ISP

ISP

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Strength Through Diversity - Unit Spotlight: Free Worlds League

House Marik has always been seriously hit or miss, in my opinion. Starting play during the 3rd SW, 3025 style, they'd already had an interesting moment in the Marik Civil War, and were still a few years away from the post-4th Succession War Andurien-Canopian invasion of Liao-space. The War of 3039 didn't really have anything to do with them, the Clans never touched their territory and one wouldn't be blamed for assuming that the writers had forgotten all about them had the Marik-Liao Offensive of 3057 not occurred.

At the same time, they were the first employer of the Kuroi Kaze, Thomas Marik was an interesting character (the real and the fake), and their aid both to the Houses fighting the Clans & then to the nascent Word of Blake, the result of the latter being a huge boon to their WarShip naval fleets, put them back on the radar.

The thing that I think causes this the most is that the Free Worlds League lacks a "defining cultural characteristic" as it were. Whilst no other faction is entirely monolithic in their background, there's the common perception of "Kurita is Japan, Steiner is Germany, Liao is China, Davion is Great Britain," etc. Marik is, at best, Greece and France rolled up, depending on who you ask. Moreso than any other of the five Great Houses, the Free Worlds League is defined by its member states and their individual flavor instead of one general concept.

The 19th Marik Militia, like most MM units, is built on this idea of individual member-states contributing to the common good. Owing loyalty to the League itself, with a heavy amount of fidelity to the Captain-General, they rise above internal politics in defense of the realm. My first 'Mech in MM colors was a Phoenix Hawk gifted to Tiffy. I think I did a white prime before using the purple base coat, or I used a lighter blue. In any case, this round is a bit darker in pics but is a really lovely scheme on the table top. Planeswalker names used as head canon placeholders.

As I mentioned Marik being the Kuroi Kaze's first employer, had to add a Regulan Hussars regiment. Whilst the 4th RH is where they were attached for logistics, I went with the 1st RH instead, as I've always enjoyed the paint scheme on CamoSpecs.  The Principality of Regulus is the polar opposite of how the Marik Militia's act - a perpetual thorn in the side of House Marik, and other League reps, as well as rabidly anti-Word of Blake, the Regulans went apeshit at the end of the Jihad and were responsible for the death of the Circinus Federation. In their defense, Apollyon came hard at them first, and that whole murdering women & children thing didn't go over well. I used the two company list from "Building a Unit - Lance Packs" as my basis, changed the 1st Company/Battalion command lance from the 3085 lance pack (I mostly tacked it on in the first place, it doesn't really thematically say FWL to me), edited where I felt the need for a more Regulan feel, and added a 3rd company, almost completely built from a used 'Mech website at a third of the IWM cost. Go me.

19th Marik Militia "The Stacked Deck"


Unit Commander - Force Commander Kairi Welling
Aide de Camp - Lieutenant, Senior Grade Sakiri Akumi
Location - Atreus, Free Worlds League
 
1st Company
Command Detachment
AWS-10KM Awesome - Force Commander Kairi Welling
T-IT-N1M Grand Titan - Garruk Wildspeaker
GOL-3M Goliath - Gideon Jura
TR-1 Wraith - Ashiok



Alpha Lance
CP-11-G Cyclops - Lieutenant, SG Ajani Goldmane
BJ2-OE Blackjack - Kiora Atua
ARC-8M Archer - Nicol Bolas
TMP-3M2 Storm Tempest - Karn



Hammertime Lance
WHM-11T Warhammer - Lieutenant, SG Sakiri Akumi

HMR-3M Hammer - Elspeth Tirel
HMR-3M Hammer - Ral Zarek
HMR-3M Hammer - Sarkhan Vol

2nd Company
Charlie Lance
OTL-8M Ostsol - Captain Ob Nixilis

WVR-9M Wolverine - Domri Rade
SHD-12C Shadow Hawk - Liliana Vess

TBT-7M Trebuchet - Vraska


Delta Lance
FLS-9M Flashman - Lieutenant, SG Chandra Nalaar
LGH-5W Lightray - Sorin Markov
B2-HND Bloodhound - Dack Fayden
RVN-4M Raven - Nissa Revane



Stupid Jace Detachment
STG-5T Stinger - Lieutenant, SG Jace Beleren
Main Gauche Light Support Tank
Main Gauche Light Support Tank 



Infantry Support (Standard IS BattleArmor as Proxy)
Longinus Battle Armor (5)
Longinus Battle Armor (5)

Longinus Battle Armor (5)

1st Regulan Hussars "The Steel Hussars"

