[Vampire]

I do not know if this is the place to bring up this question, but it seemed suitable since it is a question members of the DMM would be best qualified to answer.

What is the known strength and location of the Wobbies now?

In canon, WoB Division, including the Shadow Division numbered up to the 52nd only.

However, we have seen/heard of units such as the 77th, 89th, 101st and 107th Divisions engaging - and this is ONLY in the Capellan Confederation. I could not find details of the WoB Divisions that engaged the FS (though I do remember them being mentioned in the Federated Suns thread before the forum crash.

So, with my understanding that WoB Divisions are formed in running order, does that mean that there are now over 100 WoB Divisions? Unlike canon CBT timeline, I believe the WoB are now deprived of the resources that they have here in BTM timeline. As such, how come they have grown so much larger now in our timeline? Where are their base of operations - if we know about it at all?

[GhostWalker]

If you look down in the House Liao Sub-Forum there is a lengthy timeline of what's been going on, and some hints as to where the Wobbies have been hiding.

[Vampire]

Indeed. The Akki Tsubasa had been engaged in one of the Divisions. What I want to know is where the rest of them are, and if we have any indication of their strength, especially with their Divisions now numbered over 100...

EDIT: It was stated that they seemed to be holding up somewhere in the Fronc Reaches... but seriously, how large are they?

This post has been edited by Vampire: 09 December 2009 - 08:01 AM

[GhostWalker]

That is indeed the question. They've had 30 years to build up. Me...that worries me just slightly. Not a lot seems to be known about that region. How many Mech plants do they have in there? How many weapons facilities? Have they adapted Clan style semi-cloning to boost their numbers?

I don't think we are going to get many answers from the Bosses until we see it in the games.

They've been running over the CCAF like Britain overran Grenada. Are they going to keep up the push, or are they going to dig in, hold what they've got, and build up some more?

The answer to these and many other questions...next month on...As The Galaxy Spins.

[Kristan Dagley]

Sadly it has been announced that "As the World Turns" will be canceled as of September 2010, so maybe someone should start up the followup series "As the Galaxy Spins" for us.

Now back to the topic at hand. Is the WoB, as crazy as they are, able to seriously recover that well in 30 years to nearly double in size on top of what they lost during the fighting on Terra and in the FWL? At least they were given a good licking in the FedSuns recently, but yes this news concerns me greatly.

Also what the hell are they trying to do by invading a larger power like the Confederated Magistracy anyway? Are they creating their own nation of Blake or something? Rather than strike everywhere at once like in the Dark Ages are they consolidating so that they can just try and sweep across the map? I know this is only on the who gives a fig periphery, but for the CapCon and MC military's I am certain they would see this as a major attack.

To me the wobbles have always been a decentralized force, more terrorism and opportunistic in nature than serious about making a Blakedom. That is until they magically pulled a Dark Age out of there hat.

They are zealots and fanatics whose goals and methods ensure a succeed or fail mission every time, the people they fight have to fully exterminate there presence or maybe face small scale attacks, assassinations or bombings for years to come. Not only that but the Blakists commit suicide too!

[Colonel Timothy Maddox]

Well we know that the SLDF kicked them out of their protectorate and Terra. There are no doubts a lot of units that were wiped out in so doing that. Further more we know that the Wobbies are not as united as you may think. They have shown up causing trouble in nearly every major Realm, save perhaps the COmbine? Thirdly, just because the numbers are high, does NOT mean they have that many units. It could be that they are creating new units, and not reusing destroyed command designations. That doesn't mean that's whats going on, but bear that in mind.

[Vampire]

I understand the part about them not reusing destroyed unit designation. Even raising new units, it would be that they've had the capabilities to equip up to over 100 over Divisions, all "somewhere out beyond the Fronc Ranches", if not he FR itself. Scary thought...

[Mariahsyn]

I believe that the MHB may be qualified to reply to this query as when he was the FWL Ambassador, he handled the Word of Blake. Honestly, the Word of Blake never had more than a handful of divisions on Terra and those were not Shadow Divisions. They have manufacturing resources through the FWL and more importantly, Gibson. There are also other former SLDF sites which ended up being instrumental in the Jihad Timeline.

Here is an interesting note that most people probably do not know: In canon, the Word of Blake and Comstar were both full voting members of the Star League. Is it any wonder they are upset at being attacked and kicked off Terra and out of the protectorate?

Also we must remember that canon estimates of Shadow Division Strength may be a bit small as it is now 3081. Another thing that we may want to keep in mind is that I have seen people number their cars with 3, 4 and 5 even tho they only have 3 cars. It makes them seem bigger if someone counts "171st Shadow Division" so there MUST be that many atleast, no?

I would seriously hope that the WoB does not end up like the clans, a favored whipping boy...

But that is just my two cents...

[First Insurgent]

Lieutenant General Ravenna Nelson, on 09 December 2009 - 07:59 AM, said:

I would seriously hope that the WoB does not end up like the clans, a favored whipping boy...

But that is just my two cents...

