ScrapYard Armory

On Saturday evening at GenCon, the writers and owners of the BattleTech game set out to challenge BattleTech players.  Each participant was required to bring their favorite Battle/Omni ‘Mech to the game (without knowing what pilot skills would be).  The Masters of the game would do the same and do battle against the fans.

Piloting and Gunnery skilled were revealed to be based on tonnage alone.  Assaults were 4/5, Heavies were 3/4 and so on.

I did my best to keep tabs on what was happening during the game but it is hard when you have 41 units on the board.  I did my best while having some fun myself.  Each turn includes a picture of movement, a brief recap of notable events and deaths, and some interesting quotes that were heard over the rumble of dice and player conversation.

The Masters

Randall Bills

• Catapult CPLT-K4
• Stone Rhino
• BloodKite 2
• Banshee BNC-3S
• Phoenix Hawk PHX-7K

Tara “Yes His Wife” Bills

• Hatchetman HCT-6D
• Axman AXE-3S
• Nightsky ???-5S
• Ti-Tsang TSJ-9J
• Berzerker BZK-3C

Loren Coleman (assisted by Heather and Conner)

• Sagittaire SGT-8R
• Sagittaire SGT-8R
• Solitaire
• Solitaire
• BloodKite 2

Herb Beas

• Atlas AS7-K
• Guilittine GUL-5M
• Griffin GRF-5M
• Trebuchet TBT-5N
• Zeus ZEU-6S

Brent Evans (The Art Director)

• Timber Wolf A

The Fans

• No-Daichi NDA-2Ko
• Longbow LGB-13C
• Awesome AWS-8T
• King Crab KGC-0001
• Warhammer WHM-9D
• Banshee BNC-3S
• Warhawk C
• MadCat A
• No-Daichi NDA-2KO
• Kodiak 3
• Bane 3
• Turkina B
• Dragon Fire DGR-3F
• Marauder MAD-6L
• Warhammer WHM-8D
• Daishi W
• Penetrator PNT-6T
• Griffin “Sparky 2.0″
• Savage Coyote A
• Sunder SD1-O

Let The Games Begin

Setup

Each side lined up their minis basically where ever they fit on the edge of the board and faced across the battlefield at their likely targets.

Turn 1

Things started badly for the fans.  Most movement was straight ahead towards the enemy or setting up for sniping attacks.  Our poor Sunder was the first to fail a piloting check after weapons fire.

The Warhawk C on Loren Coleman’s side of the board lashed out at long range to hit the oncoming Master’s ‘Mechs.  Mr. Coleman seemed surprised at first when he confirmed that yes, Clan Large Pulse Lasers really do fire that far.

What does Stealth Armor do? – Herb Beas

Why do you even need the rulebook, the people who wrote it are all here! – Unidentified Demo Agent

Turn 2

The Sunder failed a few more piloting rolls and now on turn three has three pilot hits but is still awake and is participating in the carnage as best as can be expected up until a Clan ERPPC blows it’s head off.

Turn 3

At the onset of turn three, the fan’s Daishi pulls a Sunder and fails some piloting rolls of it’s own.

It’s the new Liao submunition.  It spreads ball bearings on the battlefield! – Loren Coleman

The Daishi is then promptly headcapped by an ERPPC but not before a UAC20 double shot cores through Tara Bill’s Nightsky.

What are your doing there, are you daffy? – Herb Beas

He was close and I had an axe! -Tara Bills

The fan’s fortune continues to turn when a Banshee owned by Randall Bills dies from a Heavy PPC to the face.

Turn 4

In the last turn of the battle, as the early morning fatigue began to set in a final all out rush was made by Tara Bill’s Axe patrol as well as Loren Coleman’s Solitaires.

In the middle, I walked my 13-C Longbow towards the advancing TSM horde.  Not only did I survive getting shot at by a Berzerker, Ti-Tsang, and AxMan, but I participated in gutting the Berzerker and kicked the Ti-Tsang’s legs out from under it.

Towards the right flank of the Fans, Herb’s Zeus was cored out by a Bane in stunning fashion.  Amazingly both the Kodiak and Atlas (Santa!) lived through the carnage and were ready for another turn to tear each other apart.

When the Stackpole rule goes off and I’m present and not Mike, the whole board explodes! -Herb Beas

You’re a Kodiak! -Herb Beas (surprised?)

I’m just as pleasant as I was a minute ago. -Unidentified Demo Agent

Just wait till Santa opens up… -Herb Beas

Sadly, as the hour grew late and energies waned, we decided to put an early morning end to the battle.  You mean it was ambitious to try to play out a 41 ‘Mech battle starting at 10:30PM?  I’d like to give a shout out to the Demo Agent running the event for doing a spectacular job.  I believe it was Mike Miller but I could be wrong.  He was wearing a tri-corner hat and was instrumental in keeping things moving and allowing us to get in the 4 turns we did.

In the end I think there was a good argument that the Masters were going to rout the Fan’s left flank. In the middle of the board the threat of TSM madness was nullified by concentrated firepower and a few lucky shots.  To the right flank, I believe we were holding our own and making good progress.  We had several untouched ‘Mechs that would have been a strong challenge to whatever forces would breakthrough on the left.

It was a blast to play against the Powers that Be.  It was great to just watch Randall Bills and Loren Coleman geek out talking about the positioning of the Solitaires, how long the enemy WarHawk would last, and when they were going to make their big push.  These guys really love this game and it is really refreshing to see them enjoy it at the level that the players do everytime they sit down to bash ‘Mechs for a few hours.

