ScrapYard Armory

The ScrapYard presents MechWarrior Quirks, a resource for creating unique MechWarriors.

We have had access to MechWarrior special abilities in a variety of official publications.  This document pulls them together and expands the offering.  Dozens of new MechWarrior abilities are provided alongside old favorites from Tactical Operations and A Time of War as well as negative quirks.

Included are rules to generate random MechWarriors or help you hand pick them.  Recruitment tables are provided for those wishing to incorporate unique MechWarriors into their Chaos Campaigns.

From fresh recruits with a knack for scrounging up spare parts to elite Manei Domini specializing in melee combat, there are near endless possibilities.

MechWarrior Quirks (PDF, 172KB)

Some Examples

Here are a few examples of MechWarriors generated from these rules.  Random names were generated using Taharqa’s BattleTech Name Generator.

Adam Sager (Piloting 3, Gunnery 4)

• Srounge: +2 to Obtain Replacement Parts between missions.

Sara Han (Piloting 2, Gunnery 3)

• On a Roll: -1 to Gunnery the turn after this MechWarrior destroys an enemy unit.

Curt Johns (Piloting 5, Gunnery 3)

• Familiarity (Thunderbolt TDR-5S):  -1 to Piloting when piloting a TDR-5S Thunderbolt.
• Sissy: +1 to Gunnery for all attacks at short range. +2 to-hit for melee attacks.
• Bad Habits Die Hard: Ignore one negative Quirk unless injured.

Musamba Takata (Piloting 2, Gunnery 2)

• Manei Domini: Tau Wraith (Multi-Modal Eye, VDNI)
• Crack Shot I: -2 to Gunnery when firing a single weapon system.

More to Follow

I expect to update this document in the future and would love to include new quirks from you the reader.  If you have an idea for a new quirk, leave a comment or shoot me an email.

These units will join the Shadow Division forces I already have painted and completes a Level II with some battle armor for backup.

All together they are part of a larger project that I started a while ago.  The battle armor were not in the original mass of miniatures I acquired but are an added bonus because I’m taking so long to get it done.

Like the others, these ‘Mechs came together very quickly with heavy dry brushing.  Only a few details are used to help them pop.  I’m sure they will get along nicely with the others and help to terrorize the Inner Sphere in future campaigns.

MercRoster is a new BattleTech force management tool found on SourceForge.  Don’t let the name fool you.  This tool set is not for mercenary commands alone.  Any force, be they house, periphery or Clan can find a use for this new tool.  I’ve just started playing around with it and am impressed with the potential.

So what is MercRoster?  Simply put, it is an online tool that helps you manage your BattleTech force through a campaign.  More importantly, it helps the players and game masters tell a story.

Here are a few examples including my own Wolf and Blake campaign.

• The Flaming Devil Monkeys
• Grosskreutzs Kavallerie
• Wolf’s Dragoons

Have a Look

Here are a few screenshots on MercRoster in action.  You can track your personnel, equipment, kills.  You can customize logs, ranks (make them house specific!), equipment types and more.

Sounds Great But I Don’t Have Hosting…

The achilles heel of MercRoster is the fact that each instance will only serve one command and you have to have your own hosting solution (with database) in order to use it.

Not many gamers have these tools readily at hand but there are ways around it.  If you don’t have a need to host your campaign on the internet you can use the computer you use today to run a local webserver.  It’s not as hard as you might think.

• Windows Apache MySQL PHP (WAMP)
• Mac Apache MySQL PHP

Just as a note, Apache is the web server, MySQL is a database, and PHP is the server side scripting language that does the real magic.  The installation instructions are quite good.  If there is enough interest I’ll do a compete installation tutorial in a future post.

It’s still early in development but I already like what I see.  If you have the time and the interest I suggest checking it out.  The more feedback the developers get the better!

Glengarry?  Never heard of the place.  But I do know a little bit about the Grey Death Legion (GDL) and I even made a convention scenario revolving around the Skye Rangers.  Jason Schmetzer is back at the helm for this trip to the Federated Commonwealth and the ever rebellious and entertaining Skye March.

Sticks in the Wind

An aptly named short fiction that rides shotgun with a GDL hovertank on an impossible mission.  Just like Mr. Schmetzer’s last work on Misery, I enjoyed the story and it helped to set the mood for the overall campaign.  No bit of fiction is going to make or break a Turning Points PDF, but they do add to the overall delivery of the PDF.

Glengarry

Glengarry is given a fine historical brief  with interesting details covering its rise, decline and eventual arrival of the Legion.  I have to admit this particular world has a lot of interesting history to it.  It was a world victimized by the fall of the Star League and reads like a Succession War stereotype.  While mostly forgotten, the withered remains of a great planet will host at least one conflict worthy of a Turning Points PDF.

As expected, mapsheet tables and optional rules are provided for those seeking a little more direction for their campaigns or individual missions.

