So, in addition to the last post on advice for new players, here's a quick and handy double dose of Building a Unit that I'll be doing in 2018; 1st Federated Suns Armored Cavalry of House Davion, AND the Tamar Cavaliers of the Lyran Alliance, two companies apiece, solely built from lance packs currently on Iron Wind Metals website, because hey, what would be easier?? One company apeice is an online exclusive "Alpha Strike" build from the three lance packs listed, then 2 lances are from the FM 3085 online exclusive section, with the last lance being a book lance pack in the general releases section. I'm purposely leaving the exact variant used blank, this is just to illustrate how you can build two beast House forces, super flavored with their own 'Mechs, without even needing to know what 'Mechs they use the most.
Prices are current as of the writing of this blog and are based on full IronWind Metals costing, so if you get your 'Mechs or hex bases elsewhere at a deep discount, high five to you. Two-company units for right at the $300 mark is not bad at all though.
EDIT - Okay, I actually went back and added THREE more two-company units - the 9th Pesht Regulars, House Kurita (I like their paint scheme), Red Lancers, House Liao, Iron Guard, House Marik. You can change which individual unit each of these forces represents, but in either case, that is FIVE TOTAL TWO-COMPANY UNITS! So, regardless of which House you'd like to start playing, you're pretty solid without needing to think too heavily, whilst getting some really good forces.
EDIT 2 - This was way back in 2017. 7 years later, and we have an assload of new plastic Force Packs but none of them really have the same "iconic faction" as the IWM packs did, at least until the Davion and Kurita lances get released, so I'm not gonna take this down. No idea if IWM still has these packs available for order but worst case scenario, these units at least -feel- like the factions they represent so it's a good starting off point for people wanting to build something new.
1st FS Armored Cavalry, House Davion
1st Company
Command (Fed Suns Heavy/Assault Lance FM 3085, $48.50)Sagittaire
Warlord
Hammerhands
Argus
Scout (Fed Suns Light/Medium Lance FM 3085, $37.50)
Legionnaire
Watchman
Fireball
Scarabus
Medium Assault (Sword & Dragon Mech Pack 1, $49.95)
Black Knight
Cataphract
Hatchetman
Enforcer
2nd Company
Command (House Davion Command Lance Alpha Strike, $47.25)Atlas
Gunslinger
Black Knight
JagerMech
Pursuit (House Davion Pursuit Lance Alpha Strike, $36.25)
Centurion
Scarabus
Stealth
Javelin
Striker (House Davion Striker Lance Alpha Strike, $39.25)
Clint
Dervish
Hatchetman
Enforcer
Plus 6 packs of hex bases, total cost - $300.40, with free shipping on IWM
Tamar Cavaliers, House Steiner
1st Company
Command (Black Widow Company Lance, $46.95)Zeus
BattleMaster
Griffin
Uziel
Assault (Lyran Commonwealth Heavy/Assault Lance FM 3085, $50.50)
Mad Cat Mk II
Hauptman
Barghest
Crossbow
Scout (Lyran Commonwealth Light/Medium FM 3085, $35.25)
Griffin IIC
Eisenfaust
Razorback
Dart
2nd Company
Assault (House Steiner Assault Lance Alpha Strike, $48.50)Banshee
Zeus
Stalker
Salamander
Cavalry (House Steiner Cavalry Lance Alpha Strike, $38.50)
Falconer
Battle Hawk
Bushwacker
Hollander
Pursuit (House Steiner Pursuit Lance Alpha Strike, $36.25)
Nightsky
Vulcan
Wolfhound
Commando
Plus 6 packs of hex bases, total cost = $297.65 with free shipping on IWM
9th Pesht Regulars, House Kurita
1st Company
Command (Kurita Heav Lance, $46.95)No Dachi
Kintaro
Daikyu
Wolverine
Assault (Draconis Combine Heavy/Assault Lance FM 3085, $47.95)
Mad Cat Mk II
Ha Otoko
Naginata
8k Warhammer
Scout (Draconis Combine Light/Medium Lance FM 3085, $37.75)
Wight
Nyx
Komodo
Wolverine
2nd Company
Cavalry (House Kurita Cavalry Lance Alpha Strike, $42.95)Grand Dragon
Grand Dragon
Daikyu
Lancelot
Fire (House Kurita Fire Lance Alpha Strike, $48.00)
