Photo dump!

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This worked out about as well as you can expect. 'Hamburger' (the Enforcer's pilot) managed to limp away from this dual, sans right arm and torso. 

The home campaign 2.0 is in full swing and the FLGS is also looking to start up another store campaign. Interested players voted and the Lostech era won out for the time period (immediately followed by disagreements on just when the Lostech era is). All of the bad apples that killed the last campaign are showing interest and some are already complaining. 

I will partake; Nick 2.0 is pondering to do so as well. I've already told him my level of expectations which should improve things considerably over the last store campaign: 

This is going to be an absolute shit show!

Having dropped the bar of standards on the floor, it should alright. I am looking to run the Desert Horde as the Fed Suns' Deneb Light Cavalry. Speaking of, onto the recent paint jobs: 

The new Kintaro sculpt, now without the tutu styled hips. 

I have never used one of these before. The DCMS variant is far superior to the Fed Suns' model. But being from a desert force, it should be running HOT! Right?

Note, this mech is numbered #20 in the battalion. However, I currently only have 16 mechs. As such, I will be reusing some numbers as a few Desert Horde mechs have been either sold, or recently an unused Clan 2nd line star was gifted to Screech for his birthday. 

I have decided to name this one: Checkers. Garth Brooks is in the cockpit. 

#13, that's a reissued number, I am rather pleased with how well this one turned out.

From this angle it looks like actual camouflage rather than the stylistic color scheme that it is. 

I don't think I've ever fielded a King Crab before. So far, I've only either been shot by them, or have knocked them over with charging Chargers!

All was quiet on the DCMS front, until this SHD-2K came along.

Like all of my Swords of Light mechs, no inks were used as my usual preference for dirt, grime & filth doesn't fit with the background of this elite brigade that looks more like a parade unit.

Armed with only a PPC & LRM5, this mech is essentially a DCMS Griffin. 

Only the fists and forearms show any kind of damage, as the infernal Davions insist on getting inside my weapons' minimum ranges. 

I broke up one of my foot slogging infantry platoons to add a few guys to every base of these little APCs from Microworld games. These will represent mechanized (tracked) platoons. I have 6 of these, so it will be mech infantry for everybody!

That's all for now. I have several minis in progress currently, so hopefully will have another update soon. 

Recent updates

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Thus far the original CGR-1A1 & later 'Challenger' variant have been my favorite Chargers. However, after really looking over the 1A9's record sheet, I am thinking that this one may be favorite as well

I painted this CGR-1A9 Charger up to go with my 3rd Drakons after I sold their Firestarter some ways back. Ever since they have been a mech short and this have rarely seen the tabletop. I was going to give them one of my CGR-1A1s to use as a 1A9 but then managed to snag this one off of eBay along with some cheap tanks and several more Urbies, all for about $7.50 apiece (tax & shipping included).

I'm not sure if the red & white, quartered roundels on top of the MASH unit will warn of the vehicle's true purpose or insinuate that the circus is in town...

Next up, I have a MASH unit for use as either an objective or else as terrain, as well as a Bulldog & Hetzer, for my DCMS Swords of Light company. These are the first ever vehicles that I have painted for the SoL. All three of these are from the bargain priced purchase I mentioned above, as is the one below:

This is painted for my WILDFIRE! mercs which share some mechs and tanks with my Hell's Horses Iota galaxy force. The Horses do not have any access to the Skulker though oddly they do the command van...because honorably leading from the rear is a clan thing apparently. Oh wait, Iota has no honor, convenient!

Speaking of the rear, this is usually the end that Nick's VTOLs are invariably shooting up as the van tries to flee in futility.

Unless you really just need some speed, the skulker offers little of actual tabletop utility. This is why I mostly use these as a proxy for a 15-ton Command Van, or as I call them: senior citizens' activity buses (to fruitlessly dissuade Nick 2.0 from shooting them). 

As an armored lance for some cash-strapped mercenaries, this lance is all basics and no frills. 

The missile carrier has both launcher types (which one is the MRM?), and the Hetzer has been converted into the much maligned (even amongst Hetzer crews) laser variant. Please see below for an explanation of that. 

Speaking of vehicles, for the first time ever, The Buffet Assault group finally has its own vehicle compliment (well, aside from their former pair of Warrior VTOLs). The laser Hetzer (yes really) & Bulldog which I was using as the LRM variant survived their first game in the unit's new colors, as did all of the accompanying mechs, though there was quite a bit of damage suffered. 

Some pics from the battle vs Stephen, a new opponent.

The Suburbanmech survived this encounter with nothing more than a heavy punch taken to the CT. Two turns later it would exact revenge via a hit to the back of the Banshee's head with a PPC shot. Sadly for me, I wasn't able to inflict any crits.

I converted the Hetzer into the laser variant as I have always liked the concept of (though have never fielded) the atrocious cousin of the Missile and AC carriers: the Laser carrier. The Laser Hetzer is faster and much more heavily armored, if mounting only half of the Laser carrier's firepower. 

Optimal range: success. An LRM kill: well...

Combine that with the TBAGers' quartermasters not wanting to have to source AC20 ammo purely for a metal box and suddenly this doesn't seem like an entirely bad idea. If anything, it is the cheapest Hetzer option, and in it's battlefield debut was ignored as a non-issue which allowed it to get into the backfield where it proceeded to miss with 75% of its shots on average. 

Yes, the pizza template can even mount a potted plant...or a light forest hex.

After considerable effort and some abysmal gunnery, the Merlin (which had eaten enough LRMs to only have 2 points of head structure left by this point) achieved the game's only kill, taking down the other LRM carrier on the board. Had I kept it back out of the PPC's minimum range I likely would have killed it a turn sooner, but oh well.  

Production! Production!

