ScrapYard Armory

BattleTech Dossiers make their debut as PDF only products with the release of Lamenkov’s Liability and Salazar Tsakalotos.  Both these items are set in the Dark Age era alongside the man of legend, Delvin Stone.  You and your gaming group can jump into the adventure for the low price of $3.95 and $1.95 respectively.

Paul Sjardijn is at the helm for both these products.  What new adventures await players in this short tome?  Is it worth the combined $5.90?  Let’s delve in to see.

Introspective Enemy

An opening battle filled with missiles, lasers, and concentrated firepower open up this dossier.  This lance has some issues.  The tension evident between the members of the Liability is palpable.  Add to that the sudden realization that a trap has been set and we have the makings of a proper adventure with ample opportunities for twists and turns along the way.

The fiction sets the stage and its now time to meet the actors.

Unit Profile

Each member of the Lamenkov’s Liability is detailed in a profile which is a bit of short fiction that answers a few of the most basic questions surrounding their past.  How did they get started as a MechWarrior?  How did they rise up through the ranks?  How did they end up with Lamenkov’s Liability?

While brief, the bios were entertaining and help to paint a colorful picture of each character’s personality.

Alongside each bio is a brief spot on each member’s BattleMech including a picture of a painted miniature courtesy of CamoSpecs.  All of the ‘Mechs have Strategic Operations Quirks assigned to them.  Some are obvious, like Difficult Ejection, others not so much, like Sensor Ghosts.

Missions

The missions section is a combined Total Warfare and A Time of War adventure pack featuring the Liability and their mission on Schedar within the Republic of the Sphere.  The opening mission, Warm Welcome, picks up where Introspective Enemy left off with a frantic chase.  Both Total Warfare missions use the Chaos Campaign track system.

I was very impressed with this first mission.  The objectives were not a simple kill everything variation and the optional bonuses are actually interesting.  Well done Mr. Sjardijn!  Here we have the first tie in to the sister dossier.  As an optional bonus, Salazar Tsakalotos is included in the pursuing force.

That Could Have Gone Better is an RPG mission with open ended objectives and ample opportunity for anywhere from one to four additional Total Warfare encounters.  I’ve never been a fan of RPGs so this is certainly not my cup of tea.  The two page mission description equips a GM with a patchwork of information from which the overall adventure is constructed.  The quality of your experience is ultimately in the hands of the GM.

The last mission, Nowhere to Run is a final stand where the Liability have their chance to prove their worth.  In this case, I don’t mind the less than imaginative objectives since the fiction dictates that this was a fight to the finish.  I see no other way this mission could have been written.  The tie in to the earlier missions is enough of a hook to keep my interest and the interest of your gaming group.

Record Sheets

Each member of the lance has a complete Time of War record sheet describing their every detail.  Each ‘Mech in turn has a record sheet.

The record sheets look great, no repeat of the Death to Mercenaries issues.  My only complaint is the fact that the Time of War damage monitors are not optimally displayed.  Currently, the health and fatigue circles are grouped in fives.  What would have made more sense, is to have the health grouped in quarters and fatigue grouped in halves.  That way it becomes easier during a game to, at a glance, recognize what the injury and fatigue modifiers are.  Not a huge deal but something I think can be improved in future releases.

Salazar Tsakalotos

Salazar is the chief (albeit unnecessarily optional) antagonist in the Liability story and is available separately for $1.95.  The dossier includes elements exactly the same as the Unit Profile and Record Sheets described above.  There is no opening fiction or missions included.

This independent but intertwined dossier is available separately but should not have been.  I feel that the addition of Salazar as the primary antagonist in this story requires he be included in the Liability PDF.  There is little the community can do with him separately outside the context provided by the story told in the main PDF.

If you plan on buying the Lamenkov’s Liability PDF pick up Salazar as well.  They go together and should not be digested separately if you intend on having the full experience.

Product Tie Ins Galore

The Liability PDF is a shining example of how the multiple volumes of BattleTech rules and lore can be combined and mixed with great success.  Within it’s pages we have recommended/optional injections from no less than the following products:

• Total Warfare
• A Time of War
• Hexpacks
• TRO: Vehicle Annex
• Iron Wind Metals 3085 Lance Pack (the Liability use all of these ‘Mechs)
• Strategic Operations

It’s wonderful to see all of these products mixed together.  The gaming experience is better for it.  We have all of these books full of rules and fiction.  It is refreshing to have official product make ample use of all that there is to offer.  Older players with access to most if not all of these tomes will be glad to take advantage of their stock of information.  New players will feel the pull to buy in deeper into the BattleTech world to see what all the fuss is about.

Overview

The story told in these two products is excellent and well worth the $5.90 combined price.  My only concern is the fact that the full campaign may not fill a long enough session to make it worth the entry fee.  A typical Turning Point PDF contains anywhere from five to seven missions.  The Liability adventure may possibly have up to six missions in them before the campaign comes to an end.  But, if the RPG section is skipped then it becomes only two.  For the level of detail that went into describing this unit I would have liked to see more.

The quality of the product is excellent but the quantity is left up to the GM and and the players.  Under certain conditions there should be ample opportunities to string together multiple battles. However, under certain courses of action the end of the campaign may sneak up unexpectedly.

Still, to put it all into perspective, for less than the price to go to a movie you have yourself several hours over at least two (probably more) gaming sessions to fill your time.  The price of admission is low so give it a shot if your gaming group feels like taking an excursion into the Dark Age.  It may be a short detour but the views are worth it.