York was supposed to be a quiet base for Victor Davion and his Allied forces during the Fed Com Civil War, but to their surprise General Esteban had set a trap for them.  Within a few short hours of their landings, the Loyalist had divided the Allied forces and was close to capturing Victor Davion.  Join the fight to either save Victor Davion’s Allied forces or destroy them.

This battle was fought at Historicon 2009 and was prepared and hosted by Catalyst Demo Agent “Speck”.  The Davions are caught on York and need to escape off the left edge of the overall camera shots.  The Lyrans are ready to pounce and need to do as much damage as possible before the Davions make their escape.

Lyran Alliance

• GRF-6S Griffin
• ZEU-9S Zeus
• AWS-8Q Awesome
• HBK-5S Hunchback
• MAD-5S Marauder
• BNC-6S Banshee
• AS7-S2 Atlas
• NGS-5S Nighsky

Federated Suns

• DVS-2 Devastator
• AGS-4D Argus
• MAD-5S Marauder
• CN10-B Centurion
• STK-7D Stalker
• WHM-9D Warhammer
• ARC-8M Archer
• STY-3D Starslayer

The Setup

In the picture above, the Davion forces are located dead center of the battlefield.  The Lyran Alliance forces are broken up into two lances at the near and far left corners of the map.

Turn 1 – Davions win Initiative

The Davions split the center mountain and stay low.  Only the Marauder takes any kind of high ground. The Lyrans meanwhile converge towards the middle.

The Davion Stalker and Devastator are picked out from the crowd of ‘Mechs and receive fire from one lance a piece.  The Stalker almost has it’s right torso armor cleared by concentrated weapons fire while the Devastator shrugs off damage without so much as a few paint scratches.

The Davions split their fire across three Lyran targets scoring an internal damage to a Marauder’s left torso but no critical damage.

Turn 2 – Davions win Initiative

The Devastator and Stalker lead the Davion rush to the objective edge.  Faster Battlemechs begin to get close but turn to offer fire support for the slower units left behind.  The Lyrans now pick their ranges and line up as many Heavy Gauss Rifles on the two previously damaged Davions.  In a daring run, the Lyran Nightsky (painted red) gets behind the Davion Devastator for a chance to hit the rear armor.

The Davion Stalker once again takes the lions share of damage but this time it’s left torso takes the most.  A Heavy Guass Rifle, LB-10X and LB20-X all hit solidly.  The armor in the section is ripped apart and a medium pulse laser is blasted into scrap.  The Devastator takes an equal beating but the damage is nicely spread around, pot marking the massive armor loadout but avoiding any serious threats.

The Davions spread damage across the easiest targets available but concentrate three ‘Mechs on the Lyran Hunchback with the dangerous LB-20X.  Damage is light except for the Hunchback.  The combined fire pays off as the Hunchback loses his LB-20X to critical damage.

Turn 3 – Lyrans win Initiative

The Lyran Zeus and Griffin move to block the Devastator and Stalker from leaving so soon.  The Nightsky again maneuvers behind the Devastator.  The Davions counter the Zeus by moving the speedy Starslayer directly behind.  The remaining Davion forces rally around the likely exit points and a large furball of destruction ensues.

The Davion Stalker already has two head hits from earlier turns’ LB-X cluster fire.  Another turn of concentrated fire lands several key blows, including an ER Large Laser to the head and a disastrous Heavy Gauss Rifle to the right torso which hits the SRM ammo stores.  As the ammo erupts the pilot takes his fifth pilot hit and falls unconscious.  Unable to make his pilot roll to avoid falling or the ensuing seat belt check the MechWarrior cannot avoid his final pilot hit.

The Davion Starslayer hits with most of its lasers to the Zeus’ rear armor scoring three critical hits, all of which hit engine criticals.  The path is now clear for the Devastator to escape.

However, the Devastator is mauled by another full lance of firepower.  The Nightstalker gets a critical hit on the engine by chopping through the rear armor weakened by the Marauder’s lasers.  Coupled with the loss of a double heat sink, the Devastaor’s heat spikes just enough to decrease his movement for the next turn, preventing an otherwise easy exit.

The Lyran Marauder takes serious fire from the Davion Marauder now closing in and the Argus.  Already heating up from pouring fire into the Devastator, the Mech takes an engine hit and a heat sink critical hit and is in serious trouble.  He needs to cool down next turn.

Turn 4 – Lyrans win Initiative

The Davions begin to make their escape, leaving some of their slower brethren behind.  The Centurion, Warhammer, Starslayer and Archer all exit this turn.  The Lyrans sprint towards the remaining Davion Mechs lining up several back shots.

Four Lyrans complete the destruction of the Devastator and spread remaining fire power across available targets of opportunity.  The final shot on the Devastator came from the Lyran Griffin ER Medium Laser that delivered the third engine hit.  The Lyran Awesome has it’s leg blown off by the Davion Marauder who only fired a single PPC to stay cool this turn.  The Argus jams his RAC/5 this turn and fails to do significant damage.

Turn 5 – Davions win Initiative

The Lyran Marauder and Nightsky move to positions around the woods anticipating the Argus’ move.  The Argus surprises everyone by splitting the woods and while not making it far, manages to obtain very good cover from enemy fire.

The Argus does not disappoint during weapons fire, a volley of LRMs hit the Lyran Awesome in the head.  The consciousness roll is snake eyes and the pilot drifts to sleep.  The Davion Marauder would finish the job with a gauss rifle to the center torso which is enough to core the ‘Mech.

While covered from most incoming fire, the Argus was not immune to two elevens and a twelve rolled by the Atlas pilot.  While not doing much critical damage, precious armor is slagged off the Heavy ‘Mech.

