ScrapYard Armory

The Historical Turning Points series gains a new chapter.  This time around we are treated to a Succession War era battle between bitter rivals.

Geoff Swift, a return author for the series is in charge to bring Mallory’s World to life.  Will the Turning Points series continue to impress?

The Desolation of Combat

This single page piece was one of the best and most riveting piece of opening fiction I have read.  The story is an emotional roller coaster beginning with a palpable arrogance that melts away, eventually extracting sympathy from the reader or maybe pity.  The ultimate sacrifice is expertly storied in so few words.  It is a great opening for the PDF and makes me want to read more!

Mallory’s World

After a standard full color map of the world, the Atlas section gives a brief description of the world.  Mallory’s World consists of mainly desert or urban areas in part due to the frequent conflict the world attracts.  I enjoyed reading about the early history of this world which is full of otherwise useless anecdotal information.  While I doubt you or your players will care that Mallory’s World is a major supplier of diapers, you can play your tracks and missions secure in the knowledge that the writers have made such information available to all.

A short list of recommended terrain is included for those wishing to roll suitable random terrain.

Lastly, there is a list of available Tactical Operations terrain enhancements for the adventurous to include in their games.

The Battle for Mallory’s World

In a single page the brief but information packed chronology of the multi-year war at Mallory’s World is presented.  For a single page it packs a significant quantity of details that will form the framework for the tracks presented later.

For anyone unfamiliar with the battle this is a great primer.  If you haven’t read the novels there is a lot to pick up.  The lightweight presentation is a perfect fit and gives a fine overview of this epic Succession Wars era conflict.  From copious combat drops, pincher movements, and single combat between leaders Mallory’s World has it all.

Random Assignment Tables

Tables are provided for Kurita and Davion and include ‘Mechs, Vehicles, and Aerospace.  Infantry tables are absent which is not unexpected given the lack of battle armor during this time.

Interestingly, there are five Land Air ‘Mechs (LAMs) slots included.  Details for their use were provided in TRO: 3085.  No doubt there will be those who will love this addition.  Others won’t be bothered either way.  Now if we could only get official miniatures for the newly imaged LAMs we would be in real business.

Commanders

The commanders section details one commander from each side of the battle.  The first is a relatively unknown from the Davions.  I really appreciate the effort to mix it up.  It would have been more expected to have detailed Ian Davion for the PDF, instead we get to learn more about Eugene Drivers.  The Kurita leader is the slayer of the First Prince, a more obvious choice but well worth the page space.

Each leader is further detailed with a short list of A Time of War skills and attributes.  It does not provide a complete character sheet, more of a framework that players can adapt to use in their campaign if you desire.

Combatants

The combatants for both sides are provided for reference including experience rating, unit abilities, and a brief set of notes.

I found the notes and unit abilities to be especially interesting and entertaining.  I really liked the Mallorian Militia and the Second Legion of Vega.  Both have detrimental abilities that are sure to be a factor if your player group is brave enough to use them.

Tracks

The tracks section includes an amazing eleven tracks to play!

Throughout the tracks the use of conventional and infantry units is heavily encouraged in the game setup and attacker/defender descriptions.  I really appreciate the heavy support of combined arms.

I noted that the individual tracks are not balanced the way I would have expected.  I suspect that the history of the battles was a more important factor in recommended force ratios than game balance.  A perfect example is Just Droppin’ In which looks like a bloodbath for the Hussars.  Looking at the aftermath section of the track, it certainly was.  It is an interesting and I believe deliberate methodology to present an accurate battle even if the results are not likely to change.  I would have liked to see more thought put into the objectives to compensate for the unequal unit strengths but can appreciate the unique perspective at work.

The Defeat of Nobility is a brave new take on the track series which pits Ian Davion in his Atlas against the command lance of the Kurita invaders.  It is historically presented and requires special terrain and a bevy of special rules that force the players to relive history and attempt to rewrite it.  A very bold track.

The final five tracks are built to reflect the massive retaliatory invasion of Mallory’s World by Kurita in 3016.  They are meant to be played in any order as they occur at the same time.

Mr. Swift takes a lot of interesting hooks to make the plethora of tracks in Mallory’s World worth playing.  I felt that the sometimes obvious selection of objectives and mundane bonus options are the only items that detract from this excellent set of tracks.  Like none other, Mallory’s World tells the story of the battles, both the wins and the losses with unwavering focus.

Record Sheets

Record sheets are provided for Morgan Kell and Yorinaga piloting an Archer and Warhammer respectively both of which lack a ‘Mech image.  Oversight or intentional?

Three LAM configurations are also provided for the nostalgic among us.  Here is an excellent chance to get your LAM on if that is the sort of thing that floats your boat.

The Final Word

Mallory’s World is an impressive product as a whole.  A unique mix of terrain, detailed setups and painful regard for historical accuracy offset some more obvious objective and bonus selections.  This PDF is well worth the $5 asking price given the large assortment of tracks.  Your gaming group is sure to find something to like among the tracks on Mallory’s World.  It is a mix of both quality and quantity that make it a must buy for Succession War era buffs and a good investment for casual fans.

This game was played at Cold Wars 2011 in Lancaster, Pa.  Thanks go to Scott “Wemic9” for hosting the event and doing so on short notice due a mishap of my own.  Standard BattleTech rules are in effect for this fast and furious battle for the power of the bottle!

Stirring the Hornet’s Nest

Rumor has it that some backwater bumpkins have developed the best whiskey in the galaxy and it’s worth more than can be imagined on the black market.  This is the raid for you and your pirate brothers.  Get in, take out the local defenders, and take the reported shipment of booze that is being prepped for shipment off-world.

In and out, easy job.  No problem. These hicks won’t know what hit them.  Heck, the only two things that these rednecks can do is make whiskey and race on the weekends.

Pirate Raiders

• WTH-2 Whitworth
• VND-5L Vindicator
• PXH-3D Phoenix Hawk
• JR7-D Jenner
• CLNT-6S Clint
• BJ-1 Blackjack
• PNT-10K Panther
• TR1 Wraith
• WVR-7M Wolverine
• END-6J Enfield
• COM-1B Commando
• WLF-1 Wolfhound

Planetary Militia

• HNT-151 Hornet (Red)
• HNT-151 Hornet (Blue)
• HNT-151 Hornet (Green)
• HNT-151 Hornet (White)

Objectives

The Pirate forces are searching for a cache of Whiskey.  The Whiskey is hidden in one of the warehouses inside the city gates.  The Militia player secretly selected a building to hold the booze.  The Pirate player must find the Whiskey, load it onto a ‘Mech and escape off the map.  The Militia must stop the Pirates at all costs.

