ScrapYard Armory

Iron Wind Metals has a lot of surprises on it’s website.  One item you won’t likely see in your local gaming store is the new Interstellar Radar Dish.  To the regular Battletech player the image is iconic.  It’s not some run of the mill radar dish, but a Hyper Pulse Generator station.

The sculpt looks stunning.  I picked mine up at Cold Wars in Lancaster Pa at the Iron Wind Metals booth.  You can get your own on the Iron Wind Metals website.

The full kit is made up of resin and pewter parts that come together to form the full terrain piece.  The resin pieces seem to be cast from an original that was made in a prototyping machine.  There are long concentric rings around the dish that are very obvious up close.  Not a huge problem although I can see how those rings would be accentuated by dry brushing.  Keep this in mind when you paint yours.

The pewter pieces come together rather easily.  The only issue besides the obvious flash and casting trim is the center dish antenna.  It is made up of two pieces that don’t come together as cleanly as one would hope.  You will need some green stuff in order to patch up this defect before priming and painting.

The dish counterweights (the round things sticking out the back) were a bit tricky to glue together and were also two pieces.  In the end, I used a wad of green stuff to stick them together.

I painted my own piece rather quickly and am only marginally satisfied with my work.  The primer coat was not ideal, but I pressed on so I could finish the project.  No sense keeping such a fine sculpt on my desk collecting dust.  I’ve got plans for this little dish after all.

The HPG terrain piece can be used as mere decoration or as something more elaborate as a centerpiece of an objective based scenario.  Here are a few ideas on how to incorporate this terrain in your own games.  Use the large base for hexless terrain games but do without on a standard hex map.  Both styles look great and accommodate large and small games alike.

• Scan the Target / Send a Message

The attacking force needs to send a message out and to get a ‘Mech within communication distance (usually 3 or 4 hexes, 6 if the ‘Mech has an active probe) for two consecutive turns in order to transmit the data to/from the station.  During those turns no ranged combat attacks may be made by the scanning unit.

• Seek and Destroy

The HPG must go down.  Give it a hefty construction factor ( > 100 CF) and send in the troops to either defend it or destroy it.  As an interesting twist, use the shielding rules from Tactical Operations (page 19).  Another option is to impose a rule where the attacking force may NOT target the HPG if there is an enemy ‘Mech in range with a to-hit number of seven or less.  This kind of rule will result in some interesting decisions by both Attacker and Defender.

• Extraction

You have a spy on the inside and he needs to get out before his cover is blown.  Your force is tasked to get him out in one piece.  Follow the extraction scenario in Total Warfare (page 260) but limit the spy placement to within 6 hexes of the HPG.

Unique terrain is a great way to spice up your games.  I’d love to hear your ideas on how to use this piece in a campaign or scenario.

NJCon 2009 is getting close and the preliminary events list is up at the convention website.  I will be running three games this year, two grinders and Twilight of the Clans.  Both events are ones I ran last year, but if you weren’t at NJCon last year, you have a lot to see.

The Grinder will make use of Mechwarrior figures on an oversize (2″) hex mat with hills woods, water and maybe a building or two.  Twilight of the Clans will have an impressive array of painted miniatures in fast paced games that will put you in direct control of forces on sculpted 3D terrain.  All materials for all games are provided for you so you only have to bring yourself (and a lucky pair of dice if that’s your preference).

There is finally a good reason to come to Jersey.  So come on out and blast apart a ‘Mech or two!

