(Again, mixed post type.)
Just for Raven Alliance funsies. At this point, we're well on our way to having all the IS Clans represented.
Beta Galaxy - "Storm Crow Galaxy"
97th Raven Striker Cluster - "The Soaring Ravens"
2 OmniMech Trinaries
1 BattleMech Binary/Vehicle Star
1 Elemental Trinary
1 OmniFighter Trinary
2 "R-teams" (2 'Mechs w/hand actuators, 2 battle armor points, 1 point of recovery technicians)
OmniTri Alpha
Cluster Command Star
Deimos B
Deimos E
Turkina C
Summoner Prime
Summoner Prime
Striker Star
Dragonfly A
Dragonfly A
Black Lanner Prime
Black Lanner Prime
Fire Moth Prime
Battle Star
Lupus B
Lupus Prime
Septicemia D
Coyotl A
Coyotl Prime
OmniTri Beta
Trinary Command Star
Warhawk Prime
Deimos Prime
Karhu B
Gargoyle/Man O'War M
Cauldron-born/Ebon Jaguar Prime
Skirmisher Star
Uller/Kit Fox F
Uller/Kit Fox F
Ryoken/Storm Crow G
Ryoken/Storm Crow G
Shadow Cat J
Battle Star
Night Gyr F
Vulture/Mad Dog F
Vulture/Mad Dog F
Puma/Adder J
Puma/Adder J
MixedTri Alpha
MTA Command Star
Omen
Mad Cat Mk II-E
Galahad/Glass Spider 3
Warhammer IIC 4
Shadow Cat II*
Skirmisher Star
Goshawk/Vapor Eagle 3
Goshawk/Vapor Eagle 3
Peregrine 4
Dark Crow
Hellhound /Conjurer 3
Vehicle Star
Hachiman AAA
Hachiman AAA
Hachiman AAA
Hachiman AAA
Odin Scout Tank
Odin Scout Tank
Anhur BA
Anhur BA
Anhur BA
Anhur BA
Elem Trinary
1st Star
2nd Star
3rd Star
OmniFig Trinary
1st Star
ASF
2nd Star
ASF
3rd Star
ASF
Salvage Specialists
R-team Alpha
Phoenix Hawk IIC 3
Phoenix Hawk IIC 3
Enhanced Sylph Point
Enhanced Sylph Point
Technician Point
R-team Beta
Shadow Hawk IIC 7
Baboon/Howler 2
Enhanced Sylph Point
Enhanced Sylph Point
Technician Point
ISP
Friday, August 17, 2018
Terror of the Depths - Unit Spotlight: Clan Diamond Shark
(It's a "Building a Unit" post mixed with a "Unit Spotlight," as I've already started this guy.)
I never intended the Sharks to be a conquering force, instead using them for trials and/or making it so that any player who wants to purchase Clantech from them would end up RPing the encounter, either as a fellow Clan player prior to the 5th SW/Jihad/Reaving, or a general player during the age of the Sea Fox.
But, Beta Galaxy is a pretty scheme and with the Wolves relinquishing control of Unzmarkt to a Shark enclave, the traders have the opportunity to eventually carve out their own niche, much like the Clan Protectorate in the Dark Ages.
Weird note - I didn't set this up like the canon Pearl Skate intentionally, because as I've stated numerous times, purely Frontline Clusters don't allow to mix and match BattleMechs with OmniMechs in the way that I like, but especially with Clan Diamond Shark, makers of the "Pissed Kitty Mk 3000" line. The Cluster Command Star is entirely Secondline designs, built around the LRM-10/LRM-20 sandblasting paradigm. I feel like Raven Ghiberti would really appreciate my approach to that. Lives, and ammo, are cheap; 'Mechs are not.
Weird note 2 - The Wendigo (and several other 'Mechs) were meant for a Nova Cat/Spirit Cat force, and the Thor II, Loki II, & Flamberge were to complete my Falcon Turkina Keshik buuuuut, and I'll be totally honest here, I fucked up by using cheap black primer that was total garbage, and I couldn't completely strip them down to redo it with better primer, but the blue of the Pearl Skate covers it well enough that I just decided to go ahead and add them here. So yeah.
Clan Diamond Shark, Beta Galaxy "Predator Galaxy"
Beta Command Cluster "Pearl Skate"
Commander - Galaxy Commander Raven Ghiberti
Aide de Camp - Star Captain Lisbet Fangxiao
Location - Chainlane Isles/"The Reef"
Cluster Command Nova
• Mad Cat Mk II* - Galaxy Commander Raven Ghiberti
• Ha Otoko*
• Kodiak 4*
• Tundra Wolf*
• Bowman 2*
• Gnome LRM Point*
• Gnome LRM Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
Trinary Alpha, OmniBattle Star
• Huntsman/Nobori-nin N - Star Captain Lisbet Fangxiao
• Cauldron-born/Ebon Jaguar B
• Stooping Hawk A
• Mad Cat/Timberwolf H
• Linebacker Prime
Trinary Alpha, OmniFire Star
• Blood Asp A - Star Commander Fentanyl Hawker*
• Loki/Hellbringer II Prime*
• Thor/Summoner II D*
• Flamberge A*
• Blood Asp A*
Trinary Alpha, OmniStrike Nova
• Wendigo Prime* - Nova Commander Kent Clarke
• Grendel/Mongrel Prime
• Ryoken/Storm Crow Prime*
• Dragonfly/Viper D
• Dragonfly/Viper D
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
Trinary Gamma, Command Star
• Cave Lion* - ovKhan Gar Labov
• Piranha 2*
• Piranha 2*
• Spirit*
• Spirit*
Trinary Gamma, Assault Nova
• Mad Cat Mk II 3* - Nova Commander Amadeus Fangxiao
• Warhammer IIC 8
• Guillotine IIC*
• Ha Otoko 3*
• Wyvern IIC 2*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
Trinary Gamma, Strike Star
• Sun Cobra 2* - Star Commander Giraurd Kalasa
• Baboon/Howler 3 "Devil"*
• Ocelot 2*
• Crimson Hawk*
• Solitaire*
I never intended the Sharks to be a conquering force, instead using them for trials and/or making it so that any player who wants to purchase Clantech from them would end up RPing the encounter, either as a fellow Clan player prior to the 5th SW/Jihad/Reaving, or a general player during the age of the Sea Fox.
But, Beta Galaxy is a pretty scheme and with the Wolves relinquishing control of Unzmarkt to a Shark enclave, the traders have the opportunity to eventually carve out their own niche, much like the Clan Protectorate in the Dark Ages.
Weird note - I didn't set this up like the canon Pearl Skate intentionally, because as I've stated numerous times, purely Frontline Clusters don't allow to mix and match BattleMechs with OmniMechs in the way that I like, but especially with Clan Diamond Shark, makers of the "Pissed Kitty Mk 3000" line. The Cluster Command Star is entirely Secondline designs, built around the LRM-10/LRM-20 sandblasting paradigm. I feel like Raven Ghiberti would really appreciate my approach to that. Lives, and ammo, are cheap; 'Mechs are not.
Weird note 2 - The Wendigo (and several other 'Mechs) were meant for a Nova Cat/Spirit Cat force, and the Thor II, Loki II, & Flamberge were to complete my Falcon Turkina Keshik buuuuut, and I'll be totally honest here, I fucked up by using cheap black primer that was total garbage, and I couldn't completely strip them down to redo it with better primer, but the blue of the Pearl Skate covers it well enough that I just decided to go ahead and add them here. So yeah.
Clan Diamond Shark, Beta Galaxy "Predator Galaxy"
Beta Command Cluster "Pearl Skate"
Commander - Galaxy Commander Raven Ghiberti
Aide de Camp - Star Captain Lisbet Fangxiao
Location - Chainlane Isles/"The Reef"
Cluster Command Nova
• Mad Cat Mk II* - Galaxy Commander Raven Ghiberti
• Ha Otoko*
• Kodiak 4*
• Tundra Wolf*
• Bowman 2*
• Gnome LRM Point*
• Gnome LRM Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
Trinary Alpha, OmniBattle Star
• Huntsman/Nobori-nin N - Star Captain Lisbet Fangxiao
• Cauldron-born/Ebon Jaguar B
• Stooping Hawk A
• Mad Cat/Timberwolf H
• Linebacker Prime
Trinary Alpha, OmniFire Star
• Blood Asp A - Star Commander Fentanyl Hawker*
• Loki/Hellbringer II Prime*
• Thor/Summoner II D*
• Flamberge A*
• Blood Asp A*
Trinary Alpha, OmniStrike Nova
• Wendigo Prime* - Nova Commander Kent Clarke
• Grendel/Mongrel Prime
• Ryoken/Storm Crow Prime*
• Dragonfly/Viper D
• Dragonfly/Viper D
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
• Elemental Point*
Trinary Gamma, Command Star
• Cave Lion* - ovKhan Gar Labov
• Piranha 2*
• Piranha 2*
• Spirit*
• Spirit*
Trinary Gamma, Assault Nova
• Mad Cat Mk II 3* - Nova Commander Amadeus Fangxiao
• Warhammer IIC 8
• Guillotine IIC*
• Ha Otoko 3*
• Wyvern IIC 2*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
• Undine Upgrade Point*
Trinary Gamma, Strike Star
• Sun Cobra 2* - Star Commander Giraurd Kalasa
• Baboon/Howler 3 "Devil"*
• Ocelot 2*
• Crimson Hawk*
• Solitaire*
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Random BattleTech Thoughts 2018 Edition
Something that I don't normally do is just lay out mental musings over the game, other than when I have an audience of players that can't go anywhere & thus are forced to sit there and listen to me.
One of my favorite things about BattleTech is that, if it came down to it, you could strip all of the background information entirely from the game, grab handfuls of miniatures, and rebuild the setting to your liking or just dump any semblance of it entirely. This was a bathroom thought I had, where you just use the basic rules, grab some intro box plastics, and paint them in five separate colors to represent five nations on a single planet or something. -I- wouldn't, personally, but that's only because I'm very invested into the fiction of BattleTech.