Turn 1 – Pirates win Initiative

The start of the game is a bit boring.  The Militia Hornets are spread out and hiding behind buildings.  The Pirate horde marches ominously forward, no doubt counting their lucky stars that the planet is so lightly defended.

Easy money!

Turn 2 – Militia win Initiative

The Pirates continue to move forward in two main groups.  The Hornets continue to hide but manage to let loose a few volleys of LRMs all of which miss.

Turn 3 – Pirates win Initiative

The Pirates are now at the gates of the city.  The lead units, a Phoenix Hawk and a Commando are shot at with LRMs but only the Commando takes any damage.  Return fire from the Pirates is ineffective.

Turn 4 – Pirates win Initiative

As the Pirates push into the city the Militia back off and find better cover further away from the attackers.  The first warehouse building is scanned by the Pirates.  Nothing yet.

Then suddenly, a lance of Savannah Masters burst out of one of the warehouses to the North!

One of the fearless hovercraft pilots charges the Pirate Commando while the others pour in laser fire.  A Pirate Wraith blasts the charging hovercraft before it can do any damage.  The medium laser barrage manages to critically hit one of the Commando’s engine slots.

Turn 5 – Pirates win Initiative

The Pirates fan out at best speed to cover as many warehouses as possible.

Suddenly a buzz is heard across the battlefield as a horde of hover fans turn on.  Three Gabriels and 17 Savannah Masters burst from their hiding spots to envelop the attacking Pirates!

The mass of hover tanks concentrate fire on the Wolfhound, Commando, and Clint while the Pirates lash out at targets of opportunity.

The Wolfhound is crushed from behind.  After a gyro hit the Wolfhound is almost brought down when its rear armor fails.  The Commando loses a few heatsinks and takes an engine critical but is alive for now.  The Clint sees a whole lot of armor peeled off but stands through the punishment.

In return fire a lucky strike from the Wolverine critical hits one of the Hornet’s ammo slots sending the ‘Mech to the scrapyard.

In a stunning turn the whiskey is located by the Wolfhound!

Turn 6 – Pirates win Initiative

The Pirate force is stunned by the sudden influx of hovers and moves three ‘Mechs to surround the whiskey stores.  The hovers scatter to maintain top speed while the Pirate Wraith stalks them with it’s pulse lasers.  A Hornet manages to get behind the Pirate Phoenix Hawk.

The hovers concentrate fire on the Wraith, Whitworth, and Clint.  The Pirates again fire at whatever hover craft are in range.

All told four hovers were cored, kicked or otherwise dispatched by the Pirates.  Return fire slags some armor but the Pirates keep their backs to the buildings to maximize protection.

One of the Hornets together with a couple hovercraft attempt to blow up the Whiskey! Their concentrated fire power is enough to take the building down a notch but is not enough to punch through to ignite the booze.  The Pirates successfully load up their precious cargo at the end of the turn.

Turn 7 – Pirates win Initiative

The Pirates use their initiative advantage to pick their lanes and begin moving units towards their home edge.  The Pirate Enfield, who is carrying the booze, moves last and dekes his way behind a building away from most of the danger.

The Pirate Commando is ganged up on and is cored through by a Hornet and a trio of hovers.  The Wolfhound is destroyed by engine criticals.  Both the Whitworth and Phoenix Hawk fall due to damage.

In return, three hovers die a sudden death by a combination of lucky weapon hits and kicks.

Turn 8 – Militia win Initiative

The Pirate force consolidates their force and seeks cover from a nearby building.  They strategically place their backs to the wall to avoid rear shots.  The hovers envelope the Pirates while keeping their speed up.

The Green Hornet is cored while two hovers are destroyed.  Another hover is immobilized and then killed by a sword attack from the Pirate Vindicator.  The hovers damage armor on the Wraith, Enfield and Jenner but do no major damage.  The Jenner misses a kick and falls flat on his face.

Turn 9 – Militia win Initiative

Time is running out and the Pirates can’t afford to make a run for it!  Its a final stand.

(our time slot at the convention was running out)

The Pirates put their backs to the wall again as the hovers swarm around them.  The Pirates scatter their fire at available targets while the hovers concentrate all fire on the Enfield!

Pirate weapons fire brings down no less than four hovercraft.  The hovers brutalize the Enfield, stripping armor in several locations.  The Enfield loses two engine criticals, a gyro hit and loses a number of weapon systems but manages to stay alive and upright.

End Game

Unfortunately, our time slot ran out and we were not able to completely finish this game.

So, who do you think would have been able to pull off the victory?  Do the Pirates have enough gusto to put the Militia in their place or will the stalwart defenders of the greatest vice in the Inner Sphere have the last word?

Regardless, this was a fun and spirited game.  My hat goes off to Scott for having the twisted mind to put it all together.

The Youling Zhanshi lance pack dossier is the second in the series and covers the Jihad Era.  Once again we have a new remarkable ‘Mech lance fully fleshed out and ready for a mini-campaign on your tabletop.  These two PDF exclusives are budget priced at $3.95 and $1.95 respectively and are meant to be used together for best effect.  Newcomer Craig K. Erne is at the helm for this PDF exclusive.

On My Signal

The opening fiction is a great thrill.  The ambush sequence demonstrates the cutthroat tactics the Liao warriors are willing to use to ensure victory and notoriety.  Like wolves lying in wait the Capellans unleash brutal tactics against trapped foes.  What else would we expect when MechWarriors defend their own turf?

A very good start to the PDF.  The action is fast and a welcome introduction to the Ghost Warriors.

Unit Profile

The unit profile section covers each member of the lance including a black and white portrait, a CamoSpecs painted miniature as well as a small write up on both the pilot and the ‘Mech.

The ‘Mech descriptions offer additional fluff in the way of Quirks.  These Quirks come right out of Strategic Operations and give additional flavor to the unit while increasing complexity.

Missions

There are three missions included for the Youling Zhanshi.  Two of them are standard warchest missions while one is an A Time of War adventure.

