ScrapYard Armory

This game was played at NJCon 2011 in Somerset NJ.  Thanks go to Jim “RatBoy” Williamson for hosting the event and making a great game.  The game used the QuickStrike rules available in Strategic Operations.

Jim debuted a new record sheet creation that proved very useful and helped to keep the game moving.

Hold the Line

The Initial Word of Blake operations on Terra were carried out by Blake agents already on planet – most notable the so-called Shadow Lancers. ComStar headquarters on Hilton Head Island was perhaps the most important target assigned to the Lancers. While Lancer BattleMech forces dealt with the two battalions of the Com Guard 201st Division at Salina, the Lancer’s armor forces struck Hilton Head. Advancing under the cover provided by bad weather that covered much of North America, the unit had traveled to within 50 kilometers of the Hilton Head HQ before the defending Com Guard forces detected it.

With their computer and communications sabotaged by the Word of Blake, the Com Guard forces were unable to prevent the Lancers from crossing to the island and seizing control of the city of Hilton Head. At the first Circuit compound, however, the Com Guard forces rallied and made their desperate stand.

You can read more about this battle and the rest of the war for control of Terra in 3058 in the Fasa scenario book, The Fall of Terra.

Comstar

Flight of Arrows II – Lambda

• Mantis Light Attack VTOL
• Mantis Light Attack VTOL
• Hunter Light Support Tank
• Hunter Light Support Tank
• Striker Light Tank
• Striker Light Tank

Great Resistance II -Iota

• Scimitar Medium Hover Tank
• Scimitar Medium Hover Tank
• Maxim Heavy Hover Transport
• Jump Laser Platoon
• Maxim Heavy Hover Transport
• Jump Rifle Platoon

Word of Blake

Assault Lance

• Scimitar Medium Hover Tank
• Scimitar Medium Hover Tank
• Patton Tank
• Patton Tank

Support Lance

• Blizzard Hover Transport
• Blizzard Hover Transport
• Myrmidon Medium Tank
• Myrmidon Medium Tank

Recon Lance

• Pegasus Scout Hover Tank
• Pegasus Scout Hover Tank
• Galleon Light Tank
• Galleon Light Tank

Objectives

The Word of Blake units must exit off the opposite side of the battlefield with at least 50% of their units surviving.  The ComStar force must stop the Word of Blake forces at all costs.

Turn 1 – Comstar wins Initiative

Comstar begins the game deployed as far into the map as allowed but remain concentrated in the center.  The Word of Blake begins more spread out with the Patton tanks to the far North to evade attention.

The battle begins with each force advancing predictably across the map.  Only medium range shots are available to either side.

Comstar forces concentrate all fire on the lead Galleon Tank but only manage to hit once.  The Word of Blake return fire and astonishingly manage to destroy a Scimitar.  First blood goes to the Word of Blake!

Turn 2 – Comstar wins Initiative

The middle of the battle becomes a mess as the forward Comstar elements and Word of Blake hovercraft converge.  Comstar VTOLs flank behind the hovercraft for rear attacks.

The damaged Galleon from last turn and a Blizzard Hover are destroyed by Comstar.  The second Galleon is lightly damaged as well.  The Word of Blake concentrates on both Striker Tanks, killing one while the other survives due to bad rolls.

To the North, the Word of Blake Patton tanks move at flank speed safe from harm for now.

Turn 3 – Word of Blake wins Initiative

The injured Word of Blake Galleon seeks refuge in nearby woods while the faster hover units sprint past Comstar defenses.  The slower Word of Blake tanks creep up as fast as their treads will carry them.

Comstar forces hold the line in the center while breaking off select forces to hunt the Galleon and Myrmidon tanks.  The Comstar VTOLs keep their speed up and move behind the out-maneuvered Blizzard hover tank which is destroyed in short order.

Comstar forces make good use of the turn and strip the armor from one Myrmidon and slightly damage the other.  No shots against the Galleon Tank find their target.