Turn 6 – Lyrans win Initiative

The Argus makes a mad dash to the objective edge, falling just short of the goal.  The Marauder stays on board to support.

Sensing the end, all Lyran Mechs pile firepower into the wounded Argus.  The Atlas once again is the deadliest of the bunch and punches a hole deep into the left torso.  A missile critical finds an ammo bin causing the Argus and it’s XL engine to go up in smoke.

In a final bid for revenge, both Davion ‘Mechs fire on the terribly damaged Marauder.  A gauss rifle slug rips off the right arm and burrows into the side torso for good measure.  The XL engine is silenced and the ‘Mech drops.

The next turn, the last Davion ‘Mech, the Marauder, exits to meet his fellow warriors to the evacuation waypoint.

Mission Recap

While there were no official victory points for this scenario, I’d like to know who you the readers feel won this battle. The objective for the Davions was to exit as much personnel off the map as possible while the Lyrans did everything in their power to stop them.  The Davions lost three mechs, two assault and one heavy while the Lyrans lost three, two assault and one heavy.

Leave a comment and let me know who made the better moves in the end turns?  Who deserves the victory?

Twilight of the Clans: Battle 2

The second battle of the Great Refusal takes place on the standard Battletech map.  The fearless St. Ives warriors, led by none other than Kai Allard Liao himself, take on the ruthless Clan Wolf to stop the invasion of the Inner Sphere.

See other battles from the Great Refusal in the After Action Category or by searching for Twilight of the Clans in the sidebar search.

St. Ives Compact

• Duke Kai Allard-Liao (0/0) Ryoken B
  
• Colonel Adele Tsang (3/3) PLG-3Z Pillager
  

Clan Wolf

• Khan Vladimir Ward (2/1) MadCat Prime
  
• saKhan Marialle Radick (3/2) Man O’ War A
  

Turn 1 – St. Ives Wins Initiative

Both forces maneuver closer while the Pillager and MadCat immediately open fire on each other, locking themselves, 1 on 1,  in zellbrigen.  Both Gauss from the Pillager miss while the MadCat places some lasers on the Pillagers right torso, shaving a few short tons of armor away.

Turn 2 – Clan Wolf Wins Initiative

The Pillager and MadCat look to trade blows at long range while Kai starts a run towards the Clan Wolf Man-o-War.

The Pillager lands only one Gauss Rifle slug on the MadCat, shedding armor on the right arm.  The MadCat returns fires and hits with both missiles and lasers.  The Pillager stands despite the punishment.

Kai is not yet at optimum range and is unable to damage his foe.  Meanwhile the Man-o-War unloads and manages to score a through armor critical that damages the Ryoken’s gyro.  Only Kai’s magnificent piloting skill saves him from a near certain fall.

Turn 3 – Clan Wolf Wins Initiative

The Pillager stands his ground as the MadCat closes the distance.  The Man-o-War feels lucky and rushes to point blank range after Kai maneuvers slightly.

The Pillager’s aim continues to fail missing both Gauss Rifle shots.  The MadCat continues to pummel the Pillager at range, up to now evenly distributing damage across the assault ‘Mech’s frame and one shot to the head that fails to do critical damage.

Kai seizes the opportunity and alpha-strikes the opposing Clan ‘Mech.  The combination of UAC slugs and ER Medium Lasers shred off the Man-o-War’s left leg.  The Ryoken’s heat spikes to 19 but the ‘Mech does not shutdown.   The Man-o-War delivers a furious beating to the the Ryoken’s center torso, gutting the internal structure and delivering a second gyro hit.

Turn 4 – St. Ives Wins Initiative

With the Ryoken and Man-o-War both unable to move, the two ‘Mechs resort to proping and firing available weapons. The Pillager finally jumps from it’s perch as the MadCat backs up slightly to keep distance between himself and the Pillager’s assortment of lasers.

Weapons fire is horrendous for both sides.  The Pillager and MadCat completely miss each other while the two downed ‘Mechs continue to strip only armor.  Kai uses his UAC20 this turn to try to punch a larger hole in the Man-o-War.

Turn 5 -Clan Wolf Wins Initiative

The MadCat and Pillager now close to short range. Both looking for the deathblow.

The Pillager again misses most of his weapons fire, hitting only the left leg.  The MadCat critically hits the Pillager’s gyro and lands a laser to the head.  The Pillager remains conscious and steady through the punishing rain of weapons fire.

Kai switches to lasers looking for the wounds opened up by his UAC20 shells.  He hits with everything but not the right locations for a kill.  The Man-o-War’s weapons gouge through the remaining internal structure silencing the Ryoken.

Turn 6 – Clan Wolf Wins Initiative

The MadCat stands his ground and trades fire with the Pillager.  The Pillager finally begins landing meaningful hits, destroying an LRM rack and a double heat sink.  The MadCat’s return fire is less accurate as luck turns on the Wolf player.

Turn 7 – St. Ives Wins Initiative

The MadCat wisely pulls away from the Inner Sphere assault and opens up at longer range.  The Pillager lands both Gauss Rifles ripping apart the MadCat’s left torso, but for naught. The MadCat unleashed a hail of laser fire and missles that tore away the Pillagers leg.  As the ‘Mech fell, the pilot was again injured and fell unconscious.  Clan Wolf holds the battlefield and claims victory for the Clans.

Guthry Island is a glass crater.  I’m sure what ‘Mech manufacturing facilities were there are now fused together in some frankenstein amalgamation of ferro-crete and ‘Mech parts.  And now the damn Blakists are out here scouring the wreckage and the scrap for anything that might be rushed into new service for their demon worshiping troops.  The Drac schism just made things worse.  It’s getting to the point you can’t tell who is out here to help you or kill you.  Or worse, reeducate you.

