Proud Bull Rising Part 9

Been a busy month so far but I'll have a model update in the next few days.

2833

The Taurian Guard Corps completes its build up and all three regiments are at between 90 and 100 percent operational readiness. The Taurian Vellites Regiment is broken into battalion size forces and spend the next two years doing a sweep along the Capellan and Davion borders for pirates. The I Corps are the next to be overhauled and have their operational readiness restored. The I Corps consists of the Concordat Jaegers and the Red Chasseurs. A new regiment, the 2nd Red Chasseurs, is also to be built to bring the I Corps up to a full three regiments.

Both Wolverine production lines go live. A second line is begun at each site to expand production. Both expansions should be completed by the end of 2835. With the increased production levels of mechs as whole, a slightly higher percent is slated for export with several larger mercenary units being eager customers as they try to replace losses taken so far during the Second Succession War. A fair number are also sold to the Outworlds Alliance as they seek to shore up their forces to deal with the increasing piracy along the Periphery.

Several years into the Second Succession War now, still no build up of Davion forces along the Concordat border are detected. This leads to a slowly lowering of the alert status along the border. While still slightly higher than before the war, it is much closer to that level. The Taurian intelligence services continue to keep an careful watch on worlds across the border. Patrols remain slightly ramped up along the border but are slowly easing down to what they were before the war started.

The data and information brought back to the Taurians by the Ministry of Intelligence agents is put to use by Concordat Navy reactivating the old Concordat Aerospace Limited shipyard in the Samantha system. This yard is located far enough from the planet to be hidden by the asteroid fields in the system. It is estimated that by 2840 the shipyard will be able to repair the two types of jumpships and then by 2845 begin production of the two types of jumpships.

2834

All the mercenary units in the employ of the TDF are now at least 80 percent or higher in operational readiness. The TDF assigns them all to a stretch of worlds along the galactic rimward side of the realm to deal with pirates raids. The Blackhearts are especially good at dealing with pirates and soon the three units have made a marked decrease in pirate activity in that portion of Taurian space. The Lazy Eights add a second battalion during this period and rotate from Sterope finally to Belle Isle colony where they join with the other mercenary units in dealing with pirates. Cardinal Sins are deployed to Baltar, Blackhearts to Dumassas, and the Black Band Legion to Ludenitz.

While exploring systems to reclaim or recolonize, one team comes across the Panzyr System. There is a thick debris cloud surrounds the main world of the system which makes getting to and from the world difficult, but the team notices a lot of the debris is from Star League sources, undoubtedly from the Reunification War in their best estimate. Records show that the world was part of the Capellan Confederation but lack of support during the First Succession War had the planetary population fall below a sustainable level. The TDF moves assests into this system and begin to comb the debris field for useful salvage. For the first couple years, mainly spare parts and small arms are the only worthwhile salvage recovered other than debris to be resmelted and recycled.

After once more debating the issue due to high demand, Brinton is selected as the fourth location to build a new industrial mech factory. Similar to the plants on Sterope, Grossbach, and San Carlos, there will be lines for the Crosscut and DigKing Industrial mechs and will be expanded until there are four lines for each of the mechs. The plant is planned to go live by the end of 2833. The local militia assign several companies to rotate being assigned to defend this new major investment in their world. Much of the output of this plant is exported to the Federated Suns, the Duchy of Andurian, and the Magistracy of Canopus.

The Rifleman production line on New Vandenburg goes live. These heavy battlemechs are deployed into the various medium, heavy, and assault weighted regiments as a much needed anti-aircraft capability. This was something that was lacking in the TDF and is seen to fill a void in the battlemech regiments' TOE. These mechs are highly sought after and production is fully purchased for the next several years by the Taurian military.

Hope you all are enjoying and I'll see you all again next post!

Mechanized March

So since there seems to be something for every month, I'll be doing my own for Battletech hence Mechanized March. To start off I've finished the last lance of tanks for my Lazy Eights. The two Schreks and two Alacorns make a nice support element for the maneuver portion of the unit. I think this is a nice flexible force able to scout, skirmish, and still have the firepower for a battle.