Friday Evening, 6pm-10pm
FE-7: Battletech Grinder
Description: Leap into action with the Grinder! The Grinder is a fast paced game of armored combat in the 31st century. Battle it out in an every ‘Mech for itself brawl!
No experience required. Rules taught. All materials provided.
Club or Sponsor: http://www.ScrapYardArmory.com
No. of Players: 12

Saturday Morning, 9am-1pm
SM-14: Battletech Grinder
Description: Leap into action with the Grinder! The Grinder is a fast paced game of armored combat in the 31st century. Battle it out in an every ‘Mech for itself brawl! No experience required. Rules taught. All materials provided.
Club or Sponsor: http://www.ScrapYardArmory.com
No. of Players: 12

Saturday Evening, 7pm-11pm
SE-38: Twilight of the Clans: The Great Refusal (Battletech)
Description: The brave warriors of Task Force Serpent secretly made the thousand-light-year journey to the Smoke Jaguar home world of Huntress to eliminate the last of the Clan’s holdings. What they find there will test the limits of their skills, their endurance and their loyalty. Come and relive a pinnacle moment in Battletech history as the combined forces of the Inner Sphere, under the banner of the Star League, seek to end the threat of the Clan invasion once and for all. All materials provided. Some experience recommended.
Club or Sponsor: http://www.ScrapYardArmory.com
No. of Players: 12

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought to yourself or even out loud, “Wow, I’m bored, I wish we could play some Battletech but I don’t have everything I need.”

That’s horrible and I can empathize.  Battletech is a complex game by design. There are more than a few items that are required to play the game.  Sometimes you just don’t have the tools to do the job.

Until now.

What if you always kept a ready stock of Classic Battletech material on your person or within easy reach at all times?  Enough for a lance on lance beat-down or grinder ready in five minutes?  And what if this all fit conveniently into one of those manila envelopes you’ve likely seen floating around?

Materials Required

• Maps
• Some Dice
• Record Sheets
• Common tables for easy reference
• Paper counters for figures
• A Pencil or two (mechanical is best)
• An envelope for easy storage and transport

Stuck in an airport with no way out? You have a time killer within easy reach (assuming you didn’t check it)

Power outage ruined your movie night?  You have an answer to quell the boredom (so long as you have a flashlight handy).

Zombie apocalypse?  You’ll be able to wait out the bastards assuming your loved one wasn’t already bitten.

The Best Things In Life Are (inside a) Free (pdf)

Catalyst comes to the rescue with a monstrously generous pile of free PDFs that are perfect to use in a Battletech emergency kit.

• Introductory Record Sheets
• Total Warfare Charts and Tables

For counters, there is no better substitute for real miniatures than the BattleForce tokens from Strategic Operations.  Check out PRI for some great downloads featuring all the colors of the major houses.  Alternatively, BattleCorps will sell you the PDFs for around a dollar per faction.  Cut out an assortment and glue them to some stiff cardboard for a cheap but effective token.

• BattleForce Tokens by Bedwyr

No matter what way you like to play you are never more than five minutes from a game if you are prepared.

Just this month illustrator David White leaked some images on his blog that were very interesting.  He is responsible for a lot of the art work that went into the MechWarrior 4 video game.

The art is amazing.  But 3063?  It seems like such an odd year since we have already received TRO 3075.  3063 would be sandwiched between TRO3060 and TRO3067 making it a Civil War era release.  Why would we backtrack to this particular era when there is still such a wide gap to fill between the Jihad and the Dark Age?

Interestingly enough the post title was changed sometime today.  Google cache still has both post titles as Battletech TRO:3063 Commissions.  Here is a sample of the original post text that was recently removed.

I had a little down time recently while I was waiting for project approvals so I looked for some work to fill the gap. I contacted the people responsible for the recent Battletech Technical Readouts and asked if they needed anyone to draw some mechs. Sure enough, they needed some more help so now we are working together. Thanks Steven!!!

Two out of the four ‘Mechs mentioned contain Stealth armor.  Stealth armor just so happens to have been released in 3063 by the Capellans.  Oversight, coincidence, or something all together stranger?

POST UPDATE: Check out the comments for some clarifications from the man himself, David White!

It’s finally here!

After a long wait my new mat has finally arrived.  You can’t imagine how happy I was to see it waiting for me after work.

The mat is gorgeous.  The star pattern and nebula artwork are stunning.  To see it in person is something pictures cannot do justice to.