Atlas
Apollo
Thug
Hatamoto-chi
Pursuit (House Kurita Pursuit Lance Alpha Strike, $33.25)
Daimyo
Panther
Jenner
Mongoose
Plus 6 packs of hex bases, total cost = $298.55 with free shipping on IWM
Red Lancers, House Liao
1st Company
Command (Capellan Confederation Heavy/Assault Lance FM 3085, $47.95)Pillager
Emperor
Lao Hu
Thunder
Assault (House Liao Heavy/Assault Lance Pack, $49.95)
Yu Huang
Lao Hu
Ti Ts'ang
Helios
Scout (House Liao Light/Medium Lance Pack, $44.95)
Sha Yu
Men Shen
Snake
Duan Gung
2nd Company
Command (House Liao Command Lance Alpha Strike, $48.00)Awesome
Cerberus
Emperor
Catapult
Pursuit (House Liao Pursuit Lance Alpha Strike, $34.50)
Cicada
Clint
Raven
Jackal
Battle (House Liao Battle Lance Alpha Strike, $42.25)
Huron Warrior
Thunder
Cataphract
Vindicator
Plus 6 packs of hex bases, total cost = $309.30 with free shipping on IWM
Iron Guard, House Marik
1st Company
Command (FM 3085 Lance Pack, $49.95)Osprey
Karhu
Thunderbolt
Prefect
Assault (Free Worlds League Heavy/Assault Lance FM 3085, $49.00)
Marauder II
Patriot
Rifleman IIC
Marauder
Scout (Free Worlds League Light/Medium Lance FM 3085, $36.95)
Hammer
Falcon Hawk
Apollo
Shadowhawk IIC
2nd Company
Fire (House Marik Fire Lance Alpha Strike, $42.95)Albatross
Awesome
Tempest
Hermes II
Guard (House Marik Guard Lance Alpha Strike, $42.25)
Orion
Guillotine
Hercules
Hammer
Striker (House Marik Striker Lancer, $40.75)
Wraith
Tarantula
Anvil
Trebuchet
Plus 6 packs of hex bases, total cost = $303.55 with free shipping on IWM
So this leaves each force just once company shy of a full battalion, but as a new player, two companies is more than a perfect amount for any pick up game and most campaigns you'd end up playing. I also didn't realize that the Alpha Strike packs are literally in the Alpha Strike book, but even if you're solely focusing on Total Warfare/the BattleMech Manual BattleTech, they're great starting forces.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, for my third company of each, I would do a bit of research and find what each faction really loves/what you really want to field, before filling them out. IE for the Tamar Cavaliers, I'd like to add another assault lance including a pair of Fafnir, and probably a couple more quad assaults (another Barghest, Goliath, etc), a fire lance led by a Götterdämmerung, and a lighter lance with a Mjolnir and Shockwave. The 9th Pesht need a Ninjato and some Akuma, followed by a bevy of Draconis Combine OmniMechs such as the Sunder and Avatar. Obviously the Federated Suns could use some Templars. So on and so forth.
2018 was a rough year for BattleTech for me. I'm focusing on finishing up my Wolves and Diamond Sharks currently, and getting all the Word of Blake stuff I have painted up, so I didn't bother doing any of these five units. I still suggest this for new players though!
ReplyDeleteHowever, even though I haven't done any of these, I have reallocated a bunch of stuff to a new Marik unit - the 1st Regulan Hussars. I cut off using the 3085 lance pack as the command lance, and am making my current force (4 lances) the 1st company/battalion command lance & the third company. Turns out, the Shockwave that I mentioned previously is actually a Marik 'Mech, and not a Steiner one, so of course I have one in this (and also in my Word Division). And, speaking of the Word, the Regulan Hussars have something of a throbbing hate-on for anything Blake-related, so this makes a perfect foil to my 19th Marik Militia. IE, we get one unit that is loyal to the Free Worlds League but allied to the Word, and one unit that is still Free Worlds League, but antithetical to any deals with the Word. Plus, the Principality of Regulus is like, RIGHT there next to Gibson. Which also means I'll have at least a couple Blake 'Mechs in the unit, most likely salvaged (like the Legacy in my new command lance).