And then I'm starting the support side of my new Eridani Light Horse unit. There is a lance of coolant trucks, two lances of APCs, and then a small horde of infantry. I made the mistake of attaching some to bases before painting then got wiser about it for the rest of them. Previously I've used a pair of small Micro Armor APCs per hexbase to represent transports, but they don't stay on the bases as well and are a pain to deal with, so I'm going with larger vehicles this time around.

That's all for this first update and I'll see you all next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 8

Finishing up February with an installment of my Alternative Fiction. Hope you enjoy!

2831

A distrubing trend in rising criminal activity and corruption taking advantage of the new economic growth was beginning to be noticed. Protector Arantino worked with the Privy Council to increase funding for the Concordat Constabulary. This allows them to hire new recruits, replace aging equipment and improve their overall capabilities. Over the next several years the results are seen as crime levels begin to drop to their previous levels. In addition to this, the Taurian École Militaire is expanded to provide more recruits as the Taurian Defense Force continues to improve its readiness levels.

After a fair amount of debate, San Carlos is selected as the location to build a new industrial mech factory. Similar to the plant on Sterope, there will be lines for the Crosscut and DigKing industrial mechs. Expansion of the plant will continue until there are at least three production lines of each. In addition to supplying the new colony worlds, some of the production is slated for export. The militia engineering battalions and survey teams, having completed their work on pre-existing Concordat worlds, move on to the new colonies and the reclaimed worlds to continue their work.

The Taurian agents at the Rashpur-Owens Incorporated shipyard finally enact their plan having now worked their way into lower management positions and covertly gathering the access they will need from their supervisors at the shipyard. Over the course of a week, the agents are able to copy schematics of the shipyard itself, the construction plans for the Invader and Merchant classes of jumpships, and the specifications for the Kearny-Fuchida Drives for both types of ships. Using the destruction of a shuttle between the shipyard and the planet, they fake their deaths while also eliminating several others at the same time who would have been close enough to them to assist any investigation. As an added layer of protection, if any investigation does manage to look their direction, falsified evidence leading to the Lyran Commonwealth has been planted to steer them in the wrong directions.

2832

The Concordant begins to see a large number of refugees arriving as they flee the battles of the Second Succession War. The refugees are used to bolster the populations of several of the new colony worlds and even help start some new colonies growing the number of colony worlds to 11 now. Heliat and Guldra are brought into the Taurian Concordat while Eliat, Gant, Cadiz, and Franmalin are the four newly colonized worlds. While many of the new colonists arrive with little more than the clothing on their backs, they are able to work them into the growing colonies with minimal effort.

While exploring the Heliat system to update the system star charts as part of bringing the system into the Concordat, a derelict Lola III-class destroyer is discovered in orbit around the moon of the outermost gas giant in the system. Salvage teams are quickly dispatched to examine the vessel which is discovered to be the SLNS Noshiro. While it is too far damaged to be repaired, they're able to salvage much of the armor plating, four of the NL55 Naval Lasers, five of the NAC/10 Naval Autocannons along with samples of their ammunition, some of the ships sensors, and a fair amount of the interior bulkheads and other components. When the operation is completed in 2834, the remnents of the vessel is pushed to where the Heliat VI gas giant's gravitational pull grabs hold of it and pulls it down to its final demise thus erasing all trace of the recovery operation.

The Ministry of Trade and Colonization sends several representatives to the Outback Region of Davion space and the Sian Commonality of Liao space to help ensure the best and brightest of the refugees are recruited and assisted in passage to the Concordant colony worlds. They also try to identify worthwhile recruits in the various military refugees from various broken and destroyed units for potential recruits to build new militia units on the new colony worlds. While they are doing this, they also resume the practice of recruiting dissatisfied Federated Suns and Capellan citizens to recruit for the colony worlds as well.

In the Brisbane System VMI begins building a shipyard with slips to repair and refurbish civilan dropships. The facility is constructed near the asteroid belt with a pair of habitat stations, three orbital factories, and several deep space mining stations to provide the materials needed. The facility is planned to be completed by the end of 2837. Several merchant companies approach VMI about contracting regular repair work for their dropships even before the facility is finished.

