Journey into ACES: A Day One Campaign

 

 

The first ever solo/co-op campaign for BattleTech/Alpha Strike has finally dropped, and you bet your ass we ordered a copy the second our preferred vendor Aries Games & Miniatures had a stock notification sent out. And what a box it is. Might be the most popular box ever. Okay, I have no data to support that and I'm sure both the A Game of Armored Combat & Alpha Strike boxes (and probably Mercenaries) will be more long-term popular/profitable 'cause we've ordered multiples of each & will probably only order one Scouring Sands box (but then again, more Fulcrums & Thor IICs...) but I only exaggerate a little bit on how welcome an addition this is. Having spent a bunch of time playing solo/co-op Fallout Wasteland Warfare and appreciating their approach to an "AI" opponent via card responses to the current situation, I was eagerly awaiting this one from the moment it was announced. 

The campaign is a clash between mercenaries (you) hired by the Alyina Mercantile League, a merchant-led splinter from the Clan Jade Falcons left when Malvina Hazen headed for Terra, and the remains of CJF Epsilon Galaxy led by a Star Commander that doesn't understand the concept of "you ain't good enough, son." There are 22 scenarios total, though because it's a branching storyline depending on how each plays out, you won't run through all of these in one shot, adding to replayability. And, again, it's a solo/co-op experience so you can play it one way, then restart with one of your homies & have the campaign go entirely differently. Even if you have no homies (let me know, I'll come over, we got you), just switching up the composition of your forces can really change gameplay as well.

I won't belabor the contents or a full review of the box itself - there are a ton on YouTube already that go over everything in minute detail but I will say that everything in this box has been designed from the ground up to be a fantastic campaign experience. As far as the miniatures go, out of my 800+ metal IWMs, I didn't already own either of the aforementioned T'Bolt IIC or the Fulcrum, and them + all of the new versions of existing plastic minis are beautiful. 

Because it's an "Alpha Strike Cooperative Campaign," you do need the Alpha Strike box set, as some of the scenarios do expect you to have the cardstock buildings, but if you have the AS: Commanders Edition rulebook and a bunch of Hex Tech terrain, you could probably get by. However, if you -don't- have the AS box set, you should probably get it. Two or three copies even. You need more Warhawk Cs and Wraiths in your life. Because ACES provides the enemy force, you'll want something to field against them and the AS box gives you two solid lances of Inner Sphere 'Mechs to be your merc force start, with a Clan Star that could also work great as OmniMech salvage. And then if you were to also order the Mercenaries box to cover your vehicle needs, plus another two lances of IS 'Mechs, and theeeeeen also order the A Game of Armored Combat box for two MORE lances of IS 'Mechs, then the Clan Invasion box for a good alt Star of Clan opponents and THEN.... Okay, okay, you see where I'm going with this. Buy all the boxes, all the forcepacks, all the one offs like the Blood Asp, UrbanMech, and Savannah Masters that you can. Build battalions and clusters and regiments and galaxies. Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. 

Edit - I stand by my assertion on the AS:CE but the Alpha Strike box set -will- be your best bet since the tutorial and training sorties are built around the 'Mechs in the box, plus rules references are mostly made against the quick start book with the box. And the buildings are used in map designs. But if you're good with all of these points (and there are 3d prints equivalent to the box buildings), you're solid to play.

Buy them allllll.

Going into this, I knew that I was planning on keeping the minis intact, both for the purpose of the campaign itself, and because I'm already rocking a Jade Falcon force in plastic that I love, so all of these were set to be painted in Omega Galaxy (interestingly, 2nd Falcon Dragoons of Omega Galaxy are the last force as of 3145 listed as being on Apostica) colors, instead of Epsilon per the cover art. 

And then once the Jade Falcon & Alyina Mercantile League forcepacks drop (predicated on the K-Kon list remaining valid, no indication it isn't), that'll round out to two full Trinaries w/one of the Stars slightly reinforced (the point of Fulcrums). Because the scenarios in ACES are designed around unit roles, and not necessarily the specific 'Mechs or vees, you do have some flexibility in changing up some of your pieces, like if you wanted to use that Clan Star from the Alpha Strike Box set alongside the forces in this box, hint hint nudge nudge. 

There's a Highlander on the rulebook cover, for Kerensky's sake. 

