Recent acquisitions and a few repaints

 o/

Long time no post because...well, there hasn't been a whole hellova lot going on aside from the usual array of sporadic games lined up only to be postponed indefinitely if not just outright cancelled. I got my Clan KS stuff, and then summarily sold off most of it. Just not much of a fan outside of Solahma forces. I've also been acquiring a small horde of 3D printed mechs and tanks. 

Below is a gallery of what all I've gotten (aside from that beautifully resculpted Urbie above), and what little I've painted: 

The Enforcer: Simple, rugged, and very utilitarian. Still, it looks infinitely better than the old metal sculpts. 

The two Missile carriers came with hatches to optionally cover the launchers, those will be added to that these will be able to represent the LRM, MRM and SRM variants. Two Vedettes are in the foreground, and a 'freebee' Demolisher II in back. Again, all are vastly superior to the original sculpts (well, barring perhaps the D II).

Aside from the Urbie, all I kept from the Kickstarter was the Puma (my favorite clan mech), Grayson Carlyle's Marauder (or a Marauder C in my case) and the two points of Elementals which look amazing!! Also there are a pair of 3D printed Crabs, and a Piranha which was also a freebee due to being damaged. However said damage is minor and can easily be passed off as battle damage whenever I paint it. 

The Demolisher is the only originally painted mini (i.e.: not a repaint) in quite some time across all game systems. The Clan Pike on the other hand has so many layers of paint slathered upon it's hull that it ought to act as ablative armor by this point (both for the Hell's Horses Eta Galaxy, though are generic enough to be most anybody). 

The Whitworth is also a repaint, for a forthcoming former SLDF mercs/Pentagon Powers force (pay no attention to the monster attacking it from behind...). The Hoplite in back is new and is a custom conversion representing a Hoplite IIC armed with a HAG-20, LRM-5 with art. IV, and an AP Gauss rifle. 

Lastly, the Mauler was also a freebee 2nd, with a mis-molded arm. I replaced it with the arm or a 3D printed Dragon that I didn't like making it into a 'Franken-Mech'. Also not pictured but recently purchased is a 3rd Hunchback (an HBK-4P) and a Charger that looks fantastic!

Tentatively I have a game set up with Screech this coming Wednesday, however being an already once postponed game, I'm not holding my breath. Sometimes it's best to just wait until the holidays are over to resume normal gaming. 

My birthday presents are starting to arrive!

Wait till you see what will be placed in that open space next to that parking lot!

For my birthday (44, WTF?!?) my Beloved Wolfy and my awesome in-laws got me a Visa gift card with the instructions of: go buy some toys! 

Gladly!

I had wanted to get some terrain from Steelwarrior studios, however the gift card was only valid in the United States, whereas Steelwarrior is located in Canada. Disappointing, but not the end of the world (and I'll save that set for my Christmas wish list). There are other options for terrain, but I'll get to those in my next post after they arrive later this week. As for what has already arrived? well keep reading:

A perfect fit!

First up, I bought a 36" x 36" gaming mat with a battletech hex grid printed on it from Mats by Mars. Its vinyl, water proof, and I can even use dry-erase markers on it were I so inclined (I'm not). It was a bit pricey but I'm happy with it. In the future I may get another (assuming I start running out of room for terrain) and just trim it down to fit side by side with this one, and thus covering the whole of my game table. 

BTW clan players, if you like the IIC's ATM 12 variant, you can easily do that with this missile plate sprue!

Next, from Aries Miniatures, I bought a trio of Hunchback IICs and some generic missile launcher face plates to use as Inner Sphere Hunchback HBK-4N 'Swaybacks'. I love the hunchback's stats, but have never been a fan of the model, and can't afford anymore Aussie MWO sculpts due to them being cost prohibitive. I do like the clan IIC model though and after Aries confirmed that the missile plate ought to be 'workable' to use on the IIC's guns, I bought 'em for some conversions. 

They fit perfectly! Seriously, its like they were made for one another. The simple solution for using these is to simply make a record sheet, with the weapons rearranged to match these minis. That said, I'll likely to custom refits as well. The most basic swapping the 2 LRM-5s and shedding 1 medium laser to fit in an LRM-10. Also, an easy War of 3039 upgrade from that would be to swap out the nigh useless small laser for C.A.S.E. to protect against ammo explosions. Beyond that, these now scream for an MRM-10 refit as well. 

Stay tuned for the next set of toys that I'll also be showing off like an annoying little kid at Christmas, lol!