Much to tell, and Much to Write About! Lots of New Fan Ideas!

First off, I reran "The Sack of Misby Flats" at the Casa De Panzerfaust. The Combine still lost, but this time, the VPs were closer, 15-9 and the Tribe lost a fairly intact Warhammer! This will of course, inspire a follow on scenario, say ComStar deciding the Combine should not have such nice toys!

A battle report I wrote shorthand on my new Rocketbook reads as follows:

Turns 1-2: Tribe & Combine closed, Stalker and Exterminator died early. Fighting concentrated around woods.

Turns 3-4: Combine charges woods w/ Heavy lance, knife fight in woods, after Tribe Counter-charged. Combine Warhammer took heavy damage. Combine Dragon died. Tribe Stinger died after he tried to flank the Combine advance. Tribe falls back deeper in woods. Combine turns flank of Tribe, Game tuns into a barfight in the woods. Archer mugs Grasshopper, what is this neighborhood coming to? Jenner dies on Tribe flank.

Turns 5-6: Combine continues charge. Tribe is on defensive. All fights merge around the woods. Combine flanking attempt ends badly, Clint & Panther forced to withdraw. Tribe Firestarter in bad shape. Tribe Marauder is left w/o armor. Combine troops "Surrounded" (in target rich environment).

Turns 7-8: Fight has turned into graceless brawl. Tribe counterattacks, Combine Thunderbolt badly damaged.

Turn 8-9: Combine begins to pull back. Tribe player weighs options, as he only has 4 turns to withdraw to satisfy victory conditions. Tribe takes pot shots at building. Tribe Warhammer very badly damaged, it's mobility impaired. Combine Banshee and T-Bolt go down. Combine Marauder goes down to freak hit from Tribe Warhammer. Building destroyed by Tribe. Tribe Warhammer captured.

Ending VP totals: 15 for Tribe, 9 for Combine, Tribe win but some interesting effects on IS history, And ideas for a follow- on scenario!

The Combine's luck hasn't been great in these two scenarios. To be honest, it's a rough fight for them, as it should be historically, but I did make things tougher on the Tribe, limiting things to 12 turns instead of 15, and forcing them to go after the town, as they did historically. Now that said, they do get points for killing Combine units, and I wonder if that's a bit of a mistake? Something to ponder. All in all, I really do like this scenario. And, with the map I altered a bit, I got units into action Turn 1! This will make for a really exciting game if done right.

And, here are some more pics! 

Hopefully these pictures are crowdpleasers!

I think I will finalize the scenario, and then put it in the bank to be run at future events, say Historicon or Guns of August? After that, I intend to work up some 4th War stuff and see if we can't do something 4th War on the Steiner front? That might be a whole lot of fun. Time to do some research! 

Meanwhile, while I was stooging around the Classic Battletech forums, I found out about this project!

Link to Combat Manual Lite series.

I like what I have seen thus far, and they'd be fun to add some graphics to, but I will let the initial author handle that. I am just glad to see that the series is continuing on in some format. I do find it interesting there is no Davion manual. Does this mean a full Davion manual may eventually see the light of day?

Next, let's discuss the upcoming Commander's Edition of the Rules:

Taken from the CGL Website

It appears for the most part, it's going to be an amalgam of the basic rules, and the compendium that were released separately, with the errata added in. This is a good thing, and it will be nice to have it all in one place. But, there are some other rumors of coming changes to the point value system, as well as the cards themselves. With the MUL being something of a volunteer effort, this is a bit of a interesting development, and makes one go, "hmm". It also makes one ask, are the new AS cards in the boxed set obsolete already?

Speaking of the boxed sets, may I say..WORTH THE WAIT!

 

Both are taken from the CGL Website

The components are high quality (I didn't have an issue with any of the plastic miniatures!), the cards beautiful, and the rules well laid out and easy to read. I like the new pilot cards, and already, someone's come up with a template to make your own! And someone else is doing cards for the 'Ol Black Widow and friends herself!

