Journey into ACES: A Day One Campaign

 

 

The first ever solo/co-op campaign for BattleTech/Alpha Strike has finally dropped, and you bet your ass we ordered a copy the second our preferred vendor Aries Games & Miniatures had a stock notification sent out. And what a box it is. Might be the most popular box ever. Okay, I have no data to support that and I'm sure both the A Game of Armored Combat & Alpha Strike boxes (and probably Mercenaries) will be more long-term popular/profitable 'cause we've ordered multiples of each & will probably only order one Scouring Sands box (but then again, more Fulcrums & Thor IICs...) but I only exaggerate a little bit on how welcome an addition this is. Having spent a bunch of time playing solo/co-op Fallout Wasteland Warfare and appreciating their approach to an "AI" opponent via card responses to the current situation, I was eagerly awaiting this one from the moment it was announced. 

The campaign is a clash between mercenaries (you) hired by the Alyina Mercantile League, a merchant-led splinter from the Clan Jade Falcons left when Malvina Hazen headed for Terra, and the remains of CJF Epsilon Galaxy led by a Star Commander that doesn't understand the concept of "you ain't good enough, son." There are 22 scenarios total, though because it's a branching storyline depending on how each plays out, you won't run through all of these in one shot, adding to replayability. And, again, it's a solo/co-op experience so you can play it one way, then restart with one of your homies & have the campaign go entirely differently. Even if you have no homies (let me know, I'll come over, we got you), just switching up the composition of your forces can really change gameplay as well.

I won't belabor the contents or a full review of the box itself - there are a ton on YouTube already that go over everything in minute detail but I will say that everything in this box has been designed from the ground up to be a fantastic campaign experience. As far as the miniatures go, out of my 800+ metal IWMs, I didn't already own either of the aforementioned T'Bolt IIC or the Fulcrum, and them + all of the new versions of existing plastic minis are beautiful. 

Because it's an "Alpha Strike Cooperative Campaign," you do need the Alpha Strike box set, as some of the scenarios do expect you to have the cardstock buildings, but if you have the AS: Commanders Edition rulebook and a bunch of Hex Tech terrain, you could probably get by. However, if you -don't- have the AS box set, you should probably get it. Two or three copies even. You need more Warhawk Cs and Wraiths in your life. Because ACES provides the enemy force, you'll want something to field against them and the AS box gives you two solid lances of Inner Sphere 'Mechs to be your merc force start, with a Clan Star that could also work great as OmniMech salvage. And then if you were to also order the Mercenaries box to cover your vehicle needs, plus another two lances of IS 'Mechs, and theeeeeen also order the A Game of Armored Combat box for two MORE lances of IS 'Mechs, then the Clan Invasion box for a good alt Star of Clan opponents and THEN.... Okay, okay, you see where I'm going with this. Buy all the boxes, all the forcepacks, all the one offs like the Blood Asp, UrbanMech, and Savannah Masters that you can. Build battalions and clusters and regiments and galaxies. Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess. 

Edit - I stand by my assertion on the AS:CE but the Alpha Strike box set -will- be your best bet since the tutorial and training sorties are built around the 'Mechs in the box, plus rules references are mostly made against the quick start book with the box. And the buildings are used in map designs. But if you're good with all of these points (and there are 3d prints equivalent to the box buildings), you're solid to play.

Buy them allllll.

Going into this, I knew that I was planning on keeping the minis intact, both for the purpose of the campaign itself, and because I'm already rocking a Jade Falcon force in plastic that I love, so all of these were set to be painted in Omega Galaxy (interestingly, 2nd Falcon Dragoons of Omega Galaxy are the last force as of 3145 listed as being on Apostica) colors, instead of Epsilon per the cover art. 

And then once the Jade Falcon & Alyina Mercantile League forcepacks drop (predicated on the K-Kon list remaining valid, no indication it isn't), that'll round out to two full Trinaries w/one of the Stars slightly reinforced (the point of Fulcrums). Because the scenarios in ACES are designed around unit roles, and not necessarily the specific 'Mechs or vees, you do have some flexibility in changing up some of your pieces, like if you wanted to use that Clan Star from the Alpha Strike Box set alongside the forces in this box, hint hint nudge nudge. 

There's a Highlander on the rulebook cover, for Kerensky's sake. 

To oppose the Falcons in the first run through, I made sure my Northwind Highlanders were locked, cocked, and ready to rock. You start your campaign with 400pts of forces, have to take at least 8 units, and you absolutely want to cover all of your movement profiles & weight class bases. Who knows what the campaign will throw at you. Further, you can only have two copies of one chassis type, and they have to be different versions of said chassis, so I could take two Highlanders (the IIC doesn't count with them, Highlander name but Clantech versions are different chassis types) if I did the HGN-732 and HGN-733 but could not take two HGN-732s. I also wanted to test myself to just use the Alpha Strike cards that come with the boxes and force packs, so no running to the official Master Unit List to pick and choose "the best" assets. Three companies of 'Mechs and one company of vees gave me some really good choices to pick through, so here's where I started;

Highlander IIC (58)
GUN-3ERD Gunslinger (49)
KGC-0000 King Crab (44)
BL-7-KNT Black Knight (34)
PTR-6T Penetrator (39)
STY-4C Starslayer (36)
WTH-1S Whitworth (25)
JLP-BD Jackalope (37)
SPR-6F Spector (37)
H-7C Warrior AHC (20)
Total - 379 pts
21 pts leftover converted to 840 SP for my early campaign needs.

My force, and yes, I will get paint on those last four.

Note - it is a bit metagaming to know what I'll potentially be facing and attempt to go with choices that can counter this, like taking anti-missile systems in anticipation of dealing with the Bane, so if I were setting this up for co-op, I'd probably pick half of the opposing force and let my teammate(s) pick the other half so that we don't know exactly what might be coming, or slot in a few other 'Mechs of each role type and randomly roll for which to use when a scenario calls for that role. I'd also most likely let them pick half of our force composition so it's a lot more "fog of war." But to make this as in-universe as possible, I didn't necessarily try to build the most optimized force, just grabbed things that I felt like my interpretation of the Highlanders would use if sending close to a company to The Hinterlands w/o knowing what they're getting into. And I've wanted an excuse to field more vees, especially VTOLs. 

Last step before finalizing the starting campaign force is "Named Pilots." Essentially these are going to be the warriors that you'll track improvements on. You need a minimum of two and can have up to six, but the recommendation is four. I thought that was an interesting thing 'cause why wouldn't you want the max? It's how the campaign flows though in that you -have- to give a portion of your SP earnings after each sortie to them so the more you have participating in each conflict, the less SP you'll have available for repairs and new unit purchases. This is balanced by them not being locked to a specific chassis, only a chassis type so your named MechWarriors can swap between any of those, any named vee pilot can move from tank to VTOL to hover no prob, etc. 

Captain Lynn "Foxfire" Scarlett will be leading the company, most often deployed in the Highlander IIC.
Lieutenant Rodney "Claymore" MacGregor will default into the Black Knight.
Lieutenant Ezekiel "Deep Impact" Chavez is, obviously, crewing the Penetrator. 
Lieutenant Chelle "Cryptid" Svensdottir hippity hopping across the way in the Jackalope. 

Campaign kicks off with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. 
Ope, that's Star Wars. 
Sortie 01: Meeting the Locals. 

I'll follow up to let you know how it goes. 

The Ultimate Redux - Unit Spotlight: Lyran Commonwealth

 
Here I am, Ostroc you like a hurricane. 

Decided that having mercenaries wasn't enough, time to tackle my lack of a Lyran Commonwealth/Alliance unit and my preferred method for doing so is to dust off some Tuatha de Danaan references & throw together a Donegal Guards batt, from the 17th Donegal Guards specifically  - a) because they have history from the Succession Wars to the ilClan era, b) because their nickname is "Cheshire Cats," and c) because they supported Vedet Brewer in his Dark Ages coup against the Steiners so whilst rated Questionable on loyalty, they also make sense for a Hinterlands Steiner force that can be swayed either way w/Brewer's new little breakaway realm. 

