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.

Pressure

The opening fiction to OTP: Death to Mercenaries follows a lone Dragoons lance and their struggle against impossible odds.  What appears like a resounding victory soon fades back to reality.  Reality for the Dragoons after Misery is bleak and unforgiving.  The stage is set for this Turning Point sequel and by all accounts, we can expect a tragedy to evolve.  The writing is excellent and action packed.  I would love to have read more about this particular sub-unit of the Dragoons in future fiction but I know in all likelihood, they would not have survived the next few hours.

Atlas

The events of this OTP take place on no less than four planets within the Federated Commonwealth.  Each has a short biography and a small (1D6) terrain table with suggested Tactical Operations upgrades.  Most if not all of the information supplied in the atlas section is superfluous in nature but should not be overlooked.  While crafting my own tracks and one-off scenarios, I relish access to this type of information to add flavor that will make the mission stand out and feel less generic.  Most gamers I expect will gloss over this information on their way to the good stuff.  Never-the-less, it is presented in earnest for the curious or motivated to carve out a little piece of the sandbox for their own.

Random Assignment Tables

The provided RAT tables are near copy-paste from the earlier released Historical Turning Points: Misery.  There are a few modifications here and there but nothing drastic.  Most will never know the difference.  The biggest change I saw was the addition of the WLF-1 Wolfhound to the Dragoons medium 7 slot.

Death to Mercenaries

This two page section gives a brief overview of the conflict between the Dragoons and the singular minded Draconis Combine.  It is an excellent primer for the rest of the Turning Point and brings together the end of Misery to a new beginning within these pages. Descriptions of events and battles are short and to the point.

A full page map describes force movements between 3028 and 3029.

Commanders

One leader from each side is detailed with a short bio with picture with RPG special abilities.  The RPG stats are not a total description but a list of suggested traits and abilities to be used to guide a player’s own incarnation of these legends.  With Jaime Wolf already covered in HTP:Misery, Natasha Kerensky takes center stage for the Dragoons.  Tai-sho Li Dok To is the commander of the Galedon Regulars.

The character bios add flavor to the campaign but I find their special abilities to be less than useful for most BattleTech enthusiasts that will pick up this PDF.  Along with the nebulous Administrative, Leadership, and Tactics skill bonuses I think it would have been prudent to include a gunnery and piloting skill as well.  I also don’t believe that the developers need to be straitjacketed by the RPG rules to flesh out famous unit leaders.  There are any number of unique and original special abilities that can be cooked up to fit any personality or history.  These famous characters should not be expected to fit any manner of mold even in a world where the motto is “Yeah, we’ve got a rule for that.”  Writers should feel free to be original rather than looking up a special ability that fits close enough.

Combatants

All of the Dragoon regiments have been described in Misery.  Luckily for us, each unit has a notes section with a post Misery update.  Unit abilities are either updated or changed completely.  I loved Epsilon Regiment’s ability.  Best of the Dragoons if you ask me.

The Combine forces are likewise deliciously described with accompanying special abilities that are as worthwhile as they are varied.  The Twenty-Firth Galedon Regulars are back for more but have suffered heavily in the experience category since Misery. The only thing I can say that seems out of place is the Fifth and Sixteenth Galedon Regulars vehicle specific special abilities when there are no vehicle RATs provided.  It is an easy fix for the energized gamer, but it seems like there was more than enough room to include an extra column in the RAT table provided earlier.

How to Use the Campaign (and something more)

This section is a cookie cutter of OTP:The Red Corsair, tailored for the Dragoons and the Draconis Combine.  It lays out the framework for the campaign ahead.  But then there is more.  New to this PDF is the inclusion of a sidebar called, How It All Goes Together.  This simple sidebar gives a plainly spoken description of how a gaming group (much like your own) could use the generic tracks alongside Touchpoints to stretch the campaign over many many gaming sessions without becoming old and stale.  I feel like the writers and developers are pulling the reader aside for a moment and calmly suggesting, “Hey, in case you are having a hard time getting it, this is what we all had in mind with this crazy Chaos Campaign system.  It’s easier than you think!”

I don’t know if there was a piece of feedback or customer interaction that prompted this inclusion but I’m happy to see it.  I enjoy the Chaos Campaign system and love to see it so vigorously supported by Catalyst.

Tracks

For generic tracks, known as Missions, we have Scout, Flank, Assault, and Defend.  These can be easily combined with missions from OTP: The Red Corsair to add additional variety.  The Red Corsair has Strike, Defend, Assault, and Interdict.  The Assault missions are the same but the Defend mission are quite different from each other.

The generic missions are for the most part bland and leave much to the imagination of the GM or the player group.  But for generic missions, they fit their purpose.

The Touchpoints unfortunately followed the lead set by the generic missions.  Optional bonuses are a mix of optional terrain and Tac Ops rules.  Objectives with few exceptions are variations of “kill the other guy”.  Not all that inspiring.  By comparison Misery did a better job reliving the story behind the battles.

Record Sheets

Each side of the conflict has one custom ‘Mech detailed.  The Dragoons have a custom Annihilator which is an energy weapons monster.  It’s a scary assault ‘Mech with well more firepower than the best Awesome chassis and enough heatsinks to be very dangerous, especially in 3028.

