ScrapYard Armory

I picked up this miniature ages ago at a convention.  At the time IWM was selling these turrets and bases in a pick and choose format.  You picked a base and a turret you wanted for just a few bucks.  With plenty of weapons to choose from it was too tempting to pass up.  I went with a LRM variant although there were options for lasers or autocannons.  Sadly I cannot find anything in the IWM store that I could point you to if you wanted to buy one yourself.  This may have been a one time thing for conventions.

UPDATE:

A helpful reader has picked out the turrets on the IWN store!  Mix and match to your hearts content!

• Turrets
• Bunkers

The base coat for this miniature started with Slaanesh Grey (two coats) and Plague Brown on the details on the launcher face.

A quick wash of future floor finish and black ink worked wonders to shade the mini.

Highlighting was done with dry brushing on Stonewall Grey and then coming back with a few choice lines with the detail brush.  The yellow was brought up with successive coats of Plague Brown and Moon Yellow.  Some final details were added with black followed up with Gunmetal Grey to bring our fins or grids where I found them.  Very simple stuff here.  Its only a turret after all!

All together a nice and quick paint job and something to add to a raid or defensive objective game.

Heavy Metal Map is a great program.  It’s oodles of fun and can occupy my time for hours.

On a lark I decided to warm up the old program to make a new map.  The Remote Airfield map is designed to represent a small isolated airport for small craft (not a dropship port).  While mostly flat there are a few key features to break up movement and line of sight.  Light woods and some small water features are scattered about to keep things interesting.

As always I have three different formats available.  Pick what you need and happy gaming!

ScrapYardArmory – Remote Airfield

Printable PDF (0.65MB)

Low Resolution JPEG (3.04MB)

High Resolution JPEG (10.6MB)

Action Shots

Pride and PPCs

An action packed piece of fiction opens up our adventure on Tortuga.  After more than a few slower and more subdued opening fiction entries for recent Turning Points (but not in a bad way) it is refreshing to get back behind the cockpit glass and read about some action!  Very good opening fiction.  It would appear that Pirates and heavy vehicle combat are in our future.

The familiar Geoff Swift is at the helm of this PDF.  Lets see if Mr. Swift can impress with Pirates on his palette.

Tortuga Prime

First off is a one page section giving a rough history of the planet and its surrounding region.  It’s a brief history lesson of Tortuga’s slow but steady rise in prominence, including being noticed by the Word of Blake.  This PDF is dedicated to the Jihad era from here on out.

Tortuga seems to be a barren landscape with only two mapsheet tables to pick from.  You are either in an urban area or are stuck in desert flatland.

Optional terrain and weather rules come from Tactical Operations and include much of what you would expect after reading; sand, heavy industrial, low gravity, and more.

The accompanying full color map is a gorgeous view of the world and great for picking out key battles and providing ideas for battles off the radar.

Random Assignment Tables

Two factions are in the mix on Tortuga; The pirates and the Filtvelt Coalition.  ‘Mech tables are combined for them and provided for each weight class.

Vehicles however are broken up by faction with some crossover.  The Filtvelt Coalition seems to have a wider variety of vehicles to choose from.

It is always welcome to see vehicles in the mix and this Turning Point is chock full.  It will be interesting to see how the tracks make use of the vehicle heavy mix of forces.

History

An abbreviated one page summary of the battle of Tortuga Prime gives us the best look so far at what happened and why.  The story is quite interesting and details the Pirate defense of their capital planet from the invading mercenaries from the Filtvelt Coalition.

It is a good one filled with carnage, traps, and pitched battles.  I am looking forward to seeing how the tracks section tells the rest of the tale.

Commanders

This section gives a brief historical background on the two commanders in the battle.  Buck Tripp leads the mercenary force while William Derer defends Tortuga as a representative from the Word of Blake.

A small list of special abilities are given which is a short collection of A Time of War stats.  Only some of the abilities can be translated to tabletop battle conditions.  Die hard role players are left to fill in the blanks if they ever wanted to include them in a campaign.

Not much to write home about here.  We are given mostly story and a small collection of skill levels (Strategy + 3, Tactics +4, etc) to work with.

Combatants

A special note starts us off in the combatants section indicating that if players do not choose to use the included RAT tables then care should be taken to select units that have been produced for some time.  Pirates and Mercs don’t get shiny new toys apparently.  Not on Tortuga that is.  An excellent addition to the flavor of the game for those players willing to go the extra mile to make it happen.