If you haven't been following my blogs long enough, I parenthesis items that I don't have but that are mostly integral to my build, especially considering no one is ever sure if the KerenskyKon roadmap from Randall is still 100% valid. Mostly given that things like the Black Remnant and Camancho's Caballeros packs have come out or been announced that weren't originally on that list. 

I'm hoping the Steiner FPs are solid though, and that if/when they release a plastic Fafnir, it holds pretty close to the current metal sculpt & doesn't sway into MechWarrior Online territory. Out of all the PGI designs, I probably hate that one the most. Them tiddy-gauss look terrible versus the FM:LA/TRO3067 breast-cannons. 

I'll update this as I go with a TO&E and pics of completed, when I actually have some completed, lmao.


Current build;
Assault
Atlas
Atlas
Banshee
(Fafnir)
(Fafnir)
Malice
Malice
Marauder II
Stalker
(Stalker)
Thunderhawk
(Zeus)
(Zeus)

Heavy
Crusader
Crusader
Marauder
Night Gyr
Ostroc
Penetrator
Thunderbolt

Medium
Cicada
Enforcer
Griffin
Hatchetman
(Rawhide)
Starslayer
Starslayer
(Thunder Fox)
(Uziel)

Light
Black Lanner
(Cougar)
(Kit Fox)
(Hollander)
(Hollander)
Spector
Wolfhound

Combat Vehicles
Sturmfeuer
Sturmfeuer
Hetzer
Hetzer
Demolisher
Demolisher
Condor
Condor
(Fulcrum)
(Fulcrum)
(Fulcrum)
(Fulcrum)



Future Purchases Required;
IS Fire (Stalker*, Longbow, Zeus*, Trebuchet)
Steiner 1 (Berserker GDL, Uziel*, Hollander*, Axman GDL)
-Steiner 1 may have been co-opted by the new Core box, in which case it'll be Rakshasa, Uziel, Eris, Hollander, so the two GDL 'Mechs may change, but the Hollander and Uziel won't for this list-
Steiner 2 (Fafnir*, Thunder Fox*, Rawhide*, Zeus X*)
Additional Fafnir, additional Hollander, four Jade Falcon 'Mechs (Clan Fire Star needed still - Kit Fox, Cougar), battalion done.

Meow Meow, Meow Meow Meow - Unit Spotlight: Clan Nova Cat

I was never a huge CNC fan, but their Spirit Cat offshoots really grew on me after I read "Target of Opportunity," as the first MechWarrior Dark Ages novel I picked up. Then the much-maligned Pardoe wrote Forever Faithful and the Nova Cat inclusion to the Smoke Jaguar "redemption arc" really kinda resonated with me. So here we are, the last Clan I needed to throw a force together for to cover all of the original Invading Clans.


Clan Nova Cat Delta Galaxy/Spirit Cats, Purifier Cluster
Unit Commander - Star Colonel Cox Devalis
Aide de Camp - Star Captain Orville Delaportas
Location - Clan Protectorate

Black Stallions
Alpha Quest Star
Regent Prime - Star Captain Orville Delaportas
Gargoyle
Gargoyle
Nova Cat
(Nova Cat)

Beta Quest Star
Coyotl D - Star Commander Franks
(Huntsman)
Ice Ferret
Viper
Arctic Cheetah

Gamma Quest Star
Shadow Cat I - Star Commander Kaiza
Wendigo B
Wendigo B
Wendigo B
Kit Fox T

Pouncers
Command Star
Warhawk C - Star Colonel Cox Devalis
Hellbringer
Mad Dog
Bane
Hammerhead

Bravo Star
Grizzly
Griffin IIC
Griffin IIC
Shadow Hawk IIC
Shadow Hawk IIC

Charlie Star
Grizzly - Star Commander Jax Nostra
Jenner IIC
Jenner IIC
Locust IIC
Locust IIC

Evolution in Parallel

 

There are many, many storied units in BattleTech lore & history, but one of the objectively coolest is the Royal Black Watch Regiment. Inspired by the real-world Scottish unit, the RBWR was formed alongside and/or patterned after the Northwind Highlanders. It became the bodyguard unit of the First Lord of the Star League, and would continue to recruit the best & brightest of the Highlanders throughout its existence.

When Stefan Amaris and his Rim Worlds Republic launched their coup and assassinated Richard Cameron in 2766, it was the Black Watch that was first to fight him, which ultimately led to the bulk of the unit being wiped out in a nuclear attack after they bitch smacked the taste out of the mouths of the Fourth Amaris Dragoons for far longer than they should have been able to.

Two weeks before the coup, the last commander of the unit, Colonel Hanni Schmitt, and several senior advisors met with Richard Cameron to share their concerns over the rising influence of Amaris, Unfortunately, Cameron chose to dismiss these concerns and ultimately had the leaders removed from his presence, fatally weakening the protection around him. It was Schmitt that lead personally led the Black Watch battalion against the Dragoons, sealing her fate in the blast.

That was not to be the end of the RBWR, however. Captain Elizabeth Hazen, along with four other members of the unit, escaped the destruction and formed a guerilla band called the Ghosts of the Black Watch. She led hit & run tactics, harassing the occupying Rim Worlds forces until General Aleksandr Kerensky and the Star League Defense Force could make it to Terra to avenge the fallen First Lord. Additionally, Schmitt's granddaughter Colleen, who had been raised on the ideals of the Black Watch, was herself an active member of the resistance to Amaris, linking up with the SLDF troops as they landed on Terra and providing first hand intelligence on targets of opportunity.

After the Liberation of Terra and the dissolution of the Star League by the remaining Great Houses, Kerensky would lead 85% of the SLDF and millions of civilians on his Exodus, which would ultimately culminate in his son Nicholas founding the Clans. Captain Hazen would eventually become the first Khan of Clan Jade Falcon, whilst Colleen Schmitt would be the first Khan of Clan Blood Spirit. In diametrically opposed movements, the Jade Falcons would become more antagonistic against Nicholas Kerensky when he chose to mingle his bloodline with Clan Wolf, whereas the Spirits, named for the espirit de corps that held together the first Clan warriors, would follow Kerensky's word as if it were the word of God Himself. It wasn't until the annihilation of Clan Wolverine that this situation would reverse when the Falcons would fall in line (after their own house cleaning known as The Culling) and the Blood Spirits would become more withdrawn after their censure for showing any sort of support for Clan Wolverine.

Meanwhile, back in the Inner Sphere, the Northwind Highlanders had become a mercenary force with the dissolution of the Star League. Maintaining their ties to the clan elders (descended from the Scottish Highland clans, not to be confused with Kerensky's clans), the unit took long term employment with the Capellan Confederation, and served admirably. They were one of the few units after Wolfs Dragoons arrival in the Inner Sphere to fight and defeat their famous Zeta Battalion.

That last until Hanse Davion launched the 4th Succession War and set out to cripple the CapCon. Offering Northwind independence, the Highlanders fought a brief conflict against themselves before accepting Davion's proposal.

Then the Clans invaded. I won't belabor to much there, except that Clan Jade Falcon was one of the Invader Clans, whilst Clan Blood Spirit (to a warrior elite as heck, but too small and with too little territory) was left back in the Clan Homeworlds. A descendant of Hanni Schmitt, Khan Karianna Schmitt does name a tank, the Morrigu, after the Schmitt Welsh legacy.

During House Liao's Operation Guerrero in 3057, Sun Tzu Liao would send Loren Jaffrey to the Northwind Highlanders. Jaffrey was a Capellan Death Commando whose grandfather had been a Highlander that chose to stay loyal to the CapCon during the 4th SW. Sun Tzu intended for Jaffrey to destroy the Highlanders from within but instead, he became a valued member of the unit, chosen to lead the Northwind Hussars after fighting against Clan Smoke Jaguar on Wayside in 3058 (pretty sure this is the same world that birthed The Fidelis several years later). The same year, the Second Star League was born and plans to destroy Clan Smoke Jaguar came together. The Highlanders were part of Task Force Serpent, the force sent to wipe out the Smoke Jags on their capitol of Huntress, in 3059.