Li Dok To’s personal ride is an odd Victor variant packing a swarm of medium lasers and a lone LRM15.  With only 19 heat sinks it is not as scary as the Annihilator.  Indeed this Victor will be forced to close the distance if it expects to bring the bulk of it’s arsenal to bear.

Something is very off with these record sheets.  Previous iterations of the Turning Points series have had crisp readable record sheets but this time Catalyst tried something different.  The background of the record sheet is obviously a raster based graphic with overlayed vector based stats and armor circles.  The sheet looks awful.  Much of the content is blurry.  The armor dots are uniform in size and just look wrong.

The powers that be have already weighed in on the manner.

My apologies for the RS quality, but it’s an issue we’re dealing with on the back end. RS issues are a big reason for the XTRO hiccups and I chose to bypass our normal (severely overworked) route for a lesser quality so that the TPs don’t hiccup. When things get better on the RS front, we’ll update the PDF.

-GhostBear, BattleTech Assistant Line Developer

Wrapping it All Up

Death to Mercenaries is a worthy successor to the Misery Turning Point PDF despite it’s shortcomings.  Any fan of the the Dragoons is going to want to pick this up.  Combined with Misery, Death to Mercenaries easily contains months worth of gaming sessions.

All together, Death to Mercenaries is well worth the slightly higher price point and a great addition to any fans PDF collection.

I’m making good on my threat to hold a linked scenario campaign online.  I’m going to need your help to make it happen.  Warm up your MegaMek and jump into the action if you can.

Part One is an abstract campaign meaning there will be no campaign map in use.  Each sub-unit will be given orders like Attack, Defend, and Repair and they move off to attack opposing forces with like orders as applicable.

The Forces

This campaign will feature two classic rivals, Davion versus Liao.  Using the Random Assignment Tables in Total Warfare and BattleTech Force Balancer, The following forces were generated.  They are approximately equal in terms of Battle Value. Each side begins with six lances of units and three technical teams.  Here is the TRO:

The Davions

• Chase Lance
  • Sentry SNT-04 (3/3)
  • Strider Prime (3/3)
  • Stealth STH-1D (4/3)
  • Nightsky NGS-4S (4/3)
• Command Lance
  • Victor VTR-9K (3/4)
  • Gunslinger GUN-1ERD (4/3)
  • Longbow LGB-12C (3/3)
  • Atlas AS7-K (4/3)
• Enforcer Lance
  • Enforcer III ENF-6M (3/3)
  • Enforcer ENF-5D (3/4)
  • Centurion CN9-D (2/4)
  • Whitworth WTH-2 (4/3)
• Heavy Lance
  • Jagermech III JM6-D3 (4/3)
  • Jagermech JM6-DD (3/4)
  • Falconer FLC-8R (4/4)
  • Penetrator PTR-4D (3/2)
• Recon Lance
  • Commando COM-5S (4/3)
  • Javelin JVN-10P (3/3)
  • Valkyrie VLK-QD1 (3/4)
  • Wolfhound WLF-2 (4/4)
• Strike Lance
  • Firestarter FS9-S (4/3)
  • Blackjack BJ-2 (2/4)
  • Hatchetman HCT-5S (3/3)
  • Enforcer ENF-5D (3/4)

The Liaos

• Chase Lance
  • Sha-Yu SYU-2B (4/3)
  • Snake SNK-1V (3/4)
  • Huron Warrior HUR-W0-R4L (3/3)
  • Men Shen Prime (4/4)
• Command Lance
  • Awesome AWS-8Q (3/3)
  • Stalker STK-5M (3/4)
  • Emperor EMP-6A (4/3)
  • Pillager PLG-3Z (4/4)
• Heavy Lance
  • Catapult CPLT-C1 (3/4)
  • Jinggau JN-G8A (4/3)
  • Grasshopper GHR-5H (3/3)
  • Marauder MAD-5L (4/4)
• Recon Lance
  • Cossack C-SK1 (3/4)
  • Spider SDR-5V (4/3)
  • Firestarter FS9-S (3/4)
  • Raven RVN-3L (4/3)
• Strike Lance
  • Clint CLNT-2-3U (3/3)
  • Blackjack BJ-2 (4/3)
  • Vindicator VND-5L (3/4)
  • Huron Warrior HUR-W0-R40 (4/4)
• Warrior Lance
  • Blackjack BJ-2 (3/4)
  • Vindicator VND-3L (3/3)
  • Vindicator VND-3L (4/3)
  • Dervish DV-7D (4/4)

The Basics

Here are the ground rules we are using to kick off our campaign.  I expect new ground rules to be added as necessary.  We are doing this to find out what works and what needs tweaking.  Also, I hope that it will inspire others to get their game on and try out a linked scenario campaign of their own.