Return fire is concentrated on the Hunter tanks which each take strong damage.  The lead Hunter Tank has a crew hit criticals inflicted but lives to fight another turn.

Turn 4 – Word of Blake wins Initiative

The Word of Blake tanks in the center of the battlefield dodge into woods for cover.  Hover forces remain on the field but at long range.  The Patton tanks continue at flank speed across the North edge of the battle.

Comstar forces surround and attempt to trap enemy tanks where possible.  Several short range and rear shots are made possible.

Comstar does a lot of missing this turn and only manages to scrape armor off the healthier Myrmidon.  All other shots miss.

The Word of Blake strikes back and destroys a Hunter Tank.  Both VTOLs are hit this turn, one of which is killed outright.  One of the shots was made at long range from the Word of Blake hover tanks far across the battle.

Turn 5 – Comstar wins Initiative

The Word of Blake is taking no chances and exits one hover tank off the map while three more lurk close to the objective edge.  The remaining tanks make best speed and dance between cover hoping to spread out the defending Comstar forces.  The Patton tanks are perilously slow as they weave around terrain to the North.

Comstar ends up giving chase to the Galleon tank with the one remaining VTOL and two supporting tanks.  Remaining forces try to anticipate Word of Blake movement and end up with poor shots.

Luck begins to shine again on Comstar who manage to destroy the Galleon Tank and one of the injured Myrmidons.  Return fire from the Blakists is ineffective.

Turn 6 – Word of Blake wins Initiative

The Word of Blake moves three more hover tanks off the objective edge while remaining tanks move as quickly as possible.  The last Myrmidon attempts to stay covered by woods as the Patton tanks continue their slow march.

Comstar is running out of available targets and swarms on the Myrmidon tank which is destroyed under a massive barrage.  The Word of Blake does not manage to deal any damage in return.

Turn 7 – Comstar wins Initiative

The last two Word of Blake tanks throw caution to the wind and give up rear shots as they frantically rush towards the edge of the battle.  Comstar forces converge with all forces and fire with everything in range.

Word of Blake shots miss badly.  Comstar forces combine fire and whittle away armor until a lucky strike finds the ammo bins sending the first Patton tank up in smoke.

Turn 8 to the End

The last Word of Blake Patton tank pushes towards the objective edge but is surrounded by adversaries which pummel the vehicle until it is reduced to scrap.

• Word of Blake: Exited the battle with 4 live units (33%)
• Comstar: Destroyed 8 units (66%)

Victory to Comstar!

It was a good run while it lasted but this year I am not going to make it out to Indy for the best four days of gaming.

In order to keep the coverage going, I’d like to reach out to someone from the BattleTech community to help me provide the news and pictures this year.

If you are going to GenCon this year and love BattleTech drop me a line.  At the very least here is what I would require from you.

• You must own your own camera.  It can be a point and shoot but it should be able to take nice miniature pictures. (macro mode)
• Be able to upload pictures to the ScrapYard.  I will provide FTP access for you.
• You should be planning on attending the What’s Up with BattleTech/Catalyst Seminar and take notes.

I wouldn’t be asking for help if I wasn’t able to make it worth your while.  In addition to the soul altering satisfaction of helping the ScrapYardArmory meet the insatiable demand for BattleTech GenCon coverage I am able to offer the following incentives.

• I’ll cover the cost of internet access at your hotel room if needed.  (last year the convention center had great free wireless coverage so this is just in case)
• For each day of coverage you help me provide, I’ll give you a new in box BattleMech from my collection.  I have at least a hundred or so minis to choose from, you are sure to find something you like.

While I am not able to go myself this year, I hope that somebody will be able to help continue the excellent BattleTech coverage this site has delivered.

brian@scrapyardarmory.com

Historicon 2011 is in the rear view mirror and it was a great one!  Demo Agent “Speck” was on hand with several car loads of new miniatures, new terrain and a fine crew of volunteers to aid in the heavy metal mayhem.