Unknown to anyone until that point, the Highlanders had rebuilt the Black Watch Regiment in secret, and Captain Neil Campbell used the Huntress campaign to prove themselves to the new Star League. Using the vaunted RBWR insignia, the Highlanders enraged Clan Smoke Jaguar warriors who saw them as nothing more than pretenders to the title, ultimately causing a large portion of the force to be destroyed. But they prevailed, and upon returning to the Inner Sphere, the Black Watch once again become the First Lord's bodyguard unit.

This lasted until the Jihad, where the Black Watch was effectively destroyed as a combat unit at Dieron in 3069. Being the BAMFs that they are though, not even the Word of Blake could stop them, and Loren Jaffrey led the survivors of the unit to rescue Hohiro Kurita, heir to the Draconis Combine, from a Blakist prison on Dieron, once again reigniting the legend of the Ghosts of the Black Watch. The Word's Opacus Venatori, led by Precentor Berith, hunted the unit relentlessly, but it took until 3074 for them to finally catch up and kill Jaffrey, once again ending the Black Watch for a time.

Meanwhile, the Clan Homeworlds experienced the Wars of Reaving, a frenzied serious of conflicts that had started with resource grabbing in the wake of the Smoke Jaguars demise and that culminated in the death or exile of all but four Clans. Among the dead were the Blood Spirits, finally meeting their end in 3085 after two decades of fighting hard against Clan Star Adder. The Jade Falcons, on the other hand, would survive and thrive in their Inner Sphere holdings for several more decades...

The Jihad ended with the Blakest threat eliminated, and a new nation, the Republic of the Sphere, formed around Terra amongst the worlds once occupied by the Word of Blake, and that were once the heart of the Star League. The Northwind Highlanders were one of the first units to wholesale pledge their loyalty to this Republic, serving faithfully until the Republic's end...

Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf battled the remains of the Republic's military on Terra, and once that was completed, fought each other for the right to be declared the ilClan, the Clan above all others. Wolf would ultimately win, gutting the Jade Falcon military. The survivors returned to Elizabeth Hazen's roots, forming the bodyguard unit of Alaric Steiner-Davion-Ward, the ilKhan, the First Lord of the Third Star League, and Khan of Clan Wolf. Countess Tara Campbell, nominal ruler of Northwind and leader of the Highlanders, was taken as a bondsman of Clan Wolf, but given over to the Jade Falcons to be their conscience, bringing the existence of the Royal Black Watch Regiment almost full circle.

With Tara a part of the Clan-led Star League, the role of Countess Northwind has fallen to her sister, Arabell Campbell-Stewart, with the 1st Kearney Highlanders fully reconstituted and led by Cadha Jaffrey. The Northwind Highlanders as a whole have returned to their mercenary status, recently (3151) hiring on with the Duke of Tybalt, Loren Hansen, the commander of Hansen's Roughriders, and have met Clan Jade Falcon in limited battle during a recon raid on the planet Caph.

So... It's just kinda interesting watching 40 years of BattleTech history play itself out through a dozen line developers and numerous different authors. I glossed over some points, obviously, but I find it really interesting that the Northwind Highlanders are one of my favorite mercenary units in the Lore, and that Clan Blood Spirit has been my favorite Clan since I started in the 90s, even if I play Wolf in the current era more. It's those little ties like this that made me fall in love with BattleTech in the first place.

Masters of War - Unit Spotlight: Federated Suns

3rd Crucis Lancers

 

Promised myself I'd never do this, but I lie to me. And in my green phase, I came up with the below. My thought process here was that as a unit constantly referred to as "Medium Weight" or "Medium-Heavy" composition, I'd essentially break my companies down into a 1-5-5-1 format, or average 1 Assault, 5 Heavy, 5 Medium, 1 Light per company. It's still up in the air if I'll add a 10th/command lance, but if I do, I'll change my average just a little by building a TL 1-1-1-1 in there. Total would be 3A, 15H, 15M, 3L or 4A, 16H, 16M, 4L depending. Or I may adjust and go to a 4-14-14-4 if I don't do a command lance & then add back those two heavies and two mediums at a later date if so. We shall see, we shall see.

Eh, I gave them a couple Clan 'Mechs and we'll call it done at one full battalion, no command lance.

Unit Commander - Major Poopypants Fancyname
Aide de Camp - Captain Nofun Notatall
Location - Somewhere on the Cappie border, it's all hush-hush

Detachment Assaults (Max 3/4) 3
BLR-6G BattleMaster
SGT-8R Sagittaire
TLR1-OF Templar (C3M)

Detachment Heavies (Max 15/16) 14
AV1-OD Avatar (C3S)
AV1-OD Avatar (C3S)
BKX-8D BattleAxe (C3S)
WHM-8D Warhammer
TDR-9NAIS Thunderbolt
CES-5D Caesar
JM7-D JagerMech
JM7-D JagerMech
AXM-4D Axman
FLC-8R Falconer
AGS-5D Argus (C3S)
AGS-5D Argus (C3S)
Timberwolf T
RFL-8D Rifleman

Detachment Mediums (Max 15/16) 15
BJ-4 Blackjack
BJ-4 Blackjack
CLN-7Z Chameleon
CN9-D5 Centurion
CLNT-5U Clint
DV-8D Dervish
DV-8D Dervish
ENF-5D Enforcer
ENF-5D Enforcer
HSN-8E Hellspawn
HER-6D Hermes II
LGN-2F Legionnaire
Shadow Cat Prime
TBT-8B Trebuchet
WTH-3 Whitworth

Detachment Lights (Max 3/4) 4
CH11-NG Gunsmith
Horned Owl
SPR-6F Spector
VLK-QD1 Valkyrie

Soldiers of Fortune United - Unit Spotlight: Mercenaries

Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers

Citizens honored, the Fourth is -technically- more or less a Liao line unit now, but I still like to consider them a mercenary force in the same sense that ilClan-era Big Mac is; yeah, they were mercs, then became House, but who knows what the future will hold? I have all the lances set up as augmented lances per Liao combat doctrine at the end of the FCCW, though I'm probably a little heavy since I made each 'Mech lance augmented instead of having some tank/infantry only ones. But that's okay, I like painting. 

Unit Commander - Sang-shao Shelly Jax
Aide de Camp -
Location - Sian

Battalion Command Lance
EMP-6L Emperor
TNZ-N1 Tian-zong
ARC-7L Archer
VTR-10L Victor
Shilone ASF
Shilone ASF

1st Company Command Lance
DVS-3 Devastator
HGN-732 Highlander
THG-11Eb Thug
QKD-8K Quickdraw
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

1st Company Fire Lance
CPLT-C4C Catapult
CPLT-C4C Catapult
VND-4L Vindicator
RFL-7M Rifleman
Manticore
Manticore

1st Company Light Lance
CN9-YLW2 Centurion
RVN-4Lr Raven
SDR-7K Spider
STG-6L Stinger
Maxim
Maxim

2nd Company Command Lance
CP-11-G Cyclops
HEL-4A Helios
LGB-12C Longbow
DRG-5K Grand Dragon
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

2nd Company Battle Lance
MLN-1C Merlin
LNC25-01 Lancelot
PXH-4L Phoenix Hawk
VT-5M Vulcan
Manticore
Manticore

2nd Company Light Lance
TR2 Wraith
MON-66b Mongoose
SDR-7K Spider
OTT-11J Ostscout
Maxim
Maxim

3rd Company Command Lance
PLG-4Z Pillager
PLG-4Z Pillager
TNZ-N1 Tian-zong
OSR-4L Ostroc
Fa Shih Squad
Fa Shih Squad

3rd Company Battle Lance
GLT-8D Guillotine
OTL-7M Ostsol
CN10-D Centurion
BJ-3 Blackjack
Vedette
Vedette

3rd Company Urban Lance
FRB-2E Firebee
SDR-7K Spider
FS9-C Firestarter
UM-R100 UrbanMech
Vedette
Vedette

Grey Death Legion

C'mon, it's the "first" mercenary unit, if you read BattleTech novels in release order. I'm not 100% attached to the unit from the original trilogy, though I did enjoy them, but I am for sure digging them in the ilClan era as part of a Hinterlands campaign. They might convince me to do a 21st Centauri Lancers as well to go along with them (they did), or a Tamar-inspired unit as an homage to the old Pact worlds (Cheshire Cats on deck). Plus, I needed a place to keep chucking Bushwackers since Catalyst seems to love adding them to Force Packs I'd otherwise purchase heavily, & Ronan Carlisle did pilot a Guantlet (OmniMech Bushwacker) originally so it felt natural to have one per company. If that seems excessive, just remember that the Ghost Dogs sub-unit of the Kell Hounds fielded one Wolfhound per lance in their company. And the Star League did entire battalions of the same 'Mech chassis. Look, leave me alone, blame Catalyst. 