• Orders are assigned opposing forces randomly among available targets.
• Terrain is selected randomly unless one force has a defend order.  Defender may select terrain.
• Available terrain must be from standard BattleTech maps.  If it was printed in a map pack, you can use it.
• Scenario conditions are looked up as battles are assigned.  The campaign score will be as dynamic as possible.
• Lances are the lowest sub-unit.  You may not issue combat orders to less than four ‘Mech unless forced by your numerical situation.
• If any player retreats before turn 6 is complete, the opposing side receives a decisive victory for the battle (2 Victory points).

Get Ready to Battle

The main battle will be tracked in a new page located at the top of the site.  Check back for updates as the battle progresses.

The ScrapYard presents MechWarrior Quirks, a resource for creating unique MechWarriors.

We have had access to MechWarrior special abilities in a variety of official publications.  This document pulls them together and expands the offering.  Dozens of new MechWarrior abilities are provided alongside old favorites from Tactical Operations and A Time of War as well as negative quirks.

Included are rules to generate random MechWarriors or help you hand pick them.  Recruitment tables are provided for those wishing to incorporate unique MechWarriors into their Chaos Campaigns.

From fresh recruits with a knack for scrounging up spare parts to elite Manei Domini specializing in melee combat, there are near endless possibilities.

MechWarrior Quirks (PDF, 172KB)

Some Examples

Here are a few examples of MechWarriors generated from these rules.  Random names were generated using Taharqa’s BattleTech Name Generator.

Adam Sager (Piloting 3, Gunnery 4)

• Srounge: +2 to Obtain Replacement Parts between missions.

Sara Han (Piloting 2, Gunnery 3)

• On a Roll: -1 to Gunnery the turn after this MechWarrior destroys an enemy unit.

Curt Johns (Piloting 5, Gunnery 3)

• Familiarity (Thunderbolt TDR-5S):  -1 to Piloting when piloting a TDR-5S Thunderbolt.
• Sissy: +1 to Gunnery for all attacks at short range. +2 to-hit for melee attacks.
• Bad Habits Die Hard: Ignore one negative Quirk unless injured.

Musamba Takata (Piloting 2, Gunnery 2)

• Manei Domini: Tau Wraith (Multi-Modal Eye, VDNI)
• Crack Shot I: -2 to Gunnery when firing a single weapon system.

More to Follow

I expect to update this document in the future and would love to include new quirks from you the reader.  If you have an idea for a new quirk, leave a comment or shoot me an email.

MercRoster is a new BattleTech force management tool found on SourceForge.  Don’t let the name fool you.  This tool set is not for mercenary commands alone.  Any force, be they house, periphery or Clan can find a use for this new tool.  I’ve just started playing around with it and am impressed with the potential.

So what is MercRoster?  Simply put, it is an online tool that helps you manage your BattleTech force through a campaign.  More importantly, it helps the players and game masters tell a story.

Here are a few examples including my own Wolf and Blake campaign.

• The Flaming Devil Monkeys
• Grosskreutzs Kavallerie
• Wolf’s Dragoons

Have a Look

Here are a few screenshots on MercRoster in action.  You can track your personnel, equipment, kills.  You can customize logs, ranks (make them house specific!), equipment types and more.

Sounds Great But I Don’t Have Hosting…

The achilles heel of MercRoster is the fact that each instance will only serve one command and you have to have your own hosting solution (with database) in order to use it.

Not many gamers have these tools readily at hand but there are ways around it.  If you don’t have a need to host your campaign on the internet you can use the computer you use today to run a local webserver.  It’s not as hard as you might think.

• Windows Apache MySQL PHP (WAMP)
• Mac Apache MySQL PHP

Just as a note, Apache is the web server, MySQL is a database, and PHP is the server side scripting language that does the real magic.  The installation instructions are quite good.  If there is enough interest I’ll do a compete installation tutorial in a future post.

It’s still early in development but I already like what I see.  If you have the time and the interest I suggest checking it out.  The more feedback the developers get the better!

Glengarry?  Never heard of the place.  But I do know a little bit about the Grey Death Legion (GDL) and I even made a convention scenario revolving around the Skye Rangers.  Jason Schmetzer is back at the helm for this trip to the Federated Commonwealth and the ever rebellious and entertaining Skye March.

Sticks in the Wind

An aptly named short fiction that rides shotgun with a GDL hovertank on an impossible mission.  Just like Mr. Schmetzer’s last work on Misery, I enjoyed the story and it helped to set the mood for the overall campaign.  No bit of fiction is going to make or break a Turning Points PDF, but they do add to the overall delivery of the PDF.

Glengarry

Glengarry is given a fine historical brief  with interesting details covering its rise, decline and eventual arrival of the Legion.  I have to admit this particular world has a lot of interesting history to it.  It was a world victimized by the fall of the Star League and reads like a Succession War stereotype.  While mostly forgotten, the withered remains of a great planet will host at least one conflict worthy of a Turning Points PDF.

As expected, mapsheet tables and optional rules are provided for those seeking a little more direction for their campaigns or individual missions.

Random Assignment Tables

Random assignment tables are not new for the Turning Points series but the added infantry and vehicle charts are.  The vehicle and infantry charts are brief, only 1D6 options but they add an extra bit of flavor for this relatively recent era.  I love the extra incentive to run combined arms.  It is not done enough in my opinion.