To oppose the Falcons in the first run through, I made sure my Northwind Highlanders were locked, cocked, and ready to rock. You start your campaign with 400pts of forces, have to take at least 8 units, and you absolutely want to cover all of your movement profiles & weight class bases. Who knows what the campaign will throw at you. Further, you can only have two copies of one chassis type, and they have to be different versions of said chassis, so I could take two Highlanders (the IIC doesn't count with them, Highlander name but Clantech versions are different chassis types) if I did the HGN-732 and HGN-733 but could not take two HGN-732s. I also wanted to test myself to just use the Alpha Strike cards that come with the boxes and force packs, so no running to the official Master Unit List to pick and choose "the best" assets. Three companies of 'Mechs and one company of vees gave me some really good choices to pick through, so here's where I started;

Highlander IIC (58)
GUN-3ERD Gunslinger (49)
KGC-0000 King Crab (44)
BL-7-KNT Black Knight (34)
PTR-6T Penetrator (39)
STY-4C Starslayer (36)
WTH-1S Whitworth (25)
JLP-BD Jackalope (37)
SPR-6F Spector (37)
H-7C Warrior AHC (20)
Total - 379 pts
21 pts leftover converted to 840 SP for my early campaign needs.

My force, and yes, I will get paint on those last four.

Note - it is a bit metagaming to know what I'll potentially be facing and attempt to go with choices that can counter this, like taking anti-missile systems in anticipation of dealing with the Bane, so if I were setting this up for co-op, I'd probably pick half of the opposing force and let my teammate(s) pick the other half so that we don't know exactly what might be coming, or slot in a few other 'Mechs of each role type and randomly roll for which to use when a scenario calls for that role. I'd also most likely let them pick half of our force composition so it's a lot more "fog of war." But to make this as in-universe as possible, I didn't necessarily try to build the most optimized force, just grabbed things that I felt like my interpretation of the Highlanders would use if sending close to a company to The Hinterlands w/o knowing what they're getting into. And I've wanted an excuse to field more vees, especially VTOLs. 

Last step before finalizing the starting campaign force is "Named Pilots." Essentially these are going to be the warriors that you'll track improvements on. You need a minimum of two and can have up to six, but the recommendation is four. I thought that was an interesting thing 'cause why wouldn't you want the max? It's how the campaign flows though in that you -have- to give a portion of your SP earnings after each sortie to them so the more you have participating in each conflict, the less SP you'll have available for repairs and new unit purchases. This is balanced by them not being locked to a specific chassis, only a chassis type so your named MechWarriors can swap between any of those, any named vee pilot can move from tank to VTOL to hover no prob, etc. 

Captain Lynn "Foxfire" Scarlett will be leading the company, most often deployed in the Highlander IIC.
Lieutenant Rodney "Claymore" MacGregor will default into the Black Knight.
Lieutenant Ezekiel "Deep Impact" Chavez is, obviously, crewing the Penetrator. 
Lieutenant Chelle "Cryptid" Svensdottir hippity hopping across the way in the Jackalope. 

Campaign kicks off with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. 
Ope, that's Star Wars. 
Sortie 01: Meeting the Locals. 

I'll follow up to let you know how it goes. 

The Ultimate Redux - Unit Spotlight: Lyran Commonwealth

Decided that having mercenaries wasn't enough, time to tackle my lack of a Lyran Commonwealth/Alliance unit and my preferred method for doing so is to dust off some Tuatha de Danaan references & throw together a Donegal Guards batt, from the 17th Donegal Guards specifically  - a) because they have history from the Succession Wars to the ilClan era, b) because their nickname is "Cheshire Cats," and c) because they supported Vedet Brewer in his Dark Ages coup against the Steiners so whilst rated Questionable on loyalty, they also make sense for a Hinterlands Steiner force that can be swayed either way w/Brewer's new little breakaway realm. 

If you haven't been following my blogs long enough, I parenthesis items that I don't have but that are mostly integral to my build, especially considering no one is ever sure if the KerenskyKon roadmap from Randall is still 100% valid. Mostly given that things like the Black Remnant and Camancho's Caballeros packs have come out or been announced that weren't originally on that list. 

I'm hoping the Steiner FPs are solid though, and that if/when they release a plastic Fafnir, it holds pretty close to the current metal sculpt & doesn't sway into MechWarrior Online territory. Out of all the PGI designs, I probably hate that one the most. Them tiddy-gauss look terrible versus the FM:LA/TRO3067 breast-cannons

I'll update this as I go with a TO&E and pics of completed, when I have some completed, lmao.


Current build;
Assault
Atlas
Atlas
Banshee
(Fafnir)
(Fafnir)
Malice
Malice
Marauder II
Stalker
(Stalker)
Thunderhawk
(Zeus)
(Zeus)

Heavy
Crusader
(Crusader)
Marauder
(Night Gyr)
(Ostroc)
Penetrator
Thunderbolt

Medium
Cicada
Enforcer
Griffin
Hatchetman
(Rawhide)
Starslayer
Starslayer
(Thunder Fox)
(Uziel)

Light
(Black Lanner)
(Cougar)
(Kit Fox)
(Hollander)
(Hollander)
Spector
(Wolfhound)

Combat Vehicles
Sturmfeuer
Sturmfeuer
Von Luckner
Von Luckner
Demolisher
Demolisher
Condor
Condor
??
??
??
??