I just want to whip a little.. on them both

[Aleksei]

I think I'm pretty late to this discussion, but I'll toss my comments in anyway. I don't find it impossible that the WoB has divisions labled over the '100' number. In World War II, the U.S. Assembled an incredable number of divisions - over 100 for the army alone, and that was with only ONE planet to pull resources from....and only in 2 to 3 years.

The WoB has been around since, what, 3052 or 53? (I forget the specifics.) And they've been silently building forces spread all across the I.S. and Periphery. I think it's plausible, even with the losses they would have taken in the fighting on Earth, especially in 30 years.

That being said, why exactly are they fighting major nations? Wouldn't that just make them another 'successor' state, essentially? They're sinking down to the level of the states they claimed to be better than. How low the wisdom of Blake has fallen....

[Warclaw]

Aleksei, on 14 June 2010 - 09:30 AM, said:

That being said, why exactly are they fighting major nations? Wouldn't that just make them another 'successor' state, essentially? They're sinking down to the level of the states they claimed to be better than. How low the wisdom of Blake has fallen....

Fanatics of any stripe or ideology have never been overburdened with an excess of logic.

[Colonel Timothy Maddox]

They lost Terra in 3068, and most of their protectorate shortly thereafter. So other than in the FWL and periphery the blakists have been very splintered.

[Mariahsyn]

Allow me to explain the ideology behind the numbering thing... an ex bf of mine worked for a security company which had three patrol cars, but numbered them 3 7 and 9 in order to confuse potential clients as to their actual strength. It made them look bigger and in so doing made potential clients feel like they were safer because of it.

As for the WoB Jihad being defeated. I would dare to say this... They had no intention of attacking everyone until the Star League collapsed which removed them as a member. Yes, kids the Word of Blake were provisional members of the Star League and at that particular conference were supposed to be confirmed to the same status as Comstar. The Jihad was their rainy day scenario. (something Comstar liked a lot in the old days)

After the initial waves of the Jihad, a member of the WoB was quoted as saying "We may have over reacted a bit..."

[Colonel Timothy Maddox]

Lieutenant General Ravenna Nelson, on 14 June 2010 - 09:42 PM, said:

After the initial waves of the Jihad, a member of the WoB was quoted as saying "We may have over reacted a bit..."

Which of course at that point it was too late. You don't get to say "oopsie," and all is forgiven after so many atrocities. In fact in the dark age books there are several characters who had ancestors who were in or worked with the Blakists, who still to that day feel they have to atone for the sins of the Jihad.

[The Kid]

Quote

After the initial waves of the Jihad, a member of the WoB was quoted as saying "We may have over reacted a bit..."

Tharkad Survivor: "Gee, ya think?"

A note on WOB motivations: In the wake of the recent revelation of how the SLDF actually kicked the WOB off Terra in the BTM timeline, the very fact that everybody (up to and including the Clans) ganged up on them would methinks be enough to provoke nice, folksy level-headed people like Cameron St. Jamais and Precentor Apollyon into declaring war on everybody involved, 'cuz we just did the BTM timeline equivalent of Han Shot First!

This post has been edited by The Kid: 15 June 2010 - 12:44 PM

[Colonel Timothy Maddox]

The Kid, on 15 June 2010 - 08:37 AM, said:

Tharkad Survivor: "Gee, ya think?"

A note on WOB motivations: In the wake of the recent revelation of how the SLDF actually kicked the WOB off Terra in the BTM timeline, the very fact that everybody (up to and including the Clans) ganged up on them would methinks be enough to provoke nice, folksy level-headed people like Cameron St. Jamais and Precentor Apollyon into declaring war on everybody involved, 'cuz we just did the BTM timeline equivalent of Han Shot First!

Yet for the most part that didn't happen until the last 4 years IC. The Robes disappeared and operated in the background except for a few contracts here, or on worlds that were being retaken as I understand it.

[Presidential-Senator Ivan Vladimir]

Very intriguing...even in BTM the Toaster-Worshippers pose a significant threat.

[Marcus Näslund]

In canon the WOB is shattered and the survivors absorbed into ComStar in 3081. http://sarna.net/wiki/Word_of_Blake

Are we going to follow that in our own way?

[Galaxy Captain Anakin]

For now it's not planned that far, so it's still out there...

[Dee Jay Bishop]

Since there's been some question as to where all of the WoB gear has been coming from, the Deuces Wild have added an element to their current contract to answer a bit of that. Graham IV was once a major production planet, building weapons and even whole machines, like the Kanga hover tank and the Hellcat Aerospace fighter. However, it was nuked int he first wave of succession wars. It's mostly just shattered cities and demolished industrial complexes now.

Currently, the Deuces are working for a corporation on Graham IV and have discovered that WoB has secretly rebuilt some of the factories in the areas of the world that are reasonably safe (radiation wise). The Deuces have no idea how many sites there are or what all they produce, but there is some construction going on there.

Graham IV is very close to the old Word of Blake protectorate around Terra, though it was never formally part of such. It was a member of the FWL until the Star Leauge took control.

It all seems plausible to me. I hope no one takes offense to our two bit contribution to the story :-)