Reinwood's CBT Workbench

Fourth Succession War: Skondia The Final Battle Kublacon

2011-06-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

All right, I managed to scrounge some time to fill you in on my final day at Kublacon including the final Skondia Battle. If you would like to read about the first two days at the con go here.

My day started early Sunday. Eric and I carried the four pieces of the 5’ X 8’ game board, the trees, buildings, roads, mechs, tanks, etc from the parking garage to the miniatures room of the con. I was given a great spot right in the middle of the miniatures room and right as you entered, so I had an enormous amount of foot traffic walking past the game and a lot of positive feed back. I finished setting up just in time for my start time, so I took roll. Unfortunately, I had to turn a few people away—I really wanted to keep the game to eight people. Just after taking roll and approving the eighth player, the first guy on my list, who was a no show, showed up one minute late. I felt bad, but I had to turn him away too because I allowed a group of three guys to bring in their buddy who was further on the list already. I hope he found another game to play. Anyway, I got on with the game.

Turn1:

Right from the get go, Draconis Combine (Kurita) players elected to bring in their Battalion Command Lance gambling that the large bump in long range firepower was worth giving the Lyran Commonwealth (Steiner) players five points from the start. Beginning in the North (top of the large overhead photos) the DC units rushed full speed in mass on the LC’s right flank. The only exception being the Battalion Command Lance which had to start in the river canyon slogging their way toward the action. The LC provided a static defense and elected not to move. They had split their units into two sectors—right flank on a small hill just south of the river and left flank on the bluffs overlooking the main highway and the river. The right flank was comprised of a lance of Goblin Tanks, one lance of training mechs, and two Warrior helicopters modified with LRMs rather than auto canons. While the left flank was comprised of a lace of Scorpion Tanks, two Demolishers, two Manticores, and a lance of training mechs. The only exceptions were three platoons of infantry scattered about and a Zeus piloted by the Skondia Militia commander who hung back near the aircraft hangers in the rear.

You can see the complete force count here and the victory conditions here.

Turn 2:

On Turn two, the 14th Legion of Vega; 3rd Battalion, Charlie Company continued to rush forward on the LC’s right flank while the Battalion Command Lance (BCL) emerged from the river canyon on to highway 189. Just as they emerged from the canyon, a lance of Scorpions rounded the corner and began firing into them with multiple hits which were the first hits of the game. Meanwhile, the rest of the LC defenders stood their ground as the first DC artillery barrage pinpointed the bridge in the center of the board to no effect beyond damaging the bridge and clearing some trees.

Turn 3:

Turn three is largely uneventful as the LC’s Scorpion Lance continues to fire into the rear of the BCL as they ignore the small tanks and move northeast to join Charlie Company in the hills. Charlie Company begins bringing all fire power to bear on the communications tower—one of their primary missions. The LC continues to stand their ground waiting for the DC mechs to show themselves. Artillery again rains down causing minor damage to one of the training mechs and the side of one of the Manticores.

Turn 4:

Turn four scores one point for the DC forces as their concentrated fire power destroys the communications tower. The LC forces began to realize they are being out maneuvered and shift their mech forces right. The 2^nd Ad-hoc Lance takes up a position around the bridge while the 1^st Ad-hoc Lance shifts to their extreme right. The two Warrior helicopters of the Skondia Militia leapt into action seizing the initiative and attacking one of the Trebuchets of the BCL from the rear. Finally, the Scorpion Lance chooses not to pursue the BCL into the hills and falls back along the southern cliffs. The DC forces advance a little slower to allow stragglers to catch-up, but continue south. Lastly, the DC third salvo vaporizes one of homes on the ridge defended by the Goblin Lace and causing severe damage to two of their number.

Turn 5:

Turn 5 starts with the LC losing most of the initiative, so besides hiding their helicopters in the river canyon and turning around their Scorpions to support the Goblins on the hill, the LC forces remain static. The DC forces began to jump-jet and climb their way over the last remaining obstacle—a level four ridge. This move finally exposes them to fire but because of their movement, most of the LC's shots missed. The DC also has another round of artillery bombardment which does more minor damage to the 2^nd Ad-hoc Lance and clears a lot of the heavy vegetation around the river which the LC wanted to use.

Turn 6:

Turn 6 begins with most of Charlie Company (Support and Recon) leaping off the high ridge to within pointblank range to the Goblins on the residential hill just within medium range of the Scorpion lance which has now come around for more. A flurry of missile, laser, and auto cannons are shot. The entire 1^st Ad-hoc just about goes alpha strike, but after all of that, the two Legion lances were still standing abet a little sinzged. However, the Support Lance had to pull back two mechs because of internal damage that threatened there combat effectiveness. The Griffin took internal head damage and the Vulcan took internal center torso damage from, ironically, a hidden platoon of SRM infantry which scored most of their hits on the rear center torsso. Meanwhile, 2^nd Ad-hoc and the Heavy Command Tank lances tried in vain to score any real hits on the BCL as it lobbed missiles indirectly toward 2^nd Ad-hoc’s command mech—a Hatchetman. Finally, The DC realized they were too closely engaged with the LC forces to fire anymore artillery at the LC's forces, so with their last two volleys they targeted the Supply Base’s Fusion Reactor scoring a hit on it as well as damaging several nearby buildings and the LC’s Command Mech.

Turn 7:

As the first minute passes in game time, the score was DC 2 to LC 5. There were a few grumbles on the LC’s side which revolved around the DC’s side not accounting for their heat correctly and the BCL going prone stretching the rules, but I think what was happening was the LC players were frustrated by being out maneuvered. The DC’s lead elements, while not out of danger yet, were pressing very hard on the LC’s right flank and the LC seemed to feel they had to keep assets on the left flank’s ridge so as not to completely surrender the river canyon which would allow the BCL and their LRM equipped mechs access to the base. I think the LC’s hope was to kill, not just cause to retreat, as many light mechs, lead elements, as they could allowing themselves to gain more points incase the DC did manage to destroy the base.

At any rate, it got much worse for the LC on turn 7. With pressure being turned on from their right flank and needing to cool off, the 1^st Ad-hoc mech lance backed off near the fuel depot as elements of the Charlie Company jumped over the Goblin tanks and targeted the fuel depot itself just as the mechs of the 1^st went alpha strike again. Between the extreme heat of two rounds of full shot and the intense heat of aviation fuel slathered allover their hulls, the Chameleons of the 1^st were going to shut down, but unfortunately, not before each of them failed to stop their ammo onboard from cooking off. Each of the three mechs exploded giving the DC three points and tying the game. The Commando of the 1^st Ad-hoc barely survived and was so damaged, that he would have to run off board next round.

With such an upset in the game, the LC needed a break and they got one when the last salvo of artillery rounds had an errant round strike right in the middle of the lead elements of Charlie Company knocking over one mech and causing extensive damage to three other mechs, one of which had to begin retreating (Spider). Unluckily, the LC’s change in fortune was fleeting, because the other rounds destroyed one of the hangers and the Karnov AirTransport that was loading up non essential personnel so they could be whisked out of harms way. This gave the DC another point. Those were the highlights of probably the most important round. The 2^nd Ad hoc and the BCL continued to exchange long range fire, Charlie Company’s Command Lance descended to the road and engaged the Scorpion Lance, and the helicopters pursued the retreating mechs of Charlie Company with little to show for their effort.

Turn 8:

In turn 8 we see the BCL pull back because the LC Manticores were pounding the Command mech too much—no internal damage but a lot of armor damage on the Dragon, so the 2^nd Ad-hoc lance advances on Charlie Companies’ Command lance supporting the Scorpions and the two remaining ,and largely immobile, Goblins. The other two Goblins chased after the five mechs of Charlie Company that managed to penetrate the base whose lone defender was a Zeus piloted by the Militia’s Commander Colonel Mitch Freeman. Shots were exchanged everywhere without anything significant to report.

Turn 9:

When turn 9 started, it looked bad for the LC as their Command mech lost initiative and became surround by four mechs while the fifth continued to damage buildings in the base. They sluged it out with fists, weapons and kicks, but no one went down. Meanwhile a pitched battle began to develop around Charlie Companies’ Command lance and one mech (Cicada) from the BCL which has come down out of the hills to cause chaos. It charges the Scorpion line while the rest of the BLC repositions on the bluffs. And still the best tanks in the region are sitting most of the battle on the left flank out of the battle.

Turn 10:

In turn 10, the LC’s Command mech, while still surrounded, managed to take out two Legion mechs (Jenner and Assassin) by, of all things, destroying their gyros (never seen it in all my years of playing Battletech, two mechs going down because of gyro hits let alone in one turn). Nevertheless, the DC units got the best of the Zeus by causing quite a bit of internal damage which will make him retreat the following turn. This turn of events left a moderately damaged Phoenix Hawk, an unscathed Clint, and a much damaged Jenner nearly alone in the LC’s base to cause as much havoc as they liked. Though a couple infantry rifle platoons showed up and managed to knock over the remaining Jenner only further damaging one of their own buildings. In the river valley, Charlie Companies’ lightly damaged Command lance, minus one of the Panthers which retreated due to a gyro hit and the very lightly damaged Whitworth which jumped up the cliff side to join the BCL, managed to jump out of the kill box created by the tanks and mechs of the LC and began to close on the base. This action left the LC one target—the Cicada. It tried to run away but just about every LC unit left fired on it and brought it down by hollowing out its torso giving the LC one more point for three in this round. Also occurring this round was the announcement that the LC’s Hatchetemn had to retreat because the incessant indirect LRM fire had finally taken its first victim.

Conclusion:

After ten turns, I asked everyone to give me their opinions on how they thought the next few turns would play out and whether or not they wanted to continue as our time allotted for the table was drawing to a close. I’m sure I could have stayed on the table for a couple more hours, but I did not want people to miss any later games they may have scheduled and dinner was right around the corner. The score at this point was Draconis Carbine 6 to Lyran Commonwealth 8.

There seemed to be a consensus that ultimately the DC team would win because they still had significant undamaged mechs left. While the LC team had all of their tanks and three mech left, but all of them were moderately to heavily damaged. We surmised that the Catapult and Panther would join the mechs in the base and continue destroying it, they would have to begin fighting LC assets as they rolled or walked in, but those forces would be already damaged and ultimately destroyed. This would especially be true when the remaining four lightly damaged mechs in the central hills felt they could come out and engage the LC forces from the rear—catching the LC forces in a vice. The casualties would rack up fast causing the LC to retreat the rest of their force giving the DC 5 more points. In the final battle, I could imagine the DC player taking out what was easy to destroy while doing their best to avoid the AC20s of the Demolishers (both tanks undamaged when we ended) If the DC team could have gotten the LC team down to six units, they would have had to retreat. Just about everyone thought this was possible considering most of the remaining DC mechs were long range capable and the LC units were a mixed bag. Finally the base was almost destroyed, it would not have taken too much more to finish it off earning the DC player three more points. So there you have it. I think it was much more balanced with the tweaks made and the only reason the LC lost (besides throwing in the towel) is because they allowed the DC units to get in the base by not bringing their heavy tanks into the battle. Even with the DC win, it was only a tactical win, so in other words not by much.