The warchest tracks are hit and miss.  Both contain a very well done fluff and description.  I thought that Thieves in the Night was far superior a track than The Head of the Serpent.  Thieves in the Night features an excellent array of non-typical objectives and some interesting special rules and bonuses.  It is everything a Chaos Campaign fan likes in a mission.

The Head of the Serpent falls back on standard objectives and an uninspiring situation report.  Still given the nature of the mission, I can accept that it was the only way to portray the final climactic battle after a long guerrilla campaign.

The A Time of War Adventure is a bit of a mystery for me.  There are two pages of descriptions, one for the players and a GM only section.  The adventure objectives are open ended and the GM is expected to fill in details and prepare additional ‘Mech battles (or none at all depending on the players actions) as necessary to fill in the several months long guerrilla campaign.  Your mileage will undoubtedly vary depending on the strength of your GM.

All together, Youling Zhanshi follows the Lamenkov’s Liabilities formula almost too well.  There is even a copy-paste error on page two identifying the Liabilities as the lance of interest.  My comments on the Liabilities PDF are applicable here, there is not enough in the way of hard content to keep the usual BattleTech group interested.  The Turning Points PDF series seems to be a much better value when you look at the total package.

Character Sheets and Record Sheets

Each member of the lance gets a fully fleshed out RPG record sheet and a ‘Mech record sheet.  Nothing notable here except for perhaps running a bit low on places to fit the copious amount of RPG skills typical for A Time of War.

Jason Zaklan

This add-on PDF features a brief description of Jason Zaklan a covert Death Commando operative on planet at the time of the Fed Suns invasion.  Zaklan has a direct role in the last mission and also potentially the A Time of War adventure.

Given the fact that Jason Zaklan is an inescapable part of the last mission in the Youling Zhanshi PDF I find it curious that the two PDFs were not simply merged together into a $5 product.  I felt the same way with the Liabilities PDF.

Final Words

At a combined price of $5.90, the Youling Zhanshi and Jason Zaklan PDF combo is a potentially short series of BattleTech missions along with an RPG adventure.

The writing is excellent throughout the PDF and is enjoyable to learn the history of this Jihad era battle. I would love to see what Mr. Erne can do with a Turning Points PDF.  He showed some excellent form in the first mission.

For those of you who have read my A Time of War after action report Bad Intel, you no doubt recall the center piece terrain feature, a downed BSW-X1 Bushwacker ‘Mech.

This was an idea that I had for a while and was pleased to finally have an opportunity to pull it all together with a scenario to go with it.  Here is a step by step recap of what was required to go from childhood toy to BattleTech terrain!

Found on eBay

First things first I needed the parts.  I found a lightly used Tyco Bushwacker toy on eBay for a steal at $20 shipped.  This particular auction was a bit on the low side since it was missing a few of the missiles and the ejection seat was non-functional.  This would be a serious red flag for a collector but since I didn’t need them I was happy to get the cheaper price.

Filling in the Gaps

The back of the legs and arms of the Bushwacker are hollow.  I wanted the ‘Mech to be a little more complete so I thought of ways to fill in the gap.  I ended up using expanding foam to fill the bulk and then later adding a thin layer of epoxy after the first coat of paint.

After waiting overnight for the foam to dry an exacto knife was used to carefully cut out the backside contours of the legs and one arm.  The epoxy coat I felt was necessary to finish the look.  The expanding foam is full of holes and pores.  It covers the bulk of the missing volume but it lacks a smooth surface to accept paint.

First Coats of Paint

The first base coat of paint involved black Apple Barrel paint.  This stuff is cheap and covers well.  No need to waste higher priced paints when you have a cheap alternative.  This is the same paint that I used for other terrain products.

Black may be a bit boring but it goes with everything.  It’s a good night camo as well.

Battle Damage

Break out the Dremel and prepare to get messy.  I traced a quick outline of the damage I wanted on the rear section of the ‘Mech using an exacto knife.  From there, I loaded in my largest drill bit and went to work mauling the cheap plastic until the edges looked appropriate for an armor breach.

At this time I also removed the ejection seat components and hollowed out the back of the cockpit to make room for additional accessories.  This step was an absolute pain.  While the rest of the ‘Mech was made of a soft plastic that yielded readily to my Dremel, the cockpit components were a harder variety that fought me at every turn.  After a good fight I had the desired space available.

The next step was to put something interesting to look at inside the gaping hole.  I couldn’t just leave it empty.  I opened up my trusty box of MechWarrior minis and found an appropriately looking torso, an Avalanche.   I cut the mini apart and painted the torso flat black followed by a dry brush of gun-metal.  The engine-ish looking part was then attached to the inside of the battle damaged section with a dab of 5-min epoxy and a lot of patience.  I had to use a popsicle stick and a glob of Sculpy putty to position it correctly and then held it there for several minutes until the epoxy set.

Let There be Light

We are looking good so far but what I really wanted was a custom lighting effect to make this ‘Mech really rock!

I used a PIC microcontroller to control three LED lights.

• White LED – ambient cockpit lighting
• Red LED – blinking error/warning lights inside the cockpit
• Blue LED – reactor core fade in fade out effect around the battle damage

I had some existing code for a pulse width modulation (PWM) controller that I re-purposed for this project.  The three lights are controlled by modifying their PWM value within the main loop of the program.  The interrupt service routine takes those PWM values and does the real magic behind the scenes.

I made my first set of wires way too long and ended up trimming them significantly so they would fit in the limited space within the cavity behind the cockpit.  A small piece of wax paper helps to diffuse the blue led by the battle damage and a small cut out of black construction paper is all that is needed to hide the controller and battery behind the cockpit.

Finished Product

The entire ‘Mech was dry brushed with grey and white to bring out the panel lines.  It looked great on the battle field and really helped to bring the game to life.  If I have more time later I may see if I can’t convert a few more ‘Mechs for use in A Time of War games.

This game was played at NJCon 2011 in Somerset, NJ.  Thanks go to Jim “Ratboy” Williamson for hosting the event sponsored by Time Warp Comics & Games.  The following scenario is based on ‘Scenario 2: When The Bough Breaks’ from The Fall of Terra.  Standard BattleTech Quick-Strike rules are in effect for this fast and furious battle for escape!

