BattleTech Once Again

So the main thing I got done this week was getting the base green on forty something battlemechs.  About four of them need another coat to fix a few places were the green went on too thin.  I'm going to spend some of tomorrow and a hunk of Friday working to get these closer to completion.  This will have my 21st Striker Regiment just 8 aerospace fighters shy of completion.  It will also get the 151st Light Horse started as well.

I recently came into contact with a group playing BattleTech on a semi-regular basis in the area, so hopefully there will start being more CBT battle reports on the blog.  They seem to get together about every other week so I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes a week from this coming Sunday.

This week I've spent Sunday afternoon and most of Monday and Tuesday helping my dad and brother in law rebuild a large portion of my parents front porch, so that's cut into a fair portion of my hobby time.  It did let me get in some thinking time while working and I've been trying to prioritize some of the projects on my to do list to get it cleared out some.  BattleTech is towards the top of the list, as well as wanting to get SAGA Vikings completed.

I did get some time to work on something else Sunday evening, but I'll be saving it until next week.  It's a totally new project for a game system I enjoy but haven't had a chance to play for a while and hence it hasn't been on the blog.  The only hint I'll drop is that axes are being sharpened.

That's about it for now but next week will be a lot more substantive between CBT progress and the new project.  See you all later and keep you hobby on.

Motivation

I didn't really get any hobby stuff done this past week so thought I'd take a post to discuss the state of where I am with the hobby.

So it used to be that 40K, especially marines, was what kept me really motivated to model and convert and even to paint (the part which I don't enjoy).  Then the last edition came out and hit the local game group about like the Hindenburg crashing down on top of the Titanic with Pompeii in the background to set the mood.  I've only seen a few 40K games played since then and it's pretty nonexistent right now.

There is still BattleTech and I love expanding my Eridani Light Horse, but it's very hard to get a game of that in.  I'm still working on this, and with a vacation next week should start making a dent in that huge list of primered models.  With close to a hundred mechs primed, I gotta start making progress soon.

 

I've also got some Bolt Action, both US Army and British paras, but again, it's not being played much and thus hard to get motivated to make progress on either army.  Both armies need some purchases to round them out some more, but they're both back burnered.

So next is X-Wing, which I enjoy, but the first love is off them and I need to find that again.  I've not played it much lately due to an Infinity league so getting the models back on the table more should be a step in the right direction.  Hopefully this next Saturday I can wrangle a game or two.

So speaking of the Infinity league, this has been my game time for pretty much the last few months.  I went with a Myrmidon themed list converted to look very Greek hoplite.  There were a few issues with this.  First being the aesthetic issue where it took pretty much the entire league to get most of my conversion bits which meant I got the army converted and primered, but none of it painted to score points.  Gameplay wise the list suffered from the theme which caused low numbers of orders, next to no specialists for the missions, and the need to close against armies that could take most of my models out at range.  All in all I didn't do very well scoring in the games which fed the lack of hobby points.  Infinity is an interesting game, but it just doesn't pull me in and I'll probably not be playing it often at all.

I've also got SAGA on the back burner due to no real opponent and then 15mm with the Gruntz ruleset which while it's interesting to assemble the models and ideas for it, has been a real pain to figure out how to point units up.  It's borderline calculus.  Neither of these is making fast progress and are slow projects right now at best.

It's kind of odd, now that I'm the most relaxed on the work front in a long time, have a schedule that is giving more time for hobby, and I've got multiple projects available to work on .... that I'm finding it the hardest to motivate myself to make progress on the hobby front.  Hopefully it's just a lull that will soon pass.  I think a lot of it is due to the frustration on the Infinity front.  There is talk of Mordheim in the coming months, and that's always a fun way to spend time converting and getting creative with group ideas.

So that's where it all stands right now.  I've got lots of options yet seem a bit lost on the hobby front.  If there are any good tales out there or sage advice from those who have been there before, feel free to chime in as always.

Mainly Fluff This Week

So I've not really made any progress on painting or assembling this past week.  What I did get done however was to flesh out the background of my 15mm Gruntz force.

As various groups were begining to leave Earth to colonize and settle out among the stars, one such group was the Scottish Clan of Claiborne and two smaller clans that had sworn allegience to them, Clan Tulloch and Clan Forsythe.  They found a lush mountainous world with numerous islands scattered across it's several oceans.  They named the world New New Caldonia and the system as a whole they named Hebrides  New New Caldonia's two orbiting moons gave it a harsher tidal and weather pattern than Earth's but the Clans prospered and built up their local industries.

As the galaxy showed itself to be a much harsher place than expected with pirate bands, aggressive opposing factions, and destructive aliens, Ian Claiborne, the leader of the Clan and thus the planet at the time, began a reoriginational period that emphasized the military and martial endeavors.  Several small military academies were founded as well as the Highlander Military College.  Claymore Military Designs, New Glasgow Aerospace, and Culloden Arms were also founded during this period to become the core of New New Caldonia's arms industrial complex.  These changes allowed the planet's population to continue to thrive while strict adherence to the ancient clan honor codes earned Clan Claiborne a well deserved reputation amongst their friends and allies as well as their enemies.