One Good Side Deserves Another

And, oh by the way, it’s double sided.  That’s right, on one side I have 1.5″ hexes for aerospace fighter dog fights and furballs.  On the other is 1″ hexes to add the extra space required for the long range weaponry of Warships.

I love having the flexibility and just can’t wait to play out my first battles in space.

Games To Play

I’ve got a list of games and After Action Reports dying to be written.  After such a long wait I’m excited to finally get a chance to round up some Aerospace figures for a proper space battle.

• Aerospace Grinder aka The Furball
• A proper Warship battle
• Case White anyone? (using new BattleForce rules of course)

The Troubling Thing Is

I ordered this mat in December of last year.  For a while Hotz didn’t even respond to emails requesting status.  After paying so much good money I expected better service.  I got so worried in fact that I made a post about it earlier this year after hearing similar stories from other Battletech players on the forums.

To make matters worse, the mat is not exactly as I had ordered.  I had requested that the nebula patterns be made blue instead of the red he usually uses.  It still looks great but after waiting so long and being so very patient I was hoping that at least my order would be correct.

I contacted Hotz with my concern and he replaced the mat for me very quickly.  I am happy with my mats and can’t wait to play out some great games.

If you have the time to wait and the money to burn, the product is amazing.  You just need faith that Hotz will eventually take care of you.

Some Battletech games suck for reasons beyond the terrain and miniatures that grace the tabletop.  Sometimes the game itself is so short its unsatisfying.  When your Fafnir takes a Through Armor Critical on turn one causing a double gyro you can’t help but feel cheated.  On the flip side games that never finish are equally deserving of frustrated sighs from players.  To me, long winded convention games are the worst offenders.  One-hour turns consumed by moving alone?  No thanks.

The sweet spot for Battletech games in my opinion falls between eight and twelve turns.  If your games do not come to a reasonable conclusion within that range you may need to make some adjustments.  Here are a few ideas to help you bring your games into the sweet spot.  Whether you are running short or going long there are ideas a plenty to try out.

Lengthen Your Games

Mix Up Your Units

• Take away the XL engines.  There are plenty of high tech units out there that don’t need the XL crutch to pile on the firepower.  You don’t have to play 3025 exclusive if you don’t want.
• Slow down and bulk up.    Slower heavier units, on average, are going to be harder to bring down helping your games go the distance.

Add a Little Edge

Give each Mechwarrior an edge point or, for bigger games, a pool of Edge points for each force to use.  An ‘Edge point’ can be used to force a re-roll of any to-hit or location roll.  Once the re-roll occurs that’s it.  No Edging an Edge for obvious reasons.

Shorten Up Your Games

Mix Up Your Units (again)

• Add in more XL engines and advanced technology.  More damage and softer targets will lead to more destruction per ton.
• Use faster units.  Speedy mediums and heavies will have more opportunities for optimal firing and rear shots which will inevitably cause more critical hits throughout your game.
  

While 3025 purists will turn their heads at the idea of adding shiny new equipment from later years there are subtle ways to introduce a little extra damage into your games.  Even in 3039 there are prototype Gauss Rifles, Pulse Lasers, and other goodies.  With a little modification even stalwart 3025 designs can pack a little extra under the hood without completely throwing out the knights errant aesthetic.

Decrease the Game Area

Just because you own an ‘OMG Uber Mega Large Size’ game mat doesn’t mean you have to use every inch in every game you play.  Keep in mind how many mapsheets you would use for a regular game when using your game mats.  Would you use a four by four mapsheet battlefield for a lance on lance game?  Not at all.  You’d use about half that and have a great game.  Keep that in mind before you start units at either end of your biggest game mat.  If you are spending the first three turns making only long range shots you are doing something wrong.