(Cat needs to release more vehicles)

Future Purchases Required;
Kell Hounds (Crusader*, Griffin DC, Nightsky GDL, Wolfhound*)
IS Fire (Stalker*, Longbow DC, Zeus*, Trebuchet FS)
Illician Lancers (Scarabus GDL, Ostroc*, Ostsol FS, Ostwar FWL)
Steiner 1 (Berserker GDL, Uziel*, Hollander*, Axman GDL)
Steiner 2 (Fafnir*, Thunder Fox*, Rawhide*, Zeus X*)

Additional Fafnir, additional Hollander, four Jade Falcon 'Mechs (Clan Fire Star, Clan Support Star - Kit Fox, Cougar, Black Lanner, Night Gyr), battalion done.

Meow Meow, Meow Meow Meow - Unit Spotlight: Clan Nova Cat

I was never a huge CNC fan, but their Spirit Cat offshoots really grew on me after I read "Target of Opportunity," as the first MechWarrior Dark Ages novel I picked up. Then the much-maligned Pardoe wrote Forever Faithful and the Nova Cat inclusion to the Smoke Jaguar "redemption arc" really kinda resonated with me. So here we are, the last Clan I needed to throw a force together for to cover all of the original Invading Clans.


Clan Nova Cat Delta Galaxy/Spirit Cats, Purifier Cluster
Unit Commander - Star Colonel Cox Devalis
Aide de Camp - Star Captain Orville Delaportas
Location - Clan Protectorate

Black Stallions
Alpha Quest Star
Regent Prime - Star Captain Orville Delaportas
Gargoyle
Gargoyle
Nova Cat
(Nova Cat)

Beta Quest Star
Coyotl D - Star Commander Franks
(Huntsman)
Ice Ferret
Viper
Arctic Cheetah

Gamma Quest Star
Shadow Cat I - Star Commander Kaiza
Wendigo B
Wendigo B
Wendigo B
Kit Fox T

Pouncers
Command Star
(Warhammer IIC) - Star Colonel Cox Devalis
Hellbringer
Mad Dog
Bane
Hammerhead

Bravo Star
Grizzly
Griffin IIC
Griffin IIC
Shadow Hawk IIC
Shadow Hawk IIC

Charlie Star
(Bakeneko) - Star Commander Jax Nostra
Jenner IIC
Jenner IIC
Locust IIC
Locust IIC

Finders of the Lost - Unit Spotlight: Scorpion Empire

2025 Update - When I said, originally in a "Building a Unit" post, that I didn't have much in the way of tan/beige going on, that was prior to painting a portion of my Com Guard in a chocolate chip cookie desert pattern, and prior to painting Alpha Galaxy of Clan Blood Spirit (plus Iota Galaxy uses a tan-ish base) so I decided, instead, to go a little darker and make this a CGS Chi Galaxy/Scorpion Empire Seeker Galaxy force, probably First Scorpion Seekers. And I'm doing it all in plastic since the original BaU post I'd made years ago was pre-CGL revitalization. Most of what I have in mind is already available, ProtoMechs are coming out soon, and I might also do some Word of Blake stuff per the MUL. As an excuse to have Celestials in a Clan force under their Caelestis mixed-tech configs.

I'll be building this a bit more organically than I did in the BaU entry, starting with at least one Binary of -C or -OR variant Inner Sphere 'Mechs, either from things the Scorpions are currently making, or "modern" C designs purchased from the Wolf Empire by way of the Sea Foxes.

Colors - Black prime, Rough Iron (APF) base coat, Daemonic Yellow (APF) paneling, Eternal Hunt (APF) "dueling" weapon, Troglodyte Blue (APF) cockpits, no wash.

First Scorpion Seekers, Seeker (fmr Chi) Galaxy

Unit Commander - Star Colonel Qelli Kirov
Aide de Camp -
Location - Bremen, Scorpion Empire (fmr Hanseatic League)

Alpha Seeker Star
Blood Asp - SCol Qelli Kirov
Warhawk
EMP-6A Emperor Nerran (6A-EC otherwise)
Cyclops C
Goliath C

Bravo Seeker Star
Warhammer C
Grizzly
Griffin C
Blackjack C
Stinger C

Evolution in Parallel

 

There are many, many storied units in BattleTech lore & history, but one of the objectively coolest is the Royal Black Watch Regiment. Inspired by the real-world Scottish unit, the RBWR was formed alongside and/or patterned after the Northwind Highlanders. It became the bodyguard unit of the First Lord of the Star League, and would continue to recruit the best & brightest of the Highlanders throughout its existence.