The Fall of Terra: When the Bough Breaks

Salina, Kansas, North American Continent 1400 Hours, 28 February 3058 The two Comstar Com Guard Battalions stationed at Salina were designated by the Word of Blake as the main security force for the North American continent.  Neutralizing the Salina facility and its troops became imperative for the Word of Blake forces once they had attacked and taken the Hilton Head compound.  Although they enjoyed numerical superiority, the WoB Lancers would take horrendous casualties in a direct assault, and so they settled on a less direct course of action.

As the Lancer ‘Mech regiment encircled the base, a pair of Lancer fighters approached the base and requested emergency landing clearance from the unsuspecting defenders.  After receiving permission to land, the fighters began standard landing approaches, then suddenly pulled up and dropped a pair of J91 Fuel-Air devices on the base.

The resulting blast destroyed the Salina command structure and killed or injured almost half of the facility’s combat ready troops.  Realizing they would be crushed by the surrounding WoB forces, a number of junior officers rallied together and ad-hoc command to lead lead their troops through the Lancer regiment.

Word of Blake: Shadow Lancer, 2nd Battlemech Battalion

Assault Lance (65 pts)

• Phoenix Hawk PXH-4L(19 pts)
• Warhammer WHM-7M (15 pts)
• Goliath GOL-3M (15 pts)
• Thunderbolt TDR-9M (16 pts)

Pursuit Lance (44 pts)

• Panther PNT-9R (8 pts)
• Crab CRB-27 (12 pts)
• Raijin RJN101-A (14 pts)
• Wolfhound WLF-3S (10 pts)

ComStar: Com Guard 201st Division, Alpha and Beta Battalions

1st Provisional Lance (70 pts)

• Grasshopper GHR-5J (19 pts)
• Marauder MAD-5M (15 pts)
• Awesome AWS-9Q (19 pts)
• Black Knight BL-9-KNT (17 pts)

2nd Provisional Lance (44 pts)

• Raijin RJN101-A (14 pts)
• Mercury MCY-99 (6 pts)
• Bombardier BMB-12d (15 pts)
• Owens OW-1C (9 pts)

Objectives The Com Guard forces are attempting to escape from the encircling WoB forces.  The ComStar force must exit as many units as possible off the other side.  The Word of Blake forces are the last line that can put an end to the Com Guards before they can regroup and refit.

Special Conditions

Blizzard conditions made weapons fire a more difficult, but allowed ‘Mechs to overheat to do more damage without penalty.

Unit Cohesion practiced by the WoB Shadow Lancers prevents units from straying too far from their closest lance mate.

The Com Guard 2nd Provisional lance was late to the party, entering combat on turn 2.

Turn 1 – WoB wins Initiative

The Lancers lie in wait having lined up across the hilltops with the pursuit lance to the right and assault lance to the left. Com Guard’s 1st Provisional Lance enters the combat zone generally headed towards the Lancers’s pursuit lance keeping some woods between the two forces.  The Mercury of the 2nd Provisional Lance moves quickly ahead.

A few pot shots are taken by both forces over the trees to and from the hill top, but at such a long range nothing connects.

WoB: 0; ComStar: 0

Turn 2 – WoB wins Initiative

The Com Guard Grasshopper enters the combat zone with the remaining 2nd Provisional Lance, but breaks away from the main force to hide in the far woods to the WoB’s left to draw WoB units.  The Raijin and mercury take cover in the woods as the Owens moves to catch up to the Mercury while the heavier units slowly advance together.

The WoB Assault Lance advances toward the main ComStar group.  While the Crab advances to bring its weapons into range the Wolfhound advances to add pressure.

The Raijin and Panther aim carefully from their perch on the hill, but still their long range shots go wide.  Return fire does the same.

WoB: 0; ComStar: 0

Turn 3 – WoB wins Initiative

The Com Guard’s heavy units continue to advance while their lighter units take cover in or behind trees. The Grasshopper slowly advances through its own tree cover.

The WoB Pursuit Lance lunges forward as the slower Assault Lance takes cover in the woods to fire on the oncoming assailants managing to slough off much of the Black Knight’s armor.   Combined Com Gaurd fire begins to whittle down the Warhammer’s Armor.

WoB: 0; ComStar: 0

Turn 4 – WoB wins Initiative

The Com Guard’s heavy units are separated as some take cover in the woods and others stay out of close range to provide fire support with a greater firing sweep.  The Grasshopper advances to flank the WoB from the far side and although the Mercury is already far behind the WoB line, it does not leave the combat zone just yet.

The WoB Phoenix leaps forward into the fray as the Thunderbolt advances.

The pursuit lance lines up on the Marauder and Black Knight, but their shots are wasted on the Black Knight destroyed by their heavier counterparts and fail to find the Marauder through the trees.

Out in the open, the Thunderbolt loses most of its armor while the Raijin has all its external armor stripped away in one shot. Meanwhile, the Warhammer and Goliath put a hurtin’ on the Awesome, but in return, the Warhammer’s structure is critically hit nearly immobilizing it.  The Owens damages the Wolfhound from the rear.

Engaged in point blank combat, the WoB Phoenix Hawk and Com Guard Raijin kick at each other.

WoB: 5; ComStar: 0

Turn 5 – Com Guard Wins Initiative

With it’s faster units having moved around the advancing WoB defense line they now take up positions on the hills where the WoB originally awaited the Com Guard.  Some of the heavier units even fall back to take up firing positions to completely surround the WoB.

The WoB is forced to take cover where ever they can.  Retreating to the woods it just left, the armorless Thunderbolt has it’s head excised anyway, but not before it can concentrate fire with lance mates to deal heavy damage to the Awesome.

Caught in the open the Mercury damages the WoB Raijin’s weapon and leaves very little of the structure.

The skilled Marauder pilot fires on the Panther crippling it’s movement while doing the same to the Wolfhound with a swift kick, single handedly handicapping the Pursuit Lance’s pursuit capability and leaving their structure hanging by threads as well.

WoB: 5; ComStar: 2

Turn 6 – Com Guard wins Initiative

The WoB’s near armorless Warhammer remains in position with nowhere to hide hoping to project its fury one last time while the Goliath advances to pressure the Com Guard force.  Getting the drop on the WoB, the Marauder and Raijin take up positions behind the Goliath and Warhammer respectively. The WoB Phoenix manages to maneuver into position behind the Bombardier and Awesome.

