Velatine Federal Republic
Velatine Federal Republic
This page is for a creative homebrew project by /btg/, to design a Periphery Realm in Battletech from the Ground up. It will hopefully become linked to homebrewing mech construction as well.
The Velatine Federal Republic is a small Periphery nation located in the Outer Sphere region. It is a collection of Planets that operate as Republics, nominally at least, formed by a merger of Periphery microstates.
Ruler: President Serafino Onofre Campos (El Presidente)
Government: Federal Republic with Socialist and Militarist leanings. Government headed by a President.
Capital:
Symbol: The Lion is used as the symbol of the VFR and is part of the Presidential Seal
Dominant Languages: Spanish, English, Serbo-Croatian, Malay
Dominant Religions: Christianity (Catholic), Muslim, State Agnosticism
Unit of Currency: Velatine Sequin (vS)
Inhabited Worlds: 12
Est.Population:
Founding Year:
Military: Velatine National Army
Secret Service:
History
The VFR was officially established in 3051. Previously the area had been sporadically populated in fits and bursts as refugees and explorers left from the Inner Sphere - a few "micronations" emerged in the area and warred with each other. Eventually the situation resulted in two powerful noble families burning the meager resources of the area to try and gain supremacy in the area - The Brankovich Family and the Musafir Family. However, dissent grew among the populace of many of the planets and a breaking point was reached with the influx of refugees from the Draconis Combine during the start of the Clan Invasion. A revolutionary group lead by Veronica Zanetti which had acted as partisan fighters for a significant number of years managed to finally push for takeover, uniting with other partisan groups - the very charismatic Zanetti was skilled at using propaganda, and had been selling her ideas of Republic for many years. In a somewhat coordinated effort the nobility was ousted and the new government put in place - however, fighting went on for a few more years to bring all planets into line - regardless, the VFR had been born. Veronica Zanetti would serve as the first President and form the ubiquitous FPP.
Over the years the VFR has faced two major internal crisis which it has survived. The first was the reign of President Eric Fierro - elected on the basis of modernizing and industrializing the nation, President Fierro became known for his promotion of his cult of personality and his attempt to quash regional religious and cultural beliefs, claiming that such were holdovers from Inner Sphere Culture that needed to be eliminated. Eventually Fierro was murdered in a military coup and his vice President, Ana Kovac, was made President, ruling as a puppet under a Military Junta - this heralded the rise of the Velatine Horizon Party, which managed to win its first elections.
The VHP would however be unable to deal properly with a revolution for autonomy sparked on some of the planets, and its failure to do so lead it to lose the support of the military who had backed it - the FPP would return under President Murphy Derrick, a General who lead the quashing of the rebellion. After the rebellion the VFR underwent a period of growth and heavy industrialization which has lasted up until today and the lengthy reign of President Serafino Onofre Campos.
Planets
Planet 1 - Capital Planet. Somewhat similar to Venice very broadly, with some Italian-Albanian influences, though fairly multicultural. While all planets are equal, it is the wealthiest and its where the Capital ended up being. (Possible Names - Adria, Durazzo, Ragusa, Trieste,)
Planet 2 - SEA Planet - Also wealthy (Tentative name - Johor)
Planet 3 - The most powerful South Slav Planet (Possible Names - Obrenović (needs more suggestions))
Planets 4-6 - Other South Slav planets. I like the idea that these planets are subservient politically to planet 3 - instead of being called Republics they are called like "autonomous provinces" to steal a page from Yugoslavia, and are severely politically influenced by planet 3. (Possible Names - Medvenica, Carniola and Sarajevo (needs more suggestions)(?))
Planets 7-8 - Latin American Planets (Tentative Names - Serena, Radiante or Lozana)
Planet 9 - Caribbean Planet (Tentative Name - Serena, Radiante or Lozana)
Planet 10 - Given the above planet choices, I vote on a more American influenced planet - i.e. Space Miami to go along with our space cubas. Maybe the rest of the planet is a swamp and it was a Drac penal destination. (Tentative Name - Seminole)
Planet 11 - Malaysian type planet (Tentative name - Brooke)
Planet 12 - Old penal colony of Dracs. Probably shitty and filled with Americans or whatever shot off into the Periphery by angry weebs. Good natural resources but fuck all else. Only became important when massive oil reserves were discovered. (Tentative Name - Angola)
Politics
Leader is a President with broad powers - the President is also nominal commander of the Military. Nation comprised of Nine Republics and three "Autonomous Provinces" of one of the Republics. Due to the nation making a lot of cash off of its mercenary endeavors, the military tends to have a disproportionate amount of political power, which has raised issues in the past.
