ScrapYard Armory

The Youling Zhanshi lance pack dossier is the second in the series and covers the Jihad Era.  Once again we have a new remarkable ‘Mech lance fully fleshed out and ready for a mini-campaign on your tabletop.  These two PDF exclusives are budget priced at $3.95 and $1.95 respectively and are meant to be used together for best effect.  Newcomer Craig K. Erne is at the helm for this PDF exclusive.

On My Signal

The opening fiction is a great thrill.  The ambush sequence demonstrates the cutthroat tactics the Liao warriors are willing to use to ensure victory and notoriety.  Like wolves lying in wait the Capellans unleash brutal tactics against trapped foes.  What else would we expect when MechWarriors defend their own turf?

A very good start to the PDF.  The action is fast and a welcome introduction to the Ghost Warriors.

Unit Profile

The unit profile section covers each member of the lance including a black and white portrait, a CamoSpecs painted miniature as well as a small write up on both the pilot and the ‘Mech.

The ‘Mech descriptions offer additional fluff in the way of Quirks.  These Quirks come right out of Strategic Operations and give additional flavor to the unit while increasing complexity.

Missions

There are three missions included for the Youling Zhanshi.  Two of them are standard warchest missions while one is an A Time of War adventure.

The warchest tracks are hit and miss.  Both contain a very well done fluff and description.  I thought that Thieves in the Night was far superior a track than The Head of the Serpent.  Thieves in the Night features an excellent array of non-typical objectives and some interesting special rules and bonuses.  It is everything a Chaos Campaign fan likes in a mission.

The Head of the Serpent falls back on standard objectives and an uninspiring situation report.  Still given the nature of the mission, I can accept that it was the only way to portray the final climactic battle after a long guerrilla campaign.

The A Time of War Adventure is a bit of a mystery for me.  There are two pages of descriptions, one for the players and a GM only section.  The adventure objectives are open ended and the GM is expected to fill in details and prepare additional ‘Mech battles (or none at all depending on the players actions) as necessary to fill in the several months long guerrilla campaign.  Your mileage will undoubtedly vary depending on the strength of your GM.

All together, Youling Zhanshi follows the Lamenkov’s Liabilities formula almost too well.  There is even a copy-paste error on page two identifying the Liabilities as the lance of interest.  My comments on the Liabilities PDF are applicable here, there is not enough in the way of hard content to keep the usual BattleTech group interested.  The Turning Points PDF series seems to be a much better value when you look at the total package.

Character Sheets and Record Sheets

Each member of the lance gets a fully fleshed out RPG record sheet and a ‘Mech record sheet.  Nothing notable here except for perhaps running a bit low on places to fit the copious amount of RPG skills typical for A Time of War.

Jason Zaklan

This add-on PDF features a brief description of Jason Zaklan a covert Death Commando operative on planet at the time of the Fed Suns invasion.  Zaklan has a direct role in the last mission and also potentially the A Time of War adventure.

Given the fact that Jason Zaklan is an inescapable part of the last mission in the Youling Zhanshi PDF I find it curious that the two PDFs were not simply merged together into a $5 product.  I felt the same way with the Liabilities PDF.

Final Words

At a combined price of $5.90, the Youling Zhanshi and Jason Zaklan PDF combo is a potentially short series of BattleTech missions along with an RPG adventure.

The writing is excellent throughout the PDF and is enjoyable to learn the history of this Jihad era battle. I would love to see what Mr. Erne can do with a Turning Points PDF.  He showed some excellent form in the first mission.