ScrapYard Armory

A New Home

Historicon has a new home at Valley Forge, Pa.  The venue has more modern accommodations while providing much needed breathing room for the growing convention.

The one major problem was the long and twisted walk to the BattleTech area.  There were around 50 or so gaming tables tucked away on the Radisson side of the convention while the main tables were near registration at the Scanticon.  I felt that I spent too much time traveling between the two locations to get to one game or another.

While the convention site grew, the BattleTech specific gaming room did not.  The regular crew never seemed to mind.  BattleTech folk are a hearty breed after all.  The room almost always looked full especially when we ended up filling tables all the way around for the more popular games.

BattleTech Games

For the first time since I started attending HMGS events, I ended up hosting games rather than just participating.  My partner in crime minion, “Saxywolf” built terrain for one of the events and assisted preparing minis.  The first was a multi-battle big game using a unique system of synchronized battles that involved Aerospace Fighters and off-map Artillery to compliment the regular assortment of ‘Mechs and Vehicles.

Our second game was a BattleTroops skirmish using the Time of War combat system as our framework.  While not as well attended, I had a great time watching players discover this great system.  I will admit that the forces were not as balanced as they should have been.  I should have put more effort into playtesting but the effect of the terrain we used, which was not completed until the 11th hour, had a huge effect on weapon balance that I did not have the foresight to account for.

“Speck” and crew put on another great show with lots of games ranging from 2821 to 3074.  I’ll have no less than three full battle reports from the convention in the near future.  Check back for more!

Grinder and Demos

While the Grinder table always seemed full the demo table was rarely used.  The normal influx of passers-by interested in a quick 10 minute demo were far and few between, no doubt due to the location of the BattleTech room.  Demo Agent “Speck” and his crew of minions did their best to bring in visitors and put up their own signs to direct people to the demo location.  No venue is perfect and this one certainly had it’s flaws.  I find it curious during my many  long walks between the Scanticon and Radisson that there were many conference rooms available or being used by other parties.  If HMGS attends Valley Forge again, I think it would be better to use these spaces to keep the game rooms closer together.

Painting Contest

BattleTech regulars took no less than three prizes in the painting contest!  Mark’s brother Dave took home honors for his Wolf’s Dragoons and TotalWar BattleMaster while Scott “Wemic9” was awarded for his museum scale Vulture. Congrats to both on their entries!

Iron Wind Metals and the Vendor Hall

Iron Wind was in attendance with Ral Partha banners on display.  Sadly, they still have not gotten their BattleArmor sorted into new bins so they were absent.  The regular assortment was on hand though and I picked up a Limited Edition TDR-10M Thunderbolt which I plan to add to my Marik roster.

I noticed a few more painted miniatures in the display case that I had not seen before.

The rest of the vendor hall was spacious and well stocked with all manner of miniatures, terrain, tools, and random wargaming goodness.  I saw many old favorites and some new faces too.

Other Games

There are always a lot of great games at Historicon.  BattleTech will always be my bread and butter, but I love showcasing some pictures of the best I saw while walking around.  Historicon is always a huge event and a great time for any wargamer.

After purchasing this particular terrain item at GenCon last year I finally got around to painting it.

Nothing fancy.  A base coat of black followed by several rounds of dry brushing using greys and metallics.  This item comes from Armorcast who has an impressive array of terrain elements that could be used for BattleTech.  They also make the cinematic effects that CamoSpec artists use quite often.

While it does not lend itself well to maps, I would imagine this would feel right at home as a blocking terrain template for QuickStrike or even ClickTech MechWarrior.

For me, I think I will use it most as added scenery for miniature pictures.

The Red Corsair is a new twist on the Turning Point PDF theme.  For the first time we have a full fledged campaign somewhere between a standard issue Turning Points PDF and a Starterbook (ala Wolf and Blake and Sword and Dragon).  I’ve been excited to get down to reading this PDF but have not had the time until recently.  I hope you all will excuse the late review.

Jason Schmetzer is at the helm for this ambitious PDF product, lets see how it all comes together!

Unexpected Guests

The opening fiction is slightly longer than typical and exciting. It well frames the situation on the ground and the confusing nature of the events surrounding Natural Selection.  Having not read the novel in question, I only have this PDF to piece the story together and it does the job well.