It was a really great game and I want to thank everyone who played. I hope you had a good time as I know I did. I want to thank Eric for helping me move the game from the garage, and I especially want to thank Dylan who helped me run the game by keeping people honest on their heat, helping the inexperienced players with the rules, and helping me pack up everything at the end of the game. The game would not have been nearly as successful if it weren’t for his help.

The Rest of the Trip:

That night Dylan and I got a pizza a few bottles of beer and settled into the board game room to play Richard Borg’s Commands & Colors: Napoleonics by GMT. It was our first time playing the game, but we found the rules easy to learn. Fortunately, Dylan had already placed all of the stickers on the blocks as it takes a while to do. We found our first game to be so good that we played two more. At one point, (this is one of the best parts of a con), we had a disagreement on the rules, so Dylan went to Richard Borg who was playing a miniatures game in the next room and got a rule clarification from Borg himself. It turns out I was wrong on the rules, but how cool is that?

In the morning, we packed up and got going, but on my way out, I spent our Kublabucks (coupons you get for winning sanctioned games) on a game about the Spanish Civil War called Popular Front. I also bought two squads of Quar and the Songs of Our Ancestors rule book signed by Josh Qualtieri who adapted the rules from the Ganesha games Flying Lead/Song of Blades and Sequoia Blankenship who illustrated the book. I can’t wait to play it as I was pretty impressed with the rules and figures. Lastly, because I want to move on to other projects, I dropped off the Skondia game board at one of my favorite game shops in Sacramento—Great Escape Games. I know it will be well taken care of and played on by countless players for dozens of games in the coming years. I also want to thank every one of my blog followers who have given me lots of encouragement and feedback as I worked on the Skondia project for the last year. I can’t wait to get started on another. I already have some ideas, but as this post is super long, I’ll bid you adieu.

Kublacon Round-up...Finally

2011-06-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I trust you are having a good weekend. One week ago I was in the thick of Kublacon—the annual game convention I go to. I wanted to get this post out earlier in the week, but as I’m sure many of you know, you can take a break from work to go on vacation, but the work just piles up while your gone—waiting for you. Alas, I have spent most of the week catching-up on work and sleeping.

Anyhow, I had a blast at this year’s con. Besides hosting my Battletech game that many of you have followed me develop over the year (which I will have a full AAR soon), I played many new and exciting games and a few old favorites. I also especially like to take a moment or two and check out all of the games I just can’t get to. There are so many games, but only three days to play. So I will have photos of those too.

I arrived at the con at noon and got with some friends from San Diego and my friend Dylan from Sacramento. They are a tight bunch that comes every year and they host games as well. In fact the first two games I played were hosted by them. The first game was run by Rene and it was a post-apocalyptic car vs. car game where each team had six death machines in which to destroy the enemy’s six vehicles. A fast simple game with nicely painted vehicles and a rule set that was easy to learn. It was called Warlands (Also Here).

The second game I played was run by Rich, also one of the San Diego crew, It was called “The Spear Asunder ~ Shame & Glory” It was a very interesting game because of the mechanics of the game that allowed each player (6) to run a British squad as well as the Africans trying to overrun the outpost. The object of the game was to cause other players shame while you collected glory. The player with the most glory minus shame was the winner. One did this by trying to damage the other player’s squads, but not so much that the Africans can over run the outpost. It was a very fun game with nicely painted minis, bad accents, and lots of antics like pointing and stating, “For Shaaaame!”

After that game, Dylan and I went to the Kublacon’s huge flea market. It’s a great opportunity to pick up games and miniatures for rock-bottom prices. Almost so cheap, you can feel a little guilty. I bought five large shoeboxes of Mechwarrior: Dark Age clicker mechs and accessories for $20.00! There was easily $1500.00 worth of mechs in the boxes. I quickly left with those, put them in my room and ran back down to shop some more. Another thing I picked up was an unopened box of Warlands vehicles for $8.00 that retailed for $35.00. It had instructions, two dune buggies, a truck, and even dice. Finally, I bought an original and complete box of Shogun; the 1980s version by Milton Bradley for $45.00. These sell online for a couple of hundred dollars. So for less than $100.00 I had bought several hundreds of dollars worth of games. I was pretty happy.

The next day, Dylan and I signed up for a game called “Starship II”. This game is kind of like a 3D version of Aerotech and Star Fleet Battles with a lot less paperwork and it ran much faster. Thomas of Skull and Crown made everything you see. The ships, astroids, and even the game system were scratch built by him. In fact the game system is one of the best parts because it was easy to learn, logical, and had quick resolution. I really can’t convey to you how much I liked the game. Please check out his AAR of the battle here.

So after we trounced the alien ships in Starship (Our side only lost an outpost and most of our fighters while they lost all of their capital ships except one and most of their mecha) we met with our friend Eric who came down from Sacramento for the day. We thought we would play my new game of Shogun; it played so much faster than I remember. Eric let Dylan and I fight each other to a standstill while he collected enough spaces to win. We should have played another game, but Eric and Dylan played a serious game of Shogun with miniatures which recreated an epic battle of Japan’s feudal past.

While they played it, I played a new (Or at least new to me) squad level game called Songsof our Ancestors. The game revolves around fat lizard people called the Quar who have been fighting each other for over a millennium on what I assume is another world. They don’t have high-tech weaponry like what you might expect, they have technology that is roughly equivalent to that of the armies who fought in the Great War. In the battle I fought, my squad had to eliminate a spy that was taking shelter in a house while an enemy squad had to save the guy. In the end, I was thoroughly routed. My sniper was counter sniped, and the guys that managed to open the house were gunned down as the enemy poured into the house. One my men died so badly that I was required to make morale check which I failed badly causing my last two troops to run off board. Even though I lost, I really liked the mechanics of the game and the Quar aliens grew on me (The next day, I bought two squads and the rules). They are all put out by Zombie Smith. They have a huge line of miniatures to support the game as well as Sci-fi, zombie, and fantasy miniatures. They even have another rule set for larger Quar battles and 15mm Quar. Check out the Video ad they have too.

After my friends and I completed our miniatures games, we got back together and played a couple games of Neuroshima Hex. It’s a fast-paced game for two to four players where you have to destroy your enemies’ bases. It has a unique layout and the play is pretty solid like chess. Check out a review here.

I’ll have more on my final day at the con as well as an AAR for the Final Skondia Battle. Until then, please check out these photo of other great games from the con that I was unable to play.

Clan Snow Raven R-teams

2011-05-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, this week I’ve been getting ready for the up coming Kublacon and showing off my newly painted Clan Snow Raven R-team, but first, I want to say hi and welcome aboard to three new followers of Reinwood’s CBT Workbench. I really hope you enjoy my upcoming projects, reviews and photos.

First with the convention, in an unusual twist there are three Battletech games at the con. Usually there is only one large game run on Saturday, but this year, there is a smaller game on Friday night and my game Sunday morning. I hope the increase in games will not dwindle the available players. As for getting ready, I’m just about there, I just need to finish printing out some reference charts and packing the minis with foam so they don’t get damaged. It should be a good weekend, and I’ll be sure to give a good write-up Monday night when I get back to Sacramento.

Now I would like to present a Clan Snow Raven R-team of Beta Galaxy: Storm Crow Galaxy. Wait, what’s an “R-team” you might ask. Well an R-team is a specialized Raven unit I ran across while reading Battletech Field Manual Warden Clans 1711. On page 123 under Unit Structure (chapter written by Chris Hartford and Michael Koennecke) there is a small blurb about R-teams. It seems because Clan Snow Raven experienced a lot of problems (getting nuked) when they formed and because they are very aerospace heavy, they have small teams that quickly scrounge the battlefield to recover salvage so they can maintan their small groung forces. the book states:

Within select Snow Raven units are stars known as R-teams, which serve as reclamation units. An unusual hybrid of warriors and technicians, such units [are] comprise[d] of two Mechs, two Points of Elementals and a team of technicians. They are charged which securing battlefield salvage for the clan, often while under enemy fire. While the warrior contingent secures the area, the technician crews salvage any usable material. The R-team may then either call in appropriate transport vehicles to remove the isorla, or the unit’s Mechs can manhandle the equipment back to friendly lines (all R-team Mechs are equipped with hands and carry nets). The technicians attached to these teams are trained to defend themselves.

So I have a complete R-team finished as well as one of the vehicles they might call in to hull away salvage—an Anhur. I will have the other nine vehicles complete in the coming weeks. As for the R-team itself, it is comprised of one Viper (Dragonfly), one Mist Lynx (Koshi), two points of Elementals (laser and machine gun), and a team of technicians comprised of infantry from GHQ on one stand.

Please enjoy the photos and let me here what you think of a unit like an R-team in Battletech and beyond into any Sci-fi or post-apocalyptic setting. Do you think it’s feasible? What other assets should they be using? What would be a good battle scenario to build around this unit and its accompanying non-combat units?

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 12 - Second Demo Battle

2011-05-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

Two weeks from the big day at the con and a second demo battle under my belt, I think the Battle for Skondia will be a success. On Sunday, four friends of mine replayed the Fourth Succession War: Skondia engagement with some of the improvements that were suggested from last game while I played referee. After a late start (my fault—I forgot something at home) we managed to play through six rounds without a clear winner. In other words, the game was much more balanced. I wished we could go for another six, which I believe would have taken a lot less time because the players were now much more familiar with their units, but alas, everyone had to get back to reality. It was a Sunday after all. I think the biggest thing I learned from this go at it was that I needed many more charts. I intend to figuratively litter the con with charts for my upcoming game. I buddy Dylan will also be helping run the game and each person will likely have fewer units because I intend the game for 8 players rather than 4. I will let you know how the game goes. Until then, enjoy the photos.