I hear footsteps now.  Someone’s coming.  No.  Something’s coming.  No doubt to make an even greater mess of this god forsaken city.

Forces from the Word of Blake Ninth Division and Sixth Benjamin are converging on the ruins of LAW city to capture what’s left of the battered city.  This scenario is an adaptation from Jihad Turning Points Luthien.  Instead of playing this wartrack in a campaign, this mission is being used as a stand alone scenario using the Quick Strike rules from Strategic Operations.

Word of Blake

• Firestarter (Commander)
• MadCat
• Centurion
• Hatchetman
• Koshi
• Blackhawk
• Joust Tanks x2
• Saxon APC
• Mechanized Infantry
• Jump Infantry
• Kage Battle Armor

Draconis Combine

• Thunderbolt (Commander)
• Thor
• Panther
• Spider
• Uller
• Packhunter
• DI Morgan Assault Tank
• Saxon APC
• Condor Hover Tank
• Raiden Battle Armor
• Fenrir Battle Armor
• Clan Battle Armor

Objectives

• Grudge Match (100 Points): Destroy the opposing force’s designated commander.
• Seizure (200 Points): Capture both designated buildings by turn 10.
• Maximum Damage (300 Points): Destroy at least half of the opposing force.

NOTE: Objective buildings were selected in secret before the start of the game.

First Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

Both forces barrel into the city.  The Word of Blake concentrates their forces heading into the city center while the Combine fans out their faster units around the perimeter.

A Word of Blake Koshi manages to square a shot against the Combine leader in his Thunderbolt scratching the paint but little else.

Return long range fire from the Combine misses its mark.  Both sides are prepared to engage in earnest in the ensuing turns.

Second Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

As the Word of Blake moves in to occupy most of the central park area,  a brave Thor pilot contests the area against the odds.  Once the Word commander committed to the fray the Draconis Combine’s fast flanking units moved in to score damage.

The Combine saw limited opportunities for concentrated fire and thus spread damage across the multiple enemy ‘Mechs.

The Word of Blake took advantage of superior positioning to wreak havoc on the Combine light units.  The Spider fell to concentrated weapon fire and the Fenrir Battle Armor to a blast from a Blackhawk.  The Panther met it’s end from a hatchet but not before the offending Hatchetman received an engine critical hit.

Third Turn – Word of Blake Wins Initiative

The Draconis Combine forces, reeling from losing three units while eliminating none, scatter away from the city center to contest nearby buildings.  The Word pursued, taking advantage of the initiative, to surge to one side leaving limited forces behind in positions encircling the Combine forces.

The Combine forces bit back and brought down the Hatchetman and Joust Tank who were both unable to move with the Blakist surge or take cover.

Now surrounded and helpless the Thor pilot braced against the incoming weapons fire.  The ‘Mech almost survived the onslaught if not for a well placed infantry shot which blew off the head.  A Saxon APC also met its end to a Joust Tank in a single volley.

Fourth Turn – Word of Blake Wins Initiative

Further outnumbered and now on the run, the Draconis Combine units look to the safety of cover provided by the park in the city center that the Word just left behind.  Meanwhile the Word of Blake consolidates their power on the far side of the battlefield, tipping their hand to their objective buildings.  Two Combine units move to take opportunistic shots at the enemy commander at long range.

Long range shots against the Word Commander succeed in further shredding armor, getting close to the core.  Further damage is levied against the Word Centurion and MadCat.  The Saxon APC draws fire away from it’s Commander, dieing in the process from point blank shots.

Though lining up a killing shot on the Uller’s rear, the Word’s aim falters and the Uller lives another turn.  The Combine Packhunter is less lucky and is destroyed.

Fifth Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

While Blake forces hold the line on the far side of the city a lone squad of Raiden battle armor jumps into the fray beside the enemy commander hoping for a glorious kill.  Meanwhile the Combine commander sulks between the city buildings to contest Word holdings.  Word of Blake forces surge again to surround the Combine command ‘Mech.

The Uller and DI Morgan combined fire to rip the Word MadCat apart.  The Condor Tank pierces the remaining WoB Joust Tank, exploding it’s ammo bay.  The Thunderbolt finishes off the wounded Centurion.  Alone and against the odds, the Raiden Battle Armor squad dealt the deathblow to the Word commander and manage to survive combat as well.  In one turn four Blakist units fall.

The Blakist Saxon APC scored a critical hits against the Condor Tank’s drive system while final damage is levied against the Combine commander in his Thunderbolt.

Sixth Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

Now low on numbers, both forces consolidate.  The Combine leaves the lone Raiden squad to contest objectives while Word infantry swarm the remaining Combine ‘Mech forces.

Word infantry dodge incoming fire and leave their mark, destroying the last Combine ‘Mech.  Exchanging long range shots the Blackhawk receives another hit, shedding half it’s armor.

Seventh Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

The Draconis Combine forces obliterate the offending infantry from their side of the battlefield but not before they damage the Condor Tank further.  The Raiden Battle Armor, with no where to run or hide, are forced to fight and are unable to retaliate before their own demise.

Eighth Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

In an effort to ward off Draconis units, the WoB units gather together behind cover, ready to pounce.  The Draconis’ Di Morgan takes up position fortifying its control of the two tallest towers in the city.

Ninth Turn – Word of Blake Wins Initiative

The Word ‘Mechs jump to the far side of the city while the Combine’s lone infantry unit jumps away from the DI Morgan Tank.  Backed up by the Blackhawk, the Koshi contests one of the two towers controlled by the Draconis Combine while the WoB infantry finish taking control of the Radio Tower on the other side of the battlefield.

