Battle Report: Sir Dugdale Appears

Hi!

Following a skirmish between Wilson's Hussars and the Pirate force that has been plaguing the Canopian world of Rynn's Steading, word has gone out that there may be more of the marauders operating in the region. Operating from the settlement of Three Sisters a the freelance Mechwarrior Sir Dugdale in his venerable Goliath has set forth to find some action.

North of the Three Sisters, near the River Rumbling, Sir Dugdale encounters a group of enemy Mechs and decides to engage them despite being badly outnumbered, convinced of the heavy armour of his Goliath and skill.

Rynn's World Campaign Map

"Calling hostile Mechwarriors. This is Sir Dugdale. Power down your Mechs and Surrender or I will be forced to open fire!"

"Screw you oldtimer!"

Sir Dugdale V Red's Marauders

Sir Dugdale is represented by a single GOL-1H Goliath whilst the Marauders have a LCT-1V Locust, WSP-1A Wasp and an ASN-21 Assassin. 

Rules Used: Battletech basic and advanced from the 3rd edition rulebook.

The skirmish takes place in rolling, hilly country with several rivers and lakes as well at patches of scrubby woodland. The Goliath enters from the East and the Pirates from the West.

The game started with the lighter Pirate Mechs sprinting forward in an attempt to get their weapons into range and trusting to their speed to avoid the lumbering Goliath's weapons. Despite this, Sir Dugdale let rip with both his LRM10's at the rapidly moving Assassin. One salvo flies wide but the second scores a critical hit on the Pirate Mech's centre torso, damaging it's jump jets.

The subsequent turns saw the Pirates close with Dugdale and attempt to get into his rear arc where he cannot bring his weapons to bear and they can target his weaker rear armour. Several rounds of combat saw repeated light weapon hits to Dugdale's rear armour but he managed to hold his cool by retreating into the nearby lake and turning at bay.

The turning point of the game was when the Pirate pilot of the Locust slipped and fell whilst trying to maneuver into position atop a hill and in the following tumble succeeds in damaging his Mechs arm. Seizing the initiative, Dugdale lets rip with a full alphastike and blasts off the damaged limb and cores out the Locust's right torso.

Panic ensues with the Pirates who try to make a break for it but Dugdale fells the Assassin with a blistering attack that blows out the mech's centre torso and strips all remaining armour from it's legs.

With this the remaining Pirate withdraws after a failed strike into the doughty Goliath's rear, instead hitting the surrounding water. Seeing he will not be able to survive alone against such a heavy machine, the Mechwarrior flees leaving his lancemates.

 Smoking ruins!

Conclusion

Dugdale has claimed the downed Mechs as salvage and hopes that at least one can be put back into operation. Meanwhile Red's Marauders are reeling following the loss of three Mechs in a week and they need to either strike hard to grab as much loot as possible or retreat off world and seek easier prey.

Meanwhile there is rumour that Capellan Confederation agents are headed to Canopian space, supposedly for a trade deal but what else could the Coordinator be up to?

It was interesting to play a game with three light machines versus a lone heavy but in hindsight, I'd be tempted to go for some Mechs with a bit more punch such as a Panther as the Pirate force just couldn't do enough damage to the Goliath. 

All in all, the game took about an hour to play but I think I could have speeded it up if I hadn't been referring back to the rules to check on but it was really fun to game out!

I think Sir Dugdale will be getting a lancemate soon and the Pirates are going to strike back and then there's Wilson's Hussars, the Capellans and Canopian dissidents who aren't happy with the presence of mercenaries hired by the Magistrix...

Battle Report: Encounter On Rynn's Steading

Following the Pirate raid on Rynn's Steading, Wilson's Hussars have settled into their new contract to garrison the world and defend the Magistracy's newly established industrial sites.

The Pirates have seemingly been driven offworld but Captain Wilson is keen to keep his mercs busy and a recent scan of the rolling plains between Rynn's Retreat, the planetary capitol and the outlying Agri stations has seen him dispatch a lance to scout the area.

Having spotted a possible hit on his scanner, trooper Durant in his Griffin Low Blow, has split off from the rest of the lance to investigate.