The Battle of Glengarry

This section covers the story of Glengarry from the onset of rebellion to the final gasp of the desperate Skye forces.  It’s quite a read.  It really makes me want to read the full story in Day/Blood of Heroes.  What really attracts me is the small unit actions that make up the majority of combat.  Instead of regiments locked in feverish combat, we have reinforced companies struggling to catch landing forces in a struggle with the enemy combined with a race against time.

Together with the opening fiction, we have a pro-GDL feel for the campaign.

Commanders

Following the lead set by Misery, each force Commander is detailed in full with history from origins to the current battle.  A special abilities section under each commander details the RPG stats but doesn’t include anything that could be used in a non-roleplaying situation.

Nothing too fancy here, but then again I just got done reading Misery.  Not every commander can be as cool as Jaime Wolf, now can they?

Combatants

The combatants section for Glengarry is the shortest I’ve ever seen in a Turning Point PDF.  Only three distinct units are involved.

Happily, the notes section omitted from Galtor and Misery has returned!  I’m ecstatic to see these back in the lineup.  They are brief but informative and together help to paint a bigger picture than these dry combatants reports could provide alone.

Special abilities are the usual suspects except for the Communications Disruption for GDL Second Battalion.  I don’t know exactly why but for some reason I don’t think I’ve seen this particular ability before.  I’m familiar with Overrun, Forcing the Initiative, Banking Initiative and so on but this one caught me off guard.  Seems this is located right in the same section of Tactical Operations.  It’s something I have apparently missed for some time but am glad to see it pulled into the campaign.

Tracks

Glengarry has seven tracks, on the high side for the Turning Points series.  Sadly there are a few missing page references (see p. XX) that made it through editing.

From start to finish Glengarry encourages the use of combined arms.  Unit mixes are dictated in the Attacker and Defender sections for many of the opening tracks.  After a while, I’m sure that the players would use all of the provided RAT tables as a matter of principle.

The quality of the tracks begins strong but goes downhill quickly.  The dependence on Tactical Operations special rules and terrain rules for optional bonuses is mundane and uninspired.  The selection of objectives are almost completely Destroy the Enemy or Survive the Battle varieties.  I’ve said it before, players don’t need extra incentive to go destroy the enemy.  We do that anyways.  More varied objectives would have been appreciated.

I felt that the terrain recommendation for Bake Until Warm could have been better.  A primarily flat playing area may very well be representative of the Glengarry spaceport but just thinking about playing a game with the back of mapsheets makes me cringe.  Isn’t there a spaceport map in Mat Set 7 that would have fit the bill?

Speaking of terrain, I felt that the terrain for Companion at Ryco Pass was a missed opportunity to do something different and memorable.  Something very unique could have been done similar to Mount Shanyu from JTP: Dieron.  Same thing with the objectives.  I am sure that using the section of the story covered by this track, there could have been some better objectives.

I don’t want to sound too negative.  The first two tracks Prison Break and Bake Until Warm are outstanding (terrain excluded for Bake Until Warm).  The combined arms emphasis is also an excellent hook.  Ultimately I feel the tracks hit the middle of the road.  Not amazing but interesting enough to want to take it for a spin or two.

Record Sheets

We only get two custom units and only one of them is interesting.  Zeus Leonidas is the custom ride of the Skye Commander.  It’s a frightening display of advanced weaponry that still maintains the tactical feel of the original.  A massive XL engine allows for some impressive weapons to back up the bravado this commander has when he is leading his troops on combat drops.

The second unit is a PPC Hover tank.  Basically a PPC with an industrial fan duct taped to it.  Not much to say, but it does fit the story in some odd way.

It’s interesting that the leaders of the GDL decided to take stock designs and are not represented here with unique variants.

The Final Word

Glengarry has a great story to build upon.  It is everything we expect from the Turning Points series with some excellent and some sub-par tracks for scenario and campaign players alike.

Sure Glengarry isn’t going to topple Galtor or Sian from my all time favorite list but it does have its redeemable qualities.

The year is 3028 and Wolf’s Dragoons are caught in an epic struggle with House Kurita.  Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of the iconic Wolf’s Dragoons will at least have heard of Misery.  I had too, but until now I didn’t have a clear grasp of the scope of the conflict.  Time for a stroll down memory lane as Jason Schmetzer takes the reigns for this next chapter in the Historical Turning Point product line HTP: Misery.

Inconceivable

For such a short bit of fiction I found it more challenging than usual.  I found myself checking the dictionary a few times.  I needed to look up actinic, denuding, and one more.  That combined with the opening sequence of Japanese injections forced me to read it twice just to be sure.

That and the action sequence was fantastic.  The combat is metered and brutal.  It tells the reader in a few short paragraphs all they need to know.  Misery was a long battle fought hard by opposing forces unwilling to give way to the other.  The injustice at the end of the story sets a gloomy tone.  While I am not a Kurita sympathizer, I was forced to feel a certain amount of empathy for the main character in the story.  That empathy was short lived as we continue through the PDF.

Misery

The Misery overview section is long on geographical content and less on history, which I found disappointing.  I would have liked to see a bit more on military significance than the monotone descriptions of coast lines and agriculture.