Atlas

Rather than a single world being summarized as in previous Turning Points, the Red Corsair takes place over five planets stretching between the Federated Commonwealth and the Clan Wolf Occupation Zone.  Each planet has it’s own Terrain Table for added authenticity.

Each planet description is an important part of the story-telling and should not be skipped especially if you have not had the luxury of reading Natural Selection.  The Red Corsair is turning into the cliff-notes version of the full length novel.

RAT

Full Random Assignment Tables are provided for the Kell Hounds, ClanWolf/Corsair, and Militia/Other.  This important addition brings this PDF much closer to a full length Starterbook.

The Path of the Corsair

In one short page the entire story is laid out from beginning to end in dry fashion.  If you have ANY intention of reading Natural Selection beforehand, skip this section (or better the entire PDF) and move on to something else.

What a story.  It has all the trappings of a page burner, too bad I have now ruined it for myself.  Not all is lost though.  My BattleCorps subscription keeps me well stocked with fiction to read!

Personalities

After the story is quickly summarized, the personalities complete with illustrations are brought to life with additional detail and interesting bits of information.

As an added bonus, there are brief snippets of RPG information for each of the three main players.  They are not anything near a complete record sheet but enough to capture the most important details.  A good GM can fill in the blanks if they ever had to urge to run a Corsair RPG adventure or in any way mix RPG elements into the Turning Points Campaign.

Combatants

Thank goodness they continue to use a sane method of skill level as presented in HTP:Galtor and not the ever confusing number system devised for the other Jihad Turning Point books.

Each unit is given an experience, RAT, an optional ability, and some notes that give additional flavor to the unit.  A tried and true formula for the TP series.

The Red Corsair Campaign

The campaign is broken up into two parts familiar to owners of either Starterbook.  There are the generic missions and the Touchpoints.  The generic missions are the appetizers to the Touchpoint main course.  I’ll touch on each separately.

For generic missions, we have four, Strike, Defend, Assault and Interdict.  The first three are tracks taken from the Starterbook series with a slightly different mix of optional bonuses and objectives.  Each retains the flavor of their predecessor.  I noticed an interesting change to Strike.  The building scanning objective was taken down a notch in difficulty.  In Wolf and Blake a ‘Mech without a probe must spend two turns scanning.  Now the requirement is only 1 turn.  Probes give you an increased scanning distance.

Interdict is the only completely new addition to the wartrack party and I like it.  It has very interesting objectives (I’m looking at you Interdiction) and challenging bonuses.  It’s a welcome addition to the Chaos Campaign tool chest and I will be very interested in playing it out to see how well the mission flows.

Next up are the Touchpoints, six of them including one aerospace. Each Touchpoint takes place on (or near) different planets during crucial points in the Red Corsair story.  Assuming you take only 1 generic mission between each Touchpoint, you are looking at 11 to 12 missions for the entire campaign.  That will make for a very healthy campaign that will keep you busy for several gaming sessions.  This PDF is looking more and more worth the $8 price tag.

The Touchpoints are a tad disappointing but not without their stars.  I loved the Not So Fast objective which places a premium on destroying targets under specific circumstances.  That said, the majority of the objectives involved some variation of “kill the other guy”.  The optional bonuses were very often confused with optional rules.  In my mind, optional rules and terrain are just that, optional, and should not be an add-on for bonus points during a campaign.

There is something to be said though about making the missions match the canon.  When you are crafting campaign stops along a predetermined story arc I can understand how history may become inadvertent shackles.  While not the most diverse and imaginative tracks I’ve read, the story behind them is so enthralling that I can’t help but forgive the lack of creativity and instead bask in the knowledge that there now exists an easy way to live the story instead of just reading about it in a novel.

Record Sheets

Two record sheets are provided for the unit commanders of the Corsairs and the 31st Wolf.

The Red Corsair pilots a custom BattleMaster (using unseen art for the ‘Mech image!) littered with Clan technology.  It’s a very dangerous combination of long and medium range energy weapons which will have to be bracketed to avoid serious overheating.

The Wolf leader pilots a Man ‘o War which remains characteristically under armored and under armed to make up for the above average speed on the assault class Omni.  The weapons mix of 2 PPCs and 2 Streak-6 make for an excellent combination.  Open up holes with the PPCs and then fill them in with the SRMs.