Speaking of that, the two newest novellas, "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope," were awesome. Pardoe is my favorite BTech writer by far, and following up with "Shattered Fortress" after reading the two stories was fairly immersive in the late Dark Ages period. I don't care much for most of the current crop of characters (I miss Katana Tormark, so basically Alaric and Anastasia are all I have left) but post-"Bonfire of Worlds," I'm really getting into things. I do have to go back and complete my Dark Ages novel collection though. One used book at a time, if need be. Seeing all of the devastation and how clustereffed the map is in 3150 sure did bring a smile to my face.
I like luring in new players (which I'm switching solely to Alpha Strike to teach, I think) by getting their favorite color schemes and/or preferred nationalities, and then either assigning them units/factions that sync up or building new units. This has become way too costly for me to maintain right now, as my financial situation isn't where I would like it to be in regards to my gaming desires, but it has been a successful-ish strategy in the past. You show them some shiny purple 'Mechs or describe a faction as "Klingons with space Viking flavor," gets the nerds every time.
Of course, I also have a hard time just generalizing by current national identities. Saying the Lyran Alliance is like Germany works, but tends to omit how much Scottish or Irish other sections of the LA have. Same with Japanese Draconis Combine not mentioning Arabic Azami worlds. The Free Worlds League is too much of a cluster to generalize. Calling the FedSuns the Brits and the CapCon the Chinese/Russians works though. Especially if you want to see which of your friends is a dirty Commie by how quickly they play Capellan. I kid. The CapCon is cool in my book.
When naming characters, I use a random name generator, anime, or historical figures. The Draconis Combine gets the brunt of this, thanks to so much mecha anime and so many awesome samurai. Sorry not sorry.
Like with my Chronicles/World of Darkness projects though, sometimes named MechWarriors are inspired by people I know. Or, in at least one case, were characters that friends have used in the past, along with their backstories, progressed forward. An example of this is Shinigami, my old roommate's main pilot character. Things happened to him and he'll eventually be showcased in a unit profile later on.
I've been playing for well over half my life, and have seen numerous line developers & writers work on the setting, as well as multiple companies own it. In all that time, with all of the loose plot threads that never went anywhere or the bankruptcies and embezzlements and whatnot, I've never lost faith in the game as a whole and still try to buy all of the products as they come out. I haven't, unfortunately, as there are at least ten sourcebooks I can think of off of the top of my head that I don't own, but I've always made the attempt. Mostly for Ironwind Metals.
Who, by the way, sometimes makes minis with waaaaaay too many pieces and I get intimidated. I have something in the neighborhood of 600 painted hex bases worth of 'Mechs, infantry, and vees, which is a metric fuckload when you consider we usually play 4 v 4 games, and nothing has made me shudder at assembly quite like the Sarath, except maybe the Omega (mostly the cost of the mini) or the Word of Blake Spectral LAMs (of which, I've only assembled one, despite owning three). I know its for custom posing and stuff, just gets daunting when it takes an hour of assembly before I can even prime and shit.
I'd like to play more campaigns. My interest in a 5th Succession War/Jihad campaign has waxed and waned a lot over the years, currently sitting in a waning period despite my rules work, but having lost (only temporarily, I hope), my two biggest group core members, and that we're all adults with limited gaming time due to family & work obligations, it's tough getting anything set up for a regular basis. Getting together for one-offs and pick up games doesn't take any real planning but doing Operation: Nachtfalke would require coordinating up to 7 different schedules (not counting spouses and whatnot) and that's just daunting. I loved the Outreach campaign Rachel and I did, which could still use a mop up mission or two to really call it good, since it gave the Word control over most of the Chaos March. More mini-campaigns with specific players on specific planets or regions of space would be great. Operation: Annwyn Rising though.
Eventually, I want to get back into fiction writing, polishing up my older "Fen Files" and "Further Adventures of the Kuroi Kaze" stories, as well as writing more background fluff on current non-canon units. I was thinking about the Operation: Ice Storm novellas, and really would love to do something similar with the Annwyn campaign. Because, bringing it back around to the point I made at the start, whilst you can entirely divorce the game from the setting, actively incorporating a fiction-driven narrative in this rich and fantastic universe really kind of ups the stakes of each game. I've written other posts about building non-canon units or characters in the game to make players more attached to them on the tabletop and I really feel like fiction is the superglue that makes BattleTech more special than video games or even something like Magic that has fiction but whose fiction doesn't usually impact deck building.
Mentioning IWM, the Ryoken-III/"Skinwalker" was part of their Wolf Empire lance pack for GenCon exclusives, meaning it will be out in general distribution 1st quarter 2019, if my supplier is correct. I've been waiting for that to be released since 2016, and it's the last two minis I need to finish my Clan Wolf Golden Keshik Binary. Vlad Ward's "Suffer Unto the Locust" command star has been ready to eviscerate the Inner Sphere for a while now, and I have two of the five 'Mechs of the second star done, so once these little guys are good to go, ooooh yeah. They also have a variant sculpt for the Warwolf H, which is my preferred config, so I might look at adding another star to either my DA Beta Galaxy unit or my Omegas. Or, I mean, down the road sometime, I maaaay do another Galaxy of Wolves. Sure, I currently have 4 forces represented, totaling at least a full Cluster, but there's always room for more. Delta Galaxy's DA Howl Keshik mayhaps, if a color scheme comes out for them, or the Blue Keshik if not? Since Delta becomes the Steel Wolves in the post-Republic era, I'd go with that scheme but "Steel Wolves use an overall silvery steel color with swatches of hide brown with or without 'fur' patterns over portions of the upper surfaces" sounds too similar to Omega Galaxy for me.
Of course, I have to complete current units before I think that far ahead. I have so much painting to get done, and Song's Sentinels, for instance, needs another lance to be functionally complete, whilst I only have a single star for Clan Diamond Shark's Beta Galaxy, despite having a Cluster sketched out. I just like 'Mechs and this is my main hobby so...
Going on hiatus from other games is going to help all of my time and money issues, at least towards gaming, I think. An average pack of Magic cards is only $4-5 depending, but I can get one new 'Mech for every 2 to 4 packs I buy, and since I'm only going to get one good card per pack if I'm lucky (and I am VERY lucky with my Mythic pulls), I'm probably better off just buying singles if I need more cards & focusing much more on my table top front. The downside is that too many of my friends are dedicated Magic players & it's hard to get them to spend several hours on BattleTech, but meh. Maybe I just need new friends!
I'm kidding. I love my friends.
Except when I loan them sourcebooks and three years later, still haven't seen them, but what can you do?
I may edit this more down the road with other thoughts I have, but for the moment, this has been some nice therapy where I don't need to speak & no one is forced to listen to my gaming pontificating.
9/26/18 edit - I think I'm more interested in expanding my Omega Galaxy Wolves than in building a new force. Also, Skinwalker B configs are out already, so now I just have to finish painting my Golden Keshik. Diamond Sharks are sitting at about two Trinaries instead of a Star now. Sketching out other forces that may or may not see building before 2020, but I also want to get a house soon, so I may just clear out my backlog (which is still massive) and then hold off on all gaming purchases until after that. But speaking of...
Picking up "used" miniatures is a great way to bulk out forces and build new ones. Downside is that you're limited in what you can find/buy, but upside is Blood Asp A for $8 beats $16.95, especially if their "used" status is just that they aren't in the original blister pack, not that they've been assembled or painted. A Star of Jade of Falcons made up of 2 Pinions and 3 Spirits for $30? That's an insanely good deal.
One of my favorite things about BattleTech is that, if it came down to it, you could strip all of the background information entirely from the game, grab handfuls of miniatures, and rebuild the setting to your liking or just dump any semblance of it entirely. This was a bathroom thought I had, where you just use the basic rules, grab some intro box plastics, and paint them in five separate colors to represent five nations on a single planet or something. -I- wouldn't, personally, but that's only because I'm very invested into the fiction of BattleTech.
Speaking of that, the two newest novellas, "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope," were awesome. Pardoe is my favorite BTech writer by far, and following up with "Shattered Fortress" after reading the two stories was fairly immersive in the late Dark Ages period. I don't care much for most of the current crop of characters (I miss Katana Tormark, so basically Alaric and Anastasia are all I have left) but post-"Bonfire of Worlds," I'm really getting into things. I do have to go back and complete my Dark Ages novel collection though. One used book at a time, if need be. Seeing all of the devastation and how clustereffed the map is in 3150 sure did bring a smile to my face.
I like luring in new players (which I'm switching solely to Alpha Strike to teach, I think) by getting their favorite color schemes and/or preferred nationalities, and then either assigning them units/factions that sync up or building new units. This has become way too costly for me to maintain right now, as my financial situation isn't where I would like it to be in regards to my gaming desires, but it has been a successful-ish strategy in the past. You show them some shiny purple 'Mechs or describe a faction as "Klingons with space Viking flavor," gets the nerds every time.
Of course, I also have a hard time just generalizing by current national identities. Saying the Lyran Alliance is like Germany works, but tends to omit how much Scottish or Irish other sections of the LA have. Same with Japanese Draconis Combine not mentioning Arabic Azami worlds. The Free Worlds League is too much of a cluster to generalize. Calling the FedSuns the Brits and the CapCon the Chinese/Russians works though. Especially if you want to see which of your friends is a dirty Commie by how quickly they play Capellan. I kid. The CapCon is cool in my book.
When naming characters, I use a random name generator, anime, or historical figures. The Draconis Combine gets the brunt of this, thanks to so much mecha anime and so many awesome samurai. Sorry not sorry.
Like with my Chronicles/World of Darkness projects though, sometimes named MechWarriors are inspired by people I know. Or, in at least one case, were characters that friends have used in the past, along with their backstories, progressed forward. An example of this is Shinigami, my old roommate's main pilot character. Things happened to him and he'll eventually be showcased in a unit profile later on.