Speaking of neat player aids out there, I found two more I really like:

The first is some Gear cards! All the relevant rules at your fingertips, and graphically pleasing too! I intend to make use of these.

An example of one of the Gear Cards, taken from the CBT forums.

Yep, lots of new stuff out there to make use of for our heavy metal mayhem! And oh, by the way. Battletech is 35 this year! It's nice to see one of our favorite games still going strong! 

A little something to spice up your 4th War Games....

Special Loyalty Tasks Battalions of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces

(a.k.a “Upright Capellan Citizens Battalions”)

A 4th War Era recruiting poster for the CCAF captured by the AFFS on Old Kentucky, the significance of which is the featured Urbanmech is the ride of Subcommander Lan Chou, a survivor of MacGregor's Armored Scouts, and a member of the 9th Special Loyalty Tasks Battalion, currently based on Victoria at the time of this photo. (AFFS Archives) (Taken from Mechwarrior Online forums)

Unit History and Origins:

3028 was a dark time for the Confederation. The AFFS had seemingly smashed the CCAF’s best with sickening ease. Even the vaunted Warrior Houses had been ground under like so much fertilizer under the feet of Davion ‘Mechs. Lesser regiments were breaking and running rather than face the AFFS and what seemed like certain death. Something had to be done to stiffen the spine of the CCAF. One Capellan Colonel had an idea. It was born of another war, and another nation’s trial, and what she did to “stiffen the spine” of her armed forces in the face of near calamity.

During the 2nd Global War, or the “Great Patriotic War” the initial stages of the Eastern Front had not gone well for the Soviet Union, and she had faced a situation that was not too unlike what the Capellan Confederation now found herself in, thus on December 15th, 3028, the Strategios, with the approval of Chancellor Maximilian Liao himself, issued infamous “War Order No 97”, which held that any member of the CCAF who was found to be “showing reluctance to fight, defeatism, or suspicion of treason” was to be arrested, stripped of rank and immediately to be assigned to one of the new “Corrective Infantry Regiments” being formed (see the associated document on “Capellan Corrective Infantry Regiments).

Furthermore, any actual withdrawal in the face of the enemy, or surrender would meet with immediate execution by the nearest member of the Capellan State, civilian or military, regardless of their rank. Simply put, if a Senior Colonel advocated surrender, and a nearby Recruit had the means to kill him, he was to do so. Three months later, “War Order 211” expanded this authority to any Capellan national of any rank, thus civilians became fair game for this treatment as well.

The other provision that was made was the organization of “Special Loyalty Tasks Battalions” made from excess personnel from the Maskirovka’s Special Security Bureau and the Department of Officer Observation and Cultural Monitoring, as well as decorated combat veterans who had a history of dedication to the Capellan state, from units that had been destroyed in the fighting thus far.

Members of the 6th Special Loyalty Tasks Battalion's "Corrective Infantry Company" in action on Hamal, early 3029. (Taken from Capellan State Media)

The units were organized as a combined arms battalion, with a company of medium to heavy ‘Mechs, a company of heavy to assault vehicles, and a company of mechanized SRM troops. Attached to the company was also a foot “Rifle” [1]company of “Corrective Infantry” whom were usually made up of recent detainees who were given a chance to “expiate their crimes in blood” on the spot, rather than be sent back to the rear to face a drumhead court martial where often the verdict was predetermined, and where official notice would be taken of their “actions” (with the usual repercussions to be suffered by the family of the soldier or officer in question).

Ten such battalions were formed by war’s end, with five of surviving to see action during the Canopean-Andurien War. Three of them survived to be disbanded by Sun-Tsu Liao upon his ascension to the throne in 3052.

To give an idea of the nature of these battalions in “action”, the 1st Battalion consisted of the following elements listed below during its initial participation in the defense of Wei, where it “assisted” the defenders in the utilization of chemical weapons against the 12th Vegan Rangers. (They seized the stocks themselves over the objections of the planetary commander and his staff, whom they arrested, and assigned to them to their attached corrective company, none of them survived the fighting on Wei.).