Tenth Turn – Draconis Combine Wins Initiative

As the WoB ‘Mechs fall back to ensure control of their buildings, the Draconis Combine’s battle armor reveals why it allowed itself to be seperated from the Di Morgan.  The battle armor manages to position itself to contest the Radio Tower’s control center while also finding cover from the Koshi’s weapons.  The remaining Word infantry are not powerful enough to finish off the Draconis battle armor, untouched until now, and the battle armor survives by dodging the Blackhawk’s massive laser fire.

AFTERMATH

Both forces achieved the Grudge Match and Maximum Damage objectives but failed to control both their objectives.  The Draconis Combine needed to control the two tall buildings while the Word of Blake had selected the Radio Tower and it’s nearby control center.

While technically a draw, the Word of Blake had significant offensive power left to bear against the Combine survivors.  A marginal victory goes to the Word of Blake.

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.

Twilight of the Clans: Battle Four

The fourth battle of the Great Refusal takes place near a Mountain Lake.  Can the Comstar elite defeat the ferocious Jade Falcons to save the Inner Sphere?

See other battles from the Great Refusal in the After Action Category or by searching for Twilight of the Clans in the sidebar search.

Jade Falcons

Comstar

Turn 1 – Comstar Wins Initiative

Both forces rush towards each other forgoing the protection of nearby forests.  Khan Marthe challenges Demi-Precentor Havanna who accepts, thus pitting saKhan Clees in her undersized Nova against Precentor Harvison’s Black Knight.

Luck is not on Comstar’s side early on.  All weapons fire directed at the Clan Omnis miss their mark.  The Falcons ended up in a slightly better range bracket.  Marthe fires and hits with everything in her Summoner, stitching energy beams, missiles, and autocannon shells across the Shootist’s torso.  Of six lasers fired, only one hits the Black Knight.

Turn 2 – Comstar Wins Initiative

saKhan Clees triggers her jump jets sending her Nova into a ballistic arc landing inside a dense group of trees.  The Black Knight races in close to engage.

Cautiously eyeing the Shootist’s dangerous AC20, the Summoner backpedals to the edge of the battle tempting the Shootist to advance.  Demi-Precentor Havanna is happy to oblige and rushes forward, hoping to eventually corner the Falcon and bring the AC20 to bear.

The Nova unleashes another volley of six ER Medium Lasers netting four hits of which three are through armor criticals.  Only one critical results, destroying a heat sink.  The Summoner fires and hits with everything again ripping through an already damaged torso and critically damaging the Shootist’s gyro.

The Shootist misses with the AC20 but hits with medium lasers; one to the head, injuring Khan Pryde.  The Black Knight unleashes a torrent of laser fire at the Nova nestled in the woods.  The shots are concentrated and burrow deep into the left torso but no criticals result.

The Shootist falls from the Gyro hit injuring Demi-Precentor Havanna in the process.

Although her Black Knight is armed with a formidable hatchet and the Nova would make a great place to put it right now, Precentor Harvison knows what is at stake and is careful not to break clan tradition knowing that if Comstar is the victor, she cannot give the Jade Falcons any reason to declare the battle invalid.

Turn 3 – Comstar Wins Initiative

The Nova brazenly rushes into the open.  The Black Knight follows the Clanner and positions himself for a near point blank fire fight.  Meanwhile, the Summoner begins to circle to his left, unable to keep the Shootist at bay any longer.

The Nova senses an opportunity and lets fly all twelve lasers at the Black Knight.  Ten hit, causing massive damage.  Alas, the only critical hit is a lower leg actuator.   The Black Knight returns fire, ripping completely through the left torso and with it six of the Nova’s lasers and four heat sinks. The inrush of heat from the weapons fire forces the Nova to shutdown.

The Summoner fires and yet again hits with everything, slagging away tons of armor but again not finding internal locations.  The Shootist finally connects with the AC20, landing square in the center torso.  The Summoner shrugs off the damage while Demi-Precentor Havanna fails to keep the Black Knight upright taking another point of damage from the fall but remaining conscious.

Turn 4 – Jade Falcon Wins Initiative

Havanna struggles with the controls of the Shootist managing to stay conscious from another fall.  Undeterred, she forces the controls to do her bidding and the 70 ton machine finally cooperates.  The Summoner, meanwhile, kicks into a run and puts some distance between her and the AC20 Khan Pryde fears so much.

With the Nova shutdown, and Havanna keeping Khan Pryde busy, Precentor Harvison lines up the killing blow. A point blank alpha strike reply for the shutdown Nova.  Amazingly, the damage does not destroy the Clan Omni.  A crueler fate is in store for saKhan Clees.  The Nova’s right arm is ripped from the shoulder leaving no weapons remaining.  When the ‘Omni manages to start up, saKhan Clees will be forced to withdraw from combat, defeated and disgraced.

The excess heat from the barrage released by the Black Knight is more than its own heat sinks can handle resulting in an emergency shutdown.

The Shootist strikes out at the maneuvering Summoner but only manages to hit with one laser at the longer range. Torso twisting back, the Summoner once again hits with her entire arsenal, coring through the Shootist’s center torso.

Turn 5 – Jade Falcon Wins Initiative by Default

Khan Pryde wraps around a grouping of woods for a clear shot at the last Comstar ‘Mech.  The Summoner hits with everything a final time, racking up no less than five critical hits in the center torso resulting in two engine hits and three gyro hits.

Precentor Harvison succumbs to the inevitable and cedes the battle to the Jade Falcons.