I've been playing for well over half my life, and have seen numerous line developers & writers work on the setting, as well as multiple companies own it. In all that time, with all of the loose plot threads that never went anywhere or the bankruptcies and embezzlements and whatnot, I've never lost faith in the game as a whole and still try to buy all of the products as they come out. I haven't, unfortunately, as there are at least ten sourcebooks I can think of off of the top of my head that I don't own, but I've always made the attempt. Mostly for Ironwind Metals.
Who, by the way, sometimes makes minis with waaaaaay too many pieces and I get intimidated. I have something in the neighborhood of 600 painted hex bases worth of 'Mechs, infantry, and vees, which is a metric fuckload when you consider we usually play 4 v 4 games, and nothing has made me shudder at assembly quite like the Sarath, except maybe the Omega (mostly the cost of the mini) or the Word of Blake Spectral LAMs (of which, I've only assembled one, despite owning three). I know its for custom posing and stuff, just gets daunting when it takes an hour of assembly before I can even prime and shit.
I'd like to play more campaigns. My interest in a 5th Succession War/Jihad campaign has waxed and waned a lot over the years, currently sitting in a waning period despite my rules work, but having lost (only temporarily, I hope), my two biggest group core members, and that we're all adults with limited gaming time due to family & work obligations, it's tough getting anything set up for a regular basis. Getting together for one-offs and pick up games doesn't take any real planning but doing Operation: Nachtfalke would require coordinating up to 7 different schedules (not counting spouses and whatnot) and that's just daunting. I loved the Outreach campaign Rachel and I did, which could still use a mop up mission or two to really call it good, since it gave the Word control over most of the Chaos March. More mini-campaigns with specific players on specific planets or regions of space would be great. Operation: Annwyn Rising though.
Eventually, I want to get back into fiction writing, polishing up my older "Fen Files" and "Further Adventures of the Kuroi Kaze" stories, as well as writing more background fluff on current non-canon units. I was thinking about the Operation: Ice Storm novellas, and really would love to do something similar with the Annwyn campaign. Because, bringing it back around to the point I made at the start, whilst you can entirely divorce the game from the setting, actively incorporating a fiction-driven narrative in this rich and fantastic universe really kind of ups the stakes of each game. I've written other posts about building non-canon units or characters in the game to make players more attached to them on the tabletop and I really feel like fiction is the superglue that makes BattleTech more special than video games or even something like Magic that has fiction but whose fiction doesn't usually impact deck building.
Mentioning IWM, the Ryoken-III/"Skinwalker" was part of their Wolf Empire lance pack for GenCon exclusives, meaning it will be out in general distribution 1st quarter 2019, if my supplier is correct. I've been waiting for that to be released since 2016, and it's the last two minis I need to finish my Clan Wolf Golden Keshik Binary. Vlad Ward's "Suffer Unto the Locust" command star has been ready to eviscerate the Inner Sphere for a while now, and I have two of the five 'Mechs of the second star done, so once these little guys are good to go, ooooh yeah. They also have a variant sculpt for the Warwolf H, which is my preferred config, so I might look at adding another star to either my DA Beta Galaxy unit or my Omegas. Or, I mean, down the road sometime, I maaaay do another Galaxy of Wolves. Sure, I currently have 4 forces represented, totaling at least a full Cluster, but there's always room for more. Delta Galaxy's DA Howl Keshik mayhaps, if a color scheme comes out for them, or the Blue Keshik if not? Since Delta becomes the Steel Wolves in the post-Republic era, I'd go with that scheme but "Steel Wolves use an overall silvery steel color with swatches of hide brown with or without 'fur' patterns over portions of the upper surfaces" sounds too similar to Omega Galaxy for me.
Of course, I have to complete current units before I think that far ahead. I have so much painting to get done, and Song's Sentinels, for instance, needs another lance to be functionally complete, whilst I only have a single star for Clan Diamond Shark's Beta Galaxy, despite having a Cluster sketched out. I just like 'Mechs and this is my main hobby so...
Going on hiatus from other games is going to help all of my time and money issues, at least towards gaming, I think. An average pack of Magic cards is only $4-5 depending, but I can get one new 'Mech for every 2 to 4 packs I buy, and since I'm only going to get one good card per pack if I'm lucky (and I am VERY lucky with my Mythic pulls), I'm probably better off just buying singles if I need more cards & focusing much more on my table top front. The downside is that too many of my friends are dedicated Magic players & it's hard to get them to spend several hours on BattleTech, but meh. Maybe I just need new friends!
I'm kidding. I love my friends.
Except when I loan them sourcebooks and three years later, still haven't seen them, but what can you do?
I may edit this more down the road with other thoughts I have, but for the moment, this has been some nice therapy where I don't need to speak & no one is forced to listen to my gaming pontificating.
9/26/18 edit - I think I'm more interested in expanding my Omega Galaxy Wolves than in building a new force. Also, Skinwalker B configs are out already, so now I just have to finish painting my Golden Keshik. Diamond Sharks are sitting at about two Trinaries instead of a Star now. Sketching out other forces that may or may not see building before 2020, but I also want to get a house soon, so I may just clear out my backlog (which is still massive) and then hold off on all gaming purchases until after that. But speaking of...
Picking up "used" miniatures is a great way to bulk out forces and build new ones. Downside is that you're limited in what you can find/buy, but upside is Blood Asp A for $8 beats $16.95, especially if their "used" status is just that they aren't in the original blister pack, not that they've been assembled or painted. A Star of Jade of Falcons made up of 2 Pinions and 3 Spirits for $30? That's an insanely good deal.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Bane of Goldilocks - Unit Spotlight: Clan Ghost Bear
Clan Ghost Bear is one of those weird Clans that I was fond of for a bit, then not fond of at all, then fond of again. A Crusader Clan during the initial Clan Invasion, the loss of some of their Khans put them firmly into the Warden camp. And then they relocated to the Inner Sphere entirely with the help of Clan Snow Raven and their Leviathan-class WarShips. It's probably because I main Clan Wolf. The Bears are a solid rival, even moreso than the Jade Falcons, but with their feud against the Hells Horses winding down, and their eventual absorption of the remaining Rasalhague worlds, I really just want to hammer smash their faces. With a Tomahawk II. And some HAG/30s.
I picked Tau Galaxy because I felt comfortable in doing the paint scheme, mostly, and I tried to plan it out more up front than my normal organic strategy of just buying everything and then deciding what to do with it later. Each star has a task, but of course, they can still be mixed and matched. Despite Tau's status as a second line Galaxy, the 1st Bear Regs field a decent amount of OmniMechs, concentrated mostly in Galaxy Commander Cote's command star. I actually prefer a lot of Clan Ghost Bear's standard BattleMechs for their awesomeness, but especially the Ursus, Arcas, and Grizzly. Just missing a Kodiak and some newer tech like the Bruin for total domination. In addition to the canon Cote, I built a single non-canon NPC in Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson. I mean, nothing says "vikings in space!" like a Valkyrie at the helm of a Stone Rhino, quiaff?
Clan Ghost Bear, Tau Galaxy, 1st Bear Regulars
Unit Commander - Galaxy Commander Francois Cote
Aide de Camp - Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson
Location - Stanzach, Ghost Bear Dominion
Gladiator/Executioner - Galaxy Commander Francois Cote
Gladiator/Executioner
Karhu
Vulture/Mad Dog
Ryoken/Storm Crow
Assault Star
Behemoth/Stone Rhino - Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson
Arcas
Arcas
Supernova
Beowulf IIC
Ursus
Grizzly
Wyvern IIC
Griffin IIC
Bear Cub
Recon Star
Dasher/Fire Moth
Dasher/Fire Moth
Solitaire
Solitaire
Stinger IIC
Salt of the Earth Star
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
(Yeah, I have these, they just aren't... done.)
(Ideas for an Omega Galaxy Force)
Kodiak
Kodiak II
Bruin
Bruin
Viking IIC
I picked Tau Galaxy because I felt comfortable in doing the paint scheme, mostly, and I tried to plan it out more up front than my normal organic strategy of just buying everything and then deciding what to do with it later. Each star has a task, but of course, they can still be mixed and matched. Despite Tau's status as a second line Galaxy, the 1st Bear Regs field a decent amount of OmniMechs, concentrated mostly in Galaxy Commander Cote's command star. I actually prefer a lot of Clan Ghost Bear's standard BattleMechs for their awesomeness, but especially the Ursus, Arcas, and Grizzly. Just missing a Kodiak and some newer tech like the Bruin for total domination. In addition to the canon Cote, I built a single non-canon NPC in Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson. I mean, nothing says "vikings in space!" like a Valkyrie at the helm of a Stone Rhino, quiaff?
Clan Ghost Bear, Tau Galaxy, 1st Bear Regulars
Unit Commander - Galaxy Commander Francois Cote
Aide de Camp - Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson
Location - Stanzach, Ghost Bear Dominion
BINARY
Command StarGladiator/Executioner - Galaxy Commander Francois Cote
Gladiator/Executioner
Karhu
Vulture/Mad Dog
Ryoken/Storm Crow
Assault Star
Behemoth/Stone Rhino - Star Commander Brynhildr Jorgensson
Arcas
Arcas
Supernova
Beowulf IIC
TRINARY
Wraith StarUrsus
Grizzly
Wyvern IIC
Griffin IIC
Bear Cub
Recon Star
Dasher/Fire Moth
Dasher/Fire Moth
Solitaire
Solitaire
Stinger IIC
Salt of the Earth Star
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
Gnome Point
(Yeah, I have these, they just aren't... done.)
(Ideas for an Omega Galaxy Force)
Kodiak
Kodiak II
Bruin
Bruin
Viking IIC
Monday, April 23, 2018
Painting List
This isn't a real blog post, I just need a place online to store what colors/brands of paint I used for each of my current units so that when/if I decide to expand, I know what I need to get.
