Finally A Post Up

Well, back at the beginning of the month, for my birthday I got up Johnson City way and after hitting up a few stores for lunch and some Project BBQ for lunch, I met up with Cheef for a couple games of Battletech. Due to some forgotten info, our first place to play was out and we ended up playing at his house instead. Both games were slugfests with lots of damage to go around on both sides and were a lot of fun as well. However no pics were taken in the fun.

As a birthday treat to myself I did pick up a few Battletech items. I got the "No Greater Honor" Eridani Light Horse anthology, "The Mercenary Life" anthology, and the Battlecorps Anthology "Gray Markets". I have greatly enjoyed the Eridani Light Horse one and it has a series of stories starting in 2772 capturing a Rim World's Republic world and highlights of the campaign to retake Terra and then skips forward through the years through the various stories before finally ending with a tale in 3151 with a reformed Eridani Light Horse getting ready to campaign under the Davion flag once more. The Mercenary Life has been interesting as it's a series of short stories from the point of view of different characters as they cross paths between 2991 and 3014. It's right in the timeframe I enjoy and it's been fun as a different way of weaving an overall tale with a series of different short stories.

The last item I picked up for myself was an old Ral Partha Battletech Medium Lance with complete mechs and the box if fairly good shape. The mechs have all been partially painted and I'll need to decide what I am going to do with them before they get paint. With the new plastics from Catalyst they most likely will be painted as a lance together and go on the shelves as display pieces. With that in mind I am not sure what to paint them as. I am currently deciding between Lyran Guard (because I hate myself white), Arkab Legion, or Hanseatic League Defense Force. Anyway, that's all for now and hopefully I'll be able to get some progress on mechs again once I'm past this holiday stretch. Retail Management is always fun this time of year. See you all next time!

Quite A Bit Overdue

So back on October 21st, Cheef and I got a game of Battletech in, but I've been a bit busy and have not got around to posting about it yet. As is quite common, close to the halfway point I forgot to keep taking pictures.

I took a Clan Ghost Bear force of a Solitaire, a Nova Cat A, a Hellbringer (Loki), and a Mad Dog (Vulture). He brought a wolfhound, a commando, a hatchetman, a Hunchback variant, and then too much armor. 4 Heavy tanks total ended up being too much armor for me to chew through fast enough. Towards the end I tossed in the towel with three beat up mechs remaining facing two damaged mechs and too much remaining tanks to deal with. Two tanks were fairly hurt but the other two were basically untouched. The next day I even considered a force of a dozen LBX armed Urbanmechs to deal with the tanks by criting them to death next time.

So that's how it went, I feel like I did fairly well early on to keep my force fighting just part of his but I couldn't roll well enough to drop his mechs fast enough before the rest of his force came to bear. (Though 4 ER Large Laser hits from the Mova Cat cored the Commando quite nicely) So that's it for now and I'll see about posting again soon. I have Monday off work and nothing I to deal with that day so I'll be looking to spend at least some time getting some Battletech dealt with. See you all next time and thanks for stopping by!

Building An Eridani Light Horse Regiment Pt. 4

So work this past month has been quite time consuming though there seems to be a return to norming in the near future. I haven't managed much during this time but there has been a little progress. Mainling in the way of acquisitions.

So first of all, I've got green layers of two lances of mechs. The first lance is Phoenix Hawks for the 6th Recon Battalion which is going to be all jump capable. The second lance os the regimental command company command lance of a Cyclops, Awesome, and two Annihilators.

Then we've got an Etsy purchase of 8 APCs and 4 tanker trucks that I will be using as coolant vehicles.

And then last of all we have some infantry. I had three packs of these and for some reason starting basing them. After I finished the first pack I asked myself why wouldn't I paint them on the sprue first and THEN base them and stopped from doing any more. So this is what I've added for now and hopefully I'll start getting more painted soon.

