BattleTechWiki:Research Desk

See also: Archive of Answered Questions

See also: Archive of Old (Unanswered) Questions

Welcome to the Research Desk. If you have questions about how to accomplish something on BattleTechWiki or have a problem that needs to be solved by an administrator, please consider posting to the Admin's Page. If you have a research question, such as:

• "What was the name of that one non-Marik that became Captain-General in the war against the Sarna Supremacy?"
• "Who owns the BattleTech intellectual property?"
• "What year and where did the Longbow 'Mech first get made?"
  
  

...this is the place for you. While the answer may not be quick, our researchers should be able to provide you with the information you need or ideally, a link straight to the relevant article here on the site.

To make a request of the Research Desk please click the "+" at the top of this page to create a new section in order to ask a question Please be specific and remember to sign your request (by adding ~~~~ at the end).

I'm doing a Mechwarrior campaign set in the Outworlds Wastes

I'm doing a Mechwarrior campaign set in the Outworlds Wastes. Currently the players are on the planet Tanz, which I had chosen because it was left as a blank slate (so far). But other than Wynn's Roost and a bit on the Traders Domain, is there any more information on the Outworlds Wastes? Raulpascal (talk) 08:59, 15 February 2021 (EST)

Information on Galaxy Commander Laurie Tseng

I am researching information on Galaxy Commander Laurie Tseng, Loremaster of Clan Ghost Bear. This character is mentioned many times but the only information i can find is name, rank, position, and command. If anyone has any ideas of what books i should be looking at researching this character let me know. Straw Boss (talk) 17:43, 18 May 2018 (EDT)

mech factories

hi I've looked at mech factories in various places but cant find anything about how many mechs a month or year for each type were made so could you tell us

                 small factory             medium factory         large factory

light mech 20/35 ton

medium mech 40/55 ton

heavy mech 60/75 ton

assault mech 80/100 ton

also star league era and after wards say 2/3/4 succession wars era

The Corean factory at Jeratha on New Avalon is noted to be one of the few remaining fully automated factories left as of 3025. It produces 130 Valkryies chasis a year and an unspecified number of Centurions. The factory does not appear to produce weapons. This would be around small to medium sized factory as it appears to have only two lines.

According to Objective Raids p.170 Blackwell Industries produces six Marauder II every three months. Those are all built at the same time. And it seems that building time is simply multiplied by the tonnage. (100t = 90 days, 20t = 18 days)

Actual production numbers can be found at SkilTao's Gaming Blog. But on average each produced 'Mech weighs 49 tons.

Those are the production numbers from MW1: Liao 400 'Mechs/year, Steiner 500 'Mechs/year, Kurita 600 'Mechs/year, and Davion 700 'Mechs/year

Laylissa (talk) 17:03, 23 September 2022 (EDT)

I would point out that working out construction times by weight is pretty arbitrary because BT as a universe is based on ours, thus production times would vary wildly from factory to factory due to such things as how complex the given 'Mech is, how efficient the production line is, skill level of the workforce and the efficency of the local supply network.Dmon (talk) 10:03, 24 September 2022 (EDT)

You're right. This calculation doesn't work. We know that each 'Mech has an average of 49 tonnes. And that a 100-ton 'Mech takes 90 days (I had read somewhere that Defiance Industries produces 12 Atlas per year, sounds like 4 lines x 90 days which matches the Marauder II). If we now take one production line, it produces 4 Atlas per year. To balance that with 20t 'Mechs, another production line would have to produce, say, 7 Stingers. This would correspond to a production time of 51.2 days (or 51.9 if we assume 365 days). Or it is solved with more production lines, impossible to say with the available data.Laylissa (talk) 17:35, 24 September 2022 (EDT)