2020 Edit - Also including the Army Painter color equivalent where I can so I can eventually phase out a lot of the Citadel and odds/ends stuff.
2022 Edit - Adding new units, more switching over to Army Painter, etc
MERCS
4th Tau Ceti Rangers - Black prime, Runelord Brass (C), Bright Gold (AP), Skorne Red (P3)
26th Royal Tyran - Regal Blue (C), Pumpkin (Delta), Skull White (C)
Die Schwarze Spinne - Abbadon Black (C), Pumpkin (Delta)
Gray Death Legion - Gray Prime, Necromancer's Cloak (AP)
Hansen's Roughriders- Black prime, Deep Blue (AP)
Kuroi Kaze - Abaddon Black (C), Evil Sunz Scarlett (C), Administratum Grey (C)
Jack's Murderhobos - Black prime, Nightscales M (AP), Royal Purple M (AP), Gemstone M (AP) l, White
Northwind Highlanders - Chocolate chip desert
Smell Hounds - I dunno, dude, red and black
Song's Sentinels - Squid Pink (Game Color), Murderous Magenta (P3), Greatcoat Grey (P3)
CLANS
Blood Spirit Iota -
Blood Spirit Zeta -
Cloud Cobra Beta, 97th Cobra Guards - Black prime,
Cloud Cobra Pharaoh Keshik (B) - Xereus Purple (C), Shining Gold (C) Pool Blue (AppleB)
Diamond Shark Beta Galaxy - Cygnar Blue (P3), Iosan Green (P3)
Ghost Bear Rasalhague Galaxy- Black prime, Cool Ranch (TD), Shining Silver (AP), Bright Gold (AP)
Ghost Bear Tau - Ultramarines Blue (C), Codex Grey (C)
Jade Falcon Generic - Camo Green (C), Snakebite Leather (C)
Jade Falcon Turkina Keshik (B) - Jade Green (Reaper), Scorpion Green (C)
Jade Falcon Omega - Black prime, Kabalite Green (C) base, Gun Metal base, Gordian Knot (TD) upper half, Voidshield Blue (AP) cockpit
Nova Cat Spirit Cats - Black prime, Shining Silver (AP)
Smoke Jaguar Delta - Gray prime, Matte Black (AP), Sunburst Yellow (C)
Snow Raven Beta - White prime
Steel Viper Alpha (B) - Boltgun Metal (C), Skorne Red (P3)
Wolf Alpha - Goblin Green (C) Trail Tan (Ceramcoat), Shining Gold (C)
Wolf Beta (DA) - Umbral Umber (P3), Khador Red Highlight (P3)
Wolf Delta - Abaddon Black (C), Evil Sunz Scarlett (C), Administratum Grey (C)
Wolf Golden Keshik (B) - Greatcoat Grey (P3), Exile Blue (P3), Shining Gold (C)
Wolf Omega (B) - Boltgun Metal (C), Shining Gold (C)
INNER SPHERE AND PERIPHERY
CC Three Kingdoms Lancers - Scorpion Green (C), Sunburst Yellow (C)
DC 1st Genyosha - Greatcoat Grey (P3)
DC Otomo - Abbadon Black (C), Shining Gold (C)
DC Sword of Light - Mars Red (AP),
FWL 1st Regulan Hussars - Jokaero Orange (C)
FWL 19th Marik Militia - Xereus Purple (C), Evil Sunz Scarlett (C), Ultramarines Blue (C)
MH I Legio - Regal Blue (C), Codex Grey (C), Skull White (C), Evil Sunz Scarlett (C)
Word Light of Mankind - Skull White (C), Abaddon Black (C), Evil Sunz Scarlett (C)
Word 49th Shadow - Greatcoat Grey (P3), Codex Grey (C), Xereus Purple (C)
Friday, April 20, 2018
Operation: Nachtfalke Advanced Rules and Expansions
ADVANCED RULES
(Note: these rules have not been playtested in any fashion whatsoever and thus may be munchkinny as fuck.)
Alpha Strike Conversion
Basics
For ease of play during larger game sessions, or when using mixed forces, Total Warfare sheets can be converted to their appropriate Alpha Strike record cards. To determine the skill of the AS card, use Piloting + Gunnery / 2, rounded down, after factoring in any applicable SPAs and MDEs (see below). Where applicable, Special Piloting Abilities can be replaced with their equivalent Alpha Strike counterparts, per the Alpha Strike Companion, outside of ones that directly improve a Piloting or Gunnery number, or that impacts Piloting rolls (of which, AS has none).
Converting Damage
Make sure your units going into an Alpha Strike game are fully repaired. Barring that, for each 20 points of armor damage your unit has, mark off one armor box on the Alpha Strike card. Do the same for internal structure damage. For critical damage, mark off the appropriate critical hit boxes on the Alpha Strike card - ie, for every ten points of critical weapon damage, mark off one "Weapons" critical box, for every leg actuator damaged, mark off one "MP" critical box, etc. Note: this can leave your 'Mech unable to do damage or move in AS, depending on how damaged it is.
After the end of a battle where damage has been taken, do the reverse of above - for each point of armor damage, apply 20 points randomly in 5 point clusters, rerolling any location that would cause internal damage, unless your Alpha Strike card also has internal structure boxes marked off. "MP" critical hits can be applied to a random leg actuator, with each "Weapons" hit applied at random to 10 points worth of potential weapon damage (ie, mark off critical hits on one Inner Sphere ER PPC or two ER Medium Lasers per AS critical).
Salvage
Any 'Mech that is left on a node becomes the salvage of the player that controls the node at the end of a battle. Because Alpha Strike abstracts the damage model, a salvaged 'Mech can only be considered "Crippled" or "Destroyed" per standard Operation: Nachtfalke rules. A 'Mech that loses all of its "MP" critical boxes, or Structure boxes (but has not taken an "Engine" critical) is "Crippled." Loss of all Structure boxes + an "Engine" critical is "Destroyed." Any other outcome, you should be getting your 'Mech the heck out of Dodge. As in standard O: N, only 'Mechs may be salvaged in such a way.
Overview
Operation: Nachtfalke runs on the presupposition that multiple factions are vying for control of the node-based map, without making assumptions as to which factions are sending/are able to send expeditionary forces. For players that would like their choice of faction to impact the narrative of the game, the below abilities are available. Faction Special Abilities stack with node bonuses and Special Piloting Abilities, where applicable.
Note 3: If one player uses an FSA, ALL players must. For balance. However, players aren't obligated to take both of the Generic ability AND their specific SFA, See below.
Note 4: It's hard coming up with flavorful factional abilities that don't give too huge an advantage or disadvantage. All Inner Sphere/Periphery forces may choose to take "Million Man Militia" in addition to their factional ability. All Clan forces may choose to take "Omni Mastery" in addition to their factional ability.
Inner Sphere
Inner Sphere (Generic): "Million Man Militia" - Home turf advantage rules. Inner Sphere factions may increase their maximum force size to 36 instead of 24, but if so, may only field a maximum of 24 'Mechs. The remaining 12 slots must either be infantry formations or vehicles.
Capellan Confederation: "Iron Defender" - Any time the Capellans are the defender of a node, they may choose to deploy up to 4 20-point (3 point if using Alpha Strike rules) minefields per mapsheet used. The Capellan player must write down which map and which hex each minefield is in before play. When an opposing unit moves into these hexes, roll on the Cluster hit table, under the 20 column and apply damage in 5 pt groupings using the Kick hit location table. Their weakness as expansionists shows, applying a -2 modifier to all Initiative rolls (including during the Movement Phase) once they control 5 or more nodes.
ComStar: "Phone Company Blues" - C* gains +1 WP from each SC node they occupy, as well as 1 WP from an allied faction's SC nodes to represent their management of infrastructure on many worlds. Lacking the unified academic structure of the Houses, they pay a 10% increase in purchasing improved pilots or training current ones.
Draconis Combine: "Honor is Life" - The busosenshi of the Combine know that failure is rarely an option, and receive a 10% reduction on the cost for Special Piloting Abilities. That blade cuts both ways, as a Combine unit cannot willingly retreat from the field of battle unless at the "Crippled" stage when the Defender of a node.
Federated Suns: "Strong in Command" - Harboring some of the most extensive academies in the Inner Sphere, FedSuns pilots are trained in a variety of techniques, giving them a 50% reduction in cost on Special Piloting Abilities with the Piloting or Command trait, as well as -1 WP on the cost for reloading ballistic weapons. Because of their rabid hatred of their neighbors, FedSuns units cannot enter into alliances with the Capellan Confederation, Draconis Combine, or Word of Blake. They receive a +1 TN penalty on to-hit rolls against these opponents, as well as a +2 bonus to their Initiative to reflect their snap reactions from this hatred.
Free Worlds League: "Fractional Accounting" - Utilizing the strongest Inner Sphere economy post-Clan Invasion, the FWL is in a better position to send resources to expeditionary forces. During the Resource Phase, (2d10 + 4) x 10 WP are added to the force's treasury. With their own house in disarray, they're an ersartz ally, and FWL units add an extra +1 TN on to-hit rolls in any node where they have to coordinate with an allied faction.
Inner Sphere (Minor)/Periphery: "Master Exploder" - As experts in the art of doing more with less, Minor and Periphery factions receive a 10% reduction, rounded up, in the cost of repairing Crippled or Destroyed 'Mechs. Lacking the unified academic structure of the Houses, they pay a 10% increase in purchasing Special Piloting Abilities.
Lyran Alliance: "Bigger is Better" - Lyran Alliance players receive a 10% discount on constructing Inner Sphere Assault 'Mechs, and can move them between nodes for 16WP. Due to their disdain for lighter forces, however, Inner Sphere Medium and Heavy 'Mechs are 10% more expensive.