Unit Commander - Ronan Carlisle
Aide de Camp - Bel Carlisle
Location - Hinterlands (ilClan Era)

Detachment Assaults
AS7-S4 Atlas
BNC-9S Banshee
Gargoyle B
MAL-XV Malice
NSR-10D Nightstar
Regent A
STK-9F Stalker
TDK-7S Thunderhawk
BWP-3A Ymir
ZEU-9T Zeus

Detachment Heavies
ARC-6S Archer
AXM-2N Axman
CPLT-K2K Catapult
MAD-9S Marauder
OST-3M Ostwar
(MDG-1B Rakshasa)
RFL-9T Rifleman
WHM-9S Warhammer

Detachment Mediums
BSW-X4 Bushwacker
BSW-X4 Bushwacker
BSW-X4 Bushwacker
ENF-5R Enforcer
(ERS-2H Eris)
GRF-6S Griffin
HCT-7S Hatchetman
NGS-7S Nightsky
STN-6S Sentinel
SHD-5R Shadowhawk
STY-4C Starslayer
STY-4C Starslayer

Detachment Lights
COM-9S Commando
SCB-9A Scarabus
SCB-9A Scarabus
WSP-3S Wasp
WLF-5 Wolfhound
WLF-5 Wolfhound

Jack's Unit

I originally painted a lance for the kid, as a Christmas thing. Then, leading up to his birthday, I did one or two more a week and added them to his shelves to see if he'd even notice. After, I got a case that held 24 miniatures and figured, eh, why not build a double-company merc force. Other members of the 357th ID use them much more than he does, but they're there if/when he gets the urge.

Unit Commander - Unknown
Aide de Camp - Unknown
Location - Unknown

Force Command Lance
MAD-4S Marauder II
AS7-S2 Atlas
ZEU-10WB Zeus
STK-6M Stalker

1st Company Bravo Lance
QKD-9M Quickdraw
SHD-7M Shadowhawk
TBT-8M Trebuchet
VLK-QD1 Valkyrie

1st Company Charlie Lance
PXH-3PL Phoenix Hawk
BSW-L1 Bushwacker
BJ-2t Blackjack
LCT-5M Locust

2nd Company Command Lance
AS7-D-H2 Atlas II
TDK-7Y Thunderhawk
MSK-9H Mackie
BNC-7S Banshee

2nd Company Bravo Lance
WHM-9S Warhammer
AXM-3S Axman
HCT-6S Hatchetman
NGS-6S Nightsky

2nd Company Charlie Lance
PXH-1b Phoenix Hawk "Special"
WLF-3S Wolfhound
FS9-P Firestarter
JVN-11 "Fire" Javelin

Khaos Chevaliers

"We're all just one bad day away from shitting in a bucket." - Major Tessa Wexler

I once drank a can of Monster Khaos. The old style can, black with orange lettering, not the newer orange cans. And I thought to myself "self, that is a GREAT color scheme. You should make a merc unit that color. AND you should make them former members of the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces who sided with Katherine and skipped out before Victor could mess with their stuff too much." So here we are!

Unit Commander - Major Tessa Wexler
Aide de Camp - Captain Mikael Meinhardt
Location - Magistracy of Canopus

First Company Command Lance
Mad Cat Mk II: Major Tessa Wexler
ZEU-9WD Zeus:
BLR-4S BattleMaster:
MAD-9S Marauder:

First Company Fire Lance
LGB-14C LongBow:
ARC-7S Archer:
CBR-02 Cobra:
GRF-6CS Griffin:

First Company Recon Lance
Wolfhound IIC:
VLK-QD3 Valkyrie
SVR-S7KK Silverfox
FLS-S7KK Flashfire

First Company Specialist Infantry Support
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad
Inner Sphere SBA Squad

Second Company Command Lance
FNR-5 Fafnir: Captain Mikael Meinhardt
IMP-4E Imp:
HBK-5S Hunchback:
CN-10FJ Centurion: 

Second Company Support Lance
WVR-9D Wolverine:
HCT-5S Hatchetman:
ENF-6T Enforcer III:
BZK-F5 Hollander II

Second Company Light Defense Lance
UZL-2S Uziel:
BTZ-3F Blitzkrieg
GRM-01B Garm
SCB-9T2 "Samurai" Scarabus

Second Company Specialist Armor Lance
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank
Hunter Light Tank

Kuroi Kaze - The Black Wind

Unit Commander - Tai-sa Shiro "Fenris" Takeda
Aide de Camp - Chu-i Isamu "Firestorm" Dyson
Executive Officer - Chu-sa Mai "Kitsune" Takeda
Aide de Camp -
Chief Technician - Sho-ko Tim "Shiloh" Bayne
Location - Unknown

Regimental Command "Werewolf" Lance

MAD-6KK Marauder II: Tai-sa Shiro "Fenris"Takeda

FNR-5X Fafnir:
CLS-S7KK Tetsubo/Colossus: Chu-i Isamu "Firestorm" Dyson

TYM-2A Toyama:

1st Battalion "Takeda's Talons"
1st Battalion Command "Harpy" Lance

Mad Cat Mk II: Chu-sa Mai "Kitsune" Takeda

Daishi/Dire Wolf K:
Marauder IIC:
Highlander IIC:

1st Battalion/1st Company

1st Company Command Lance
TN-10-O Tenshi: Tai-i
SD1-OA Sunder:
AV1-OG Avatar:
AVL-10B Avalanche:

Second Lance

DRG-9KC Grand Dragon: Chu-i
NJT-3 Ninja-To:
HTM-28T Hatamoto-Chi:
DRG-7K Dragon:

Third Lance

Crimson Langur Prime: Chu-i
Rabid Coyote:
Ha Otoko:
RDS-2A Red Shift

1st Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
TSH-7S Tai-sho: Tai-i
AKU-2XK Akuma
AS7-C Atlas
VTR-9C Victor

Second Lance
BLR-K3 BattleMaster: Chu-i
WVR-8C Wolverine
WHM-8K Warhammer
NJT-4 Ninja-to

Third Lance
TSN-C3M Tessen: Chu-i
SDR-7KC Spider
JR7-C Jenner
JR7-C Jenner

1st Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Command Lance
OR-2I Orochi: Tai-i
OR-2I Orochi
BMB-1X Bombard
OSP-26 Osprey

Second Lance
OBK-M10 O-Bakemono: Chu-i
DRG-11R Dragon II
CPLT-C5 Catapult
RVN-4L Raven

Third Lance
EMP-6L Emperor: Chu-i
ARC-7L Archer
SYU-2B Sha Yu
RVN-4L Raven

2nd Battalion "Barton's Bloodsuckers"
2nd Battalion Command "Vampire"Lance
OBK-M12 O-Bakemono: Sho-sa Hilde Barton
AKU-2X Akuma
AKU-2X Akuma
MAD-4K2 Marauder II

2nd Battalion/1st Company
1st Company Command Lance
BRZ-A3 Berserker: Tai-i
NDA-1K No-Dachi
NDA-1K No-Dachi
NDA-1K No-Dachi