Forced Withdrawal

About as simple as it gets.  Battletech doesn’t have to be only about the absolute destruction of the enemy.  On the contrary protecting assets so they can fight another day is a much more realistic strategy in the far flung worlds of the Inner Sphere.  When units are forced out of combat your games end sooner and lose their win at all costs mentality.

Add Meaningful Objectives

Objectives should be more then the plain old “go kill the other guy” variety.  A little flavor can make a huge difference.  Players should have something to fight for!  It gives your games more meaning instead of the mindless absolute destruction of the opposing force.

Total warfare can get you off to a good start.  The Scenario section starting on page 256 has a few generic mission objectives for you to use and give you ideas for creating your own.  Just about every mission besides Stand-up Fight has a little something to offer.

After you’ve had a chance to test the basics you can find a mother load of useful objective ideas from the wealth of Chaos Campaign sources.  We have Starterbooks, Jihad Sourcebooks, Jihad Turning Points eBooks, and a hoard of community created tracks that are chock full of ideas ranging from the mundane to the truly novel.  Here are a few of my personal favorites from the Community Created Warchest Track Threads.

1. Full Metal Sandwich – Not a Scratch: A Heavy Wheeled APC must be escorted off the northern edge of the battlefield. (works great with TacOps shielding rules)
2. Desolation Row – Send Me Some Lovin’: Render at least one Stealth Armor ‘Mech salvageable. (all of a sudden particular units become more meaningful including their method of destruction)
3. Just When You Thought it Was Safe – Escape: At least half of the Attacking units must enter a level 2 water hex on the coastal terrain map after turn 8.  A submersible transport is waiting and will pick up all retreating units that exit the map in this fashion. (Better not get too banged up of you are going to have to leave someone behind because of potential breaches)

These are just a  taste of some of the great ideas available in the Community Created Warchest Tracks.  Have a browse and get your creative juices flowing.  Life in the Inner Sphere is better with objectives.

At Cold Wars 2009, the ScrapYard met with Jim Fox, the Iron Wind Metals representative at the exhibitor booth for Cold Wars and all the other HMGS conventions.  I think there are a lot of Battletech players who have heard of Mike Noe and the Office Wench but have not had a chance to get to know Jim more.  I sat down with Jim and asked a few questions to help the rest of the Battletech community break the ice.  There is more to Iron Wind Metals than the headline owners after all.

SYA: Tell us a little about yourself and how you fit into the Iron Wind Metals family.

JF: So, basically, at age 12 I went to the factory because I knew a friend of one of the owners and grew up there.  Thirty years later here I am.  I was there when it was all lead figures and you bought them one at a time and started with Dungeons and Dragons. You know, Battletech didn’t even exist then or historicals… So I’ve been around for a long time.

SYA: How long have you been coming to Heavy Metal Gaming Society Events like Cold Wars and Historicon?

JF: I started going with one of the former owners about 10 years ago.  That was the first convention I’d been to.  Although I went to a small one in Cincinnati in high school back in ’82.

SYA: Do you play CBT yourself?

JF: That’s a good question.  I played Battletech in about ’87 in college two or three times and that’s the only time I’ve ever played. I was really into Dungeons and Dragons as a kid and got into fantasy and I’m now more of a miniatures collector.  Although I really like Battletech, I just never got back to it and now I’m so busy making sure we have the booths ready I have very little gaming time.

SYA: Speaking of, you have a great collection of miniatures that you bring to all of the conventions. How did you end up with all of them and do you know who painted them?

JF: Well, often what would happen is the person who… we used to have six sculptors on staff and as they created stuff about half of those guys were Golden Demon type painters. So some of those guys painted them and then we also have fans who are tremendous painters who would offer to paint certain ones for trade or for favors. So, we have acquired that painting collection over a very long time period from various painters.  As a matter of fact most of them we would be like, yea we don’t remember who painted that.  But then a guy will come up and go “yeah, I painted this.”  It’s a real hodge-podge and that’s why you’ll see a variety of finishes on them. Some of them are a bit more glossy than others, all of them are beautiful but you’ll see different tastes and directions with them.