Decades later the elders of the clan were approached by representatives of the East Hyadum Trading Company.  Over the course of several weeks, an agreement was finalized where the East Hyadum Trading Company would assist in improving New New Caldonia's industry and merchant fleet while making available a wide range of products and resources.  In return Clan Claiborne redefined itself slightly to be known as a warrior house sworn to protect the East Hyadum Trading Company.  The new access to various power plants, metals, armors, and other technologies has lead to constant advances in the planet's arms industry, which only makes the Clan Claiborne military forces that much more dangerous.

The current government is lead by the clan elders Matthew Claiborne, William Forsythe, and Sarah Claiborne.

Sorry there isn't much this week, but I've got a fair amount of stuff to make progress on, just need to find time to get it all done.  That's all for now and I'll see you all next week.

Now It's Getting Fun

So first off let me just say 4 for 4, and I'm doing well with this schedule so far.  Now, let's get into the fun stuff.

New 20th Arcturan Lance

Original 20th Arcturan Lance

 I've continued to work with a guy up in Vancouver that I met on a BattleTech buy/trade group.  In the middle of last week I got my 2nd lance of 20th Arcturan Guard in the CamoSpec book winter camo.  So that adds a Mauler, a clan Nova, and 2 Fafnirs to the first lance of a Thug, Battlemaster, Zeus, and Atlas for a Lyran scout demi-company.  I've got two more lances of Heavy and Assault mechs to make it a full company at some point in the future.

These arrived in great shape and went together so easily

Next, my first wave of Gruntz models from Brigade Models arrived for 15mm gaming this past Saturday.  I've got both tanks, the motar carrier, 2 APCs, and 5 IFVs assembled.  I'm currently messing with the artillery/anti-tank guns which do NOT want to go together and keep gluing themselves to everything BUT the other parts.  I'll also be starting on getting the infantry models on bases this week as well.

I'll use this silver and blue scheme for the whole force

Destruction stalks the battlefield, yes one is a chaplain for a command version

 Now with an assault Battlemech model working out as a medium mecha at best for my commander, I definitely wanted to find something to be an assault mecha cause ... big huge robot attack!!!  So with actual 15mm models now to judge against, the perfect idea for assault mecha hit me.  In 40K among my favorite models are space marine dreadnoughts and they look to be the perfect assault mecha chassis.  So I'm going to use the paint scheme on my two Contemptor dreadnoughts for the whole force and it give me about half a dozen regular dreadnoughts to use as well.  Nothing says that you want to crush your enemy, drive him before you, and hear the lamentations of opponent like a force of huge mecha striding across the battlefield.

The paint que .... with Gruntz still to add

So that's where it all stands right now.  I've got plenty, as in like 70+ BattleMechs and all the 15mm gaming stuff, to get painted.  I don't enjoy painting to I'm really trying to get myself in the mood for that so I can start making a dent in it all.  So everyone out there keep your game on and I'll see you all next week.

Still On Track

So this past Friday my Gruntz rulebook arrived and I was able to get my ideas for what to field and some of my army fluff fleshed out since then.  I've decided on creating the Warrior House Claiborne on the planet New New Caldonia in the Hebrides System which is sworn to allegiance and service to the East Hyadum Trading Company faction in the Gruntz rulebook.  This faction is based loosely on the old British Empire's East India Company.  I like the idea of the faction and making a Scottish decedent warrior house aligned to it allows me to get a little creative as well.

So while waiting for my shipment of miniatures to arrive from Brigade Models, I've been digging in the bits box as well as made a purchase from Walmart when I saw something easy to convert to use.  So I've got what looks like will be a Medium Mech for my commander since I agree with Cheef that 9 wounds is way too much for an infantry model.  I also found an armless Bear Cub clan mech that I added some missile pods to for a light or scout walker.  The last item for now is a pair of assault gunships.  I found a couple Star Wars flyers that I added some gun and missile bits to before priming.

So I was also able to flesh out the organizational ideas for the force.  The main force of vehicles and tanks will be detachments of the 4th Royal Scottish Mechanized Regiment (Claiborne's Highlanders).  The mechs will be from 7th Battlemech Battalion (the Coldstream Guard), and the fliers will be from the 53rd Highlander Air Wing.