And All the Rest

I really liked the Red Corsair and believe it is worth the slightly higher price point.  This PDF is an excellent campaign for any gaming group and works well as a tool for Demo Agents or established BattleTech groups.

Even after reading through the whole PDF I was relieved that there still were a few questions left hanging.  While the PDF holds many spoilers there are some interesting anomalies that are never fully explained.  Perhaps Natural Selection will be the next BattleTech novel I get my hands on with the hope that there will be a few answers within its pages.

Strategic Operations here I come!

It’s been a while coming but I’ve finally gotten around to painting up my first set of WarShips in FWL colors.  Not a bad start, but could be better.  I’ve got a armada worth of microfighters that I need to add to the force but just couldn’t wait to put these ships up.

The base of each ship is Cold Grey with Stonewall Grey highlights.  The purple bands are Hexed Lichen.  There are a few Gunmetal details and the aft thrusters are a common mix of blues.  Very simple paint scheme that is not too hard to put together quickly.  Lets hope the microfighters go well.

The speckled star pattern on the base of each ship was created by dipping a toothbrush in white paint and flicking it.  Quick and easy and looks great to boot.

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!

…well almost.  It looks like their site has been overwhelmed.

“While I think the ‘by hand’ note taking is effective for a turn based strategy game, its hardly the epitome of the kind of mechanized violence inherit in Battletech. The dynamic visuals and sound effects of the Mechwarrior and Mechassault series manage to highlight this best, and replace the somewhat detached strategic emphasis of the original with more visceral tactical experience.”

(Soon) You can download Mechwarrior 4 for FREE from MekTek.net. Grab their content download program MTX and click the /Games Available\ tab, select MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries and [install].  They have already made major contributions where past updates included:

• 75+ New Mechs
• 80+ New Weapons
• Dozens of New Maps
• 6 New Infantry
• A New Game Browser
• Anti-Cheat Mechanisms
• Offering free hosting for a (hopefully soon to be) MW4 league

FYI:

• MekPaks were updates for MW4:Mercs
• Mechwarrior: Living Legend (Crysis) is a  mods that is in open beta!
• Assault Tech 1: Battletech (v2.3.0 released Oct ’09) is MW2 reborn, not a mod.  It is free, but multiplayer is not available yet.
• Total Battletech (Total Annihilation) and Battletech: The Capellan Solution (C&C Generals) are BT themed mods but further development is on hold.
• Battlemech Hanger (BF 2142) is a mod not yet available.
• For those not paying attention to the MW5 news because the stress of anticipation would kill you… Harmony Gold stirred up some 13 year old copyright trouble.  At least that’s the last I’ve heard anyway.

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’ve received some very helpful feedback on my Chaos Campaign: War of 3039 PDF since it’s release.  I’ve updated the PDF and uploaded the new file to the downloads section.

The Changes

• Updated the copyright notice to Topps
• Lots of spelling and grammar edits
• Added more salvage and more generous WarChest Points

Lots of thanks go our to Steve Satak for his very thorough red ink read through.  Also George “Skyhigh” Blouin and his gaming group for being the first to respond with feedback on game play.  I’ve made some adjustments that give the Players more breathing room.  I may have been a bit harsh when I first sat down to write all of the objectives and bonuses.

Stay tuned as my next Chaos Campaign is not that fall away.  I get a kick out of writing them and hearing back from readers really motivates me.

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded a copy!

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!

GenCon is not that far away if you think about it.  The events list is already up and available for browsing.  Catalyst will be hosting an impressive line up once again including some very interesting new additions.  Here is a quick run down of what to expect in Indy this year.

I hope you can make it if you can.  If you can’t you can rest assured that you’ll find loads of content here at the ScrapYard.

Boot Camp and Pilot’s Lounge

The bootcamp is the first stop for any player who is new to the game.  If you have a friend who is interested in the game, they will find excellent instructors ready and willing to walk you through the basics of movement, firing and basic strategy.

Bootcamps are available from 10AM to 5PM each day except Sunday.

The Pilot’s Lounge is new this year and is essentially the same thing as the Bootcamp just in a different location.  From my reading of the description, these games will be in close proximity to the ‘Mech Pods that were all the rave last year.

Grinder

The Grinder is a staple at GenCon.  Grinders are available from 10AM to Midnight Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Sunday things wind down at noon, but most people are making last minute purchases in the dealer hall and heading to flights anyways.

