The Dragon Roars - Unit Spotlight: Draconis Combine

While I might play mercenary or Clan Wolf more than anything else these days, my heart and soul are pledged to the Dragon first and foremost. Way back when I started playing BattleTech, I was Draconis Combine. 4th Arkab Legion, in fact. Not even because I'm weeb garbage (that actually came later), since the 4th AL is an Arabic-flavored unit. I loved the Azami worlds and their North African flair, that they were never conquered but chose to work hand in hand with the heavily Japanese House Kurita. And, later on, I incorporated my time with the AL into the founding history of the Kuroi Kaze. My original "unseen/reseen/might never be seen" Arkab Wolverine is still one of my favorite single pieces, which actually led to me building (in progress) a 1st Arkab Legion.

At any rate, I went with "The Dragon Roars" for one solid reason - the scenario book of the same name/the Twilight of the Clans pack. I once had a goal of going through TDR and building both a really solid Draconis Combine unit 'Mech for 'Mech from it, as well as a Davion Heavy Guards. Thanks, MechCommander Gold, for making me want to do it. After rereading the entirety of the Twilight of the Clans novels, I knew I had to do -at least- Hohiro Kurita's Genyosha force, the one that went toe to toe with the Blood Spirits (who I'm obviously a fan of, and will eventually be making an Alpha Galaxy/Khan Schmitt's Star to fight the Genyosha). But, being me, I can't just do the one force, I had to go with a whole company. Then, I was looking at 'Mechs that really needed swords, like the Wolverine and Hatamoto-Chi. Kit bashing, ahoy!

Interestingly enough, the Genyosha was my second full Drac force. I actually built a company of Otomo prior to that for a 5th SW/Jihad Luthien campaign idea. Like I do, I wanted to go with a mix of older staples and newer/future designs to keep things interesting and relevant as our timeline progresses. Plus, with hostile Ghost Bears on one side, hostile FedSuns on another, and a burgeoning Raven Alliance out the back door, the Dragon will need all of the busosenshi it can get. Which also means a Nova Cat force is inevitable.

Genyosha is that weeb trash I mentioned, aka "anime waifu division." Otomo is "heroes of the Sengoku division."

2025 Edit - with the plastic 'Mechs, I started physically putting together the 1st AL, Unlike "true" canon ALs, my thought here was that, during the Jihad, the Azami worlds had a lot going on, such as the whole meteor thing where they'd requested aid from The Dragon, but the Jihad made that slow in coming and for a while, the Azami Brotherhood considered itself independent of the Combine. Because the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Arkab are predominately lighter weight regiments, the rebuilt 1st needs to have a bit more power behind it as the legions can't count on support from heavier Kurita units. So a reinforced battalion with one full company of lighter, faster hovertanks. I did not attempt to replicate the desert camo scheme of my AL Wolverine, instead using one in line with some examples from CamoSpecs. 

1st Genyosha

Location: Luthien
Commander: Gunji-no-Kanrei Hohiro Kurita
Aide: Tai-sa Shih Chou

Company

Magical Girls Lance

Daishi/Dire Wolf Hohiro - GnK Hohiro Kurita

AKU-1XJ Akuma 

SD1-OR Sunder

HTM-28T Hatamoto Chi Shin

Alpha Waifu Lance

AV1-OR Avatar

NDA-1K No Dachi

NDA-1K No Dachi

DGR-4F Dragon Fire

Bravo Waifu Lance

BLK-NT-3A Black Knight

WVR-9K Wolverine

CMA-2K Chimera

DOL-1A1 Dola

Otomo

Location: Luthien
Commander: Tai-sa Griffon Meshune
Aide: Tai-i Ginchiyo Tachibana

1st Company

Command Lance
HTM-30S Hatamoto-Suna - Tai-sa Griffon Meshune

GUN-2ERD Gunslinger

LGB-12C Longbow

VTR-9K2 Victor

Ni Lance

SJA-7D Shugenja 
WHM-8K Warhammer

NDA-3X No Dachi
TDR-10SE Thunderbolt

San Lance
BHKU-OF Black Hawk KU
KIM-4K Komodo Bushi
WGT-1LAW Wight 

RK-4K Rokurobi 

Reinforced Second Company

Shi Lance

Cougar Prime

Ocelot

VLN-3T Valiant

NX-80C Nyx

Infantry Detachment
Void Battle Armor Squad
Void Battle Armor Squad
Void Battle Armor Squad
Void Battle Armor Squad

