ScrapYard Armory

This year I only had time to visit Dreamation on Saturday.  Even though I was only in attendance for a single day I had a great time mixing it up with fellow BattleTech fans (some new some old) as well as giving some new and interesting games a try.

The dealer room was well stocked with gamer goodness and the usual suspects were in attendance with all the Iron Wind Metal and Catalyst Game Labs product you could want.

Dexposure conventions are known for their diversity.  Every gamer is going to find something to enjoy.  I came for the wargaming room but there were many temptations for those with varied tastes.  Available are video games, board games, war games, anime showings, card games, and plenty of sweet treats for those looking for it.

I was disappointed by the cramped war gaming room.  It was simply not enough space for the many games being played.  The most cramped war gaming venue I have ever attended and that’s a fact.  I would hope that the convention organizers will provide a more spacious room for future cons at that venue.

Enough of the basics, lets see what BattleTech fans had to look forward to.

Recon Cavalry

Two Clan forces faced off in a battle for intelligence on a far away planet.

This was a well balanced fight with a lot of action and eventually a clear winner inside of seven turns.  A great convention game accomplished in three hours and change.  I plan on writing up a full after action report shortly.  Look for the full report here at the ScrapYard.

City Fight

I chose to participate in another game during this time slot so I won’t be able to have a full report.  I did snap some pictures as the game evolved.  Looked like another great game by Demo Agent “ShadHawk”.

The fight was a combined arms battle between the Federated Suns and the Word of Blake.  The Fed Suns put up a good fight but the Word of Blake got ahead of the body count and came away with a decisive win.  The Word of Blake are always hard opponents on the battle field.  Good match by both participants.

All the Rest

There were some great terrain pieces on display during the convention.  Picture are the only thing that do them justice.  Take a look below for pictures of the terrain as well as other games I managed to snap a few pictures of.

Awesome clip from SpreadingtheMuse on YouTube.  He has a number of other clips on the scientific fact behind the starship battles we know and love.

Even if you are not an aerospace fan it is worth the view.

SpreadingtheMuse YouTube channel.

In a surprise move, Catalyst unleashed a new PDF product based off of the Jihad Turning Points series format.  This time around, the developers chose to take a look back to the Succession Wars.

In the credits the writer Geoff Swift mentions in his special thanks that this is the kick off for the Historical Turning Points series.  Suffice to say we can look forward to many more Historical PDFs in the future!

Opening Fiction

In The Deep opens up the first Historical Touchpoint with a peak into the defense of the secret Davion underwater command center.  While not the most action packed short fiction, it provides a nice introduction to the mindset of the Davion command.  So arrogant.  So self assured.  Nothing a few DEST agents can’t fix!

Galtor III

The Atlas section gives a quick history lesson of Galtor III with mapsheet tables that recommend terrain for battles.  Suggested TacOps add-ons round out the terrain information of the planet.

All together this is what we have come to expect from the Turning Point series.  No surprises so far.

Combatants

In the combatants section we find the first major departure from the Jihad series.  Instead of listing the experience in the awkward number system employed by its predecessors, Galtor uses the more traditional (and easier to understand) system familiar to most BattleTech players by listing the unit as Green, Regular, Veteran, or Elite.

Galtor also includes 3025 faction specific RAT tables to augment those found in Total Warfare and other sources.  A heavy emphasis is placed on making things work for your game.

Each force description, unfortunately, does not include the Notes information that we see in the Jihad series.  I think this is a mistake as I loved looking through the necessarily brief but interesting nuggets of fiction.  Its omission from the Historical Series takes away from the experience.  The units seem to have less character leaving the section dull.  Too much dry information, not enough flavor.

Most interesting unit ability goes to the Seventh Sword of Light for their melee prowess and the accompanying thought provoking ability.  A very good use of player choice in a special ability.

The Tracks

Galtor offers up a generous seven tracks with a tangible anti-Chaos Campaign feel.  These missions are designed to be played as stand alone scenarios instead of a coherent series.

From the mega-fauna of Derry Bay to the explosives laden Star League Depot there are an intelligent array of objectives, bonuses, and special rules within each track. With the exception of Galtorian Nights, the Galtor tracks are well prepared and thoughtful.  Possibly the best of all the Turning Point series.  Well done Geoff Swift!

Played as one-off scenarios you will find plenty of fun battles inside these pages.  This product is the true successor to the scenario packs of old.

Record Sheets

The record sheet section gives us seven designs which happen to include two mediocre (but scenario significant) submarines.  A Hunter Killer Neptune variant provides some extra teeth to an old favorite.  Each faction gets two signature ‘Mechs.  Among the four new ‘Mech offerings not a single one is heat-neutral.  Ah the Succession Wars, how we miss you!

The Combine gets a Dragon and an Atlas.  The Dragon has a curious variety of weapons for almost every range bracket.  The Atlas is a very simple three weapon monster.  I like this Atlas for it’s one-two short range-long range punch.

The Davions don’t hold back with a Thunderbolt (featuring unseen artwork!) and a Marauder (displayed in 3039 silhouette). The TBolt is an Ontos Tank with legs!  The frightening array of medium lasers is tempered by it’s nominal speed.  The Marauder has an impressive mix of weapons that would never be fired all at once during normal fighting, but they lend themselves very well to bracket fire.