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Technically, this isn't all of them...

This is more like 2ish weeks of painting or so. As mentioned above there is one more, a repaint of the (now former) Hotshot of the Whipits. That mech can be seen running around in my prior post. Here are the latest mechs up close: 

Just a minor conversion of an existing conversion. 

Previously, this Urbie was one of two UM-R68 conversions (the other one is here). However I recently bought the new Urbie lance box and got an actual UM-R68. So, with the addition of a little bit of plasticard, and a decal of 'IV' to drive the point home, I present to you the UM-AIV. The artillery Urbie that has been known to launch nukes from time to time. Of the two, this one turned out better, so the other went to eBay (I seriously don't need two arrow IV Urbies) and is currently transiting the inner sphere enroute to a repeat customer of mine Texas.  

Yeah, this is too dynamically posed to be an actual Catalyst model. 

Originally I gave this stats for an industrial mech called the 'Tonka' that could be modified in times of crisis to wield a modular LBX-10. That said, more likely than not I'll just use it as an Arbiter (if ever).

Marik Militia Ostroc & Quickdraw.

The Quickdraw, I have yet to use this mech but it seems decent enough on paper.

I just love the garish color scheme of the Marik Militia.

The Ostroc, another new KS mech, and a vast improvement over the old model! 

Years ago I had the ancient lead version of this mini and it did fairly well on the tabletop, it was just hideous looking which resulted in it getting sold off.

The whole, newly finished lance together. 

Why did the Dark Caste Bandit cross the road?

This is another mech where the base was harder to do than the mech itself.

The Starslayer is...kinda ugly, but it's grown on me. These guys must've been digging deep into the trash heaps to find and refurbish this old STY-2C-EC (Early Clan). 

Closing out with a group shot. 

Tonight I am going to the FLGS for some campaign games hopefully (I'm waaaay behind on those) and next wednesday Nick is coming over tentatively for the first mini game to be held at our new house. So I should have some battle reports to post on next week!

Speed? Got it. Accuracy? Not so much...

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Yet another hapless settlement about to be destroyed in battle...

Nick & I met up for another game Wednesday night, this time using a scenario rather than the usual kill everything in sight (though, ultimately they all kind of go that way at some point). 

The mission brief. 

We upped the game size to 3500points, Lostech era with the exception of one mech sporting some Star League tech of some sort. We then rolled off to see who's mech would be the 'prize' to be captured. Nick had a Blackjack BJ-3 with its new fangled double heat sinks, whereas I had a Cyclops CP-10-HQ, with a still intact Collapsible Command Module (basically a side torso stuffed with a fold-a-fort/field HQ/tent and super computer). This Cyclops variant is more or less an objective/fluff model, and this was the perfect opportunity to actually use it!

I won the roll off and decided my prize was better, and thus my Cyclops would be the hunted mech, meaning it could not be shot at. Erroneously, for the first half of the ensuing game, I was under the mistaken impression that I also could not shoot at Nick's Blackjack, allowing it to roam the field unmolested, doh!

That said, with base 4/5 pilots and a bunch of fast moving mechs with +3 & +4 to modifiers all over the place, there would be a lot of shooting, but not so much hitting. So perhaps that really didn't matter. Throughout the game, the dice were not kind to either of us, though for a turn or two, Nick especially. 

Oh look! The city is undefended...

The wall seemingly goes on forever!

The first shots are fired, with the Prize bringing up the rear.

Jenner v. Jenner. At least one of these two ugly machines had the decency to try and conceal itself! These two would tangle with one another throughout the game. 

An overhead view of a bunch of small mechs shooting a lot and hitting only a little (odds are the buildings didn't fare too well in these exchanges).

Still not firing at the Blackjack the Dragon put a few rounds into the Panther instead.

Speed is life! My Jenner survived this multi-mech  assault with nary a scratch due to its +4 to hit speed modifier. Speaking of, it's reversed guns didn't hit anything for the same reason.

REAR ARMOR? This is a great opportun-oh wait, fuck it has a damned +4 to hit. Take that you damned wall!

Shots were landing here and there, but none too many were recorded. My Wasp was the first to fall (doesn't take much), and my Jenner taking some hits, in exchange for similar (though not yet fatal) damage to nick's Panther and Spider.

Its gotta be interference from the radar and communication towers, that must be what is throwing off our aim!

Ugh, these two again. I believe that by this point my Jenner was down the SRM launcher and one arm (taking 2 lasers with it) which was fine as it had an engine hit as well. 

The battle finally moves outside of the city's wall

Well mostly, the Panther hopped the wall and my Cyclops finally put the mech out of it's misery (it had been running around 1 remaining point of CT structure for several turns).

 This was a fast moving game of extensive maneuver and atrocious aim! My elite Swords of Light mechs were as sharp as the average spork, and Nick's Vegan Rangers (or the Soy Boys as he called them, lol) weren't doing much better.

Like the Panther before it, my Jenner succumbs to the inevitable, losing a leg. 

Similarly, the Dragon, incapable of shooting worth a damn, charges the damaged, 1-armed Spider and punches and stomps the little mech into oblivion!

Any notion of not shooting the Blackjack had long since passed, with my Cyclops and (armless) Dragon making a last stand against the Blackjack, while the Dragon's rear mounted laser shot at the Jenner (again). Indeed, at this point blank range the Cyclops emptied it's LRM's ammo, but it was all to no avail. 

The hour was starting to run late and it was a 'school' night. While the tenets of Bushido would rightfully inspire the Dragon to suicidally fight to the end, doing so would only delay the inevitable. As such the Cyclops powered down, and it's pilot turned the keys over to Nick to claim his new Cyclops with it's integral field kitchen collapsible command module...

The victor claims his prized...sheet of paper?!?!