pretty much some of the biggest Battletech youtubers, I would have thought that subscriber count would have flown upwards...
What a great start. Your overall professionalism has reached new heights, a world apart from when you began these works. Also the way you use your voice is so much better; even, metered, and tonal. I don't know anything about acoustic set-ups but I do know about using ones voice to create feeling and drama and you Sir, have cracked that.
Thank you, keep it up, I'm looking forward to more.
Thank you very much. Exactly for the reasons you mentioned, I can't watch those old videos of mine anymore because of how I talk. I'm never super happy with my vocal performance. There are much better voices out there but I work with what I've got. To my ears I sound so much more natural in the outros where I'm not reading from a script, but that's just not possible if I want to go into this level of detail.
Thanks again, hope the rest of the series lives up to the same standards.
I got into BattleTech in 2018 when the BattleTech game released then again when MechWarrior's 5 came out these 2 games where my introduction to the BattleTech universe and got me absolutely hooked found your channel a couple of months ago and I've loved the in-depth lore that you're providing me it's just sad that the only way i can get the books or models is from ordering overseas
"The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
Killing millions to save billions
Or killing billions to save presumed trillions.
This channel is criminally underrated. You are a treasure to the Battletech community and IP in general. Amazing work 😁
Toyama with the first flex of "Redde Creditori Tuo Fucko" and Comstar is off the rails and once more humanity plunges into war. Better buckle up, store that tray and make sure the ejector seat works.
Just wait 'til Karpov takes power. Then things at ComStar really get screwy.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I hope you put some emphasis on the Primus that talked to ghosts
Do you mean Kurstin or Sims?@@MoreEvilThanYahweh
@@AGS363 Kurstin, Sims just had dreams.
{{{Comstar}}}
From the intro, it sounds like Blake’s deathbed more resembled the Skeksis from Dark Crystal.
Bravo.. bravo....
I see COMSTAR I immediately get happy!!🎉 We need a series of Novels on the whole COMSTAR story. From Blake to WOBWars
Well done. Loved this fictional history. Excellent presentation Sven! Huzza!
The more a learn about Blake the more I realize he just wasn't a good person, maybe he had good intentions at the start but he became indistinguishable from the leaders of the other successor states
Absolutely. He definitely deserves a portion of the blame for what ComStar does later. Blake is deified in the early sourcebooks but that's when ComStar still controlled the narrative (they were the in-universe publisher for every new release early on). I think some folks see it as a retcon but I like the change in perception that's happened over time. He's no more innocent than the rest of them.
Amaris was the last good man in the inner sphere
@@ThugShakers4Christ idk know about that one Chief
@@seanmac1793 he tried to save the Inner Sphere from the corrupt House Cameron, but he was stopped by the warmonger, Kerensky, and then was slandered after his death by Blake's propaganda machine.
I appreciate the focused "snapshots" your videos provide in pursuit of shaping the story you want to tell.
Oh!Oh! Minnesota Tribe! Yes! even an honorable mention will be great. Love that myth!
Not a myth that did happen. Just no ones who they really are.
@@thunberbolttwo3953 It was confirmed they were Clan Wolverine survivors
That makes sense. Now they need to come back. Give the smack down to the iclan mary sue.@@PaganPilot
thank you guys, I know who they really are, just didn't want to spoil it for those who didn't already know.
"Comstar neutrality" based on what I know plus these videos that phrase should be a galactic joke
Flipping telecom company becoming religious fanatics.
Great job Sven. As always, I salute you and glad to support your efforts.
Thank you for the support.
To be frank, Conrad would have saved greater atrocities had he burnt Jerome's journal.
But think of all the memes that would have been lost!
I disagree, overall Blake's plan wasn't misguided, it failed in execution.
Fantastic work as always. Noticed some minor presentation and style changes in the video itself, nice stuff.
Outstanding work. Thank you Sven.
