ScrapYard Armory

No not that.

Although I’m sure we have all met an odd or unusual character across the gaming table I’m talking about an odd number of people.

What games do you play when you don’t have even teams for a more traditional stand-up fight?  Everyone knows the trusty Grinder.  The omnipresent free-for-all is a staple of Battletech players the world over.  Many a newcomer has cut their teeth mixing it up in a Grinder.

But how about some other options? A little something different.

It’s no surprise that a lot of inspiration can be had from Solaris 7.  The Game World has a lot to offer besides the famous one on one ‘Mech duels in the headline arenas.

Mech Rally

First up is a classic.  The Mech Rally is a race to finish by any means necessary.

Setup your map or terrain with a series of beacons.  These beacons are what each player needs to “tag” in sequence to finish the race.  To keep things even it is recommended that each player use ‘Mechs with the same movement profile.  If one guy has a Locust, the rest should be as fast to avoid any one sided speed demon shenanigans.

While the rules do call for the ‘Mech Rally beacons to be tagged in sequence you could easily forgo this and let the winner be determined by the first player to tag all beacons on the board.  Start each player at a different spot on the board and you end up with a bit more strategy and less obvious solutions to winning the game.

King of the Mountain

This one is a personnel favorite of mine.  It works great for groups of three players and up.  The maximum number of players is limited only by your map size.  This game incentivizes losing initiative and features fast play.  Once someone is King of the Mountain, they are sure to be the lightning rod for that turn.

Pick a map with a big mountain somewhere in the middle.  If you happen to have the Solaris 7 Map Pack, you already have a great map, you guessed it, King of the Mountain.  Nominate a single hex (more if you have a big map/lots of players) as the objective hex.  Players start at any map edge.

The goal is to take the high ground (hence the name).  At the end of each turn, the King of the Mountain gets 2 points if they are standing and 1 point if they are prone.  Also, each player gets 1 point for participating in a kill (anyone who declares fires and hits gets a point).  Let the carnage continue for a fixed turn length, a fixed time period, or maybe until the game night comes to an end.  Your call.  When a player gets his ‘Mech shot out, pick out a new one using your preferred method (Random, Grinder Ladder, etc).

Solaris 7 Melee Challenge

I played my first Solaris 7 Melee Challenge during GenCon 2008.  I had a blast.  It was a fast paced and fun way for a lot of people to mash ‘Mechs together for fame and profit.

What many might not know is that the Solaris Melee Challenge Rules are available as a free download at the Classic Battletech site.

In a nutshell the SMC starts everyone off with a fixed amount of money to buy their ‘Mechs and enter the arena.  CBills, character points and fame are awarded for crowd pleasing events.  Things like physical weapon attacks, dealing critical damage, and others make the crowd go wild.  Meanwhile, things like blowing up a ‘Mech half your size will result in your precious CBills being taken away and loss of fame.  Nobody likes a bully.

Once you have a few CBills in your pocket, you can exit the map through any pre-determined exit point.  You can then repair damage to your ‘Mech or buy a new one with the money you’ve earned.  Character points can be redeemed for skill improvements and pilot perks.  Then it’s back into the fray to teach your opponents a lesson or two!

Tips on Playing

• Multiple teams can make things very interesting.  Consider starting each team from a different stable with a different stable perk.  These are listed in the Solaris 7 Mappack as well as a smaller selection in the SMC rules.
• Be sure to read through the rules and make adjustments for your group.  At GenCon, nobody wanted to be out of the action for long (we were essentially paying by the hour with game tickets).  We did away with the mandatory off board time to maximize playing time.
• Playing cards for initiative is a must. Read more here.
• Make sure there are a few exit/entry points available.  It sucks being stuck and surrounded without an option to bail to fight another day.  This is supposed to be a fun event for all and not a culling of the weak.

I hope you find some great ideas for your games.  I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to play so if you have a great game you use with your gaming group, leave a comment and let us all know.  Classic Battletech has much more to offer than the standard Stand up Fight.  Mixing things up is a great way to keep things interesting, entertaining and most important, fun.

Somehow, I missed this one completely.  I can’t say how as I frequent the board enough that I should have caught any announcement.  Regardless, the developers have been getting really good about polishing up the transcript and posting it for all.