SYA: Historicon is going to be changing venues in 2010. Could you tell us what you think that would mean for Battletech players?

JF: I think it has the potential of making it the best Battletech venue we have ever had.

SYA: Including GenCon?

JF: Yes. I really do, because Historicon is smaller as a con and I think we can make more of a mark there than we do at GenCon because you are competing with 30,000 other interests there.  You have 33 or 34 thousand people going there and most of them don’t play Battletech.  Historicon is more of 5,000 or so attendees so percentage wise we have a higher percentage and with the bigger venue we will be able to go to them and say, “Ok instead of a side room I want two rooms.  Instead of a side room I want to be in the main gaming hall.  I want exposure.  I want this, I want that.”

It’s got a rail system right to the front door.  The entire east coast can hop a train and make it there and come for a day or whatever.  They had a meeting on Friday night to inform us about why and a lot of the details about that venue and afterward I think we are going to do a limited special piece for anyone who pre-registers and comes and plays Battletech.  And that will be their first chance to get it and they will get it for free.  It stinks of opportunity for us.  I really really believe that.

SYA: How closely do you work with Catalyst Game Labs when deciding on new product?

JF: Catalyst is a company, if I understand it right, that has a lot of guys who work from home and they connect via the internet so they are kind of a scattered out company. At Origins last year we actually took them to dinner and said, “Ok What direction are you guys going and what can we do to buddy up with you guys?”  We try very hard to work with them but it doesn’t always work that way.  They are very busy just trying to get their stuff done on their end of it.  Although we would like to work even closer with them… we try.

But it’s two separate companies functioning two different ways and we actually manufacture product.  They’re authors and publishers and they create a lot of stuff overseas.  Two totally different companies, but we try.  I know that they have some more box sets coming out and we want to know as soon as possible whats in there so we can make sure we are heading in the right direction.  It keeps getting better and better.  They’ve grown very fast and they’ve had some growing pains too.  And actually Battletech in the past few years has had a very good up swing mostly due to them.  They’ve done a really good job and that’s been great for us.

SYA: How many people have you had come to the booth to buy their first Battletech miniature?

JF: You get a handful every show because of the gaming that’s here.  It introduces a lot of guys.  What we really see are a lot of guys who come up and say “I haven’t played Battletech in 20 years but I played it last week”.  We get a lot of that.  It’s one of those game systems that is so solid that you remember it again very quickly, pick it up again, and it’s a great game system. It’s a fall back for a lot of guys.  But, we do get a handful every show. Four, five, six something like that.

SYA: How much do you work with Mark “Speck” who runs the Battletech events here at the HMGS conventions?

JF: As closely as we can.  Because he’s put his heart and soul into what you guys do over there so we do everything we possibly can and he may even help us set up the booth and help us take it down.  So if it wasn’t for those guys we couldn’t do this.

SYA: Speaking of convention support, you have been giving great support in the form of product coupons, how have those been working out for you?

JF: I think they work pretty well.  For instance this morning we had a kid who obviously played in one of the games over there and he came over and bought a fantasy piece.  So there is a lot of cross over gaming and I think it works very well. It really does.

SYA: Is there any recent work being put into the Iron Winds of War game?

JF: That game itself is a stand alone game system where you can plug any figures into it you want.  So the work is mostly done on that. We spend about 99% of our time making ‘Mechs.  Between casting them and producing them and packing them and shipping them, we spend about 105% of our time. We are always behind.  I encourage anyone who can visit Cincinnati to visit the factory to see what we really do and see how much much work goes into it.  It’s a craft really.  We make 100% of this product right here in the United States. Hand made, hand packaged, hand shipped.  It’s pretty cool to see it.  It takes a lot of time and effort so there is not a lot of time being spent on some of the other things we’d like to do.

SYA: Was that a real offer to visit the IWM factory?  How would that work?