4th Royal Scottish Mechanized Regiment (Claiborne's Highlanders)
Regimental Command Company
CO: Colonel Andrew Claiborne

1st Battalion (Armored)
CO: Major Duncan Tulloch
A Company
Captain Jacob Fisher
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
B Company
Captain Reg Tamsin
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
C Company
Captain Michael Galloway
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each
D Company
Captain James Donegal
    Command Tank and 4 Platoons of 4 Tanks each

2nd Battalion (Mechanized Infantry)
CO: Major Sean MacIntyre
A Company
Captain William Kirkland
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
B Company
Captain Richard Powys
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
C Company
Captain Conner MacDuff
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
D Company
Captain Matthew Stirling
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs

3rd Battalion (Mechanized Infantry)
CO: Major Ian Mallory
A Company
Captain Charles Fawkes
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
B Company
Captain Seamus Maguire
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
C Company
Captain Donald Claiborne
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs
D Company
Captain Edward O'Leary
    Command IFV, 1 Platoon Mech Infantry in IFVs, 3 Platoons in APCs

4th Battalion (Artillery)
CO: Major Francis Trevayne
A Company
Captain Patrick Forsythe
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 4 Mortar Vehicles each
B Company
Captain Jon Mycroft
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 4 Mortar Vehicles each
C Company
Captain Thomas Moriarty
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 8 Anti-tank Guns each
D Company
Captain Colin Byrne
    Command IFV and 4 Platoons of 8 Anti-tank Guns each

7th Battlemech Battalion (The Coldstream Guard)
CO: Major Lloyd Knowles
A Company (Recon)
Captain Charles McCrory
     4 Lances
B Company (Support)
Capain Michael Sullivan
     4 Lances
C Company (Assault)
Captain James Patrick
     4 Lances

53rd Highlander Air Wing
CO: Colonel Sean O'Connell
1st Squadron (Fighter)
Major Kevin Baird
     12 Superiority Fighters
2nd Squadron (Ground Attack)
Major John Tawney
     12 Attack Fighters
3rd Squadron (Transport)
Major Peter Foorgate
     12 Transports/VSTOLs

So that's all there is for now and hopefully my Brigade order will be here this week and we'll be able to continue on.  See you all next Tuesday!

Slow Week

Well, I didn't get a whole lot done this past week.  About a dozen or so Mechs came out of the Simple Green and got primed but I didn't get a picture of them.  I've still got about 4 stubborn ones still soaking away.  I did get some 40K marines sold which let me get some 15mm ordered.

I ordered this detachment from Brigade Models.  It gives me a nice assortment of models to get started with and lets me get working on organization.  I've always like Hammer's Slammers by David Drake so the air cushion hover tanks and apc's really drew me in.  This is something that could be really fun to expand on.  I'm leaning towards a Scottish Highlander regiment theme right now.  It'd let me tell Cheef there can be only one anyway LOL.  I also got the Gruntz rulebook ordered and it should be here early next week sometime.

The 40K just sold to fund the 15mm was a landraider, a quartet of predators, a vindicator and a pair of razorbacks.  I've still got a lot of 40K marines to sell off though, having decided to get rid of all the unpainted stuff and get down to just the finished models to keep back for future use.  It's looking like a few land raiders, 8 or so rhinos, some various odds and ends, and a whole lot (3 hundred or so) of infantry to get sold off still.

The rest of the week should be a lot slower and I'll have the weekend clear and free this go round so I'm aiming to get some progress on both painting the mechs and hopefully get some preliminary work on fleshing out the 15mm fluff idea as well.  That's all for now and I'll see you all next Tues.

Yeah, I was a bad blogger

So yeah, I've been a bad blogger for a while.  There were some computer issues at first, that were resolved just in time for work issues.  I got past the work issues but by then I was just out of the habit of blogging regularly.  So this is how it's going to be from now on.  I'm aiming for a post every Tuesday and we'll see if I can get back on track.

 

So I moved back in the spring like I mentioned in a previous post.  I finally got all my Eridani Light Horse BattleTech dug out and organized.  As it turns out the 21st Striker Regiment is missing about 8 mechs due to a miscount on my part somehow.  I'm also needing some aerospace fighters but that's on hold for now.  There is also a fair bit of basing to do still and some basing to repair where the glue shrunk when it dried and made gaps.

So I've had an itch to keep on with the Eridani Light Horse so I've been hitting eBay and a BattleTech Buy/Sell/Trade group for deals to start building up some models.  Eight of these will be used to fill out the 21st Striker Regiment and the rest will all be going into the 151st Light Horse Regiment.  That will give me 46 primed models for the second regiment plus the 26 mechs soaking in the Simple Green.  I still need to make an order with GHQ for some trucks and I need to get a lot of Aerospace fighters, Tanks, and Artillery.

Also, Cheef seems to be trying to get 10mm gaming going as a thing locally.  I've got some 40K Space Marines up for sale and might be using that to put together a small 10mm force (no pun intended).  Brigade Models sells some nice 10mm Hammers Slammers models so leaning that way for now.

Also, I've been in an Infinity league lately though my choice of a pure Myrmidon list has made it a bit tough for me.  Infinity is fun, but it just doesn't have the same pull for me that other systems do.  After this league I'll probably drop out of the Infinity thing for now at least.

That's all for now and I'll see you all next Tuesday.