ScrapYard Armory

Irian brings us into the Dark Ages of Battletechs many eras.  Patrick Wynne is at the helm for this adventure which, from the look of the cover, promises to field a diverse collection of interested parties.  I’m excited to dive in and see what the Dark Ages has in store for the Turning Points series!

Words But a Whisper

The opening fiction opens Turning Points: Irian with a battered Capellan loyal infantry squad desperately trying to fulfill their mission in the face of their inevitable death. The secret they carry is hopefully worth their lives.  For the Chancellor.

A well written piece of fiction with a smooth flow to it.  It leaves me wanting more.  Perhaps such a story, or at least the prologue could be expanded into a BattleCorps story.  I think it would be well worth the read.

Irian

The next section covers a brief history of the planet.  While mostly unscathed from the Succession Wars, Irian was swept up in the Blakist Jihad and was held under their control almost to the end.  The Blakists, true to their nature, left some nuclear parting gifts that would thrust the planet into rebuilding for the bulk of the Dark Ages.

Of course there is a secret on Irian that only comes to light after covert operations on the planet discovers something so valuable it would attract quite the cast of characters to usher in a new wave of violence and the subsequent plot of this edition of the Turning Points PDF series.

Terrain tables cover the generic world conditions and the heavy industrial regions that are sure to be hotspots of conflict.  Optional rules are also given for terrain and weather features that are common on the planet.  Par for the course so far.

RATs

Do you like Random Assignment Tables?  Well if you do you are going to love Irian.  We have a unique twist on the regular 2D6 RAT chart we all know and love.  Mech tables go from 2 to 16 with rolls modified by a forces Equipment Level.  The highest quality rating receiving a +4 to all rolls.  To add to the fun we have sub-tables for industrial Mechs.  Vehicle and Infantry tables are here too.  As well as a special table just to cover Irtech Security forces.

There are a lot of entries from 3085 (naturally) so be prepared to find a lot of ‘Mechs you may not be used to playing with.  More fun to add to the mix in my opinion.

Campaign

Irian takes a full two and a half pages to describes the buffet of attempted invaders that took a crack at securing the now not so secret prize on Irian.  The forces taking part in the many invasions and counterattacks are splinter factions of the popular houses and clans and those who spent any time playing the MechWarrior ClickTech games will recognize them instantly.

What a cluster…  Just about everybody invited themselves to this party.  Certainly that will lead to some discontinuity in the tracks later.  What I mean is, it will probably be hard to take a single player force through all of the tracks and stay within the lines of the plot.  In that sense this makes Irian more of a replacement of the scenario books of old than a set of contiguous tracks meant for a single force.  This has been done before with the Turning Points books and is not a bad thing at all.  It scratches a particular type of itch.

Combatants

The combatants section features short bios of the major players on Irian.  Along with the usual Commanding Officer, experience level, RAT, and unit abilities we have an added equipment level which will impact RAT table results when rolling random forces.

Irian features a wide and varied mix of forces on planet.  It was quite the cluster over control of the Irian prizes.  I found the mix of unit abilities to be excellent.  There is an assortment of the standard A Time of War and Tactical Operations abilities but it does not rely on them exclusively.

Some standard abilities have slight modifications to add to the units flavor.  The original force abilities are unique and inspired.  My personnel favorite has to be the Spirit Cats who, once per track, may enter a “collective mystic experience” for a chance at a to-hit bonus for the turn.  The downside is they automatically lose initiative and the combat bonus is not guaranteed.  In fact it can even make things worse if you are not lucky.  Drugs, not even once kids…

An excellent section and well above grade so far.

Tracks

We are treated to a selection of 11 tracks to cover the battle over Irian.  This is well more than than average and continues a steady increase in the number of tracks in Turning Point PDFs.

The first thing that I noticed is that the tracks are all over the place.  With so many different forces on planet making a mess it is hard for Irian to have a focal point.  If anything, it would have to be the Irian Defense Forces and the associated defenders who are taken to task and beaten up by every faction you can imagine.

This is not a bad thing.  In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, I feel that these PDF exclusives are filling the void of the old scenario packs.  The is a collection of missions you can pick and choose from.  Using the guidelines you can make these battles as big or small as your time allows.

The tracks feature a healthy mix of stand up fights, breakthrough, and some more interesting set pieces.  Objectives tend to favor the predictable old standbys (go kill the other guys).  However the combination of special rules do a good job to mix things up.

Along your trip through Irian you may encounter ‘Mech pit traps, Automated Drone Mechs, and Methane Mud Pits.

The Elastic Retreat features an interesting back and forth slug fest designed to use rolling maps in both directions as reinforcements inevitably turn the tide of the battle.

My favorite though has to be Fit to Fight which is a moon fight with programmable Industrial ‘Mechs!  Lots of fun just thinking about that one!  Pray for ECM!

There is plenty of bread and butter battles too which is fine in moderation.  Moral Melee makes use of standard objectives along with Clan Honor in this curious battle between opposing Clan Invaders.

A few Dropships and even the Bounty Hunter are sprinkled through the other tracks.  I enjoyed the track selections and while many seemed to favor predictable objectives, the numerous Special Rules more than did their job shaking up the experience.

Record Sheets

We are provided five record sheets where each fills a unique role in one or more scenarios.

First up is a militarized RV.  A sporty little wheeled ICE vehicle featuring two King David Gauss rifles to pepper and harass your enemies.

An industrial Mech, Inquisitor II, and a badass Marauder II are the only ‘Mechs.  The Inquisitor looks benign at first.  It is a rather sub-par medium ‘Mech until you notice the TSEMP Cannon.  This changes the algebra and will force your opponent to consider the damage potential.  The Marauder II is a pound for pound slugger.  A primarily long range load-out and armor to last will make this a beast to contend with.  Its only weakness is perhaps the lack of crit seeking and the chance for some heat spikes once you close range.

The last two record sheets feature a scenario required land train.  It’s a train!  Nuff said.

Map

Of course no Turning Points PDF would be complete without the gorgeous planetary assault map.  Interstellar Operations cannot come soon enough!

Final Thoughts

Irian is a mashup at heart.  There are so many contenders it can be hard to keep track.  Speaking of Tracks, Irian makes good use of unique and interesting Special Rules to spice up the game.  Combined with an above average Combatants section and all the other value you expect from the Turning Point series and you have a great product and a worthy addition to the Turning Points line.

The Dark Age era may be a non-starter depending on your mood.  After all there is plenty of material covering earlier and more familiar conflicts.  Those interested and willing to try a taste of the newest and most recent story arc are sure to find great things on Irian.