Writing Battletech: The BattleMechs And Combat (Part 1)

 The heart of Battletech is the BattleMech -- everything else on the battlefield is a support to them. They are the tip of the spear, the futuristic Knight, the King of the battlefield. Carrying weapons of mass destruction, they are the core of combat in the Battletech universe since they were created by the Terran Hegemony. For nearly four hundred years, the best defense against these armored behemoths has been another BattleMech.

This post is about what a BattleMech is and is not. It’s too easy to think they are one thing, when they are actually something else. The next post will be about writing about BattleMechs and combat, but this one is start with the basics.

A moment to explain something: The term Mecha is considered the general term for armored suits. They can be anywhere from Battle armor (Bubblegum Crisis OVA's Hard suits), to the hulking multi-part monster Mecha of Voltron, or anywhere in between. The term 'Mech refers to BattleMechs only.

The concept of Giant combat Mecha did not originate here, but in Japan. Mecha has been a common trope in Japanese anime for decades. From multiple Gundam series, the Units from Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Arm Slaves from Full Metal Panic!, Patlabor's Ingram, and of course... Macross (Robotech) are examples of combat Mecha in Anime.

For those who grew up watching such shows (Usually bootleg tapes, subtitled by some fan) these were nothing like we had ever seen before. Even today, giant Mecha rarely shows up in western movies (The Pacific Rim Films and the "Classic" Robojox come to mine. The AT-AT and AT-STs from the Star Wars films are sort of Mecha,).

In Japanese anime, Mecha are quick, nimble with weapons that will destroy ships and other Mecha in the blink of an eye. They are comfortable both in space and on the ground. They are only limited by the skill of their pilot, usually a teenager who has the ability to pilot one of these massive machines.  The Mecha is an armored suit, the modern version of a samurai's armor

Not so in the West. Here, the Mecha are walking tanks. They are slow and ponderous, piloted by people trained for months and years to control. In space, they are almost useless in combat. They are less an armored suit as they are armor to spearhead attacks or to hold a position.

To give you an idea about Mecha is seen in the west, let's look at the 'Mech above -- the Locust, with a weight of 20 metric tons, with a top speed of roughly 130 KPH. In Imperial measurements, the Locust weighs 22 tons and has a top speed of @ 80 MPH. in contrast, the average US car weighs about a ton, and can, in most cases, match or exceed 80 MPH. So, while the Locust is fast for a 'Mech the average car has a decent chance of outrunning it. (Getting out of weapons range though, is a little more problematic). Also, the Locust, like most 'Mechs, can't corner worth a damn on roadways.

So, what's the point of this post? Why talk about the difference between eastern and western views on Mecha?

Like most people, my first experience to Mecha was though anime and I saw the nimble, fluid action of Mecha in combat. The Lions of Voltron, the motorslaves of Bubblegum Crisis, Patlabor's Ingrams, and others showed is Mecha in action. It's real easy to carry that impression into writing a Battletech story.

But it's the wrong impression for Battletech.

The Shadow Hawk to the left here has a top speed of 86 KPH (53.5 MPH) and most variants can jump between 90m (98 yards) and 150m (164 yards). It carries a shoulder-mounted autocannon or a PPC, a small missile launcher and some sort of laser. Despite descriptions in the first couple of novels, there is no way this 'Mech can do a shoulder roll or any other advanced actions that a human could do. No handstands, cartwheels, backflips, pulling itself up by its fingertips up a cliff. Physical combat beyond clubs, hatchets, swords, punching and kicking is beyond a 'Mech's capability.

BattleMechs are not subtle weapons. They are in-your-face vehicles of war, used to attack and defend objectives. They are a wall of steel and mylomar, with enough weapons to level a city in hours.

MechWarriors are one-person tank crews. They are responsible for the 'Mech's movement, firing its weapons, receiving and giving orders with other MechWarriors and soldiers, depending on where they are in the command structure. They work as part of a unit, are assigned tasks and follows orders.

That means that went writing 'Mech battles (and you will), you have to remember that BattleMechs are walking tanks, not nimble battle suits. They walk, run and jump -- they do not do acrobatics, do not do spinning back heel kicks to the enemy's head. They punch, club and kick in close combat, as well as push and crash into their opponent. They don't hip throw their opponents, nor do they leap to their feet after getting knocked down. They do not do complex combinations with their sword/ax/mace --its hit as hard as you can, as fast as you can.

The Warhammer to the left is a walking main battle tank. With its powerful twin PPCs and multiple secondary weapons, it is an iconic BattleMech and has been for most of Battletech's existence. But like any 'Mech, it is vulnerable on the battlefield. It is only as good as its pilot -- or as lucky.

When writing a battle scene, you have to remember these 'Mechs are not quick, nimble or able to perform acts humans can. They are between slow and somewhat quick and the larger they are, the tougher they are to bring down generally. They have massive firepower, but are not invincible. They are weapons of war, with their own advantages and drawbacks.