The 14th Legion of Vega prepares for battle

A lance of the Skondia Mech Academy move to take up a positions

A Kurita lance decides on a course of action

A tank company of the Skondia Milita takes up positions on the high ground

A secure and partially covered position

The combattants pound on each other in a pitched battle

Coppers sweep in to harass the Legion units from the rear

The Legion is forced to call in another lance from their limited reserve

Clan Cloud Cobra Star: Locust Remastered

2011-05-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

This week I thought I would share with you one of my favorite mechs—The Locust. In this case The Locust IIC remastered by the clans. I prefer the classic Locust because it’s…well classic Battletech, but those are hard to come by now. One could use a helicopter as a scout, but “those things go down faster then a clanner on a third date!”quote. So when I saw that someone on eBay was selling five Locust IICs for a great price, I snatched them up. At around the same time I got a free bottle of Reaper paint that and I was itching to try out as most of my paints are Vallejo and wanted to compare the two brands. It was a dark blue-green that matched the mechs of Clan Cloud Cobra’s Delta Galaxy really well. I paired the Reaper sample up with Vallejo’s Royal Purple. Once I finished painting all of the mechs, applying decals, and sealing, I placed the mechs in a scratch built destroyed city that is built with Styrofoam, sandpaper, and lots of hot glue. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Fresh Year

2011-04-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it been four months? I suck and time sure does fly by. My new job has been keeping me very busy and with the upswing in the use of brain power used to learn this new job, I have not felt as creative or motivated to paint or blog about it. That is not to say that I have not done anything.

I have been building and premiering many of my minis in anticipation of painting them. You can see them all laid out on my coffee table awaiting work. I have also reworked the game board for the Skondia battle by cutting up the board into manageable pieces that can more easily be transported to the game convention in May. Speaking of which, I signed up and have been confirmed for running the Skondia battle at the 2011 Kubla Con in Burlingame, California (near San Francisco) May 29^th at 1000. You can see more details here and here. Finally, I have also managed to keep up on several of my favorite blogs regarding Battletech as well others in the game miniature community. You can check out several of my favorites here, here, here, & here. I especially love what Inrepose is doing with his Gruntz 15mm Science Fiction skirmish game and the board he is creating. I also have to point you to Klinktastic’s new website supporting the Battletech community. It’s really is a nicely laid out and attractive site. Ok, enough for now, let me take some photos of some of my completed work, so I can get those posted next week. Thank you for sticking around.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 11 - Battle Day

2010-12-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

The day of the big game came and went. It was a very informative and a fun gaming session. My friends gave a lot of constructive criticism on the special rules and objectives at play in the scenario. My intention is to use this scenario in May for the 2011 Kublacon, so any feedback I get is critical to running a fun and memorable game. We played until the outcome of the battle was considered inevitable. I, however, would have liked to have played longer just for fun, but I felt the player’s attentions were waning. Therefore, I called the game with the promise from the players that, if I tweaked a few things in the rules, they would play it again.
The game day got off to a rocky start. I held the game at a friend’s home who had a lot more room then my apartment, so I wanted to get the board over to his home before the game day. Unfortunately, Patrick was sick, so we did not move the board over until early Sunday morning, and then we realized the board would not fully fit in his van. Ultimately, we secured it with bungee cords and let it hang out the back of the van. Once we set it up, I went about touching up the minor damaged spots on the board, and began setting up the buildings, roads, and trees. I was running about an hour behind. In the future, I must do a better job of making the board in segments, because hulling a 7.5’ X 5’ board around is the last thing I ever want to do again.

Moving on with the day, it improved. The players were very excited and eager to learn how to play. Fortunately, Dylan, who introduced me to the game in 1985, reintroduced himself to the game and learned the miniatures rules too, so he taught the other players how to play while I finished setting up. The turns progressed slowly; put picked up once the players understood the miniatures rules which complicated the standard Battletech rules to gain a hex free pretty board.

Moving on with the day, it improved. The players were very excited and eager to learn how to play. Fortunately, Dylan, who introduced me to the game in 1985, reintroduced himself to the game and learned the miniatures rules too, so he taught the other players how to play while I finished setting up. The turns progressed slowly, put picked up once the players understood the miniatures rules which complicated the standard Battletech rules to gain a hex free pretty board.

The Lyran forces were allowed to set-up first anywhere south of the river and south of the first ridge on the western edge. The Draconis forces set-up in the extreme northeast along the highway. Check out the map to the left.
The two lances of mechs from the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy flanked rapidly to the left in order to control the bluffs on the western edge of the map, while most of the tanks of the 2nd Skondia Infantry Regiment remained scattered in the southeastern quarter of the board with the exception of the Goblin lance which set up on the first western ridge in order to control the highway coming south. In addition, the two Demolishers slowly moved up and over the bridge and then turned north. They were accompanied by a Zeus piloted by the planetary militia’s commander. Finally, the infantry company hid in the heavy forest by the bridge and the helicopters went north to begin bombarding the Draconis mechs with LRM fire.

The Draconis mechs fanned out each with their own objectives. Charlie Company’s Command Lance engaged the Skondia mech lances with long range missiles. The Support Lance cautiously took the central hills with the intent of destroying the radio antenna for victory points. Lastly, the Recon Lance moved along the game map’s eastern edge to skirmish with anything that might come over the hills.

While the first two rounds were largely uneventful maneuvering, the Draconis artillery began raining down on several Lyran locations; namely, the radio antenna and the base’s tarmac where a Karnov Air Transport was evacuating noncombatants from the base both of which were worth victory points. On the third round a hit was scored on the Karnov destroying its rotors, so Kurita picked up a victory point there. The radio antenna had a different outcome. None of the artillery was able to score a hit on it but, in the four rounds of artillery fire, almost all of the missed fire drifted to other Lyran targets. A Scorpion was destroyed, half the infantry were wiped out, the bridge over the river was destroyed, and finally, in a spectacular explosion, another Scorpion was destroyed along with three homes and a Manticore was severally damaged.

While all of the artillery was landing in the Southern area of the map, the Skondia MP Academy mechs quickly closed the distance to the Draconis Command Lance outnumbering the Draconis mechs in that area. The Command Lance was taking fire from eight mechs and a lance of Goblin tanks. The command lance fell back a bit in order to maximize their strength in long range weapons, but upon doing that an artillery round badly missed the radio antenna falling short and directly hitting the Legion’s Whitworth forcing it to retreat because of internal damage to it’s center torso. At about this time, many (4) of the Lyran mechs also had to retreat because of internal damage. Also, at about this time (round 4), the Demolishers and Zeus finally rounded the cliffs in the center of the map and were looking for targets. Only one was available. The Support Lance’s Clint was the last mech through the central hills and the only target available to the Demolishers which attacked it at long range with little chance of hitting it, but one round made contact almost bringing down the mech with one hit. Even with that devastating hit, the Kurita players knew that it was still at least three rounds before the demolishers and Zeus could attack them again because of Lyran’s poor positioning and speed. Charlie Company’s Support and Scout lances were able to destroy the radio antenna and drive off the Lyrann helicopters which loitered in their positions too long making them vulnerable to attack. Though, both were able to retreat. By round five, the Draconis forces had five victory points (Radio Antenna-3, Karnov-1, & two Scorpions-1) to the Lyran’s zero points. The Skondian mechs were very damaged and many of the militias tanks were damaged by artillery while the Draconis mech company had only lost two mechs to retreat and had only three moderately damaged mechs. The entire Scout Lance was unscathed!

At this point, the Lyran players threw in the towel. They thought that they could still inflict quite a bit of damage on the command lance once the Demolishers and Zeus got up to the Legion’s Command Lance, but that was going to take time and in that time the Lyran’s entire left flank was going to collapse as the rest of the training mechs retreated or were destroyed. The Legion’s Support and Recon Lances threatened to leap in mass over the last southern hills and overwhelm the remaining tanks. Perhaps one or two mech would have been destroyed, but all of the tanks and infantry in the south would have likely been eradicated garnishing the Draconis side a lot more victory points. The Draconis players said that once they realized that they could avoid the Demolishers, their strategy was to destroy everything else and out maneuver the large tanks. The Lyran players acknowledged that they should have aligned the tanks on the western edge of the board and let them stay so that they could make better use of their range. Too much time was wasted moving them when the more maneuverable mechs were forced to fight a battle of attrition against more powerful mechs across the river canyon where the Chameleon’s short-range abilities were wasted.

As for the feedback I received, I was mostly asked to make more of the base’s buildings victory points so that more of the fighting could take place there, and that would prevent the Draconis Carbine form getting so many points for destroying the radio tower as the Lyran Commonwealth players have little chance of stopping its destruction. I was also asked to amend the artillery rules to force the Draconis player to bombard one spot instead of spreading out their fire. Everyone acknowledged that the Lyran player was outgunned and could be easily out maneuvered, so only players with experience should play them. I agreed with many of their points and will look to enact many of their ideas. In the coming months, I will let you know what I change and how our next battle plays out. (Dylan, Eric, & Ryan talking over their next move)

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 10 - Armor Company

2010-12-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

The game was awesome today, and I will have a full write-up for it tomorrow. Until then, please enjoy these pictures of the Skondia Militia.

(A Manticore of the Skondia Militia 2nd Infantry Division defends a bridge at all costs)

A lance of Scorpions. Cheep and they have a great range.

A lance of Goblins. They carry infantry as well.

A heavy tank lance comprised of Mnaticores and Demolishers.

Demolishers...80 ton killers with dual AC-20s.
Manticores...great all round tanks.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 9 - Legion of Vega Company

2010-12-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the day of the big battle. It looks like there will be six or seven friends playing, so it should be a small party. As for tonight, please enjoy these photos of the 14th Legion of Vega: 3rd Battalion Command Lance and 3rd Battalion: Charlie Company. (Recon Lance to the left)

Battalion Command Lance: Dragon DRG-1N

Trebuchet TBT-5N

Trebuchet TBT-5N

Cicada CDA-2A

Company Command Lance: Catapult CPLT-C1

Whitworth WTH-1

Panther PNT-9R

Panther PNT-9R

Support Lance: Griffin GRF-1N

Phoenix Hawk PXH-1

Clint CLNT-2-3T

Vulcan VL-2T

Recon Lance: Assassin ASN-21

Jenner JR7-D

Jenner JR7-D

Spider SDR-5V

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 8 - Radio Antenna

2010-12-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

Hello again, I have a short post for you today. It concerns another item that will garnish the destroyer some victory points...at least for the units of the Legion of Vega. It's a radio antenna, and the Legion has been tasked in destroying it so as to hinder the Skondia Militia from organizing.

I bought it from a train hobby store and I tried to make it look like a much smaller version of the Tokyo Tower radio antenna in Japan. I remember a simmaler, much smaller one, near Sasebo Japan when I use to live there as well.

Here is a comparison to one of the Militia’s Chameleons to the antenna. I made the base from Miliput and flocked it with grass, rocks and bushes from Woodland Scenics.

And here is the destroyed version of the antenna. Its base is also made from Miliput and the structure of the antenna is made from bale wire.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 7 - VTOLs

2010-12-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

In today's post, I will focus on the aircraft involved in the battle. First up are a pair of Warrior H-7C VTOLs fielded by the Skondia Militia. Notice that they have been modified to represent the long range missile versions of the Warrior by having their AC-2s removed and replaced with LRM-10s.