Proud Bull Rising Part 6

2826

Conrad Toyama arrives at in Taurian Space as part of his ComStar recruitment trip. With the population benefitting from the ever increasing fortunes of the Concordat, he finds much less success here than he had in other Periphery stops on his trip so far. His largest success is amongst the newest immigrants but even here the success is muted. The relatively higher education levels leads the average Taurian to see ComStar as a business rather than the religious front that ComStar has moved to.

The Concordat begins a systematic upgrade of the jumpship recharing stations across Taurian space. All star systems are examined and those that already possess rechanging stations are given a thorough repair and upgrade cycle while systems without a recharging station are studied to see if there is heavy enough traffic to require one. This process is expected to take close to fifteen years to complete when including construction time for any stations added. After this project is completed, recharge stations will be added to new worlds as they reach a size or importance to require one. Unfortunately due to the loss of technology and production capability in the Inner Sphere core worlds, only a few of these newly planned recharging stations are built before the ability to construct them is beyond their capability.

The Special Asteroid Support Force that is an elite volunteer force for defending the Hyades Cluster is given its first upgrades in decades. In addition improving and overhauling their XCT Marine Exoskeleton Armor, they're also issued semi-portable heavy lasers to be used as squad based heavy weapons to increase their fire power. They also are given a number of the SLDF laser rifles that were found on Celano to replace their older weapons that are less capable or efficient.

2827

Two production lines begin contruction on Taurus by TTI to build the Maultier Hover Transport. The plant will then expand slightly to provide a steady supply of spare parts for the Maultiers as they go into service with the various infantry units throughout the Concordant. The Quikcell plant on New Vandenburg goes live and production begins to roll out of the factories. In addition to building up militia units and using the Pegasus produced to provide scout formations for various Taurian Defense Force units, the rest of the production is quickly sold to the Outworlds Alliance, small mercenary units in the area, and various neutral worlds near Taurian space. The production is quickly found to be much more reliable than the expected Quikcell offerings.

The Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization sends a delegation to the Duchy of Andurien. They're able to sign several trade agreements as the Anduriens seek mechs and combat vehicles to rebuild their forces as well as the raw materials needed for their own industries. The TDF also is able to aquire several wings worth of Stingray F-90 medium aerospace fighters as part of this trade deal. These nimble fighters with their heavy armament quickly become favorites for pilots in the TDF.

The Federated Suns finally notice that the Concordat has been recruiting its citizens from numerous Outback worlds for immigration. Estimating that several hundred thousand have left for Taurian colony worlds from across the width of the Outback regions over the previous years, the Davions issue a formal protest to Protector Artantino about these practices. While she has the Taurian representatives rein in these practices, it never completely stops but merely drops to a less noticeable but tolerable level.

True and False Heirs of the SLDF Collide

So this past Saturday night I managed to get a game of Battletech in once more against Cheef. It was a match were I was outnumbered 2 to 1 as I took a full lance of medium and heavy mechs from my old Eridani Light Horse regiment with highly skilled pilots but ended up facing Cheef's Hell's Horses in a horde of 4 light mechs, 2 light tanks, a medium mech and a heavy tank.

I took a 2/4 Hunchback HBK-4P, a 2/4 Quickdraw QKD-5K (but flipped the 2 rear medium lasers with the SRM/4), a 3/4 Archer ARC-2Rb, and a 2/4 Crab CRB-27b.

After numerous rounds we were both hurting fairly badly. I had lost my Hunchback, the Archer was almost dead, and the Quickdraw and Crab were both fairly hurt. He'd lost both light tanks and a Stinger while having a Wolverine (which he tried call a Hellhound), Stinger, Locust, and Pirahna all one or two hits away from destroyed and then the Demolisher was in good shape. If we played it out I figure I'd lost the Archer and probably the Crab while finishing off his mechs but my Quickdraw would be jumping to stay out of line of sight from the Demolisher. So we called it a draw while we still had salvage worth salvaging.

I was really happy with how the Quickdraw and Crab did. The Hunchback was disappointing as with it's slow speed and layout it had to expose itself to a LOT of damage to be able to unload it's firepower into a target. The Archer was doing well but with the speed of the enemy force it soon had issues with keeping the range open for those LRM.20s. All in all it was a lot of fun and I'm planning on another post around the end of the week hopefully as I'm looking at at least one, possibly two, crazy long work weeks. That's all for now and thank's for stopping by!

