Jaded Mandarin Affair

The Jaded Mandarin Controversy is a military procurement controversy which affected the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces between 3130 and 3152. The end result of this controversy led to a massive purge of the Capellan military industrial complex leadership and certainly contributed to the defeat of the Capellan Confederation in the Capellan – Star League War.

Laxism in production

The Capellan Confederation was, for most of the Republic Era, untouchable. Having not complied with most of the Republic’s decrees, their military was massive, their troops well drilled and highly motivated. Attacks against the Confederation were limited and retaliated against with the full force of the CCAF.

While this would normally be a good thing, rampant nepotism, corruption and laissez-faire in the military industrial complex of the Confederation began rearing its head. Ceres Metals Industries was the prime culprit in this affair, with politically appointed “mandarins” took charge of the production lines rather than skilled project managers. Most of these political appointees were more interested in padding their bank accounts and growing their circle of friends than providing proper equipment to the CCAF.

The first round of issues came after Federated Suns units captured several “new machines”, generally built by Ceres or using Ceres parts. A lot of the lasers and particle weapons on the new ‘mechs were not “built up to snuff”, especially the extended range ones. While not all weapon systems were affected, a good third of them generated the same heat as an extended range weapon but lacked its increased range. Pulse weaponry was also affected, with, again, about a third of them being not as accurate as standard ones.

The Duchy of Andurien was the next one to notice issues with Capellan machines, namely with their Streak SRM weapons. Roughly one in six Streak SRM lacked the advanced guidance system required for them, while still requiring the same space. Requesting replacement parts from Ceres for their newly minted machines, the Andurien Defense Force was denied. The resulting lawsuit was settled out of court with a massive payment and no additional publicity.

New ‘mechs having issues

Replacing simple components like weapons was not much of an issue for most of those affected, even though it incurred costs. Unfortunately for many, the Jaded Mandarin Affair did not end there. Things kept spiralling out of control as the mandarins kept trying to cut corners as much as possible. A lot of the Stealth Armor produced past 3140 was defective as the heat-buffers were simply failing, making the ‘mechs using it heat up while providing no benefits. MechWarriors warned their commanding officers, but unfortunately, a lot of them were also “in on the game” and cashing rather large cheques to use to liquidate the poor-quality equipment.

Two sets of machines were most affected by this, namely the Vindicators 7L and the Gùn . Billed as a new support omnimech for garrisons and infantry support, the Gùn was never meant to be a top of the line design by Ceres, but a reliable platform nonetheless. Where the problem started was when roughly half of them were shipped as “standard battlemechs” rather than omnimechs to various second-line units. Many commanders did not know any better when getting their new equipment, but this became apparent especially during the Capellan – Star League War, as those second-tier units were deployed to counter Clan Wolf advances.

The next series of issues with the Vindicator 7L were discovered when Liao officers, against the command of the CCAF, brought their brand new “reliable and tough” Vindicators to Flanagan’s Repair and Refits, in the Aurigan Trade Alliace. There, Captain Etienne Siroix (nd: How did I get roped in this?) discovered that a significant amount of these ‘mechs, which boasted using reinforced chassis and heavy ferro-fibrous, were actually built on an industrial ‘mech-grade chassis, combined with sub-par armor plates. Commanding officers asked for explanations, which Siroix replied with “Well, you’re getting screwed by your supplier.” This quote went from the bottom of the command stack all the way up to Daoshen Liao.

Catastrophic Results

The Chancellor heard of this whole affair in early 3152, as he was planning his war against the “rambunctious puppies on Terra”. While most “front line units” and warrior houses had already resolved their issues by replacing their equipment, many commanders were still affected by the roughshod gear provided to them. The CCAF high command attempted to shift the blame to Ceres, who shifted the blame to local producers, who shifted the blame to their own upper management. The insanity of the situation reached the Marik Free Press, which widely advertised it as the “Jaded Mandarin Controversy”. This was quickly picked up by the Lyran People’s Press, who depicted the situation in an ever more negative manner as a propaganda puff piece for the Lyran MIC (especially Defiance). The scandal spiralled out of control with a political cartoon depicting Daoshen Liao giving pre-spaceflight weapons to soldiers facing hungry wolves while a group of mandarins were counting their money in the corner, published by the Robinson Register.

The intersideral press, combined with the potential massive issues with his armed forces, forced Daoshen Liao to take drastic measures. Over the course of 9 months, 128 officials were executed, some of them in rather crazy fashion. One such mandarin was fired, from a cannon, into the sun, as an example. Hundreds of complicit military officers were demoted or sent to penal regiments. The entire leadership of Ceres Metal Industries was put under massive investigation, with Maskirovka officers now overseeing all meetings.

Aftermath

One of the result of this situation was the stoppage in production of the Vindicator 7L, replaced by the new Maganac Customizable Frame. A full stoppage in production of the Gùn, with the basic design being reworked into both a standard battlemech and new omnimech, the Dao. The level of corruption and nepotism in the Capellan Confederation this scandal revealed went further, however, as many other companies and organizations began internal investigations.

This scandal and its effects very likely contributed to the defeat of the CCAF in the Capellan – Star League War, especially as equipment of poor manufacture were still used on the front lines on Sirius. The loss in motivation by the CCAF troops was also significant, leading to defections to the Rimward Alliance and Duchy of Andurien. The scandal was said to contribute to the failing mental health of Daoshen Liao, which took a turn for the worse after the death of his sister, Danai Liao.

Game effect

If playing in Vengeance and using optional rules, here are the effects of the Jaded Mandarin Affair.

When using quirks, all ‘mechs built in the Capellan Confederation have a 50% chance (1-3 on a D6)to gain Ramshackle and a 50% chance (1-3 on a D6) to gain Poor Workmanship.

Any ‘mech produced in that period armed with an ER PPC or laser has a 33% chance (1-2 on a D6) of the weapon behaving like a standard weapon instead, but still generating the heat of an ER weapon.

Any ‘mech produced in that period armed with pulse or x-pulse lasers has a 33% chance (1-2 on a D6) to only give a -1 to-hit bonus to attack roll rather than the standard -2.

Any Streak SRM launcher on a ‘mech produced in that period has a 16% (1 on a D6) chance of behaving like a regular SRM launcher.

Any ‘mech produced in that period using Stealth armor has a 16% (1 on a D6) chance of having the armor not be functional, outside of generating extra heat when activated.

A fully replaced equipment by a group of skilled technicians, using proper parts, resolves these issues.

Vindicators 7L have a 33% (1-2 on a D6 roll) to have an industrial ‘mech chassis rather than Reinforced structure.

Any Gùn have a 50% (1-3 on a D6 roll) to not be an omnimech.

These machine cannot be “fixed” without replacing core components of the machine.