Children of Ra, Arise - Unit Spotlight: Clan Cloud Cobra

Clan Cloud Cobra has long existed in the shadow of the Star Adders, and the Wars of Reaving did them no favors in that aspect. However, a throwaway line from the aforementioned Wars book, an alternate table of contents not used, gave me a great idea to put together a Cobra force for the 5th Succession Wars campaign. See, "Clan Blood Cobra" came up, in the sense that the Spirits are absorbed by the Cobras. And I thought, you know, since the Blood Spirits will be invading the IS Clans holdings, instead of using the Ice Hellions, it would make sense that the Cobras are tired of being considered a weaker Clan & that they would strike out with their new Spirit allies.

At any rate, finally got my Cloud Cobra Pharaoh Trinary finished up, minus basing and decals on four. I have another Binary on the drawing board right now, using some Cobra and some Spirit designs to tie the two forces together a bit closer.

Pharaoh Keshik

Command/Star of Anubis
Turkina Prime - Khan Din Steiner
Blood Asp A - MechWarrior Najenda (Khatib)
Blood Asp Prime - MechWarrior Leone (Izumi)
Mad Cat Mk II

Scylla 2

Star of Osiris
Savage Coyote C - Star Commander Elias N'Buta
Mad Cat/Timberwolf Prime
Loki/Hellbringer Prime
Night Gyr Prime
Battle Cobra B

Star of Sutekh
Crimson Langur Prime
Cougar A
Cougar Prime
Ryoken/Stormcrow Prime
Stinger IIC

Beta Galaxy

Command/Star of Aten
*Blood Kite 2 - saKhan Kieran Telinov
*Kingfisher
*Kingfisher
*Hellfire
*Hellfire

Star of Horus
*Goshawk II
*Black Lanner
*Black Lanner
*Rabid Coyote
*Rabid Coyote

Star of Sobek
Elemental Point Small Laser
*Corona Point
*Corona Point
*Corona Point
*Corona Point

A note on Cloisters; the Cloud Cobras are the most openly religious of Clans, with various faiths represented within the Clan, and without in some cases. I only mention this because of things like the Babylon Diet and and Ka'an Cloister are big parts of the impetus behind the 5th Succession War, in addition to the Coyote feud and a burgeoning tear in the Cobra/Star Adder alliance (due to Burrock inteference).

Waterly Memorial/Sixth of June 2016 Recap

Definitely plan on throwing a bunch of new updates on here over the next two weeks, but I want to start with the one that is a month past due - our annual Waterly Memorial shindig.

This year, because the Sixth of June wasn't on a weekend, and since last year was such a huge debacle with the noise level versus people still learning, we actually split the event into two nights. Some people came to.both, and same came to one or the other, so it was a nice cross section. However, we also added MtG as a big event and unfortunately, that ended up being all that was played on night two as people got shit faced hammered. Another peril of the gaming...

So the first night, I squared off against Tiffy whilst Sean oversaw a game between Jer and new guy Brian (spelled correctly). My Kuroi Kaze finally had a chance to field the scythe wielding Mortis, against Tiffy's Marik Militia. And man, did it do well. Sliced the arm off one of her 'Mechs, decapitated the other, and was the only thing left standing on the field at the end.

Jer and Brian went back and forth for a bit, but overwhelmingly good rolls in his favor gave Jer a fairly easy victory.

Then we played a bunch of Magic. It was a good time. Commander with the homies Jessica and Steube, and some casual too.

Night two, lots of casual Magic going on. Had Des Moines guests and Jackie, and that made for a great evening as well.

Pictures? Pictures.

Importance of Cover

There is a lot to be said about fielding the biggest, most powerful 'Mechs on the table top. However, there is even more to be said about what you do and where you move said 'Mechs.

Last game session, we ran a couple of slobberknockers. First game up, Sean and I went Falcons vs Wolves. I'd say partially from unfamiliarity with the pieces deployed, and partially with some overwhelmingly bad rolls compared to my own, the Falcons were decimated in short order and Ivan Kerensky's Tomahawk once again proved its worth to me. Matching up against Sean's Kraken, I expected a lot of UAC20 splattering everywhere. However, we both wisely targeted weaker opponents and his 'Mechs took the worse of the exchange.

Since we finished early enough (on a Saturday), we went for a round two. Sean switched from Falcons to his Davion Guards, which are finally almost completely assembled. As an added treat, newly-trained Lindsey took the field on his side, running his Nightstar whilst he covered a Templar, Shadowhawk, and RAC Hammerhands. His base looked to be quite well defended. Fresh from trouncing the Falcons, my Wolves were spoiling for some Spheroid conquests. Led by a Timberwolf S, the star of a Savage Wolf A, Uratha Prime, Ice Ferret Prime, and Adder Prime, maneuvered in from the north. WINTER IS COMING, BITCHES! Sorry, shouldn't make Stark references...