Rynn's World Campaign Map

"Wilson command, this is Low Blow. I'm getting an intermittent scanner trace South East of our current location and a range of 5 klicks."

"Roger that Low Blow, investigate the trace and then loop back to the rest of the lance. It may be nothing but I'm feeling a tad jumpy so be careful and report what you find asap."

"Sure thing ElTee. Low Blow out."

As his mech climbs the ridgeline, the merc can see a yellow and red painted Wolverine approaching from the South and ignoring his shouted command for it to identify itself and power down it's weapons, the mech instead turns and opens fire.

"This is Low Blow! Enemy Contact sighted two klicks south from previous contact. Have spotted a Marauder's Wolverine and am engaging!"

Wilson's Hussars V Red's Marauders

Wilson's Marauders are represented by Trooper Durant in his GRF-1N Griffin, Callsign Low Blow whilst the Marauders have a WVR-6R Wolverine at present it's callsign and pilot are unknown as its transmissions are coded.

Rules Used: Battletech Basic Rules (ammo depletion but no piloting rolls, criticals, internal structure or close combat).

The skirmish takes place near a small lake surrounded on two sides by hills and sparse patches of scrubby vegetation. The Wolverine enters from the South and the Griffin from the North.

The game started with Low Blow maneuvering his Mech around the northern hill whilst the Wolverine began running toward him in an attempt to close range so he could bring his full array of weapons to bear on the mercenary Mech.

Initial fire from both sides were ineffectual but as his greater range came to effect, Low Blow managed to blast the Wolverines centre torso with his PPC but things got a bit dicey as the Wolverine repeatedly used it's jump jets to try and close with the Griffin. 

This close range fire began to tell as Low Blow took several shots to the centre torso but fortunately a well placed PPC to the cockpit of the Wolverine put the opposing mech out of commission.

As the remainder of the lance approached, they discover their lance mate standing guard over the smoking wreck. What was this lone Pirate mech doing out here and more importantly, does it have any friends...

Conclusion

Well that was an interesting skirmish and I have learned that using jump jets really add an extra element to the game. I hope to play the advanced rules that I have in the 3rd edition book that I have found which will introduce heat and piloting checks which would probably have had quite an impact on this game if I'd played it using them.

I have to admit that I'm finding the Griffin looks like it would work best with a lancemate to keep an opponent occupied whilst it snipes them as it's long range weapons are pretty shooty but when the enemy gets close, it gets a bit hairy.

It also runs through it's LRM ammo frighteningly quickly as that's two games where I've depleted it badly without it having much effect.

I think that as things stand, I may have to tweak the Gunnery Skills of my Mechs as in each game I've played, it's very difficult to hit at anything beyond short range which is a bit annoying. I think I'll change regular pilots to Gunnery Skill 3 rather than 4 which should allow for some better long range shooting. Other than that, I'm quite excited about getting a new round of campaign gaming going on Rynn's Steading soon as who knows what information can be salvaged from the wrecked Wolverine?

Review: Ral Partha Europe's Map Sheet Pack

Hi!

Excitingly my order arrived from the most excellent RAL PARTHA EUROPE this morning containing the map sheet pack that I ordered last week!

For £10 you get ten random map sheets taken from the Battletech Map Packs 1, 2 and Solaris VII sets and I was really pleased to get a good random selection.

The Maps arrived in a super sturdy box so didn't get crumpled by delivery peeps (which I have had happen before from other companies with rulebooks getting shoved through doors only to bend edges on the floor as the jiffy bag they'd been in wasn't up to the job).

The maps themselves are in perfect condition but the printing of them is showing its age as there are a couple of the maps look a wee bit blurry but for the price, I won't complain. I had been a bit cautious about ordering initially as I wasn't sure I wanted any Arena themed mapsheets, instead wanting more battlefield type terrain but then I thought that as my campaign is set in Canopian space, a society that excelled at entertainment, it wouldn't be too unusual to see mech arena combat!

I'm really pleased with my order from Ral Partha Europe and would heartily recommend them to anyone. I was surprised to find that I'd not ordered anything from them in several years which I may have to remedy moving forward.

I'm hoping to give them a bit of a try out tomorrow with a meeting engagement between Wilson's Hussars and Red's Marauders who are out for vengeance following their defeat and leaders capture by the mercenaries some weeks back.