Between you and Tex I feel spoiled. You're doing great work.
Sven.. Man... Wonderful job. Thank you.
Cheers, you're welcome.
I get chills when I hear that final theme song hit.
Awesome video, really looking forward to this series. Keep up the great work! Also, Comstar sucks.
Out of curiosity do you think there's enough content to do a video or two on The Third War? As everyone knows the third war only has a handful of pitched battles, it's mostly raids and counter-raids.
I am still unsure how I want to cover it. I may do a whole slew of short 6-7 minute videos like my recent Age of War fragments. Or I might do one hour long vid covering it more traditionally.
Happy to see you dive right into the next chapter, keep up the great work!
The Second Succession War is what would begin the real decline of Star League era tech before the Successor States could no longer produce the technology that made the Star League powerful. By the time the war finally came to an end, the Successor States have agreed to adhere to the Ares Conventions and add new addendums to them so that they can prevent the technology they have from going to practically the Stone Age.
You are exactly right. This really is the lowest point for technology. A few more bits and pieces will go extinct early in the 3rdSW but the decline has largely plateaued after the cliff that was Operation HOLY SHROUD.
Awesome video and the quality keeps getting better. Please continue to make excellent content.
Great work - enjoy your videos a lot and relisten a bunch of times. The succession wars are so tough to recount but you’ve tackled it!
By this moment, there are four succession wars, the last two Mechwarrior games, Battletech and Mechwarrior 5 begin in the 31th Century, there are also the clans that are the descendants of the exiles, lead by the son Kerensky, that become even more zealot than then nobles houses of the inner sphere creating a rigid social hierarchy, destroying everything that his father stood for, to the point that the clans try to invade the inner sphere, and then battle with each other, making the whole exile pointless.
Arguably the Clan invasion is a 5th Succession War and the WOB Jihad is a 6th
Sorry for the delay, this was wonderful and complete beginning! Thank you for soldiering on telling the lore of BattleTech!
No worries. Glad you're still enjoying them, Wrangler.
As always, you're the king of lore! Hope you're doing well today Sven!
I am, thank you. I was really struggling to get going with this new series so very happy now that it's out there and folks are enjoying it.
@@SvenVanDerPlank glad to hear that! Between this and the last, I've been between Big Red 40 Tech and Critical Rocket to keep myself primed for lore, as well as Mech Overviews!
This was truly next level in every way - audio quality, script, background music (perfection, that), everything. I look forward to the next one!
Just finished your First Succession War series. And now I am hyped to learn more about the Second Succession War! Keep up the good work
Nothing better for a day where I played BattleTech than a (highly expected) video to end the long day with.
Thanks Sven. :)
Hopefully there will one day be a Fourth Succession War video series I love that conflict.
We'll get to it one day, promise. It was sitting on the bus, reading the 4thSW Atlases, listening to the HBS BT soundtrack that first gave me the idea of drawing maps to illustrate the conflict in video form, so it's something I've been working towards for a long while now.
My second watch-through and I can hardly control my anticipation for the next episode!
I wonder if and how Toyama ever reconciled himself with the absolutely horrendous toll his machinations cost the people of the Inner Sphere in pursuing his interpretation of Jerome Blake's vision for Comstar after his death.
Well it's rendering now so will definitely be out next weekend (or Patreon within the next 12 hours).
It's difficult to make a judgement on Toyama. His later actions suggest more than just begrudgingly carrying out his old master's wishes, but they don't go nearly so far as his successors. He was probably a believer in the old "the ends justify the means" adage.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I've always though Toyama was a born follower. Having Blake tell him "okay here's what you're going to do" allowed him to sidestep the question of morality by telling himself Blake said to do it, and Blake knew what he was doing. Basically, he wants someone to tell him what to do so he can just go down a path chosen for him. Kind of like Victor, now that I think of it.
The quality of your videos just gets better and better.