When Stefan Amaris and his Rim Worlds Republic launched their coup and assassinated Richard Cameron in 2766, it was the Black Watch that was first to fight him, which ultimately led to the bulk of the unit being wiped out in a nuclear attack after they bitch smacked the taste out of the mouths of the Fourth Amaris Dragoons for far longer than they should have been able to.

Two weeks before the coup, the last commander of the unit, Colonel Hanni Schmitt, and several senior advisors met with Richard Cameron to share their concerns over the rising influence of Amaris, Unfortunately, Cameron chose to dismiss these concerns and ultimately had the leaders removed from his presence, fatally weakening the protection around him. It was Schmitt that lead personally led the Black Watch battalion against the Dragoons, sealing her fate in the blast.

That was not to be the end of the RBWR, however. Captain Elizabeth Hazen, along with four other members of the unit, escaped the destruction and formed a guerilla band called the Ghosts of the Black Watch. She led hit & run tactics, harassing the occupying Rim Worlds forces until General Aleksandr Kerensky and the Star League Defense Force could make it to Terra to avenge the fallen First Lord. Additionally, Schmitt's granddaughter Colleen, who had been raised on the ideals of the Black Watch, was herself an active member of the resistance to Amaris, linking up with the SLDF troops as they landed on Terra and providing first hand intelligence on targets of opportunity.

After the Liberation of Terra and the dissolution of the Star League by the remaining Great Houses, Kerensky would lead 85% of the SLDF and millions of civilians on his Exodus, which would ultimately culminate in his son Nicholas founding the Clans. Captain Hazen would eventually become the first Khan of Clan Jade Falcon, whilst Colleen Schmitt would be the first Khan of Clan Blood Spirit. In diametrically opposed movements, the Jade Falcons would become more antagonistic against Nicholas Kerensky when he chose to mingle his bloodline with Clan Wolf, whereas the Spirits, named for the espirit de corps that held together the first Clan warriors, would follow Kerensky's word as if it were the word of God Himself. It wasn't until the annihilation of Clan Wolverine that this situation would reverse when the Falcons would fall in line (after their own house cleaning known as The Culling) and the Blood Spirits would become more withdrawn after their censure for showing any sort of support for Clan Wolverine.

Meanwhile, back in the Inner Sphere, the Northwind Highlanders had become a mercenary force with the dissolution of the Star League. Maintaining their ties to the clan elders (descended from the Scottish Highland clans, not to be confused with Kerensky's clans), the unit took long term employment with the Capellan Confederation, and served admirably. They were one of the few units after Wolfs Dragoons arrival in the Inner Sphere to fight and defeat their famous Zeta Battalion.

That last until Hanse Davion launched the 4th Succession War and set out to cripple the CapCon. Offering Northwind independence, the Highlanders fought a brief conflict against themselves before accepting Davion's proposal.

Then the Clans invaded. I won't belabor to much there, except that Clan Jade Falcon was one of the Invader Clans, whilst Clan Blood Spirit (to a warrior elite as heck, but too small and with too little territory) was left back in the Clan Homeworlds. A descendant of Hanni Schmitt, Khan Karianna Schmitt does name a tank, the Morrigu, after the Schmitt Welsh legacy.

During House Liao's Operation Guerrero in 3057, Sun Tzu Liao would send Loren Jaffrey to the Northwind Highlanders. Jaffrey was a Capellan Death Commando whose grandfather had been a Highlander that chose to stay loyal to the CapCon during the 4th SW. Sun Tzu intended for Jaffrey to destroy the Highlanders from within but instead, he became a valued member of the unit, chosen to lead the Northwind Hussars after fighting against Clan Smoke Jaguar on Wayside in 3058 (pretty sure this is the same world that birthed The Fidelis several years later). The same year, the Second Star League was born and plans to destroy Clan Smoke Jaguar came together. The Highlanders were part of Task Force Serpent, the force sent to wipe out the Smoke Jags on their capitol of Huntress, in 3059.

Unknown to anyone until that point, the Highlanders had rebuilt the Black Watch Regiment in secret, and Captain Neil Campbell used the Huntress campaign to prove themselves to the new Star League. Using the vaunted RBWR insignia, the Highlanders enraged Clan Smoke Jaguar warriors who saw them as nothing more than pretenders to the title, ultimately causing a large portion of the force to be destroyed. But they prevailed, and upon returning to the Inner Sphere, the Black Watch once again become the First Lord's bodyguard unit.