I must admit that I'm especially pleased that I got one of the original map sheets amongst the selection as it's the one I remember from my old 3rd edition boxed set. I'll need to get them flattened out a bit but I'm looking forward to playing some old school Battletech!

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the Goliath mech on each of the pics. It along with it's pilot will be making the odd cameo appearance in the campaign I'm putting together and I'm interested to see how a quad mech copes against more nimble opposition.

In the meantime, All the best!

Miniatures or Not?

Hi!

I've taken a wee bit of a break from my usual blogging after starting to get a bit of hobby fatigue but have been pondering a bit on the options available for playing games of Battletech.

First up, there's the options for which rules to use. I've touched on this before as Battletech appears to be very scalable with options being available for everything from single mech on mech combat to stellar conquest and everything in between.

Thus far, I've played a couple of games of basic Battletech and enjoyed it with it's simulation approach where you have to worry about ammunition expenditure and so on and once my map sheets arrive, I hope to try out some of the slightly more advanced rules such as critical hits, heat and so on but have a suspicion that playing more than a lance a side will take considerable amounts of time.

I've also played several games of Alpha Strike, which is more of a traditional wargame but keeps the feel of Battletech but streamlines the rules quite a bit. It reminds me of Epic 40k somewhat with the simplified and quick gaming but still tactically satisfying.

I think I have space for both rulesets in this project as they both excel at different elements with Alpha Strike working really well for combined arms and larger clashes without requiring tons of record keeping while classic Battletech is great for the feel of giant mechanised walkers pounding each other with all manner of weapons.

At present I'm using paper counters to represent my mechs and so on and feel it's a good way to play but there's still the visual appeal of using actual miniatures to be considered.

New 3d Mech Designs

I've been holding off picking up any for several reasons, partially due to expense but also because quite a few of the existing sculpts are really showing their age having been around for about 30 years now. Handily the new sets do have plastic mechs of a quality previously unseen with Battletech and it looks like revised sculpts are going to slowly appear.

Until recently the advent of 3d printing seemed to have been a golden opportunity to get new designs but with Catalyst asserting it's IP Games Workshop style, this seems to be something that is going to be a real issue.

Sadly the new sculpts don't seem to be making it to the UK and import duties for getting even small quantities (let alone postage costs!) mean getting them is going to be ruinously expensive which leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Do I use the old figures with their sometimes dated appearance, not to mention the scaling issues many of them have or pay through the nose for US imports?

I know a lot of folks want there to be plastic mechs released for every design but I cannot see how that would work as there are just so many designs for each era that producing plastic sprues would be incredibly expensive. If each faction only used say 4-5 designs, I could see plastic boxed sets coming out but that's just not how things work in the Battletech universe with literally hundreds of designs to choose from.

In the short term, I shall continue using the counters I've made as they do the job but I shall keep an eye out for developments in the coming months.

In game related news, I've spent a bit of time developing the background of my upcoming Rynn's Steading campaign and have got some units printed out and ready to colour in and have also been playing around with some warband style skirmishing with papercraft infantry.

Sadly I'm still waiting on my map sheets but once they are here, I shall be cracking on with some skirmishing so watch this space!

Papertech

Hi!

As I mentioned previously, at least initially I am going to be using paper counters for my Battletech project as it is a super quick, cheap and easy way of putting together a lance for a game.

Well I've finally managed to get all the mechs from the 3025 tech readout finished which should give me enough to cover pretty much any eventuality for gaming in the Periphery during the period before the rediscovery of Lostech!

Light and Medium Mechs

Medium and Heavy Mechs

Heavy and Assault Mechs

This got me to thinking about how I'm going to work out one of the other elements that I've been pondering trying for my campaign, RPG lite skirmishing with infantry skirmishing and whatnot.

I think I'm going to try and get some Mechwarriors, Techs and assorted Troops drawn up so I can try out a game or two but at present I'm not sure what rules I'm going to use as Battletroops, the infantry combat game for Battletech sounds a bit complex. Instead I may bodge something together of my own or try out one or two of the other sci-fi gaming systems I've got in my collection to see what suits best.