Originally played at Southern Exposure (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) in 2006.  Scenario and miniatures provided by Catalyst Demo Team Agent Jim “Ratboy” Williamson.  Visit his website at Time Warp Comics and Games or find your own local Demo Team Agent at Catalyst Demos.

This blast from the past is from a forum post I made back in the day.  Unfortunately, all of the pictures were on a different web server than the ScrapYard is on now.  Luckily I had a back-up on an old hard drive.  I had to do some searching to find it though.  I was getting worried this AAR wouldn’t see the light of day again.

Vengeance Gambit

Mechwarrior Malton sat in his ‘Mech, deftly piloting his Osiris through the broken countryside outside New Avalon.  He wished he were somewhere else.  He wished he could be on the ‘real’ front line defending his home from those Blakist scum.  What’s left of his home anyways.  A lot of things changed when the Jihad began.

His patrol was constantly running afoul of enemy signatures.  More than half of them turned out to be false.  Electronic interference was running high.  That’s too bad.  He wanted every opportunity to bring his lasers to bear on some of those bastards!

Static broke the relative silence of his cockpit as his command chimed in over an encrypted channel.

“This is HQ to any available units in Gamma Sector. Over”

Malton was quick to reply. “HQ this is attack lance zero-nine, got any Blakists we can kill?”

“I just might.  We’ve been getting so many false signatures these days it’s hard to be sure.  Anyways, there is a cluster of readings due east of your position.  Together with some intel we’ve gathered from Blakist transmissions, we think we may have a chance to intercept something important.”

“What do you mean ‘important’?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.  Your lance will have to check it out.  If you see anything down there resembling a transport, you better be damn sure it doesn’t get to the city… for all our sakes.”

“My pleasure.” Malton finished as he coaxed his 30 ton ‘Mech to a full sprint.  His lance mates followed his lead.  Any day he could kill Blakists was indeed a good day to be alive in New Avalon.

Word of Blake

• Locust
• Fire Starter
• Falcon Hawk
• Stinger
• Tracked Heavy Transports x 4
  

Federated Suns

• Osirus
• Argus
• Valkyrie
• Warrior H-8 VTOLS x 2
  

Turn 1

Both forces advance towards each other.  The WoB forces concentrate the transports to the south, hoping to shoot across the board to complete their objective.  Weapons fire is ineffective during the beginning part of the battle.

Turn 2

The Osiris gives up his rear in order to get the best shot possible on the transports.  The Locust make him pay with a rear center torso critical hit to the engine.  The Davions open fire almost exclusively on the transports while the WoB ‘Mechs pepper them with laser and missile fire.

Turn 3

The Argus and Valkyrie stand their ground and pound away at the fragile transports.  One of the lead carriers explodes from the concentrated laser fire and autocannon rounds.  The Osiris lags behind after finding his heat issues compounded by the previous engine hit.  The Valkyrie gets hit in the head with a Large Laser from the FireStarter.  The pilot is dazed but remains conscious to fight.

Turn 4

The Davions realize that the transports pack a little bite!  All eight machine guns find their target on the Argus.  The Argus returns in kind with three RAC 5 shells pummeling the transports.  The Locust kicks the Osiris from behind causing the ‘Mech to fall.  The pilot was so dazed from the fall that he barely remained conscious.

Turn 5

The second transport is laid to waste by Davion combined firepower.  The WoB forces rip into the Valkyrie, punching through its armor and inflicting no less than three critical hits inside its side torso.  Miraculously, they all miss the dangerous ammo bins inside.  A third transport is destroyed by another volley of RAC 5 shells.  The physical attacks from the opposing forces get deadly in this turn.  The Firestarter kicks the Valkyrie forcing a fall while the Argus kicks the Stingers leg clean off.

Turn 6

The Stinger props and shoots to the best of its ability.  The last transport is suffering from major motive system damage and can only crawl towards the objective point so far away.  The Argus finishes it off with one last volley of autocannon fire, crushing the WoBs last hope for delivering their cargo.

My Brother happens to make his living overseas in Japan.  Since his laptop broke a few months ago it has been difficult to get a game of Battletech in via MegaMek.  Even when we did play, MegaMek had far too many disconnect issues.

Fast forward and we are itching for a game so we are making the best of our situation and playing the whole thing over email and chat.

We selected a lance on lance battle with a 5,000 BV1 limit, Inner Sphere level 2.

My Forces

• Axman AXM-1N
• Shootist ST-8A
• Hunchback HBK-5M
• Atlas AS7-D

His Forces

• King Crab KGC-005
• Flashman FLS -9C
• Wyvern WVE 10-N
• Spider SDR-8M

The battle will take place over rolling hills.

Initial Deployment

Beware the large images.  I will be updating this map as the game progresses so check back for updates.

Turn 1 – I Win Initiative

The Atlas fires off a LRM20 volley at the King Crab but misses badly.  No other fire this turn.

Turn 2 – My Brother Wins Initiative

My Atlas follows up with another volley of missles that find their mark this time around.  The King Crab takes nine missiles across the left side of its body.

Return fire from the Wyvern misses.

Turn 3 – I Win Initiative

All fire is ineffective due to cover provided by trees and partial cover.  Lasers and missile volleys go wide for both squads.

Turn 4 – My Brother Wins Initiative

My Shootist and Hunchback land a couple medium lasers on the Spider but nothing crits.

The Spider in turn hits the Shootist with only one laser.

The Atlas gets hit with an ERPPC, LRM10, an ERLL, an a cluster of 16 LBX shots.  The damage is scattered fairly well.  No major damage concentration yet.  One ends up hitting the head but he pilot stays conscious.