In one sentence it mentions the Dragoons coming in the mid-3020′s and their “betrayal”.  I would have liked to see more on this considering the topic of the PDF.  I’m not going to hold it against them however.  It’s a lengthy PDF and the best parts are yet to come.  The bulk of the who-what-why details come later anyways in the Battle of Misery section.

Included for adventurous players are random map tables and a set of recommended optional rules from Tactical Operations.

Random Assignment Tables

We have seen RAT tables before in The Red Corsair and HTP: Galtor and I really enjoy seeing the ones here.  It helps solidify the feel of these era specific tracks.  Players can always use more RAT tables and here in these retrospective products, the writers are answering the call and making the product fun and useful.

The Battle of Misery

This section kicks off the official description of how it all came to pass and the outcome of major battles.  The first two paragraphs seem very pro-Dragoon.  Where before there was talk of Dragoon “betrayals” we now read of DCMS criminal acts, minion Warlords, and Dragoons not willing to back down.

The Dragoons are painted in a very positive light.  Makes me want to see them win.  Just a note, in the Credits section they do list a number of resources that the curious could use to fully flesh out the details of this and other conflicts involving the Dragoons.  Obviously, this is a Dragoon Turning Point first.  The Draconis Combine is second fiddle in this story.

The remainder of this section gives a great birds eye account of the entire battle.  Very good stuff and it’s a great appetizer for the tracks to come.

Commanders

New for this Turning Points is a small section devoted to the commanders of the two forces involved.  After a historical brief on each, they are given a RPG makeover in A Time of War style.

Combatants

The combatants section is the bread and butter Turning Points style with the obvious Historical Turning Points differences.   Unit experience continues the standard set in Galtor (which is good) but also continues the lack of a notes section we became so familiar with in the JTP PDFs (which is bad).  I miss the notes which offered short but valuable descriptions of unit history.

The Dragoons as you may expect are heavy on special abilities and random unit generation modifiers.  These units are the best of the breed and their abilities mean business.

Tracks

My favorite section by far is the tracks.  These are the successors to the FASA era scenario packs and continue the tradition of Chaos Campaigns started in Dawn of the Jihad.  We are treated to seven in this release, on the high end of quantity similar to HTP: Galtor.

Mr. Schmetzer continues to impress with his cunning linguistic skills… laager, geld, arroyo.  Way to keep us on our toes.

At first glance, the objectives for the Misery tracks look mundane.  However, once fully read through, I felt an appreciation for how the story was being told.  Each track is a faithful re-enactment of a battle described in brief earlier in the PDF. The tracks do a good job of tying into earlier sections of the PDF.

Complimenting the excellent storytelling are a varied but interesting mix of special rules, objectives and force deployments.  After reading through, each track had a particular flavor that I felt deserved a play through.  Those are the best kinds of tracks; the one I’m so intrigued by that I simply have to give it a try to see how it comes out.   Misery delivers nicely here and is one of the better series of tracks in the Turning Points series.  Top honors still go to Galtor which blew the roof off my expectations.  Still, for one off scenarios or an extended campaign, players are going to find something to like in Misery.

Record Sheets

We have three new custom variants to play with on Misery, two DCMS and one Dragoon.

With only 3025 era technology to play with one shouldn’t expect drastically different designs with oodles of new equipment.  Despite the limitations though, the modifications should lead to vastly different play styles.

Ostroc Michi shakes up it’s movement profile for better armor and weapons loadout while attempting to keep mobility unchanged with the addition of jump jets.  A very interesting change that may fare far better in battle than a standard chassis depending on the terrain involved.  Oh by the way, the Ostroc uses the old unseen artwork!  Nice touch Catalyst!

Stalker Jagawen changes its weapons loadout for a SRM heavy configuration.  This creates a ‘Mech that is better suited for close in combat than the original.  I am a bit more scared of this design, especially in the frigid conditions on Misery that can all but nullify long range combat effectiveness.

Atlas Danielle follows the theme set by the Stalker above and modifies the weapons for a more close combat oriented solution.  As if a 3025 Atlas wasn’t scary enough.

In the End

Misery is another welcome addition to the Turning Point PDF family and is well delivered.  Already I am thinking about playing out a few of these battles with friends and if time allows, follow an entire campaign around the exploits of the Dragoons as they trounce the DCMS.  I’ve heard of Misery plenty of times before and am glad to have gotten a chance to learn more through this PDF.

I’ve got the Channel Campaign blues.

You can download the Leviathans Channel Campaign Open Alpha for free from the BattleShop.  It is a very nice little PDF with what look to be a well crafted set of campaign rules for small to moderate sized forces in the Leviathans universe.  I’s got nicely sized diagrams and well described examples.  It’s all there.

And then I go to my copy of Strategic Operations and carefully feather through the pages.  Pages 47 through 50 are there, mocking me.  I’m talking about the Linked Scenario rules for BattleTech.  I had high hopes for this particular section of Strategic Ops.  Official BattleBlogs fed my interest.