Adding this from my work during my downtime. There are a lot of factors to take into account when considering the development of a BattleMech, as others have commented so far. I'd like to add a few factors for consideration to this. The first of these is that each design's inherent complexity has to be factored in, along with the fact that all designs would share a common basis point. For my calculations, I'm going to go with the above-mentioned Valkyrie that was churned out at a rate of 30 new 'Mechs a year by the Corean Factory. The Valkyrie is a 30 ton 'Mech, packing relatively simple armaments in the form of a medium laser and an LRM-10, with armor and jump jets added. Based on the figure of dividing time in a standard year (365 days) by number of 'Mechs produced (130), we get 2.80 as a rough answer. Given that most factories follow an assembly line format and we can presume that, even with automation, these factories have staff working there around the clock, a new Valkyrie is churned out every 2.8 standard days, or roughly every 67 hours and 12 minutes. That works on a series of assumptions - that there is one line assembling Valkyries, that it is in constant operation with no industrial faults or complications to hold up production, and that if such a fault did come up there were sufficient staff and alternatives to ensure production was not negatively impacted.

Second Factor - How the process runs based on the understanding of the 'Mech design process. First off, the internal skeleton is built and the wiring run through and all connected to prepare for the mounting of armor and additional components. It should be noted that assembling a 'Mech takes significantly less time in theory than it does to repair a 'Mech. Just as automated factories for cars and other vehicles can churn out several a day, it wouldn't be too far to assume the original calculations from the first factor I mentioned are correct. The most time-consuming part of this assembly would be installing the essential components and running the wiring for myomer bundles, engine, gyro, life support and connections. This would, to my mind, take up the first day in totality of the 2.8 standard I quoted. The second day would be in the connection of armor plates, installation of weapons and jump jets as well as (presumed) operation proofing testing for 'Mechs. Assuming full testing takes up the .8 of a day along with zeroing of specifications to operational parameters, it breaks down thus.

1 day for assembling the internal skeleton, threading the fiber-optic cabling used for internal sensors and myomer, installation of engine, myomer bundles, essential servos, gyroscope, cockpit, life support, and other core internal systems; 1 day for installation of other components (targeting-tracking, comms, weapons, armor, jump jets, ammo, etc.) and ensuring that everything is prepared. Then the remaining 19 hours and 12 minutes is spent in testing of components, clean-up of the 'Mech, and final detailing along with shipping preparation before being officially rolled off the production line.

Based on these calculations, and the relevant simplicity of the Valkyrie as a design for maintaining and thus constructing, I'd say that for most Light 'Mechs we can presume similar time-frames to the Valkyrie, so roughly every 2-4 days per individual 'Mech. For a Medium 'Mech, we can argue that the greater tonnage would inherently factor into construction delays. I would estimate that the greater tonnage and larger components, armaments and armor requirements would on average factor to taking 2.5 times the time of a Light 'Mech. So on average, I would say 4-7 days per Medium 'Mech, depending on tonnage and complexity. Again, we're assuming basic, simple 'Mechs that are workhorses, like the Valkyrie and the Centurion. For Heavy 'Mechs, I'd factor up by 4, owing to a yet greater amount of mass to be worked with along with heavier weaponry. I will stress, these are ONLY estimates based on very rough calculations! But I would say a Heavy 'Mech could be reasonably rolled off production lines in 8 to 14 days, and by the same logic, an Assault 'Mech Every 18-30 days. If anyone has more info, I would be happy to recalculate.

sldf intelligence organisation

hi looking for what the sldf intel office was called and how it was set up who was in charge not been able to find anything anywhere about if such a thing existed can you help since im trying to write a story for a mech board game me and a few people are playing and this would be helpful thanks — The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 82.19.168.49 (talk • contribs) 09:54, 30 May 2021‎ .

From @GreekFire, on the Discord: "It was known as the Star League Intelligence Command, and was led by a General. Who specifically was in charge depends entirely on the year; as of 2764, this would have been Framboise Apfelbucher. Relevant information is on p.18 of FM:SLDF, with most of the same info found in the old Star League sourcebook as well There was also the Hegemony Central Intelligence Bureau (HCIB), the Hegemony's specific intelligence organization, but less is known about their general structure."

