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Battletech Field Report: 2765 #6
Field Report 2765: Periphery
GATHERING FORCES…
In 2765, the Star League Defense Force was the greatest military ever assembled, unparalleled in numbers and technological prowess — but it was not alone. The House Lords and the rules of the Territorial States in the Periphery each amassed armies of their own. While none of these powers alone could challenge the sheer size and might of the SLDF, each stood ready to defend their own interests against the avarice of their neighbors.
Field Report 2765: Periphery describes the state of the four great Periphery States just before the events described in Historical: Liberation of Terra (Part 1), including the overall military and logistical condition of the fringe powers — including the infamous Rim Worlds Republic, whose House Amaris would bring about the collapse of the Star League that would eventually plunge the rest of the Inner Sphere into a new age of endless war.
In 2765, the Star League Defense Force was the greatest military ever assembled, unparalleled in numbers and technological prowess — but it was not alone. The House Lords and the rules of the Territorial States in the Periphery each amassed armies of their own. While none of these powers alone could challenge the sheer size and might of the SLDF, each stood ready to defend their own interests against the avarice of their neighbors.
Field Report 2765: Periphery describes the state of the four great Periphery States just before the events described in Historical: Liberation of Terra (Part 1), including the overall military and logistical condition of the fringe powers — including the infamous Rim Worlds Republic, whose House Amaris would bring about the collapse of the Star League that would eventually plunge the rest of the Inner Sphere into a new age of endless war.
41 pages, ebook
Published June 24, 2014
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December 14, 2015
Available in electronic format only, this was the last in a series of faction-specific publications intended to accompany the main Star League-era sourcebooks and focuses on the state of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns.
Although this is a single volume, it contrasts with the other books in the series by covering four nations rather than just one; Field Report 2765: Periphery provides information on the Magistracy of Canopus, Outworlds Alliance, Rim Worlds Republic and Taurian Concordat as of 2765, although the two organised minor periphery players, the Illyrian Paltinate or the Tortuga Dominions, receive no mention.
The book is presented as an in-universe product, beginning with an introduction by the Star League Defense Force officer responsible for compiling the report in 2765, with a second introduction set centuries later by a Brigadier within the Republic Armed Forces Headquarters, reissuing the report to units of the RAF with the recommendation that the report is read to gain insight into the character and history of the various surviving major Periphery powers. The report proper begins with a look at the strategic, logistical and industrial base of each of the four nations as well as their respective state goals. The various military academies present within the Periphery states are also listed in the main text, while a sidebar contains a detailed breakdown of the WarShip fleets operated by each nation, allowing for canonically-representative BattleSpace games to be played.
Although there are various caveats and concerns raised about the military strength of the various Periphery nations and their ability to dramatically increase their military strength in short order, the fact that this book is written as an in-universe document means that nothing is mentioned of the Secret Army assembled and trained in the various Deep Periphery training bases that would play such a big part in the Periphery Uprising.
Following the introductory section and a full-page art splash, the bulk of the Field Report is taken up by a detailed look at the individual BattleMech formations of each of the four nations. The entries aren't as detailed as those in the other Field Reports, although the amount of detail ranges from nation to nation; the Magistracy Armed Forces units all receive a writeup that includes enough detail on each individual regiment to create useful hooks for those looking for a regiment to identify with. The Outworlds Alliance Militia gets just a single page for for its eleven regiments, with only a few words per regiment. The Taurian Defense Force section is as detailed as the MAF section, but the section on the Republican forces highlights one of the problems with the text. Canonically, the Rim Worlds Republic had a large official military and an even larger hidden military, with enough forces to allow Stefan Amaris to successfully launch a coup in the Terran Hegemony. The Field Report partially echoes that, with the Rim Worlds Army having a strength on paper of twenty-four divisions, equivalent to between two and three SLDF Corps, with each division having four or more BattleMech regiments. That many regiments would require a Field Report for the Republican military in its own right, if treated equally with the various Great Houses, so instead the Field Report entries report on a division-by-division basis. That's a little frustrating.
The book then finishes with a rules annex, Technical Readout-style entries on three new WarShips, the Essex I-class destroyer, the Athena-class cruiser and the Riga II-class destroyer, maps of each of the four nations showing military deployments and then record sheets for the new WarShips.