So, Mecha from the East are generally extensions of the pilot's abilities. Mecha from the West are generally walking tanks.

Part 2 is how to write 'Mechs in combat.

This post was revised slightly, with a few grammar mistakes corrected)

Later!

Craig

Writing Battletech: Characters

One of the great things about Battletech is the characters. From the heads of interstellar states to the farmer on a backwater planet, there is always room for stories and for memorable characters.

The first thing you must ask about your characters is; Who who are they? What is their background? what motivates them? What is the journey the story takes them on? The best stories are those in which the main character undergoes a trial of some sort, a test of their abilities. At the end, they have changed somehow from the character they were in the beginning.

You need to find the hook for the main character -- everyone else is either supporting or opposing the main character's actions. Start with the conflict the main character will face. It could be physically, mentally, it could be another person or a force -- in any case, the character must face some sort of obstruction to the character's goal.

I think the best way to illustrate that is to take a look at three of my Characters from my stories: Kenway Gaines (Salvage), Amanda Rawson (The Promise) and Nathaniel Trivedi (End of the Road.) I choose three of my own characters, because I understand them the best.

At the start of Salvage, Kenway Gaines is a young man starting out his military career. He is from a family of MechWarriors, but he isn't a MechWarrior himself -- instead, he is a technician. 

That right there is a hook. Kenway is from a family of warriors, but can never become one himself. Instead, he is a new tech, a Subaltern fresh out of NAIS, and assigned to a Recovery and Salvage platoon attached to the Fourth Deneb Light Calvary. This is a young man who can feel his family's disappointment, despite the fact he is a hard-working and knowledgeable technician. Because of this, he has no self-confidence in himself and feels that he left his family down -- that is the problem he has to overcome. In addition, Kenway green as grass, an additional problem, one his superiors have taken notice of. It is only his skill as a technician that keeps him from being pulled for the R&S platoon.

On his first mission, his platoon goes out to recover a couple of 'Mechs. While surveying the area, Kenway spots what he believes is a new Capellan design in the water -- a Raven. This becomes the turning point for Kenway's change, as the chance of recovering and inspecting a brand new design has made him forget his troubles and starts gaining confidence in himself. The recovery doesn't go off without problems -- he is still a green soldier and the Capellans don't want to let the Raven go without a fight. In the heat of the action, Kenway finds the strength to take action to keep the Raven from being recaptured or destroyed.

But because of that experience, Kenway begins to find himself, as an officer and a technician. He is not the same person at the end of the story as he was at the start of the story. He has grown up and begun to find his confidence. At the end of the story, he is trying to find out everything he can about the Raven -- he is in his own element now. He has realized that he may not be a Mechwarrior, but he will show his family and his superiors that he is a soldier just like them. The story is about Kenway finding himself.

On the other hand, Amanda Rawson is a veteran MechWarrior assigned to be the XO of a rescue mission. She finds herself in the dark because her commanding officer, Leftenant Colonel Colin Kerse, is hiding most of the mission's details. That is Amanda's conflict -- trying to trust her superior officer when he is clearing hiding information she needs as the mission's XO.

They are heading for the Kurita-held planet of Chichibu, where Kerse claims there are Davion POWs being held there. Somehow, he managed to convince the AFFS to give him a force and to lead a rescue unit to . 

Amanda was recruited by MIIO to keep an eye on Kerse. Her orders are to assume command if Kerse acts in an insane manner. From the start, the events and Kerse's actions make her suspicious of him. Her orders are to step in and take command if she thinks Kerse has lost his mind. But what is the tipping point? Is there a tipping point to force Amanda into following her orders?

And that's the hook for her character, the test he must undergo. Can Amanda trust Kerse? Is he leading them into a trap? Even when she discovers Kerse's motivations and the information he had kept from her, can she still trust him? Is this a rescue or vengeance by Kerse? In the middle of the big battle, it falls to Amanda to take command of the rescue as Kerse is locked in a battle with past demons. At the end, Amanda still doesn't fully trust Kerse, but understand his action. Amanda's story is about trying to trust someone who doesn't trust her.

Nathaniel Trivedi's conflict is keeping his sanity in a situation of a grinding campaign. A member of Stone's Lament, he has seen the worse fighting of the Jihad and is currently involved in pursuing Word of Blake forces across the North American continent.

A student of history, he finds an outlet for his sanity in the Grasshopper he has been assigned to replace his destroyed Victor. This is the hook -- the "Mech's interesting history lets him forget the horrors and the grinding fighting for a few hours. The Grasshopper has a long and involved history over three centuries. Despite his lance-mates' teasing and his commanding officer's disdain for the Grasshopper history, he continues on his self-imposed activity. At the climax, the Grasshopper is destroyed, but Trivedi's actions helps Stone forces win an important battle. Instead of rebuilding the 'Mech, he thinks it is time to leave the military and return to pursuing a PhD.