After damaging the Marauder, the Warhammer succumbs to solid blows from the Raijin’s weapons and a kick.  The furious Goliath pilot mule-kicks the Marauder who returns the favor.

WoB: 10; ComStar: 4

Turn 7 – Com Guard wins Initiative

Taking cover on the edge the nearby woods to maximize its fire arc in the direction of the ComStar’s objective, the Bombardier instead moves behind the WoB Phoenix hawk.  The WoB Goliath moves to nearby cover where the majority of the decimated Pursuit Lance remains.   The Com Guard Raijin and Marauder take the opportunity to advance toward freedom while moving away from the remaining WoB forces.

The Mercury and Owens, playing it safe, leave the combat zone.  Concentrated fire from both the Marauder and Bombardier is enough to fell the Goliath.

WoB: 10; ComStar: 13

Turn 8 – WoB wins Initiative

The fresh Crab decides to pursue the heavily damaged Marauder while the Phoenix Hawk hops to another firing position as the Bombardier takes its place.  The lighter ‘Mechs remain in cover or avoid damage by staying out of range.

As the slower Grasshopper nears its objective, the Com Guard Raijin takes the opportunity to stick its head out to dent the Crab’s fresh armor.   Weapons fire damages the Bombardier, but return fire completely misses.

WoB: 15; ComStar: 18

Turn 9 – WoB wins Initiative

The Phoenix Hawk joins the Crab in pursuit of the Marauder as the Bombardier moves backward.  The WoB Raijin moves into a safe position to follow the Crab.   The Com Guard units take up defensive positions as they move around the WoB’s defensive line.  All shots miss.

WoB: 15; ComStar: 18

Turn 10 – WoB wins Initiative

The Phoenix Hawk and Crab come out of cover to continue their pursuit of the Marauder as their Raijin comrade follows carefully.

The armorless WoB Raijin gets a lucky shot on the Bombardier while avoiding incoming fire.  The Grasshopper and Rajin combine fire to turn the Crabs armor to molten slag.  The Marauder and Crab then assure each others destruction.

WoB: 15; ComStar: 18

Turn 11 – WoB wins Initiative

As the WoB Phoenix Hawk takes a forward firing position the Raijin moves away to cover.   Nobody finds their target.

WoB: 15; ComStar: 18

Turn 12 – WoB wins Initiative

The Phoenix continues to nag at the Bombardier’s armor while the Raijin once again cautiously advances.  The Panther slowly moves toward it’s lance mate while remaining far away from the enemy threat.

WoB: 15; ComStar: 18

Turn 13 – WoB wins Initiative

The WoB Phoenix screams toward the retreating Bombardier as the armorless Raijin risks leaving cover to strike at the Bombardier.

The Phoenix lands a hit on the Bombardier, but a solid blow comes from the Raijin which is more than enough to crumple the Bombardier’s structure.

The ComGuard isn’t so lucky not finding a single hit of their own.

WoB: 20; ComStar: 18

Turn 14 – WoB wins Initiative

The Com Guard Grasshopper and Raijin begin to withdraw taking cover from the advancing WoB.

WoB: 20; ComStar: 18

Turn 15 – Com Guard wins Initiative

The Com Guard Grasshopper and Raijin escape WoB’s grasp… for now.

WoB: 20; ComStar: 28

Aftermath:

A marginal victory for the Com Guard 201st.

Of the 40 ‘Mechs and vehicles in the Com Guard force at Salina, only 22 ‘Mechs made it through the encircling WoB Shado Lancer’s line.  These survivors fled west, hoping to reach one of several Com Guard supply depots in the Rocky Mountains.  However, a number of Lancer units moved to pursue them, and the chase was on!

NJ Con 2011 is in the books and it was a great con.  NJ Con is a small New Jersey based convention that packs a lot of gaming into a small frame.

The convention site this year was the La Quinta in Somerset NJ.  The lighting was good and the on site facilities were better than I expected.  More importantly there was a wide range of games for con-goers to try out.  The small venue works to NJ Con’s advantage.  If you are in the NJ area you have no excuse not to miss this budget priced convention.

A Scheduling Controversy?

I had reports from the field that some of the afternoon games started earlier than their posted 2PM times.  At least one potential con goer was upset at missing the start of a few games and left disgruntled.  For the record all BattleTech games started at their prescribed times.  Not an issue for most but something the convention staff should seek to nail down.  I’ve heard countless stories of games starting late in my day but early starts are a rarer beast.

BattleTech Gaming

Jim “RatBoy” Williamson was on hand from Time Warp Comics and Games to host two QuickStrike games based on the Fall of Terra scenario book.  Both games were great and made use of a custom generated record sheets which may be seeing a more formal release in the near future.  They certainly helped the game along and proved super easy to use.  Expect two after action reports in the future here at the ScrapYard!

ScrapYard contributor SaxyWolf hosted a Grinder Saturday evening that was well attended and a lot of fun.  By the end of the night the players had only gotten up to Heavy ‘Mechs but they made sure to blast apart almost all of the Medium units before they got there.  Copious tons of armor were reduced to slagged over the 4+ hours of Grinder mayhem.  We used our usual setup of MechWarrior figures and 2 inch hex terrain with homemade hills and trees.  New this year is heavy duty laminated record sheets which worked quite well.  Players used dry erase markers to mark damage making the whole set reusable.

After a day of sitting in the car after the con, the record sheets were a tad stubborn to get super clean.  A little bit of baking soda on a damp paper towel was enough to scrub them new as the day we made them.

Operation Mallard Freedom

Between games while getting a breath of fresh air outside, SaxyWolf came across just the cutest duck family you ever did see.  Momma duck was carefully leading her brood of twelve ducklings around the parking lot.  After snapping a few pictures it was back to gaming.  What could possibly go wrong?

A little while later, on another break from the games SaxyWolf heard a duck in distress.  When he found the mother duck she was frantically quacking and flapping her little wings back and forth over top a storm drain with only a single duckling left beside her.  Disaster had struck.  The ducklings were in danger.

SaxyWolf sprang into action and called up the local animal shelter who told him to call the local police who then transferred him to another police department who said they would call the shelter.  Would the ducklings be saved after being given the run around?  Does hope yet exist in the Inner Sphere?