The Linked Scenarios rules from Combat Operations was one of the better received sections of that book. They provide a simplified and easy-to-use framework for building a campaign used in conjunction with the Creating Scenarios section of Total Warfare.  They’ve been included here, as ever updated and expanded as appropriate.

Only there were no expansions.  The whole section was a straight copy-paste from Combat Operations.  I have to be honest and tell you that I felt let down.  Strategic Operations gave us so much great content full of examples and diagrams.  Rules for Aerospace, maintenance, repair, BattleForce, and QuickStrike all got a proper amount of attention, detail and explanation.  Linked Scenarios simply had the dust shaken off and reprinted.

It may have been that there just wasn’t enough room.  The core rulebooks are each monsters in their own right in the “Yeah, we got a rule for that” era.  A casual look at the back of the book reveals no blank pages or advertisements, each evidence of no more room to put an eight page printing block.

Looking Closer

So what is wrong with the rules as written?  There is much confusion over how forces are matched against each other.  When you are not using a campaign map (an abstract campaign) it can be frustrating if it is not clearly discussed by both parties before the campaign begins.

Try to use maps for strategic movement and you see just how incomplete the rules are.  It feels like there just wasn’t enough time devoted to it.

Long story short, you can give the Channel Campaign to two players familiar with Leviathans and they will be able to play the game to completion under the rules as written.  No further explanations or agreements are required.  They just sit down and start playing.

Strategic Operations fails this test.  I have attempted campaigns twice now and each failed to complete due to disagreements sucking the fun from an otherwise enjoyable evening of gaming.  Here are a few posts from the official forums that describe what I’m seeing.

• Linked Scenario Questions
• Combat Ops, Linked Scenarios
• Any of you have ever played with…

Where Are The Maps?

Further, while it talks a good fight about using maps and having strategic moves the rules for such actions are no where to be seen.

This may be something Catalyst is busy working to include in Interstellar Operations.  After all, we have been receiving gorgeous new maps on a regular basis from Historical and Jihad Turning Points pdfs.  We need a reason to use them.  Here’s hoping Interstellar Operations has a few answers for us.

What’s the End Game?

I’m not here to rant and rave all day without doing something about it.  There are issues but none that are insurmountable.  After all I’ve only attempted to play twice and both ended before properly concluding.  BattleTech is a game where house rules are encouraged.  Whatever you have to do in order to make it fun.

Time to be a little proactive.

I’d like to hold public linked scenario campaigns here on my blog.  We have all the tools we need namely MegaMek and another tool I will be describing in a future post.

I have a few goals;

1. Make it work.
2. Make it fun.
3. Post examples that will encourage others to use the rules and host their own linked scenario campaigns.

There will be two parts;

1. Abstract Campaign (no strategic map)
2. Map Based Campaign

All I Need is a Little Help

Have MegaMek and a few hours to help out?  Order writing will be done in house but the actual games can be outsourced to you the readers.  If you are interested in playing some games and help us churn out the campaign missions we will be able to accomplish more.

Lets do our own Alpha Testing.  Leave a comment if you are game.  Roll Call!

We have all played in a big game more than once or twice in our BattleTech gaming lives.  Chances are you have played in quite a few over the years.  I’m talking about the big convention games with loads of people piloting more ‘Mechs and combat vehicles than you can shake a stick at on a vast battlefield with all the trimmings.

Inevitably the game’s turns begin to grind.  Full turns are measured in hours not minutes.  You spend more time waiting for your turn than actually executing your movement or attacks.  At least you can drive to pick up some pizza without missing much.

The strategy and tactics necessary to win are lost in the confusion.  Each individual player has little to do with the overall outcome.  There are few opportunities to make good strategic advances when six other people on the team are planning their own opportunities.  The game becomes less personnel, where the strategy and tactics of the individual mean less to the overall success of the mission.

There are obvious exceptions to the rule but in my experience a majority of large convention games regress to an impersonal ‘Mech smashing fest (not that there is anything wrong with that).  If there are more than four players at the table, you can probably kiss goodbye any chance you had at making a meaningful impact on the course of the game.  I wanted a change and set out to make a big game with lots of players who all had a chance to make a difference in the big picture.  Here are my goals.

• Make it Personal – Each player should feel they made an impact on the game.
• Make it Fast – Nobody likes a game that does not come to a reasonable conclusion or turns that drag on and on.

Along Came Historicon 2010

I wanted to try something different and Historicon gave me my  opportunity.  I was on the hook to run one big game for up to 12 people.  My plan was to make a massive battle with ‘Mechs, Combat Vehicles, Battle Armor, Aerospace Fighters, and Artillery (Oh My!).

This game would ultimately use Total Warfare, Tactical Operations, and Strategic Operations.  How cool is that?  We have all of these cool rules so why not use them?

How It Works

Break open your Total Warfare books and read along.  These rules in conjunction with Tactical and Strategic Operations are the back bone of this big game experience.

The foundation of the big game came from using a low altitude map for the Aerospace dogfight.  On this map, each hex represents one ground mapsheet on which the ‘Mechs and Vehicles are fighting.  We used four standard battles each two maps large.