Second Lance
SH-2P Shiro/Tonbo-Giri: Chu-i Katsu "Yojimbo" Honda
TSG-9J Ti Ts'ang
SP1-X Spatha/Ko-Dachi
MS-1A Mortis

Third Lance
SA-RN7 Ronin: Chu-i
GUR-2G Gurkha
BCN-3R Buccaneer
VLN-3T Valiant

2nd Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
MAD-4S Marauder II: Tai-i
SGT-8R Sagitaire
TDR-10SE Thunderbolt
MAD-93 Marauder

Second Lance
VQR-5V Vanquisher: Chu-i
GOL-4S Goliath
HGN-738 Highlander
STK-8S Stalker

Third Lance
Y-H10G Yu Huang: Chu-i
HUR-WO-R40 Huron Warrior
NSR-9J Nightstar
DGR-4F Dragon Fire

2nd Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Command Lance
TN-10-O Tenshi: Tai-i
HTM-30S Hatamoto-Suna
CRD-5K Crusader
BHKU-OC Black Hawk-KU

Second Lance
LGC-01 Legacy: Chu-i
MR-6B Cerberus
LGH-6W Lightray
INI-04 Initiate

Third Lance
AS7-CM Atlas: Chu-i
MAD-9M2 Marauder
PKP-1B Peacekeeper
MAL-3R Mauler

3rd Battalion "Shimazu's Soulstealers"
3rd Battalion Command "Demon" Lance
EMP-6L Emperor: Sho-sa Yoshihida Shimazu
TDR-7S Thunderbolt
MAD-4X Marauder
BNC-7S Banshee

3rd Battalion/1st Company
1st Company Command Lance
BL-X-KNT Black Knight: Tai-i
SQS-TH-002 Sasquatch/Aegis
WER-LF-005 Werewolf/Okami Otoko
RK-4K Rokurokobi

Second Lance
RFL-6X Rifleman: Chu-i
GRF-6S Griffin
PXH-7S Phoenix Hawk
CN9-D Centurion

Third Lance
WVR-9W Wolverine: Chu-i
WVR-9W Wolverine
WFT-B Wolf Trap/Tora
SHD-7CS Shadow Hawk

3rd Battalion/2nd Company
2nd Company Command Lance
SD1-OA Sunder: Tai-i
DAI-01 Daikyu
BKN-1K Bakeneko
DMO-4K Daimyo

Second Lance
HSN-8E Hellspawn: Chu-i
STH-2D Stealth
NGS-6S Nightsky
CLN-7Z Chameleon

Third Lance
STO-4A Stiletto: Chu-i
MON-86 Mongoose
RTX1-OF Raptor
UM-R80 UrbanMech

3rd Battalion/3rd Company
3rd Company Command Lance
ANH-4A Annihilator: Tai-i
ON2-M Orion
HTM-28T Hatamoto-chi
JM7-F JagerMech

Second Lance
WVR-9M Wolverine: Chu-i
GRF-5K Griffin
HBK-5SG Hunchback
BSW-S1 Bushwacker

Third Lance
GUR-2G Gurkha
OTT-11J OstScout
OTT-11J OstScout
STG-5T Stinger

Specialist Detachments
Kage Squad x 4
Void Squad x 4

Northwind Highlanders

When the bagpipes hit in "Dune" and you're like "ATREIDEEEES!" but in BattleTech. I've been a fan of them more for the Dark Ages appearances than anything else. In the Jihad, when they were "blockaded," I always wondered if they truly were cut off or if they helped the Word at first & were later ashamed of all the war crimes. Either way, great for any Chaos March or ilClan campaigns. And might become my "main" Inner Sphere force.

Unit Commander - Count Campbell
Aide de Camp - Viscount Not-Campbell
Location - Northwind

Battalion Command Lance
HGN-694 Highlander
HGN-738 Highlander
GUN-1ERD Gunslinger
KGC-001 King Crab

1st Company Battle Lance
CP-11-B Cyclops
OTL-8M OstSol
LMT-3R Lament 
WTH-2 Whitworth

1st Company Scout Lance
JLP-BD Jackalope
JLP-BD Jackalope
STG-5G Stinger
MCY-105 Mercury

2nd Company Command Lance
HGN-734 Highlander
EMP-6S Emperor
AXM-3S Axman
HEL-3D Helios

2nd Company Battle Lance
SPT-N2 Spartan
PTR-6T Penetrator
CES-3R Caesar
HCT-6S Hatchetman

2nd Company Striker Lance
SPR-6F Spector
STY-4C Starslayer
FLE-20 Flea
FLE-20 Flea

3rd Company Command Lance
Highlander IIC
Rifleman IIC
Shadowhawk IIC
Griffin IIC

3rd Company Battle Lance
LMT-3R Lament
BL-6-RR Black Knight
EXT-4Db Exterminator
CLN-8V Chameleon

3rd Company Scout Lance
Jenner IIC
Jenner IIC
Locust IIC
Locust IIC

Armor Platoon Alpha
SM1 Tank Destroyer
Maxim
Warrior H-8
Warrior H-8

Armor Platoon Bravo
Drillson
Drillson
Drillson
Drillson

Armor Platoon Charlie
Ontos
Ontos
Bulldog
Bulldog

Rachel's Unit (aka Cosmic Cupcakes)

She made some of the prettiest painted 'Mechs I e'er did see.

Unit Commander - Unknown
Aide de Camp - Unknown
Location - Unknown

Detachment Assaults
DVS-2 Devastator
MAL-4R Mauler
CGR-SA5 Charger
CGR-SA5 Charger

Detachment Heavies
CES-4R Caesar
WHM-9D Warhammer
DRG-7N Dragon

Detachment Mediums
GLD-5R Gladiator
DV-8D Dervish
GRF-6S Griffin

Detachment Lights
SPR-5S Spector
JVN-11D Javelin

Twenty-First Centauri Lancers

Go-go ilClan era! Initial idea here is to take several of the mercenary force packs whole cloth to fill out a full batt; the 21CL Command Lance obv, GDL, NWH, maybe Snord's, probably the back half of the Caballeros, etc. Have a company's worth to start, and that's good enough to throw it into the campaign queue.

Unit Commander - Captain Rosin Douglas
Aide de Camp - Unknown
Location - Almotacen, Hinterlands

Battalion Command Lance (21CL)
STK-8S Stalker
Jade Hawk
Shadow Cat Prime
SKW-2F Shockwave

1st Company Battle Lance (GDLHBL)
Regent B
Gargoyle C
CPLT-K2K Catapult
Shadowhawk C

1st Company Scout Lance (KHSL)
CRD-9S Crusader
Griffin C
NGS-4S Nightsky
WLF-6S Wolfhound

2nd Company Command Lance (MACAL)
AWS-11H Awesome
TNZ-N1 Tian-Zong
BL-6b-KNT Black Knight
STY-3Dr Starslayer

2nd Company Battle Lance (ILCL)
OWR-2Mb Ostwar
OSR-4K Ostroc
OTL-8F Ostsol
SCB-9T Scarabus

2nd Company Striker Lance
RFL-7N Rifleman
HBK-4P Discoback
Phoenix Hawk C
CN10-J Centurion

3rd Company Command Lance
DVS-11 Devastator
TNS-6S2 Thanatos
CMA-1S Chimera
STN-3Lb Sentinel

3rd Company Battle Lance
CP-11-G Cyclops
EXC-B2b Excalibur
TDR-10S Thunderbolt
CMA-1S Chimera

3rd Company Scout Lance
FS9-M Mirage II Firestarter
FS9-M Mirage II Firestarter

JVN-12N Javelin

JVN-12N Javelin

3rd and 4th Quarter 2024 Events

2024 got closed down right. Because we no longer consider the June event to be "special" (though it'll always be the Waterly Memorial for me, rest in power queen), this years'll be the last one I specifically call out for a blog. Instead, I'll probably start doing a summation of everything that has happened that quarter. To play catch-up with that, this is just everything since. 