There were multiple BattleTech games available throughout the four days of gaming.  I hosted two of them with the help of SaxyWolf on Thursday.

Iron Wind Metals and the Dealer Room

I love shopping at conventions for a lot of reasons.  Chief among them is the ability to grab online exclusive units, limited editions, ala carte battle armor, no shipping, and the convenience of seeing exactly what you are buying.  I’m not afraid to say I’ve more than once put a mini back on the shelf after seeing just how complicated the assembly will be.  I’m not afraid of a challenge, but I try not to go out of my way to invite complexity.

Jim from Iron Wind Metals was graciously ringing up customers and holding the fort as convention goers browsed the many BattleTech, fantasy, and space miniatures available.

The rest of the dealer room held the usual suspects with a few notable absences.  The number of dealers at the convention was definitely smaller than years prior.  Certainly some of that is due to the uncertainty caused by various inner workings within the HMGS.  Regardless, there was plenty to see and plenty to buy.  There were also multiple demos available for those willing to spend the time.

I ended up buying a bunch of the new BattleTech infantry, some battle armor, a squad of fantasy elf archers, and a load of MERCS minis for use in A Time of War.  I’ll hopefully have more pictures of the infantry with size comparisons in a future post.

Breaking and Entering

With a brand new load of terrain, SaxyWolf and I hosted an A Time of War mission to disable a Castle Brian Space Defense Station from the inside.  Two squads of elite assault troopers infiltrated the facility and raced to find the command and control systems and take it over by any means necessary.  Expect a more in depth after action report on this event.  It was a lot of fun to run.  We had two brand new players playing and they picked up the rules quickly.  I also debuted a second iteration of my revised A Time of War tactical record sheet which helped lower the learning curve.

Dusting for Scraps

In the second event of a ScrapYard double header, the forces of the Free Worlds League faced off against the Word of Blake on Atreus.  This game is a repeat of a game featured in an after action report here at the ScrapYard.  See The Fall of Atreus for a full run down of the units involved.  We ended up not using the artillery or the mines this time to help balance things for the Word of Blake.

The Free Worlds League forces fared better than the Word of Blake defenders but did not make ample progress towards their goal of escaping the battle.  In the end it was probably a draw.  We had two new players on each side who needed a bit of help to move things along but did a great job commanding their troops.

Devil’s Tower BattleForce

This event was an all day affair with regiments of units in action alongside artillery, minefields, and gun emplacements.

Between the three time slots (the players had to eat sometime…) forces were shifted to represent the relative progress of the coalition forces invading the Castle Brian.  This was an amazing game using the new miniature BattleMechs to represent lances or Level IIs.  As the end drew near the coalition forces breached the walls and made significant progress against the defending Word of Blake.

Kudos to Mark for pulling off such a massive game.

East Coast Commandothon

For the first time, a HMGS event was host to the East Coast Commandothon.  Demo agents from near and far converged at the table for some ‘Mech stomping goodness.  There were lots of familiar faces among the crowd.  A full recount of the event is available on the Classic BattleTech forums.

Grand Melee

The traditional last event of the convention is the Grand Melee.  This year’s event used the Castle Brian terrain as the center piece for the combatants to fight over.  It was a fantastic battle ending with a final head cap.

2012 Location in the Works

There is a lot of speculation as to where Historicon will land next year.  The Valley Forge convention center is going to be putting in slots and gaming tables in some of the spaces that would be required for games.  Other prospective locations are in Virginia and possibly York Pa.

A move to Virginia would be the most disruptive but I’m sure that the Demo team is up to the challenge.  The Pennsylvania based HMGS conventions are always so convenient for me in New Jersey.  The longer trip will force me to do more to save costs to make the trip doable.

All the Rest

There is always more to Historicon than BattleTech alone.  I spent a good bit of time playing other game systems from historicals to fantasy.  I had a great time at Historicon and would encourage anyone who hasn’t had the privilege to make the leap next year.