The President rules for five year terms and has no limit on the number of terms. There are multiple parties but traditionally a few tend to dominate with the current El Presidente's party has a long history in power due to its ties to the military. All of the constituent republics are represented in a People's Congress.
The nation tends to be very hostile towards the idea of nobility - partially this is a reaction to the IS who they attempt to vilify, and partially as many parts of the nation were ruled by abusive noble families, which were ousted during the formation of the Federation. In the years after the clan invasion, refugees fleeing the clans have also lead the nation to be very clanphobic as well, particularly after the creation of the Raven Alliance and Ghost Bear Dominion - the clans are often discussed as a severe fascist threat in local news.
Political Parties are allowed but for the past chunk of history the Federal People's Party has dominated politics and supported the many terms of current El Presidente. This is because the FPP has wide populist appeal - it is a socialist party that also is strongly pro-military and highly patriotic and so has a solid and plentiful support base. Its main rivals are the Velatine Horizon Party and the Democratic Republic Party. The VHP is made up mostly of religious figures and wealthy businessmen and politicians who are rivals of El Presidente - well funded, they are internally divisive. The DRP is a widely liberal party that pushes for less military control and more pacifistic policies, making it often marginalized and seen as weak. There are also many State Parties that argue for greater autonomy of the constituent Republics but these are often prosecuted on the grounds of being unpatriotic.
Culture
A multicultural and multiethnic nation, the Velatine Federal Republic has mostly relied on politics to unite its people. The government touts itself as a revolutionary organization protecting its people from the perils of the nobility and the other dangers of the Inner Sphere - events like the Clan Invasion and Jihad have helped government propaganda immensely.
The mixture of cultures has lead to Velatine being, surprisingly for a periphery nation, a significant center for art. While the written and visual arts are strongly represented, film has become the most popular medium - originally in order to spread propaganda, a healthy artistic cinema scene has emerged due to sharing of ideas between the various cultures.
While there are many liberal elements within the society that decry this, the military has a large influence on culture and holds a good deal of popularity - plenty of money and effort is spent on making the military look as good as a periphery nation can manage, particularly the Presidential Guard.
Early in the state's history there was an attempt to force State Atheism on the populace which failed utterly - the current state policy is one of Agnosticism and general religious freedoms. The majority of people in the nation either report themselves as Agnostic, Muslim or Catholic - however there are notable Orthodox, Protestant and Buddhist minorities.
International Relations
The Velatine Federal Republic relies somewhat politically on keeping its populace suspicious of outsiders - at the same time, this suspicious does not expand into full blown paranoia like in other Periphery nations - the VFR understands that its neighbours and the IS are a valuable source of trade and resources.
The VFR's nearest neighbours include the Jarnfolk, pirate worlds and various Outworld Waste microstates. The VFR is on fairly good terms with the Jarnfolk who are useful trading partners - Jarnfolk bodyguards have become popular among Velatine politicians. The VFR is, like most periphery realms, heavily concerned over the issue of piracy and will on occasion send expeditions to purge pirate holdings. The VFR tends to be exploitative to a degree of the microstates of the Outworld Waste and the deep periphery - conquest of any further planets does not interest the republic, but they have partaken in "gunboat diplomacy" to open trade before.
The more central neighbours of the VFR are the Draconis Combine, Outworld's Alliance and Federated Suns. The VFR has traditionally had a cool but cordial relationship with the OA - they respected each other as trading partners and fellow periphery nations, and had little interaction beyond that. However, refugees from the OA abandoning the state after its turn to the Raven Alliance has lead to a sharp decrease in contact and trade. The DC and FS are often the main hiring bodies for the VFR's mercenary force of the Stradioti. While respected trade partners, the VFR tends to be suspicious of Spheroid methods and politics and the Stradioti are polite but cautious during their expeditions.