Unit Commander - Colonel Mark Brandhauber
Aide de Camp - Lieutenant, Senior Grade Zion Jones
Location - Regulus, Free Worlds League
1st Company
Battalion Command Lance
*JLN-1A Juliano
*CRN-7M Carronade
*LGC-01 Legacy
*BLR-5M BattleMaster

Assault Lance
MAD-6M Marauder II
PKM-2C Patriot
Rifleman IIC
MAD-9M2 Marauder

Scout Lance
HMR-3M Hammer
FNHK-9K1B Falcon Hawk
APL-3T Apollo
Shadowhawk IIC

2nd Company
Command/Fire Lance
ALB-3Ur Albatross/NTL-AG Neaderthal
AWS-9Q Awesome
STK-9A Stalker II
P1-OP Perseus

Guard Lance
ON2-M Orion
GLT--5M Guillotine
HRC-LS-9001 Hercules
QSM-3D Quasimodo

Striker Lance
TR-1 Wraith/ICR-2S Icarus II
HVC-P6 Havoc
ANV-5M Anvil
TBT-7M Trebuchet/VT-U1 Violator


3rd Company
Command/Assault Lance
*ZU-J70 Anzu
*TYM-1A Toyama
*WHM-8M Warhammer
*SRTH-1O Sarath

Midrange Lance
*TDR-9M Thunderbolt
*RFL-7M Rifleman
*WVR-9M Wolverine
*GFR-5M Griffin

Scout Lance
*SKW-2F Shockwave
*GBT-1L Gambit
*B2-HND Bloodhound
*FS9-OH FireStarter Omni

Notable Personages

*CNS-5M Cronus - Alys Rousset-Marik
Warhammer IIC - Warden-General Thaddeus Marik

A Rending of Falcons - Unit Spotlight: Clan Jade Falcon

Birbs. Big green birbs. And my second oldest still-existing unit, thanks to the star of Elementals that were painted by a great guy a long, long time ago. I went with basic "Falcon-flage" per the Jade Falcon Sourcebook for the majority of these, with the Turkina Keshik being a relatively new addition.

The original plan was to have a decent representation of staple Falcon designs, including those used by notable Khans or Galaxy Commanders to fight against my Wolves, or to run the Dragon Roars/Twilight of the Clans scenarios. Later, as the force was used more, I went with a more utilitarian route. Minus the three 'Mechs I still need for the Turkina Keshik, I'm fairly comfortable calling my Falcons "completed," though I may look at another canon Galaxy scheme in the future. 

(The Roadrunner/Emerald Harrier is a newer release but it's a Falcon design from the initial Clan Invasion, even if it eventually fell into disuse in canon. I like the little light guy though.And the one-armed Incubus/Vixen has been repaired since the pic was taken.)

Turkina Keshik
Location: Graus
Commander: Galaxy Commander Malvina Hazen

Binary
Command Star
Shrike 3 - Galaxy Commander Malvina Hazen
Gyrfalcon 3 - Galaxy Commander Aleksandr Hazen
Hierofalcon A - Quinn Kerensky
Eyrie - MechWarrior Tryst
Jade Hawk - Galaxy Commander Stefanie Chistu


Second Star
Jupiter II - Galaxy Commander Beckett Malthus
Mad Cat/Timberwolf JF - Aidan Pryde
Vulture/Mad Dog Prime - Ruel Chistu
Wakazashi - Nicolai Malthus
Flamerge A


Generic Camo Scheme
Location:Sudeten
Commander: Khan Marthe Pryde

Binary

Command Star
Thor/Summoner Prime - Khan Marthe Pryde
Loki/Hellbringer Prime
Cauldron-Born/Ebon Jaguar A
Stooping Hawk Prime
Black Hawk/Nova Prime - saKhan Samantha Clees


Assault Star
Turkina A - Star Colonel Jana Pryde
Aesalan - Noritomo Helmer
Scylla 2
Onager
Kraken/Bane 4


Trinary
Strike Star
Black Lanner Prime
Griffin IIC
Cougar Prime
Vixen/Incubus 2
Fire Falcon Prime


Red Corsair Star
BattleMaster C - Star Commander Nekane Hazen
Grendel/Mongrel Prime
Shadow Cat II
Roadrunner/Emerald Harrier
Roadrunner/Emerald Harrier


Infantry Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point

Clan Jade Falcon, Kappa Galaxy
Unit Commander - Galaxy Commander
Aide de Camp -
Location – Jade Falcom Occupation Zone
(CGL Plastics, start of a new unit!)

Binary Alpha

Cluster/Binary Alpha Command Star

Turkina Prime
Night Gyr Prime
Linebacker A
Cougar Prime
Kit Fox A