Building An Eridani Light Horse Regiment Pt. 3

So while it has been very busy at work I've managed to get some work done on some mechs. I've got a full lance of Wolverines done to go with the two Catapults. Somehow I forgot to take any in progess pictures and so there is just the final results (minus decal and then clearcoat). I am planning on this being a regiment that has a light/medium highly maneuverable battalion, a jump capable battalion, and then a heavy/assault battalion to be the anvil/hammer for the other battalions.

I've got a lance of Phoenix Hawks primed to work on this coming week and then I have a company of lights on the queue after that consisting of a lance each of Valkyries, Mercuries, and Wasps. While my original ELH force was a hodgepodge of mechs that I could aquire in dribs and drabs with a real late Succession Wars feel to the unit as a "this is what we have repaired and can afford to field" vibe, the new regiment I'm going for an "in their prime" theme with full lances of single mech types or at least no more than a couple types of mech per lance as a more deliberate force organization rather than salavaged and pieced together.

Of course behind that list of models is a further pile of plastic including Griffins, Wolfhounds, Trebuchets, Victors, Guillotines, Grasshoppers, and Thunderbolts. And of course the original two test models (the pair of Awesomes) need to be stripped and repainted as well. And then by the time all of these are done, the Catalyst Mercs Kickstarter should be arriving. I had planned on getting up to the Outpost in JC for some decal tutorials and practice with others who know what they're doing, but that went out the window under a pile of errands that I need to deal with today (including getting a bunch of stuff cleared out of the living room area as the rental I'm in is getting a new fridge on Tues).

So that's all for now and I'll see you all next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 5

2824

With seven colonies now established and growing, construction is started on new production plants to build the Crosscut and Dig King Industrial Mechs in the Sterope and Grossbach Systems. The lines on Sterope are planned go live in 2826 and the lines on Grossbach in 2827. Both plants will continue to expand until each has four production lines of each of the two industrial mechs. In addition to helping growth on Taurian worlds and new colonies, it is planned to have a steady number to be exported to the Outworlds Alliance, the Magistracy of Canopus, and the various independent worlds in the area.

With the agriculture sector booming within Taurian space, a number of inner sphere traders start to appear for runs between Concordate worlds and highly populated Inner Sphere worlds. In return these traders bring manufactured goods and specialist equipment such as electronics to the Concordat in exchange. Davion, Liao, and even Marik traders become a more common sight over time. While these outsiders are viewed with caution and suspicion, the Concordat does not pass up the opportunities this represents.

A number of former engineers from Lycomb-Davion IntroTech's Demeter plant, which had been largely destroyed by Capellan forces in the First Succession War, approach the Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization about immigrating and starting up a new company to build various electronic equipment. After a few months of negotiation, approval and government backed loans are given to the new company, Taurian Technologies Limited, to begin construction of manufacturing plants on the world of New Vandenburg.

The Taurian Ministry of Intelligence slips a small team into the Capellan Confederacy using the agent that they had turned. This contact helps provide them with covers and new backgrounds as they travel to Capella System. Here they manage to get hired on at the Rashpur-Owens Incorporated shipyard. The agents do nothing the first several years at the plant other than merely becoming seen as skilled and valuable workers at the shipyard. Two are parts of teams working on the actual assembly of jumpship parts, one works on the line producing the drive systems, while the last works in the main office complex.

2825

A farmer on the Taurian world of Celano, one of the new colonies, discovers the remains of a Star League storehouse which among various equipment, weapons, and vehicles, contains a number of Maultier Hover APC's. These are deemed easiest to reproduce and by 2827 are in production at the Taurus Territorial Systems plant on Sterope. Numerous LosTech infantry laser rifles are found as well which are found to be able to be reproduced. Facilities to produce these are made at the TTI factories on Taurus and the Vandenburg Mechanized Industries (VMI) factories on New Vandenburg.