Tank Lance One
Tokugawa Heavy Tank
Tokugawa Heavy Tank
Regulator Hover Tank
Regulator Hover Tank

Tank Lance Two
SRM Carrier
SRM Carrier
LRM Carrier
LRM Carrier

1st Arkab Legion

Location: Arkab
Commander: Tai-sa Abdullah Sharif
XO: Sho-sa Quatre Winner
Aide: Tai-i Hinata Inoue-Takeda

Battalion Command Lance
Daishi Fafnir - Tai-sa Abdullah Sharif
SH-2P Shiro - Tai-i Hinata Inoue-Takeda
SH-2P Shiro
HTM-30T Hatamoto-chi

1st Company

Command Lance (C3 it up!!)
AS7-CM Atlas - Sho-sa Quatre Winner
MAL-3R Mauler
AKU-2X Akuma
HTM-28Tr Hatamoto-chi

Assault Lance
AKU-1X Akuma
MAD-7R Marauder
DGR-7K Dragon Fire
OSR-4K Ostroc

Clan Striker Lance
Conjurer
Incubus
Piranha 5
Vapor Eagle

2nd Company

Command Lance (Keep the See-Three's Peace)
DRG-9KC Grand Dragon
PKP-1A Peacekeeper
PKP-1A Peacekeeper
PKP-1A Peacekeeper

Based Mid Lance (Fire Hawks Are Go!)
SHD-3K Shadowhawk
PXH-3K Phoenix Hawk
RK-4K Rokurokubi
RK-4K Rokurokubi

Light Assault Lance (He Who Meows Last, Meows Alone)
PNT-16K Panther
PNT-16K Panther
PNT-12K Panther
PNT-12K Panther

3rd Company

Command Lance
DRG-9KC Grand Dragon
GHR-C Grasshopper
OTL-9R Ostsol
OTL-9R Ostsol


Strike Lance
DRG-7N Dragon

GRF-5K Griffin
WSP-3K Wasp
OTT-11J Ostscout


Scout Lance (Almost Marvel-ous!!)
JR7-N Jenner
SDR-9KA Venom
SDR-9KA Venom
SDR-8K Spider

1st Arkab Armor

Bunch of hovercraft. 12 in fact.

Command Lance
Condor
Condor
Condor
Condor

Scout Lance Alpha
Pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus

 

Scout Lance Bravo
Savannah Master
Savannah Master
Savannah Master
Savannah Master

Alpha Strikin' It

Now that we as a group are a couple of games into Alpha Strike, I definitely have to say that it is a great system. As much as I love Total Warfare BattleTech, it becomes hard to play on a regular basis with the amount of time that has to be devoted, especially with larger games. Alpha Strike allows a standard lance on lance or star on star type game to be played in less than an hour, with the potential for a company+ game to be played in the same amount of time as a Total Warfare lance match.

As we're still getting into how all of the 'Mech abilities work, we haven't branched out to vehicles or infantry yet, but given that every component uses the same base record card, we're looking forward to integrating them into our games.

Turn sequence works much in the same way - initiative, movement, shooty mcshooter, stabby o'stabberson, heat, etc. Since every 'Mech only has one or two movement choices (depending on jump), completing a move takes a lot less time and thought, and each card has a TMM (target movement modifier) which applies whether your 'Mech went one hex or 50 hexes, so less thought there as well. Shooting has almost the same amount of modifiers, except that range brackets are static so you aren't figuring two or three separate numbers to roll for your multiple weapons. And, since all weapons are grouped into one roll, it speeds that process up as well. 

It does have a few weaknesses, however. Alpha Strike is far more of a strategic game than a tactical one. Individual piece positions don't matter nearly as much as the force as a whole, which takes away a bit of the BattleTech feel. Since there aren't hit locations, no more one shot kills (well, unless your assault 'Mech demolishes a light) and luck plays a lot less of a role. In my earliest days of BattleTech, I spent a lot of time playing BattleForce 2 and while Alpha Strike isn't as simplified as that system, it has a lot of the same conceptual idea to it. Pick up games, and by that nature, Operation: Nachtfalke games, are a little more difficult to do as the record sheet holding all of the force cards has to be generated from the Master Unit List website each time there is a force change. That's a small thing, but when you don't want to be printing every time a new node is hit in a campaign, it can be obnoxious.