I'm currently thinking of some Mechwarriors operating without their mechs in order to chase down some leads on supplies and running afoul of the local underworld or indeed stumbling upon some sort of conspiracy. I am unsure if I want to keep Wilson's Hussars as NPC's in such an effort and have my characters being Magistracy locals who can take part in the campaign at various levels.

I think I'm going to have to sit down and have a bit of a ponder and then get a campaign outline put together with some assorted locations and characters to investigate them. I'll try and post my initial thoughts on it tomorrow with some more papertech stuff and see how I get on!

In the meantime, All the best!

Battle Report: Intro Rules

Hi!

I managed to get two games of Battletech using the basic edition that I had downloaded yesterday.

I printed out the map sheet which is a bit bigger than A4 paper and stuck the two sheets together. For some reason my printer refused to print out the stand up counters which was a bit of a shame so after a bit of head scratching, I settled on using two old Mechwarrior Dark Age battle armour figures and painted one bright red and the other blue.

I also printed out the record sheets and quick reference guide found in the introductory rules:

 Handy Dandy

Thus armed I tried out the basic rules that the introductory set comes with.

Tiny Proxy Mechs!

My first game didn't last very long as both mechs charged at each other firing everything they had and after the Griffin managed to hit the opposing Wolverine in the centre torso with a PPC and LRM strike, it looked like it was going to be a bit one sided but in return the Wolverine managed to hit its opponent in the head with a lucky Autocannon volley.

The next couple of turns saw the Griffin strike the Wolverine repeatedly in the torso but didn't manage to concentrate it's fire to bring down it's foe. In return the Wolverine struggled to hit until a second shot to the Griffins head saw it taken out of the action.

Game One post action repair report

Game two was a bit more of a drawn out affair as I started to realise the two mechs have different styles of play. The Griffin has more of a long range punch whilst the Wolverine is a close range fighter. The Griffin attempted to keep its distance as much as possible, sniping at the rapidly approaching Wolverine but suffered some truly rubbish shooting. 

For much of the game the two mechs stalked each other around the patches of cover, before thundering out to try and gain the upper hand. The Wolverines superior short range firepower was beginning to show as the Griffin had taken damage to almost every location but it almost turned the table late on as it repeatedly won initiative and managed to get into the Wolverine's rear arc so it couldn't shoot back but repeatedly flubbed it's own attacks.

Eventually, the Griffin made a mistake and didn't quite get out of short range from the marauding Wolverine and despite using every salvo of it's LRM and repeatedly hitting the opposing machine with PPC fire, the Wolverine finally blew off it's leg ending the game.

Game two post action repair report.

Whee! I really enjoyed playing the basic game, despite it feeling very different from the usual sort of a game I play. Initiative really makes a difference as it repeatedly turned the tide of the game as each mech desperately tried to maneuver itself into an advantageous position. It actually feels a bit cinematic as the damage begins to build and ammunition runs low and a lucky shot at that critical moment really gets quite exciting.

I'm hoping that my proper map sheets arrive tomorrow so I can try out a few different from my mechs using the cardboard counters I have drawn up and I'm looking forward to familiarising myself fully with the basic rules before trying out some of the more advanced stuff including critical hits and heat!

Once I have got myself used to the rules up to the level I am comfortable with, I'm hoping to start a mini campaign with Magistracy forces backed up by the mercenary unit, Wilson's Hussars pitted against Red's Marauders and some sneaky Free Worlds League infiltrators...

I'll see if I can get another game or two in tomorrow and see how I get on so watch this space!

All the best!

Faction Focus: The Magistracy of Canopus

Hi!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have settled on the Magistracy of Canopus as the setting of my games and campaign and figured it might be a bit of a plan to take a look at the region to give me some ideas for how to develop the campaign.

Founded in 2530 by Kossandra Centrella, a former captain of the Free Worlds League Military, the Magistracy of Canopus is one of the larger powers in the Periphery. Consisting of roughly forty worlds, many of which are poor in resources.

A Matriarchal and libertine society, the Magistracy in years past concentrated almost all of its efforts on the entertainment industry with pleasure planets, mighty casinos and nature retreats, the collapse of the Star League and following Succession Wars has seen the Magistracy struggle as it's few industrial worlds have been seized by the Free Worlds League and Capellan Confederation and the drop in transport between worlds has resulted in unrest and famine. The wars also saw tourism dry up and replaced with refugees and pirates.