Well it appears that someone heard the call for help because after about 30 minutes the hotel parking lot was filled with Animal Control, Police, Fire Department, Ambulance and Search and Rescue.

After a concentrated rescue effort the ducklings were saved and returned to their mother who led them away from the dangerous storm drains.

Other Gaming

NJ Con boasts a wide array of games from several eras.  Here are a few pictures from the convention games being played.

One of our projects here at The ScrapYardArmory is to create a system to calculate a Battle Value for RPG characters for use in tactical infantry games.  This only takes into account skills, abilities, and attributes that are directly or semi-related to what happens in combat situations.  For starters, Initiative is an important factor and in order to better understand what affect modifying a character’s initiative has, a fancy pants graph was made to visualize it.

First a little about how we do personal initiative… The standard initiative is 2d6.  Combat Sense makes it 3d6 and ignore the MINimum (or lowest) roll.  Combat Paralysis makes it 3d6 and ignore the MAXimum (or highest) roll.  (Max and Min is sort of habit from working in LibreOffice’s Calc and Excel.)  Furthermore the Tactics/Infantry skill is added to the roll up to a maximum of +6.  The resulting number is displayed using two 6 sided dice adjacent to the character on the map.  The highest initiative a character can have is 12.  The Reflex Attribute breaks ties and where Reflex is the same, the characters act simultaneously (appropriately conducted by the GM).

To see what affect Combat Sense, Combat Paralysis, and the Tactics/Infantry skill have, an analysis was conducted.  The average roll for each was calculated and represented by a bar on the graph below.  The  Combat Sense, Combat Paralysis, and standard initiatives are colored differently so you can see their relationship.  Ignore Max is Combat Paralysis while Ignore Min is Combat Sense.  Then every individual roll’s winning percentage against other rolls was calculated and averaged together to get an average Win % vs 2d6 OR Win % vs All.  Win %’s are the blueish shapes and labeled on the right side of the graph.  The +0 to +6 mods are from the Tactics/Infantry skill bonus to initiative.  The rolls were then ordered by their Average Roll where you can see the standard initiative 2d6+0 averages to 7 as expected.

What I didn’t expect was that only 2 of the Combat Paralysis rolls were lower than 2d6+0, and not really a whole lot lower.  But, the Win % drops off swiftly at the low end.  (Note that 2d6 only wins against itself 44.4% because ties don’t count.)

If you look closely, you will notice that while the Average Roll increases from left to right, the Win % doesn’t always increase.  Ignore Max+3 has an Average Roll a only few hundredths more than Ignore Min+0, but has a slightly lower Win %.  I believe this is due to an increased number of ties (Remember that only wins were counted and a tie is not a win).  You can see this happens again closer to the right, but really neither matters a whole lot since the numbers are still so very close.

You may also have noticed that the colors of the bars are symmetric left to right with Combat Paralysis tending to the left and Combat Sense to the right.

Not too many characters probably end up too far on the right side with high Tactics/Infantry skills, but you can see how they are much more likely to get a high initiative hitting the maximum of 12 more and more often.  With Combat Sense they’ll tend to the right pretty quickly though.  How does this affect our Battle Value?  We’re still not sure as we try to estimate the value of initiative vs other things like weapons, health, etc.

This post is really just meant to share our findings with you so you have a better understanding of the effect your character creation has on Initiative.

Let me start by telling you a little about my situation so you can get an idea of my perspective (Saxywolf).  I like my stories in dead tree format instead of staring at a screen.  I previously have no experience reading ebooks.  I don’t own a Kindle or other special device beyond my Android phone.  I don’t read a whole lot of Battletech fiction (actually I just haven’t read much at all lately).  The last Battletech fiction I read was the 8 novels of The Great Refusal to prepare for our convention games.  I have no real clue what is offered beyond the general description:

Each month we bring you exciting new content, including a mix of exclusive fiction, in-universe new articles, opportunities for interaction with writers, developers, and artists, sneak-peeks at upcoming products, and even scenarios and tracks you can’t get anywhere else!

As I’m writing this portion, I’m still not convinced to purchase a subscription.  I took the plunge anyway just so I could see what the deal was and let you know the details.  I also wanted to get the First Strike: BattleCorps Compilation Vol 2 as a PDF so I could verify some information on an upcoming scenario post.

BattleCorps subscriptions come in three sizes depending on your tolerance for long term commitments.

• 1 Month for $9.95
• 3 Months for $26.95 (saves $2.90 over a monthly subscription)
• 6 Months for $44.95 (saves $14.75 over a monthly subscription)
• Recurring 1 Month is -$1 and recurring 3 Month is -$2.

When ordering the subscription, the page for adding a subscription to the cart has you select a faction and says:

If you do not already have an account, please select a faction below.  Existing accounts will not change faction if a new faction is chosen.

What does that mean and why am I selecting a faction?  Since I’m logged in, it should auto-detect my faction instead of telling me that my choice doesn’t matter.  I realized however that this body of text is not automated.  So, I’m actually not even sure if I had a faction.  There isn’t an option to choose later, but while not immediately obvious you can switch factions.  It isn’t a comprehensive faction list, but it does have the popular ones.  Also, since the faction specific forums are not as active, limiting the choice some helps to avoid joining an inactive forum.

I was pointed to a ClassicBattleTech.com forum with threads announcing releases, but who is going to read a forum like that to figure out what kind of fiction they would have gotten.  Anyway, this is what I got:

• Over 120 products for free download… right away.
• Access to purchase over 440 additional products in ‘Battletech -> BattleCorps’ Fiction
• 5% discount on ALL BattleCorps purchases.
• Access to a faction forum in the BattleCorps forums (Presumably to discuss ‘Mech configurations, tactics, etc.) Not to be confused with the Classic Battletech forums.

A very nice surprise was that it turns out that there is a plethora of previously released products you get for free right away.  There isn’t a list or even a way to figure out what they would be before buying.  But once subscribed, they aren’t too hard to find.  I found 85 free products in my Fiction page right off the bat.  I also found 38 additional free products in the BattleShop under Battletech -> BattleCorps Fiction.  I don’t know why they weren’t automatically added to my fiction page, but I simply sorted the BattleCorps Fiction by price and went down the list adding all the $0.00 products to my cart.  If you too are going to download all the free stuff right away, add the $0.00 products before going down your fiction list and downloading every item so as to avoid having to figure out which you already downloaded.