Overall the ‘Mechs have good style and add spice to the Galtor scenarios.

The Final Word

The first in the Historical Turning Point series impresses me.  It provided additional detail where appropriate (dedicated RATs, cleaner unit skill presentation) while keeping true to the Turning Points format.  The only slip up is the exclusion of the extra fluff we come to expect in the Combatants section.

The excellent series of Tracks (seven in total, a feat matched only by JTP: Atreus) are some of the best I have seen and make this product a must have for the Succession Wars era player and anyone who likes the Chaos Campaign format.  If you have been clamoring for a break from the Jihad, Catalyst has listened.  Time to make good on your intentions, skip the value menu and slap down a Lincoln for this PDF.  You will not be disappointed.

The irony of it all is that the Historical series would probably not be possible without the prior success of the Jihad Turning Points series.  The early success of JTP: Luthien paved the way for the many Historical products that are surely in the pipeline.

This battle was fought using the RPG combat rules from A Time of War (which was still in beta at the time, it has since been officially released).  Both players had a squad of seven characters based on the sample characters provided in the RPG rule book.  The mapsheets and figures were used from the original BattleTroops box set.

Playing through this game gave me a lot of ideas.  Combined with the enhancements that came out of the RPG beta period, I think we have a very good candidate for a BattleTroops 2.0 game.  More on that later but first, lets get into the action!

This is the first mission in the original BattleTroops box set.  The objective is not to rack up the body count but instead break through to the opposite side of the map.  Victory points are awarded for surviving soldiers that exit off the map prior to turn 12.

Quick Note: Yellow Chips = STUN, Red Chips = BLEEDING, Blue Chips = HOLDING ACTION

Turn 1

The Davions rush forward two down the center, three to the north and two entering a building near their deployment zone.  The Liaos sprint four soldiers around the southern flank while two stay put to take shots at the approaching Davions.  A lone soldier sprints to the north towards the larger group of Davions.

One of the Davions who sprinted up the center of the battlefield was cut down when rifle and blazer equipped Liaos walked out from cover and did heavy damage causing bleeding and unconsciousness.  Not a great start for the Davions.

Turn 2

The Davions continue working inside buildings leaving two soldiers in the open in the center corridor of the battle.  They trade fire with the two Liao soldiers who have not ventured far from their deployment zone.  The Davions miss while the Liaos hit once at long range.  The bleeding Davion from the prior turn’s fire succumbs to his injuries.

The group of southern flanking Liao take some long range shots across the battlefield but do not connect.

Turn 3

The Davion in the middle of the battle holds his position and fires at the group of flanking Liao to his south.  In one well rolled volley, an SMG carrying Combat Tech is killed instantly by the Blazer wielding Davion.  The rest of the Liao don’t bother firing back and instead run behind or into the nearest building getting closer to the objective.  The Davions in the area work themselves out of the building and toss grenades past the corner of the building mildly injuring one Liao soldier.

Near the center of the battle, another grenade toss, this time by a Liao, is much more devastating.  The throw goes long but it bounces back into the intended targets.  One Davion is severely wounded while another takes mostly fatigue damage thanks to his armor.  The last Davion in the area is too far away and his armor absorbs all of the damage.

Turn 4

In the middle of the battle the Liao soldiers begin to fan out around the building and pick off Davions who can’t roll well enough to return fire successfully.  Another grenade is well tossed in the middle of an already wounded group of Davions.  The results are devastating.  One Davion dies while the others are stunned and bleeding.

Towards the south, the Davions begin moving towards the objective edge while one holds action to cover their retreat.  A Liao soldier tries to make a break for it and sprints past the Davion’s field of view.  The Davion reacts quickly and rips the Liao apart with a well rolled hail of bullets.

Turn 5

To the north, the Liao soldiers begin cleaning up, putting the wounded out of their misery while selectively holding action to cover the middle corridor.  The remaining Davions sprint from their positions using buildings for cover.  The last Davion holds action to possibly take out any Liao foolish enough to cross his path but in the end sprints to meet his comrades.

Turn 6

With a clear path to their objectives in sight, the remaining Liao and Davions move solomly towards their respective map edges.

In a final bold move, a Davion finds an opportunity to round a building corner and shoot a Liao in the back.  He hits but doesn’t do enough damage to take the soldier out of commission.  The Liao un-stuns and dashes to cover.  The last shot is fired and done.

Aftermath

Lots of fun and it appeared that grenades are a killer tool when used correctly.  Also, I think you need to always be aware of the threat and use a 5m spread for all engagements.  Keeping your soldiers too tight is just asking for a grenade toss in your general direction.

Victory in this game goes to the Liao player with five live soldiers to three.

Catalyst has released a slew of updated PDFs in the last week.  Here is the short list of the ones I know of.

• Chaos Campaign Rules
• Total Warfare
• TRO: 3075
• A Time of War

If you previously bought these as PDFs you can get the updated downloads NOW from BattleCorps.

I am most anxious to dive into the updated Time of War rules and see what changes made it into the final version.

Also releasing yesterday were Turning Points Galtor and QuickStrike Cards.

Time to get your game on.  Lock and load.