The Quikcell plant on New Vandenburg begin to build lines for the construction of the Scorpion Light Tank. This vehicle, while fairly new, is proving to be quite popular especially with militias due to its easy of maintainance and its low price compared to other options. By 2829 Quikcell will have five total lines constructing this vehicle. Sales are brisk for runs of the tank with the TDF militia units, mercenaries, the Magistracy of Canopus, and the Outworlds Alliance all being customers.

The Taurian Ministry of Education receives extra funding to begin building up the schools on the new colony worlds and reclaimed worlds. One of the issues found are that many of the refugees from the Inner Sphere worlds who had fled to the Periphery worlds had widely varied education as well as a high percent of under educated youth due to the upheaval of the Succession War. In addition to new schools, programs for adult education opportunities are also pursued which greatly opens the possibilities of these immigrants and further binds them to the Concordat as a whole.

Proud Bull Rising Part 4

2822

The Protector and her representatives works out a deal with Quikcell company using the safe location of a new plant within the Concordat away from the battles between the Inner Sphere major houses as well as the numerous periphery customers as incentives. The Quikcell Company begins construction of a large manufacturing facility in the New Vandenburg System. LRM and SRM Carriers, Hetzers, and Pegasus Scout Hover Tanks each get a pair of production lined in the initial contruction of the facility. Production is planned to begin for all four in 2825. The high level of patriotism and the pride that the average Taurian citizen holds for the military is projected to prevent much of the poor quality control that is associated with most Quikcell plants. Half of all production from the plant is slated for export to the Outworlds Alliance and various mercenary groups.

On the world of Hanseta, one of the engineer/survey forces make a discovery. A crashed Colossus-class dropship from the Reunification War is found down in a valley mostly covered with forest undergrowth. Almost three lances of mechs were able to be recovered including a Mongoose, several Crabs, a few Kintaros, and the two biggest prizes, a Flashman and a Black Knight. Two companies worth of vehicles were also recovered consisting of a few each of Marksman artillery tanks and Alacorn heavy tanks, but most of the vehicles are Galleon light tanks. This material is used to assist in the rebuilding of the units decimated in the war with the Canopians.

Three uncontracted mercenary units are signed to assist in dealing with pirate raids and attacks along the Concordat borders. The Cardinal Sins, a medium weight mech regiment, the Black Band Legion, a heavy weight mech regiment, and the Blackhearts, a medium weight mech regiment. The Blackhearts with their former SLDF Special Forces background make them especially adept at pirate hunting patrols. In addition to garrison and anti-pirate duties, the units are also used to train the local militia forces.

2823

With the drop off in refugees finally being seen, Taurian officials begin to quietly visit Federated Suns Outback worlds located near the Concordat border. These officials are able to take advantage of the fact that these Outback worlds are largely ignored and not invested in by the Davions who are forced to focus more on their industrialized coreward worlds after the destruction of the First Succession War. They are able to recruit disgruntled and struggling, yet hard working, families and individuals from these worlds to immigrate to the new Taurian colonies. With their focus on their interior and border worlds rather than the Outback regions, the Federated Suns do not notice these events for some years.

Using loans backed by the Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization, Taurus Majoris Mining begins construction on a new major facility in the Sterope System. The new production complex is expected to be opened by 2825 and producing armor for defense industries by 2826. Much of the product produced by TMM from the asteroid belt will be used on Sterope by the TTI and SDI facilities. The normalization of relations with the Canopians leads to an increase of trade back to levels seen before the Taurian-Canopian War.

The Lazy Eights, a medium weight mercenary battalion, are hired out of Davion service where they had been used for garrison duty throughout the First Succession War. At roughly half strength operationally, the TDF deployed them to Sterope to defend the factory complex there as well as act as a training force for the local militia. As part of their pay for the first several years, the unit is given discounted rates to purchase replacement mechs from the TTI lines they are protecting.

The King's Wild Cards finish rebuilding their 2nd Battalion which is then deployed to the Gangtok System. They renew their contract and continue to receive discounted rates on purchasing replacement mechs from Taurian factories. Their duties continue to include both garrison and militia training. Two lances worth of Cyrano VTOLs are added to the King's Wild Cards' TOE to give them even more flexibility.