Using numbered BattleForce blip counters, I marked the relevant maps on the low altitude maps.  When a fighter ended movement on one of those hexes I carefully notified the ground forces of their presence.

I say carefully since aerospace fighters move after ground troops.  They should have the privilege to see where the ‘Mechs are and how they are facing before determining their final location.  I allowed ground forces to move at the same time as the fighters to save time.

Synchronized Turns

To keep things running smoothly all of the turns need to be aligned.  When the aerospace fighters swoop in for a strafing run, you had better let the ground troops know there is a fighter in their map so they can act accordingly in the weapons attack phase.

I chose to use a relatively simple solution to keep everyone in sync.  Each battle had a half sheet of paper marked READY (green) on one side and NOT READY (red) on the other.  At the beginning of each turn the players flipped the paper to NOT READY.  With a quick glance I could see who was done and who was still resolving combat.

On a few occasions some players finished well ahead of the other battles.  More experienced players will tend to do that.  However, I also think the force selection had something to do with it.  For future battles done in this style I will try harder to match the average weight and tech level in each battle to avoid major mismatches between battles.

The other half of that problem is when one battle lags behind the others.  That happened twice where a relatively inexperienced player was playing.  Given that no fighters were in their hex, I waited a few minutes and started the other turns.  I simply asked them to head right into their next turn when ready.  That will always be a judgment call based on the activity of the fighter battle but it worked out for us.

Aerospace Support

Using fighters in low altitude requires a good read through of the rules and demands the attention of your most experienced players.  It is a very critical role to fill with many crucial decisions.  When to make a strike run?  Where to position your forces?  How low do you go for fear of becoming a lawn dart?

Total Warfare is not the best tome for parsing all the various rules required to play Aerospace.  That said, I had prepared a cheat sheet to help players who are new to the dog fighting and strafing world of air-to-ground combat.

Fighter Reference Sheet – PDF (45 KB)

The coup de grâce of the game was going to be a fully loaded Leapord Dropship for each side.  Combat drop rules would be used to inject ‘Mechs into the various battles.  Watching the pace of the ground battles I chose to keep the dropships in reserve.  I didn’t see the kind of casualties I thought would require the use of a new lance per side and instead let the battles run their course.

Having thought about it, I wish I had let the players have at it.  The downside would be the potential unbalancing of one battle or another.  However, I believe the coolness factor of combat dropping ‘Mechs would have been worth it.  Plus, any combat dropped ‘Mechs are sitting ducks for at least one turn at best.  Ample opportunity to take cover from opposing ‘Mechs on the ground and point all weapons to the skies!

Fire for Effect

Artillery is an inspiring tool for some and ignored by others.  Each team had access to off board artillery (1 turn flight time) in the form of one Sniper and one Long Tom.  Requests for artillery were delivered to me on note cards and I assigned rounds to the battles in the event that there were more requests than available strikes.

Artillery made for some very interesting situations but did not turn the tide in any battle by itself.  A beautiful example was the city fight.  The first turn, both called artillery on the other when most units were walking along the roads out of LOS.  The damage was brilliant.  Each round struck multiple targets and delivered consequential damage.  The turn after, the ‘Mechs moved the hell off the roads!  It changed the dynamic of the game without breaking it.

‘Mechs are still kings of the battlefield.  Artillery is a spice that was fun and managed to change the tempo for some but not all of the games.  With  a GM running the battle on the sidelines, the note card system worked well but could have used a standard format for requests.

The Report

In a stunning display of combined arms antics, the opening turn saw all four fighters from the Marik side diving into the nearest battle to strike at an enemy Warhammer.  Unfortunately for the fighter group, without any other targets to worry about on turn 1, the entire Lyran lance opened up on the Transit and blasted it out of the sky with a(n) (un-)fortunate fuel tank hit.  Already one fighter down, the Marik player continued to harass ground targets while being picked apart by enemy fighters in the air.

Meanwhile on the ground, the battle raged back and forth but saw a distinct advantage starting to build for the Lyrans.

It was late in the game when the Lyrans won complete air superiority but still the Lyran air commander decided to mostly concentrate on the last remaining Marik fighter.

In the end, the Lyrans had enough of an edge in the ground games to secure final victory for the overall battle.  And with air superiority firmly in grasp there was no stopping the Lyrans.

I had lots of compliments on the game.  Every player with a few obvious exceptions was 100% engaged in the game the entire time.  There were a few turns where one battle finished way early and two occasions where the group was waiting on one battle to finish.  Still, turns averaged a half hour a piece and we got through 8 complete turns in our allotted time with a clear winner at the end.

There was a base battle value (not accounting for pilot’s skill) of over 55,000 in play which included 32 ‘Mechs, 8 vehicles, 1 Battle Armor, and 8 aerospace fighters and we finished the game in less than 5 hours to a clear victor.  Given the opportunity, I’d love to do it again and I bet it would be even better having learned from this first go.

The Red Corsair is a new twist on the Turning Point PDF theme.  For the first time we have a full fledged campaign somewhere between a standard issue Turning Points PDF and a Starterbook (ala Wolf and Blake and Sword and Dragon).  I’ve been excited to get down to reading this PDF but have not had the time until recently.  I hope you all will excuse the late review.