Next up is the Boomerang Spotter Plane in the colors of the 14th Legion of Vega. In the battle for Skondia, this little unarmed vehicle will be calling in artillery fire from four Long Toms three kilometers away in support of the Draconis Combine mechs on the ground in the battle. This was a tough little bugger to put together...very small with multiple parts. I ended up fashioning my own polls to hold the small front wings, because what came with the miniature were too small and bent.

Lastly, the Karnov is a light cargo transport capable of hauling six tons of cargo. Like the Warrior helicopters above, this Karnov is part of the Skondia militia. I stayed with the colors of the militia (light blue with red and green highlights) with the exception of the desert flecktarn covering all of the aircraft’s upper surfaces. I thought that this break from the Lyran Commonwealth's color scheme could be explained by aircraft's current environment coupled with a temporary duty assignment with special operations...or something like that.

I almost forgot to show these photos off. Unfortunately for the Karnov, it is a target worth a lot of victory points to the Draconis Carbine force in the battle. So, suspecting that it will likely be destroyed, I made a destroyed version of the Karnov that can be placed on the tarmac as it was evacuating non-essential personnel from the base. Iron Wind Metals was so kind to send me a whole new Karnov model when I discovered that the one I had bought was missing several parts. So, with the extra parts, some metal flecks, plastic, and paint I made a destroyed version of the above model.

Thank you again for looking in. I hope you are enjoyng the photos.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 6 - Steiner Mechs

2010-12-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for the great comments. Each day this week I will share with you some photos focusing on the units and buildings involved in the battle. Today’s post focuses on the mechs of the command mech of the Skondia Milita and the training mechs of the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy.

Colonel Mitch Freeman's Zeus ZEU-6S painted in the colors of the Skondia Militia (Light Blue with red and green highlights) per Field Manual: Lyran Alliance.

The Chameleon CLN-7V is one of the more popular training mechs in the Inner Sphere. Because the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy is only mentioned in one source the NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2 and that source does not describe the paint schemes of those mechs, I decided to paint the mechs like West German training aircraft of the 1950s and 60s, dark green with orange highlights. I also surmised that the mechs would take a fair amount of abuse from the rookie pilots, so each of the mechs have premiered replacement armor plates and lots of minor damage in various locations all over the mechs.

A lance of Chameleons led by one of their instructors in a Hatchetman HCT-3F.

Faraway shot of the lance moving out from the base.
A second traing lance led by a Commando COM-2D.

Another picture of the traing lace charging an enemy lance on the ridge.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 5 - Board Construction

2010-12-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! As promised, here is a succession of photos depicting the evolution of the Skondia battle diorama. It is seven and a half long by 5 feet wide. I originally built it so it could be broken down in-between battles for travel, but unfortunately, the poster board I used for the base warped very badly after I painted them. This rendered the expensive and time consuming to carve Styrofoam useless, so I bought a slab of particleboard and permanently attached all of the terrain elements to the board. Finally, I repainted it and applied grass and bushes. In the coming week, I will focus on the details that will populate the board. Click on the photos to really get the details, enjoy!

I used an old set of knives to carve up the Styrofoam. In the future, I will invest in some Hot Tools, but it was not in the budget this time.

The used foamboards all layed out with the river set I bought from here.

One side done with one more side to go.

Ok, here is the basic shape of the second hill group.

Hot glue is what I used to hold everything together, and to further hold some areas, I used straight pins.

Cutting Styrofoam makes a big mess. I better get it cleaned -up before my wife gets home.

The cats like the mess though.

Here it is all cleaned up...right before I messed it up with paint. I'm glad it turns out later.

Extra pieces for any number of future projects.

My wife is so sweet to allow me to keep these in the hallway until I assembled the diorama in the game room.

Here is the assembled game board ready for touch-up, drybrushing, and vegitation.

Another angle.

Here it is completed, but without any removable roads, rivers, or trees.

A close up of a level one hill where there will be a small suburb will be set. In the back ground, a level three cliff edge presents a formidable obstacle.

A view from the other side. The Kurita forces will have to move down those valleys in order to engage the Steiner forces on the desert plains.

A close up where the river will take a sharp turn.

A view from the highest point in the battle, a level four.

Me hard at work putting in the final details...with some help from one of the cats.

Final picture from the perspective of the Kurita forces who will be moving south to take the base.

The final picture from the view of the Steiner forces who will have to hold the base and bottle-up the Kurita forces in the river valley.

Don't forget to click on the photos to enlarge them.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 4 - Skirmish Rules

2010-11-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Whoa, it has been a busy month! Besides the holidays (Halloween, Veterans Day/ Armistice Day, and Thanksgiving) and my job change (I’m a G-man now), I’ve continued my work on the Skondia Battle. I’ve almost finished the board, painted all of the mechs and tanks, and completed the buildings. All I have left to do is to put the final touches on the board and complete some of the roads. The date for the battle is set for the 12th of December and I have at least six players though I would like to recruit two more.

In the coming weeks, I will showcase the completed items above, but in the mean time, take a look at the special rules and objectives for the battle below. Let me know what you think. As I stated in one of my previous posts, I did not want to host a battle where the only objective was to destroy the enemy. In this battle, destroying the enemy will only be one of the objectives. I also wanted a more realistic mechanism that forced severely damaged units out of the battle instead of fighting until the death. Since this is only a skirmish, I thought that that threshold should be easy to reach forcing players to play with more tactics then a strait-up grudge match. Finally, I wanted to reward good play, so I will reward one team with an actual award and one player from each side with a separate award for meeting another set of criteria. Take a look at those rules as well. Tell me what you think. I will touch on those again after the battle to let you know how they actually affected the battle.

Special Rules

Artillery: The 14th’s artillery gets four volleys for the first six rounds with each barrage directed to the same location each round. Each round, however, will get rolled individually to determine drift.

Initiative: Initiative is determined each round by drawing cards—Aces are highest while 2s are lowest. Modifiers for initiative are cumulative and are as follows:

     Team Modifiers: Loss of Operational Commander through destruction of unit or retreat.

           Kurita: Catapult -2 Initiative points
           Steiner: Zeus -2 Initiative points

     Player Modifiers: Loss of individual player’s commanders through destruction or retreat.

          Player 1: Catapult -1 Initiative point
          Player 2: Griffin -1 Initiative point
          Player 3: Assassin -1 Initiative point
          Player 4: Dragon -1 Initiative point
          Player 5: Commando -1 Initiative point
          Player 6: Hatchetman -1 Initiative point
          Player 7: Manticore #01 -1 Initiative point
          Player 8: Zeus -1 Initiative point

Retreat: Units will attempt to retreat off map if their individual damage potential falls below five points or if mechs sustain center torso internal damage and vehicles sustain any internal damage. In addition, the entire force, Kurita or Steiner, will be forced to retreat if their forces drop below 25% (Kurita 3 units & Steiner 6 Units). Finally, Kurita units retreat off the northern edge of the map and Steiner units retreat off the southern and lower southwestern side of the map.

Victory Conditions

Kurita: 5 point-Force enemy force to retreat
             3 point-Destroy 6 of 9 large buildings at the supply depot
             2 point-Destroy radio tower
             3 point-Destroy Skondia Militia’s command mech
             1 point-Each enemy mech destroyed
             1point-Destroy the Karnov Transport Aircraft
             ½ point-Each tank or helicopter destroyed
             1 point-Destroy complete infantry platoon
             30 Points Possible

Steiner: 5 point-Force enemy force to retreat
              5 point-Force attacker to reinforce with 3rd Battalion Command Lance
              3 point-Have eight mechs or tanks left at the end of the game to counter-attack
              2 point-Destroy 3rd Battalion’s Command mech
              1 point-Each enemy mech destroyed

              30 Points Possible

Determining Winning Team: Add up each side’s points and consult the chart. The winning team receives a prize.

     Team with Most Points: Tactical Victory
     Two Times More Points: Regional Victory
     Three Times more Points: Campaign Victory

Determining Winning individuals: Add up each individual player’s points. The player with the most points from each team, are winners and will receive a prize. Individual wins are scored as follows:

     ¾ point-Each surviving mech
     ½ point-Each surviving helicopter
     1/3 point-Each surviving infantry platoon
     ¼ point-Each surviving tank
     ¼ point-Each surviving air transport
     0 points-Each artillery or spotter plane (Not in direct battle)

*Ties are broken by least criticals followed by least internal structure damage.

**Surviving is defined as still operational whether off the board from retreat or still on the board from a team win.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 3 - Personalities

2010-10-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

This week I want to acquaint you with the personalities involved in the skirmish on Skondia. In my last post, Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 2, I gave names to the leaders of each unit as well as each of the mech pilots. I think players are more inclined to play units realistically when they know more about a unit then its raw numbers and the loss of that unit means more. Therefore, that knowledge makes the game a richer experience for all involved. It also makes overcoming an enemy unit all the more sweet, because one can imagine the defeated enemy.

The small background blurbs are completely made up by me and fit within the Battletech universe’s timeline. I also used them to give a little context to the overall Skondia campaign, the units involved, and the time period of the Fourth Succession War. Let me know what you think and feel free to use any of these personalities as NPCs in any of your campaigns.

Draconis Combine:

Lieutenant Omitsu Kazaryan: A talented artillery commander, Kazaryan’s whole unit was simply transferred from the Vega militia to the 14^th when the unit was formed. The militia was then given new artillery to replace the aged and broken units that formed the 14th regimental artillery. Though she did not think the transfer was fair for her or her people, she does not question orders.

Sergeant Charles Dahlhof: Dahlhof was also transferred to the 14^th Legion when the Vega Militia was upgraded. Unlike Lieutenant Kazaryan, he grumbles about it constantly, making it unlikely he will ever see a better command.

Major Cho-yun Xi: Xi was selected by the Duke of Luthien himself to help keep some semblance of order within the 14^th Legion of Vega. In his past command with the 8^th Sword of Light, Xi was know as a stanch disciplinarian and has been known to whip disobedient solders—even those from other commands. Unlike most pilots who have come to the Legion, Xi was given a promotion and a new mech right off the Luthien Armor Works assembly line. He expects his orders to be followed and has no patience for anything less then perfection.

Mechwarrior Joe Vahtangov: Like Albright, Vahtangov is from Vega as well. His ancestors are some of the original settlers, which allowed him to go to academy and become a mechwarrior for the 2nd Dieron Regulars. Unfortunately, Vahtangov picked up a gambling habit and was subsequently let go from the Regulars. The Legion of Vega was the only outfit that would hire him considering all of the bookies that are after him.