The Atlas shrudges off the damage and gets ready to charge.

Turn 5 - My Brother Wins Initiative

I get the better of this round of combat.  The King Crab is singled out for fire by all of my units.  The King catches no less than two of four AC20 shells needing 9s and 10s to hit.  There are now gaping holes in his armor ripe to be critted in the following turns.

Return fire is concentrated on the Shootist and rips open two sections of armor but no criticals result.

Turn 6 - My Brother Wins Initiative

The Shootist manages to land an AC20 shot onto the King Crabs’ left arm, disintegrating it.  Additional laser fire rips apart the rest of the right torso but does not cause critical damage.

The cluster shot from the King Crab shreds more armor, but the damage is thin and evenly distributed.  By now the Shootist has two pilot hits.

The Flashman and the Atlas/Axman trade fire, shredding more armor but not opening any new holes.

The Wyvern is content to stand and hit from afar thanks to C3i.

Turn 7

The Shootist goes toe to toe with the King Crab hoping to put it down with the help of the Hunchback.  The Atlas and the Axman team up on the Flashman ignoring the pesky Wyvern and Spider.

The plan did not work well.  A AC20 round managed to crit the King Crab’s ammo but with CASE protecting it, it withstood the damage.  It made it’s pilot rolls and conscious rolls.  The return fire cored several holes in the Shootist but missed vital criticals.  The kick however, sheared off the Shootist’s leg entirely.  Now on the ground the Shootist is going to be of limited use.

My Axman set up a nice rear shot and hit with the AC20 and the large pulse and both manage to hit the left arm.  He loses a double heat sink and the shoulder actuator as a result.

After looking at the possible shots, the Atlas torso twists to take out the Spider.  And manages to miss a 5 with the AC20.  The rest however finds the mark, ripping apart an arm and the entire left torso.  The SRM6 takes out a few more jump jets, adds two head hits, and puts the Spider on the ground.  He won’t be going far next turn hopefully.

Turn 8 – I lose Initiative again…

On the ground and lacking an arm, my Shootist eats dirt.  My hunchback has just about everyone behind him, so he takes one shot with an arm mounted laser at the King Crab and hopes he doesn’t become popular.  The Atlas and Axman split fire on the King Crab and the Flashman hitting with both AC20s and doing a lot of damage.  The King Crab takes a gyro hit and goes down.  The pilot takes another point of damage and goes unconscious.  However, without an arm, he is now in the same situation as my Shootist, unable to prop and fire.

The Wyvern fires on the Hunchback, tearing off front armor but not breaking through.  The King Crab and the Flashman concentrate fire on the Atlas, hoping to burn it down.  However, the Flashman is conservative with his heat.  The Atlas takes a boatload of damage but takes it like a champ including an AC20 slug to the leg.  Nothing goes internal.

The Axman kicks the downed King Crab and manages to crit the gyro again, making sure he will absolutely not be getting up again.

Turn 9 – I lose Initiative

The Spider and Axman trade fire ineffectively.  The Hunchback is left to watch the Atlas’ back without a viable target to shoot at.  The Atlas pummels the Flashman including an AC20 to the Left Leg and destroying the Left arm with laser fire.

The Flashman returns fire, overheating in the process, and manages to place an ERLL to the head.  This is the second head hit and it tears off the reamining armor in the location.  My pilot makes his consciousness roll.

Turn 10 – Guess What!  I Lose Initiative!

The Hunchback and the Atlas fires everything they have at the Flashman but manage to miss both AC20s.  Adding insult to injury, that was the last round of ammo the Hunchback had.  A few lasers get inside the Torso armor but no criticals result.

The Axman turns and fires his pulse laser behind him but misses.

Everyone fires on the Atlas and effectively so.  While the Flashman cooled off with only 3 Medium Pulse lasers he made them count.  Both the Wyvern and the Flashman put hits on the Atlas Head, killing the mighty hundred tonner.  Dead as a doornail.

Well that changes things an awful lot.

Turn 11 – I win Initiative (finally)

The Spider runs north away from combat, but my Hunchback (who is now ammo-less) and Axman keep pressure on the Flashman. Interestingly, the Wyvern starts to work his way towards the battle.

Both forces fire at each other with damn near everything they have but do not end up delivering much damage.  The only critical hit this turn is a hand actuator on my Axman.

Turn 12 – I lose Initiative

The Shootist finally stands and takes the beating he deserves.  A few engine hits later and he is sucking dirt with his friend the Crab.

Otherwise a boring turn and the hunt is on…

Turns 13 to the End

My Brother dodges around for a while and we trade shots as I rush forward with my battered Hunchback and Axman.  Finally, he makes a break for it and sends his Spider on a flanking run.  The Hunchback moves to intercept and expects at least a few easy shots.  Astonishingly, it’s medium lasers find fresh armor.  In return, the Spider sends his own medium laser to the head causing the pilot to go unconscious.

Meanwhile, the Axman duels with the lightly armored Wyvern.  The Wyvern manages to find the wholes in the Axman’s armor and knocks out the AC20 it desparately needed.

With one pilot unconcious and the other missing his main weapon, I can do nothing by cede the battlefield to the victor.

After all is said and done, it was a great game.  If the rolls had gone a little differently the end result may have gone in my favor.  A very good game indeed.

So lets recap.  A lance on lance game played over email beginning in September.  Game ends in February.  Hmmm…  We may need a better way to make the turns move a bit quicker.  I plan on investigating some alternatives and reporting back.  Until then, this post is officially complete.  I’m looking forward to the next one already!

