Tales From The Periphery - BattleTech Podcast

If you're interested in BattleTech I recommend you check out 'Tales From The Periphery'.  Link

It describes itself as, 'An audio podcast, news blog, events diary and resource covering the UK BattleTech scene'.

In Episode 1 Mike Whitaker is interviewing a friend of mine Andrew Dickinson who I play Alpha Strike  with at the Leeds Wargames Club once a month. 

BattleTech Alpha Strike - Hicks Hall Leeds

On Saturday joined with my regular BattleTech group at the Leeds Wargames Club in Hicks Hall in Leeds for a fun Alpha Strike game.

Click on the following Link to see a short video of it:  Link

Classic Battletech - The Battle Of Butternab Ridge - After Action Report

Scenario Name:  The Battle Of Butternab Ridge 
Side A:  House Liao
Side B:  House Steiner

Points Per Side:  3,200
Game Duration:  Eight turns
Map Hex Size:  34 x 22

Entry Points:  Short Edges.

Side A Forces:
Rifleman    RFL-3N 
Jenner    JR7-F   
Hunchback    HBK-4J

Side B Forces:
Thunderbolt TDR-5SE
Javelin JVN-10F
Blackjack BJ-1

Scenario Background

The god fearing clean living peaceful traders of House Steiner have been provoked into raiding into the Liao holdings.  An operative embedded deep with the Liao military industrial complex (such that it is) has obtained info that the Liao forces are experimenting with a new revolutionary powerplant for the Manticore Heavy tank.  Field trials are underway but due to poor maintenance and lack of experience the prototype vehicle is breaking down almost daily.  Current intel indicates it is abandoned awaiting recovery in the small settlement of 'Butternab Ridge'.

Scenario Objective

House Steiner - Secure the abandoned Manticore Heavy Tank.  

House Liao - Deny House Steiner their objective. 

Victory Conditions
For each turn a player had an active Mech (not shut-down or dead) within three hexes of the tank, they received one point.  Player with the most points at the game is the winner.    

The Battle
Successful suppression of Liao planetary defences saw an unopposed Lyran Dropship landing.  Steiner forces entered the battlefield from the south at the same time as a hastily assembled scratch force of Liao mechs entered from the north to intercept them.

Turn 1 

Steiner win the initiative.  Initial moves onto the Battlefield by both sides (using Blips to represent Mechs) saw no shooting as line of sight was obscured by terrain.

Turn 2
Steiner win the initiative.  The Steiner Blackjack secures a good vantage point on top of a building and commences firing with its twin ACss.   An aggressive run forward by the Steiner Javelin towards the Manticore ended in disaster when the Pilot failed his Piloting Skill Roll (PSR) when he tried to make a turn.  Skidding forward he damaged his head armour in the fall and knocked himself unconscious !  WTF !   The Capellan's making the most of this disaster rush their Jenna forward to close the range and pound the rear of the immobile prone mech.  In all the excitement their Rifleman unloaded with both AC5s and both Heavy Lasers (which with only 10 Heat Sinks gave him a Heat problem).  The screaming over the radio from the rest of his team fortunately brought the Javelin pilot out of his slumber at the end of the round !      

Turn 3

Steiner win the initiative.  The Javelin gets up and seeks cover behind the nearby tree, and the Thunderbolts runs up the junction and the Blackjack jumps down.  The Hunchback starts loosening off with its LRMs as he gets a bead on the Blackjack.

Turn 4

Steiner win the initiative.  The Jenner takes the safest option and jumps to cover its rear, the Thunderbolt and Blackjack rush forward, all three Steiner mechs are within 3 hexes of the objective now.  The Blackjack takes some damage as again does the Jenna.  The Hunchback is out of position and doesn't have line of sight to a target, so doesn't fire.

Turn 5

Steiner win the initiative again !  The Jenna ends up behind the Blackjack and then the Javelin jumps behind that.  The Rifleman takes some punishment and the Javelin almost has a Torso blown off now the Hunchback is making its firepower felt!

Turn 6

Liao win the initiative for the first time.  The Javelin receives yet more damage and takes a Medium Laser to the head which goes critical and takes out a Heat Sink, the pilot managing to keep conscious despite this blow.  Further damage takes the other torso down to just one piece of internal.  The Rifleman has lots of eternal armour blown away now and loses an upper arm actuator.  

Game End

The game was meant to go onto Turn 8 but we had run out of time at the end of Turn 6, so we called it at that point.  The Steiner forces had more victory points at that time and so were determined to have secured the objective.   A very very close game, the Javelin as you can see from the record sheet was virtually scrap.  Overall a really entertaining game with my opponent Steve M :)  I'm looking forward to the return match with the same forces when we plan to switch sides.        

BattleTech Mercenaries

Check out this interesting page on BattleTech Mercenaries.  This format is for both quick casual games and for multi-round events.  It's a scenario based format where each player controls 4x Mercenary BattleMechs.  Link

I haven't tried it myself, but intend to do so.