This lasted until the Jihad, where the Black Watch was effectively destroyed as a combat unit at Dieron in 3069. Being the BAMFs that they are though, not even the Word of Blake could stop them, and Loren Jaffrey led the survivors of the unit to rescue Hohiro Kurita, heir to the Draconis Combine, from a Blakist prison on Dieron, once again reigniting the legend of the Ghosts of the Black Watch. The Word's Opacus Venatori, led by Precentor Berith, hunted the unit relentlessly, but it took until 3074 for them to finally catch up and kill Jaffrey, once again ending the Black Watch for a time.

Meanwhile, the Clan Homeworlds experienced the Wars of Reaving, a frenzied serious of conflicts that had started with resource grabbing in the wake of the Smoke Jaguars demise and that culminated in the death or exile of all but four Clans. Among the dead were the Blood Spirits, finally meeting their end in 3085 after two decades of fighting hard against Clan Star Adder. The Jade Falcons, on the other hand, would survive and thrive in their Inner Sphere holdings for several more decades...

The Jihad ended with the Blakest threat eliminated, and a new nation, the Republic of the Sphere, formed around Terra amongst the worlds once occupied by the Word of Blake, and that were once the heart of the Star League. The Northwind Highlanders were one of the first units to wholesale pledge their loyalty to this Republic, serving faithfully until the Republic's end...

Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf battled the remains of the Republic's military on Terra, and once that was completed, fought each other for the right to be declared the ilClan, the Clan above all others. Wolf would ultimately win, gutting the Jade Falcon military. The survivors returned to Elizabeth Hazen's roots, forming the bodyguard unit of Alaric Steiner-Davion-Ward, the ilKhan, the First Lord of the Third Star League, and Khan of Clan Wolf. Countess Tara Campbell, nominal ruler of Northwind and leader of the Highlanders, was taken as a bondsman of Clan Wolf, but given over to the Jade Falcons to be their conscience, bringing the existence of the Royal Black Watch Regiment almost full circle.

With Tara a part of the Clan-led Star League, the role of Countess Northwind has fallen to her sister, Arabell Campbell-Stewart, with the 1st Kearney Highlanders fully reconstituted and led by Cadha Jaffrey. The Northwind Highlanders as a whole have returned to their mercenary status, recently (3151) hiring on with the Duke of Tybalt, Loren Hansen, the commander of Hansen's Roughriders, and have met Clan Jade Falcon in limited battle during a recon raid on the planet Caph.

So... It's just kinda interesting watching 40 years of BattleTech history play itself out through a dozen line developers and numerous different authors. I glossed over some points, obviously, but I find it really interesting that the Northwind Highlanders are one of my favorite mercenary units in the Lore, and that Clan Blood Spirit has been my favorite Clan since I started in the 90s, even if I play Wolf in the current era more. It's those little ties like this that made me fall in love with BattleTech in the first place.

Masters of War - Unit Spotlight: Federated Suns

3rd Crucis Lancers

Promised myself I'd never do this, but I lie to me. And in my green phase, I came up with the below. My thought process here was that as a unit constantly referred to as "Medium Weight" or "Medium-Heavy" composition, I'd essentially break my companies down into a 1-5-5-1 format, or average 1 Assault, 5 Heavy, 5 Medium, 1 Light per company. It's still up in the air if I'll add a 10th/command lance, but if I do, I'll change my average just a little by building a TL 1-1-1-1 in there. Total would be 3A, 15H, 15M, 3L or 4A, 16H, 16M, 4L depending. Or I may adjust and go to a 4-14-14-4 if I don't do a command lance & then add back those two heavies and two mediums at a later date if so. We shall see, we shall see.

Eh, I gave them a couple Clan 'Mechs and we'll call it done at one full battalion, no command lance.

Unit Commander - Major Poopypants Fancyname
Aide de Camp - Captain Nofun Notatall
Location - Somewhere on the Cappie border, it's all hush-hush

Detachment Assaults (Max 3/4) 4
BattleMaster
Devastator
Sagittaire
Templar

Detachment Heavies (Max 15/16) 13
Battle Axe
Warhammer
Thunderbolt NAIS
Caesar
JagerMech
JagerMech
Axman
Thanatos
Falconer
Argus
Argus
Timberwolf
Rifleman

Detachment Mediums (Max 15/16) 15
Blackjack
Blackjack
Chameleon
Centurion
Clint
Dervish
Dervish
Enforcer
Enforcer
Hellspawn
Hermes D
Legionnaire
Shadow Cat
Trebuchet
Whitworth

Detachment Lights (Max 3/4) 4
Gunsmith
Horned Owl
Spector
Valkyrie

Soldiers of Fortune United - Unit Spotlight: Mercenaries

Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers

Citizens honored, the Fourth is -technically- more or less a Liao line unit now, but I still like to consider them a mercenary force in the same sense that ilClan-era Big Mac is; yeah, they were mercs, then became House, but who knows what the future will hold?