Mercenary: "Almighty Dollar" - Once a month (4 turns) a Mercenary force can change their allegiance to any other listed Inner Sphere power at the start of the Resources Phase, gaining their abilities for the next month, or until they choose another allegiance. However, for the first two weeks (2 turns) with a new employer, they receive (2d10 - 2) x 10 resources. This may result in 0 resources gained outside of tax revenue in a turn. This does not apply to a Mercenary force's first campaign turn with their starting allegience.
Ex; Sam starts the campaign as Mercenary/Free Worlds League, gaining "Fractional Accounting" and rolls (2d10 + 4) x 10 for his Warchest Points in the first 4 turns of play. At the beginning of the 5th turn, he decides that the Free Worlds League isn't doing it for him, and decides to jump to the Lyran Alliance. He loses "Fractional Accounting" and receives "Bigger is Better," but for turn 5 and 6 of the campaign, he rolls (2d10 - 2) x 10 for WP. For turn 7 and 8, he'll go back to the standard 2d10 x 10.
Word of Blake: "Peace of Blake" - The Word has access to the Manei Domini enhancement table below, and as the largest users of combined arms at the tactical level, receive a +1 Initiative bonus when using more than one type of combat unit in a single battle. Counting few allies amongst other factions, they lose any Initiative bonus when joining forces with the Free Worlds League, and take a -2 Initiative penalty when allying with any other faction during a battle.
Ex; Rachel is in a battle on a node with three 'Mechs. She rolls her dice and gets an Initiative of 9. Had she deployed two 'Mechs and a tank, her Initiative would be 10 (9+1). With or without the tank, her Initiative would be 9 if fighting alongside a Free Worlds League force, or 7 (9-2) if allied with any other faction.
Clan
Clan (Generic): "Omni Mastery" - As the innovators behind OmniPod technology, Clan factions only pay 10% of an OmniMech's construction cost to reconfigure them. Ammunition reload costs are doubled. Thanks, Tukayyid.
Clan Blood Spirit: "This is Sparta!" - Spirit forces are known to have some of the toughest training regimes amongst the Clans, and this is reflected in a 10% reduction, rounded up, to the cost of purchasing improved pilots or training current ones. Due to their preference for standard BattleMechs, they must pay 15%, rounded up, of an OmniMech's construction cost to reconfigure them, and their isolationist nature prevents them from alliances with any faction other than Clan Cloud Cobra, Fire Mandrill, or Snow Raven.
Clan Cloud Cobra: "The Way" - The Babylon Diet gave Clan Cloud Cobra more insight into relations with the Inner Sphere, despite Homeworld Clan interference. Any time the Cobras ally with an Inner Sphere power, they don't suffer the penalty to Initiative whilst in allied combat, and have a 10% reduced cost on any Special Piloting Ability with the Melee or Other trait.. Clan Fire Mandrill, Hells Horses, Ice Hellion, Jade Falcon, and Wolf (Crusader) & Clan Coyote (Warden) receive a +2 Initiative modifier in combat against them.
Clan Diamond Shark: "Blood in the Water" - Consummate business professionals, even when raining down destruction on their enemies, the Sharks can share resources with any other faction to which they are allied, regardless of Clan or Inner Sphere. In addition, their strong Labor Caste gives them 15 WP from Industrial Complexes per turn, instead of 10 WP. Unfortunately, this openness has also made them a target to other Clans, who enjoy a -1 TN on their to-hit rolls against Diamond Shark units.
Clan Ghost Bear: "Enter the Den" - Whilst the Bears have no problem being an offensive force, only a truly foolish enemy would attack them at home. Military Bases the Ghost Bears control provide 10% more WP and their units receive a -1 TN on to-hit rolls when they are the Defender on a Military Base, Industrial Complex, or Mine node. Cautious in their occupying actions, Ghost Bears increase the cost to move all unit types by +1 WP per node.
Clan Jade Falcon: "Turkina's Talons" - Staunch traditionalists, the Falcons seek to employ Zellbrigen as often as possible. Any time a Jade Falcon unit targets an enemy unit, solo and that hasn't been declared as a target by any other unit previously unless that unit was destroyed, on the second and following consecutive turns, the Jade Falcon unit receives a -2 modifier on to-hit rolls against the target of their duel. This is lost and cannot be regained by any Falcon unit if multiple Falcon units fire on any one target in the course of the battle, as a free-for-all will have been opened. That traditionalism imposes a +2 TN modifier for any physical attacks and doubles the cost of all Melee Special Piloting Abilities. In addition, Falcon units cannot retreat from a node where they are the Defender unless at the "Crippled" level.
Clan (Other): "Mankind Redefined" - Clans not listed with a faction ability may take the SPA "Foot Cavalry" for all of their battle armor points at no cost. It's kind of lame, but they also don't get any negative trait, either, so.
Clan Wolf/CWiE: "Heirs of Kerensky" - Wolves of both stripes receive a 10% reduction in the cost of Special Piloting Abilities with the Gunnery or Command traits. An extensive logistics train has hampered their ability to expand their OZ, represented by rolling (2d10 - 1) x 10 WP at the start of each Resource Phase.
OmniMech Reconfiguration
One of the biggest improvements in 'Mech design came as a shock to the Inner Sphere in 3049 - the OmniMech. With the ability to be repaired and an entire weapons loadout switched in a matter of hours instead of weeks, Clan OmniMechs more than made up for their smaller numbers. During the Allocations Phase, players with previously-constructed OmniMechs may reconfigure them into a different version for 20% of the OmniMech's construction cost, to represent the need for the components required.
Ex; Fen is running Clan Wolf, Alpha Galaxy. Having played a few turns, he realizes his Timberwolf Prime's long range weaponry isn't as appropriate for the inevitable city fight it is going to soon get into, and thus he wants to swap to the Timberwolf H config. A Clan 75 ton 'Mech costs 170 WP, so to reconfigure it would cost 34 WP. If his current campaign is using Faction Special Abilities, this is reduced to 17 WP by way of "Omni Mastery."
With the release of more support for SPAs, in the Alpha Strike Companion and Campaign Operations, there is now a host of further customization options for pilot improvement.
Note 6; I didn't want to redo the entire existing table to add these, but the list can be used without any other Advanced Rules. Campaign Operations has expanded explanations on SPAs where they aren't clear.
After the end of a battle where damage has been taken, do the reverse of above - for each point of armor damage, apply 20 points randomly in 5 point clusters, rerolling any location that would cause internal damage, unless your Alpha Strike card also has internal structure boxes marked off. "MP" critical hits can be applied to a random leg actuator, with each "Weapons" hit applied at random to 10 points worth of potential weapon damage (ie, mark off critical hits on one Inner Sphere ER PPC or two ER Medium Lasers per AS critical).
Salvage
Any 'Mech that is left on a node becomes the salvage of the player that controls the node at the end of a battle. Because Alpha Strike abstracts the damage model, a salvaged 'Mech can only be considered "Crippled" or "Destroyed" per standard Operation: Nachtfalke rules. A 'Mech that loses all of its "MP" critical boxes, or Structure boxes (but has not taken an "Engine" critical) is "Crippled." Loss of all Structure boxes + an "Engine" critical is "Destroyed." Any other outcome, you should be getting your 'Mech the heck out of Dodge. As in standard O: N, only 'Mechs may be salvaged in such a way.
Alternate Munitions
Specialty munition subtypes can significantly slow down gameplay as each one requires knowledge of the game rules behind it. However, some factions thrive on submunitions. Using this expansion, alternate munition types can be chosen for the appropriate weapon at 2x the cost of a normal reload. This is pursuant to the rules for each ammunition type in Tactical Operations - so Ultra AC/20s cannot make use of specialty munitions, for instance. Alternate munitions MUST be purchased as full ton lots.
Note 2: Standard ammunition types available to MML and ATM launchers (SRM/LRM on the former, HE/ER on the latter) are available without an advanced ruling as part & parcel of using these weapon types.
Ex; Sean wants to fill his basic AC/2s with Armor Piercing rounds. It will cost 6 WP to load up on these, and each ton carries half the shots of a ton of standard AC/2 ammunition. He makes a note on his 'Mech's record sheet of the reduction in shots and of the AP rules. Because he has a real fear of Capellan minefields, he also loads up his LRM15 racks with anti-minefield missiles, which are apparently a real thing and totally not something he made up the last time we talked about them, at a cost of 12 WP per ton. If "Strong in Command" is used (see below), he pays 5 WP for the AC rounds.
Faction Special Abilities
Overview
Operation: Nachtfalke runs on the presupposition that multiple factions are vying for control of the node-based map, without making assumptions as to which factions are sending/are able to send expeditionary forces. For players that would like their choice of faction to impact the narrative of the game, the below abilities are available. Faction Special Abilities stack with node bonuses and Special Piloting Abilities, where applicable.
Note 3: If one player uses an FSA, ALL players must. For balance. However, players aren't obligated to take both of the Generic ability AND their specific SFA, See below.
Note 4: It's hard coming up with flavorful factional abilities that don't give too huge an advantage or disadvantage. All Inner Sphere/Periphery forces may choose to take "Million Man Militia" in addition to their factional ability. All Clan forces may choose to take "Omni Mastery" in addition to their factional ability.
Inner Sphere
Inner Sphere (Generic): "Million Man Militia" - Home turf advantage rules. Inner Sphere factions may increase their maximum force size to 36 instead of 24, but if so, may only field a maximum of 24 'Mechs. The remaining 12 slots must either be infantry formations or vehicles.
Capellan Confederation: "Iron Defender" - Any time the Capellans are the defender of a node, they may choose to deploy up to 4 20-point (3 point if using Alpha Strike rules) minefields per mapsheet used. The Capellan player must write down which map and which hex each minefield is in before play. When an opposing unit moves into these hexes, roll on the Cluster hit table, under the 20 column and apply damage in 5 pt groupings using the Kick hit location table. Their weakness as expansionists shows, applying a -2 modifier to all Initiative rolls (including during the Movement Phase) once they control 5 or more nodes.