Economy
A major part of the economy involves using a portion of the nation's military as a mercenary group in the Periphery and Inner Sphere - the forces return with cash, trade goods and hopefully mech salvage. At home this is justified as taking the goods of the uncaring IS to help the nation.
As production is not particularly high on any one planet, a controlled economy has developed that uses factories on various planets to work together in networks on a completed product.
Military
As a small Periphery nation, the VFR is limited in the amount of military power it can assemble. However, the constant threat of piracy in its area, and the importance of the military in its politics, means that it has spent a considerable sum on creating a professional looking military. Comparative to even other Periphery nations, however, it must heavily rely on conventional infantry and vehicles for most of its forces - its Battlemechs are limited in number, being either primitive versions or, ideally, salvaged or purchased from the IS or other Periphery nations.
The VFR has compulsory conscription for men and women over the age of 18 - this does not need to be direct military service however, which leads to the VFR having a large contingent of support workers, which helps alleviate their issues with general low technology levels.
Forces
The Velatine National Army is the military force of the VFR and is divided into a few general groups
Velatine Gendarmerie - The Velatine Gendarmarie is a national militia and police force. Only able to deploy basic vehicles and infantry, they are the first line of defense against piracy and civil unrest.
Velatine People's Army - The main protective force of the nation, the VPA uses mostly conventional forces complimented by primitive Battlemechs and are designed to be deployed wherever they are needed. Most of their expertise comes from combating pirate groups.
Velatine Air Force - The VAF was established to provide a single body to govern all of the Velatine air and space assets - these are attached to other military formations as needed. Oddly enough, the VAF does maintain its own ground forces which include both regular mixed forces for protecting their airbases, and also marines and paratroopers.
Presidential Guard - The Presidential Guard is the most prestigious force in the nation, centered around a large infantry contingent as well as some battlemechs. Their main duty is simply as honour guard for the government, though they do deploy to support the VPA during conflicts - though many in the VPA complain that the PG receive the least dangerous and most glory hogging assignments. The PG is also designed to be entirely loyal to the federal government and to no one planet, meaning they are often also deployed in quashing civic unrest.
The Velatine Stradioti - The Stradioti is a unique unit in the VNA - based around a mercenary unit they still operate in that capacity, touring in the IS and Periphery to make money and salvage. Despite this, they are still a loyal part of the VNA - they return their profits and goods to the nation, and are required to return to aid their nation when ordered. While not as prestigious as the Presidential Guard, the Stradioti have the most real combat experience, and are most likely to sport salvaged or purchased IS models. Because they must operate away from the nation for extended period of times, the Stradioti are allowed to keep their own very limted aerospace contingent. The Stradioti also keep a skilled technical staff which specialize in salvage and battlefield repairs. As each battlemech in the Stradioti is valuable, the group tends to specialize in asymmetrical warfare, using ambushes, mobile warfare, flanking maneuvers, hit and run tactics and subterfuge to achieve victory.
Organization
Uses standard lances. Since any class of mech bigger than medium are rare, usually Heavy or Assault mechs are organized into Demi-Lances instead, which are used to support regular lances instead of operating alone. Usually these two mechs operating together will be ones of the same speed type.
Equipment
Mostly vees and infantry. Mechs are normally light or at most medium.
Uniforms
Maroon in the standard color for most uniforms, with variations to identify units. The Velatine Stradioti used gold trim on their uniforms, for example. The Presidential Guard are allowed highly elaborate white uniforms with intricate trim. Air and space forces wear powder blue uniforms.
Industry
Homegrown Designs
Banshee BNC-3V: Standard variant for the Presidential Guard. All four PG Banshees retain the 4/6 movement profile, but replace all stock weaponry with four SRM6s racks, a ton of ammo each, and a 17th SHS. A half ton of armor is also removed to accommodate the additional SHS. Media:Banshee_BNC-3V.png
Vicuña VCN-3Q Homegrown trooper BattleMech. Built around the LTV 160 Fusion Engine available due to local production of the Locust BattleMech. Rare, and a prestigious assignment for any VFR Mechwarrior. A lance of them are always deployed with the Stradioti as a point of national pride. Media:Vicuña_VCN-3Q.png