Unit Commander - Sang-shao Shelly Jax
Aide de Camp -
Location - Sian

Battalion Command Lance
EMP-6L Emperor
TNZ-N1 Tian-zong
ARC-7L Archer
VTR-10L Victor
Shilone ASF
Shilone ASF

1st Company Command Lance
DVS-3 Devastator
HGN-732 Highlander
THG-11Eb Thug
QKD-8K Quickdraw
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

1st Company Fire Lance
CPLT-C4C Catapult
CPLT-C4C Catapult
VND-4L Vindicator
RFL-7M Rifleman
Manticore
Manticore

1st Company Light Lance
CN9-YLW2 Centurion
RVN-4Lr Raven
SDR-7K Spider
STG-6L Stinger
Maxim
Maxim

2nd Company Command Lance
CP-11-G Cyclops
HEL-4A Helios
LGB-12 Longbow
DRG-5K Grand Dragon
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

2nd Company Battle Lance
MLN-1C Merlin
LNC25-01 Lancelot
PXH-4L Phoenix Hawk
VT-5M Vulcan
Manticore
Manticore

2nd Company Light Lance
TR2 Wraith
MON-66b Mongoose
SDR-7K Spider
OTT-11J Ostscout
Maxim
Maxim

3rd Company Command Lance
PLG-4Z Pillager
PLG-4Z Pillager
TNZ-N1 Tian-zong
OSR-4L Ostroc
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

3rd Company Battle Lance
GLT-8D Guillotine
OTL-7M Ostsol
CN10-D Centurion
BJ-3 Blackjack
Vedette
Vedette

3rd Company Urban Lance
FRB-2E Firebee
SDR-7K Spider
FS9-C Firestarter
UM-R100 UrbanMech
Vedette
Vedette

Grey Death Legion

C'mon, it's the "first" mercenary unit, if you read BattleTech novels in release order. I'm not 100% attached to the unit from the original trilogy, though I did enjoy them, but I am for sure digging them in the ilClan era as part of a Hinterlands campaign. They might convince me to do a 21st Centauri Lancers as well to go along with them, or a Tamar-inspired unit as an homage to the old Pact worlds. Plus, I needed a place to keep chucking Bushwackers since Catalyst seems to love adding them to Force Packs I'd otherwise purchase heavily, & Ronan Carlisle did pilot a Guantlet (OmniMech Bushwacker) originally so it felt natural to have one per company.

Unit Commander - Ronan Carlisle
Aide de Camp - Bel Carlisle
Location - Hinterlands (ilClan Era)

Detachment Assaults
Atlas
Banshee
Gargoyle
Malice
Nightstar
Regent
Stalker
Thunderhawk
Ymir
Zeus

Detachment Heavies
Archer
Axman
Catapult
Marauder
Rifleman
Warhammer

Detachment Mediums
Bushwacker
Bushwacker
Bushwacker
Enforcer
Griffin
Sentinel
Shadowhawk
Starslayer
Starslayer

Detachment Lights
Commando
Wasp
Wolfhound
Wolfhound

Jack's Unit

I originally painted a lance for the kid, as a Christmas thing. Then, leading up to his birthday, I did one or two more a week and added them to his shelves to see if he'd even notice. After, I got a case that held 24 miniatures and figured, eh, why not build a double-company merc force. Other members of the 357th ID use them much more than he does, but they're there if/when he gets the urge.

Unit Commander - Unknown
Aide de Camp - Unknown
Location - Unknown

Force Command Lance
Marauder II
Atlas
Zeus
Quickdraw

1st Company Bravo Lance
Stalker
Shadowhawk
Trebuchet
Valkyrie

1st Company Charlie Lance
Phoenix Hawk
Bushwacker
Blackjack
Locust

2nd Company Command Lance
Atlas II
Thunderhawk
Mackie
Banshee

2nd Company Bravo Lance
Warhammer
Axman
Hatchetman
Nightsky

2nd Company Charlie Lance
Phoenix Hawk "Special"
Wolfhound
Firestarter
Javelin

Khaos Chevaliers

"We're all just one bad day away from shitting in a bucket." - Major Tessa Weissler

I once drank a can of Monster Khaos. The old style can, black with orange lettering, not the new orange cans. And I thought to myself "self, that is a GREAT color scheme. You should make a merc unit that color. AND you should make them former members of the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces who sided with Katherine and skipped out before Victor could mess with their stuff too much." So here we are!