Mechwarrior Arsenio Arellano: Arellano is a creepy guy. He has been disciplined for several sexual harassment incidents and has been let go from two other commands. Only the desperate Legion of Vega was willing to hire him. He keeps to himself now, especially under the watchful eye of Major Xi.
Talon Sergeant Kuemon Shini: Shini came with Xi from the 8th Sword of Light. He had been recently dishonored by the murder of his young daughter and subsequent suicide of his wife. He too was going to kill himself, but Xi forbade it. Recognizing Shini’s talent for scouting and his loyalty, Xi brought Shini with him when the 14th Legion was formed.

Captain Nobuyoshi Imai: Among a group of hand picked officers assigned (demoted) to the 14th Legion by Takashi Kurita, Imai has blossomed into a competent company commander free of the strict discipline required in his former unit. He was a Major and battalion commander in the 1st Sword of Light until he disobeyed a direct order to sacrifice two companies as a diversion for a general attack by the rest of the regiment.

Mechwarrior Deo Surapaneni: Recently assigned to the 14th Legion, Surapaneni has been given a second chance to pilot a mech. He started his career as a young mechwarrior raiding the Draconis Combine worlds bordering the periphery. On one such raid, he was captured and forced to become a servant for the former regimental commander of the 3rd Pesht Regulars, Colonel Hoo-gwo Kung. Recognizing Surapaneni’s raw talent, Kung asked Theodore Kurita, the commander of all of the Legions of Vega, to give Surapaneni a chance.

Mechwarrior Blair Mac Millan: A recent graduate of the prestigious Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy, Mac Millan was to be assigned to the 2nd Sword of Light, but on graduation weekend, he made a pass at the Dean’s daughter dishonoring himself. He was stripped of his diploma, his parents lost their land holdings, and he was assigned to the least desirable regiment in the Draconis Combine, the 14th Legion of Vega.
Mechwarrior Daniel Mcintyre: A long time tech and competent mech pilot, Mcintyre recently became a mechwarrior when he replaced a pilot who was killed on Marfik fighting the 3rd Lyran Guards. His assigned mech, a Panther, still bears the damage from an AC-10 round to the head.

Lieutenant Ed Kataoka: Demoted, divorced, and dishonored, Kataoka continues to smile hoping that the turmoil in this life will bring him enlightenment in the next. An assault lance commander with the Benjamin Regulars until he discovered his company commanding officer sleeping with his wife, he subsequently challenged the commander to a sword duel which he lost. Recuperating in the hospital, he was served with divorce papers and a transfer to the Legion.

Mechwarrior Francis Fanner: Twice disciplined for problems with drugs and alcohol when he was with the 3rd Dieron Regulars, Fanner’s officers were fed up, so they transferred him. Fanner thinks of little else then partying. If it were not for the fact that he owns his own mech, Fanner would have been discharged long ago.

Mechwarrior Ted Ito: Ito is a determined warrior who comes from a poor family. Because of his family’s class and lack of funds, Ito was unable to attend mechwarrior academy. He initially joined the 14th legion as a laborer and guard, but over the last couple of years Lieutenant Kataoka has trained Ito in his spare time. Before the 14th’s last engagement on Marfik, a damaged mech became available and in need of a pilot. Kataoka asked Ito to augment his lance with the damaged mech. Ito did so well in the fight against the 3rd Lyran Guard, Kataoka got permission to add Ito to his lance. Ito’s mech still has not been painted since it was repaired using captured parts.

Mechwarrior Rajnish Sommath: Originally from the 2nd Arkab Legion, Sommath was demoted and was to be executed when he was discovered to be a homosexual. He subsequently escaped and was hired by 14th Legion of Vega. His lover was not as lucky--he was beheaded.
Lieutenant Taymullah Tabari: Tabari is a hotshot ace pilot. He finished first in his class while attending the Dieron District Gymnasium and went on to attend the Wisdom of the Dragon Advanced Tactics School. He recently was a lance commander with the 2nd An Ting Legion, but he was transferred to the 14th Legion of Vega because of questionable connections with other officers who were linked to the Free Rasalhague Movement. He was at least able to continue to use his new redesigned Griffin after transferring. He wants nothing more then to clear his name and return to the An Ting Legion.

Mechwarrior Kieran Farquhar: Farquhar was an elite aerospace pilot with the 33rd Avalon Hussars until she fell in love while on vacation on Outreach with the senior officer of the 2nd Legion of Vega General Michael Heise. Turning her back on the Federated Suns, she married Heise and followed him back to Vega. Because there have not been any openings in the Legion’s aerospace wings, Farquhar took up piloting mechs and has proven herself very capable in several skirmishes. She displays a large sun on top of her Jenner in respect to her former comrades in the Federated Suns.

Mechwarrior Sean Ono: Ono was an up and coming favorite in the arenas of Solaris 7 until he publicly criticized his stable. In the following battle, Ono’s mech's gyro was sabotaged causing him to lose the match giving his stable reason to fire him. He drifted around for some time, working for small mercenary outfits until he got a job with the Legion.
Mechwarrior Alan Albright: Albright was raised on Vega, his father is a middle manager for a computer company and his mother is a tour guide for the pyramids built there. He originally left and became a mech pilot for a small corporate security firm in the Lyran Commonwealth which has since gone bankrupt. Having lost his job, he returned home and was picked up by the 14th Legion of Vega.

Lyran Commonwealth:

Colonel Mitch Freeman: Freeman is a retired Mech Regimental Commander for the Lyran Royal Guards. He did not see much action during the Third Succession War which gave him time to become good at politics helping him to land the comfortable position of the militia commander for the Skondia Militia. It is a great pay check and it carries lots of prestige around the country club for very little actual work. As of late, he has began to regret not having more combat experience and wishes he could have one more chance at it…even if it is akin to the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Staff Sergeant Joshua MacDerment: MacDerment comes from a military family who has sworn to defend Skondia from the Draconis Combine. His wife works at Fort Eagle and he has not spoken with her since the invasion.
Sergeant Jun-seok Yi: Yi is a Veteran of the Third Succession War attached to the 9^th Rasalhague Regulars. He soon defected and actively supports the Free Rasalhague Movement.
Hauptmann Oscar Laundsen: Laundsen is a commercial pilot on Skondia ferrying contractors and miners to remote areas of the world. He works for the Militia only as a reserve pilot. He has not slept since the recent invasion. Instead, he has been ferrying troops and supplies so that the militia can mount a counter attack.

Hauptmann Alexander Murton: As a young tank commander, Murton cut his teeth in the 13^th battle for Hesperus II against the Wolf’s Dragoons under contract to the Free Worlds League. He was highly decorated for his actions there, including organizing a defense for one of the approaches to the Hesperus II Mech Factory. In 3024, he was picked up by the Mercenary Company Hanson’s Rough Riders and saw action on Sevren. In one engagement, he faced an Elite unit of the Dieron Regulars where he was severely injured and the rest of his crew died. The Skondia Militia was only too happy to bring him on after he left the Riders.
First Lieutenant Penn Einbund: Einbund is Murton’s brother in law. He followed his brother-in-law to Skondia from the Tamar Militia. He has not seen battle, but shows promise on maneuvers and in the simulator.
Lieutenant Bill Nazim: Nazim has not seen battle either and he does not want to. He chose this occupation because it was better then being a middle manager for one of the mining companies. He would prefer to just ferry troops to their fights then fight himself.
First Leutanant Fidelio Lingens: Lingens is the third son of a Rabbi. He too was to become a Rabbi, but once he graduated from university, he chose to become an officer in the Skondia Militia while he decides if seminary is the right life for him.
Sergeant Major Ivan “Mack” Mackherdhuj: Mack is a half Indian, half Samoan and all old grizzled Sergeant. He has fought sixteen engagements on Skondia and briefly served with the Skye Rangers on two off world campaigns against the Draconis Combine during the Third Succession War. People not only follow his orders because he is terrifying, but also because his orders keep soldiers alive.

Sergeant Pengel Duba: Duba recently earned Sergeant and has just been given command of 3^rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 2^nd Battalion. The platoon also recently became SRM capable and he wants to show that through his command, his men can take down a mech if given the chance.
Hauptmann Breslin Woodard: Served with distinction with the Lyran Guards during the Third Succession War including the retaking of the strategic world of Port Moseby. He has since retired to Skondia to train the next generation of Mechwarriors.
Ryushi Kikuchi: The first son of a Provence Administrator for Skondia, Kikuchi was all but guaranteed to attend Mech Piloting School once he passed his initial tests, and he is quite proud of his status. He is not shy about putting other students down regarding their lower class.
Ally Pendell: The daughter of a prominent grain wholesaler on Skondia and a member of a family that was one of the first settlers, Pendell has rejected her upper class breeding for a military life. She chose to become a Mech Pilot over the family business out of a greater sense of duty to the Commonwealth.
Harvey bin Zubair: The Zubair family only recently emigrated to Skondia to work on a sheep ranch as tenant farmers. When Zubair was a child, his father saved their landlord’s life following a tractor accident. When Zubair came of age the landlord paid the Skondia Mech Piloting School to take Zubair as a student in gratitude to Zubair’s father.

First Lieutenant Agata Furnes: Recently retired from the Skye Rangers, Furnes settled on Skondia because she was awarded several thousand square kilometers from the Skye government as part of her retirement package. However, she soon found that retirement was boring, so she became an instructor with the Skondia Mech Piloting School.
Torgrim Halvorsen: Halvorsen’s father and mother were both members of the Skondia Militia during the Third Succession War serving as intelligence officers. During a raid on Skondia by the 2^nd Sword of Light Regiment of the Draconis Combine, Halvorsen’s mother and father were killed when the command post they worked at was destroyed in an airstrike. Halvorsen was then raised in foster care and has since sworn to avenge his parent’s death.

Kien Zhang: Zhang graduated with honors and received a football scholarship to the University of Washington on Donegel, but he turned it down to stay close to his ailing grandmother who raised him.
Byron Crerar: Crerar is a descendant of the hundreds of thousands of miners brought to Skondia and forced to work for near slave wages by the Draconis Combine hundreds of years ago. Once the Lyran Commonwealth occupied the world in the First Succession War, Crerar’s family became solders. His father is a Skondia Militia battalion infantry commander and his older brother is an armored lance commander for the Lyran Regulars. Crerar is the first person in his family to attend mech piloting academy and he takes it very seriously.

The photos were copied from the web and edited by me. The character backgrounds are fiction and are in no way related to actual people that these photos depict. The above images are claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law. They are not being used for profit, they are central to illustrating the post, and their use here in no way interferes with the copyright holder’s commercial use of the images.