We've played dozens of games, all Alpha Strike, on about as many maps, with forces both Inner Sphere and Clan. One of the funniest occurred during the December monthly meetup, where I had Sean play Jade Falcons vs me in Steel Vipers, all with 1 or 2 skill pilots (350 pt Stars) and all the Jade Falcon 'Mechs were E config Omnis. IE, the munchiest in Alpha Strike with all the ATM launchers. The Turkina E alone was going to be a mostly one-shot one-kill nightmare. But it was fun. And lasted like 15 minutes. When we switched back over to 175 pt IS Lances, it damn near felt like a slog using 3 and 4 skill pilots. But it still got done, hitting those ComGuards in the ravine like Feddies do.

In the six month period we're covering, we also played a few really good/large team games with a company to a side. Sean and I got to team up and also split a lance in a company v company match against Rachel, Jamie, and Brittney, which we ultimately won. But not for lack of trying on the ladies' side. I absolutely blew a first-turn kill on one of Jamie's 'Mechs due to poor dice rolls and that would have rolled up the right flank super fast for our side. Left flank was a hilly park type map (new one from Mercs KS) that we dubbed "the golf course" just based on how the art looks (plus the obvious playground area). We used our shared lance to hold the center of the three-mapsheet playing area, shout out to the Black Widows Scorpion for hunkering down behind some mountains and really making the opposing side come and get some.

 

It wasn't all pure and unadulterated BattleTech though, as our avid readers found plenty of time to discuss the finer pursuits of literary excellence. After all, the main goal of gaming is to bring people together and sometimes that means wandering off topic just a bit. We also had an end of year locale change that may prove itself to be more conducive to the late night dice rolling sessions.

Since our first January event is right around the corner, I've decided to buckle down and throw out a few new forces - Northwind Highlanders returning to their "default" flat green scheme (I'm not painting tartan), and Marik Protectors to start. If all goes well, I should also have 8th Arkab Legion on the Inner Sphere side and -possibly- Beta Galaxy Clan Snow Raven far enough along to field a star or two. Beyond that, it's trying to complete existing forces wherein I'm more or less at 100% and just needing to finish painting. 2025 has a lot of products -potentially- coming up, and we'll see where we're at as a gaming group when things start dropping. Most notable product I'm excited for is the revealed ACES box sets. Being able to play solo/co-op Alpha Strike against an "AI-esque" opponent sounds kinda good for campaigning in The Hinterlands, and it looks like the first box is full of alt-config Jade Falcons for me to add to Omega Galaxy (mayhaps, though I don't think I need a 4th Falcon force so Omega will probably suffice). Later boxes are supposed to cover each of the current IlClan sourcebooks so having a box for Dominions Divided and Empire Alone is going to be awesome. And of course IlKhan's Eyes Only -could- potentially have Liao as the AI-bad guy so the possibility of getting that new art Jinggau as a plastic mini? Chef's kiss. I'll add a whole new company to my 4th Tau Ceti if so.

It is getting to be campaigning time as I think most of our newer people are more comfortable with the rules, and, just to throw it out there, next time I'm considering doing some alt things, like MAR instead of SAR Alpha Strike (basically rolling for each point of damage you can do, instead of an "all or nothing" roll to attack) and possibly a game or two with terrain instead of mapsheets. Especially now that more than one of us have 3d print capability and there's so much Hextech out there!

T-Mobile in Space-ace-ace - Unit Spotlight: ComStar

 

 

White is the color I, like so many others, struggle with most & whilst I could just prime some stuff, paint a panel or two, then call it a day, thought it best to at least pay some lip service to maximum effort. So rather than dwell on painting white, I got some Army Painter speedpaint, slathered it on, picked an accent color I liked (even though C* is basically solid white), painted exactly four panels per miniature in it, did some weapons, cockpits, decalled, based, called it a day. 

This whole thing was based on the Tukayyid hardcover book. I decided I wanted to build a flexible C* force to fight campaign battles with/against and originally, Then, using same book, I started looking at who the various Armies fought on "the 'Yid", and what Divisions walked outta that meatgrinder. 323rd looked good, especially some of their later history where they move to the 3rd Army, absorb some survivors of another Division that really don't like Victor S-D, and then get their loyalty rating downgraded because of it. Loyal to ComStar, not some Great House lordling-cum-Precentor Martial. Given my distaste for most of the Steiner-Davion misbegotten offspring, I feel that in my soul.

I'm running this as a reinforced III, so the Command and Support IIs will be separate, but that's the end of the unit, unless Cat decides to put the six missing ComStar/2750 'Mechs together (or I 3d print a bunch of Hussars lmao), at which time I'll most likely move the Kobolds to support the Command/Support IIs.

ComStar 5th/3rd Army, 323rd Division

Unit Commander - Precentor Charles Reanner
Aide de Camp -
Location - Tukayyid

Division Command II
KGC-005 King Crab (C3i)
FLS-9C Flashman (C3i)
GLT-6WB Guillotine (C3i)
THG-12E Thug (C3i)
LNC25-04 Lancelot (C3i)
CRK-5004-1 Crockett (C3i)

Headquarters Support II
KTO-21 Kintaro (C3i)
LRM Carrier (C3i)
LRM Carrier (C3i)
LRM Carrier (C3i)
LRM Carrier (C3i)
KTO-21 Kintaro (C3i)

Hong Kong Cavaliers III

Command II
CP-11-G Cyclops
BL-9-KNT Black Knight
AS7-D-H2 Atlas II
AS7-S3 Atlas
AS7-D-H2 Atlas II
TDK-7Y Thunder Hawk

Ground Support II
Kobold Battle Armor Squad
Kobold Battle Armor Squad
Kobold Battle Armor Squad
Kobold Battle Armor Squad
Kobold Battle Armor Squad
Kobold Battle Armor Squad

Fast Striker II
CRB-30 Crab (C3i)
PXH-7CS Phoenix Hawk (C3i)
EXC-D1 Excalibur (C3i)
EXC-D1 Excalibur (C3i)
MCY-102 Mercury (C3i)
MCY-102 Mercury (C3i)

Spotter II
OTT-9CS OstScout (C3i)
GAL-104 Galleon (C3i)
GAL-104 Galleon (C3i)
GAL-104 Galleon (C3i)
GAL-104 Galleon (C3i)
GAL-104 Galleon (C3i)

Ghosts of Tukayyid II
MAD-5CS Marauder
WHM-7CS Warhammer
Behemoth (Kurita)
Behemoth (Kurita)
Skulker
Skulker

Last Rites II
ARC-2Rb Archer
LGB-12C Longbow
EXT-4Db Exterminator
Stormcrow TC
STN-3Lb Sentinel
MON-66b Mongoose

June Event 2024 (FKA Waterly Memorial)

Sad news, friends.

The saddest of news.

I'm no longer allowed to memorialize the sainted Myndo Waterly within our yearly event. Something something Word of Blake were the baddies all along yadda yadda nuclear warfare and chemical weapons et cetera et cetera. It sounds like heretic Comstar spreading misinformation again to me, but whatevs. 

At any rate! My printer was/is down for a bit so I had to get a little more creative with force building this year. Using the ASForceBuilder and the Alpha Strike cards packaged with each Force Pack, I threw together six pretty solid Clan Stars. Sean is bemoaning all of the Clan games lately whilst his beloved FedSuns languishes unused, but we'll be making up for that shortly.

Game one was a Star v Star match up with me and Sean, where he ultimately triumphed. One of the biggest gripes for me, with Alpha Strike, is that it really isn't super tactical if you're just doing straight up deathmatches (as the next game showed) so it mostly just comes down to "if I hit one more attack roll than you, I'll probably win" sometimes. Especially in games where Clan 'Mechs are prevalent, there's almost zero reason to worry about survivability & instead focus on full-ass glass cannon existence. At least for pick up games and one-offs.

Coincidentally, though, as I've pointed out numerous times, a lot of 3025 or before 'Mechs (things w/o XL engines, even stuff like the Mackie) really out perform Clan machines on a point by point basis, barring their generally much lower damage profiles. A certain banned Turkina variant can wipe out a 0 skill, 107pt Widowmaker in one shot, but can't do the same for an AS7-D Atlas, and that's wild to me.

