ScrapYard Armory

Wow, this is a story I wish I had done.  Purple Pawn takes an in depth look at Iron Wind Metals with pictures of their base of operations.

A must read for any BattleTech fan!

IWM creates the figures to match new technologies, arms, humans, and vehicles as defined, described, and illustrated by Catalyst Game Labs. In the past, such as when IWM was working alongside FanPro LLC, IWM would have to figure out what was new by looking at the new product catalogs put out by FanPro LLC. Nowadays, CGL gives IWM a heads up over what’s new before their new products hit the public.

Original Article

This battle was played during Dreamation 2010 in Mt Morris NJ.  Thanks go to Anthony “ShadHawk” Hardenburgh for the great mission, map and minis!

Clan Hells Horses

• Fenris
• Dasher
• Koshi
• 2 Epona Pursuit Vehicles
• 2 Hephaestus Scout Tanks
• 5 Points of Elementals

Clan Nova Cats

• ShadowCat
• ShadowCat
• Dragonfly
• Uller
• Puma
• 5 Points of Elementals

Mission Objectives:

• Recon the main buildings in the city – Recon units include elementals and any unit with active probes
• Escape the city with the data to fight another day

Turn 1 – Nova Cats Win Initiative

Both forces move towards their objectives.  Very few shots are within range and none of those have line of sight.

Turn 2 – Hells Horses Win Initiative

Each force moves up carefully and begin dropping elementals next to objectives.  Again there are no shots but this time it is due to no line of sight and not necessarily range that is the culprit.

Hells Horses leave the Fenris behind to scan a building, sacrificing position for an early objective advantage.

Turn 3 – Nova Cats Win Initiative

The first objectives are finished scanning this turn and movement forward continues.  Positioning is becoming crucial as more weapons begin to get in range, however all weapons miss their targets.

Turn 4 – Hells Horses Win Initiative

Combat is inevitable.  One of the Nova Cat ShadowCats activates MASC only to have it fail causing critical damage to a hip and a leg actuator on the other leg.  The other ShadowCat moves to support causing the Hells Horses to duck behind cover to avoid engaging.

On the other side of the battle, the Hells Horses push to attack the Nova Cat Uller using the buildings to cover their vehicles.  The Fenris is bringing up the flank and positions for a long range shot.

Weapons fire goes disastrously for the Nova Cats.  The only bright spot was a solid Gauss Rifle hit to the center torso of the Hells Horses Koshi.

The Hells Horses weapons hit often, including a long range ERPPC from the Fenris.  The Dragonfly receives several critical hits to it’s right arm, destroying a SRM4.  The Uller has it’s right torso ripped off, which takes out the offending Gauss Rifle in its right arm.

Turn 5 – Nova Cats Win Initiative

The Nova Cats continue to press and manage to line up a rear shot on the Fenris.  The Hells Horses Dasher backs up the Fenris forming a small conga line.  The Hells Horses vehicles move quickly to attack targets of opportunity.

All the while, elementals from both Clans are fighting in one of the objective buildings.

The Nova Cat Uller and the Horses Koshi mutually kill each other.  The Puma who is slowly getting into the action is hit from behind by an Epona.  The Horses vehicles continue to defy the odds and are kept safe by continuing to move fast.

In the conga line, damage is done to each member except the Dasher.  The Dasher, however, causes the only critical hit destroying an arm actuator in the DragonFly.

The wounded ShadowCat loses it’s balance and falls after sustaining heavy damage, slowing the ‘Mech down even more.

Turn 6 – Hells Horses Win Initiative

The Nova Cat Puma makes a bold move and rushes to an objective building and drops an elemental squad.  The Horses are quick to pounce and line up four units with rear shots.  While the wounded ShadowCat is harassed by elementals the other makes a run to help the out maneuvered Puma and manages to gain line of sight to the Fenris’ rear arc.

