Much like with the BU: 53rd SD, I was sitting at lunch and reading some BattleTech forums regarding the Imperio del Escorpion, or the Goliath Scorpions post-War of Reavings when they said "fuck all" and conquered the Nueva Castile worlds and formed a "new" interstellar power, ala the Rasalhague Dominion and Raven Alliance. Unlike those two, however, the Imperio is a lot like "old school Mad Max" BattleTech - with a lower technology level than even the Outworld's Alliance and a Clan battered by the WoR, the Imperio actually has a decent amount of flavor... And, you know, with there being a good chance the Ummayyid invaders of Nueva Castile probably being a portion of the surviving Wolverines (just saying... Blake Documents hints at it, yo), you can kind of squint and see a microcosm of the Inner Sphere or Clan Homeworlds in this one new faction.
Which, of course, meant I started looking at a "paper Cluster" whilst sitting here. First, I started with looking up the Goliath Scorpion Touman, and their paint schemes, and I really like Beta Galaxy, since I don't really have much tan/beige going on right now, and it looks like a fairly easy scheme to do. From there, I looked at what Clusters exist from Operation: Revival onto FM: 3085, because you know my units have to cover a wide range of time periods. I decided on the 3rd Scorpion Cuirassiers. Thanks to Sarna, I know that a Cuirassier Cluster for the Scorps is made up of a Command Trinary, two Assault Trinaries, and two Battle Trinaries. That is: Command - a Trinary with two 'Mech Stars, and a composite Star of two 'Mechs, two Elemental points, and an Aerospace point; Assault - a Trinary with two Heavy/Assault 'Mech Stars and an Elemental Star; and Battle - a Trinary with one Light to Heavy 'Mech Star, one Elemental Star, and one Aerospace Star.
Because, as expressed previously, we don't generally use Aerospace, I modified the composite Star in the Command Trinary to be a point of ProtoMechs, then replaced the Aerospace Star in the first Battle Trinary with a ProtoMech Star, and the Aerospace Star in the second Battle Trinary with a second Light/Medium 'Mech Star, so it wouldn't just feel like another Assault Trinary.
When selecting 'Mechs for this, I went with the official Master Unit List for the Goliath Scorpions and Ice Hellions (since the Scorps absorb what's left of them after Operation: Ice Storm is an epic fail) but for starters, I went to the Iron Wind Metals website, looked up the "Imperio Escorpion Star Packs" and used them for my first Assault and Battle Stars. For my Command Trinary, I began with Connor Rood's Kit Fox (using W config, not sure what Rood actually piloted) and built around that. Then, I took one Star from an Assault and Battle Trinary to do Star League-issue 'Mechs, representing that this force is fielding what it can, not necessarily the top of the line stuff, but also so I would basically have an Operation: Klondike Binary if I were to need one. Since I won't actually be purchasing anything prior to 2018, I might still tweak it, but for the moment, it looks good to me. I might still, for instance, swap out a Star of Elementals for a Star of Salamanders or Undines. (?) indicates I haven't built in a "default configuration" for that 'Mech yet.
2025 Update - When I said, originally, that I didn't have much in the way of tan/beige going on, that was prior to painting a portion of my Northwind Highlanders in a chocolate chip cookie desert pattern, and prior to painting Alpha Galaxy of Clan Blood Spirit (plus Iota Galaxy uses a tan-ish base) so I decided, instead, to go a little darker and make this a CGS Chi Galaxy/Scorpion Empire Seeker Galaxy force, probably First Scorpion Seekers. And I'm doing it all in plastic since the original was pre-CGL revitalization. Most of what I have below is already available, ProtoMechs are coming out soon, and I might also do some Word of Blake stuff per the MUL. We'll see. That means I'll need to do some updates on this overall though.
3rd Scorpion Cuirassiers
(First Seeker Cluster)
Uller/Kit Fox F - saKhan Connor Rood
Vulture/Mad Dog Prime
Vulture/Mad Dog Prime
Cauldron-born/Ebon Jaguar B
Cauldron-born/Ebon Jaguar B
Striker Star
Hellion C
Hellion C
Viper/Dragonfly E
Viper/Dragonfly E
Fenris/Ice Ferret E
Composite Star
Daishi/Dire Wolf C
Daishi/Dire Wolf C
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Sprite ProtoMech x 5
Command Star
Gladiator/Executioner (?)
Masakari/Warhawk (?)
Blood Asp E
Daishi/Dire Wolf (?)
Kingfisher (?)
Support Star
Mad Cat/Timberwolf (?)
Hellfire
Night Gyr (?)
Galahad/Glass Spider
Naga
Elemental Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Loki/Hellbringer Prime/B
Galahad/Glass Spider
Rifleman IIC 3
Warhammer IIC 4
Behemoth/Stone Rhino 2
Support Star
KGC-000b King Crab
AS7-D-H2 Atlas II
STK-3Fb Stalker (Use Stalker II mini)
WHM-7A Warhammer
ARC-2Rb Archer
Elemental Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Dasher/Fire Moth (?)
Dasher/Fire Moth (?)
Hankyu/Arctic Cheetah (?)
Elemental Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
ProtoMech Star
Roc ProtoMech x5
Satyr ProtoMech x 5
Triton ProtoMech x 5
Orc ProtoMech x5
Minotaur ProtoMech x5
Fenris/Ice Ferret (?)
Hellion (?)
Ryoken/Storm Crow (?)
Phantom (?)
Icestorm 2
Support Star
GRF-2N Griffin
CRB-27b Crab
Firefly C
SL-1G Sling
SL-1G Sling
Elemental Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
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