Classic Battletech - Battle Of Duncansviller Power Station

I dived back into the crunchiness of Classic Battletech with my old friend John Elwen on Thursday night at the Harrogate Wargames Club with a 4,000 point aside battle on the planet of Drozen. 

The peace loving traders of the Lyran Commonwealth (House Steiner) defending the recently 'acquired' power plant of Duncansviller Power Station were brutally attacked by the Capellan Confederation (House Liao). 

The Liao raiding party consisted of a Crusader CRD-3L mech supported by 4x Condor Heavy Hover Tanks (standard configuration).  Opposing this unwelcome incursion was a Jenner JR7-F mech supported by 3x Manticore Heavy Tanks (standard configuration). 

Straight from the off the aggressive manoeuvring by the (ridiculously) fast Condor Hover tanks seized the tactical initiative and forced the Lyrans onto the defensive.  The inability of the Hover tanks to enter woods though was exploited by the Manticore tanks who made good use of the cover available (or tried to hide like cowards, depending on your viewpoint! LOL).  After several inconclusive exchanges of fire the Liao unit swept in and reduced most of the firing to point blank, inside the minimum ranges of the PPC and LRM equipped Condors.  Two critical rounds of fire and physical attacks by the Javelin who jumped behind a Condor and repeated kicked it resulted in the destruction of 1x Condor, and the immobilisation of another. The Lyran's had 2x Manticores immobilised and the Javelin's external armour was badly shredded. 

Assessing that he was outgunned at this point, the Liao commander decided to withdraw his force (although we considered it a draw really).  A fun very closely fought game.  It's a long time since I've used vehicles in Classic Battletech and it was a reminder how very vulnerable they are to receiving critical mobility hits which reduce them to the status of a pillbox. 

Looking forward to the next game ! 🙂

Details

Rules:  by Catalyst Games - Battletech Manual - Rules Of Warfare.
Gaming Mat:  by Catalyst Games - Battletech Battlemat - Desert.

Terrain:  Small trees sold for model railways, remainder 3D home printed (FDM).
Mechs and Condor Hover Tanks:  by Iron Wind Metals.

Manticore Heavy Tanks:  Resin models supplied by Badger 3D.

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Here are a few pics from from the game.

The Steiner forces enter the battlefield...

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The Liao Condor Heavy Hover tanks make their presence felt.

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An air reccy photo from a Steiner Lucifer aerospace fighter as it screams over the battlefield

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Under pressure and outmanoeuvred the Steiner tanks seek refuge in the cover of some Light woods. 

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After initially keeping its distance the Liao Crusader jumps in to close the range down and support a Condor that had just been immobilised by a PPC hit from a Manticore. 

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A pair of Condors flank the beleaguered Manticores and heavy fire is exchanged.   

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The Steiner Jenna has jumped behind a Condor that came down the road and has proceeded to block it in. 

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A savage exchange of fire sees all the Javelin's armour stripped off its right torso and some internal structure eaten into.  The Condor is immobilised by repeated SRM hits from the one of Manticors.

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With one Condor destroyed and another immobilised and isolated the Liao commander decides to retreat to fight again another day.  His Crusader is not that damaged and could keep fighting for some time, and the Steiner forces have taken a beating and two of the Manticores are immobilised.  Critically though the Steiner unit still has its full firepower available and is a close supporting formation.

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Battletech - Modified Layout Mech Record Sheets

If you are a classic Battletech gamer I would encourage you to have a look at the custom Mech Record Sheets made by Kieran Vincent Rowley.   

This is the posting he put on the relevant Facebook page which I am repeating here in full:

"So for whatever reason, I post these almost entirely on Reddit, but since I'm almost done with all 3025 variants of all currently-released CGL Box Sets and ForcePacks, I feel like I should really try to get the word out in other places!

I make these! (If you've seen em on Reddit, that's me! I'm the guy)  I use them, I love them, and yes I do take requests.  I've done over 200 that are all available at this link! 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18chMT5KQApwqgA6UbEZ4ZfwPO2lyJK7C?fbclid=IwAR3bygJoOfkryzrbfrXkXoNitC24yLPMUHCgPnzGjw-s9kRC_3vlXiXpUOI

Quick edit: As with any tabletop-game element, conjecture isn't useful feedback.  If you've used it at the table and had a negative experience, let me know what went wrong!  But so far absolutely no-one who has actually used these has had any complaints, and indeed, most (like myself) find them to be much EASIER and faster to use than the official sheets, as well as making the game *feel* less like filling out paperwork.  I made them to be functional and intuitive in ways that I found the official sheets were lacking. As I said, conjecture is not feedback - playtesting is what matters.