Lords after the First Succession War: "I guess when you drag out a war long enough it ends up costing you so much it teaches a valuable life lesson."
Jerome: "Which is?"
Lords: "I should start MORE wars to get EXTRA LIFE LESSONS!"
Let's go! Thank you for another great video.
i really like the new style of presentation
Thank you. Always trying to evolve the style with each new series by starting fresh. I'm happy with how this one looks so far.
Can I cancel one Comstar cotract? I currently have two because we moved house. Nvm wrong page.
Y'all, I've been trying to find the song section that plays at the "Dawn of a New Era" and I haven't been able to find the source or the timestamp. Can you help ya boi out here? The soundtrack gives me chills on par with "A Second Life" and I haven't been able to find it.
Love your work, Sven! Your videos have been the best, most comprehensive entry points for Battletech lore that I've been able to find!
Thank you. The name of the song you're looking for is Kingdom from the Mirror's Edge: Catalyst soundtrack by Solar Fields. It's the same song throughout this video, but it's only specific sections looped.
And here we go for the most destructive of the Succession Wars, the horrible Second.
And I agree; totally Comstar's war, and victory by then.
I wouldn't say most destructive. The carnage was more focused on the militaries with fewer civilians caught in the WMD fallout. Death toll is no more than 10% of the First Succession War. Just as many planets were lost but that's largely because of the lingering effects of the First as much as the Second.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Granted, poor choice of word from me in that regard.
But again, the fact that a lot of both common and advance knowledge and military capacity will be completely lost during it for centuries to come does make the Second the most destructive.
Not in terms of casualties per say, but more it basically created a litteral dark age (lostech) and it could have stayed for longuer if not the meddling of a mercenary group.
Really enjoyed all of your series so far! Thank you for all the work you put into it!
Many lessons were learned by Lyran's example - One they somehow didn't "make our own HPG network, with blackjack and hookers" But no one in BT keeps blueprints after something is built in their territories
Great vid as always, thanks
Plus the amount of work and effort it would take to make your adhoc HPG network for your whole realm whiles not attracting the attention of Comstar and ROM would make it super problematic.
@@Shadowdrag00n I find it hard to belive that ComStar had enough resources to prevent one house from doing that much less several at once
But BT has a lot of quirks like that
@@redrobot4909 You've also got to remember that inverse, everyone relies on Comstar but, (someone correct me if am wrong) everyone knows they're dodgy but not to the live and scale that we as views are, as they do most of their moves in the shadows. If all the houses found out what they were really really up to it would be the end of them. Easier to just content with one house and silence the rest then feel the wrath of the either inner sphere all focused on killing you?
@@Shadowdrag00n It's just weird how magically powerful ComStar is for being such a tiny faction. It was really galling when the clans were stopped by them instead of the inner sphere- but ComStar maybe is guided by god
Worth remembering that ComStar was only in a position to stop the Clans because the ilKhan allowed them the stop the Clans. The invasion was undermined by its leader.
Looking forward to this new series. Glad to see you're back, Sven. So far, this is awesome!
Cheers, glad to be back. Hopefully we can get this series out in good time, but that would be a first for this project, lol.
Thank you Sven😊
Cant wait to watch the rest of this series! Great work!
Excellent video and source material succession wars are fascinating can't wait for next episode 👍
Man, you really stepped up the production quality. Loving this. Keep it up!
I like the new intro.
Oh, and how do we know what Blake actually said on his deathbed? Toyama was the only one there, and he killed everyone who disagreed...
The short story "Intentions" includes their final conversation and reveals Blake's part in it all.
This is epic! The Lore is just great.Can't wait for more.Thank you Sven!
You're welcome. More to come soon.
Amazing, I just love your lore videos.
How many parts for The Second War?
Thirteen. Hoping to do one a week up to the end of April.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Try to take your time if it doesn’t work out as fast as you want. Better to take longer to do it right after all.