The transcript for this chat is already available, get it here.

The Rundown

• Topps has removed Battletech and Shadowrun from negotiations.

Due to the immense value of the Shadowrun and BattleTech properties, Topps has made the decision to withdrawal those properties from the sale.

• The next release of Jihad Turning Points is New Avalon, followed by Tharkad and then two yet to be determined locations.
• Maps are coming back into print under the Catalyst aegis.  They will most likely be combined with some sort of additional rules or scenarios.  No mention of the map tiles though.
• A special 25th Anniversary product is in the works and an announcement should be coming soon.
• More Historicals source books are in the long term horizon but additional StarterBooks less so.

I’m a bit disapointed in Topps decision.  However, they are most likely looking at things from a business perspective.  The Battletech and Shadowrun properties are far more valuable for them to hold and collect payments from Catalyst and Steam and Tinker.

So, for the time being anyways, status quo.

For readers not familiar with the Chaos Campaign rules, see my original review here.

Those of you playing through your first Chaos Campaign may come to the realization that the support point costs for purchasing new units feels inadequate.  There are only two distinctions made for ‘Mechs and vehicles; those using Introductory rules and everything else.

Using this system, a ‘Mech with a single non-Introductory rules component would be double the cost of a ‘Mech without.  There just isn’t a lot of granularity in the system.

Examining the StarterBooks

Both available StarterBooks eliminated Support Points in favor of a straight Warchest Point system.  I whipped up a spreadsheet to examine the relationship between Warchest points, Support points, CBills, and Battle Value.

I assumed that each force was an ‘A’ rated unit with a Force Size Modifier of 3 (three lances in a company).  Given these inputs, here is a quick view of what my spreadsheet looked like.

Chaos Campaign Evaluation (XLS file, 100KB)

For each ‘Mech used in the StarterBooks, I took the average value between the Introductory Support Point cost and the Advanced Support Point cost.  Converting to Warchest points using my Force Size and Tech Rating assumptions yielded some interesting results.

I evaluated 57 unique ‘Mechs from the StarterBooks.  Of those, 23 had StarterBook Warchest point cost that EXACTLY matched the calculation I performed above.  A good number of them were eerily within 10%.  Scary!  Have I somehow stumbled on the thought process of the developers or is it merely a freak coincidence?

Two Ways to Calculate

Battle Value

If you would like your games balanced by combat effectiveness, convert Battle Value to Warchest points.

Treat the Battle Value of your desired ‘Mech as if it were Support Points.  Thus to convert to Warchest points, divide by your Force Size Modifier and Technology Rating Modifier.

Example:

Ellis wants a shiny new HBK-4G Hunchback for his Jihad campaign force.  Its Battle Value is 851.  Ellis’ force has a Force Size Modifier of 3 and a Tech Rating of B (Technology Rating Modifier of 1.5).  Divide 851 by 3 and again by 1.5.  That new Hunchback will cost Ellis 190 Warchest Points.

CBills

On the other hand, if you prefer a slightly different dynamic to your games, convert CBills to Warchest points.

The Chaos Campaign rules include an easy way to convert CBills to Support Points.  Converting CBills to Warchest points, you get a completely different feel to your campaign.  Expensive ‘Mechs are almost unobtainable while more economical units become much more valuable.  This provides a great deal of flavor in constructing your force.  I would expect less high tech gadgetry in favor of more economical and sustainable designs.

If you convert CBills straight up with the formula found in the Chaos Campaign PDF the Warchest Point costs end up much lower than the Battle Value equivalent.  To remedy this, I fiddled with a simple modifier to bring CBill costs in line with the Battle Value calculation.  Using a multiplier of 1.75 normalizes the CBill costs to Battle Value based on the 57 ‘Mechs I evaluated (about half are above their Battle Value cost  and half are under).  Your mileage may vary of course.  Some day down the line I may make a bigger sample using the Peter LaCasse faction list (more on that later).

To convert CBills to support points, divide the cost by 10,000 and then multiply by 1.75.  Then convert them again to Warchest points if desired.