ComStar: "Phone Company Blues" - C* gains +1 WP from each SC node they occupy, as well as 1 WP from an allied faction's SC nodes to represent their management of infrastructure on many worlds. Lacking the unified academic structure of the Houses, they pay a 10% increase in purchasing improved pilots or training current ones.
Draconis Combine: "Honor is Life" - The busosenshi of the Combine know that failure is rarely an option, and receive a 10% reduction on the cost for Special Piloting Abilities. That blade cuts both ways, as a Combine unit cannot willingly retreat from the field of battle unless at the "Crippled" stage when the Defender of a node.
Federated Suns: "Strong in Command" - Harboring some of the most extensive academies in the Inner Sphere, FedSuns pilots are trained in a variety of techniques, giving them a 50% reduction in cost on Special Piloting Abilities with the Piloting or Command trait, as well as -1 WP on the cost for reloading ballistic weapons. Because of their rabid hatred of their neighbors, FedSuns units cannot enter into alliances with the Capellan Confederation, Draconis Combine, or Word of Blake. They receive a +1 TN penalty on to-hit rolls against these opponents, as well as a +2 bonus to their Initiative to reflect their snap reactions from this hatred.
Free Worlds League: "Fractional Accounting" - Utilizing the strongest Inner Sphere economy post-Clan Invasion, the FWL is in a better position to send resources to expeditionary forces. During the Resource Phase, (2d10 + 4) x 10 WP are added to the force's treasury. With their own house in disarray, they're an ersartz ally, and FWL units add an extra +1 TN on to-hit rolls in any node where they have to coordinate with an allied faction.
Inner Sphere (Minor)/Periphery: "Master Exploder" - As experts in the art of doing more with less, Minor and Periphery factions receive a 10% reduction, rounded up, in the cost of repairing Crippled or Destroyed 'Mechs. Lacking the unified academic structure of the Houses, they pay a 10% increase in purchasing Special Piloting Abilities.
Lyran Alliance: "Bigger is Better" - Lyran Alliance players receive a 10% discount on constructing Inner Sphere Assault 'Mechs, and can move them between nodes for 16WP. Due to their disdain for lighter forces, however, Inner Sphere Medium and Heavy 'Mechs are 10% more expensive.
Mercenary: "Almighty Dollar" - Once a month (4 turns) a Mercenary force can change their allegiance to any other listed Inner Sphere power at the start of the Resources Phase, gaining their abilities for the next month, or until they choose another allegiance. However, for the first two weeks (2 turns) with a new employer, they receive (2d10 - 2) x 10 resources. This may result in 0 resources gained outside of tax revenue in a turn. This does not apply to a Mercenary force's first campaign turn with their starting allegience.
Ex; Sam starts the campaign as Mercenary/Free Worlds League, gaining "Fractional Accounting" and rolls (2d10 + 4) x 10 for his Warchest Points in the first 4 turns of play. At the beginning of the 5th turn, he decides that the Free Worlds League isn't doing it for him, and decides to jump to the Lyran Alliance. He loses "Fractional Accounting" and receives "Bigger is Better," but for turn 5 and 6 of the campaign, he rolls (2d10 - 2) x 10 for WP. For turn 7 and 8, he'll go back to the standard 2d10 x 10.
Word of Blake: "Peace of Blake" - The Word has access to the Manei Domini enhancement table below, and as the largest users of combined arms at the tactical level, receive a +1 Initiative bonus when using more than one type of combat unit in a single battle. Counting few allies amongst other factions, they lose any Initiative bonus when joining forces with the Free Worlds League, and take a -2 Initiative penalty when allying with any other faction during a battle.
Ex; Rachel is in a battle on a node with three 'Mechs. She rolls her dice and gets an Initiative of 9. Had she deployed two 'Mechs and a tank, her Initiative would be 10 (9+1). With or without the tank, her Initiative would be 9 if fighting alongside a Free Worlds League force, or 7 (9-2) if allied with any other faction.
Clan
Clan (Generic): "Omni Mastery" - As the innovators behind OmniPod technology, Clan factions only pay 10% of an OmniMech's construction cost to reconfigure them. Ammunition reload costs are doubled. Thanks, Tukayyid.
Clan Blood Spirit: "This is Sparta!" - Spirit forces are known to have some of the toughest training regimes amongst the Clans, and this is reflected in a 10% reduction, rounded up, to the cost of purchasing improved pilots or training current ones. Due to their preference for standard BattleMechs, they must pay 15%, rounded up, of an OmniMech's construction cost to reconfigure them, and their isolationist nature prevents them from alliances with any faction other than Clan Cloud Cobra, Fire Mandrill, or Snow Raven.
Clan Cloud Cobra: "The Way" - The Babylon Diet gave Clan Cloud Cobra more insight into relations with the Inner Sphere, despite Homeworld Clan interference. Any time the Cobras ally with an Inner Sphere power, they don't suffer the penalty to Initiative whilst in allied combat, and have a 10% reduced cost on any Special Piloting Ability with the Melee or Other trait.. Clan Fire Mandrill, Hells Horses, Ice Hellion, Jade Falcon, and Wolf (Crusader) & Clan Coyote (Warden) receive a +2 Initiative modifier in combat against them.
Clan Diamond Shark: "Blood in the Water" - Consummate business professionals, even when raining down destruction on their enemies, the Sharks can share resources with any other faction to which they are allied, regardless of Clan or Inner Sphere. In addition, their strong Labor Caste gives them 15 WP from Industrial Complexes per turn, instead of 10 WP. Unfortunately, this openness has also made them a target to other Clans, who enjoy a -1 TN on their to-hit rolls against Diamond Shark units.
Clan Ghost Bear: "Enter the Den" - Whilst the Bears have no problem being an offensive force, only a truly foolish enemy would attack them at home. Military Bases the Ghost Bears control provide 10% more WP and their units receive a -1 TN on to-hit rolls when they are the Defender on a Military Base, Industrial Complex, or Mine node. Cautious in their occupying actions, Ghost Bears increase the cost to move all unit types by +1 WP per node.
Clan Jade Falcon: "Turkina's Talons" - Staunch traditionalists, the Falcons seek to employ Zellbrigen as often as possible. Any time a Jade Falcon unit targets an enemy unit, solo and that hasn't been declared as a target by any other unit previously unless that unit was destroyed, on the second and following consecutive turns, the Jade Falcon unit receives a -2 modifier on to-hit rolls against the target of their duel. This is lost and cannot be regained by any Falcon unit if multiple Falcon units fire on any one target in the course of the battle, as a free-for-all will have been opened. That traditionalism imposes a +2 TN modifier for any physical attacks and doubles the cost of all Melee Special Piloting Abilities. In addition, Falcon units cannot retreat from a node where they are the Defender unless at the "Crippled" level.
Clan (Other): "Mankind Redefined" - Clans not listed with a faction ability may take the SPA "Foot Cavalry" for all of their battle armor points at no cost. It's kind of lame, but they also don't get any negative trait, either, so.
Clan Wolf/CWiE: "Heirs of Kerensky" - Wolves of both stripes receive a 10% reduction in the cost of Special Piloting Abilities with the Gunnery or Command traits. An extensive logistics train has hampered their ability to expand their OZ, represented by rolling (2d10 - 1) x 10 WP at the start of each Resource Phase.
Manei Domini Enhancements
With the "Peace of Blake" factional ability, Word of Blake players can elect to purchase Manei Domini enhancements for their MechWarriors, vehicle crews, and infantry formations.
Note 5: MechWarriors may have two Special Piloting Abilities max, two SPAs plus one MDE, or one SPA and two MDE, or just two MDEs. At no point may a MechWarrior benefit from more than three total enhancements, or more than two of one type.
Note 5: MechWarriors may have two Special Piloting Abilities max, two SPAs plus one MDE, or one SPA and two MDE, or just two MDEs. At no point may a MechWarrior benefit from more than three total enhancements, or more than two of one type.
| Enhancement | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Buffered VDNI | 40 WP | -1 to Gunnery, may ignore +1 on Small Cockpits, roll 2d6 when component is crit, take pilot damage on 8+ |
| Enhanced Multi-Modal | 30 WP | 2-hex Active Probe, or +3-hex range if unit has AP |
| Multi-Modal Cybernetic | 20 WP | 2-hex Active Probe, or +1-hex range if unit has AP |
| Myomer Full-Body Implant | 20 WP | Battle Armor can take one extra point of damage, Infantry only |
| Pain Shunt | 30 WP | Pilot ignores damage from ammo explosion, heat, or VDNI feedback. No consciousness rolls made. |
| Prosthetic Leg MASC | 20 WP | +1 MP, Infantry only |
| Triple-Core Processor | 40 WP | +2 Initiative each turn, does not stack multiple times |
| Vehicular Direct Neural Interface | 50 WP | Pilot receives -1/-1 to skills, must roll 2d6 on internal hit, taking pilot damage on any 8+ roll |
OmniMech Reconfiguration
One of the biggest improvements in 'Mech design came as a shock to the Inner Sphere in 3049 - the OmniMech. With the ability to be repaired and an entire weapons loadout switched in a matter of hours instead of weeks, Clan OmniMechs more than made up for their smaller numbers. During the Allocations Phase, players with previously-constructed OmniMechs may reconfigure them into a different version for 20% of the OmniMech's construction cost, to represent the need for the components required.
Ex; Fen is running Clan Wolf, Alpha Galaxy. Having played a few turns, he realizes his Timberwolf Prime's long range weaponry isn't as appropriate for the inevitable city fight it is going to soon get into, and thus he wants to swap to the Timberwolf H config. A Clan 75 ton 'Mech costs 170 WP, so to reconfigure it would cost 34 WP. If his current campaign is using Faction Special Abilities, this is reduced to 17 WP by way of "Omni Mastery."
