ScrapYard Armory

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

Thanks to everyone for participating.  There were a lot of great designs and it took me longer than I thought to go through them all and finally pick my favorites.  Without further adieu, here are the winners!

Pirate Banshee by Jason “Panzerfaust 150” Weiser – BNC-3E Banshee Pirate

Mercenary Thunderbolt by Mike “Eldragon” Kiscaden – TDR-9SE Thunderbolt Mercenary

I’m missing something right?  The Militia Combat Vehicle!  Sadly not everyone who participated in the contest had a Vehicle design to go with their ‘Mech submission.  I just didn’t get a great feel from any of the vehicles that were submitted.  Noting bad or obviously wrong, they just didn’t have the feel I was looking for.

I’m intent on giving away miniatures so the hunt is still on for the Vehicle design.  Anyone who already submitted may try again.  I’ll check back in a weeks time to see if there is a design I really like.  Somebody is getting some free minis, why not you?  So get out your Tech Manual and sharpen your pencils.

Plus it gives me another week to work on my Chaos Campaign!  I’m not quite done and there is a lot of polish I need to add but it is coming along, slowly but surely.  I have the ‘Mechs I need.  Now it’s time to find that perfect vehicle!

I’m in a bit of a bind.

My top two choices for sharing a room in Indy this year unfortunately can’t make the trip.  This leaves me with a hotel room all to myself which is quite expensive in the downtown Indianapolis area.  Lets face it, gamers know the value of splitting the cost of hotel rooms with friends.  It’s part of the DNA of convention going.

Rather than seek out a roommate in a random forum I’d like to first extend the offer to someone in the BattleTech community.

Let me be clear.  Come hell or high water I will be going to GenCon this year.  I’m just looking to defray the costs.  The more money saved on accommodations, the more money I can spend in the exhibitor hall.

So if you are dead serious about going to GenCon this year and don’t currently have a room or you already have a room and have space, please drop me a line; brian@scrapyardarmory.com.

I’m looking forward to good times and lots of fun in Indy this year.

I need a few good ‘Mechs.

I’m hard at work creating my second full length Chaos Campaign and in order to spice up the offering, I’ll be including three custom variants.  And I’d like those designs to come from you, the readers.

Here is what I’m looking for:

Banshee – Piloted by a Pirate Leader

• 3025 chassis with 3050 upgrades

Thunderbolt – Piloted by a Merc Leader fresh from the Clan Front Line

• Any chassis with 3050 upgrades

ANY VEHICLE – Piloted by a Planetary Militia Commander

• Should reflect more modest finances. ~3025 technology.

What’s in it for Me?

How about some motivation?  If I end up using your design(s), you can select any one blister from my recent haul of ‘Mechs, Vehicles, and Infantry.  (check the comments for the full list)

The Rules

• Only one submission per category per person.
• Deadline will be Friday May 7th.
• Submissions should be in text or HTML format (use the export function using SSW)
• Send all submissions to brian@scrapyardarmory.com

Most important is to have fun and let your imagination run wild.  I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

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.

The painting competition I entered on the Classic Battletech forums has finally begun the voting process.  The first round is to determine among submitters with multiple entrants which will be used in the final painting showdown.

Both my entries are represented.  I hope you have the opportunity to cast a vote.  Just looking at the double entries so far there is a lot of great competition.  I’m looking forward to seeing the full field.

Voting Link Here

Can anyone guess which ones are mine?  ScrapYard contributors and NJ residents need not apply!

Totally politically incorrect but absolutely hilarious.  I had to share.

Courtesy of Fear the Boot RPG Podcast.

UPDATE: January 27, 2009

From information gathered from the Classic Battletech forums it seems that I was a bit lucky when I made my first order.  An order from Hotz may take anywhere from two weeks to three months based on the experiences of other forum goers.  I’ll be sure to post when I do receive my new mat.

I’m glad he didn’t go walkabout with our money, but it is a bit distressing that Eric is not making every effort to keep in touch with his customers.

Bottom line, if you can afford the wait, Hotz Mats are a great gaming investment.  I love my current mat.  I wish it were possible to buy them without the hassle.

UPDATE: January 26th, 2009

I made contact with Eric and he is simply running behind due to the high volume of snow and extreme cold in his part of Canada.  Here are a few ways to get in touch with Eric if you are having difficulty reaching him.

Email:

whitewash.city@gmail.com

erichotz@shaw.ca

erichotz@direct.ca

Phone:

(604) 619 – 6925

ORIGINAL POST:

I ordered a new mat from Hotz Artworks around December.  It has been over a month now and I haven’t been able to make contact with Eric over email.

I have called his listed number (left a voice mail) and sent additional emails to two known email addresses.