The Dasher and DragonFly both seek cover, each not willing to risk damage without a significant advantage.  They scatter to very safe locations away from the main fray.

The ShadowCat with the broken MASC is blistered by elemental SRMs and can’t return fire successfully.  The other ShadowCat has better luck and rips through the Fenris’ armor on the left torso and cuts deep into the internal structure. The Puma takes too much damage from too many units and has a leg ripped out from under him.  One of the Hephaestus Scout Tanks runs low on luck and takes massive motive damage rendering it immobile.

In the objective building under contention, the Nova Cats take a decisive advantage on damage dealt.

Turn 7 – Hells Horses Win Initiative

With the initiative advantage, the Horses begin to back away from the downed Puma putting distance between them and the approaching ShadowCat that damaged the Fenris last turn.  The Nova Cat DragonFly and ShadowCat sandwich a Horses elemental.  The Dasher takes advantage of the wide open DragonFly and lines up a rear shot.

The Horses move another point of elementals to replace forces lost in the contested building.

Elementals continue to kill each other with lasers and machine guns.  The other Hephaestus Scout Tank takes motive damage but not rendering it too slow to escape.  The Dasher makes the most of his position and cores the Nova Cat DragonFly.

At this point, the Nova Cats see the writing on the wall and begin to withdraw from the battle to lick their wounds.  Hells Horses hold a 5 to 3 objective advantage and have destroyed or crippled 3 ‘Mechs while suffering only one ‘Mech destroyed and an immobile hover tank.

This year I only had time to visit Dreamation on Saturday.  Even though I was only in attendance for a single day I had a great time mixing it up with fellow BattleTech fans (some new some old) as well as giving some new and interesting games a try.

The dealer room was well stocked with gamer goodness and the usual suspects were in attendance with all the Iron Wind Metal and Catalyst Game Labs product you could want.

Dexposure conventions are known for their diversity.  Every gamer is going to find something to enjoy.  I came for the wargaming room but there were many temptations for those with varied tastes.  Available are video games, board games, war games, anime showings, card games, and plenty of sweet treats for those looking for it.

I was disappointed by the cramped war gaming room.  It was simply not enough space for the many games being played.  The most cramped war gaming venue I have ever attended and that’s a fact.  I would hope that the convention organizers will provide a more spacious room for future cons at that venue.

Enough of the basics, lets see what BattleTech fans had to look forward to.

Recon Cavalry

Two Clan forces faced off in a battle for intelligence on a far away planet.

This was a well balanced fight with a lot of action and eventually a clear winner inside of seven turns.  A great convention game accomplished in three hours and change.  I plan on writing up a full after action report shortly.  Look for the full report here at the ScrapYard.

City Fight

I chose to participate in another game during this time slot so I won’t be able to have a full report.  I did snap some pictures as the game evolved.  Looked like another great game by Demo Agent “ShadHawk”.

The fight was a combined arms battle between the Federated Suns and the Word of Blake.  The Fed Suns put up a good fight but the Word of Blake got ahead of the body count and came away with a decisive win.  The Word of Blake are always hard opponents on the battle field.  Good match by both participants.

All the Rest

There were some great terrain pieces on display during the convention.  Picture are the only thing that do them justice.  Take a look below for pictures of the terrain as well as other games I managed to snap a few pictures of.

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.

In a surprise move, Catalyst unleashed a new PDF product based off of the Jihad Turning Points series format.  This time around, the developers chose to take a look back to the Succession Wars.

In the credits the writer Geoff Swift mentions in his special thanks that this is the kick off for the Historical Turning Points series.  Suffice to say we can look forward to many more Historical PDFs in the future!

Opening Fiction

In The Deep opens up the first Historical Touchpoint with a peak into the defense of the secret Davion underwater command center.  While not the most action packed short fiction, it provides a nice introduction to the mindset of the Davion command.  So arrogant.  So self assured.  Nothing a few DEST agents can’t fix!