Unit Commander - Major Tessa Weissler
Aide de Camp - Captain Mikael Meinhardt
Location - Magistracy of Canopus

First Company Command Lance
Mad Cat Mk II: Major Tessa Weissler
ZEU-9WD Zeus:
BLR-4S BattleMaster:
MAD-9S Marauder:

First Company Fire Lance
LGB-14C LongBow:
ARC-7S Archer:
CBR-02 Cobra:
GRF-6CS Griffin:

First Company Recon Lance
Wolfhound IIC:
VLK-QD3 Valkyrie
SVR-S7KK Silverfox
FLS-S7KK Flashfire

First Company Specialist Infantry Support
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad

Second Company Command Lance
FNR-5 Fafnir: Captain Mikael Meinhardt
IMP-4E Imp:
HBK-5S Hunchback:
CN-10FJ Centurion: 

Second Company Support Lance
WVR-9D Wolverine:
HCT-5S Hatchetman:
ENF-6T Enforcer III:
BZK-F5 Hollander II

Second Company Light Defense Lance
UZL-2S Uziel:
BTZ-3F Blitzkrieg
GRM-01B Garm
SCB-9T2 "Samurai" Scarabus

Second Company Specialist Armor Lance
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank

Kuroi Kaze - The Black Wind

Unit Commander - Tai-sa Shiro "Fenris" Takeda
Aide de Camp - Chu-i Isamu "Firestorm" Dyson
Executive Officer - Chu-sa Mai "Kitsune" Takeda
Aide de Camp -
Chief Technician - Sho-ko Tim "Shiloh" Bayne
Location - Unknown

Regimental Command "Werewolf" Lance

MAD-6KK Marauder II: Tai-sa Shiro "Fenris"Takeda

FNR-5X Fafnir:
CLS-S7KK Tetsubo/Colossus: Chu-i Isamu "Firestorm" Dyson

TYM-2A Toyama:

1st Battalion "Takeda's Talons"
1st Battalion Command "Harpy" Lance

Mad Cat Mk II: Chu-sa Mai "Kitsune" Takeda

Daishi/Dire Wolf K:
Marauder IIC:
Highlander IIC:

1st Battalion/1st Company

1st Company Command Lance
TN-10-O Tenshi: Tai-i
SD1-OA Sunder:
AV1-OG Avatar:
AVL-10B Avalanche:

Second Lance

DRG-9KC Grand Dragon: Chu-i
NJT-3 Ninja-To:
HTM-28T Hatamoto-Chi:
DRG-7K Dragon:

Third Lance

Crimson Langur Prime: Chu-i
Rabid Coyote:
Ha Otoko:
RDS-2A Red Shift

1st Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
TSH-7S Tai-sho: Tai-i
AKU-2XK Akuma
AS7-C Atlas
VTR-9C Victor

Second Lance
BLR-K3 BattleMaster: Chu-i
WVR-8C Wolverine
WHM-8K Warhammer
NJT-4 Ninja-to

Third Lance
TSN-C3M Tessen: Chu-i
SDR-7KC Spider
JR7-C Jenner
JR7-C Jenner

1st Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Command Lance
OR-2I Orochi: Tai-i
OR-2I Orochi
BMB-1X Bombard
OSP-26 Osprey

Second Lance
OBK-M10 O-Bakemono: Chu-i
DRG-11R Dragon II
CPLT-C5 Catapult
RVN-4L Raven

Third Lance
EMP-6L Emperor: Chu-i
ARC-7L Archer
SYU-2B Sha Yu
RVN-4L Raven

2nd Battalion "Barton's Bloodsuckers"
2nd Battalion Command "Vampire"Lance
OBK-M12 O-Bakemono: Sho-sa Hilde Barton
AKU-2X Akuma
AKU-2X Akuma
MAD-4K2 Marauder II

2nd Battalion/1st Company
1st Company Command Lance
BRZ-A3 Berserker: Tai-i
NDA-1K No-Dachi
NDA-1K No-Dachi
NDA-1K No-Dachi

Second Lance
SH-2P Shiro/Tonbo-Giri: Chu-i Katsu "Yojimbo" Honda
TSG-9J Ti Ts'ang
SP1-X Spatha/Ko-Dachi
MS-1A Mortis

Third Lance
SA-RN7 Ronin: Chu-i
GUR-2G Gurkha
BCN-3R Buccaneer
VLN-3T Valiant

2nd Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
MAD-4S Marauder II: Tai-i
SGT-8R Sagitaire
TDR-10SE Thunderbolt
MAD-93 Marauder

Second Lance
VQR-5V Vanquisher: Chu-i
GOL-4S Goliath
HGN-738 Highlander
STK-8S Stalker

Third Lance
Y-H10G Yu Huang: Chu-i
HUR-WO-R40 Huron Warrior
NSR-9J Nightstar
DGR-4F Dragon Fire

2nd Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Command Lance
TN-10-O Tenshi: Tai-i
HTM-30S Hatamoto-Suna
CRD-5K Crusader
BHKU-OC Black Hawk-KU