Hope that helps. --Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 12:03, 30 May 2021 (EDT)

Word of Blake

When or what was the first mention of the Word of Blake released in any publication? — The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 74.129.9.146 (talk • contribs) 19:23, 13 September 2021‎ .

I'll post this on the discord's #research-desk for you and see if someone might have an answer. --Revanche ^{(talk|contribs)} 06:23, 14 September 2021 (EDT)

Going off real world timeline that was the ComStar sourcebook published 1992. However the first in-universe mention was BattleTechnology #20 (1995?), pp. 5-7 in March 3053; the ComStar sourcebook wasn't released in-universe until 26 May 3055 and the WoB related events of Ideal War (1993) didn't occur until 19 May 3054. -- MahiMahi (talk) 07:37, 14 September 2021 (EDT)

periphery jump times

How long would it take to get from the Taurian concordant to Magistracy of Canopus going through the periphery?— The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 82.19.168.49 (talk • contribs) .

I do not think we have full data for the region but a few months would seem fairly reasonable.Dmon (talk) 15:35, 27 March 2022 (EDT)

periphery HPGs

how many HPGS are in the periphery still active— The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 82.19.168.49 (talk • contribs) .

We do not have enough data to give you an answer.Dmon (talk) 16:01, 27 March 2022 (EDT)

That’s a question of definition. The periphery is pretty much defined by the boundary of the HPG grid, so with a few notable exceptions, periphery worlds have no HPGs and never had them. Frabby (talk) 03:51, 10 December 2023 (EST)

Clans first appearance

What year did Fasa first publish the clans, and in what book?

Hello! There are a few ways to answer this question, so I will try to tackle all of them:

• While obviously not spoken of as being originally from the Clans, in 1985 Tales of the Black Widow Company was the first scenario book for BattleTech, and so arguably they have been part of it almost from the very beginning.
• We learn about the Clans in the print novel Lethal Heritage, published in September 1989.
• The first scenario pack to include Clan forces was The Battle for Twycross, in 1990.
• The first sourcebook that detailed the Clans was Wolf Clan Sourcebook in 1991.

I hope this helps!--Talvin (talk) 15:58, 2 May 2022 (EDT)

Many thanx

I'd add to Talvin's list the fact that Wolf's Dragoons and Natasha Kerensky, i.e. the story seeds from which the Clans were spun, were there right at the beginning, in the first BT boxed set's rulebook. And the first deliberate (if still concealed) appearance of Clan customs and terminology was slipped into Wolves on the Border, though people wouldn’t be able to recognize it for what it was until Lethal Heritage came out some two months later. Frabby (talk) 01:06, 3 May 2022 (EDT)

Definitely answers alot of questions I've had for years, really appreciate it. Battletech has the best fans. — The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 172.58.108.109 (talk • contribs) .

We are very glad to have been able to help.--Talvin (talk) 18:29, 9 May 2022 (EDT)

Sources for Interplanetary Drives?

I normally answer questions here, but I am at my wit's end: is there a single canon source for anything on this page: Interplanetary Drive - Small Craft? The engine models show up on individual spacecraft pages, but I can't find a citation anywhere in the Wiki.-Talvin (talk) 09:29, 31 May 2022 (EDT)

This has been answered.-Talvin (talk) 09:55, 2 June 2022 (EDT)

Skid Row worlds in FedSuns?

Which worlds are considered Skid Row worlds? Thanks,— The preceding unsigned comment was posted by NewDetroit (talk • contribs) .

Hey NewDetroit, I did a little research into this as I didn't have a clear answer and sadly I have come to the conclusion that it is something we simply do not have enough information about to give any real solid answer. The best I can give you is that the Outback region likely has the highest concentration of such worlds that we know about. Dmon (talk) 16:27, 8 January 2023 (EST)

clan wolfs worlds

Hi, when clan wolf was moving from the holdings it had in the inner sphere held 25 worlds first, I know they stripped them of most of their materials and people but left some on each world since even they couldn't carry them all so old and very young left behind as well as stuff needed so they could survive. my question is what happened on those worlds who took them over if anyone The second clan wolf who was helping the Lyran alliance at the time take worlds from the free world league, attacked the Lyrans but they had a dozen or so jump ships that held say 2 drop ships each in Lyrans hands what happened to them— The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 82.19.168.49 (talk • contribs) .