Posted under After Action Report

I am back from Historicon and I had a blast. I only attended on Saturday to take in a few games I was interested in as well as to go shopping in the massive dealer room. In fact, I spent pretty much the entire morning working my way through trying very hard to keep my wallet in my pocket. By the time I got to the Iron Wind Metals booth, I could last no longer.

Here are a few quick pictures of the Battletech miniature display. As always, Iron Wind Metals brought with them some amazingly painted miniatures. Makes my 2nd Freemen (keep reading for more on that…) look like crap on a hex.

Please bear with me for the rest this post as I will be talking about a few game systems that have little to do with Classic Battletech. (You mean their are games out there besides CBT? GASP!)

Painting Contest

Historicon has a bring in painting contest each year to go along with their epic Iron Paintbrush challenge (paint a given mini in one hour using tools on hand!). I decided to toss my hat in the ring in the Single Figure Other category. Other simply means non-historical. Therefore, I was pitted against all the other fantasy and sci-fi minis.

Here is my entry, a Flashman in Second Freemen colors. I am proud to say that I got second place. Keep in mind that there were only five or so entries in my category.

CBT Grinder and Benjamin Take 1

The morning session of games had a Grinder and a big game featuring the Draconis Combine versus the Word of Blake.

I sat down for the Grinder before heading off to lunch. I randomly selected a Cougar A to start off with and I made the most of it. I ended up getting four kills before prematurely ejecting because I was hungry.

Combat!

The crying shame of the convention was that I forgot to take any pictures of this gaming session. I was having so much fun actually playing that I just forgot.

Combat! is a lightweight WWII skirmish game that cares more about the individual soldiers, like Vinny who wants to run a car wash after it’s all over, than the exact specifications of weapons, grenades, and the like.

The system is fast and easy to learn and works using a deck of cards, a system I found very clever. The game itself is being developed and tested and may be available commercially sometime next year. If it does go to print I will be sure to pick up a copy. It is a fun system that you can play with your friends when you need a break from Classic Battletech.

Iron Winds of War – The Peasants are Revolting!

Iron Winds of War is a light weight fantasy and medieval ruleset sponsored by Iron Wind Metals. The rules are based on Rules According to Ral, ala Ral Partha.

The game itself plays very fast while providing a good amount of strategy. In about two and a half hours, we fought a huge battle to an acceptable conclusion.

The scenario we played involved a peasant uprising. Seems the ‘Man’ has been drunk on power and has been spending all his free time oppressing the poor serfs. The ‘Man’, represented by a Bishop looking character is out and about when the peasants, helped by a group of rebel warriors and a mysterious group of black clad knights, finally have enough and decide to do in the Bishop.

The stage is set. The Bishop is caught away from his castle with an imposing group of rebels in his way looking to slit his throat. The battle commenced and casualties started to pile up. Through most of the game, the Bishop was heavily protected by a group of four foot knight units. Near the end of the game, after a series of disastrous personal challenges, the Bishop was forced out of hiding to rally routed units.

In the end, the peasants did not have the lasting power to close in on the Bishop and they fled only to be oppressed some more.

I played on the side of the Bishop’s forces in the scenario. I apologize to my opponents for rolling so damn well. Seriously, I wish I could roll as well during my Battletech games. I’d be getting headshots every other hit. And then there was the single mounted knight that just… wouldn’t… die… It fought off a full strength group of warriors three times!

Good game. Good enough for me to go out and buy a few clamshells from the Iron Wind Metals booth. I am not going to be giving up CBT for anything but this is a fast game that would be easy to buy into once and be able to play with friends for those Battletech breaks.

More CBT, Grand Melee and Benjamin Take 2

My hat goes off to Commando ‘Speck‘ again for a great con. His games are always well attended and he does a fantastic job bringing CBT to the masses. There had to be almost twenty people participating in the two evening events, maybe more. I didn’t end up staying till the wee hours. I had to get back home before it got too unreasonable an hour. All together a great Con. I am looking forward to many more!

No convention is complete in my opinion without a good old fashioned Classic Battletech Grinder!

NJCon08 was no different. My good friend and I were on hand to dish out ‘Mech blasting goodness to the masses. We had two takers on Friday evening. Not a stellar turnout but those that did were very enthusiastic about the game.

The terrain used included a game mat from Hotz ArtWorks with 2 inch hexes. The woods and water were made out of stiff felt available at any arts and craft store. The trees included a mix of pre-made woodland scenics and custom made ones. The hills were made out of pink insulation foam that was cut, shaped, painted, and flocked. Quite a bit of work but worth the effort for terrain that will last several years (hopefully!).

While it wouldn’t make sense to give a play by play like the other CBT events, there are more than a few highlights to mention.

Early on in the game, the new players began to feel out the game and get a sense of movement and how not to open yourself up to back shots.

Once a few of the light ‘Mechs went down, the mediums and an early heavy came out to play. In a two turn sequence, a Thunderbolt sought out partial cover by dipping into the level 1 water in the middle of the board. A Griffin positioned himself carefully and got ready for a bull rush if the Thunderbolt stayed in the water.

Sure enough the Thunderbolt remained stubborn and took his chances in the water. The Griffin ran into position and promptly kicked off the Thunderbolt’s head in the physical attack phase.

A few turns later that feisty Griffin was still on the board when the first Assault ‘Mech started play. It took no more than three or so turns for the Battlemaster to take two head hits. The second one was from a LRM volley by the Griffin for the kill. It was the only time in the game that the Griffin ever hit with the LRM20.

Here are a few pictures from the event. Thanks to all the players for giving it a go. Each walked away with the complete lineup of introductory PDFs on CD.