Random Assignment Tables

Random assignment tables are not new for the Turning Points series but the added infantry and vehicle charts are.  The vehicle and infantry charts are brief, only 1D6 options but they add an extra bit of flavor for this relatively recent era.  I love the extra incentive to run combined arms.  It is not done enough in my opinion.

The Battle of Glengarry

This section covers the story of Glengarry from the onset of rebellion to the final gasp of the desperate Skye forces.  It’s quite a read.  It really makes me want to read the full story in Day/Blood of Heroes.  What really attracts me is the small unit actions that make up the majority of combat.  Instead of regiments locked in feverish combat, we have reinforced companies struggling to catch landing forces in a struggle with the enemy combined with a race against time.

Together with the opening fiction, we have a pro-GDL feel for the campaign.

Commanders

Following the lead set by Misery, each force Commander is detailed in full with history from origins to the current battle.  A special abilities section under each commander details the RPG stats but doesn’t include anything that could be used in a non-roleplaying situation.

Nothing too fancy here, but then again I just got done reading Misery.  Not every commander can be as cool as Jaime Wolf, now can they?

Combatants

The combatants section for Glengarry is the shortest I’ve ever seen in a Turning Point PDF.  Only three distinct units are involved.

Happily, the notes section omitted from Galtor and Misery has returned!  I’m ecstatic to see these back in the lineup.  They are brief but informative and together help to paint a bigger picture than these dry combatants reports could provide alone.

Special abilities are the usual suspects except for the Communications Disruption for GDL Second Battalion.  I don’t know exactly why but for some reason I don’t think I’ve seen this particular ability before.  I’m familiar with Overrun, Forcing the Initiative, Banking Initiative and so on but this one caught me off guard.  Seems this is located right in the same section of Tactical Operations.  It’s something I have apparently missed for some time but am glad to see it pulled into the campaign.

Tracks

Glengarry has seven tracks, on the high side for the Turning Points series.  Sadly there are a few missing page references (see p. XX) that made it through editing.

From start to finish Glengarry encourages the use of combined arms.  Unit mixes are dictated in the Attacker and Defender sections for many of the opening tracks.  After a while, I’m sure that the players would use all of the provided RAT tables as a matter of principle.

The quality of the tracks begins strong but goes downhill quickly.  The dependence on Tactical Operations special rules and terrain rules for optional bonuses is mundane and uninspired.  The selection of objectives are almost completely Destroy the Enemy or Survive the Battle varieties.  I’ve said it before, players don’t need extra incentive to go destroy the enemy.  We do that anyways.  More varied objectives would have been appreciated.

I felt that the terrain recommendation for Bake Until Warm could have been better.  A primarily flat playing area may very well be representative of the Glengarry spaceport but just thinking about playing a game with the back of mapsheets makes me cringe.  Isn’t there a spaceport map in Mat Set 7 that would have fit the bill?

Speaking of terrain, I felt that the terrain for Companion at Ryco Pass was a missed opportunity to do something different and memorable.  Something very unique could have been done similar to Mount Shanyu from JTP: Dieron.  Same thing with the objectives.  I am sure that using the section of the story covered by this track, there could have been some better objectives.

I don’t want to sound too negative.  The first two tracks Prison Break and Bake Until Warm are outstanding (terrain excluded for Bake Until Warm).  The combined arms emphasis is also an excellent hook.  Ultimately I feel the tracks hit the middle of the road.  Not amazing but interesting enough to want to take it for a spin or two.

Record Sheets

We only get two custom units and only one of them is interesting.  Zeus Leonidas is the custom ride of the Skye Commander.  It’s a frightening display of advanced weaponry that still maintains the tactical feel of the original.  A massive XL engine allows for some impressive weapons to back up the bravado this commander has when he is leading his troops on combat drops.

The second unit is a PPC Hover tank.  Basically a PPC with an industrial fan duct taped to it.  Not much to say, but it does fit the story in some odd way.

It’s interesting that the leaders of the GDL decided to take stock designs and are not represented here with unique variants.

The Final Word

Glengarry has a great story to build upon.  It is everything we expect from the Turning Points series with some excellent and some sub-par tracks for scenario and campaign players alike.

Sure Glengarry isn’t going to topple Galtor or Sian from my all time favorite list but it does have its redeemable qualities.

The year is 3028 and Wolf’s Dragoons are caught in an epic struggle with House Kurita.  Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the iconic Wolf’s Dragoons will at least have heard of Misery.  I had too, but until now I didn’t have a clear grasp of the scope of the conflict.  Time for a stroll down memory lane as Jason Schmetzer takes the reigns for this next chapter in the Historical Turning Point product line HTP: Misery.

Inconceivable

For such a short bit of fiction I found it more challenging than usual.  I found myself checking the dictionary a few times.  I needed to look up actinic, denuding, and one more.  That combined with the opening sequence of Japanese injections forced me to read it twice just to be sure.