Next, we did another large team game, though a little more conservative than 2023's. Because we had a brand brand new player, I stepped back to play a coaching roll for this one. A domed colony on Smoke Jaguar-held Modred, the lone moon orbiting the planet Port Arthur, set the stage for a Binary vs Binary match up. Jamie (Nova Cat) and Rachel (Cloud Cobra) stormed in on the north side of the field whilst Sean (Smoke Jag) and Kilcoin (Ghost Bear) tromped in on the south. We weren't necessarily trying to make anything narrative per se but we did keep discussing like the strength of the domes & examples from BattleTech fiction where certain factions intentionally ruptured things like that to kill people (coughcoughDraconisCombinecoughcough). I didn't do any normal spiel about the billions of years of BattleTech history or factional information stuff either, just felt kinda cool to add those narrative bits on a mapsheet we were getting to play on the very first time.

Since we'd never played on this map, there were a few line of sight questions that came up, and quite a few dead-type zones due to sub-levels versus levels. Overall though, it was super cool seeing the smart way people were using cover or taking advantage of an initiative win to cut out entire sections of the enemy force from being able to attack. And having a Gods-eye view of the game where I was plotting out how and where I'd move then watching what everyone did instead made it just as enjoyable as if I were playing. Once 'Mechs were able to see each other though, the damage started racking up and even though there were the usual metric tons of misses, the bodies were hitting the floor after a few turns. Sean made really good use of a crater and at one point, it was just a trio of 'Mechs in a hole in the southwest corner of the map.

We also kept Jamie up well past her bedtime so I stepped in at the very end to finish the last couple of turns, where Kilcoin and I killed each other's last standing respective 'Mech. 20 total crash & burns leading the game to a draw lmao. Not saying it -doesn't- happen in Total Warfare but it definitely is more common in Alpha Strike. So by that point, at least 25 'Mechs had died for the night (I think it was more like 27-28 but who keeps track of that kinda thing).

Last game of the night, also on a newer map (fungal forest?), we got a little silly. BattleTech is designed to be two sides squaring off, or a massive free-for-all, so it plays weird when you have three forces competing against each other. For this one, Sean, Rachel, and I each had a Star to hunt each other down across the hills, holes, and fields of the mushroom kingdom. In true Superior Mario fashion, we decided that the three "if you end up here, you die" mega deep levels would count like the teleportation pipes, with a roll on a d4 determining where you came out (three holes on the map, plus using '4' like a "you're lost until next turn" thing). It was ridiculous, and also I got hard targeted, so my Jade Falcons didn't last long. But it was fun trying to figure out how all hexes on the mapsheet worked. Of course, I remembered weeks after the fact (right now in fact) that the Mappack: Alien Worlds actually had a sheet with special rules for the terrain with it buuuuut that's okay! We rocked it out.

By the end of the night, we were pushing 40 war machines down, and Sean walked away with 2 wins & a draw, so not a bad night of gaming for him.

We already have the next event lined up for near the end of July, and it looks like at least some of the crew will be returning w/more new people coming aboard.

And you knooooow that means I'm like, itchy itchy scratchy scratchy for more narrative games, more campaigns, more throwing the 1000+ pieces for this game I got onto the tabletop etc haha.

Sean did also bring a piece of Thunderhead Studios/GF9's hextech terrain and now I kinda want to get more just for the 3D aspect of the battlefield. I do prefer to mapsheet play, even doing Alpha Strike, but it looks super cool to have 'Mechs hugging up against buildings. And I can 3D print some of the smaller pieces in the Thunderhead collection (I should have bought the tree STLs when I had the chance though) so shouldn't be too hard to fill up a table someday.

Waterly Memorial/Sixth of June 2023 Recap

It's a bad moon on the rise!

For this year, we slapped together about a dozen different Alpha Strike forces at 275ish points per and went with a "deserts of despair" theme on map sheets. The initial idea was just pairing off and running through essentially stars/reinforced lances.

However, as is becoming a bit too often an occurrence, even though we shifted the date around to accommodate more people, attendance was pretty disappointing. It was enough though, and not to take away from anyone that was able to make it out.

So, in what might have been a pretty giant strategic blunder on my part (lmao), I convinced the whole room to jump into a single game.

What we ended up with, was Sean (FedSuns), Kelsey (Ghost Bears), and Rachel (Jade Falcons) on the south side of the map line, with myself (Steel Vipers), Jack (his force), and Alex (Cloud Cobras) coming in from the north.

The biggest issue was that because I'd built AS275 forces, we hit the table with a LOT of pieces, with three brand new players. And I tend to forget that movement in AS is (generally) equal to walk movement in Total Warfare BattleTech so we had three mapsheets laid out lengthwise when two probably would have been fine for a training game, though a three by two would have been best for maneuvering the sheer scope of force.

33 'Mechs hit the field, and after a few turns of just getting them all up there, clashed centerline as these things do. We'd had some basic shot attempts earlier (even though we were all trying to avoid a straight kill alley) but once the battle was joined in full, armies clashed and 'Mechs died. Eventually. A LOT of missed attack rolls - we were doing standard 2d6 SAR instead of 1d12 MAR optional rules.


In the end, it got late, people were falling off 'cause even though AS in general is quick-ish, 33 pieces and new players nerfs that idea, so we decided to finish one last turn and call it on points. North side won by 12. 12 little points. Not even the full cost of -any- of the pieces on the field, and I think we decided we only won by even that small margin 'cause I managed to take down Rachel's Warhawk.

Jack's Locust lasted for far more turns that it should have given all of the firepower on the field and was a real, real good line blocker for our side.

All in all, win or lose, I love playing and I love getting other people to play but had I been planning to do a six player game, I most likely would have done AS200 forces, and gone with using 1d12s per point of potential damage to speed it up even further. Huge thanks to my people for humoring me and getting that game in. Really missed out on having some more of our experienced people tagging in but there's always next time.

Honestly, the biggest win for me was that my kiddo is finally at the age where he can hang out when my gaming people & has the interest in actually playing (Alpha Strike rules at least) BattleTech, even if we sort of made him in this case haha.

But from a higher level overview of things, the more active players we have, the better. Also, the more players that live with me, the better 'cause that means I have the opportunity to get in more games & put less burden on all my friends to learn it. And, of course, running campaigns is what I'm here for.

It sure was a field. 

A copy of our "brilliant" tactical plan. 

Full Blog Updates

The 357th ID Blogspot goes all the way back to 2011, though the genesis of the group had its roots in the hallowed antiquity of 2006, after a decade of people coming & going and solely subsisting on pickup games with a limited pool of 'Mechs. I started this as a way for all of us to touch base and throw our units out to the wider world, to commemorate some of our gaming excursions (especially our later Waterly events), and in general to just muse over a universe that I've loved playing in since the first MechWarrior video game (and those a-hole Dark Wing Lance guys!).

A lot has changed in the past dozen years. Even more has changed since my first time hitting the tabletop in 1996. Official and unofficial membership in the group has ebbed and flowed. Many of us have "grown up" more, got married, had kids, picked up crazier job obligations etc. Some former members have made themselves so unwelcome in general as to become excommunicado (thanks, John Wick!) and others never had a chance to really get going with group activities to be considered as such despite the interest. There have been moves and breakups and shakeups and breakdowns. Life has been lived and whatnot.

So I thought it was a good time for 1) a general update about the updates and 2) going through & cleaning up the ol' Blogspot. My biggest goal with this is to get all the various units cleaned up with tables of organization & equipment (such as they are), and to take new pictures as all but a handful of existing units have had additions or primed pieces finally painted. And many have been "finished" in that I won't be adding anything new to that particular unit, though the faction itself may see growth.

In many cases, this has already happened. Clan Ghost Bear, for instance, has an entry with Tau Galaxy but thanks to the successful Clan Invasion Kickstarter and so much plastic available for a much, much lower price point than metal minis, I've also built a small Rasalhague Galaxy force. Clan Cloud Cobra now has a new Beta Galaxy unit in progress. House Liao, if we're looking at it as a Citizen's Honored type unit and not a straight mercenary force, as the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers looking towards a battalion by mid next year.