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 2 - Forces

2010-10-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

For this post, I would like to layout the units involved in the skirmish and establish each unit's affiliation, gunnery/piloting skill, and factor individual Battle Values and the force multiplier. All of the Battle Values are BV2 except the Long Toms and the infantry were just too confusing to calculate. The numbers I have are copied from other sources because the Long Tom's main weapon’s (the Long Tom) Battle Value is not listed in the Tactical Operations source book and the trailer rules are just too confusing. Besides, the artillery are off map, so I'll call it 532 each unless you guys out there can explain how to figure the correct BV or just tell me the number. As for the infantry, I did not want to be specific with their weapons, so I only designated them as either rifle or SRM and used some BV values I came across in the past. If you have better numbers, please let me know.

As it stands, it will be the Draconis Combine with a BV of 21,203 vs. the Lyran Commonwealth with a BV of 18,280—pretty close. Figuring the force multiplier, as found in Tactical Operations, the multiplier comes to 1.0634, so the Lyran BV value rises to 19,439 which is pretty close to even with the Combine force.

I'm not likely to change this roster as most of the units are painted, but please let me know your opinions and who has the advantage if any. I'm looking forward to your comments. I'll bring you photos of the units and bios of their commanders and mech pilots in future posts. I also want to take a moment and thank Taharqa's Corner for the fantastic name generator program which I used for some of the names, thank you.

I. Draconis Combine Forces: Independent Regiments (Medium/REG   BV:19,684)

   1. 14th Legion of Vega (Medium/REG   BV:21,203)

A. Regimental Battle Group: 2nd Artillery Platoon (Heavy/REG BV:2128)
     a. Long Tom Artillery Piece: Lieutenant Omitsu Kazaryan       4/5     532
     b. Long Tom Artillery Piece                                                  4/5     532
     c. Long Tom Artillery Piece                                                4/5     532
     d. Long Tom Artillery Piece                                                  4/5     532

B. Regimental Battle Group: Spotter Wing: Single Unit (Light/REG   BV:8)
     a. Boomerang Spotter Plane: Sergeant Charles Dahlhof       4/5           8

C. 3rd Battalion: Command Lance (Medium/REG   BV:5523)
     a. Dragon DRG-1N: Major Cho-yun Xi                            3/3     1755
     b. Trebuchet TBT-5N: MechWarrior Joe Vahtangov          4/4     1370
     c. Trebuchet TBT-5N: MechWarrior Arsenio Arellano       4/4     1370
     d. Cicada: CDA-2A: Talon Sergeant Kuemon Shini           3/3     1028

D. 3rd Battalion: Charlie Company: Command Lance (Medium/REG   BV:4612)
     a. Catapult CPLT-C1: Captain Nobuyoshi Imai                  3/3      2182
     b. Whitworth WTH-1: MechWarrior Deo Surapaneni         4/5        892
     c. Panther PNT-9R: MechWarrior Blair Mac Millan           4/5        769
     d. Panther PNT-9R: MechWarrior Daniel Mcintyre            4/5        769

E. 3rd Battalion: Charlie Company: Support Lance (Medium/REG   BV:4953)
     a. Griffin GRF-1N: Lieutenant Ed Kataoka                         3/3      1984
     b. Phoenix Hawk PXH-1: MechWarrior Francis Fanner     4/4      1197
     c. Clint CLNT-2-3T: MechWarrior Ted Ito                        4/4        886
     d. Vulcan VL-2T: MechWarrior Rajnish Sommath              3/4        886

F. 3rd Battalion: Charlie Company: Recon Lance (Light/REG   BV:3979)
     a. Assassin ASN-21: Lieutenant Taymullah Tabari              2/2       1468
     b. Jenner JR-7D: MechWarrior Kieran Farquhar                4/5         875
     c. Jenner JR-7D: MechWarrior Sean Ono                          4/5         875
     d. Spider SDR-5V: MechWarrior Alan Albright                 4/4         761

II. Lyran Commonwealth Forces: Sky Province Militia (Medium/REG   BV:18,280)

     1. Skondia Militia (Medium/REG   BV:17,706)

A. Skondia Militia Headquarters: Single Unit (Assault/VET   BV:2143)
     a. Zeus ZEU-6S: Colonel Mitch Freeman                           3/3       2143

B. 2nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment: RBG Air Support (Light/REG   BV:1442)
     a. Warrior H7-C: Staff Sergeant Joshua MacDerment        4/5          721
     b. Warrior H7-C: Sergeant Jun-seok Yi                             4/5          721

C. 2nd Mech. Inf. Reg.: RBG Reserve Air Transport (Light/REG   BV:19)
     a. Karnov UR Transport: Hauptmann Oscar Laundsen       4/5            19

D. 2nd Mech. Inf. Reg.: 1st Battalion: Command Platoon (Heavy/REG   BV:3732)
     a. Manticore: Hauptmann Alexander Murton                      4/5          933
     b. Manticore                                                                     4/5          933
     c. Demolisher                                                                    4/5          933
     d. Demolisher                                                                    4/5           933

E. 2nd Mech. Inf. Reg.: 1st Battalion: Alpha Company: 1st Platoon (Light/REG   BV:962)
     a. Scorpion: First Lieutenant Penn Einbund                         4/5         248
     b. Scorpion                                                                       4/5           248
     c. Scorpion                                                                      4/5          248
     d. Scorpion                                                                      4/5           248

F. 2nd Mech. Inf. Reg.: 1st Battalion: Bravo Company: 1st Platoon (Medium/REG   BV:1908)
     a. Goblin: Leutnant Bill Nazim                                           4/5             477
     b. Goblin                                                                          4/5             477
     c. Goblin                                                                          4/5             477
     d. Goblin                                                                          4/5             477

G. 2nd Mech. Inf. Reg.: 2nd Battalion: Alpha Company (FOOT/REG   BV:260)
     a. 1st Platoon (Rifle): First Lieutenant Fidelio Lingens        4/5              74
     b. 2nd Platoon (Rifle): Sergeant Major Ivan “Mack” Mackherdhuj 4/5 74
     c. 3rd Platoon (SRM): Sergeant Pengel Duba                   4/5             112

     2. Skondia Mech Piloting Academy (Medium/GRE   BV:7240)

A. 1st Ad Hoc Student Lance (Medium/GRE   BV:3376)
     a. Commando COM-2D: Hauptmann Breslin Woodard 3/3               844
     b. Chameleon CLN-7V: Ryushi Kikuchi                         6/6               844
     c. Chameleon CLN-7V: Ally Pendell                              6/6               844
     d. Chameleon CLN-7V: Harvey bin Zubair                    6/6                844

B. 2nd Ad Hoc Student Lance (Medium/GRE   BV:3864)
     a. Hatchetman HCT-3F: First Lieutenant Agata Furnes 3/3               1332
     b. Chameleon CLN-7V: Torgrim Halvorsen                  6/6                 844
     c. Chameleon CLN-7V: Kien Zhang                             6/6                 844
     d. Chameleon CLN-7V: Byron Crerar                          6/6                 844

Fourth Succession War: Skondia Part 1 - Situation

2010-10-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a big step. I'm ready to host a battle, so most of my creative energies for the coming months will be focused on designing and hosting a large Battletech battle. Now, in Battletech, there are millions of potential battles—it’s implied in the name. Where do I start? Should I recreate a famous battle or make something completely from scratch? What factions should be involved and what size force should be represented? These are just some of the questions I’ve been pondering as of late.

I finally came to the conclusion that the battle I wanted to host was to be set in Battletech’s historical timeline, but not an important battle or at least one that regardless of who wins the engagement, it can fit nicely in the historical timeline. I also wanted to do a battle that could bring in many of my friends who use to play Battletech, but for one reason or another do not play anymore. So, I reasoned that a battle that did not incorporate anything with the clans or any advanced equipment was the way to go. I don’t want to intimidate them with too many new rules and I know they don’t know much of the history after the 4th Succession War. In fact, I remembered that many of my friends were quite excited when the NAIS: The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas 1 & 2 came out over 20 years ago.

So, I settled on representing one of the battles in those books, the battle for Skondia caught my eye. There was a small write-up outlining the attack and the outcome, but with little specific information between the initial assault and the final battle. This left a lot of room to play around with some of the small engagements in the campaign. So, the following is a teaser for this multi-post battle report and construction update (Approximately 15 posts) which I anticipate hosting in December. So without further ado, I give you the Battle for Skondia teaser and outline.

Situation:

During the 4th Succession War, the 14th Legion of Vega attacked the Lyran Commonwealth planet of Skondia in response to the Lyran attacks up and down the Lyran/Draconis border. Though minor in its scope, taking the world would allow the armed forces of the Draconis Combine to be within one jump of the very important Skye system. A system with a large population, lots of heavy industry, and is politically important to the Lyran Commonwealth. The Draconis Combine committed a single mech regiment because Skondia was only defended by five scattered militia infantry regiments and two battalions of mechs from the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy.

On September 16, 3029 the 14th’s first and second battalions dropped on the Skondian Militia’s military base and headquarters—Fort Eagle. The fort was defended by two infantry regiments of the Skondia Militia. The 14th wiped out the regiments nearly to the man in intense street fighting that took most of the first day. This delay did buy some time for elements of the 2nd Skondia Infantry Regiment and the best students and a couple of instructors of the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy to begin to prepare an ad hoc counter attack only a few kilometers from the fighting at Fort Eagle. They hoped to further delay and perhaps contain the 14th Legion of Vega. The following morning, after the destruction of the 1st and 3rd Skondia Infantry Regiments, the 14th began to regroup, repair, and fan-out to disrupt Skondian efforts to set up defensive lines. Charged with that task was the fresh 3rd battalion of the 14th Legion of Vega. It sent each of its three companies out to harass and prevent Skondian efforts to mount any counter attack.

Each of the 3rd Battalion’s companies encountered Lyran forces, but only Charlie Company met any real resistance. It discovered the elements of the 2nd Skondia Infantry Regiment and the Skondia Mech Piloting Academy preparing for a counter attack. The Skondian forces were organizing around one of the militia’s supply bases south of Fort Eagle along highway 189 and just beyond a narrow pass in the southern volcanic mountains.

Charlie Company was ordered to disrupt the counter attack, eliminate the vital communication link over the mountains, destroy the milita supply base, and drive off the defenders. The Legion of Vega’s 3rd Battalion Command lance closed to the site of resistance and stood-by incase Charlie Company needed assistance; in addition, Charlie Company was given substantial regimental artillery support.

The Skondia Militia and its mech support were ordered to defend the pass, eliminate the 14th’s probe, and have at least two lances left for a counter attack.

Ironwind Metals 2010 Painting Contest Results

2010-09-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

The Ironwind Metals 2010 painting contest hosted on WAMP ended in early September, and clearly I did not win or I would have posted sooner. Oh well, it was my first online contest and I would like to thank the one person who voted for me—thank you. Pity party aside, the three winners really did have some very nicely painted figures. In fact, not only did they win, they took the lion’s share of the votes. You can see the results here and pictures of all 33 entries here. WAMP has contests going pretty much all year, so check them out. I would also like to thank Scrap Yard Armory for turning me on to them. The three winners are below. Click on the photos to make them larger—and to see the great detailing.