What exactly does ‘stories from five years of back issues‘ mean?  This seems to be another instance of static text.  It seems I now have access to purchase upwards of 7 years back and all of it is still only for members.

What is the ‘Subscriber Exclusives‘ category?  I don’t see anything in that BattleShop category.  It’s as though I weren’t even logged in.  The message at the top says “Join the Corps” but since I know this body of text is static and not automatically customized for me, why isn’t there also a statement like there is at the top of ‘Battletech -> BattleCorps Fiction’: “If you are a BattleCorps member, but see no fiction on this page, then…”?  I’ve heard talk that at some point there was an exclusive mini, but now the mini has since been made available to non members.

How do subscribers get new products that are released?  Does BattleCorps send a notifications when a new product is released similar to a ‘BattleShop Product Update Alert’ when there is an update to a product previously purchased?  I found an option in the Control Panel to ‘Notify on New Fiction’.  I highly recommend you change this to YES if you sign up so you’ll get a ‘BattleCorps New Fiction Communique’ when something is released.  Otherwise you can periodically check your Fiction page where items with the latest release dates are listed at the top.

How long am I going to have to wait for them to release new products?  Well, there is no comprehensive schedule.  In fact, the only planned date I see is for Exodus Road on Aug 27th a whole 4 months away.  So, I took a look at their release schedule history.  You can see from the chart below that they release products almost every month (Note that I did not include subsequent chapters of a product release if chapters 2 through 10 were released at a later date than chapter 1).  Last year was pretty good and they even seem to be kicking it up a notch this year.

There are dozens of readers, both physical and software, that will read some or all of the dozens of different formats.  Some readers are DRM restricted in that they only allow you to read the ones you buy through that reader.  There are fortunately a bunch of free software readers that will let you read non-DRM ebooks, convert their formats, and help you upload them to any physical reader you may have.  I won’t go into detail (especially since there are so many combinations), but you can read more about readers from your ebook reader’s forums or Google.  Getting the first book to my phone was a bit of a pain, but from here on out at least I have the process down.  It also isn’t so bad reading it on my phone and it’s really nice to have with me whenever I need to kill some time.

Unfortunately, Instead of giving you a download link when viewing your order, there is a link to your fiction page, and then you must search that page to find what you just purchased.  Fortunately it is just one long page so you can do a quick Ctrl+F and type part of the name to find it on the page.  Which reminds me of something else that irks me… You get sent an email when a product you previously purchased has an update for you to download, but instead of linking to the PDF or even just linking to the order that has the download link, they only tell you the order number for you to go find the download link.  On the bright side, there doesn’t appear to be a download time limit on fiction so your collection is always available to you.  I can’t tell you what happens to it if your subscription lapses, let alone if you re-subscribe later.

In case you too thought “Print PDF” would send the ebook to your printer, it’s actually a link to download a version of the product that prints well to hard copy.  It isn’t in color nor does it have fancy graphics in the margin nor any background.  This makes me wonder why the margins in the “PDF” version are so big, though I guess somebody might want to print it in color.  I’m guessing the sidebar graphic is to reduce line length to help make it easier to read (and maybe to increase page count, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt).  It seems kind of random which have “Print PDF” and which have “PDF” (or both).

What about value?  A subscription is $10, $9, and $7.50 per month for the standard 1-, 3-, and 6-month subscriptions respectively.  Here is the current value of the products previously released:

It seems as though you only barely got your monies worth for 2005 through 2008 if you did the 6-month subscription.  However, there have since been a number of products from those years made free (and still exclusive) to subscribers:

If you want to save your money now by not buying a subscription and are willing to wait 3 or more years before buying all the old products, then you’d only have gotten your monies worth for 2006.  All the previous years still would have been cheaper if you had done the 6-month subscription.  If you had the 6-month subscription for 2010 then you would have saved a whopping 64% over purchasing all the products now.  Keep in mind that we are only 1/3 of the way into 2011 and already we’ve seen about as many products released that we would normally see released in an entire year (except 2010).

My biggest problem with BattleCorps and the BattleShop is that it seems to be shooting itself in the foot.  Making it easier to make purchases while clarifying what you are getting for your money are key issues.  I counted 6 products that don’t seem to be available anymore while 4 of them are the beginning parts to stories where additional parts are available.  18 products have slightly different names that make them harder to find counterparts such as “Art of War:  Earth: Part I” and “The Art of War: Earth: Part II” which are not listed anywhere near each other thanks to “The”.  3 items in the BattleCorps fiction seem to have duplicate entries such as “Under Pressure” which has two entries but with different descriptions.  5 of the 16 EPUB novels seem to have duplicates in the BattleCorps Fiction section with different prices.  3 of the BattleCorps Fiction products have a Part 1 released, but no follow up or the subsequent parts are not available.  A bunch of listed release dates aren’t consistent, but that’s not such a big deal.

Still, I’m glad I subscribed and from here on out I plan to be on the 6-month subscription.

If you are still on the edge or even if you decide not to subscribe, head on over to your personalized BattleCorps Fiction page to get a tiny taste of the free stuff you get right away when you subscribe.

This BattleTech infantry skirmish game was played at HMGS Cold Wars 2010 using the A Time of War combat ruleset.  Thanks go to Demo Agent “Speck” for allowing the ScrapYard to host the game and to the participants for giving the game a try.

The battle proved extraordinarily fast as the players wasted no time getting right to the business of shooting each other to bits.  Read on to see how it all went down!  Please keep in mind while reading that this game featured modifications to the core rules that are documented in an earlier post.  Miniatures for the game are from the MERCS line of dynamic gaming miniatures.

Bad Intel

The company spooks have dug up verifiable information on a potential Star League era weapons depot.  The location is too fragile to risk sending in ‘Mechs to clear it so it is up to the infantry to sniff out the prize and secure it for evac.  Bad news is, the enemy knows as much as we do and are sending in their own forces.  Lock and Load in this ‘A Time of War’ Infantry Combat Scenario to claim the objective before your opponent!

Objectives

In the middle of the battlefield is a downed BSW-X1 Bushwacker.  A data package has been left behind that holds the coordinates to a potential weapons depot.  That data must not fall into the hands of the enemy.