That and the action sequence was fantastic.  The combat is metered and brutal.  It tells the reader in a few short paragraphs all they need to know.  Misery was a long battle fought hard by opposing forces unwilling to give way to the other.  The injustice at the end of the story sets a gloomy tone.  While I am not a Kurita sympathizer, I was forced to feel a certain amount of empathy for the main character in the story.  That empathy was short lived as we continue through the PDF.

Misery

The Misery overview section is long on geographical content and less on history, which I found disappointing.  I would have liked to see a bit more on military significance than the monotone descriptions of coast lines and agriculture.

In one sentence it mentions the Dragoons coming in the mid-3020’s and their “betrayal”.  I would have liked to see more on this considering the topic of the PDF.  I’m not going to hold it against them however.  It’s a lengthy PDF and the best parts are yet to come.  The bulk of the who-what-why details come later anyways in the Battle of Misery section.

Included for adventurous players are random map tables and a set of recommended optional rules from Tactical Operations.

Random Assignment Tables

We have seen RAT tables before in The Red Corsair and HTP: Galtor and I really enjoy seeing the ones here.  It helps solidify the feel of these era specific tracks.  Players can always use more RAT tables and here in these retrospective products, the writers are answering the call and making the product fun and useful.

The Battle of Misery

This section kicks off the official description of how it all came to pass and the outcome of major battles.  The first two paragraphs seem very pro-Dragoon.  Where before there was talk of Dragoon “betrayals” we now read of DCMS criminal acts, minion Warlords, and Dragoons not willing to back down.

The Dragoons are painted in a very positive light.  Makes me want to see them win.  Just a note, in the Credits section they do list a number of resources that the curious could use to fully flesh out the details of this and other conflicts involving the Dragoons.  Obviously, this is a Dragoon Turning Point first.  The Draconis Combine is second fiddle in this story.

The remainder of this section gives a great birds eye account of the entire battle.  Very good stuff and it’s a great appetizer for the tracks to come.

Commanders

New for this Turning Points is a small section devoted to the commanders of the two forces involved.  After a historical brief on each, they are given a RPG makeover in A Time of War style.

Combatants

The combatants section is the bread and butter Turning Points style with the obvious Historical Turning Points differences.   Unit experience continues the standard set in Galtor (which is good) but also continues the lack of a notes section we became so familiar with in the JTP PDFs (which is bad).  I miss the notes which offered short but valuable descriptions of unit history.

The Dragoons as you may expect are heavy on special abilities and random unit generation modifiers.  These units are the best of the breed and their abilities mean business.

Tracks

My favorite section by far is the tracks.  These are the successors to the FASA era scenario packs and continue the tradition of Chaos Campaigns started in Dawn of the Jihad.  We are treated to seven in this release, on the high end of quantity similar to HTP: Galtor.

Mr. Schmetzer continues to impress with his cunning linguistic skills… laager, geld, arroyo.  Way to keep us on our toes.

At first glance, the objectives for the Misery tracks look mundane.  However, once fully read through, I felt an appreciation for how the story was being told.  Each track is a faithful re-enactment of a battle described in brief earlier in the PDF. The tracks do a good job of tying into earlier sections of the PDF.

Complimenting the excellent storytelling are a varied but interesting mix of special rules, objectives and force deployments.  After reading through, each track had a particular flavor that I felt deserved a play through.  Those are the best kinds of tracks; the one I’m so intrigued by that I simply have to give it a try to see how it comes out.   Misery delivers nicely here and is one of the better series of tracks in the Turning Points series.  Top honors still go to Galtor which blew the roof off my expectations.  Still, for one off scenarios or an extended campaign, players are going to find something to like in Misery.

Record Sheets

We have three new custom variants to play with on Misery, two DCMS and one Dragoon.

With only 3025 era technology to play with one shouldn’t expect drastically different designs with oodles of new equipment.  Despite the limitations though, the modifications should lead to vastly different play styles.

Ostroc Michi shakes up it’s movement profile for better armor and weapons loadout while attempting to keep mobility unchanged with the addition of jump jets.  A very interesting change that may fare far better in battle than a standard chassis depending on the terrain involved.  Oh by the way, the Ostroc uses the old unseen artwork!  Nice touch Catalyst!

Stalker Jagawen changes its weapons loadout for a SRM heavy configuration.  This creates a ‘Mech that is better suited for close in combat than the original.  I am a bit more scared of this design, especially in the frigid conditions on Misery that can all but nullify long range combat effectiveness.

Atlas Danielle follows the theme set by the Stalker above and modifies the weapons for a more close combat oriented solution.  As if a 3025 Atlas wasn’t scary enough.

In the End

Misery is another welcome addition to the Turning Point PDF family and is well delivered.  Already I am thinking about playing out a few of these battles with friends and if time allows, follow an entire campaign around the exploits of the Dragoons as they trounce the DCMS.  I’ve heard of Misery plenty of times before and am glad to have gotten a chance to learn more through this PDF.