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

Still Raising Another Eridani Light Horse Regiment

So after the first two test models from the previous post, I really didn't fully like the outcome I achieved. The Citadel Contrast Creed Camo came out looking like the algae build up in a dirty aquarium filter. This second pair of models I switched out the Creed Camo for Vallejo Russian Green. I also switched the Vallejo Flat Red for the deeper Vallejo Dark Red and the Vallejo Oiled Steel for Vallejo Game Color Metallic. The final change I made was Tamiya Flat Brown for the sides of the base instead of the Vallejo Woodgrain. For all of these paints, I used a new Army Painter Wet Palette instead of the trial homemade ones I used previously. I did the same basing and first layer coats as before. I also tried something new for me in a more intricate layer of detailing by edging the cockpit panels of the mechs.

All in all I am much happier with the results this time around. The following picture is a comparison shot showing from left to right a Zeus from my old ELH regiment, the first trial attempt for new ELH Thunderbolt, and then the new attempt for new ELH Catapult that has received a light Nuln Oil wash after the previous picture above. I can definitely see the improvements from my old ELH massively batch painted to minimum standards and my new results and I definitely like the Catapult's results over the Thunderbolt's though I now need to look into striping down the two Thunderbolts.

All in all I am pleased with how it's looking so far and I think I am happy with the final results of the Catapults. I think this will be the "final" color scheme though I'm open to ideas and suggestions before finally locking it down and starting up on going through the rest of the models I already have for the 151st Light Horse Regiment. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you all next time!

When Ghost Bears Maul

So this past Friday I managed to get back up to the Outpost for another game of classic Battletech with Cheef. I was fielding most of a star of my Clan Ghost Bear while he had some Draconis Combine troops. With the points cap I had 4 mechs to his 4 mechs with my fifth star member being stuck back at the dropship on guard duty. I fielded a Kingfisher (C variant), a Nova Cat (A variant), a Bearcub 2, and a Pirahna. He was fielding a Rifleman, a Dragon, a Cyclops, and a Hunchback.

This was definitely more of a balanced game than our previous outing as my dice were more normal in their rolls while his rolls actually were willing to score some hits this time. Seeing as that set of dice rolls normally when he's been playing with Frankie in Alpha Strike, I am starting to think they only work well when Frankie is there to use them. I tried to keep my deployment to one side of the map, especially since he started looping his Dragon the long way around the central city section we were fighting in. I ended up with the Pirahna looping behind the Dragon and spending several turns wearing it down while my other forces dealt with his other units.

The Bear Cub was the first to die but between its up close SRM and medium laser fire combined with the Nova Cat's ER Large Lasers, and the heavy fire from the Kingfisher, the Cyclops took a lot of damage and was in a rough way fairly early. In exchange for heavy damage to my Kingfisher, the Cyclops and Hunchback were both killed off on the same turn though some of this was I was lucky on a lot of my shots landing repeatedly in the same location.

In the late game my Kingfisher was getting close to dying from cockpit damage as the LBX AC-5s on the Rifleman kept landing at least one point of damage on the cockpit each time it shot. Indeed, the Kingfisher was down to just one point of armor on the cockpit at the end of the game. At this point I had the Pirahna use its speed to disengage from the Dragon and loop back around to harass the Rifleman with the Kingfisher while the Nova Cat dealt with the Dragon.