Downloading the data package is accomplished by moving a character into base contact with the side of the downed ‘Mech near the cockpit.  The download occurs automatically at the end of the turn.  After downloading, the data must be exited off your own team’s map edge.

Liao Assault Squad

• Squad Leader, Auto Rifle and Vibro-blade
• Sniper, Minolta 9000
• Soldier, Imperator SMG x2
• Heavy Weapons, Dual wielding SMGs

Davion Assault Squad

• Squad Leader, Auto Rifle
• Sniper, Minolta 9000
• Soldier, Imperator SMG
• Heavy Weapons, Federated Barrett
• Heavy Weapons, Man-pack Flamer

Turn 1

The first turn sees all characters sprint their full distance towards the middle of the battle.  Opposing snipers take up positions on opposite corners.  Each has a good vantage point of the hill and cover.

The Davions send their MG Heavy Weapons to the south and load the north end with their remaining characters.

The Capellans stay tightly grouped in the middle with the hill in easy reach.

Turn 2

The Davions roll high initiative and elect to put their MG Heavy Weapons on overwatch while prepping grenades with all other characters besides the Sniper.

The Liao player rushes the hill with everything he has.  There is no cover.  The rolls are quite low and the effects are devastating.

A Liao Soldier is first up the hill but gets interrupted by the Davion Heavy Weapons.  However the Capellan rolls a higher reflex check and acts first anyways.  He shoots at the Davion Flamer and misses.  Return fire from the MG Heavy Weapons hits hard knocking the Capellan down and causing a bleeding wound.

The Liao Heavy Weapons is next and fires on the Davion Flamer hitting twice.  The Flamer takes big damage but shakes it off with his Pain Resistance trait and ignores the stun effect.

The Squad Leader moves up and shoots at the Davion Soldier and hits solidly causing a stun and bleed.

The Davion Sniper is next to act and puts a bead on the Liao Squad Leader and hits causing a stun.  He then turns his scope to the Heavy Weapons beside the Leader and fires off another round causing damage but no stun due to Pain Resistance.

The Liao Sniper forgoes the relative safety of long range and sprints towards the objective arriving just out of reach.

The Liao Soldier is last to act and he rushes the hill along with his comrades firing on the Davion Soldier for a hit.  The Soldier is knocked down but avoids a bleed effect.

There are several downed characters who are stunned, bleeding or both!  A violent and fast round of combat.

Turn 3

Both Squad Leaders are first to act.  The Liao Leader fires on and hits the Davion Flamer after shaking a stun.  The Davion Leader walks forward and throws his prepared grenade.  The blast kills one of the Capellan Soldiers and causes both a stun and bleed effect on the other.  The Liao Heavy Weapons takes further damage but is ok so far.

The Liao Soldier shakes a stun and fires on the Davion Soldier, hitting for modest damage.

The Davion soldier shakes his own stun and tosses an unprepared grenade into the pile of Capellans atop the hill. (This grenade will detonate later at the end of the turn!)

The Liao Heavy Weapons walks forward and shoots off a burst at the Davion Flamer hitting once and missing once.

The Davion Flamer (still avoiding stun effects via Pain Resistance) walks forward and spews a line of fire that catches two Liao in the area of effect.  The Squad Leader begins to bleed and both are stunned.

The Davion Heavy Weapons attacks his counterpart causing a stun.  The Davion drops prone after his action to remain hidden behind cover.

The Liao Sniper walks into base contact with the objective and fires twice on the Davion Squad Leader for the kill.

The Davion Sniper remains behind cover and puts one bullet into the Liao Heavy Weapons for a kill and another at the Soldier who makes a difficult KO roll.

The previously thrown grenade now detonates and kills two Capellans.  The Liao Sniper successfully downloads the data package and has at least a chance to make a run for it if he can roll a high enough initiative!

Turn 4

The Liao Sniper rolls a 4…

The entire Davion team will get to act before the Liao Sniper and they make short work of the matter.

The Davion Heavy Weapons moves up and fires full auto at the lone Sniper causing a stun, bleed, and knockdown.  A second volley from the Federated Barrett finishes the game.

More Time on the Learning Curve

To be honest I did not anticipate the “run up the hill with guns blazing” strategy when I came up with this game.  Even with dealing with new players and teaching them the system, the four turns it took to decide the game seemed short.  I have a few ideas that would make the game better and they boil down to two key concepts.

Movement is Too Fast

I’ve had a hunch about this for a while and this game helped to prove it.  When you can run so far in game, the risk of long range (or medium range!) fire is too low.  I’ve come up with some calculations which I may share in a later post on the matter.  Bringing down movement rates will do a lot to re-balance in favor of more shooty game play (by shooty, I mean overt use of suppression fire and overwatch to contain opponents).

Rolls are Too Low

Ok, I get it, one force ran over the hill and charged into darn near short range with everything.  With no cover and modest range, they should have been low rolls, but I still think they are too low.  Even if I added in medium range and medium cover, the rolls would have been more than manageable for each player given the skill levels involved.  This works in an RPG setting where every character is indeed a hero.  I believe the translation into a BattleTroops style skirmish game deserves a tougher difficulty curve to reward good strategy and tactics.

All told, each player still had a good time and the setting and feel is second to none.  A Time of War is not without it’s flaws but at the end of the day it is the setting of choice for man-to-man combat in the 31st century.  No Mech?  No problem.  Get out your man portable machine guns, blazers and needlers and get your game on!

Clan Wolf in Exile

After a good long wait, I finally got around to finishing up this fantastically converted star of ‘Mechs.  These were sent to me by gamer and friend HassWerks.

The paint scheme is a carbon copy of an earlier Wolf in Exile ‘Mech.  The only major difference in the paint scheme is a different cockpit jeweling color.  In lieu of the faux reflection I did last time, I opted for a yellowish-brown mix that I thought would go well with the red.

Honestly, it is just something different and less striking than blues and reds which are my usual favorites.  It’s always good to experiment with new colors.  Yellow can be tricky, which makes it an ideal opportunity to practice.

Just to recap, here are the details on the paint palate.

The base for the red is Dark Fleshtone.  The highlights involve increasing amounts of Gory Red and Bloody Red mixed into the Dark Fleshtone.  The Grey is a simple Cold Grey to Stonewall Grey to White palate.  Gun barrels are Gun Metal with Silver highlights.  The base is a simple green flock job.

In Progress

Final Shots