I’ve got the Channel Campaign blues.

You can download the Leviathans Channel Campaign Open Alpha for free from the BattleShop.  It is a very nice little PDF with what look to be a well crafted set of campaign rules for small to moderate sized forces in the Leviathans universe.  I’s got nicely sized diagrams and well described examples.  It’s all there.

And then I go to my copy of Strategic Operations and carefully feather through the pages.  Pages 47 through 50 are there, mocking me.  I’m talking about the Linked Scenario rules for BattleTech.  I had high hopes for this particular section of Strategic Ops.  Official BattleBlogs fed my interest.

The Linked Scenarios rules from Combat Operations was one of the better received sections of that book. They provide a simplified and easy-to-use framework for building a campaign used in conjunction with the Creating Scenarios section of Total Warfare.  They’ve been included here, as ever updated and expanded as appropriate.

Only there were no expansions.  The whole section was a straight copy-paste from Combat Operations.  I have to be honest and tell you that I felt let down.  Strategic Operations gave us so much great content full of examples and diagrams.  Rules for Aerospace, maintenance, repair, BattleForce, and QuickStrike all got a proper amount of attention, detail and explanation.  Linked Scenarios simply had the dust shaken off and reprinted.

It may have been that there just wasn’t enough room.  The core rulebooks are each monsters in their own right in the “Yeah, we got a rule for that” era.  A casual look at the back of the book reveals no blank pages or advertisements, each evidence of no more room to put an eight page printing block.

Looking Closer

So what is wrong with the rules as written?  There is much confusion over how forces are matched against each other.  When you are not using a campaign map (an abstract campaign) it can be frustrating if it is not clearly discussed by both parties before the campaign begins.

Try to use maps for strategic movement and you see just how incomplete the rules are.  It feels like there just wasn’t enough time devoted to it.

Long story short, you can give the Channel Campaign to two players familiar with Leviathans and they will be able to play the game to completion under the rules as written.  No further explanations or agreements are required.  They just sit down and start playing.

Strategic Operations fails this test.  I have attempted campaigns twice now and each failed to complete due to disagreements sucking the fun from an otherwise enjoyable evening of gaming.  Here are a few posts from the official forums that describe what I’m seeing.

• Linked Scenario Questions
• Combat Ops, Linked Scenarios
• Any of you have ever played with…

Where Are The Maps?

Further, while it talks a good fight about using maps and having strategic moves the rules for such actions are no where to be seen.

This may be something Catalyst is busy working to include in Interstellar Operations.  After all, we have been receiving gorgeous new maps on a regular basis from Historical and Jihad Turning Points pdfs.  We need a reason to use them.  Here’s hoping Interstellar Operations has a few answers for us.

What’s the End Game?

I’m not here to rant and rave all day without doing something about it.  There are issues but none that are insurmountable.  After all I’ve only attempted to play twice and both ended before properly concluding.  BattleTech is a game where house rules are encouraged.  Whatever you have to do in order to make it fun.

Time to be a little proactive.

I’d like to hold public linked scenario campaigns here on my blog.  We have all the tools we need namely MegaMek and another tool I will be describing in a future post.

I have a few goals;

1. Make it work.
2. Make it fun.
3. Post examples that will encourage others to use the rules and host their own linked scenario campaigns.

There will be two parts;

1. Abstract Campaign (no strategic map)
2. Map Based Campaign

All I Need is a Little Help

Have MegaMek and a few hours to help out?  Order writing will be done in house but the actual games can be outsourced to you the readers.  If you are interested in playing some games and help us churn out the campaign missions we will be able to accomplish more.

Lets do our own Alpha Testing.  Leave a comment if you are game.  Roll Call!

During the fighting on Tukayyid, Clan Wolf had already secured Skupo and now were running for Brzo. The battle for Brzo took a turn for the worse for the Com Guards when the 4th Wolf Guards and 3rd Battle Clusters arrived to crush through the defenders.

This battle was fought at Historicon 2010.  Many thanks go to Demo Agent “Speck” and his great work putting this and other games together.  The battle used BattleForce rules from Strategic Operations.  The total force list looks huge but it was easily managed with the streamlined BattleForce rules.