The Grinder is a great way to kill a few hours if you ever find yourself with some unexpected time on your hands.  Multiple tables in use make sure each battle stays fast and furious.  Bring your generic tickets along for this event.

Lance Battles

Lance Battles is a new event that is an intermediate step between the grinder and the canon events.  Each player controls a lance in a grinder style free for all where lance tactics are taught and practiced.  It’s a great idea for those who may need a little more encouragement before stepping into a bigger event.

There are only 4 occurrences of this event, two on Friday and two on Saturday.  As of the writing of this post over half of the available tickets are already gone which bodes well for this event becoming a more permanent fixture at GenCon.

The Liberation of Terra

This year’s canon event takes place on Terra where Stone’s Coalition force aims to put the final nail in the Word of Blake’s coffin.

After years of the Jihad, Stone’s Coalition has arrived on Terra. Stone’s Allied Coalition takes on the Word of Blake in a large battle for Cairo, where one of Wob’s Castle Brian is located. This city must be taken if Stone is to win Terra. The Allied forces are dropping near the Castle Brian in an effort to establish a small base of operations.

Each instance of this big game is four hours long.  The games run all convention long and the maps and miniatures are not reset following the conclusion of each block.  There are always reinforcements to make sure everyone gets a fair chance to play, but as the body count racks up, the writers will be taking notes.  Results from last GenCon ended up in the Jihad Turning Points Dieron PDF release.

Flight School

Another new event this year is the Flight School.  Each player will pilot an Aerospace fighter in a low altitude dog fight.  Air superiority is on the line.

This event is the fruit of a trial event held last year after hours at GenCon (see my very brief Aerospace Lives! review from last year’s GenCon).  Low altitude combat is one of the often overlooked gems of Total Warfare.  All rules are taught and the games promise to be fast and fun.  I hope it does well as I had a great time playing last year.

Flight school is only available Friday and Saturday from 2PM to 7PM.

Solaris Melee Challenge

Back again this year is the Solaris Melee Challenge, a multi-day competition to rack up fame and fortune in hopes of making into the finals on Saturday evening.

Each time slot for this event is an opportunity to gain money and “fame” by scoring critical hits, destroying opponents, or otherwise appeasing the crowds.  Physical attacks are encouraged and it is in your best interest to keep the pace fast.

I played quite a bit in the Solaris arenas last year at GenCon and I had a lot of fun.  My editor SaxyWolf actually made it into the finals but wasn’t in a competitive enough ‘Mech to make the most of it.  Words of wisdom; have a plan but be prepared to go full throttle if you find yourself lacking targets.  You can’t afford to be cautious in this game.

Regular melee events run 10AM to 8PM Thursday and Friday with the finals held at 4PM Saturday.  There are only 2 regular slots available Saturday before the finals which offer the last opportunity to rack up points to make it to the finals.

BattleTech Open

The BattleTech open is the closest thing this game has to an official tournament system.  Pity it is only once a year.  What ever happened to the Martial Olympiad anyways?

I like the changes they have made to the system last year and hope that we have more good things to look forward too.  The game starts at 11Am on Saturday and lasts 6 hours.  That makes for 3 battles in different categories; Inner Sphere Tournament, Clan Tournament, and Inner Sphere Introductory.  Each round you have to pick a ‘Mech pairing from those provided by the organizers.

Big bragging rights go to the winner of the tournament!

Grand Melee

This GenCon staple will be hosted on Thursday from 2PM to 10PM.  Only the strong will survive in this free for all for the prize of a Blood Name.  Last year the blood name Kerensky was given away to one lucky fan along with some impressive hardware.  Only the strongest will survive.

Seminars

There are two seminars on Friday starting at 11AM that will be of interest for BattleTech fans.  The first two hour slot focuses on Catalyst Game Labs in general.  A third hour focuses on BattleTech in particular.

I am expecting a lot of hard questions to come out of the seminars this year.  I plan on being in attendance with many of my own questions but I hope that Catalyst will take the initiative and provide closure to the obvious concerns of the community.

Battle the Masters

For the second year in a row the Masters will be in attendance to mix it up with the BattleTech masses.  The formula is simple; pick your favorite ‘Mech and see how it does against the best the Developers muster.

This event is scheduled for Saturday night starting at 10PM and goes into the early hours of Sunday morning.  A fitting end to the convention.