JF: Yeah, well you would want to email them first because their schedules are real mixed up.  They work a lot of weekends but not all weekends so it’s a hodge podge and they have a lot of part time people so some of them work funny hours.  But yeah, you can contact them.

SYA: I see that most of the resin products have sold out already. [Pointing to the empty shelf where boxes of radar dishes and drop ships were just the day before.]

JF: They just came in.  We don’t manufacture any resin.  It’s a whole different technology so we have somebody that we contract that with and the first order; twelve dropships came in two weeks ago so we go, “Ok, we can’t even announce they are here.”  Then another 24 came in last week so right before [Cold Wars 2009] Mike Noe came to me and asked if I wanted to take some. So I brought a limited amount to the show here and of course they’re gone.  They’re beautiful. I brought eight radar dishes in and actually most of those got sold to people who aren’t Battletech players.  They are just so cool that guys were like, “yeah, I got to have one of those.”  We are going to continue to add to the resin line for more things like the radar dish.  More generic things that crossover. They are just such pretty pieces.

SYA: Thank you very much, I appreciate you taking the time.

Opening Fiction

By far, Wild Things is the very best fiction so far out of the Jihad Turning Points books. The story telling is superb.  I really felt the primal desperation of the resistance fighters on the frozen tundras of Tharkad.

Tharkad

The planetary map and terrain tables follow the JTP formula and are just as you would expect from a planet half frozen and half blasted to oblivion.

Combatants

Continuing on the opening salvos of Tharkad’s liberation, the combatants section offers bites of information that tell the bigger story.

From my reading, there are not a whole lot of shockers.  Not like the over the top antics we saw in New Avalon.  In a way, I think that the end product is more realistic and a bit easier to swallow.

Additional flavor is provided by the Clans, both the Wolves and the Falcons oddly.  Whenever you get these two factions on the same world, fighting for the same goal, you are bound to get some interesting angst.  Too bad the combatants section is ill-sized to tell the full story.  Suffice it to say, there are plenty of role playing opportunities introduced for game masters who have the initiative.

Tracks

The Tharkad tracks continue the downward slide of creativity in optional bonuses and victory conditions. I doubt that the writers spend much time playing in these tracks themselves. Unfortunately a lot of the tracks being presented from New Avalon and on look virtually the same. While there is value to game masters and role players to have the proper unit lists, terrain, and back story, the simple war gamers among us will be disappointed.

The majority of victory conditions in Tharkad involve destroying the opposition.  It stinks of laziness.  I’m sorry to say, but no matter the objective, I’m going to try to kill my opponent regardless.  So please, add a little flavor into the objectives.  Add meaningful optional bonuses that make me think.   Need some hints?  There are plenty hidden in the rough at the community created Warchest track thread.

Good news of sorts is the return to six tracks per book.  I was a little worried when New Avalon only contained five.  The more Warchest tracks the better providing fodder for the imagination of Battletech gamers.

Record Sheets

Two proper Lyran ‘Mechs grace the Tharkad Turning Points book.   Neither under 75 tons.  The first is a Word of Blake modified Fire Falcon sporting a Heavy Gauss and some extra energy weapons to boot.  It’s a curious design that also includes C3i.  Certainly a salvage special.

The next ride is a Fafnir from Peter Steiner-Davion himself.  C3 slave and ECM provide a curious electronics package.  While the ECM is an excellent fit against the WoB the C3 slave is suspect.  But thats nothing compared to what comes next.  Hold on to your potatoes.

Fafnir Peter has a single Heavy Gauss with some lasers sprinkled in.  But then, the balance is filled with a boatload of Rocket Launchers.  Ten ten packs.  My goodness.  This is what the Lyrans equip their Archon in the face of invading religious fanatics?  They deserve the five year occupation and the whole sale nuking of their planet.