The detail that's present in the Field Report is good, particularly when it comes to WarShips, but the Field Report does suffer a little from the lack of more detail on the Rim Worlds military. It would've been useful to have had some detail on the Secret Army, as currently little has been published other than the overall size of the hidden forces and their effect during the Periphery Uprising, but the setup of these Field Reports as in-universe documents prevented that.
The various Periphery nations lost more worlds than anybody else during the Succession Wars, so in some cases the only detail on any of these worlds other than a name on a map is found in this Field Report, and that's a very nice touch. All in all, the Field Report is a solid addition to the line, but oddly feels a little lacking despite being the longest single volume in the series. There isn't enough material for three of the four Periphery Nations to have a Field Report in their own right, but the Rim Worlds Republic feels like it gets short shrift, although the Republican military does get covered in some detail within the accompany Historical: Liberation of Terra two-book series, making this a useful companion volume.
Although this is a single volume, it contrasts with the other books in the series by covering four nations rather than just one; Field Report 2765: Periphery provides information on the Magistracy of Canopus, Outworlds Alliance, Rim Worlds Republic and Taurian Concordat as of 2765, although the two organised minor periphery players, the Illyrian Paltinate or the Tortuga Dominions, receive no mention.
The book is presented as an in-universe product, beginning with an introduction by the Star League Defense Force officer responsible for compiling the report in 2765, with a second introduction set centuries later by a Brigadier within the Republic Armed Forces Headquarters, reissuing the report to units of the RAF with the recommendation that the report is read to gain insight into the character and history of the various surviving major Periphery powers. The report proper begins with a look at the strategic, logistical and industrial base of each of the four nations as well as their respective state goals. The various military academies present within the Periphery states are also listed in the main text, while a sidebar contains a detailed breakdown of the WarShip fleets operated by each nation, allowing for canonically-representative BattleSpace games to be played.
Although there are various caveats and concerns raised about the military strength of the various Periphery nations and their ability to dramatically increase their military strength in short order, the fact that this book is written as an in-universe document means that nothing is mentioned of the Secret Army assembled and trained in the various Deep Periphery training bases that would play such a big part in the Periphery Uprising.
Following the introductory section and a full-page art splash, the bulk of the Field Report is taken up by a detailed look at the individual BattleMech formations of each of the four nations. The entries aren't as detailed as those in the other Field Reports, although the amount of detail ranges from nation to nation; the Magistracy Armed Forces units all receive a writeup that includes enough detail on each individual regiment to create useful hooks for those looking for a regiment to identify with. The Outworlds Alliance Militia gets just a single page for for its eleven regiments, with only a few words per regiment. The Taurian Defense Force section is as detailed as the MAF section, but the section on the Republican forces highlights one of the problems with the text. Canonically, the Rim Worlds Republic had a large official military and an even larger hidden military, with enough forces to allow Stefan Amaris to successfully launch a coup in the Terran Hegemony. The Field Report partially echoes that, with the Rim Worlds Army having a strength on paper of twenty-four divisions, equivalent to between two and three SLDF Corps, with each division having four or more BattleMech regiments. That many regiments would require a Field Report for the Republican military in its own right, if treated equally with the various Great Houses, so instead the Field Report entries report on a division-by-division basis. That's a little frustrating.
The book then finishes with a rules annex, Technical Readout-style entries on three new WarShips, the Essex I-class destroyer, the Athena-class cruiser and the Riga II-class destroyer, maps of each of the four nations showing military deployments and then record sheets for the new WarShips.
The detail that's present in the Field Report is good, particularly when it comes to WarShips, but the Field Report does suffer a little from the lack of more detail on the Rim Worlds military. It would've been useful to have had some detail on the Secret Army, as currently little has been published other than the overall size of the hidden forces and their effect during the Periphery Uprising, but the setup of these Field Reports as in-universe documents prevented that.
The various Periphery nations lost more worlds than anybody else during the Succession Wars, so in some cases the only detail on any of these worlds other than a name on a map is found in this Field Report, and that's a very nice touch. All in all, the Field Report is a solid addition to the line, but oddly feels a little lacking despite being the longest single volume in the series. There isn't enough material for three of the four Periphery Nations to have a Field Report in their own right, but the Rim Worlds Republic feels like it gets short shrift, although the Republican military does get covered in some detail within the accompany Historical: Liberation of Terra two-book series, making this a useful companion volume.
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