Wow. Given that I wanted to learn BT history with this videos when i first found them ( why read when you can watch an very well made documentary), I always thought that the second war was just the Great Houses not learning from the heavy price that the payed in the first war.
Learning that it was ComStars fault is quite something. Plus that it was Blake’s fault that ComStar became what it was.
That really makes me think.
And that Intro. Stellar work again with that looks very good.
Glad you're finding the videos insightful. There isn't no much different in the ways the first two wars were fought, but so much of the latter was being manipulated behind the scenes that it gives it a different flavour.
@@SvenVanDerPlankI just never realised how much manipulation was ate play. Makes me nearly fell sorry for the great houses for this Desaster compèred to before I saw this. (But only nearly given that without the first war no one would be in this mess. Heck with much of there selfish actions no one would be in this mess)
And it makes me dislike ComStar even more.
One question: will there be some insights of Toyamas mind in regards to his actions? Given of the severity of what he is going to do?
I don't know how much we can say about Toyama. He's committed to the bit, if nothing else. He may not have truly believed at first, but he does so much later on that he's no longer just simply carrying out Blake's wishes.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Ok now I am even more excited to see what’s to come.
Keep up the fantastic work. You, sir, are LEGEND!
I absolutely adore these videos man, keep up the great work
It would be a lot of work gleaning information out of the original House books, but I hope you carry through to the Third Succession War as well. It lasted 159 years after all so there'd be enough content for a couple of episodes. The Forth is much easier with the 2-volume series and the Warrior trilogy novels.
Certainly plan to do that later Succession Wars. As you say, the 3rd might be far longer but less happens, while the 4th is just a flash in the pan, so I expect both of those to be shorter.
And with those actions, Blake put the eventual fall of Comstar on its way…
I mean, if Schweppes had his way, ComStar would have been dead far sooner. Anyway, a few centuries of constant war is a fair trade for our boys in white.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Oh, I'm sure they consider it a fair trade...since they won't be fighting it for the most part.
cant wait for more mate really enjoying
thanks mate loved it
Great Video as always Precentror Van Der Plank
Look forward to another dozen of episodes!
Sven, as always a magnificent presentation.
Quality stuff, as usual, my good sir.
And Conrad’s Villain Arc begins…
Great stuff as always Sven. Thank you.
As always, you are welcome.
Gotta say, the fact that Comstar arose is yet another reason why I look down on Kerensky's Exodus. Stupid Phone Company was somehow even more harmful to humanity than the Mechanicum from 40k!
Also, maybe you know, did the identity of the Minnesota Tribe ever get confirmed and made part of Canon? I know who many people think they are, but everything I have ever found in the lore is always left inconclusive.
So in the next video I'll pretty conclusively link them to the SLDF. Popular theory I've heard is that they were Clan Wolverine exiles fleeing the Clan worlds, heading who knows where. Apart from the fact that this specific unit was led by Khan Saran McEvedy's father during the Star League Civil War, I'm not aware of any other links between the Minnesota Tribe and Wolverine specifically, but that's probably because I've simply not gotten that far into the timeline yet. I'm only up to 3056 in my reading.
@@SvenVanDerPlank that is the theory I meant. I personally don't care for it, but that's because I am a fan of Clan Wolverine, and the Minnesota Tribe is later linked to the Word of Blake, who I dislike.
It's not know to humanity at large, but us, the audience know that they were the Wolverines, they were given sanctuary by a clique within Comstar, and evolved into the Word Of Blake
@@jamesperkins191 see, that's the thing, I have never seen an outright confirmation that they were Wolverine. Not from any official source at least.
Maybe not 100% outright but there's enough breadcrumbs there
Wolverine became the Minnesota Tribe became The Blood became the Word Of Blake and by the mid 32nd Century, The Clave.
Loved it! Keep up the good work! 👍
I have been playing battletech since the beginning in the 80s,I still have the original box set with its name called battledroids
@sven van der Plank. if you could have a mech, which one would it be, and why would it be the Urbanmech LAM ?