Special Piloting Abilities Expanded
With the release of more support for SPAs, in the Alpha Strike Companion and Campaign Operations, there is now a host of further customization options for pilot improvement.
Note 6; I didn't want to redo the entire existing table to add these, but the list can be used without any other Advanced Rules. Campaign Operations has expanded explanations on SPAs where they aren't clear.
| Skill | Cost | Effect | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cluster Hitter | 50 WP | +1 on Cluster Table OR Aimed Shot, all rolled Cluster hit same location | G |
| Combat Intuition | 60 WP | Take 1 pt pilot damage at end of turn, next turn may move last OR move/shoot at any point | P or G |
| Eagle's Eyes | 30 WP | 1 hex Active Probe, or +1 to existing. -2 to Cluster table for minefields, -2 TN to clear minefield. | O |
| Foot Cavalry | 20 WP | +1 MP and +1 node move for battle armor | O |
| Golden Goose | 20 WP | VTOL only, -1 TN against ground targets, -2 TN on bombing to-hit rolls | O |
| Melee Master | 40 WP | May make an additional physical attack per turn | M |
| Oblique Attacker | 40 WP | -1 TN for indirect firing, no spotter required | G |
| Rangemaster | 50 WP | Can trade Medium or Long Range modifiers with Short, +4/+2/+0 or +2/+0/+4 | G |
| Sandblaster | 40 WP | +2 Cluster table rolls at Long, +3 at Med, +4 at Short | G |
| Sniper | 40 WP | May make Aimed Shots with Direct Fire weapon, -2 TN if also using TargComp | G |
| Stand Aside | 30 WP | PSR at +2 TN, may move through hex occupied by enemy for +1 MP cost | P |
| Strategic Genius | 30 WP | May reroll Initiative, second roll stands even if worse | C |
| Street Figher | 40 WP | May make physical attack in shooting phase, instead of physical attack phase | M |
| Swordmaster | 40 WP | May make Aimed Shots with melee weapon, or Armor Piercing attack at +2 TN to-hit, extra crit check at -1 if armor remains | M |
| Urban Guerilla | 20 WP | +1 TN to-hit infantry units on urban mapsheets | O |
| Zweihander | 40 WP | Two-handed physical attack, does normal damage + 1 pt/10 tons of attacking unit (+2 pts/10 tons with TSM) | M |
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
ISiF - Prelude to War
"The Star League is dead.
As much as it pains me to write it, these past six months have shown that there is truly no turning back.
One could argue that the Inner Sphere has suffered continual conflicts since the fall of the original Star League, but since the Clan Invasion in 3049, many worlds have experienced a near constant barrage of war. From Operation Guerrero, which created the Chaos March, to Operation: Bulldog, through the Capellan Confederations Xin Sheng reconquista and the Combine-Ghost Bear War, to the FedCom Civil War, the past two decades have seen a dramatic upsurge in battles crossing multiple interstellar borders.
The reformation of the Star League, initially to stop the threat of Clan aggression, only aided Sun-Tzu Liao's re-absorption of the St Ives Compact, and did nothing to prevent the two halves of the sundered Federated Commonwealth from coming to blows.
And it was the rulers of these three nations: the Capellan Confederation; Lyran Alliance; and Federated Suns, that decided to withdraw from the League. The remaining members elevated the Word of Blake and others as full members of the Council, but even then, could not gather the votes needed, and the Council was dissolved.
Incensed, the Word of Blake issued an ultimatum to the Council - keep the Star League together, or suffer the consequences. Never taken as seriously as they should have been, the Word's threat was ignored and they tipped their hand to their true might, unleashing the Invincible, a refurbished Tharkad-class WarShip on the planet. A nuclear strike at the heart of the capitol city was only the prelude to what would befall the Sphere.
With the Chaos March secured, unknown Divisions of Word 'Mechs launched forth, easily taking control of many worlds close to Terra. New Avalon felt the sting of invasion, as did Luthien, though the latter claims to be in support of the ruling Kurita family.
Elsewhere, tensions between neighbors have exploded. The Free Worlds League and Lyran Alliance have sent regiments to invade one another, starting with a terrorist assassination of a beloved Marik general. Liao and Davion are currently massing forces on their respective borders, with the FedSuns finally looking at retaking Tikonov back from the CapCon. Mercenary hiring is also at a fervor not witnessed since the start of the Clan Invasion.
Speaking of mercenaries, the loss of Outreach to the Word of Blake prior to the Star League council has turned Galatea and Solaris VII into new Meccas of hiring. Even down on their luck company-sized and smaller commands are being snatched up by hungry House recruiters.
The Clans have not been idle during the coming storm. Vlad Ward's ominous warning that the Wolves would only respect the 15 year Truce of Tukayyid and not the Great Refusal has come to fruition as Wolf Galaxies have been seen launching Trials against their neighbors in a much greater frequency. And, in the Deep Periphery, rumors swirl of new Clans coming to invade.
The Inner Sphere will weather what is being referred to as the '5th Succession War' like all others, but at what cost? When peace returns, will the butcher's bill rival that of the 1st? Only time will tell."
-- John Broward, INN Special Corespondent, Orestes, 3068
3067
3068
As much as it pains me to write it, these past six months have shown that there is truly no turning back.
One could argue that the Inner Sphere has suffered continual conflicts since the fall of the original Star League, but since the Clan Invasion in 3049, many worlds have experienced a near constant barrage of war. From Operation Guerrero, which created the Chaos March, to Operation: Bulldog, through the Capellan Confederations Xin Sheng reconquista and the Combine-Ghost Bear War, to the FedCom Civil War, the past two decades have seen a dramatic upsurge in battles crossing multiple interstellar borders.
The reformation of the Star League, initially to stop the threat of Clan aggression, only aided Sun-Tzu Liao's re-absorption of the St Ives Compact, and did nothing to prevent the two halves of the sundered Federated Commonwealth from coming to blows.
And it was the rulers of these three nations: the Capellan Confederation; Lyran Alliance; and Federated Suns, that decided to withdraw from the League. The remaining members elevated the Word of Blake and others as full members of the Council, but even then, could not gather the votes needed, and the Council was dissolved.
Incensed, the Word of Blake issued an ultimatum to the Council - keep the Star League together, or suffer the consequences. Never taken as seriously as they should have been, the Word's threat was ignored and they tipped their hand to their true might, unleashing the Invincible, a refurbished Tharkad-class WarShip on the planet. A nuclear strike at the heart of the capitol city was only the prelude to what would befall the Sphere.
With the Chaos March secured, unknown Divisions of Word 'Mechs launched forth, easily taking control of many worlds close to Terra. New Avalon felt the sting of invasion, as did Luthien, though the latter claims to be in support of the ruling Kurita family.
Elsewhere, tensions between neighbors have exploded. The Free Worlds League and Lyran Alliance have sent regiments to invade one another, starting with a terrorist assassination of a beloved Marik general. Liao and Davion are currently massing forces on their respective borders, with the FedSuns finally looking at retaking Tikonov back from the CapCon. Mercenary hiring is also at a fervor not witnessed since the start of the Clan Invasion.
Speaking of mercenaries, the loss of Outreach to the Word of Blake prior to the Star League council has turned Galatea and Solaris VII into new Meccas of hiring. Even down on their luck company-sized and smaller commands are being snatched up by hungry House recruiters.
The Clans have not been idle during the coming storm. Vlad Ward's ominous warning that the Wolves would only respect the 15 year Truce of Tukayyid and not the Great Refusal has come to fruition as Wolf Galaxies have been seen launching Trials against their neighbors in a much greater frequency. And, in the Deep Periphery, rumors swirl of new Clans coming to invade.
The Inner Sphere will weather what is being referred to as the '5th Succession War' like all others, but at what cost? When peace returns, will the butcher's bill rival that of the 1st? Only time will tell."
-- John Broward, INN Special Corespondent, Orestes, 3068
3067
- October 15th: Harlech Uprising - Waco's Rangers and four total regiments of rogue mercenaries launch assaults on Harlech City, Outreach. Though defeated, Colonel Wolf is killed. The Dragoons blame Word actions.
- December 5th: The 4th Whitting Conference, the reformed Star League is disbanded.
- December 5th: The Word of Blake assaults Tharkad, with a bombardment by the LCS Invincible.
- December 5th: The Word of Blake assaults New Avalon.
- December 7th: The Battle of Mars sees Wolfs Dragoons invade the Terra system. The Word, though caught unprepared, quickly rallies and destroys multiple Dragoon WarShips, as well as wiping out the invasion forces.
- December 11th: The Battle of McCarel Farm takes place on New Avalon.
- Mid-December: The Clan Grand Council debates renewal of the
invasion following the death of the Second Star League. A vote to elect a
new ilKhan fails and talk of invasion is tabled for now. Several Clan leaders meet outside of council chambers to discuss unilateral actions.
- December 30th: The Black Dragons gain control over Luthien.
- December 15th: The Northwind Highlanders are blockaded on Northwind by the Word of Blake
- December 20th: Word of Blake forces retaliate against Wolf's Dragoons by invading Outreach. After months of fighting, the Word pacifies the planet and takes control of remaining Dragoon industrial capacity.
- December 21st: Clan Nova Cat forces across Draconis Combine space suddenly return to the Irece Prefecture.
- December 24th: General Helen Thrall of the FWLM is assassinated by the Lyran Alliance.
- December 30th: Blakist forces conquer Epsilon Indi.
- December 30th: Blakist forces conquer Fletcher.
- December 30th: Blakist forces conquer Tall Trees.
3068
- January 1st: The Black Dragon's Second Sword of Light seizes the Imperial Palace on Luthien.
- January 1st: Word of Blake ground and black water naval forces assault Luthien.
- January 21st: Word of Blake forces devastate the 21st Centauri Lancers and other units on Tukayyid.