So I mentioned movement up above. The first, and biggest mistake of the game, Sean hid his Templar behind the corner of the fort's wall.... Which is at an angle, leaving him directly in the line of sight of the eastern wall. My Wolves hugged tight and it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

At that point, he was ready to call it, but we soldiered on anyway, mostly at Lindsey's urging, so she could get more practice in.

Jump came into play as my forces moved into the base, intent on either killing 'Mechs or buildings. Ah, let's be honest. Those 'Mechs were targets worthy of more honor.

We bounced back and forth, fighting relentlessly...

We got to a good point....

And then we got to a bad point. The Davion forces could not stem the power of the Wolves. Alpha Galaxy, with a Beta Galaxy observer, won the day. Lindsey did great and Sean recovered from the loss of his Templar as he went. BattleTech isn't Warhammer 40k, so a victor is never a foregone conclusion. 

The North Remembers - Unit Spolight: Clan Wolf

Forced into invading the Inner Sphere when they had no desire to do so, battered down during the Refusal War, Absorbed and then reborn, Clan Wolf is probably the most popular Clan in BattleTech, and solidly in my top three. They're one of only two forces that I use exclusively in the 357th, in addition to the Kuroi Kaze. The eventual goal is to have a Trinary or Binary from each main Galaxy, though a couple may end up a bit larger than that.

When putting Alpha Galaxy together, I wanted a solid mix of OmniMechs and BattleMechs, front and second line stuff, including some Operation: Klondike Sphere-tech designs like the Atlas II and Imp, as this is my most versatile Clan force in a timeline and pick up game sense. So, whilst I used planetary deployment data from Field Manual: Updates and Wars of Reaving, I basically ignored the percentage of OmniMechs, BattleMechs, and Star League-tech listed in FM:U. Most of the forces I'm building are listed at 100% nominal strength if canon, and in the case of the 1st WAC, 100% OmniMech. Which is great in-universe, I just wanted more table top flexibility. Plus, in a Nachtfalke map-based campaign, I can bring out an Atlas II for cheaper than a Tomahawk II, allowing me to save resources whilst still dropping a potent 'Mech.

The Golden Keshik is the command unit for the Wolves in general, and Alpha Galaxy in particular, and whilst I made it with Vlad Ward in mind, Alaric Ward's Mad Cat Mk IV wears the same colors for the ilClan trial.

But Beta Galaxy, 13th Battle Cluster is where he was during A Bonfire of Worlds, so I went with the description of their scheme during the battle against Thaddeus Marik. This works on a second level in that I've also put together Marik's Protectorate Guard. That's a tabletop game waiting to happen.

Since we're with Beta, I scrapped my original "pull Clan 'Mechs from the Kuroi Kaze and use them as Wolf" since, honestly, I added the light gray to distinguish between the two & have markings for the KK on the 'Mechs already. It just wouldn't be Wolf without some black and red though, and with Catalyst plastics, I have no excuse for not slapping Omnis, IIC, and C style 'Mechs together into one cluster. Or at least a couple of Trinaries, until the later Star League, Clan Wolf, and Wolf Empire force packs come out.

Steel Wolves originally started as a Wolf-in-Exile colored Omega Galaxy, but thematically, it fits less than the canon Crusader Omega (which was absorbed by Clan Hell's Horses) and much more with the Dark Ages idea of combined arms at even the Star level. The goal there is to eventually have three or so Trinaries, completely mixed between all ground force types.That's despite SW coming from Delta Galaxy and drinking the Stone Koolaid in canon. Jim Jones got nothing on Devlin.

Alpha Galaxy

Golden Keshik
Location: Tamar
Commander: Khan Vladimir Ward

BINARY
Suffer Unto the Locust Star
Mad Cat/Timberwolf H - Khan Vladimir Ward
Savage Coyote W - MechWarrior Raam
Tomahawk II C - MechWarrior Skorge
Daishi/Dire Wolf H - MechWarrior Myrrah
Vulture/Mad Dog H - MechWarrior Karn

Ex Star
Ryoken III/Skinwalker B
Ryoken III/Skinwalker B
Linebacker H
Dasher/Fire Moth H
Dasher/Fire Moth H

1st Wolf Assault Cluster
Location: Tamar
Commander: Star Colonel Ivan Kerensky

ASSAULT TRINARY
Command Star
Tomahawk II Prime - Star Colonel Ivan Kerensky
Tomahawk Prime
Daishi/Dire Wolf W
Imp C
AS7-D-H2 Atlas II

II Star
Mad Cat Mk II -
Mad Cat Mk II-E
Highlander IIC
Warhammer IIC 4
Warhammer IIC 5