The first part is fairly easy, they mostly just absorbed the remaining population. Second part I am not entierly sure of specifics as the Clans are not really my thing but any wolf dropships attached to lyran jumpships at the time that the wolves turned will of likely been confiscated or vice versa.Dmon (talk) 17:45, 20 February 2023 (EST)

Hi I recently asked about this but might of wrote it wrong

what I'm asking in the book is a bonfire of worlds and another whose name I've forgotten. clan wolf decides to move they empty or mostly empty their original 25 worlds, they own to get closer to earth the holy grail. now they left some folks behind and gear because even with the lyran's help, they couldn't move everyone and everything. so my question is after they left the worlds they had conquered originally, in the invasion to reclaim the inner sphere who took hold of those worlds, as they resettled in the free worlds and Lyran space they reconquered?so I know jades falcons didn't since they with house Liao and the dracs were also hitting the feds as they aimed for the earth.— The preceding unsigned comment was posted by 82.19.168.49 (talk • contribs) .

The Wolves move to Lyran space and the formation of the Wolf Empire happen about a decade before the invasion of Terra, so there was plenty of time for other factions to move in on the former wolf worlds. From the maps on the wiki (I used Tamar) it looks like it was mostly the Jade Falcons and the Hells Horses that scooped up the worlds.Dmon (talk) 09:12, 24 February 2023 (EST)

Recognition Guide: ilClan updates

Apparently these are post-publication changes to volumes. Where would I find them and how should I cite them? Madness Divine (talk) 05:39, 24 February 2023 (EST)

As far as I am aware CGL has not published a list of changes/errata, for me I just have the option of downloading an "updated" version of the various PDFs from DrivethruRPG. As such continue to cite the product as normal unless you find a difference. In the instance that you do make a note in the article the change effects and in the article of the specific guide volume as a difference in the "2023 update".Dmon (talk) 07:43, 24 February 2023 (EST)

What surface naval vessels are used by the clans?

I've noticed that all of the articles on surface naval vessels I can find are listed as Inner Sphere vehicles. Do the clans just use old star league boats, or did they make their own that I haven't found yet? Incompetentmedic (talk) 21:41, 24 April 2023 (EDT)

As far as I am aware, nothing has ever been written about Clan wet navies, so we literally have no info at all on the subject.Dmon (talk) 06:25, 9 May 2023 (EDT)

After doing some further research, I have found one article regarding the clan wet navies; the Baleena IIC submarine. The article for Undine Battle Armor implies that clan wet navies could be primarily composed of submarines rather than traditional surface vessels Incompetentmedic (talk) 18:28, 28 July 2023 (EDT)

Bentley's Explorers Syndicate?

Hello, and thank you. I have conflicting information regarding Cleese Bentley and his headquarters. In Hot Spots, he is mentioned as having been on Apollo and relocating to Terra. His next mention is in Explorer Corps, where he is said to be headquartered on New Samarkand. Are those his only mentions?

I believe they might be the only ones - He doesn't come up anywhere else I can find. HF22 (talk) 18:13, 19 June 2023 (EDT)

Explorer Corps Acolyte ecologist trip research

I'm starting an art project that would follow a fictional Comstar Explorer Corps Acolyte ecologist who ends up getting caught in the Wolf Clan Invasion corridor. I want to do a nature journaling page for each planet, following the first sighting of the Clan Mechs on through Tukayyid.

Could you help with a list of planets, the major biome for each (I'll be painting landscapes, flora, and fauna), and a list of the major attacking Clan force for each planet?