There are only a few commands in play on Tortuga.  Much less than some other engagements we have seen in the past.  Each force is fleshed out including the commanding officers name, unit experience, recommended RAT tables, unit abilities and notes.

The unit abilities mostly have something to do with initiative.  A few Tac Ops special abilities are thrown in for good measure like Banking Initiative.  A few restrictions on unit composition round out this unit abilities.  Not a lot of interesting material with one exception.  The Tortugan Phalanx are a force of light to medium ‘Mechs loaded with as much TSM as possible.  They can carry loot in their hands above the normal limit and can do so without the normal movement modifier.  I can just imagine a rag tag bunch of pirate ‘Mechs hard marching to their dropships carrying cargo nets full of looted ‘Mech parts, supplies, and whatever.  As the only really unique force in the bunch I am hoping that their special ability comes into play during the tracks!

Something new I picked up on was the inclusion of paint scheme details for some of the forces mentioned.  An interesting touchfor these lesser known forces who may not have an entry in CamoSpecs.com (yet…).

Tracks

Right off the bat we are greeted with a smash and grab pirate raid in Breaking the Wheel.  Earlier I was hoping the Tortugan Phalanx would find a use for their pirate looting ability and here it is.  We see lots more of this theme later on.  As a prelude of sorts, this track comes before the main series of connected tracks.

One interesting nuance is the use of fixed unit counts.  Normally Turning Points PDFs shy away from dictating actual force size but rather rely on ratios (defender is twice the size of the attacker sort of stuff…).  I get a feel that these tracks are designed closer to the original Scenario books of old.  We have a series of set pieces rather than the more open ended framework of the Chaos Campaign while avoiding being so restrictive as to giving a set ToE.

The second and third tracks are our first linked up tracks.  In fact, these two tracks are designed to be fought at the same time.  Each force gets a fixed number of units to divide among the two battles.  Both tracks involve the raid mechanics introduced in the first track and look to be fast and brutal affairs.  Players are left with some interesting choices.  Do you split evenly and hope for the best?  Or do you sand bag one battle with the hopes of holding on with whats left on the second?  Decisions decisions…

Moving on we are treated to a nice variety of tracks.  Breakthroughs, kill em all battles, objective raids, and ambush are all there!  There are technician hostages, chemical weapon suicide vehicles, factories, ammo dumps, and jammers (oh my!).  For most tracks I thought that the selection of optional bonuses were weak, but I just didn’t care.  The character and story crammed into these tracks through the primary objectives are fantastic and will offer more than enough strategy than you can deal with.  Tortuga brings a great story and a great series of connected battles that will keep you on your feet and begging for more.

Combined arms including infantry are everywhere.  Several tracks have one force fielding vehicles only.  Infantry is used in conjunction with either defense setups or specific special rules and objectives that make their inclusion anything but token.

Throughout the series of battles you will be reusing surviving and damaged units from previous tracks over and over.  Each scenario links with previous battles in some way culminating in a final battle for the fate of the planet with anything and everything left standing.

The last battle I have some qualms over balance.  After 8 other tracks of beating each other up I am not convinced that it is obvious which survivors are able to be used and the resulting balance of the fight, but given the robust content up until this point I don’t think I am bothered too much with it.  At the end of the day BattleTech is one giant pick your own adventure book anyways so adding a few forces to one side to even things out and make it interesting would not be the worst thing in the world so long as all players are game.

These are some of the best tracks I’ve had the privilege to read in some time!

Technical Readout

I hope you like Brigands.  We are treated to a full TRO entry for the ‘Mech including record sheets for six different variants.  Lots of medium lasers in almost all configurations.  For a 25 ton ‘Mech some players may find the speed profile limiting at 6/9/6 and even 5/8 in one variant.  A bit light on the armor makes me think that this ‘Mech would like to avoid a pitched battle, especially against  PPCs and AC10s.

Rounding out this section is the custom Awesome piloted by the attacking commander Buck Tripp.  It is a scary looking fast variant moving at an impressive 5/8.  A perfect amount of heatsinks will keep this Mech running cool even when alpha striking every turn.  It includes the latest internal technology to make weight, including XL engine, XL gyro, and Ferro Fibrous armor.

This section provides more than usual.  Very nice to see the additional TRO material to make the campaign feel right!

Map

Of course no Turning Points PDF is complete without the multi-page planetary assault map.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Interstellar Operations to put these to good use.