I am not about to jump to the conclusion that he is ripping anyone off just yet.  There is the chance that something could have happened to him and he is unable to make good on his current game mat orders.  I know of at least one other person from the Classic Battletech forums who has an order in limbo.

Until I can confirm just what is happening with Hotz Artworks, DO NOT PLACE AN ORDER ON HIS WEBSITE.

I will keep this post updated with the latest and greatest as information becomes available.  I love my current mat from Hotz.  I hope that everything is well and this is all just a misunderstanding.

JTP: New Avalon is the second in a new series of PDF only releases by Catalyst Game Labs.  This product is affordable and jam packed.  For those who already know and love the Chaos Campaign system, this is an invaluable tool to add to your collection.  Not a fan of the Jihad?  There is still some value to it when it comes to the planetary assault maps and terrain descriptions.  You can use this PDF to fight campaigns from any era including the prominent Federated Commonwealth Civil War.  If you are still not convinced skip it for now and wait for a Succession War era release if there is one in the future.  I’m hoping for one myself.

If you are on the fence here is my rundown on this newest release.  I also have a review of JTP: Luthien.

Opening Fiction

A great piece of work that demonstrates the desperate plight of the Inner Sphere forces trying to repel the Word of Blake.  Even when you have the home field advantage the battle doesn’t get any easier.  Sometimes you have to pull out all the stops and get down and dirty to get the job done. Here we are introduced to Sparky 2.0 who we will see more of later.

Great short fiction to open up this PDF, worthy of what I have read in the Battlecorps Anthologies.

Atlas

The atlas section follows the formula laid out by JTP: Luthien.  A brief history writeup is included alongside a large mapsheet table.  The FedCom civil war is touched upon as a major contributor of damage to the city prior to the Blakist invasion.  Perhaps the robes aren’t completely to blame for the sorry state of the FedSuns capital?  Regardless, I’m sure they will be blamed for it all anyways.

Great section for those of us who are either avid roleplayers or perfectionists.  You have all the details you need terrain wise to make an authentic New Avalon campaign during the Jihad or ANY other era.

Combatants

All coherent forces involved in the New Avalon campaign are detailed briefly including unit logo, commanding officer, average experience, appropriate RATs, force abilities (some of them we have seen before like Overrun and Off-Map movement, some are brand new), and Notes.

The Notes section for each unit consists of a few sentences describing a snippet of a larger story.  This is important because when you read them through from start to finish (the units are described in chronological order of arrival), you get a bigger picture of the whole battle.  There are nuggets buried in these unit descriptions.

Notable Notables

• The name of the game for the FedSuns is merger.  Lots of consolidation going on.
• Finally, somebody had the kahones to throw some nukes at the Word of Blake.

Tracks

While Luthien contained six Warchest tracks, New Avalon contains only five.  After reading through, I wasn’t inspired by the choice of objectives or optional bonuses.  While they did not feature as many of the irregularities I found in Luthien, they tended to be a bit bland and lacking in character.  I’ve definitely read and played better tracks in the Jihad Hot Spots source books.

Regardless, the Aftermath sections continue the process of piecing together the overall story of New Avalon.

Annex

We are treated to custom variants of the Atlas, Griffin, and Grim Reaper.  The Griffin is the highlight of the Annex section.  Combined with the opening fiction and the throwback flavor to the knights errant Succession Wars era, Sparky 2.0 is a fearsome upgrade to the venerable Griffin platform that has character to spare.

The ‘Mechs are followed up by three warship record sheets, using the new Strategic Operations record sheet design.  Included are the Eagle frigate, Essex destroyer, and Riga frigate.

Last But Not Least

A large multi-page planetary assault map of New Avalon rounds out this PDF offering.  Now if only we had rules to use them.  There is always Interstellar Operations.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Most CBT games have miniatures and unless you like broken minis in your collection, you probably have invested in a figure carrier.

There are more than a few good brands out there.  I personally use Army Transport for my ‘Mech carrying needs.

Lest onlookers be confused as to what game I roll with, I added a Classic Battletech patch to make it obvious.  I picked mine up at GenCon, but you can get yours at the Battle Shop for $10 each.  They have available a Classic Battletech logo as well as a BattleCorps patch.

It isn’t the biggest development out there but it is nice to have to opportunity to customize your gear.  If you are planning to make a purchase from the Battle Shop anyways, it’s a nice item to throw in for the hell of it.

In order to attach the patch without getting too crazy, go out and pick up a bottle of fabric glue at any reputable craft or hobby store.  Fabric glue is able to move and stretch without cracking.  That is important when you conscider how much jostling your typical hobby bag can take under normal conditions.

Make sure you don’t apply too much.  You will need to wipe away any excess that ends up leaking out the sides.  It will show when it dries even if the bottle says it “dries clear”.