Example:

Ellis wants to know how much that same Hunchback would cost if he were balancing his campaign by CBills.  The Hunchback is an economical design that does not contain much advanced technology.   It is a steal at 3,467,876 CBills.  Dividing by 10,000 and multiplying by 1.75 (the Cost Multiplier from above), the Hunchback would cost 607 Support Points.  Dividing by 3 and 1.5 gives a final Warchest point cost of 135.  What a difference!  Cheap ‘Mechs are definitely in style!

Repair Costs

I really enjoyed the tiered repair costs in the StarterBooks.  It is easy to use this kind of a system instead of the one repair fits all in the Chaos Campaign PDF.

I came up with these numbers after again evaluating costs in the StarterBooks.  I use repair costs as a percentage of the unit purchase price.  That way, they work no matter what method you use to balance your game.

Shake Things Up

How about an interesting twist?  Balance purchase price by Battle Value but repair costs by CBills.  Sure, you can have that fancy AWS-9M Awesome at a reasonable price but the costs to keep it in fighting trim may bankrupt your force.

Just one example of how you can spice up your campaign.

Conversion Made Easy

Think it’s too damn complicated to run all these numbers.  Never fear.  Turning to the Peter LaCasse faction list, we can add two new columns and with one fill down, you instantly have almost every unit with custom prices calculated, sortable by Faction, Unit Type, Era, and more.

The Peter LaCasse Faction List

Have Some Fun

The Chaos Campaign is a great compromise between AccountTech and too simple to swallow.  Agree with your fellow gamers just what the rules are going to be before you delve into your campaign.  But don’t be afraid to change mid stride if you feel something is out of whack.  I’d love to here from anyone out there who puts some of these ideas into practice.

Every campaign is special in its own way.  Make yours one to remember, just the way you want using the rules that make sense for you.

Solaris Skunk Werks is a new and exciting open source program for Classic Battletech.  SSW is a Battlemech designer and record sheet printer.  Here is the lowdown.

• It’s based on Java, so it’s platform independent (Mac users rejoice!)
• Features support for most Tactical Operations gear, more added every week
• Omni-Mechs are stored as a single file, easy toggling between configurations
• The main developer LostInSpace is a great guy, and he codes fast!

Check it out the latest stable release from SourceForge if you have the time.  You will be glad you did.

Solaris Skunk Werks Quick Links

SourceForge Project

CBT Forum Post

Program Website

About Those Developers

I am pleased to announce that I have joined the group of developers working on Solaris Skunk Werks.  I’ve been looking over the code and have begun the process of inputting TacOps weapons.  I’m already having fun adding a little bit to the code each night and contributing to a program I believe is sorely needed by lots of Classic Battletech players.

My thanks go to LostInSpace for letting me help out.

Remember that painting competition I wrote about earlier?

Well it seems myself and one other person submitted entries.  Ouch.

The competition sponsor was kind enough to offer us a miniature of our choice just for participating.  I politely declined.  I’d rather that miniature be used in the next contest when there is a good turnout.  Something tells me that will be sooner rather than later.

Something to Think About

See this miniature?  It was the very first miniature I ever painted.  Notice the grainy texture all around?  The obvious brush stroke on the right torso?  The far too light to be noticed cockpit color?

The thing is nobody is perfect.  Everyone has to start from somewhere.  I’ve much improved since this humble little Spider.  Regardless, I’ve always felt a sense of pride when I was able to plop one of my own painted miniatures on the tabletop to play a game.  Even if the painting wasn’t perfect, it was mine.

You can only get better if you practice.  And now is the perfect opportunity.  You see, that painting competition is going to be restarted.  Clean slate people.  Anyone can enter with any Battletech miniature you can paint up between now and the contest deadline.  Now is as good a time as any to work on those painting skills.

Originally played at Southern Exposure (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) in 2006.  Scenario and miniatures provided by Catalyst Demo Team Agent Jim “Ratboy” Williamson.  Visit his website at Time Warp Comics and Games or find your own local Demo Team Agent at Catalyst Demos.

This blast from the past is from a forum post I made back in the day.  Unfortunately, all of the pictures were on a different web server than the ScrapYard is on now.  Luckily I had a back-up on an old hard drive.  I had to do some searching to find it though.  I was getting worried this AAR wouldn’t see the light of day again.