Galtor III

The Atlas section gives a quick history lesson of Galtor III with mapsheet tables that recommend terrain for battles.  Suggested TacOps add-ons round out the terrain information of the planet.

All together this is what we have come to expect from the Turning Point series.  No surprises so far.

Combatants

In the combatants section we find the first major departure from the Jihad series.  Instead of listing the experience in the awkward number system employed by its predecessors, Galtor uses the more traditional (and easier to understand) system familiar to most BattleTech players by listing the unit as Green, Regular, Veteran, or Elite.

Galtor also includes 3025 faction specific RAT tables to augment those found in Total Warfare and other sources.  A heavy emphasis is placed on making things work for your game.

Each force description, unfortunately, does not include the Notes information that we see in the Jihad series.  I think this is a mistake as I loved looking through the necessarily brief but interesting nuggets of fiction.  Its omission from the Historical Series takes away from the experience.  The units seem to have less character leaving the section dull.  Too much dry information, not enough flavor.

Most interesting unit ability goes to the Seventh Sword of Light for their melee prowess and the accompanying thought provoking ability.  A very good use of player choice in a special ability.

The Tracks

Galtor offers up a generous seven tracks with a tangible anti-Chaos Campaign feel.  These missions are designed to be played as stand alone scenarios instead of a coherent series.

From the mega-fauna of Derry Bay to the explosives laden Star League Depot there are an intelligent array of objectives, bonuses, and special rules within each track. With the exception of Galtorian Nights, the Galtor tracks are well prepared and thoughtful.  Possibly the best of all the Turning Point series.  Well done Geoff Swift!

Played as one-off scenarios you will find plenty of fun battles inside these pages.  This product is the true successor to the scenario packs of old.

Record Sheets

The record sheet section gives us seven designs which happen to include two mediocre (but scenario significant) submarines.  A Hunter Killer Neptune variant provides some extra teeth to an old favorite.  Each faction gets two signature ‘Mechs.  Among the four new ‘Mech offerings not a single one is heat-neutral.  Ah the Succession Wars, how we miss you!

The Combine gets a Dragon and an Atlas.  The Dragon has a curious variety of weapons for almost every range bracket.  The Atlas is a very simple three weapon monster.  I like this Atlas for it’s one-two short range-long range punch.

The Davions don’t hold back with a Thunderbolt (featuring unseen artwork!) and a Marauder (displayed in 3039 silhouette). The TBolt is an Ontos Tank with legs!  The frightening array of medium lasers is tempered by it’s nominal speed.  The Marauder has an impressive mix of weapons that would never be fired all at once during normal fighting, but they lend themselves very well to bracket fire.

Overall the ‘Mechs have good style and add spice to the Galtor scenarios.

The Final Word

The first in the Historical Turning Point series impresses me.  It provided additional detail where appropriate (dedicated RATs, cleaner unit skill presentation) while keeping true to the Turning Points format.  The only slip up is the exclusion of the extra fluff we come to expect in the Combatants section.

The excellent series of Tracks (seven in total, a feat matched only by JTP: Atreus) are some of the best I have seen and make this product a must have for the Succession Wars era player and anyone who likes the Chaos Campaign format.  If you have been clamoring for a break from the Jihad, Catalyst has listened.  Time to make good on your intentions, skip the value menu and slap down a Lincoln for this PDF.  You will not be disappointed.

The irony of it all is that the Historical series would probably not be possible without the prior success of the Jihad Turning Points series.  The early success of JTP: Luthien paved the way for the many Historical products that are surely in the pipeline.

This battle was fought using the RPG combat rules from A Time of War (which was still in beta at the time, it has since been officially released).  Both players had a squad of seven characters based on the sample characters provided in the RPG rule book.  The mapsheets and figures were used from the original BattleTroops box set.

Playing through this game gave me a lot of ideas.  Combined with the enhancements that came out of the RPG beta period, I think we have a very good candidate for a BattleTroops 2.0 game.  More on that later but first, lets get into the action!