The next post should be the last lance of tanks for the Lazy Eights as well as more Eridani Light Horse. The ELH part though will be repairs and not new models as I had a shelf flip over while I was doing some reorganizing and cleaning which lead to about 10 damaged mechs and about three times that in damaged vehicles. A fairly large precentage will be just rebasing models which is not too bad but there will be some more major repairs to do as well. See you all next time!

Lazy Eights Close To Finished

So despite it being quite a busy week, I've managed to get a couple lances of vehicles finished for my Lazy Eights mercenaries. 2 Skulkers, 2 Packrats, and 4 Pegasus give a good reconnaisance force to the mercs. I still have 2 Alacorns and 2 Schreks to finish. The desert sand with dead trees basing theme was conntiued for the light vehicles. I don't plan on basing the last 4 as they pretty much entirely cover a hexbase and there is no room to do anything else. That will put the unit at 2 full companies and will be done unless I come across some other loose mechs or vehicles needing a home as I clear the deck in preparation for the Kickstarter arriving.

I've also been eBaying some of the mechs from my old ELH regiment. These have all been mechs that I don't really care for or have odd scaling to them. Like the long legged Catapults, a long legged Locust, and the 5 Long Toms, as well as a few others. That's all for now and I'll be aiming for another update around next weekend.

Lazy Eights and more Eridani Light Horse

So finished up the Lazy Eights mercenaries I was working on this week. They recieved washs and dry brushing and then the basing. I went with a desert sand base with them to offset the darker colors on the mechs. The plain sand was looking a little too bland so I grabbed a couple sticks outside and turned them into dead logs and debris on the bases. I still have a vehicle company to add to them and then this force will be completed. Models are based Vallejo Black with a Vallejo Oily Steel dry brush over the black and then Tamiya Copper and Vallejo Dark Red were the other colors with both getting a GW Nuln Oil wash. Bases recieved a border of Vallejo USA Tan-Earth and of course the sand. Twigs were added for a bit more detail and then they all received a clear matte spray coat.

And then some progress on the Eridani Light Horse front. I got 16 mechs base colored in green (Tamiya Field Grey) which will be added to eight others at that step. This week I'm hoping to get the Vallejo Old GOld and Vallejo Flat Red on them all before applying the Vallejo Olive Green wash layer.

So that's the progress so far. When the ELH models get finished that will leave me 12 vehicles for the Lazy Eights and then I have 8 other older mechs that I need to figure out what to do with. Once those are all done (hopefully by no more than a week or two into April) I'll finally have a clear deck on the paint front and I'll be able to tackle some other projects, including better organizing the storage for them all. That's all for now and I'll see you next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 7

2828

As the military construction capacity increases, supplies of weapons for that construction are beginning to be stretched thin. An expansion of the Sterope Defense Industries (SDI) plant on Sterope is begun to increase production of its various systems. SDI also begins work on a new plant on Pinard to place it close to both Taurus and New Vandenburg to supply those mech factories. The VMI facility on New Vandenburg begins to expand the Stinger STG-3R and Wasp WSP-1A light mechs production by adding a pair of lines of each.

The Ministry of Trade and Colonies expands the program that they've been using to encourage immigration from the Outback region of the FedSuns to include the periphery worlds of the Capellan Commonwealth as well. With the Liaos having to withdraw support more and more from these border worlds, they find numerous people and families looking to move to worlds with better opportunities. This soon provides an additional steady stream of immigrants for the Concordat colony worlds.

TDF liaison officers sat down with the commanders or the mercenary units the Blackhearts, Cardinal Sins, and the Black Band Legion to discuss new contracts. All three are re-signed to long term contracts that offer favorable terms to assist them in continued rebuilding to their former full strength. This included assisting them in recruiting from refugees that had survivors from broken military units in addition to favorable terms in purchasing new mechs and vehicles from the Taurian industries.

2829

As the TTI Maultier lines on Taurus slowly begin to produce the hover transport, plans are put in place to expand the production to the TTI plant on Sterope as well. Construction will begin though won't be completed for several years. By 2832 though, the TDF should have constant and steady deployment of this vehicle going into its main infantry and armor regiments as well as selling some to the mercenary forces in their employ.

