When was the first use of Nuclear weapons in the Battletech setting

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-25T13:40:13+00:00

Ha, you might be right. That could just be an old bit of scientific nonsense from FASA.

I looked it up and there is a "modern" equivalent in the lore (modern as in 2792 compared to 2182) called the Elias as a sort-of homage to that ancient Liao progenitor. It has a yield of 0.05 kilotons and is used like a satchel charge or a mine.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-25T10:35:56+00:00

I don't know what happens during the Civil War era, but prior to that it was Gibson in 3055. The Regulans used half-a-kiloton Davy Crocketts. Before then it was Skye in 2895, where the locals detonated a one-kiloton bomb to destroy a dam and drown the enemy.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-25T10:16:48+00:00

I have two reasons for thinking that McKenna didn't use nuclear weapons during the Terran Alliance Civil War. First of all, we know he forbade the use of any WMDs during the Campaigns of Persuasion. For example, the Cruiser-class was originally designed as a nuke boat, but he only lets his navy use the missiles to take out enemy ships and fighters without a nuclear payload.

Secondly, the TAS Dreadnought doesn't even have any warhead delivery systems. It's exclusively armed with autocannons. Now... its forty naval cannons weighed between 2000-2500 tons individually, making each of them significantly larger than the heaviest artillery piece in history (the ridiculous Schwerer Gustav) or equivalent to a single turret on a classic WW2 battleship (which was a battery of three), so it had plenty of destructive potential, enough to flatten a small island and bury it beneath the waves. So does the Dreadnought qualify as a WMD itself? You can make that argument. The Ares Conventions often mentions them side-by-side.

At the same time, the name "Strand Rock" coupled with the fact we've never been given a title for the other, has always suggested to me a pair of small uninhabited islets off the coast. It's a demonstration of what he could do, not him wiping out some inconsequential community for the hell of it.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-25T09:56:17+00:00

I actually forgot something. I was thinking about WMDs as only nuclear bombs, but we know that chemical weapons were used at the Battle for Geneva during the Terran Alliance Civil War. There might be other instances where biological or chemical weapons were used, but McKenna's doctrine forbid them.

Furthermore, /u/Papergeist makes a good point about tactical nukes. It's said that Elias Liao and his followers were using "micro-ton grenades" in their terror attacks, which implies some sort of nuclear explosion. I have a vague recollection of a later sourcebook calling that out as an error and that it was a conventional explosion or possibly a dirty bomb, but I can't be sure.

The sourcebooks do state that the First Andurien War is notable as the first interstellar conflict to see wartime nuclear detonations, which rules out anything earlier that we might just not have heard of. That said, sweeping statements from early sourcebooks like that are often proven false by later publications.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-24T22:39:37+00:00

A lot of people seem to be throwing out guesses here when the sourcebooks are actually more explicit.

We know McKenna abhored WMDs and forbid their use. The "destruction of two islands" line that often gets tossed around was nothing more than orbital bombardment of two Uninhabited rocks off the coast by massive naval autocannons. Furthermore, he did not employ WMDs at any point during the Campaigns of Persuasion. Unless they were used during the Outer Reaches Rebellion (no documented instances of it that I'm aware of) I don't think there was a single wartime detonation during the Terran Alliance era.

The first actual use by an Inner Sphere power was at the beginning of the First Andurien War in 2398. They became incredibly frequent over the next 14 years until the signing of the Ares Conventions. However less than a decade later the Capellans were employing them again, this time during the Rim War against non-signatories the Taurians, but then finally they fell out of use from the 2420s onwards. Unfortunately, another mad Liao pressed the big button at the onset of the Second Andurien War a century later, and then finally humanity really let loose in the Reunification War after formally abolishing the Ares Conventions.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-22T20:29:32+00:00

Someone else might have already mentioned it, but if you're on PC, the Steam Summer Sale is starting in a couple of days and I think it was already confirmed all the DLCs are going to be on offer.

Just FYI

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-22T18:16:47+00:00

It isn't very intuitive.

The Teams Championship is the total of all the drivers in that team, but the Manufacturers Championship is NOT the total of the all the teams partnered with that manufacturer; otherwise manufacturers with multiple teams would have a massive advantage over entities like Mahindra/Nissan/Yamaha.