- February 2nd: Clan Wolf cedes control of Unzmarkt to Clan Diamond Shark, after Trials which net the Wolves a Cluster worth of Mad Cat Mk IIs and variants.
- February 4th: Renegade Free Worlds League forces raid Skye.
- February 4th: Word of Blake forces assault Dieron.
- February 4th: Duke Robert Kelswa-Steiner of Skye declares war on the Free Worlds League, this marks the start of Operation: UBERSCHATTEN.
- February 20th: The CSV Invisible Truth is ambushed en route to Case WHITE, Victor Steiner-Davion is killed.
- March: The Word of Blake conducts raids against Hesperus II, this marks the start of Operation: STEEL HAMMER.
- March 9th: The Case White invasion begins, ending in disaster for the ComGuard.
- March 10th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces assault Cascade.
- March 10th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces assault Megrez.
- March 10th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces assault Togwotee.
- March 14th-17th: Word of Blake forces assault Coventry.
- March 14th-17th: Word of Blake forces assault Donegal.
- March 14th-17th: Word of Blake forces assault Hesperus II.
- March 20th: Clan Wolf Beta and Gamma Galaxies win Trials for Zoetermeer and Leskovik.
- March 30th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces conquer Colfax.
- March 30th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces conquer Pingree.
- March 30th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces conquer Sheridan.
- March 30th: Forces from the Skye and Bolan provinces conquer Thermopolis.
- May 15th: Word of Blake forces depart New Avalon under mysterious circumstances, ending six months of occupation. They take with them several divisions worth of salvageable materials.
- July 1st: Yvonne Steiner-Davion, Princess-Regent of the Federated Suns, returns to a triumphant New Avalon with the body of Victor retrieved during her journey from Tharkad. A toxin introduced into her system at an unknown time takes effect, killing her as she touches the ground on New Avalon.
- July 22nd: Following the assassination of the Princess-Regent, Conrad Jerric Davion is instilled with the powers and title of First Prince. A reorganization and redistribution of power in the Federated Suns occurs shortly thereafter.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
The Unvanquished/Song's Sentinels - Unit Spotlight: Mercenary
26th Royal Tyran (Mechanized) aka The Two-Six aka The Unvanquished
"And, for a time, they knew peace..."
The Free Rasalhague Republic was formed after the War of 3039 as a buffer state between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, negotiated by ComStar. Neither the Lyrans nor the Dracs relinquished as many planets as they'd agreed to, and ComStar didn't hold up their end of the bargain as well either, and the Ronin Wars left a bad taste in the mouth of FRR citizens towards mercs, but the Republic was allowed 10 years of more or less peace with which to attempt to prosper.The War of 3039 and the Ronin Wars can then be looked at like the Pendulum Wars in Gears.
The Clans, much like the Locust Horde, destroyed that peace. Post-Tukayyid, members of the FRR's Kungsarme, led by retired Major Adam Fenix, fled the Republic for the Outworld's Alliance to build up a mercenary unit not held back by the 15 year treaty. However, the Snow Ravens came to the OA, and the ground was laid for the future Raven's Alliance. Former OA Chairman Richard Prescott, working with Fenix, pulled dissatisfied Alliance troops, and left the Periphery, using business contacts to sign on with Vicore.
Calling themselves the Coalition of Occupied Governments (as opposed to Ordered, in Gears), Prescott, Fenix (prior to his death), and Giovanni de la Sangre, used Vicore Phoenix 'Mechs, and what equipment the force could bring from the FRR and OA, to build a monument to anti-Clan sentiment - the 26th Royal Tyran. As they are politicians, command of the unit itself falls to Brevet Colonel Victor Hoffman, with day to day field operations under the aegis of Sergeant Marcus Fenix, with liason via Lieutenant Anya Stroud.
Drilling in garrison, anti-Clan assault, and cadre duties, the 2-6 hopes to return to the front in the near future.
When outside of their 'Mechs, the unit typically dons silver and blue body armor.
I originally wanted to do something Overwatch-themed, ala D.Va's MEKA unit or Reaper's TALON, then I thought that I'd rather it end up like the "deadly cute" weapon skin from Gears of War 3, but what I unintentionally ended up with is pretty much Char's Zaku paint scheme from Mobile Suit Gundam and that is A-OK with me. Song's Sentinels generally works as a mercenary subcontracting force, either hiring on with larger commands in need of bigger numbers for bigger jobs, or landing smaller assignments with private companies and landed nobles of the Inner Sphere. The unit specializes in advanced or experimental technologies, owing to its founding on Solaris VII, and the pool of MechWarriors pulled from arenas.
Song's Sentinels utilize a specially-designed ablative field ("MEKA") suit, in a variety of colors, when outside of their 'Mechs on duty. Off duty, they typically dress as garishly as possible, per their Solaris roots.
26th Royal Tyran (Mechanized) ***Semi-Retired***
Command Element
BLR-4S BattleMaster: Colonel Victor Hoffman
RLF-X3 Rifleman: Sergeant Bernadette "Bernie" Mataki
Delta Squad
MAD-4S Marauder II: Sergeant Marcus Fenix
WHM-9S Warhammer : Dominic Santiago
WHM-8D Warhammer: Damon Baird
GOL-3X Goliath: Augustus "Cole Train" Cole
Alpha Squad
PXH-6D Phoenix Hawk: Lieutenant Anya Stroud
GRF-5K Griffin: Aaron Griffin
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk: Dizzy Wallin
JVN-11A Javelin: Samantha Byrne
Zeta Squad
WVR-9D Wolverine: Lieutenant Minh Young Kim
WTH-2 Whitworth: Tai Kaliso
HCT-6D Hatchetman: Michael Barrick
KTO-4A Koto: Alicia Valera
EXR-2X Exhumer:
GDR-1D Gravedigger:
PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk:
Third Element
BL-X-KNT Black Knight:
VLP-1D Vulpes:
LNG-4 Longshot:
CH11-NG Gunsmith:
"And, for a time, they knew peace..."
The Free Rasalhague Republic was formed after the War of 3039 as a buffer state between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, negotiated by ComStar. Neither the Lyrans nor the Dracs relinquished as many planets as they'd agreed to, and ComStar didn't hold up their end of the bargain as well either, and the Ronin Wars left a bad taste in the mouth of FRR citizens towards mercs, but the Republic was allowed 10 years of more or less peace with which to attempt to prosper.The War of 3039 and the Ronin Wars can then be looked at like the Pendulum Wars in Gears.
The Clans, much like the Locust Horde, destroyed that peace. Post-Tukayyid, members of the FRR's Kungsarme, led by retired Major Adam Fenix, fled the Republic for the Outworld's Alliance to build up a mercenary unit not held back by the 15 year treaty. However, the Snow Ravens came to the OA, and the ground was laid for the future Raven's Alliance. Former OA Chairman Richard Prescott, working with Fenix, pulled dissatisfied Alliance troops, and left the Periphery, using business contacts to sign on with Vicore.
Calling themselves the Coalition of Occupied Governments (as opposed to Ordered, in Gears), Prescott, Fenix (prior to his death), and Giovanni de la Sangre, used Vicore Phoenix 'Mechs, and what equipment the force could bring from the FRR and OA, to build a monument to anti-Clan sentiment - the 26th Royal Tyran. As they are politicians, command of the unit itself falls to Brevet Colonel Victor Hoffman, with day to day field operations under the aegis of Sergeant Marcus Fenix, with liason via Lieutenant Anya Stroud.
Drilling in garrison, anti-Clan assault, and cadre duties, the 2-6 hopes to return to the front in the near future.
When outside of their 'Mechs, the unit typically dons silver and blue body armor.
*********
I originally wanted to do something Overwatch-themed, ala D.Va's MEKA unit or Reaper's TALON, then I thought that I'd rather it end up like the "deadly cute" weapon skin from Gears of War 3, but what I unintentionally ended up with is pretty much Char's Zaku paint scheme from Mobile Suit Gundam and that is A-OK with me. Song's Sentinels generally works as a mercenary subcontracting force, either hiring on with larger commands in need of bigger numbers for bigger jobs, or landing smaller assignments with private companies and landed nobles of the Inner Sphere. The unit specializes in advanced or experimental technologies, owing to its founding on Solaris VII, and the pool of MechWarriors pulled from arenas.
Song's Sentinels utilize a specially-designed ablative field ("MEKA") suit, in a variety of colors, when outside of their 'Mechs on duty. Off duty, they typically dress as garishly as possible, per their Solaris roots.
26th Royal Tyran (Mechanized) ***Semi-Retired***
Command ElementBLR-4S BattleMaster: Colonel Victor Hoffman
RLF-X3 Rifleman: Sergeant Bernadette "Bernie" Mataki
Delta Squad
MAD-4S Marauder II: Sergeant Marcus Fenix
WHM-9S Warhammer : Dominic Santiago
WHM-8D Warhammer: Damon Baird
GOL-3X Goliath: Augustus "Cole Train" Cole
Alpha Squad
PXH-6D Phoenix Hawk: Lieutenant Anya Stroud
GRF-5K Griffin: Aaron Griffin
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk: Dizzy Wallin
JVN-11A Javelin: Samantha Byrne
Zeta Squad
WVR-9D Wolverine: Lieutenant Minh Young Kim
WTH-2 Whitworth: Tai Kaliso
HCT-6D Hatchetman: Michael Barrick
KTO-4A Koto: Alicia Valera
Song's Sentinels
Command Element
ARC-9W Archer:
TDR-9T Thunderbolt:
BMB-1X Bombard:
CVR-A1 Cadaver:
Second Element
SQS-TH-002 Sasquatch: EXR-2X Exhumer:
GDR-1D Gravedigger:
PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk:
Third Element
BL-X-KNT Black Knight:
VLP-1D Vulpes:
LNG-4 Longshot:
CH11-NG Gunsmith:
Char's Zaku, so you know what I mean, jellybean. It's more pastel than the bubblegum pink I used though.
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