This is the first mission in the original BattleTroops box set.  The objective is not to rack up the body count but instead break through to the opposite side of the map.  Victory points are awarded for surviving soldiers that exit off the map prior to turn 12.

Quick Note: Yellow Chips = STUN, Red Chips = BLEEDING, Blue Chips = HOLDING ACTION

Turn 1

The Davions rush forward two down the center, three to the north and two entering a building near their deployment zone.  The Liaos sprint four soldiers around the southern flank while two stay put to take shots at the approaching Davions.  A lone soldier sprints to the north towards the larger group of Davions.

One of the Davions who sprinted up the center of the battlefield was cut down when rifle and blazer equipped Liaos walked out from cover and did heavy damage causing bleeding and unconsciousness.  Not a great start for the Davions.

Turn 2

The Davions continue working inside buildings leaving two soldiers in the open in the center corridor of the battle.  They trade fire with the two Liao soldiers who have not ventured far from their deployment zone.  The Davions miss while the Liaos hit once at long range.  The bleeding Davion from the prior turn’s fire succumbs to his injuries.

The group of southern flanking Liao take some long range shots across the battlefield but do not connect.

Turn 3

The Davion in the middle of the battle holds his position and fires at the group of flanking Liao to his south.  In one well rolled volley, an SMG carrying Combat Tech is killed instantly by the Blazer wielding Davion.  The rest of the Liao don’t bother firing back and instead run behind or into the nearest building getting closer to the objective.  The Davions in the area work themselves out of the building and toss grenades past the corner of the building mildly injuring one Liao soldier.

Near the center of the battle, another grenade toss, this time by a Liao, is much more devastating.  The throw goes long but it bounces back into the intended targets.  One Davion is severely wounded while another takes mostly fatigue damage thanks to his armor.  The last Davion in the area is too far away and his armor absorbs all of the damage.

Turn 4

In the middle of the battle the Liao soldiers begin to fan out around the building and pick off Davions who can’t roll well enough to return fire successfully.  Another grenade is well tossed in the middle of an already wounded group of Davions.  The results are devastating.  One Davion dies while the others are stunned and bleeding.

Towards the south, the Davions begin moving towards the objective edge while one holds action to cover their retreat.  A Liao soldier tries to make a break for it and sprints past the Davion’s field of view.  The Davion reacts quickly and rips the Liao apart with a well rolled hail of bullets.

Turn 5

To the north, the Liao soldiers begin cleaning up, putting the wounded out of their misery while selectively holding action to cover the middle corridor.  The remaining Davions sprint from their positions using buildings for cover.  The last Davion holds action to possibly take out any Liao foolish enough to cross his path but in the end sprints to meet his comrades.

Turn 6

With a clear path to their objectives in sight, the remaining Liao and Davions move solomly towards their respective map edges.

In a final bold move, a Davion finds an opportunity to round a building corner and shoot a Liao in the back.  He hits but doesn’t do enough damage to take the soldier out of commission.  The Liao un-stuns and dashes to cover.  The last shot is fired and done.

Aftermath

Lots of fun and it appeared that grenades are a killer tool when used correctly.  Also, I think you need to always be aware of the threat and use a 5m spread for all engagements.  Keeping your soldiers too tight is just asking for a grenade toss in your general direction.

Victory in this game goes to the Liao player with five live soldiers to three.

Catalyst has released a slew of updated PDFs in the last week.  Here is the short list of the ones I know of.

• Chaos Campaign Rules
• Total Warfare
• TRO: 3075
• A Time of War

If you previously bought these as PDFs you can get the updated downloads NOW from BattleCorps.

I am most anxious to dive into the updated Time of War rules and see what changes made it into the final version.

Also releasing yesterday were Turning Points Galtor and QuickStrike Cards.

Time to get your game on.  Lock and load.