Now the Magistracy relies on cottage level industry and education levels for the realm have fallen dangerously low. In order to revitalise the fortunes of her realm, the current Magistrix, Kyalla Centrella has begun opening negotiations with nearby realms offering advanced medical training, one of the few sciences the Magistracy is capable of producing, in return for industrial components.

Kyalla Centrella, Magistrix of Canopia

The Canopian military is similarly stretched and is one of the smallest in the Periphery which is becoming an issue with the increased investment in Magistracy industry and agriculture, the region is getting unwanted interest from pirate bands and some of the nearby Successor States. 

As with much of the Periphery, Mechs are rare in the Magistracy so the armed forces limited Mech forces are generally held in reserve on strategic planets and conventional forces are used to soften up raiders before the Mechs are employed to finish them off.

Magistracy Locust

The military are seen as a necessary evil by many Canopians but they are willing to volunteer to defend their homes at time of need and as such, the Magistrix has been hiring small, impoverished mercenary units to both give her forces some beefing up and act as trainers to her small military.

Magistracy Mech Warrior

The industrial level of the Magistracy is so low that there are only two plants capable of producing Mechs, and a lack of components means that they produce only about sixty a year as well as a handful of armoured vehicles and Aerospace fighters. The Mechs produced by these two plants are a Phoenixhawks, Wasps, Stingers and Locusts. The Mech units of the Magistracy do field other designs but these are rare as the lack of components means that other designs are difficult to maintain and most units typically have at least some repair work needing done to keep them in  functioning order.

Now what I've written thus far is canon and based on reading the Periphery handbook and perusing Sarna.net, the Battletech Wiki. What follows is going to be my own take on things!

I hope to put together some of my own elements to add into the setting and will take a peek at them in a later post but hopefully this will give a brief overview of the Magistracy of Canopus!

Navigating Battletech

Hi!

During my initial ponderings on Battletech over on my Tales From Farpoint blog, several folks commented on the fact that the Battletech universe is rather intimidating as there are 35 years worth of background material to wade through. Coupled with the various eras, powers, forces and campaigns, it can be a bewildering game to try and get into.

In this post, I hope to share my initial thoughts on delving into such a setting and how I begin my Battletech journey!

First off, I have the Classic Battletech Universe book which I got as a free pdf from DRIVE THRU RPG. Essentially it's a small overview of the Battletech setting, it's timeline and assorted major and some of the minor powers. It's only 51 pages with lots of full colour illustrations but I found it to be a good starting point.

I also got the Battletech Quick-Start Rules, which are from the previous edition but the rules themselves are unchanged and it has the basic rules for the game which will allow you to get playing pretty much straight away, especially as it contains record sheets for four mechs and a map sheet you can print out. I'll be using these to trial the game in the morning!

There's also the BATTLETECH HOMEPAGE which has free downloads of the new edition Quick-Start Rules. This is very similar to the previous edition but you get record sheets for two mechs and a different colour map sheet. It's one of the best things about the game, the basics haven't changed much in 30 years!

I also found the Record Sheets here for the new boxed set which contains a fair few mech record sheets to record damage, ammunition expenditure and so on.

I do like that the core rules are free and they even include gaming counters and whatnot to get you going. In fact all you need to supply is some D6's and a pencil and you're ready to rock!

These resources are invaluable in getting going with the game and finding out a bit about the lore and as they are free, it literally costs nothing to try out, other than printer ink.

I must admit that the more I explore the game, the more I realise it is all scalable. The basic game allows you to play with giant stompy robots with a brief outline of the different combatants but you can ramp it up with advanced rules, delve into the background and incorporate so many different elements to the game that it can make your head spin. But it also encourages you to pick and choose what you want.

For example, the more advanced rulebooks run to several hundred pages of dense text but much of the contents are options to add extra elements such as Aerospace combat, advanced movement and new tech. Essentially you can choose how far you want to develop the game.