Second Lance
LGC-01 Legacy: Chu-i
MR-6B Cerberus
LGH-6W Lightray
INI-04 Initiate

Third Lance
AS7-CM Atlas: Chu-i
MAD-9M2 Marauder
PKP-1B Peacekeeper
MAL-3R Mauler

3rd Battalion "Shimazu's Soulstealers"
3rd Battalion Command "Demon" Lance
EMP-6L Emperor: Sho-sa Yoshihida Shimazu
TDR-7S Thunderbolt
MAD-4X Marauder
BNC-7S Banshee

3rd Battalion/1st Company
1st Company Command Lance
BL-X-KNT Black Knight: Tai-i
SQS-TH-002 Sasquatch/Aegis
WER-LF-005 Werewolf/Okami Otoko
RK-4K Rokurokobi

Second Lance
RFL-6X Rifleman: Chu-i
GRF-6S Griffin
PXH-7S Phoenix Hawk
CN9-D Centurion

Third Lance
WVR-9W Wolverine: Chu-i
WVR-9W Wolverine
WFT-B Wolf Trap/Tora
SHD-7CS Shadow Hawk

3rd Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
SD1-OA Sunder: Tai-i
DAI-01 Daikyu
BKN-1K Bakeneko
DMO-4K Daimyo

Second Lance
HSN-8E Hellspawn: Chu-i
STH-2D Stealth
NGS-6S Nightsky
CLN-7Z Chameleon

Third Lance
STO-4A Stiletto: Chu-i
MON-86 Mongoose
RTX1-OF Raptor
UM-R80 UrbanMech

3rd Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Company Lance
ANH-4A Annihilator: Tai-i
ON2-M Orion
HTM-28T Hatamoto-chi
JM7-F JagerMech

Second Lance
WVR-9M Wolverine: Chu-i
GRF-5K Griffin
HBK-5SG Hunchback
BSW-S1 Bushwacker

Third Lance
GUR-2G Gurkha
OTT-11J OstScout
OTT-11J OstScout
STG-5T Stinger

Specialist Detachments
Kage Squad x 4
Void Squad x 4

Northwind Highlanders

When the bagpipes hit in "Dune" and you're like "ATREIDEEEES!" but in BattleTech. I've been a fan of them more for the Dark Ages appearances than anything else. In the Jihad, when they were "blockaded," I always wondered if they truly were cut off or if they helped the Word at first & were later ashamed of all the war crimes. Either way, great for any Chaos March or ilClan campaigns. And might become my "main" Inner Sphere force.

Unit Commander - Count Campbell
Aide de Camp - Viscount Not-Campbell
Location - Northwind
Battalion Command Lance
Highlander
Highlander
Penetrator
King Crab

1st Company Fire Lance
Cyclops
OstSol
Lament 
Whitworth

1st Company Scout Lance
Jackalope
Jackalope
Stinger
Mercury

2nd Company Command Lance
Highlander
Emperor
Helios
Black Knight

2nd Company Battle Lance
Gunslinger
Spartan
Caesar
Hatchetman

2nd Company Striker Lance
Spector
Starslayer
Flea
Flea

3rd Company Command Lance
Highlander IIC
Rifleman IIC
Shadowhawk IIC
Griffin IIC

3rd Company Battle Lance
Lament
Axman
Exterminator
Chameleon

3rd Company Scout Lance
Jenner IIC
Jenner IIC
Locust IIC
Locust IIC

Armor Platoon Alpha
SM1 Tank Destroyer
Maxim
Warrior H-8
Warrior H-8

Armor Platoon Bravo
Drillson
Drillson
Drillson
Drillson

Armor Platoon Charlie
Ontos
Ontos
Bulldog
Bulldog

Rachel's Unit

She made some of the prettiest painted 'Mechs I e'er did see.

Unit Commander - Unknown
Aide de Camp - Unknown
Location - Unknown

Detachment Assaults
DVS-2 Devastator
MAL-1K Mauler
CGR-5S Charger
CGR-5S Charger

Detachment Heavies
CES-4R Caesar
WHM-9D Warhammer
DRG-7N Dragon

Detachment Mediums
GLD-4R Gladiator
DV-8D Dervish
GRF-6S Griffin

Detachment Lights
SPR-5S Spector
JVN-11A Javelin

Snord's (Really) Irregulars

Originally my plan was to do an Overwatch MEKA themed force, but once I got the first couple 'Mechs painted, I realized it was more a Char Aznable scheme than an OW one. If you're gonna do pink, just really do it. Canonicity be darned, I'm using this as a Snord force, once I add a Highlander.

Unit Commander - Commander Snord
Aide de Camp - Subcommander Not-Snord
Location - Hinterlands

Detachment Assaults