In other instances, under-represented houses like Steiner/Tamar Pact will be getting a unit added soon as will Davion sort of. And in doing this, it will push me to get my paint backlog cleaned up more. Since the CI Kickstarter, I've barely touched anything metal and I have so, so much work on that side to finish. I've been trying to keep units purely metal or purely plastic but also, since I have the ability to 3D print, there's going to be a lot more blending of units down the road.

And when I say "3D print," I mean for 'Mechs and stuff that don't have miniatures already. I fully support Catalyst and whilst I haven't purchased any Ironwind Metals products in probably 8 or 9 years, I still support them fully too. But I'm also not going to sit around and wait for the next six years to get a bevy of Iron Cheetahs and Mastodons for my forces anymore. Plus, and going back to the Clan Invasion Kickstarter (and the more recent Mercenaries Kickstarter), the Catalyst plastics are scaled with each other much better & their designs are more of a current aesthetic than most of the older IWM sculpts that were inherited from Ral Partha so when I do 3D print, I have the option of scaling to fit (even if it takes me a few tries to make it look right) so no more giant-sized light 'Mechs or tiny assaults (Blood Kite). |

Last, I want to go in and retool the history/backstory/large components thereof of my Kuroi Kaze force. I don't use it in many games these days but it is a huge part of my own BattleTech history and I love it dearly. So it deserves a clean up, a refresh, and some changes based on how much more I know about BattleTech in 2023 than I did in 1996, especially because I oft note how many unintentional similarities my history has with canon stuff in the early BattleTech fiction that I didn't read until the last few years (like, I just got the first two books of the Warrior Trilogy, 35 years after they were written...). Which is kind of a sad look for Mike Stackpole that my musings as a 16-20 year old sync up with his adult stuff buuuuut I'm sure people will just say I must have read -something- about these characters and copied ideas so whatever. It doesn't matter much to me either way, but I do have some newer ideas that I want to incorporate whilst leaving some core background untouched. Legacy history won't go away, I'll still hang onto what I had, but we'll consider this a giant retcon in another universe or some shizz like that.

But yeah. 2023. Post-pandemic edition. Looking at playing with people a lot more. Teaching more new players. Sticking with my "I'm willing to foot the bill for your first lance/star" is much easier when I can grab a lance or star pack for less than $30 these days, versus $50-80 depending on composition. And with a huge amount of tanks and general-use 'Mechs coming between now and next year, it's a great time to be a BattleTech player.

Why You Should Play BattleTech, Why With Us, and the Ethics Thereof

There are a myriad of reasons to want to play BattleTech. I could even enumerate them, if I were so inclined. But let's just say, you're a casual person, living their life and someone is like "yo, come over to my place, lemme teach you this game!" and you're like "I dunno, bruh, seems kinda sus," or whatever it is the kids say these days. And me, as that someone, would lay it out so you can play it out like so...

(Note: when I say "play BattleTech," I'm not differentiating between Total Warfare BTech and Alpha Strike BTech, unless noted below, because a prospective new player isn't going to know the difference and really, Alpha Strike is easiest to teach.)

1 - do you like mecha anime, especially stuff from 70s-00s? Robotech/Macross, Gundam, Crusher Joe, Dougram, etc? Does the "every machine matters" small scale conflict of things like Gundam 8th MS Team or the "one elite pilot is worth an enemy brigade" feel of Gundam Wing really appeal to you? Then you'd definitely enjoy leading a table top team of MechWarriors into victory over your foes. 8th MS Team is actually pretty spot on how a company of 'Mechs operating in a forward base during a planetary assault, broken down into lances of four, would work out. That whole supply chain thing, small unit esprit de corps, high stakes for the unit but not necessarily for the universe at large, etc.

2 - do you enjoy the political intrigue and house on house drama of Game of Thrones, but think it'd be a LOT cooler set in space and with maybe a little less sister-fucking? Houses fighting each other because they just can't wait to be king/God-Emperor? Does waiting 20 years for a new book in a series suck monkey nuts when you want to know what happens -right now-? Then hooo-boy, is this game right for you. Let's start with the political drama; you have five Great Houses that have been fighting with each other to some degree for hundreds of years. You have a score of Minor Houses/lesser powers looking to step up to the big dogs. You have non-alien external threats shaking up the status quo. Unifying "universal leader" assassination? Check. Galactic Civil Wars? Check. Lannister-style inbreeding? Uh.. I can't say check here but -reads notes on Alaric Ward-Steiner-Davion- also I can't not say check? A novel series that is entirely unnecessary to enjoy the game but that also is in and of itself enjoyable? 100+ times check. Characters having plot armor heavily in some cases but then also being killed when the narrative requires? Oh, definitely check. Forming alliances to defeat your friends and then back stabbing your allies when it suits you? CHECK AND MATE.

3 - do you need a new hobby that is fun to do with others but also allows you the creative freedom to do what you wanna do? BattleTech features an extensive amount of factions to choose from to suit your tastes, from the samurai of the Draconis Combine, to the noble Azami brotherhood, to the "God Save the Queen!" Davionistas, to the Knights of the Inner Sphere, to the mystics of Clan Nova Cat, to the catgirl loving Canopians, etc. Like a faction but none of their regimental paint schemes really appeal to you? Make a new regiment! Make a new mercenary force! Paint your 'Mechs hot pink and call it "Bubblegum Crisis 3040"! It's your time to shiiiine.

But why should you play with us?

4 - do you wanna play but are unsure of where to start/what products to buy/what kind of units to get, etc? Let our team of experts share their knowledge with you! Library of novels, sourcebooks, product awareness, pros and cons assessment of the various factions with all their flavorful goodness? We -absolutely- got you covered there. Do you want to build a highly mobile and flexible long range sniper type force that rains long range missiles indirectly behind hill coverage and just really need pointers on how to get there? I'll lay out a list of my top ten missile boats with their spotter pairings for your perusal. No joke when I say there are decades of experience at your fingertips with us. 

5 - do you wanna play but don't know if you want to/are able to dump large sums of cash into a new game/hobby? Not a problem at all! No matter what faction you think you might like, we probably have a unit available for your use. 20+ campaign ready (company sized or larger) units are currently on hand, with more being added all of the time. Clan or Inner Sphere, mercenary or House regulars, Periphery or pirate scum, we got a wide, wide variety of flavors. Now, I generally don't have a "you can take this unit home to practice with" policy but I'm kind of working on that for the future too... Plus, I do have a habit of buying people a lance or two & with the new lance/star packs out there being way more affordable than metal minis have ever been...

Finally, gaming communities are full of gatekeepers and grognards, which is weird because DnD is more accessible now than it has ever been and BattleTech is really following suit with the array of starter products out there, and streamlined rule sets like Alpha Strike. It may not seem like it given the vocal minority on the internet, but per my previous blogs on the subject, BattleTech (and gaming in general) should be an open and welcoming environment. And, honestly, our particular group, my home specifically, tends to be an environment where you can come and have fun, roll some dice, leave the mess of the real world behind for a few hours at a time. I really prefer that discussions on real world politics and religion and hot button social topics be taken outside of the gaming area. I'm not saying that anyone who plays with us is a "snowflake" that needs a "safe space" because they can't handle "the real world" - I'm saying anyone that plays with us or even just comes to hang when we play, deserves to have the full respect due to any human being. I'm rabidly outspoken on my beliefs with social media but I don't feel the need to repeat it when we're playing. If you're pro-Capellan, or anti-Marik, or a fursona-having Sea Fox fan, bring your A-game smack talk to the table. Don't bring your real world hangups to the table because we don't need it there. I love all my peoples, and we want to make sure everyone that comes to play feels like they're definitely wanted at the table.

If you game with us, even if you're just spectating, I want you to feel like you belong there and I strive to ensure that carries over in everything I do in regards to gaming.

So come on, come out, let's throw dice, it'll be a good time.