Striker Star
Masakari/Warhawk H
Man O'War/Gargoyle D
Man O'War/Gargoyle Conal
Kingfisher C

Kingfisher C

LINEHOLDER TRINARY
Command Star
Mad Cat/Timberwolf F
Mad Cat/Timberwolf Prime
Mad Cat/Timberwolf Prime
Mad Cat Mk IV Prime
Wolfhound IIC

Fire Star
Orion IIC -
Blood Reaper
Blood Reaper
Rifleman IIC 3
Galahad/Glass Spider

Rearguard Star
Sun Cobra
Shadowhawk IIC 4
Locust IIC 4
Ocelot
Commando IIC

SUPERNOVA TRINARY
Command Star
Fenris/Ice Ferret Prime
Ryoken/Stormcrow Prime
Puma/Adder Prime
Uller/Kit Fox W
Wulfen B

Swift Nova
Uratha Prime
Hellion Prime
Hellion Prime
Koshi/Mist Lynx Prime
Koshi/Mist Lynx Prime
Elemental Point Small Laser
Elemental Point Small Laser
Elemental Point Small Laser
Elemental Point Small Laser
Elemental Point Small Laser

Watch Star
Emperor
Exterminator
MCY-100 Mercury II
ST-24G Stag II
Elemental Point Machine Gun

Beta Galaxy

Thirteenth Battle Cluster
(Note: Uses described DA Alaric's scheme per A Bonfire of Worlds)
Location: Quarrel
Commander: Star Colonel Alaric Ward

ULTIMA THULE TRINARY
Command Star
Mad Cat Mk IV A - Star Colonel Alaric Ward
Mad Cat Mk IV Prime  -  MechWarrior Anastasia Kerensky
Lupus Prime
Thor II D
Warwolf Prime

II Star
Garou - Star Commander Verena Wolf
Mad Cat Mk II 4
Mad Cat Mk II 4
Mad Cat Mk II 5
Tomahawk II B

Strike Star
Uratha Prime - Star Commander Jessica Connors
Mad Cat Mk III - MechWarrior Yulri Wolf
Sun Cobra II
Arctic Wolf II Prime
Pouncer H

Fourth Wolf Guards -> 13th Wolf Guards -> Black Widow Company ->Wolf Spider Battalion
Location: Memmingen
Commander: Khan Natasha Kerensky - > saKhan Miriam Shaw
Note - Bounces between Natasha Kerensky's forces in the IS, to her forces with the Clans, to Wolf in Exile after the Refusal War, to Wolf in Exile in the Dark Ages, to Wolf in the ilClan era. So fairly liberal with Clan designs, as well as Wolf Empire designs. For cackin' Jade Falcons and Cappies. Also moved to Omega Provisional Galaxy under Miriam Shaw at that time.

FIRST TRINARY
Command Star
Timberwolf - (Miriam Shaw, if ilClan)
Dire Wolf Widowmaker  -  (Natasha Kerensky, if Clan Invasion)
Blood Asp I
Gargoyle
Mad Dog

Striker Star
Wolfhound IIC
Ice Ferret
Pouncer
Dragonfly
Adder

Assault Star
Warhawk
Timberwolf
Linebacker

SECOND TRINARY
Command Star
Highlander IIC
Phoenix Hawk IIC
Rifleman IIC

Assault Star
Awesome C
Marauder II C
Goliath C
Shogun C
Warhammer C

Heavy Scout Star
Firefly C
Hoplite C
Scorpion C
Wasp C
Valkyrie C

Omega Galaxy

Steel Wolves
(Note: Uses Dark Age scheme, which is functionally the same as WiE Omega Galaxy)
Location: Lothan
Commander: Galaxy Commander Kal Radick

FIRST ELEMENT
Command Star
Daishi/Dire Wolf H - Star Captain Abioseh Winson
Masakari/Warhawk H - MechWarrior Katherine Wolf (Steiner-Davion)
Thunder Stallion
Mad Cat Mk II
Marauder IIC 2

Pirate Hunt Star
Black Hawk/Nova H
Griffin IIC 3
Rabid Coyote
Lobo - MechWarrior Arya Wolf
Pack Hunter

SECOND ELEMENT
Command Star
Tundra Wolf - Star Colonel Tassa Kay
Warwolf H
Wulfen H
Wulfen A
Vixen 6

Armor Star Whiskey
Epona Prime - Star Captain Marijoan Shaw
Epona Prime
Oro
Oro
Ishtar
Ishtar
Ares
Ares
Ares
Ares

Mixed Reinforced Star Tango
Salamander Point
Salamander Point
Salamander Point
Salamander Point
Salamander Point
Carnivore Assault Tank
Carnivore Assault Tank
Carnivore Assault Tank
Carnivore Assault Tank