Vengeance Gambit

Mechwarrior Malton sat in his ‘Mech, deftly piloting his Osiris through the broken countryside outside New Avalon.  He wished he were somewhere else.  He wished he could be on the ‘real’ front line defending his home from those Blakist scum.  What’s left of his home anyways.  A lot of things changed when the Jihad began.

His patrol was constantly running afoul of enemy signatures.  More than half of them turned out to be false.  Electronic interference was running high.  That’s too bad.  He wanted every opportunity to bring his lasers to bear on some of those bastards!

Static broke the relative silence of his cockpit as his command chimed in over an encrypted channel.

“This is HQ to any available units in Gamma Sector. Over”

Malton was quick to reply. “HQ this is attack lance zero-nine, got any Blakists we can kill?”

“I just might.  We’ve been getting so many false signatures these days it’s hard to be sure.  Anyways, there is a cluster of readings due east of your position.  Together with some intel we’ve gathered from Blakist transmissions, we think we may have a chance to intercept something important.”

“What do you mean ‘important’?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.  Your lance will have to check it out.  If you see anything down there resembling a transport, you better be damn sure it doesn’t get to the city… for all our sakes.”

“My pleasure.” Malton finished as he coaxed his 30 ton ‘Mech to a full sprint.  His lance mates followed his lead.  Any day he could kill Blakists was indeed a good day to be alive in New Avalon.

Word of Blake

• Locust
• Fire Starter
• Falcon Hawk
• Stinger
• Tracked Heavy Transports x 4
  

Federated Suns

• Osirus
• Argus
• Valkyrie
• Warrior H-8 VTOLS x 2
  

Turn 1

Both forces advance towards each other.  The WoB forces concentrate the transports to the south, hoping to shoot across the board to complete their objective.  Weapons fire is ineffective during the beginning part of the battle.

Turn 2

The Osiris gives up his rear in order to get the best shot possible on the transports.  The Locust make him pay with a rear center torso critical hit to the engine.  The Davions open fire almost exclusively on the transports while the WoB ‘Mechs pepper them with laser and missile fire.

Turn 3

The Argus and Valkyrie stand their ground and pound away at the fragile transports.  One of the lead carriers explodes from the concentrated laser fire and autocannon rounds.  The Osiris lags behind after finding his heat issues compounded by the previous engine hit.  The Valkyrie gets hit in the head with a Large Laser from the FireStarter.  The pilot is dazed but remains conscious to fight.

Turn 4

The Davions realize that the transports pack a little bite!  All eight machine guns find their target on the Argus.  The Argus returns in kind with three RAC 5 shells pummeling the transports.  The Locust kicks the Osiris from behind causing the ‘Mech to fall.  The pilot was so dazed from the fall that he barely remained conscious.

Turn 5

The second transport is laid to waste by Davion combined firepower.  The WoB forces rip into the Valkyrie, punching through its armor and inflicting no less than three critical hits inside its side torso.  Miraculously, they all miss the dangerous ammo bins inside.  A third transport is destroyed by another volley of RAC 5 shells.  The physical attacks from the opposing forces get deadly in this turn.  The Firestarter kicks the Valkyrie forcing a fall while the Argus kicks the Stingers leg clean off.

Turn 6

The Stinger props and shoots to the best of its ability.  The last transport is suffering from major motive system damage and can only crawl towards the objective point so far away.  The Argus finishes it off with one last volley of autocannon fire, crushing the WoBs last hope for delivering their cargo.

After playing a few tracks in the Wolf and Blake Starterbook my friend and I have encountered an unusual situation. We have made our campaign a brutal sort. Our pilots can die during tracks, and in the event that we do not control the battlefield at the end of the track, we have to make a search and rescue roll to get our pilots back.

So what happens when the search and rescue crew come back empty handed? The missing pilots are instead recovered by the enemy and kept as POWs. After a bit of thinking blog poster Saxywolf and I came up with an extra track that can be added to either Starterbook campaign to provide a way to rescue those missing pilots. Saxywolf gets the lions share of the credit for this post.

Some of the top Mechwarriors are far too valuable to just leave behind.

Obviously this track is not for everyone. Your campaign may be much more lenient when it comes to pilot recovery. That is one of the great things about Battletech. You can make your games as hard or as easy as you like.

MISSION: POW Breakout

Leave no man behind!