So, three character, three different time periods, three different challenges. Each one must face a challenge -- Kenway, his crippled self-confidence, Amanda, her distrust of a secretive superior officer, and Nathaniel keeping his sanity in an insane situation. All overcame their challenges and all have changed in some way.

I'll talk more about character in another post, as this one is getting too long. I just don't know when, as there are a few matters that are coming up.

In addition, there may be some good news on the horizon, hopefully this month or next, about a Battletech product I wrote. I won't say anything else about it, but as soon as I can, I will write about it. It might just be the most important thing I've ever written for Battletech.

Later!

Craig

Writing Battletech: Plots

All of a sudden, I'm full of post ideas.....

If you seen my last post, I talk about the what you should do if you want to have the best shot of getting your story accepted by Shrapnel's editor. But I'm going to take this a step further, and talk about what makes up a story set in the Battletech Universe. Today, I'm going to talk about Plots.

The Battletech Universe is one of war and intrigue. No one what to read about Joe Shomoe quiet, boring life. Battletech is Military Sci-Fi/Space Opera and the stories reflect that. This post looks at the basic plot areas where all Battletech stories fall into.

Battletech stories generally fall into three areas of plot -- Military, Espionage, and Political Intrigue. Now that doesn't mean each is separate from each other -- there is plenty of stories where two or all three areas intersect within a story. A Military story could have elements of Espionage and/or Political Intrigue. But generally, a story will have a focus in one of these areas.

That is not to say these are the only three area, but these three are the easiest to work a story plot with. Once you have a solid record and grasp, it's easier to see story ideas that while not fitting into one of the areas above, still have a Battletech feel to them.

What do I mean by Military, Espionage, and Political Intrigue? I define each as such and include examples from my own stories:

Military -- The most basic plot. Two side fighting each other. This is anywhere between a small raid or one corner of a massive campaign or battle. Battlemechs, Aerospace fighters, vehicles, battlesuits, or the poor infantry soldier trying to survive. It's a look at the men and women in the battle, their motives, their actions and the consequences of their actions. The center of the story is the battles(s).

There are subplots that help form the battle's context. Below are a basic list of subplots to help tie in the battle:

• A character's first time in battle.
• Conflict between two characters on the same side.
• A character's chance to redeem themselves for past actions.
• A character looking for revenge.
• A character who has a mental conflict they must work through.
• A character has been given a difficult/impossible task.

Those are a few ideas off the top of my head, but the idea is to give the character a stake in the battle beyond winning it. That is not to say they succeed at the end; but they have to try overcoming the roadblock subplot that battle presents.

You can elements from the other two in the story; any story can have espionage and/or political overtones, but the focus is on the battle.

Examples: The Lance Killer, Hikagmono, The Promise.

Espionage: A problem that needs a RCT to handle can sometimes be done with just a knife in the right back. These type of stories can happen anywhere, and involves character's actions away from the battlefield, often light years away. These type of stories don't need violence, but are often violent on a more personal level. These type of plots fall into the broad categories such as:

• Character must steal/destroy/retrieve/pass on/kill an objective
• Character must prevent an objective from being steal/destroy/retrieve/passed on/killed
• Character must hunt down an enemy agent
• Character must avoid being hunted down by the other side.

(The objective can be data, an object, or a person)

Misdirection and double-dealing are also common in these type of stories, as are betrayal and sacrifice. These are generally small-scale stories, usually involving a small group. Again, there could be elements from the other two categories that are part of the story, but the spies are center stage.

Examples: Evacuation, End of Message, Operation Red Lion. Operation Blue Tiger

Political Intrigue; This is the toughest one to write. Unlike the other two, it needs a dose from one or the other category. These stories are about political maneuvers as two sides vie for an advantage. the plot can involve state vs state, noble vs noble, leader vs leader, or invader vs resistance. The stakes are important to someone, and can extend beyond the story events.

But this type of story needs a healthy does of one of the two other -- the politics are the frame where the action happens in support of someone else's political goals. It could be an assassination attempt, forcing an opponent to deploy forces elsewhere, or distracting the opponent, either though espionage or military actions while the real  work goes on elsewhere, but all the action is related to political ends.

Examples: Negotiation, The Clawing, A Matter of Honor

There is one other area for Battletech stories, but unlike the other three there isn't a clearly defined area they fit into it. It could be a mystery, or a character reacting to events in a way that doesn't fit into any of the above three categories. These stories can have elements of any of the three above, but doesn't necessarily rely on them the same way that political intrigue does with the other two.

Example: State of Grace.

So, that is my view on the subject. Do you have any questions? Leave them here, or contact me via the Battletech forum -- my screen name is Trboturtle.

Later!

Craig