Just want to shoot up your enemies and stomp around? Play the basic game! Want to run interstellar campaigns with all sorts of extra elements? Battletech has got you covered as it can literally be as granular as you want it to be. I feel that there is a sliding scale of complexity within the game itself that allows you to go for the level you feel suits you best.

It's the same with the background, you can choose one of the many powers and run a generic force or delve into individual unit histories with named pilots and mechs with all manner of quirks but there is absolutely nothing to stop you from creating your own forces, nations or whatnot. The Inner Sphere is vast and there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to make your own force!

As I am just starting out with Battletech, I have settled for using the basic Quick-Start rules for my first few games and have got the action taking place in 3025, a period of minor border raids and the calm before the next great conflict. Technology is at it's low ebb with mechs being rare and civilisation crumbling but with the glimmering hope of improvements brought about by rediscovered Lostech.

As I get used to the game, I hope to move to more advanced options and may move to different eras or regions of space but for the time being, I'll be sticking with the barbarous Periphery region with all it's ne'er do wells, cutthroats and down and out mercenaries.

Tomorrow I hope to try out the game using the materials I have sourced so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!

Where to Begin?

Hi!

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I want to explore various time periods of the Battletech universe but the question is where to begin?

As you get further into the timeline for Battletech, the more complex the rules get due to a renaissance in technology due to the invasion of the clans so I figured that as I was just starting out with the game, I'd keep it simple by begin my exploration of Battletech by looking at 3025.

During this period, the Inner Sphere has undergone several hundred years of devastating warfare so technology is decidedly lower level with the great houses armies having battered each other to a standstill. Similarly, society and culture has regressed to a neo feudal state in many worlds, especially out towards the Periphery which is where I am planning on initially setting the action.

The industrial base of each of the great houses have been hammered with many mech factories destroyed and higher tech systems no longer possible to construct. This means that Battle Mechs are rare and valuable and objects of awe and fear for planetary populations and with many planets struggling to survive, raids from marauding pirates or other powers conducting resource grabs, it's an interesting period of low level skirmishes between the great Succession Wars which wrack the Inner Sphere.

Magistracy of Canopus

To keep things low level, I have settled on hosting my forthcoming games and campaign in the Periphery, a somewhat technically backward and lawless frontier region of space that has been settled by those looking for a new life free from the Successor States. Even here, war has ravaged the lesser powers and an already unstable region may descend into barbarism.

My initial gaming will be based primarily in the Magistracy of Canopus, one of the larger Periphery states after reading about Wilson's Hussars, the rather washed up mercenary company that has found itself stuck in the Periphery without much prospects being hired by agents of the Magistrix Kyalla Centralla, the ruler of the Magistracy.

The Canopians were once the richest of the Periphery states, but their fortunes have waned greatly as the Free Worlds League annexed many of their industrial worlds leaving them with their core systems and other, less valuable planets. Coupled with their lack of technology and the smallest military of the region, the Magistrix has begun tentative diplomacy with several of the Inner Sphere powers offering advanced medical skills, one of the few advanced sciences that its battered state can still perform in return for tech and industrial investment.

With this slight increase in wealth and industry comes the threat of renewed raiding from other powers and pirates. Seeing her military is badly overstretched, Kyalla has begin hiring small impoverished mercenary units to bolster her defences and train her forces in order to defend what they have while the laborious process of rebuilding society begins.

There are several other powers in the region to be contended with. Firstly the Free Worlds League borders Canopian space and Marik is sure to try to use the lull in the fighting to try and annex further worlds from the seemingly weak Periphery state. There is also the Capellan Confederation to be contended with, the Aurigan Coalition and the Tauran Concordat, not to mention the host of pirate, freebooter and lawless mercenary forces that litter the region to contend with.

While much of the action will be using Classic Battletech and Alphastrike, I do want to explore some small skirmishes with groups of intelligence officers, mercs and adventurers conducting all manner of covert operations and skulduggery as well. There is also the chance to look at a bit of space combat too but I'll need to really read through my copy of The Periphery Sourcebook to get me a good grounding in the setting before I try to play more games.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some more gubbins later today with an overview of the Magistracy and its forces as it will help me incorporate the what I learn into the setting and in turn help develop a possible campaign and dramatis personae.

In the meantime, watch this space!