Tharkad is loaded with Warships.  Six in total including the Essex, Fox, McKenna, Mjolnir, Sovetskii Soyuz , and a Tharkad.   The warship record sheets are honestly almost worth the price of admission into the Jihad.  At the very least they are a pleasant bonus that hopefully entices some of the ground pounders out into the depths of space.

Planetary Maps

The planetary maps of Tharkad round out this PDF. We are still waiting for planetary assault rules so these will be on my back burner until Interstellar Operations comes out.

Overall Tharkad contains some of the best fiction and the most immersive storyline of the series.  I found the Warchest tracks relatively unimaginative but it follows the formula for what you would expect.  Beaucoup warships makes for a happy aerospace player.  And by the way you really should try some warship battles.

If you like the other Jihad Turning Points than there is no reason not to add this volume to your collection for only $5.  If you are looking to get into the series I’d recommend you check out Luthien first to see if the style and content is up to snuff.

This Event was played at Cold Wars 2009 and run by Commando ‘Speck’.  The Lone Star  Battalion faces off against Redfield’s Renegades after a tragic error sends both Mercenaries into a rage.

Details are available in the full Lawyers, Guns, and Money scenario pack available as a free download, as are other Game Scenarios at ClassicBattletech.com.

All forces are 3025 variants.

Redfield’s Renegades

• Cyclops (Piloting 3, Gunnery 3)
• Zeus (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Grasshopper (Piloting 2, Gunnery 3)
• Hunchback (Piloting 4, Gunnery 2) *Sensor Hit
• Catapult (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Whitworth (Piloting 4, Gunnery 4)
• Trebuchet (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Dervish (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)

Lone Star Company

• Atlas (Piloting 3, Gunnery 3)
• Awesome (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Banshee (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Dragon (Piloting 2, Gunnery 3)
• Assassin (Piloting 3, Gunnery 3) * AC20 hit to CT
• Enforcer (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)
• Clint (Piloting 5, Gunnery 4)
• Jenner (Piloting 4, Gunnery 3)

Turn 1

The Assassin and Hunchback begin the game in the center of the map.  The Assassin, vastly outmatched makes a run for safety.  The Hunchback seizes the initiative and gives chase hoping for one last shot before being forced to pull back.  The shot goes wide gouging the dirt beside the fragile light ‘Mech.

Turn 2

The remaining forces for each side enter the battle and rush towards each other.  The Lone Star Dragon manages to hit with a long range pack of missiles.  At least a few missiles punch through the now retreating Hunchback’s armor but does not cause critical damage.

Turn 3

While the bulk of both forces continue to advance the Lone Star breaks off a set of light ‘Mechs, a Jenner and a Clint, around cover to threaten the Renegades flank.

The Lone Star Atlas is the only ‘Mech to land a shot this turn, an LRM20 on the Hunchback who continues to move backwards towards the main force of Renegades.  Again the center torso armor is unexpectedly breached but again no critical hits occur.

Turn 4

The Renegades stay tight together as they slow to a walk, firing off several volleys of Long Range Missiles at the approaching Lone Star ‘Mechs.  The Grasshopper and Catapult combine fire on the Lone Star Enforcer and hit with everything.  Almost all of the missiles hit the legs, slagging most of the armor away.

The Lone Star ‘Mechs have less luck at long range and only land an AC10 and LRM10 at the Dervish and Catapult respectively.

Turn 5

The Lone Star Battalion takes the hill to the right of the battle while their light ‘Mechs complete their flanking run and bear down on the tightly packed Renegades.  The Renegades continue a slow march forward as their weapons begin to cycle into better range brackets.

The Renegades concentrate all fire on the Lone Star Banshee.  A stray AC5 shell hits the cockpit while the Catapult and Trebuchet combine to rain down four LRM15 racks mostly into the Banshee’s center torso.  The Banshee lists under the wave of weapons fire and falls.

The Lone Star Battalion returns fire but fails to do significant damage.