The convention season is almost ready to get started.  Here is the short list of events that I am planing on attending this year.

Dreamation – Feb 18-21

Dreamation will be in Morristown NJ.  The PEL is almost ready to be released, (around Feb 8th).  Dexsposure conventions are known for their diverse lineup of games from historical to sci-fi.  That includes BattleTech where in the past up to four different Commando’s/Gamers host events.

Another great thing about Dexposure Cons is the constant supply of candy, cookies, chips, and carbonated beverages available in the Con Suite, all for free with your registration.

Cold Wars – March 11-14

The first HMGS event of the year will be in Lancaster Pa.  Expect plenty of BattleTech to play and a wealth of other great games.  Lancaster is a tried and true venue and despite it’s faults always puts on a great show.

Historicon – July 8-11

Historicon was on the verge of making a drastic venue change to Baltimore but things fell through and the event will now be held in Valley Forge Pa.  Regardless of the destination, Historicon has a well deserved reputation for one of the largest and best dealer rooms, second only to GenCon.  I would argue though, that the density of wargamer specific sellers make Historicon the better deal.  That and the con food is much more reasonable.

As with all HMGS events, Mark “Speck” Yeungling will be on hand with his crew to bash ‘Mechs all convention long!  Mark does a great show every time I’ve been in attendance.

I don’t have any experience with the Valley Forge location so it will be an exciting trip.

GenCon – August 5-8

The mother of all conventions, GenCon is the place to be every summer!  Expect more good things from the folks at Catalyst who are now a bigger player in the industry.

GenCon is an experience and something every gamer has to do at least once.

And Maybe More?

That leaves quite a gap after GenCon and I’ll be on the look out for a local convention that I could attend easily that is reasonably affordable.  If you know of a convention featuring BattleTech in the NJ, Connecticut, Massachusetts area drop me a line and let me know.

Don’t know exactly when it happened but the BattleTroops styled figures from the box sets of old are available ala-carte at the Iron Wind Metals website.

These miniatures are perfect companions for the RPG rules.  Anyone interested in a tactical infantry game in the 31st century would also find many uses for them.

These figures first appeared as boxed sets in the FASA days.  Having them available for regular purchase on the web store is great news.  Looks like these went online October of last year so I may be behind the ball.  But hey, it’s news to me!  For those out there who may have been looking, they are available at last.

Suggested Accessories

• Pack and Grenade Spur
• SMG Spur
• Assault Weapon Spur

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner is the first mission in the Chaos Unbound campaign found in Dawn of the Jihad (now available as Blake Ascending).   Starting out, we selected a force of 2,000 points to take us through the whole campaign.

The mission at hand is a stealth raid on a warehouse facility owned by Kallon Industries.  The reasons don’t matter, only the money does.  The Defenders are a rag tag Merc unit made up of mostly infantry and vehicles.  Not a bad gig if you can pull it off right.  For this mission we can only use 25% of our total force.  For 500 points here is what we get:

• Thor
• BlackHawk
• JES III Missile Carrier
• DI Morgan Assault Tank

Objectives and Bonuses

The objectives are simple.  Destroy four buildings (selected at random and kept hidden from the player) and kill everything in your way.  With only infantry and vehicles to defend it should be a cake walk.

Available bonuses include Blizzard, Electrical Storm, and Overwhelming Force.  Each of these would only inhibit our ability to destroy and maim the Opposing Forces so none are taken.

Campaign Adjustments

• Buildings (CF 25) will be 5 clicks to destroy

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner

Turns 1 – 3

All of the mercenary units begin to move closer with the infantry leading the (slow) charge towards the attacking Dragon’s Fury force.

In response, the Dragon’s Fury army is content to sit tight and pummel the approaching the infantry with long range attacks, crippling or outright killing several infantry.  The BlackHawk meanwhile stalks to the east of the city, drawing a formation of infantry to follow.