Final Thoughts

Tortuga pulls out the stops with a wild ride on this pirate heavy campaign.  From the combined arms to the linked tracks there is a lot going on to keep you interested.  Any time I was able to find a potential fault with one section or another I found more than enough to make up for it in the tracks.

Tortuga joins the ranks of the best in the Turning points series.  My mind is already racing thinking of how I can run this campaign for myself.  I may be hitting up Iron Wind Metals for some Brigands soon!

Clan Invasion was played at TotalCon 2015 in Mansfield Massachusetts.  Thanks go to James Kirtley for providing the miniatures and terrain as well as running the game.

SITUATION

The Clan invasion has begun and an Inner Sphere company is caught in the crossfire.  The Clans have their sights on control of a hydro electric dam and the Inner Sphere defenders have rallied to its defense.  Can overwhelming numbers sway the battle in favor of the Inner Sphere for will the superior technology rule the day?

FORCES

All pilots for this battle have gunnery and piloting of 3/4.

The Inner Sphere

• CN9-D Centurion
• ENF-5D Enforcer
• WLF-2 Wolfhound
• WHM-7S Warhammer
• DV-7D Dervish
• VTR-9K Victor
• PXH-3D Phoenix Hawk
• AS7-S Atlas
• LCT-3S Locust
• VLK-QD Valkyrie
• HCT-5S Hatchetman
• AWS-9M Awesome

The Clans

• Daishi Prime
• Madcat Prime
• Loki Prime
• Vulture Prime
• Warhawk Prime
• Elemental Battle Armor x 5

The Battle Field and Deployment

The battle takes place at the site of a hydro-electric dam defended by the Inner Sphere.  The Clans deploy at the southern edge of the map and are the attackers in this scenario.

Dark green hexes are light woods.  Brown hexes are sand.

Turn 1 – Inner Sphere Wins Initiative

The Clan units advance slowly keeping a relatively loose formation.

The Inner Sphere units inch up into better firing positions while keeping several of the lighter units back in reserve.

Long range weapons fire concentrates pot shots on the Atlas and Loki with minimal damage to each side.  Nothing but a few paint scratches.

Turn 2 – Inner Sphere Wins Initiative

The Clans form up on a line around a batch of woods while the Inner Sphere continues to hang back.

The Inner Sphere forces take long range shots on the MadCat and manage to scratch some armor but little else.

Return fire from the Clans concentrates on the Atlas.  An ERPPC obliterates the Atlas’ cockpit.  First blood to the Clans.

Turn 3 – Clans Win Initiative

The Loki and MadCat rush forward while everyone else drop most of the elemental units off.  The Daishi parks in the woods it is currently occupying and settles in for the battle.

The Inner Sphere, shocked at the sudden loss of their Atlas, start to look a bit flustered.  The light units begin to form up, possibly lining up a rush into the fray.  The remaining heavier units continue to park themselves for now, content to trade long range fire with the Clans.

The Inner Sphere concentrates fire on the MadCat.  Most shots miss but a few PPCs scatter damage around the torso.

The Clans line up shots on the Awesome and slag a few tons of armor away.  A lone shot hits internal on the left torso and manages two criticals; a heat sink and an engine.

Turn 4 – Clans Win Initiative

The Clans begin using their now deployed battle armor to sink initiative.  All remaining elementals are dropped this turn.  The Loki and Madcat move backwards after shedding their infantry.

The Inner Sphere begins to look frazzled and they lurch forward in a disjointed attack.

The Inner Sphere splits fire against Battle Armor and the Madcat while the Clans concentrate on the Victor.

One elemental bites the dust after a PPC and some LBX cluster shot.  Two PPCs land on the MadCat who shakes off the damage.

The Victor is brutalized by a hail of ERPPCs, ERLL, and UAC5 shots.  The left leg in particular is crushed by the barrage resulting in foot critical hit.  Against the odds, the Victor keeps his balance and remains standing.

Meanwhile the MadCat fails his own pilot check and falls down (rolled snake eyes!).

Turn 5 – Inner Sphere Wins Initiative

The Inner Sphere light units begin to rush forward while the Elementals jump to meet them on the banks of the river.  Assaults and heavies creep forward beginning to be seem desperate to close the range and bring more weapons to bear.

The Madcat rolls snake eyes again and falls again.  The second try brings the Mech to its feet.

The Vulture and Loki fade back, seemingly content to dance back and forth keeping their long range weapons in range with a decent movement modifier.

The Inner Sphere concentrates fire on the MadCat with some secondary targets chasing Elemental units.  The Clans begin to argue about target selection and end up spreading shots around.  Elementals go after targets of opportunity.