Am I a Clanner or Inner Sphere? It's either the Hollander or Stone Rhino.
The Urbanmech LAM was actually just an Urbanmech battlemech on an oversized flying vehicle that largely resembled an old earth "seadoo". Honestly still more practical than a true LAM.
Your content is as amazing as always!
Well done. Sounds Great!
Solar Fields soundtrack is fire
second succession war here we go
Given the very brief peace between the Succession War, what feature or features of the wars do you think most distinguishes them from one another?
Second Succession War starts out just as hot-blooded as the First but everyone quickly realises that they're in a very different place than before, so that intensity quickly drops off. Like I said in the outro, the Second is very much ComStar's War, as so many of the major events are orchestrated by them, usually working behind the scenes but sometimes more overtly. It's that manipulation (and less extreme WMD usage) which separates the two.
I cannot wait 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
Awesome
What's the intro Cinematic? Looks amazing! Really gets me in the mood for the video😊
It's a piece of artwork by Felix Mittermeier and then just simply fades into a stock video of Earth by Jol Acen.
Man, COMSTAR, those smug bastards messing with things behind the scenes....but were they wrong?
Absolutely not in regards to setting off the 2SW early
So this is the true beginning of "Blame Comstar, you'll probably be right."
Pretty much, but they're only getting warmed up at the moment. Things get mad later on.
Blame Comstar, huh? Pretty much everyone misses them now that they are gone. Plus I can't blame the phone company for that *shudder* Dark Age stuff. I mean that's just baaad writing.
@@justinhammer3196 Out of universe bad righting is certainly a factor, but in universe, by setting up the 2nd Succession War, they are at least partly culpable for the next two Succession Wars and the drastic technological imbalance between the Sphere and the Clans. Further, the Word Of Blake is the culmination of the religious elements Jerome cooked up. So all the wobby crimes can be at least partly attributed to Comstar and Blake.
Good stuff as always Seven van river dweller.
Good stuff, boss
SOLAR FIELDS AND SVEN!! ❤
Dude built a blanket fort for us.
Toyoma sent Blake on to the afterlife with a pillow... change my mind. 😜
Thank You.
So that's where Caddy has been this whole time
Caddy?
@@SvenVanDerPlank Very weird... I made this comment on UpIsNotJumps new video and somehow it ended up here. Hmmmm. Sorry for the confusion.
Great video btw, love your work.
I like these.
HELL YEAH LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Lets go baby❤
I have always suspected that the "true" version of comstar's history could not be trusted. it seems awfully convenient the all the horrible ideas came from blake who could do no wrong.
I'm not sure I understand which you're saying is true/false.
Throughout most of the early lore, all the craziness is blamed on Toyama in the sourcebooks, but the Second Succession War sourcebook includes a lengthy deathbed conversation between him and Blake which reveals it was mostly Jerome's idea to force the others into war again. That's not to say that Karpov didn't later send things spiralling into true madness, far beyond either Blake or Toyama's intentions.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I'm not saying that you won't cover what really happened but I mean that it seems a lot of crazy happened that we only know about indirectly. yes we have that conversation but it is one of the few things we can place much trust in regarding comstar's history since we mostly see it from the outside. I'm essentially saying that even if there was a plan, no matter how bad an idea it was, it was off the rails pretty much from the beginning.
@@SvenVanDerPlank A deathbed conversation with no witnesses or recordings save for Toyama's "trust me, bro".
yes the wait is over
Maybe after each succession war have the inner sphere fade out each system that gets destroyed/depopulated too.
I did that at the end of the First Succession War series and will do again this time round.
Long live Sven
So comstar was always the word of blake. Especially after the purification.
you know I never herad of Word of Blake unitl I played the game Mechassult.
Woot!
I hate Comstar 😂
Even after all they've done for you?