Hovercraft get closer but stay just out of reach, positioning themselves for a rapid unified attack.  Both Dragon’s Fury ‘Mechs are running hot as they attempt to get ahead of the body count early in the game.

Turns 4 – 5

The Defenders lurch forward and manage to base every attacking figure except the BlackHawk.  All of a sudden the “sit back and wait” approach is not looking too good!  The Dragon’s Fury takes a turn causing as much damage as possible before the inevitable.  The DI Schmitt Tank deals heavy damage to a JES I Missile Carrier and two Kage Battle Armor bite the dust.

An errant artillery round from the Defender’s Thumper scatters right on top of a friendly infantry, killing them.

Turns 6 – 7

The wounded JES I pushes for a last gasp attack and critically hits the Dragon’s Fury DI Schmitt!  Infantry continue to harass and maneuver for rear shots on the attacking vehicles.  The Black Hawk to the east continues it’s cat and mouse game away from the main action.

On turn 7 another artillery round crashes down off target and kills another friendly, this time the JES I.  The defending Condor tank finally draws blood and weakens the Dragon’s Fury JES III with a solid hit.

The BlackHawk continues to put distance between himself and the pursuing infantry, heating up the whole way.

Turns 8 – 9

A Merc Bellona Tank hits the Dragon’s Fury DI Schmitt and it’s not looking good.  Both Dragon’s Fury ‘Mechs are on the run and pausing only to vent excess heat when absolutely necessary.  So far they are one step ahead.

The JES III also takes a nasty hit from the Merc Condor.  At the end of turn 9 the BlackHawk fails to break away from the infantry at it’s feet.

Turns 10 – 11

The Merc artillery finally earns it’s keep and rolls high enough to spell the end for the Dragon’s Fury DI Schmitt.

The BlackHawk fails a second break attempt and is heating up again.

The Thor finally starts to damage nearby buildings while venting when possible to stay mobile.

Turns 12 – 13

The pursuing infantry take their opportunity and hit the BlackHawk on a push.  The BlackHawk shakes off the damage, breaks and runs for his life!

The Thor destroys the first building while evading the Merc DI Schmitt and momentarily shuts down due to over heating.

Turns 14 to the End

All of the units left on the field are maneuvering around trying to get the upper hand.  The BlackHawk pushes to crush the Bellona Tank with a melee attack, and nullifies its offensive capability.

Nearby vehicles ram the Thor unsuccessfully while the Bellona Tank pushes to shoot at the BlackHawk but misses.

The Thor crumbles another building once it starts up again and dances to cover keeping the Merc DI Schmitt out of sight.

The Infantry continue to harass the BlackHawk while the Bellona Tank pushes too hard trying to get in one last shot and destroys itself.  Outpacing the remaining infantry threat, the BlackHawk pauses to vent or single out lone infantry squads.

The Thor continues to spread damage around to the buildings while avoiding damage from the dangerous DI Schmitt.  Eventually the opportunity presents itself when the DI Schmitt over extends itself and cannot escape the Thor who takes advantage of the DI Schmitt’s minimum range.  The DI Schmitt starts to fade quickly after the Thor begins to pummel it.

With only infantry and severely damaged combat vehicles in the way, the BlackHawk and Thor run the table and clear off the remaining buildings and defenders.

Finishing the Campaign

The mission was a success but the price was high.  After paying the track cost (300 WP) both objectives were achieved (+200 WP).  Salvage from the mission was worth 38 WP but repairs for both ‘Mechs and the destroyed vehicles will run 74 WP total.  That leaves our final Warchest balance at 864 (1,000{starting WP} – 300{track cost} + 200{objectives} – 74{repairs} + 38{salvage}).

Looks like I should ahve taken some of those optional bonuses after all!

In the repair calculations below, the 2.5 is my Force Size Modifier (2,000 / 800).  See my previous post Chaos Campaign:  Mechwarrior Conversion which describes FSM in more detail.

REPAIRS

SALVAGE