Comstar – Tenth Army

Alpha Level II (Ostscout Mini)

• MON-68 Mongoose
• JR7-F Jenner
• JR7-K Jenner
• OTT-7J Ostscout
• ASN-21 Assassin
• HER-2S Hermes

Beta Level II (Phoenix Hawk mini)

• PNT-9R Panther
• PNT-9R Panther
• CDA-3C Cicada
• STN-3L Sentinel
• WTH-1S Whitworth
• PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk

Gamma Level II (Crab mini)

• BJ-1DB Blackjack
• WVE-6N Wyvern
• CRB-27 Crab
• HBK-4G Hunchback
• EXT-4D Exterminator
• EXC-B2 Excalibur

Delta Level II (Archer mini)

• BMD-12D Bombadier
• CRD-3K Crusader
• JM6-A JagerMech
• ARC-2K Archer
• ARC-2R Archer
• ARC-5R Archer

Eta Level II (Warhammer mini)

• TDR-5S Thunderbolt
• GHR-5N Grasshopper
• GLT-3N Guillotine
• WHM-7M Warhammer
• BL-6-KNT Black Knight
• ON1-K Orion
  

Naga Level II (King Crab mini)

• AWS-8Q Awesome
• CRK-5003-1 Crockett
• HGN-732 Highlander
• AS7-K Atlas
• KGC-001 King Crab
• KGC-001 King Crab
  

Omega Level II (Marauder mini)

• TDR-5SS Thunderbolt
• ST-8A Shootist
• MAD-5M Marauder
• ON1-M Orion
• THG-11E Thug
• VTR-9K Victor

Zeta Level II (Battlemaster mini)

• AWS-8Q Awesome
• SPT-NF Spartan
• BLR-3M Battlemaster
• STK-5M Stalker
• BNC-5S Banshee
• AS7-D Atlas

Clan Wolf – 4th Wolf Guards

Alpha First Star (black/brown Man-o’War mini)

• Timber Wolf (MadCat) A
• Timber Wolf (MadCat) A
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) A
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) Prime
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) Prime

Bravo First Star (MadCat mini)

• Timber Wolf (MadCat) B
• Timber Wolf (MadCat) B
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) Prime
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) Prime
• Warhawk (Masakari) Prime

Clan Wolf – 3rd Battle Cluster

Alpha Assault Star (Vulture Mini)

• Ice Ferret (Fenris) Prime
• Mad Dog (Vulture) Prime
• Gargoyle (Man-o’-War) D
• Gargoyle (Man-o’-War) Prime
• Executioner (Gladiator) Prime

Bravo Assault Star (brown/orange Man-o’-War mini)

• Ice Ferret (Fenris) Prime
• Mad Dog (Vulture) Prime
• Timber Wolf (MadCat) B
• Timber Wolf (MadCat) C
• Gargoyle (Man-o’-War) Prime

Charlie Assault Star (Grey Man-o’-War mini)

• Phantom C
• Ice Ferret (Fenris) Prime
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) A
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) D
• Gargoyle (Mon-o’-War) Prime

Turn 1 – Comstar wins Initiative

Very little action this turn as the two forces lurk towards each other.  Comstar Gamma Level II (Crab mini) is perfectly out of sight and lets loose indirect fire attacks which miss.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 0, Comstar: 0)

Turn 2 – Comstar wins Initiative

Both Clan Wolf and Comstar begin converging their forces towards the middle of the battle.  Gamma Level II remains hidden in woods peppering Clan ‘Mechs using indirect fire.

Most Comstar fire misses this turn except a lucky weapon critical hit on a Warhawk.  The Clans luck does not fare much better at long range and only manages to strip half the armor off one King Crab.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 0, Comstar: 0)

Turn 3 – Clan Wolf wins Initiative

Gamma Level II continues to evade line of sight as Comstar forces are forced to consolidate units into two groups.  Clan Wolf makes excellent use of initiative to force combat.  Comstar had no choice but to shore up their firing positions to absorb damage from the amazing Clan firepower.

Naga Level II is ravaged in the ensuing firefight.  Both King Crabs and a Highlander are destroyed.  Return fire from Comstar brings down a  single Man-o’-War.  On the western side of the battle, armor is slagged off in droves but only a single casualty results.  A Fenris manages to inflict a killing blow on a Marauder in the Omega level II.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 4, Comstar: 1)

Turn 4 – Comstar wins Initiative

After losing initiative, Clan Wolf pulls their forces together and Comstar happily accepts the opportunity to play hammer to their anvil.  The overall movement of the battle has left Beta Level II out in the cold and is unable to contribute.  Slowly they are making their way back into the fray.  Gamma Level II has finally broke from the cover of woods to apply direct fire onto the Clans.

Comstar concentrates fire on high priority targets and manages to deal significant damage this turn.  One MadCat A is destroyed while it’s star mate is stripped of armor.  A Man-o’-War Prime is taken out by one Level II, wasting a lot of shots by viciously over killing.  Another Level II concentrates on the Phantom and destroys it easily.

Clan return fire sheds more armor and manages to destroy a Black Knight, an Orion and an Awesome.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 7, Comstar: 4)

Turn 5 – Comstar wins Initiative

Having lost initiative again, the Wolves present a firing line to the split up Comstar forces.  Intervening terrain and long range prevents line of sight for most units.  Comstar manages to line up medium range shots on a Man-o’-War.