At this point the pilot of the Rifleman seems to be from the former Rasalhague region of the Draconis Combine because he was turning his mech into a walking sauna. It actually got to the point that the mech shutdown due to overheating which was a first for both of us in a game. Due to the number of heatsinks it was going to be 2 turns minimum before he could restart the Rifleman which was when Cheef called it a game. I'd have been able to finish off the Rifleman between the Kingfisher and the Pirahna while the Nova Cat held off the Dragon or teamed up the Kingfisher and Nova Cat to deal with the Dragon while the Pirahna kicked and machine gunned the downed Rifleman. So all in all it was a good outing for the clans and it was nice to finally get them back on the table after a long long time for them. It was a fun game as always and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Raising A New Eridani Light Horse Regiment

I normally speed paint through battletech units with a primer, base coat, a few highlights and simple basing. This time around I am trying to up my level of painting a bit. With all the new Catalyst plastic models and especially the new Kickstarter ones coming down the road, I decided to do more Eridani Light Horse. With my original ELH unit being a mix of olf metals and plastics from various sources, I decided to do an entire new unit of them, the 151st Light Horse Regiment. This is the results of my first two models in this project sort of as a test bed.

The models were primered white and then based with Army Painter Elf Green. I put GW's Creed Camo Contrast over that layer which was followed by a wash of GW Coelia Greenshade. Weapon mounts were done in Vallejo Old Gold and the maul/fists in Vallejo Gunmetal Grey. For the cockpit and laser barrel insides I used Vallejo Flat Red.

Base was done with a mix of small gravel and a fine grass flock. I then painted the base edge in Vallejo Woodgrain to compliment all the green.

I'll appreciate any feedback or suggestions. I'm still on the fence deciding myself. The Creed shade of green just keeps seeming a bit off somehow and I'm still not sure about it. Anyway, hope you enjoy and I'll see you all next time.

When The Dice Want More Table Time

So this past Saturday, I finally got another Battletech game in with Cheef. He was fielding his Ace Darwin's Whipits while I was fielding a unit of my Caselton Militia with a couple Rabid Foxes attached. In my head I had it as the Foxes on a data gathering mission using the militia forces for cover. This was one of those games where Cheef's dice were fairly unforgiving towards him while on the other hand my own dice were trying to send me the message that they wanted a lot more useage as I was rolling way better than I normally do.

My full deployment was in Civil War era units and consisted of the two Fox agents in PXH-3PL Phoenix Hawks, a militia Marauder MAD-5M, 2 militia WVR-7K Wolverines, and then a pair of SRM variant Hetzers. He had Ace in his pink Panther, two Shadow Hawks, a Grasshopper, an Enforcer, and a Wasp. All his units have their call signs, rides, and a brief backstory on his own blog here. Several of his mechs had slight tweaks from stock variants as well as improved piloting skills while all my pilots were 4/5s. However my mechs all were loaded with pulse lasers to improve their shooting as well as the Phoenix Hawk variant having a targeting computer to go with those pulse lasers.

We both deployed fairly normally and just charged at each other. By turn 3 we were at close range and unloading all we could into the other. His Enforcer was his leading unit and I singled it out first as a target. It took a lot of hits which resulted in major damage all over it including 3 criticals for 2 engine hits and 1 gyro hit. It did manage to stay standing and ended up backing off the table in withdrawal a few turns later. Over the next few turns I managed to kill the Wasp, force one of the Shadowhawks to withdraw, and then at that point with moderate to heavy damage to his remaining units while I had one heavily damaged and the rest moderately to lightly damaged, his force decided that getting paid another day rather than no more paychecks was the better option and called it a day.

While it was nice to get a game in, the dice were definitely not being balanced between us. One of my Hetzers managed 21 out of 30 possible missile hits where 4 of the 5 SRM/6s hit and then I rolled high on the scatter chart as well with only 3 of the 24 missing. I have never in any game managed a missile accuracy like that before and when paired with the pulse lasers bonus offsetting my movement penalties, it definitely became a one sided game around turn 5 or 6. Hopefully we can get another game in soon that is more balanced and fun for all without the dice gods being petty.

So more of an overview than a full up battle report as I didn't take a ton of pictures but I will say it was nice with us both having fully painted and based forces on the table. I know that has been a slight annoyance to Cheef lately as he's dipped his feet into the waters of Alpha Strike and has been facing nothing but bare gray plastic models on the other side of the table for several games now. So that's all for now and with the parting joke that I "Raid"ed his Wasp pilot "Hotshot", I will see you all next time. I need to get the next installment of Red Bull Rising up and will aim to get that up this weekend.