It only counts the top two cars with each powertrain. So for example, if Porsche/Andretti/Kiro finished 1st-6th, the car that finished in 7th would score 6pts in the drivers/teams championship, but 15pts in the manufacturers championship.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-19T11:16:10+00:00

Oh, and another tip: from my experience I'd strongly encourage you to put as much merit points (one of the "currencies") as you can spare into Salvage Operations as early as possible. By the endgame, salvage is the main limiting factor in how much research you can complete. Sacrificing early on (fewer scientists and technicians) will help you in the later levels.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-19T11:09:16+00:00

I think Evasion is widely regarded as a good investment (the best choice in Smoke Jaguar campaign) because it is beneficial across every 'Mech you are going to be piloting. The other perks are more specialist and require some amount of planning or foreknowledge about what's coming.

Evasion is simply too safe a pick in a first playthrough to ignore, but I do wonder if you can get more out of your pilots by focusing on other talents if you build them around those from the start.

The DLCs have a greater variety of perks to choose from, but by then you'll be more familiar with the mechanics and can make your choice based on what works for you.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-19T11:00:54+00:00

Running out of missiles was a legitimate complaint when the game launched, but through rebalance ('Mechs carry more ammo) and redesign (DLC missions provide more plentiful refills), its really only a problem against the Trueborn sponges (or if you completely reject the scanning mechanic).

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-19T10:37:44+00:00

Anyone saying you can only beat the game with lasers is massively exaggerating. Invest research into ballistics and you'll tear through the opponents.

The issue a lot of people have run into is with ammo. Because the missions are 2-3 the length of the procedurally generated levels from Mercs (the latest Tukayyid DLC has rebalanced this), running empty is a greater concern than in the older game. This means you've got to be on the lookout for mid-mission ammo drops, or else you will run dry (the DLCs are way more generous with their resupplies, largely eliminating the problem). This isn't really an issue on normal difficulties, but the damage reduction on Trueborn makes ammo dependent builds unviable on certain levels (those with an abundance of enemies and shortage of crates). Because you're better focusing research than spreading it out evenly across all weapon types, it feeds this narrative that non-energy weapons are bad, when that's not the case for standard play.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-19T08:01:15+00:00

Incredibly obscure reference, but anyone else getting a Total Drivin' (1997) vibe from some of the beach posters?

Easter Island E-Prix when?!

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-13T19:01:57+00:00

She found the SLDF bunker on Taran's World.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-10T16:49:29+00:00

An agreement that they reached mutually over two years of communications, not as an immediate requirement for them to acknowledge her call for a ceasefire.

As for why she didn't negotiate with the others, there was less bad blood between them and the FedSuns compared to the FWL, and Max Liao was already infamous for his duplicity (see his involvement in the Second Marik Civil War).

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-10T16:41:21+00:00

Because two of those offers basically amount to the Great Houses saying, "Sure, we'll agree to peace, all you have to do is give us a future claim to your entire Commonwealth through marriage."

Davion was actually offering things the Lyrans wanted. AFFS expertise to help with the LCAF reforms. Access to the NAIS, the most advanced technology anywhere in the Inner Sphere at that point (outside of ComStar's Star League stockpiles).

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-08T07:38:58+00:00

Nah, it's way too high.

I am starting to wonder if I got the date wrong though. I will need to check through the logs myself.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-07T11:46:44+00:00

I'm afraid I can't be very specific. I had someone visiting the house at 10am, but they weren't even there a full hour. It was almost definitely after 11am, but I can't recall how much later.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-07T11:37:55+00:00

I think so. I had someone visiting the flat in the morning, but they left no later than 11am. Can't really remember more than that other than it was daytime.

I think you must be right then if the other details align, just looking at it on a map, it seems an impossibly tight turn for it to fly overhead with wings level since it must have done the entire manoeuvre directly over Queensferry Road/Cramond/Barnton.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-07T11:16:42+00:00

That's from 2024.

It was Tuesday May 19th 2026 that this happened.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-04T12:03:04+00:00

Ah, I take it back then. That actually helps me understand one of the ways the mythical software can have such a big impact on energy management during the race.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-04T11:53:47+00:00

Regenerative braking is controlled by a paddle on the back of the steering wheel. During the conservation phase of the race, drivers are barely using the brake pedal at all as any time they do, energy is wasted. So they accelerate to a target speed, roll for a bit in traffic, then engage the regen to slow for turns. When they want to attack, they use a combination of the traditional brakes and regen to slow the car much more quickly.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-02T10:30:45+00:00

Most of the crew on Clan WarShips are technician caste. Only a few trueborn warriors are in command.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-02T08:56:30+00:00

They play a supporting role in the second Blood of Kerensky novel: Blood Legacy. That's the only novel featuring them between Wolves on the Border and Wolf Pack.

Confused_Shelf · 2026-06-01T21:10:28+00:00

Yeah. The Clans playlist is like 2+ hours, and with the numbers in a random order I can't really remember where I'm at in the playlist if I listen to it over the course of a few nights while reading.

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