1st Place: Flashfire BattleMech by GunjiNoKanrei

2nd Place: Jabberwock by Funnymouth

3rd Place: Jaberwok by TailSpinner

2nd Robinson Rangers

2010-09-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Still working on several projects at various levels of competition, so I thought I would take this opportunity to show you a lance of mechs (Flashman, Lancelot, Wyvern, Thorn) I bought on eBay last year. CSO artist Karnophage was selling a mech lance of the Robinson’s Rangers who are one of the factions of the Federated Suns. The mechs had a nice base paint job, very nicely painted cockpit canopies, and were based and flocked; but there were many details that I prefer on my mechs that Karnophage did not paint. Details such as the joints, dirt, exhaust ports on jump jets, and metal colored weapons. Moreover, the mechs did not have decals, nor were antennas placed on the two mechs that were suppose to have them. Also, I know many of you will quickly realize that none of these mechs would likely be in the service of the Federated Suns, much less all of them being in a single unit, but I’m willing to overlook it. Perhaps in a campain, the reasons could be a plot device, but I digress. So, over the summer, I detailed the mechs further. Please do not think that this post is a dig on Karnophage. I think he just was not finished with the unit. If you like, you can see the original mechs posted here.

Thanks for stopping by, Liao Warrior House units, desert buildings, and a star of Nova Cat Elementals of the Xi Provisional Galaxy coming soon.

Tree Collection

2010-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Trees are wonderful, not only do they replenish our oxygen but they provide cover from enemy fire, make great hiding places for sappers and hidden units, and enhance a game’s visual appeal. For the last six months, I have been collecting, painting, and creating copious amounts of trees. One can get them from eBay rather cheaply (especially z scale, they go great with 1/300 scale games like Battletech and micro armor). One can also create their own with some relatively inexpressive components—I have done both. I also don’t work on all of them at once. I tend to do a dozen or so at a time in-between projects or when projects are drying after a wash. I feel that not only do I not get bored doing a lot at once, but that by only doing only a few at a time, it makes my trees look different and creates variety from batch to batch. So take a look at a few of the samples I posted and let me know what you think. Be sure to click on the photos to make them larger and to see the detail.

CD Bridge Complete

2010-09-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I’m still working on the destroyed city board, so I can’t bring you photos of my two Capellan Confederation Warrior House lances just yet. In the mean time, please enjoy these photos of a bridge I made. I used two CDs to form the base, glued several layers of foam board to make the earthen hills that lead to the bridge, and I used some hobby wood from Ace Hardware for the bridge itself. I then spread a generous helping of spackling and wood paste to round out the hills—keeping in mind that the hill had to have an incline that a typical car could climb (many bridges available online in 1/285 scale have too steep an incline to be realistic.

Anyway, once the paste dried, I glued in thin strips of sand paper for the road and sprinkled sand for gravel on the side of the road. I had seen sand paper used for roads by fellow modelers in the past. I then thoroughly primered the entire piece black and then painted it. I then gave it a dark brown wash and dry brushed it once the wash dried. Lastly, I installed several trees and some static grass, and I painted the yellow stripes on the road. I made sure to remember to make the stripe on the bridge without a break because one can’t see the oncoming traffic on account of the hill. I’m very happy with it; I can’t wait to use it in an up coming battle. In the photos, I included several buildings and cars—as well as a river—to give you an idea of scale and what it might look like on the game board.

Autumn Diorama part 2 of 2

2010-08-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to the second half of my autumn diorama write-up. You have read how I built the diorama, but this post shows why I built the diorama. As you can see, it is a lance of mechs from the 1st Kathil Uhlans. What I have been trying to do is paint and photograph enough mechs that I can become a member of Camo Specs Online. CSO is the premiere Battletech site to showcase miniatures created by Iron Wind Metals and the paint jobs unique to all of the various factions. I figure if I do enough, my painting ability will improve and I will eventually have at least 5 outstanding mechs to submit for judging. So, I try to paint mechs that CSO does not have many examples of in an effort to maximize my chances of getting my stuff on their site. Here is what CSO shows for the 1st Kathil Uhlans.

In the mean time, I submitted an OTL-6D Ostsol to the Iron Wind Metals Contest at WAMP. I almost did not submit anything because the Ostsol I was painting was missing the three forward firing lasers and I did not realized it until I was almost done with the mech. So, I sent an email to Iron Wind Metals and they sent me out the parts within three days for free. How outstanding is that? Thanks IWM!

I found out about the contest from Scrap Yard Armory (thanks guys). If you follow this link, you can take a look at the contestants. I would have submitted the entire lance, but three (Stinger, Wasp &, Phoenix Hawk) mechs of the lance are the “Unseen”—mechs that visually can not be seen in the Battletech universe thanks to the ass clowns at Harmony Gold. Don’t get me started on them.

Finally, I used foam board and various colored spray paint to create the illusion of a rising sun for the background. The other board is just a foam board spray painted blue for sky that I can use as well. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

Autumn Diorama part 1 of 2

2010-08-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! As promised, here are the photos of my latest creation. It is a small diorama for taking photos of mechs and other 1/300 scale miniatures. I chose autumn scenery because I thought it would be challenging and unique. Take a look and let me know what you think. Tomorrow I will show case my first lance, the 1st Kathil Uhlans, to be photographed on the diorama.

I first gathered a discard foam board from work and cut it to the same size as my previous diorama (approximately 15" X 19"). I then cut and glued multiple smaller pieces on one side of the board to make a mound or ridge (this photo does not show that well). I then slathered a copious amount of plaster all over the board and especially the ridge to give it a more natural shape. Once that dried for two days, I panted various shades of brown and gray to give the terrain a rugged look. (click on the photos to enlarge them)

I then sprayed the entire diorama with watered down craft glue (you know the white stuff/Elmer’s) keeping most of the glue from the gray areas so it could be exposed rock when the diorama was complete. Once it was drenched, I sprinkled woodland scenes turf all over it and let it dry. Once the turf dried, I shook off the excess.

In order to make the terrain look as varied and rugged as possible, I applied a thicker layer of craft glue in various areas and sprinkled two different types of Gale Force 9 grass and let those areas dry. And again, shook the grass off.

Finally, I poked holes in the plaster with a very skinny awl and then placed various trees I bought on eBay into the holes and glued them into place with some thick supper glue. I then placed five different colored types of bushes all over the board. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to show you the diorama with its back ground sky. I'll post that tomorrow.

Have you made a diorama or terrain before?

Do you have any suggestions?

The Lull Is Over

2010-08-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I’m sorry for the lull in posts. I promise more in the future. I’ve just been in a bit of a funk, and I have not felt creative enough to post anything. I lost one of my painting buddies—my dog Roxy. She was a six year old Border collie mix. My wife and I will miss her quite a bit. We still have our 10 year old Siamese cat Mickey, so he has been keeping me company as I paint.

I recently played a 25mm/28mm battle at my local game store, Great Escape Games with some great guys that I had just met. I played four squads of nationalist troops in an alternate history scenario of the Second American Civil War some time in the 1930s. It seemed to be modeled on the Spanish Civil War with forces of the right and left forming like minded loose coalitions to fight each other. It is a good time frame, miniature wise, because one could easily use just about any miniature from WW1, WW2, and Pulp Fiction, so there is room to be creative and bring what you want to the table. At the start of the game there were perhaps 120 figures, 4 vehicles, a tank, a squad of horses, and 4 or 5 artillery pieces on the board. The rule system we used was Triumph & Tragedy. I had played it once before, so picking it up once again was a snap. It seems these guys have an ongoing campaign, so no one fought to the death and we were able to repel the attacking communists after crippling all of their artillery and vehicles and generally bogging them down with wounded men and morale penalties. They had enough and retreated to fight another day. Check out Triumph & Tragedy’s web site. It’s a pretty good fast pace rule set…just do not get attached to your men—it’s bloody. Alfrik at Armored Ink was one of the players at the game and he gives a full write-up with pictures.

So in my upcoming posts I will walk through the creation of another diorama board for photographing many of the mechs I have recently painted including an OTL-6D Ostsol from Iron Wind Metals which I will enter in a WAMP contest. I also completed two mech lances and two platoons of Fa Shih Battle Armor for Warrior Houses Lu Sann and Fujita. And finally, I will give a rundown of all of the buildings that I paint in addition to the dioramas that I have created.

Long Tom Artllery Diorama Finished

2010-07-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I finally got my artillery diorama finished depicting a small artillery contingent of the 14th Legion of Vega and it’s accompanying protection. As you may have read in my last post concerning this diorama, I still needed to paint the Partisan anti-aircraft tank and pour some resin in a small basin to create a pond. I think the whole thing came together real nice. I even made some accompanying infantry to ferret out any hidden ambushes this team may face once it moves out. Enjoy the pictures, and I promise to get you guys many more pictures of this diorama as well as other projects I’m working on once I get some more light to take proper non-yellowed photos. Thanks for looking in.

E-Z Water by Woodland Scenes works pretty well, its cheep, and it melts fast. Pour the amount you want and heat over stove top until melted. (I used an old tuna can and no, I'm not cooking crack). Once melted, pour over the place you want it and let it cool. It cooled fast; it went from liquid to solid in less the three minutes. And it was cool to the touch in less then an hour. Be sure to pour it quickly and don't make a mistake because it was very difficult to reheat on the board without damaging other things. I spilled a little and tried to correct it with a heat gun. But I ultimately just put a bush over the spill.

The Patisan takes a central position on a hill top to spot any potential threats.

Infantry of the Draconis Combine walk along the side of one of the Long Tom Artillery Tanks.

More pictures of the Team.

Profile of a Long Tom Artillery Tank.

Sculpey vs. Milliput

2010-07-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

For the last week I have been working on several Battletech related projects. One of those is basing a couple different companies of mechs for various factions. I had been using Iron Wind Metals hex bases, standard bases, for most of them. However, two mechs were just too big for those bases. One was an Atlas and the other was a Battleaxe. I could have ordered some larger bases, but I thought I would try and make some of my own. I also thought I would make two different types and compare them—one base made from Sculpey and the other made from Milliput.

Sculpey is a polymer clay which is flexible like molders clay, but can be baked to harden it. You can get it at most craft stores for two or three dollars for 2oz. I broke off a bit (about one quarter) and rolled it into a ball. I then flattened the ball with my palm until it was about 1/3 of in inch thick on a small slice of wax paper. I then laid a standard hex base over the flattened ball as a guide and cut the ball into a hex. Finally, I set the mech (Battleaxe) on the newly created hex to ensure the hex was the correct size and proportional to the mech—it was. I then placed the hex and paper on a pan in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, I took out the hex and let it cool. Once cool, I placed the mech on the newly created base, but the base had shrunk and warped just a little. It was enough that the mech no longer fit into the space I made for it, so I had to take a knife and carve out a little of the hex to allow the mech to fit. I also had to sand the bottom of the hex to eliminate the warping that took place in the oven. It was not that much work, but it was an extra step.