Some variants (especially Royal SLDF versions, but sometimes others) have an additional retro art version, with either the original (sadly uncredited) Macross art or early TRO art from Duane Loose or Dana Knutson.  All known artists have been credited, although some remain unknown (Harri Kallio SIGN YER STUFF man! I think half my missing artists are you!), and I own NONE of this, all credit to Catalyst Game Labs and the respective artists and designers.  About the only thing I created here besides the format is the Clanbusters logo, which anyone may use at their own discretion."

Battletech - Alphas Strike - Jeff's Battletech Tools

If you are into playing Batteltech Alpha Strike, suggest check out Jeff's Battletech Tools which allows you to configure his improved version (in my opinion) of the AS Cards and also switch between whether the ranges are in inches or hexes. Link

How to Pick Your First Battletech Faction: The Inner Sphere ca. 3025

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Comment
Found this quite good as a refresher.

Battletech: 40K Refugees, is the Grass Really Greener?

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Comment:  Enjoyed this video, worth a watch :) 

Exploring Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition

Interesting little article on the new Battletech rule book, Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition published by Catalyst Games Lab.  Link
I've played several games using this mass combat system and quite enjoyed them,  The biggest advantage being that you just field so many more mechs on the table at the same time.  A 12 mech aside game using the Classic Battletech rules is a really significant game.  With AS, the game would be finished in a couple of hours max.  I'm not saying that AS is better, it's just different.  If you haven't tried it, I would encourage you to do so.
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BATTLETECH - PDXCON Trailer

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Comment:  I could get quite excited about this :)
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Mechwarrior Online - Update

Last Saturday I posted how my son and I had started playing Mechwarrior Online.  Well, the term 'slightly addicted' does spring to mind.  We have both been playing games like mad this week.  I've managed to earn enough experience credits (called C-Bills) to purchase myself one of the biggest (in terms of weight) Mechs in the game, the 100 ton Atlas.  Size isn't everything though, and I'm getting destroyed with regular monotony !  LOL.  Excellent fun though :)
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MechWarrior Online

A must check out for all Battletech fans is the new MechWarrior Online game.  Currently free to play in Beta mode, my son and I had a couple of quite enjoyable battles this evening.  Aim to link up with a couple of other friends as well, and get our own Lance together :)  Link
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Picture Of The Week - No 3 - BattleMaster Mech

One of my favourite pieces of Battletech artwork is the picture of this BattleMaster taken from the front cover of the Rolling Thunder supplement.
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MechWarrior Online Official Teaser Trailer

Hummmmmm, this game looks good :)
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MechWarrior Tactics

It's the year 3025. Hostile enemy lances are closing in all around you. As Commander of an elite mercenary company, it's up to you to ensure swift victory and make your enemies pay dearly. Your Mech Bay hosts a vast array of custom Mechs, each configured for a specific combat role. Choose wisely which Mechs to take into battle: your future as the leader of your lances depends on it.  Link
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PC Gamer has done a short review (Link) on this game which is due our sometime this year.  For Battletech enthusiasts (such as myself) this looks a much buy !  Can't wait !  :)
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Battlemech Drawing

Back in the early 1990s I used to play a huge amount of Battletech, and one of my gaming circle at that time was a talented artist. As a favour he did this drawing for me of my favourite 3025 era Mech from House Steiner, the Banshee 3S standing triumphant over an Atlas of one my friends, from House Kurita.
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Battlemech Storage

My son had some of my Battlemechs out recently to play with. Tidying them away last night off one of our collapsable gaming tables (to make room for a game of Space Hulk), I wondered what other people do for storage of their Mechs. Myself I use the following two types of boxes with home-made foam inserts.
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Battletech At The Harrogate Club

My father-in-law sadly passed away two weeks ago, and the Vulture household has been in a state of turmoil since then. Up north in Harrogate for the funeral last week, there was little opportunity or inclination to do any gaming. That said, on the Thursday evening I dropped into the Harrogate Club and met up with three old friends who had rather than playing their normal fare of Flames Of War (that I'm not very familiar with) had organised a 4 Mech aside 3025 era Battletech bash. Teamed up with Theo, I had a Shadowhawk and a Quickdraw, he had an Atlas and Assassin. Our opponents John and Chris has two Crusaders, a Thunderbolt and an Ostrock.
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I used to play a huge amount of Battletech, although I've only had about 2 proper games in the last seven years. I was initially a little rusty on the rules, however it soon came flooding back, and I barely had to refer to the QR sheet.
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In what was an entertain little battle, we eventually ran out of time, having lost two mechs per side, the game to continue next week. There is no doubt Battletech although now quite an old game system, is still a very elegant one, and perfectly suited to playing on a club night. As an aside, my opinion of Shadowhawks hasn't changed after that game. They are still a under-weaponed piece of junk ! :)
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Mechwarrior 5

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Slightly old news, but interesting none the less, apparently a new Mechwarrior game is in production. Imaginatively titled 'Mechwarrior 5' some of the photos I've seem show excellent looking in-game graphics.
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This trailer on U-Tube is pretty good as well ! :)
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