Overall though, I really would like to see Alpha Strike become the new "starter box set" rules, with Total Warfare moving to the more advanced player section. I feel like, just the little simplifications such as shooting, critical hits, damage and whatnot, would help ease someone new to the universe into things. Herb and Ben did a great job during their time and BattleTech is lessened for their departure.


4 Sept 17 Game - Clan Wolf Omega Galaxy v Clan Cloud Cobra Pharaoh Keshik 275pts

The map;

The Cloud Cobras

The Wolves

The forward march of progress

A river runs through it

No guts, no galaxy

The casualties at the end, Wolves won the day

A Rending of Falcons - Unit Spotlight: Clan Jade Falcon

Birbs. Big green birbs. And my second oldest still-existing unit, thanks to the star of Elementals that were painted by a great guy a long, long time ago. I went with basic "Falcon-flage" per the Jade Falcon Sourcebook for the generic "can be any Galaxy I need" force.

The original plan was to have a decent representation of staple Falcon designs, including those used by notable Khans or Galaxy Commanders to fight against my Wolves, or to run the Dragon Roars/Twilight of the Clans scenarios. Later, as the force was used more, I decided to expand the overall Falcon-ness with a Binary of Jihad to ilClan designs, as a nod to where the universe was heading with Malvina, and then as the Cat plastics became widely available I knew I needed to expand again because they were producing too many iconic pieces. Plus the first solo/co-op play product, ACES, is Falcon-themed, so a Trinary of Omega Galaxy was sketched out and then painted, with a Trinary of ilClan-era Raptor Keshik on the drawing board for when the ACES and plastic Falcon faction packs start dropping. 

Clan Jade Falcon, Turkina Keshik
Unit Commander - Galaxy Commander Malvina Hazen
Aide de Camp -
Location – Jade Falcom Occupation Zone

Reinforced Star
Shrike 3 - Galaxy Commander Malvina Hazen
Gyrfalcon 3 - Galaxy Commander Aleksandr Hazen
Eyrie - MechWarrior Tryst
Jade Hawk - Galaxy Commander Stefanie Chistu
Jupiter II - Galaxy Commander Beckett Malthus
Mad Cat/Timberwolf JF - Aidan Pryde
Vulture/Mad Dog Prime - Ruel Chistu

Clan Jade Falcon, Delta Galaxy, 2nd Falcon Jaegers in Falconflage
Unit Commander - Khan Marthe Pryde
Aide de Camp -
Location – Jade Falcom Occupation Zone

Command Star
Thor/Summoner Prime - Khan Marthe Pryde
Loki/Hellbringer Prime
Cauldron-Born/Ebon Jaguar A
Stooping Hawk Prime
Black Hawk/Nova Prime - saKhan Samantha Clees

Assault Star
Turkina A - Star Colonel Jana Pryde
Aesalan - Noritomo Helmer
Scylla 2
Onager
Kraken/Bane 4

Trinary

Strike Star
Black Lanner Prime
Griffin IIC
Cougar Prime
Vixen/Incubus 2
Fire Falcon Prime

Red Corsair Star
BattleMaster C - Star Commander Nekane Hazen
Grendel/Mongrel Prime
Shadow Cat II
Roadrunner/Emerald Harrier
Roadrunner/Emerald Harrier

Infantry Star
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point
Elemental Point

Clan Jade Falcon, Omega Galaxy, 4th Falcon Striker
Unit Commander - Galaxy Commander Denise Mehta
Aide de Camp -
Location – New New Earth

Trinary Alpha

Trinary Command Star
Jade Phoenix Prime*
Warhawk
Hellbringer
Night Gyr
Black Lanner

Trinary Striker Nova
Viper
Cougar
Nova
Fire Falcon
Kit Fox
Elemental APG
Elemental APG
Elemental APG
Elemental APG
Elemental APG

Trinary Support Star
Turkina Prime
Summoner H
Hierofalcon*
Ion Sparrow*
Eyrie*

Trinary Bravo

Kraken Your Pelvis Star
Bane 3
Bane
Bane
Phoenix Hawk IIC
Phoenix Hawk IIC

Breathe the Pain Star
Shrike*
Jupiter*
Marauder IIC 6
Thunderbolt IIC
Rifleman C 2

Dang Boy She Mobile Star
Gyrfalcon*
Jade Hawk
Jade Hawk
Howler 6
Locust IIC 4
Fulcrum x 2