All available Comstar units with line of sight, bury lasers and missiles into a single Man-o’-War D.  The OmniMech is ravaged but standing with a weapon hit and a single point of internal structure remaining.  Return fire destroys a Thunderbolt with some help from an indirect fire attack from the out of sight Vulture.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 8, Comstar: 4)

Turn 6 – Clan Wolf wins Initiative

Clan Wolf breaks for open terrain and tightens up their formation.  Comstar forces to the West have to take their time getting around terrain.  The remaining Comstar forces anticipated incorrectly and are caught and isolated by the bulk of the Clan force.

The turn starts off well for Comstar.  A Man-o’-War D is finished off from long range and a Man-o’-War A is head capped by the Sentinel from Beta Level II which has finally joined the battle.

The Clans return fire in stunning fashion, concentrating most of their firepower into Gamma Level II.  The Clan splits up fire and punishes Gamma.  The Crab has it’s head blown off on the first hit.  The Excalibur, Wyvern, Exterminator, BlackJack, and Hunchback are all blown to bits with varying amounts of overkill.  Gamma Level II is completely destroyed.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 14, Comstar: 6)

Turn 7 – Clan Wolf wins Initiative

The heaviest Comstar assets are still cautious as they come around terrain.  Omega and Delta Level II are hesitant to move too far in front of the slow moving Zeta.  The Clans make good use of initiative and isolate Comstar forces in the center of the battle.  Charlie Assault Star (grey Man-o’-War mini) makes a bold move behind Naga Level II (King Crab mini).

Comstar remains on the defensive and can only respond meekly to the Clan attack.  Two level IIs combine to take out a MadCat B while the Fenris of Alpha Assault Star has it’s paint scratched after several misses.

The Crockett and Atlas both fall from split fire by a single Clan star.  An already damaged Grasshopper is finished off with minimal effort.  A Panther is pummeled but survives with one point of internal structure.  Both a Whitworth and Cicada are hit solidly but survive.  Naga Level II is now completely destroyed.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 17, Comstar: 7)

Turn 8 – Clan Wolf wins Initiative

Clan Wolf remains tightly packed and tries to put distance between themselves and the relentless Comstar pursuers.  Comstar forces despite losing initiative do a better job of anticipating the Clan’s moves but can do nothing to prevent Charlie Assault Star (grey Man-o’-War mini) from lining up rear shots against Zeta (Battlemaster mini).

Two level IIs combine to bury the dangerous WarHawk.  A Marauder and Battlemaster team up to perfectly destroy a Man-o’-War Prime.  A flurry of missiles from Delta’s Archers cripple an Executioner which is then finished off by Alpha Level II who has been making pot shots at available targets.

Previous damage continues to hamper Comstar’s ability to keep ‘Mechs from becoming scrap.  Two Panthers, a Warhammer, and an Orion all fall to enemy fire.  The Warhammer took an entire star to finish off while the Orion was finished by one last powerful hit.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 21, Comstar: 10)

Turn 9 – Clan Wolf wins Initiative

Clan Wolf is now feeling the pressure and split their forces.  Slower stars fall back while maintaining a strong firing line.  The two faster stars of Alpha and Charlie Assault continue to harass the Comstar flank.  Comstar stays as tightly grouped as possible but cannot help but to slightly leave behind the slowly moving Zeta.

Clan Wolf opens up combat with a head shot on an Awesome.  A Thunderbolt, Guillotine and Sentinel are all destroyed by a barrage of weapons fire.

Comstar unloads on the Clan forces in front of them and do considerable damage but amazingly nothing is destroyed.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 25, Comstar: 10)

Turn 10 – Comstar wins Initiative

Comstar continues to put on the pressure and manages to sneak the fast Alpha Level II (Ostscout) into the Wolf flank.  Heavy assets from Delta and Eta (Archer and Marauder) are flanked by Charlie Assault (grey Man-o’-War).

Comstar begins to reap what they sowed last turn.  The Vulture’s missiles are silenced by Zeta’s concentrated fire.  A MadCat B is destroyed by Eta level II.  Beta level II cleanly kills a Fenris from the rear and thus finishes off the last remaining Omni ‘Mechs of Charlie Assault.  A second Clan Fenris is destroyed by physicals at the end of the turn.  Alpha Level II (Ostscout mini) split up it’s fire against the Clan rear with spectacular results.  A MadCat C is destroyed outright while a Man-o’-War explodes from an ammo explosion.  This finishes off the last remnants of Bravo Assault (brown/orange Man-o’-War mini).

Return fire from the Clans is sporadic and borderline ineffective.  A single Banshee from Zeta is killed in a last gasp by the now destroyed Vulture.

(Kill Tracker – Wolf: 26, Comstar: 16)

End Game

The game was stopped at this point when our allotted time ran out.  That’s the thing about conventions, there is always another game a few hours away and we had to make way so the next game would have enough time to setup.

We began the game with 73 units and after ten turns we are down to 27.  So who had the upper hand?  Who would have pulled out the win if we had enough time to finish the game through?