Turn 6

The Renegades begin to fall back keeping the enemy at optimum range for long range missiles.  The Lone Star ‘Mechs continue their advance slowly closing the gap with the exception of the Awesome which stays put behind partial cover to line up shots.  The Heavies and Assaults finally round the hill and bear down on the Renegades.

The Awesome crushes into the Cyclops with two PPCs.  The other Lone Star ‘Mechs follow suit but the damage is spread evenly around the lightly armored Assault ‘Mech.  Return fire from the Renegades is spread out across multiple targets failing to deal significant damage.

Turn 7

The Lone Star Atlas, Banshee and Dragon rush towards the Renegade position.  The Renegades send the Grasshopper and Cyclops to meet them in a melee fray.  The Lone Star light ‘Mechs continuing their wide flanking runs are now getting to within medium range weapons range.

The firing phase is furious.  The Renegade missile salvos scatter damage across the Atlas.  The Cyclops begins taking critical damage as the last shreds of armor melt away exposing internal structure.  The Lone Star Banshee takes a through armor gyro hit and falls.

During physical combat the Renegade Cyclops and Grasshopper kick both of the Dragon’s legs.  The Dragon returns the favor to the Cyclops but strikes the only fresh armor remaining on the ‘Mech.

Turn 8

The Renegades walk backwards again, trying to keep the Lone Star Heavy and Assault ‘Mechs at optimum range for their missiles.  The Lone Star light ‘Mechs finally engage at close range.  The Banshee is unable to stand but avoids pilot damage.

The Atlas opens up weapons fire with an AC20 round to the Cyclop’s leg cutting deep into the internal structure.  Continued fire from other Lone Star units shred what was left of the leg away as well as cutting off the right arm and reducing the right torso armor to shreds.

The Jenner lines up a rear shot on the Whitworth and punches through to the torso.  The shot hits ammo bins and the ‘Mech is obliterated.

The LRM volleys from the Renegades continue to be on target.  Four more salvos of LRM 15s rain down on the Atlas slowly wasting away armor.

The Renegade Dervish spots the fast moving Assassin and hits with enough lasers and SRMs to cause a leg critical.  The Assassin fails to keep it’s feet underneath and falls onto it’s center torso destroying the previously damaged ‘Mech.

The Physical attack phase features more kicking by the bigger ‘Mechs.  The Dragon’s leg is critically hit by the persistent attention given to it by the Renegade Grasshopper.

The Results

It is at this point that hungry bellies got the better of the gamers on hand.  From the looks of the battle there was no clear winner.  Forced withdrawal had not kicked in for either side and damage was evenly spread among both forces.  The Lone Star Battalion had a long term advantage with their multitude of energy based weapons.  LRM ammo while effective for the Renegades was starting to run low.

The consensus from the players was that the event was at that point a draw but I can easily see at least a marginal victory for the Lone Star Battalion if only for their force’s longer staying power.

See the full transcript.

Lots of interesting tidbits in this chat.  Sadly, I missed the live version due to issues at work.  No worries though.  The good folks at Catalyst have once again posted a neatly put together transcript for all to read.  Here are the best facts in the bunch in case you’d prefer an executive summary.

• Classic Battletech will from now on be known only as Battletech.
• Interstellar Operation is increasingly looking more like a 2010 release.
• Next Handbooks will be Major Periphery States followed by House Liao.
• HexPacks, terrain and game aids for playing Battletech this year.  Perhaps this will include counters for buildings and such?
• The GenCon and Origins canon event will take place on Dieron.
• Business is very brisk on the retail side.  Good news for the long term viability of the game.

I’m lukewarm on the removal of the “Classic” moniker.  Even though it has been a pain to explain to returning players what the Classic meant, after all of the time invested in the re-branding of the game, there are going to be naysayers out there.

Knowing what is in the pipeline is good to hear.  An active line of communication with fans is very appreciated and I believe in the long run that it is a necessary characteristic for a successful game company.

From the chat, we may also be treated to a new book release.  Perhaps soon, so keep an eye on the main page for big news.