Knocked out Capellan Vedette from 1st Special Loyalty Tasks Battalion as depicted by Davion war artist from AFFS Military History Detachment attached to the 12th Vegan Rangers, Wei, 3029 (Taken from AFFS archives)

1st Special Loyalty Tasks Battalion, ca. Defense of Wei 3029

Dunworthy’s Command Lance

Major Thomas Dunworthy (Gunnery 2, Piloting 2) RFL-3N Rifleman

Captain Sarah Sho-Wei (Gunnery 3, Piloting 4) CRD-3L Crusader

Commander Alex Rostov (Gunnery 4, Piloting 4) VND-1R Vindicator

SubCommander Dennis Chou (Gunnery 4, Piloting 5) SHD-2H Shadow Hawk

Tseng’s Fire Lance

SubCommander Lisa Tseng (Gunnery 3, Piloting 3) CRD-3L Crusader

Force Leader Mikhail Ruslov (Gunnery 2, Piloting 4) CPLT-A1 Catapult

Lance Sergeant Jimmy “Too Tall” Soon (Gunnery 4, Piloting 5) VND-1R Vindicator

Lance Corporal Jenny Buttonworth (Gunnery 3, Piloting 2) PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk

Tsarnov’s Skirmish Lance

SubCommander Alexei Tsarnov (Gunnery 3, Piloting 3) DV-6M Dervish

Force Leader Anton Wei (Gunnery 3, Piloting 4) GRF-1N Griffin

Lance Sergeant Brittany Holmes (Gunnery 4, Piloting 4) HER-1B Hermes

Lance Corporal Max Holgman (Gunnery 3, Piloting 3) WSP-1A Wasp

1^st Armor Platoon:

SRM Carrier (4/5)

Manticore (3/4)

Rhino (SL) (4/4)

Ontos (4/4)

2^nd Armor Platoon:

Demolisher (3/4)

Demolisher (3/4)

Laser Carrier (4/4)

LRM Carrier (3/3)

3^rd Armor Platoon:

Hetzer (4/4)

Vedette (4/5)

J.Edgar (3/3)

Scorpion (4/4)

1^st Guardian Company:

3 Motorized SRM Platoons (3)

Corrective Infantry Company:

3 Foot Rifle Platoons (5)

Alpha Strike Stats can be found here

The battalion went on to see action on Sarna and Kaifeng (where they perpetrated a massacre of disloyal elements in the Kaifeng militia, and may have also “encouraged” the local Home Guard commander’s fanatical behavior by threatening his family.) The 1st never made it off Kaifeng, as it was caught and destroyed by the Davion Light Guards while they were attempting to run for their dropships.

Colors of the battalions were bright Liao Green with Black highlights, with the decorations of the pilots and crews prominently displayed on either the left front torso of a ‘Mech or the front glacis of a vehicle. Standards of grooming and dress were high, with members of the battalions facing much derision for their “parade ground manners.” The exception to this was the attached “Corrective Infantry Companies” who were often in their last uniforms, stripped of all insignia, save the Capellan Dao and Fist sigil.

Some battalions often found themselves turned on by Capellan units who were all too eager to surrender, one of the more well-known incidents being the incident known as the “Battle of Traitor’s Grove” where elements of the 3rd Battalion, supported by loyal elements of the 2nd Battalion of Hurloc’s Hussars attempted to stop the rest of the Hussars from surrendering. The battalion was unsuccessful and was hunted down by both the Davions and the Capellans alike.

As expected, this organization varied widely, as replacements came and went as casualties mounted for the CCAF during the war. Often, “promising” talent was “poached” from a planetary Home Guard, or neighboring regiments ( this practice sparked a little-known incident between the surviving elements of the Nightrider’s Regiment, then recovering from Sarna, and 5th Battalion, which ended in the destruction of 5th Battalion, and a rare rebuke by Archibald McCarron himself.)

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[1] The rifle designation is in quotes because often, there were hardly enough rifles to go around to the detainees, and ammunition was often low as well. One such “corrective detachment” observed on Tsinghai had 1 rifle for every 5 men, and the rest were armed with sharpened bamboo staves.