Comstar (20 remaining ‘Mechs):

Alpha and Delta are both untouched.  Omega and Zeta are looking very strong with deep armor and frightening short range threats.  Beta has taken the most punishment of those surviving but is well equipped to keep up a harassing role (all the slow ‘Mechs are now destroyed!).

Clan Wolf (7 remaining OmniMechs):

Among the remaining forces, there are four Man-o’-Wars which are notoriously under armed for their size.  A MadCat and Vulture are the heaviest damage threats.  A Fenris rounds out the Clan options.  All Omnis are untouched.

Time to sound off!  Who would have ruled the battlefield?  Can the Clans make good enough use of their big damage ‘Mech killers or will the smaller but more numerous Comstar forces win the war of attrition?  Leave a comment and let us know!

The 2010 limited edition ‘Mech carries on the tradition of jumping sculpts with the TDR-10M from TRO 3085.  I had originally wanted to get this mini done for the WAMP contest but ran out of time before I could finish.  I just wasn’t happy with the paint job until today.

This ‘Mech will be joining the ranks of my Free Worlds League Militia.  The mini did have some bad mold lines running along the shoulder pads but that was it.  The jumping pose was a bit of a pain to put together although that was expected.

I ended up clipping the foot of the exhaust blast’s base because it would not fit in a standard hex base.  I would think that would be a requirement for minis these days.  A minor gripe on an otherwise gorgeous miniature.

Overall the mini was a joy to paint.  The panel lines were crisp and there was plenty of detail to elaborate on. A great sculpt to paint!

I’m a bit disappointed in my pictures.  I’m afraid that my highlighting efforts on the colored bands ended up being washed out by my camera.  That could very well have been compounded by the fact that I did not have the right lighting available.  The day I took these pictures was very overcast which forced me to reply on spot lighting from desk lamps for illumination.  I’ve always gotten better results when more natural light was available.

After a lot of writing and more than a few delays, the ScrapYardArmory is pleased to bring you our second full length Chaos Campaign.  This time the battles take place during the beginning of the Clan Invasion but in a very unusual location.  Not all is what it seems on the edge of the Federated Commonwealth.

Chaos Campaign – Pirate Haven (PDF, 242 KB)

Chaos Campaign tracks are a blast to write and its even more fun to share.  If you have a great idea, why not write your own track and share it with the community?  There already is a well traveled thread on the official forums with loads of great user generated content.  Do your part to keep it going.

The Community Created Warchest Tracks

I hope you enjoy the tracks.  That said, I am always receptive to feedback so if you find some glaring mistake or find a balance issue while reading or playing, please shoot me an email so I can make the correction.

I’m already thinking about the setting for my next Chaos Campaign.  Should I turn to Operation Klondike?  Or maybe the Succession Wars?  Leave a comment and let me know what you would prefer!

Related: Chaos Campaign: War of 3039

We have all played in a big game more than once or twice in our BattleTech gaming lives.  Chances are you have played in quite a few over the years.  I’m talking about the big convention games with loads of people piloting more ‘Mechs and combat vehicles than you can shake a stick at on a vast battlefield with all the trimmings.

Inevitably the game’s turns begin to grind.  Full turns are measured in hours not minutes.  You spend more time waiting for your turn than actually executing your movement or attacks.  At least you can drive to pick up some pizza without missing much.

The strategy and tactics necessary to win are lost in the confusion.  Each individual player has little to do with the overall outcome.  There are few opportunities to make good strategic advances when six other people on the team are planning their own opportunities.  The game becomes less personnel, where the strategy and tactics of the individual mean less to the overall success of the mission.

There are obvious exceptions to the rule but in my experience a majority of large convention games regress to an impersonal ‘Mech smashing fest (not that there is anything wrong with that).  If there are more than four players at the table, you can probably kiss goodbye any chance you had at making a meaningful impact on the course of the game.  I wanted a change and set out to make a big game with lots of players who all had a chance to make a difference in the big picture.  Here are my goals.

• Make it Personal – Each player should feel they made an impact on the game.
• Make it Fast – Nobody likes a game that does not come to a reasonable conclusion or turns that drag on and on.

Along Came Historicon 2010

I wanted to try something different and Historicon gave me my  opportunity.  I was on the hook to run one big game for up to 12 people.  My plan was to make a massive battle with ‘Mechs, Combat Vehicles, Battle Armor, Aerospace Fighters, and Artillery (Oh My!).

This game would ultimately use Total Warfare, Tactical Operations, and Strategic Operations.  How cool is that?  We have all of these cool rules so why not use them?

How It Works

Break open your Total Warfare books and read along.  These rules in conjunction with Tactical and Strategic Operations are the back bone of this big game experience.

The foundation of the big game came from using a low altitude map for the Aerospace dogfight.  On this map, each hex represents one ground mapsheet on which the ‘Mechs and Vehicles are fighting.  We used four standard battles each two maps large.