Jason Schmetzer is at the helm for this ambitious PDF product, lets see how it all comes together!

Unexpected Guests

The opening fiction is slightly longer than typical and exciting. It well frames the situation on the ground and the confusing nature of the events surrounding Natural Selection.  Having not read the novel in question, I only have this PDF to piece the story together and it does the job well.

Atlas

Rather than a single world being summarized as in previous Turning Points, the Red Corsair takes place over five planets stretching between the Federated Commonwealth and the Clan Wolf Occupation Zone.  Each planet has it’s own Terrain Table for added authenticity.

Each planet description is an important part of the story-telling and should not be skipped especially if you have not had the luxury of reading Natural Selection.  The Red Corsair is turning into the cliff-notes version of the full length novel.

RAT

Full Random Assignment Tables are provided for the Kell Hounds, ClanWolf/Corsair, and Militia/Other.  This important addition brings this PDF much closer to a full length Starterbook.

The Path of the Corsair

In one short page the entire story is laid out from beginning to end in dry fashion.  If you have ANY intention of reading Natural Selection beforehand, skip this section (or better the entire PDF) and move on to something else.

What a story.  It has all the trappings of a page burner, too bad I have now ruined it for myself.  Not all is lost though.  My BattleCorps subscription keeps me well stocked with fiction to read!

Personalities

After the story is quickly summarized, the personalities complete with illustrations are brought to life with additional detail and interesting bits of information.

As an added bonus, there are brief snippets of RPG information for each of the three main players.  They are not anything near a complete record sheet but enough to capture the most important details.  A good GM can fill in the blanks if they ever had to urge to run a Corsair RPG adventure or in any way mix RPG elements into the Turning Points Campaign.

Combatants

Thank goodness they continue to use a sane method of skill level as presented in HTP:Galtor and not the ever confusing number system devised for the other Jihad Turning Point books.

Each unit is given an experience, RAT, an optional ability, and some notes that give additional flavor to the unit.  A tried and true formula for the TP series.

The Red Corsair Campaign

The campaign is broken up into two parts familiar to owners of either Starterbook.  There are the generic missions and the Touchpoints.  The generic missions are the appetizers to the Touchpoint main course.  I’ll touch on each separately.

For generic missions, we have four, Strike, Defend, Assault and Interdict.  The first three are tracks taken from the Starterbook series with a slightly different mix of optional bonuses and objectives.  Each retains the flavor of their predecessor.  I noticed an interesting change to Strike.  The building scanning objective was taken down a notch in difficulty.  In Wolf and Blake a ‘Mech without a probe must spend two turns scanning.  Now the requirement is only 1 turn.  Probes give you an increased scanning distance.

Interdict is the only completely new addition to the wartrack party and I like it.  It has very interesting objectives (I’m looking at you Interdiction) and challenging bonuses.  It’s a welcome addition to the Chaos Campaign tool chest and I will be very interested in playing it out to see how well the mission flows.

Next up are the Touchpoints, six of them including one aerospace. Each Touchpoint takes place on (or near) different planets during crucial points in the Red Corsair story.  Assuming you take only 1 generic mission between each Touchpoint, you are looking at 11 to 12 missions for the entire campaign.  That will make for a very healthy campaign that will keep you busy for several gaming sessions.  This PDF is looking more and more worth the $8 price tag.

The Touchpoints are a tad disappointing but not without their stars.  I loved the Not So Fast objective which places a premium on destroying targets under specific circumstances.  That said, the majority of the objectives involved some variation of “kill the other guy”.  The optional bonuses were very often confused with optional rules.  In my mind, optional rules and terrain are just that, optional, and should not be an add-on for bonus points during a campaign.

There is something to be said though about making the missions match the canon.  When you are crafting campaign stops along a predetermined story arc I can understand how history may become inadvertent shackles.  While not the most diverse and imaginative tracks I’ve read, the story behind them is so enthralling that I can’t help but forgive the lack of creativity and instead bask in the knowledge that there now exists an easy way to live the story instead of just reading about it in a novel.

Record Sheets

Two record sheets are provided for the unit commanders of the Corsairs and the 31st Wolf.

The Red Corsair pilots a custom BattleMaster (using unseen art for the ‘Mech image!) littered with Clan technology.  It’s a very dangerous combination of long and medium range energy weapons which will have to be bracketed to avoid serious overheating.

The Wolf leader pilots a Man ‘o War which remains characteristically under armored and under armed to make up for the above average speed on the assault class Omni.  The weapons mix of 2 PPCs and 2 Streak-6 make for an excellent combination.  Open up holes with the PPCs and then fill them in with the SRMs.

And All the Rest

I really liked the Red Corsair and believe it is worth the slightly higher price point.  This PDF is an excellent campaign for any gaming group and works well as a tool for Demo Agents or established BattleTech groups.

Even after reading through the whole PDF I was relieved that there still were a few questions left hanging.  While the PDF holds many spoilers there are some interesting anomalies that are never fully explained.  Perhaps Natural Selection will be the next BattleTech novel I get my hands on with the hope that there will be a few answers within its pages.