Milliput is an epoxy putty not unlike Green Stuff or Kneadite though cheaper. It costs about six dollars at most hobby stores and I think you can get it even cheaper from a hardware store (though I have not tried). Milliput comes in two different tubes within the 4 oz. box. I took an even amount from each tube and blended them together. The blending of the two components creates a chemical reaction that causes the putty to harden in a few hours. You can notice it start to harden in the first 15 minutes. So I followed the same steps above with the exception of the oven and the type of mech (I used an atlas instead). With Milliput, you simply leave it to harden.

In the final analysis, I prefer the Milliput to the Sculpey, because I do not have to do that final step with the oven. And with the Milliput, I did not get any shrinkage (Seinfeld reference) or warping. Though the Milliput is a bit more, I think it looks better and it is equally workable after it hardens as the Sculpey. Plus, I can use it to mold and sculpt other things.

Have you used either of these products and have you had similar results?

Can you recommend any other product for creating bases or sculpting anything for that matter?

E-6000 is the glue I use for attaching mechs to their respective bases. It works very well and it cleans up easily.

1/300 Sci-Fi Factory Complex; Thanks Ogre

2010-07-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

Since getting into writing about miniatures in general and Battletech specifically, I have been thoroughly checking out my favorite blogs on the subjects above—including their past content. A few months back, one post from Ogre Miniatures caught my eye. He wrote about how to use common plastic electrical boxes found in North America. I’m sure they have something similar elsewhere. He gave a great tutorial and I thought I would try making a few for myself. Check out his site here. The greatest thing I learned in doing this project, was that everyday items can make great miniature props. Let me know what you think. (Above: A Phoenix Hawk of the 14th Legion of Vega stands guard outside of the factory complex.)

Units 319 and 320 are adorned with their corporate logo; a blue/grey stripe.

The "smoke stacks" and "connecting tube"are drinking straws & the "hoses" and "antenna" are tellephone wire from my junk box. The "hose" holders are made from Milliput.

The doors are made from foam board scraps.

The "antenna tower" is made from a drywall screw holder & the large "smoke stacks" are made from things I found, but I don't know what they are.

Finally, the "solar collector" is a broken toy part from the floor of a Toys R Us. I think it's a Bakugan or something.

KublaCon 2010

2010-07-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve been catching up on several blogs that I follow and I recently read Scrap Yard Armory’s post regarding his experience at Historicon. It sounded like a pretty good Con and I sometimes wish I lived on the east coast of the US, because it seems like all of the major Cons are back east—Gen Con, Historicon, Origins, etc. I’m not sure what the reasons are—more people…more rain and snow…I don’t know. What I do know is that because we don’t have many Cons out here in California, that when one rolls around, I’m sure to attend. (Above: British Marines arive late to help the surounded army in the Congo)

Once a year, my friends I go to KublaCon in Burlingame, California (just south of San Francisco). It is held every year over the Memorial Day weekend. We usually try to pick out what we want to play over the weekend mixing our itinerary with new games and familiar games. Though, like any battle plan, it never survives after making contact with the enemy, so by Sunday we are usually playing a scheduled game that we hadn’t thought of playing or we are playing a new game that one of us bought. We always have a good time regardless.

Every year at KublaCon, there is a large Battletech game with something like two mech companies vs. two mech companies with a couple of lances of tanks thrown in to make it even larger. It’s usually pretty cool, but we have never stuck around to finish the entire battle, because the battles take too long. For example, this year we started at Noon and by 1700 only 60 seconds of game time has transpired. Mind you that for most players at KublaCon, it’s a new game, and for those that are experienced, the game gets boring because they have no investment in the outcome, nor were we able to play using any of the so called level 3 rules. For me, most of the level 3 rules I can take or leave, but I feel that one has to run the game with logical LOS rules not the unrealistic LOS rules in the basic game. Many feel that calculating the LOS, when playing a game that uses hexes, bogs down the game, but I feel it's a pretty simple step to maintain some semblance of realism (at least as much realism that can be found in a game surrounding walking robots 10 meters tall).

Anyway, I have to give the guys that run the big Battletech game each year credit for attempting such a large game and keeping it fresh by presenting a new battle every year. Through their toil, I have garnered a few concepts that I will use in my eventual Convention game. They are:

1. The game must be manageable in size and unit count. It must have a reasonable timeframe for the game. Six hours is about all one can focus on a game without a break.

2. I’m doing away with hexes for two reasons, so that the game board looks as realistic as possible and it eliminates the LOS issues that bug me so much and cause arguments (what a unit can see is what it can shoot at).

3. Because the game is much smaller, I will be able to give a small back ground paragraph on each of the pilots/commanders thereby giving the game a little bit of an RPG feel which enables the players to feel a little more invested in how well they play.

4. Moreover, the battle will have a “historically accurate” opening situation that is rooted in Battletech cannon and will remain cannon regardless who wins.

5. Finally, the game will have discernible objectives for each side that are more then just “kill the enemy”. Just killing the enemy usually digresses into slug fest in the middle of the map at point blank range—a lame and unrealistic situation. The objectives will include, among others, “survive the encounter with XX amount of survivors” or “Survive the encounter with XX percent of your force combat operational” Retreat should be an option as well that will save a few points. There is no objective worth feeding an entire unit into a meat grinder, sooner or later one commander or another will retreat after realizing that the cost is not worth the benefit of continuing the battle.

These are some of the major guiding principles that will influence how I will undertake the design of my Battletech scenario for the 2011 KublaCon. Until I have more, please enjoy these photos from KublaCon 2010.

The Battle of Belchite, 1937, Disposable Heroes.

Overview of the battle, The Republicans are winning!

The Final Push for a Republican win.

Valley of the Thunder Lizards, Caliber .45 Pulp Adventure.

Fighting breaks out between players for the dino prize.

A Fedcom Raid on Groveld III, Battletech

The 8th Sword of Light didn't stand a chance against hordes of missile tanks and fast jump capable mechs of the 42nd Avalon Hussars.

A small portion of the combatants.

Richard Borg shows off his new Creation.

Dylan discovers he is wrong in a game of Settlers of Catan.

A pick up game of Battle Line between Dylan and I.

The Battle of Zambezi River, Triumph and Tragedy

Final defensive line against the Congolese, good luck...

All that gaming makes Patrick thirsty.

First Week: Multiple Projects and the First use of Magic Wash

2010-07-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, welcome back. It’s difficult to decide where to start. Do I start writing about things I have already done and try to catch-up to the present or start with what I’m doing now and sprinkle in past projects when things are slow? …Yeah, I’ll choose the latter. So, I’ll start with some of my current projects. There are many, but I’ll stick to the top ones.

My top project that I have been working on is a diorama displaying four Long Tom Artillery pieces (Iron Wind Metals) of the 14th Legion of Vega moving into firing position on the world of Skondia during the Fourth Succession War. The artillery will be guarded by a Partisan anti-aircraft tank and a squad of infantry. So far, I have the artillery painted and most of the board made up. I still need to paint the Partisan and the infantry and put in a small pond just behind the hill.

I originally intended to make the terrain from papier-mâché. I found a great recipe online, however the down side was that I based it on a piece of plexiglas, so the terrain shrunk, warped, and popped off the glass. There was no saving it, so I went back to square one. Perhaps I can use the recipe for something else in the future. I used a piece of gator foam (similar to foam board, but stronger) as the base and used some small pieces stacked up to make the hill. I then smeared modeling clay around the hill to round it out, spayed deluded Elmer’s glue on the board and sprinkled the diorama with Buff Talus from Woodland Scenics. Once it was dry, I sprayed the board with primer. And once that was dry, I applied various shades of brown using delta paint.

The paint was pretty heavy, so after letting that dry for a couple days, I then applied several varieties of grass and bushes from Gale Force 9 and trees from Virtual Village. Check out the photos and tell me what you think. I was going for a savanna look. I will post new pictures with better lighting and background once the whole thing is complete.

Original wet papier-mâché base & the base later dry and comming off the board

Long Tom Artillery Lance moving into position to shell several Lyran positions on Skondia 3029.

As a side project, I have been working on a statue that will be in the center of a roundabout just outside of a Lyran military base on the world of Skondia before the world was seized by the Draconis Combine during the Fourth Succession War. The miniature is a 25mm Iron Wind Metals miniature mounted on a “stone” pillar made from Milliput epoxy. I painted the piece with black primer from Reaper and various paints from Vallejo and Delta. Once those were dry, I used a technique that everyone seems to be raving about, but until today, I had not tried—Magic Wash.

Magic Wash is a mix for making miniatures really pop by driving the dark colors of the wash into the recesses of the miniature. This trick is accomplished by using Future Floor Wax. Until today, I had been simply using premade washes, but I can’t see myself doing anything like in the past again. It’s simply amazing! The Wash is made by mixing one part Future to four parts water and one or two parts of a dark color. In this case, I used two parts Vallejo Black Ink. If I weren’t making a statue, I could have made a dark blue wash for the blue cloak and if she had flesh, I could have made a dark flesh for her face etc. Anyway, check out this technique and tweak it as needed. See you soon.

Introduction

2010-06-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, Thanks for looking in! For the past year I have been increasingly reacquainting myself with the wonderful world of Battletech. Having mostly played it in the late 80s and early 90s, my knowledge of what transpired sometime after 3055 was seriously lacking. Though I did not play, I continued to buy the books from Fasa, FanPro, and Catalyst Games Lab. So, I have been reading all of those as fast as I can to catch-up. I have also got into painting the miniatures for the game as well as building and collecting various buildings and terrain features. In Fact, I have a scenario I designed from the 4th Succession War that is ready to go. All of the miniatures are painted, the buildings made, and the terrain is almost done, I just need to find five other players and time to run the game. Moreover, I have five more scenarios in the pipe: from a small periphery battle (perhaps Ryan’s Rebels’ last) to nuclear weapon hunting and a beach landing on Luthein during the Jihad.

In the coming months will share with you my experiences as a “born again” Battletech player and collector. I already have so much to share, such as where to buy, where to play, how to paint and build minis, and where some of the best information on the web concerning Battletech is located. Much of what I will share has been explored by others, so I will be introducing you to their web sites, blogs, and photos as well. I will try to give credit where credit is do, and I look forward to your comments concerning Battletech in all its incarnations—as well as 6mm, 1/285, or 1/300 terrain building. I hope to see you back here soon.