Numerous pirate attacks clandestinely funded by Comstar begin to raid along the entire expanse of the Concordat borders. While the pirates achieve some limited success, many of the raids are successfully defended against by the local militias with their new vehicles from the Quikcell factories on New Vandenburg. These reliable combat vehicles allow the defenders to deal severe damage to the light and medium mechs that compose most of the pirate bands. Intelligence research into the attacks proves baffling though. The basic assumption that it was backed by the Davions was hard to prove. With their attention so focused on the Liaos and Kuritans, they had negligable resources available for use on the Periphery.

The TDF engineering units and survey teams continue to do impressive work as they continue through Taurian space. Improved space ports and warehousing facilities across the various worlds makes it easier and more cost effective for traders which helps drive the economy. The incoming merchants bring a new wave of colonists from the innermost part of the Inner Sphere, colonists who have decided to relocate and start over rather than trying to rebuild over and over on contested worlds.

2830

The Taurian Defense Force, with new material coming from it's various factories begins to look at shoring up its forces. While the various armor and infantry regiments raised by the various worlds are between 60 and 90 percent of operational readiness, almost all of the mech units were down to between 35 and 50 percent of operational readiness due to lack of long term maintainence, attrition from pirate raids, and other problems. This rebuilding effort will include reconstituting up to full TOE any armor and infantry units attached to the mech regiments.

The Taurian Guard Corps, consisting of the Taurian Guard Regiment, the Concordat Commandos Regiment, and the Taurian Velites Regiment, are the first formations to be focused on for this rebuilding. In addition to adding personel and missing equipment, the units are also put through a fairly rigorous training period to fully integrate these new additions. The units are all redeployed to Taurus for this undertaking and will be redeployed across the Hyades Cluster to their normal garrison duties once fully reconstituted.

Trade negotiations with the Free Worlds League leads to the rights to produce the Maultier going to Kallon Industries in return for favorable prices for the rights to produce the Wolverine WVR-6M medium mech and the Rifleman RFL-3N heavy mech. A large amount of the Celano SLDF cache goods that they are unable to reproduce is also sent to the FWL as part of this trade deal. Lines are to be added to the VMI facility on New Vandenderg for both mechs and the TTI facility on Sterope for the Wolverine. The Wolverine lines are scheduled to be finished in 2833 and the Rifleman line completed in 2834.

With the outbreak of the 2nd Succession War, the TDF slightly raises its alert status along the borders as a precaution. Patrols and reconnaissance missions are increased as the old fear of Davion invasion raises its head again. While not detecting any immediate threat, the level of alert remains much higher than normal for the next several years. Intelligence agents remain deployed on the Davion side of the border on the most likely gathering worlds for an invasion or raiding force.

So that's the latest overdue installment. Hope you are enjoying it and I'll see you next time!

Eridani Light Horse and Lazy Eights

So I've made a bit of progress on clearing out the Battletech backlog. First of all the progress on the Eridani Light Horse. The Light and Medium mechs from the last post have all recieved their secondary colors. Still to go is some cleaning up, adding the wash layers, and then basing. Once this batch is done, I'll be moving on to another 5 Medium mechs and 19 Heavy and Assault Mechs. I'll probably put off the basing until all of them are painted to simply my assembly line method of doing things.

Then we have my new small unit that I'm making use of to clear out the last of my Inner Sphere metal and printed mechs. This is a unit that was serving the FedCom in the First Succession War and disappeared between then and the Second Succession War. In my Taurian Alternative Fiction story, I had this unit survive and to be honest if the unit fled into the Periphery it could survive for a long time while flying under the radar of the major realms and powers. This unit's paint is starting to come together but I seem to be stuck on what to use as a wash. Input and thoughts on it would be appreciated.

So that's where we stand for now and I'll be aiming for another update next week. Still not a fan of the painting but trying to keep myself on task to get all of this cleared out so I'm ready when the Kickstarter mechs and vehicles arrive. Thank's for stopping by and I'll see you all next time!