Early shots on the MadCat miss needing mostly 10s.  A few long range weapons hit home and manage to concentrate damage on the left leg and right torso.  Damage goes internal but fails to hit anything important.  A lucky PPC hits the head and also fails to score a crit.

Secondary fire from the Inner Sphere obliterates two elementals and scatters damage on others.

The Clans return fire in dramatic fashion.  After taking some light damage from UAC5s the Phoenix Hawk is summarily head capped by a Large Pulse Laser from the Warhawk.  The Phoenix Hawk is notably one of the few designs that NEVER fields full head armor.

“Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

The MadCat brutalizes the Victor after the Vulture and Loki mostly miss.  The left arm is shredded and lots of internal damage is dealt out but amazingly no critical hits.  Two squads of elementals fill in the holes with SRM fire and manage to find a box of ammo.  CASE saves what little remains of the battered ‘Mech.

The Victor and MadCat both fail their piloting checks and hit the dirt.  The Victor is left with no arms, no side torsos, and one remaining leg hanging on by a single point of internal structure.

Turn 6 – Clans Win Initiative

The Clan Loki and MadCat continue to dance back and forth.  The other Clan units are content to snipe from wooded positions and offer little movement.

The Inner Sphere Locust makes a long run, swinging wide of the main battle and is appearing to be trying to flank the Clan position.  The remaining Inner Sphere units bunch up along the waterline with some attempting to ford the river.  Elementals jump at the Inner Sphere units as they are slowed up by the terrain and begin making attacks on the Centurion and others.

The Inner Sphere opens up fire on the MadCat desperate to score a kill to get the ball rolling on their end.  Some shots are designated on the Loki and Vulture as well as numerous secondary targets on elementals.

The Clans continue to spread the love around and target the Awesome, Warhammer, Wolfhound, and Valkyrie.

Finally some decent hits start to come for the Inner Sphere who are able to slag a few tons of armor off of the MadCat.  The left torso is ripped open and the left leg is blown clear off sending the ‘Mech to the ground once more.  Unfortunately most of the big weapons fail to find the target and the MadCat is left alive able to prop and shoot next turn.  The Loki and Vulture come away mostly unscathed.

The Clans core out the Warhammer’s left torso and destroy a leg as well.  The first set of shots on the Awesome scratch the armor but do little to worry the massive assault ‘Mech.  As weapons fire finishes up, one last last ERPPC from the Loki hits the Awesome’s head, crushing the cockpit and silencing the great machine.

Elementals launch swarm and leg attacks on the Centurion but only succeed with the swarm attack.  The Centurion pilot begins to worry as the clatter of battle claws can be heard scurrying up his ‘Mech.

Turn 7 – Inner Sphere Wins Initiative

The Locust finally wades into the river well behind the Clan forces.  Another turn and the ‘Mech will be able to sprint into the Clan flank.  The Wolfhound, Centurion, and Enforcer rush forward to close the distance with the Vulture.

The Clan Loki and Vulture continue to dance back and forth satisfied with their progress so far in the battle.

Targeting for both sides devolves into targets of opportunity.  No focus firing or concentration is evident.

Weapons fire for the Inner Sphere is stunningly ineffective.  Scattered shots slag armor from multiple Clan units but no significant damage, internals, or criticals are reported.  A single PPC scores on the head of the Loki but no criticals result.

The IS Wolfhound is crushed under several withering volleys of ERPPCs and more.  The whole right side of the ‘Mech is destroyed.  The Victor gets a leg blown off by elementals.  Further damage results in no less than 6 center torso criticals.  The Valkyrie has its left torso and center torso cored out by a hail of fire from the Daishi and Warhawk.

The swarming elementals on the Centurion tear into the center torso resulting in two critical hits.  The engine and gyro are both hit once.

After a few players glance around the table it is agreed that it is safe to call the game at this point in favor of the Clans.

The End

To say the least, it was a rough game for the Inner Sphere.

Perhaps the addition of Clan honor rules may have allowed the Inner Sphere to pick their battles more effectively or at least been able to buy them time to cross the river and have a chance.  The early loss of the Atlas also stung quite a bit and a few players lamented how a point or two of Edge may have been useful to iron out the randomness of head hits from Clan ERPPCs.

All the players I had a chance to talk to still had a good time and enjoyed slinging dice even when the odds seemed out of whack.  I was impressed with the setup and the miniatures provided. Looking forward to next year!