Using numbered BattleForce blip counters, I marked the relevant maps on the low altitude maps.  When a fighter ended movement on one of those hexes I carefully notified the ground forces of their presence.

I say carefully since aerospace fighters move after ground troops.  They should have the privilege to see where the ‘Mechs are and how they are facing before determining their final location.  I allowed ground forces to move at the same time as the fighters to save time.

Synchronized Turns

To keep things running smoothly all of the turns need to be aligned.  When the aerospace fighters swoop in for a strafing run, you had better let the ground troops know there is a fighter in their map so they can act accordingly in the weapons attack phase.

I chose to use a relatively simple solution to keep everyone in sync.  Each battle had a half sheet of paper marked READY (green) on one side and NOT READY (red) on the other.  At the beginning of each turn the players flipped the paper to NOT READY.  With a quick glance I could see who was done and who was still resolving combat.

On a few occasions some players finished well ahead of the other battles.  More experienced players will tend to do that.  However, I also think the force selection had something to do with it.  For future battles done in this style I will try harder to match the average weight and tech level in each battle to avoid major mismatches between battles.

The other half of that problem is when one battle lags behind the others.  That happened twice where a relatively inexperienced player was playing.  Given that no fighters were in their hex, I waited a few minutes and started the other turns.  I simply asked them to head right into their next turn when ready.  That will always be a judgment call based on the activity of the fighter battle but it worked out for us.

Aerospace Support

Using fighters in low altitude requires a good read through of the rules and demands the attention of your most experienced players.  It is a very critical role to fill with many crucial decisions.  When to make a strike run?  Where to position your forces?  How low do you go for fear of becoming a lawn dart?

Total Warfare is not the best tome for parsing all the various rules required to play Aerospace.  That said, I had prepared a cheat sheet to help players who are new to the dog fighting and strafing world of air-to-ground combat.

Fighter Reference Sheet – PDF (45 KB)

The coup de grâce of the game was going to be a fully loaded Leapord Dropship for each side.  Combat drop rules would be used to inject ‘Mechs into the various battles.  Watching the pace of the ground battles I chose to keep the dropships in reserve.  I didn’t see the kind of casualties I thought would require the use of a new lance per side and instead let the battles run their course.

Having thought about it, I wish I had let the players have at it.  The downside would be the potential unbalancing of one battle or another.  However, I believe the coolness factor of combat dropping ‘Mechs would have been worth it.  Plus, any combat dropped ‘Mechs are sitting ducks for at least one turn at best.  Ample opportunity to take cover from opposing ‘Mechs on the ground and point all weapons to the skies!

Fire for Effect

Artillery is an inspiring tool for some and ignored by others.  Each team had access to off board artillery (1 turn flight time) in the form of one Sniper and one Long Tom.  Requests for artillery were delivered to me on note cards and I assigned rounds to the battles in the event that there were more requests than available strikes.

Artillery made for some very interesting situations but did not turn the tide in any battle by itself.  A beautiful example was the city fight.  The first turn, both called artillery on the other when most units were walking along the roads out of LOS.  The damage was brilliant.  Each round struck multiple targets and delivered consequential damage.  The turn after, the ‘Mechs moved the hell off the roads!  It changed the dynamic of the game without breaking it.

‘Mechs are still kings of the battlefield.  Artillery is a spice that was fun and managed to change the tempo for some but not all of the games.  With  a GM running the battle on the sidelines, the note card system worked well but could have used a standard format for requests.

The Report

In a stunning display of combined arms antics, the opening turn saw all four fighters from the Marik side diving into the nearest battle to strike at an enemy Warhammer.  Unfortunately for the fighter group, without any other targets to worry about on turn 1, the entire Lyran lance opened up on the Transit and blasted it out of the sky with a(n) (un-)fortunate fuel tank hit.  Already one fighter down, the Marik player continued to harass ground targets while being picked apart by enemy fighters in the air.

Meanwhile on the ground, the battle raged back and forth but saw a distinct advantage starting to build for the Lyrans.

It was late in the game when the Lyrans won complete air superiority but still the Lyran air commander decided to mostly concentrate on the last remaining Marik fighter.

In the end, the Lyrans had enough of an edge in the ground games to secure final victory for the overall battle.  And with air superiority firmly in grasp there was no stopping the Lyrans.

I had lots of compliments on the game.  Every player with a few obvious exceptions was 100% engaged in the game the entire time.  There were a few turns where one battle finished way early and two occasions where the group was waiting on one battle to finish.  Still, turns averaged a half hour a piece and we got through 8 complete turns in our allotted time with a clear winner at the end.

There was a base battle value (not accounting for pilot’s skill) of over 55,000 in play which included 32 ‘Mechs, 8 vehicles, 1 Battle Armor, and 8 aerospace fighters and we finished the game in less than 5 hours to a clear victor.  Given the opportunity, I’d love to do it again and I bet it would be even better having learned from this first go.