GAME SETUP

The Defender places two mapsheets in any legal position. Place 2 + 1D6 medium buildings of Level 1 height anywhere on the battlefield. The Defender nominates one building to contain the captured Mechwarrior. Write the hex number down and keep it secret until the building is scanned.

Attacker

The Attacker is a portion of the player’s force. The Attacker may choose up to four units and may do so after the Defender has chosen their units. The Attacker may choose which map edge to enter from on turn 1. This map edge is then the Attacker’s home edge.

Defender

The Defender should be the same type of force that captured the Attacker’s Mechwarrior. Roll on the chart below to determine the Defender’s force composition. The Defenders must set-up first anywhere on the battlefield. The Defender’s home edge is opposite the Attacker’s home edge. Use the table below to determine the Defender’s force.

WARCHEST

Track Cost: 300 WP, At least one Mechwarrior must be captured in order to play this track.

Optional Bonuses

+150 Prepared Defenders: The Defender gets +1 to their initiative roll for the first 6 turns. One defending unit may begin hidden (TW p.259) anywhere on the battlefield outside 8 hexes of the Attacker’s home edge.

+150 Light Fog: +1MP to enter each hex if running or walking. +2MP to enter the last hex if jumping.

OBJECTIVES

Leave No Man Behind: Locate your captured Mechwarrior by scanning buildings (see special rules below). (Reward: 200)

Bloody Their Noses: Cripple or destroy at least 50% of the Defending force. (Reward: 150)

Reinforcements: Remove one unit from the Defending force. That unit enters the game on turn 5 as reinforcements from the Defender’s home edge. (Reward: -150)

SPECIAL RULES

Salvage

Salvage is not available for this track.

Forced Withdrawal

All forces operate under forced withdrawal rules this track.

Scanning Buildings

Scanning buildings is accomplished by having a unit with an operating probe within four hexes. A unit without a probe must spend two consecutive turns within four hexes in order to scan. Scanning is done in lieu of weapons fire. Multiple buildings may be scanned at the same time.

NEXT TRACKS

Follow the next track listing from the mission you completed just prior to taking POW Breakout.

Sometimes the Classic Battletech forums can run you into some curious situations. Case and point, I opened my big mouth a few months ago while discussing Iron Wind Metal’s recent price increase.

If you’ve been around the CBT block a few times you already know how IWM went a little overboard when they had the Project Phoenix ‘Mechs sculpted. I’ve put together a Marauder and can attest to how crazy they are. Even the new Archer is a pain when you have to go back to the TRO to decide just where the extra bit you have left over goes.

So anyways, Quigs chimed in on the topic which made me think.

Which will make the guys like me, who think assembly is the worst part of a mini, less likely to buy the new product. I’ve bought a few designs which I absolutely loved, got home, and opened the package to realize how long and arduous a process it would be simply to get to the painting part. My bits box is heavier then my fishing sinkers box because of that nonsense.

The plain and simple fact of the matter is that the people willing to go that extra mile to customize a miniature, still can if the mini is a single piece, it just takes them a bit more work. More work that the people who don’t feel the pressing need to meddle with everything they purchase don’t have to put up with by hopelessly fiddling with joints that don’t make a lick of sense.

So I just HAVE to say something back.

Give me all of your ‘Mechs and a case of beer [Quigs], and I’ll assemble and paint the lot of them.

To me, miniature painting is an art and I don’t see it as manual labor in any way. In either case, it’s awesome that CBT does not require minis to play anyways. But if it was not an option, I would not like the game half as much.

Well, a few weeks ago before the holidays Quigs delivers the case of beer and a heap of miniatures to my door.

That’s A Lot of Pewter!

So here I am, with over a battalion of miniatures ready to be stripped, built, primed and painted. I’m honestly excited about this opportunity to practice. Like I said earlier, miniatures are not required to play the game but if they were not an option, I wouldn’t like Battletech half as much.

So over the next few months I will be (hopefully) making progress on these miniatures. I will post whenever I get a mini done. Looking at it all, I think I may have underbid with that single case of beer. Live and learn.

Tip of the Day

Pinesol. Pinesol is amazing at eating through old paint. I’m going to have to buy another bottle myself. The first soak did not succeed nearly as well as I had hoped.