ScrapYard Armory

Day three is done and gone.  Saturday always has a lot to offer for BattleTech fans.  Let’s get right to it.

The BattleTech Open

I participated in the open this year and had a blast.  Each round features a choice of six ‘Mech pairings.  The first round is Inner Sphere Introductory Tech.  The second round is Inner Sphere Tournament Tech and the last round is Clan.

My first game I won with heavy losses.  Early in the game my opponent set up his Hammerhands on a map edge.  I took a chance and lined up my Chameleon for a push.  I survived weapons fire and made a 7 in the physical phase.  Poof, no more Hammerhands.  The Chameleon’s luck ran out quickly and was de-legged in one last gasp by the Hammerhands. The rest of the match was a slug fest by the two remaining units.  My slightly better pilot and heavier ‘Mech was the decider and I moved on to the next round with a win.

Not a great start but good enough to still be in the running.

My second match was a nail biter.  The battle was played on only one mapsheet which made it fast and brutal.  The TSM on my Vindicator was not the game changer I thought it could be and in the final three or so turns, my opponent deftly maneuvered his last mobile ‘Mech into positions where I could not get shots to his front or side arc.  Having not finished off an earlier tactical kill, I got the short end of the points.  Still a close game where both players got decent scores.

The last game was a matter of dice rolls.  What would we expect from Clan Heavies and Assaults?  I took the pairing with 3 ERPPCs and 2 Large Pulse Lasers.  The pulse weapons did not turn out to be the boon I was expecting.  After killing one ‘Mech each, we brutalized each other until each of us had a single ‘Mech with an ERPPC and an AP Gauss Rifle each.  For at least three rounds we circled each other until the final blow was delivered.  This was the closest game and could have gone either way with one fortunate dice roll.  It was a defeat but a high scoring one.

I know I didn’t win but I’m anxious to see how my final score compared with the rest of the field.  Supposedly this will be posted on the forums.  I can’t wait.

The tournament was good fun but could have been better prepared.  All of the record sheets for the pairings were not available at the start of the tournament.  Spots at the provided tables and chairs could also have been sectioned off in some way to guarantee space for the pairings to play their games.

Finally there has to be a way for the Demo Agents running the event to communicate information to the players without straining their already frayed voices.  By Saturday every other Agent had lost their voice from yelling over the crowds of Battletech fans.  Maybe a projector or a bull horn would help them herd the cats necessary to pull off the tournament efficiently.

Diorama Take Two

Each day the diorama takes on a slightly different layout as pieces are moved around and put in different places.  There is so much detail to see that I don’t always catch everything the first time.  Here are a few more pictures of the display for those unable to be here to see it in person.

The null sig Executioner was custom cast out of an Alumilite mold.  The acrylic casting material was supposed to be clear but the catalyst agent used to make the mold (which is yellow) leached into the finished product.  It still looks amazing and I wouldn’t have known it was an undesired effect without having talked to the CamoSpecs guys.

Flight School

Flight school, the introduction to low altitude fighter combat was a small draw this year.  Part of the low turnout was due to a scheduling error but certainly there was not as much interest in fighters as there was for the grinders.  That said, I hope they don’t get discouraged from offering it next year.  Variety is a strength of the BattleTech system that should be promoted.

Battle The Masters

This year the format for the game changed and for the better.  Instead of one massive game that lasted only three short turns, this time around the Masters were split up across five different games.  The fans banded together to take on the Masters and show them what for.

The event had a rocky start and did not begin until a full hour after it’s scheduled start.  Setup wasn’t even begun until 10PM which is a shame.  Catalyst owes their fans better, especially when most have paid quite a bit to get themselves to the convention and entry into the event.  I’m sure most had a good time despite, but I would rather see the Demo Team deliver on the expectation of well prepared and on time events.

I don’t think that is too much to ask.

Appropriately enough, the game ended with a tactical nuke strike on one of the battles courtesy of “Teh Pope”!

Mini Contest Results!

The CamoSpecs crew did a great job this year and took a first and fourth place finish.  It wasn’t the sweep of years past but still a great showing from some great artists.  The exposure for Iron Wind Metals is fantastic.  Seeing these ‘Mechs painted so well is inspiration for  gamers such as myself that even ‘Mechs can be beautiful.

Return of Late Night Quick Strike

One night of QuickStrike just isn’t enough especially when we are in the late hours of a GenCon Saturday.  This mission featured two Inner Sphere companies and one Clan Binary per side.  That would be 68 units in total.

By the end of the night it was seven on about fourteen (~70% casualties).  The game was fast paced and lots of fun.  If you have not played QuickStrike you need to.  It is the highlight of Strategic Operations.

The terrain for this event was provided by Wild Child Gaming, a new terrain company that is in the process of forming.  I can’t say enough about their work, the game looked fantastic.

GenCon Moment

It’s around dinner time and I’m running around dropping stuff off at the hotel.  For those who have experienced rush hour convention hotel elevators, you know it can be a mess.  They are crammed with people all trying to get from point A to point B and it always takes longer than you ever think possible to get to the damn lobby.

So I finally get into an elevator packed with people and am heading down to the ground floor.  I look left, I look right, and I realize that I am in an elevator with the entire cast of The Guild!  I geek out and am able to take one poorly framed picture before I reach my destination floor.

Of course they were busy with their own conversations/phone calls, so there was no time to ask questions or say more than a quick greeting.  Still, I was in an elevator with The Guild at GenCon.  Sweet!

Claustrophobia

Back to some non-BattleTech games.  I originally saw an online video for Claustrophobia and liked it enough to give it a try at the demo tables in the Asmodee booth.  The game has a similar feel to Decent.  It’s a dungeon crawl game where one player plays the heros trying to escape the dungeon while another plays the monsters, intent on killing the dungeon divers at all costs.

The game plays fast once the rules are taught and the damage and dice initiative system is unique and refreshing.

I don’t know that I would run out and buy it today, but it is an interesting game with a lot of promise.

Dark Age

Dark Age is a far future skirmish game on a distant planet long forgotten by a collapsed galactic empire.  The story and the miniatures are excellent.  The visuals are stunning and the game has a distinct flavor to it that is unique.

However the actual combat system is a bit mundane.  It’s a D20 system with the usual stat lines you would expect from the genre.  Par for the course unfortunately.  The one interesting element I took away from the demo was the possibility of cascading charges.  Whenever a unit bases another, it gets a free action to attack (charging).  Units with several actions can bounce from one enemy to another assuming they kill each in succession.

All together not a bad game but not one I would want to pick up.