Return of the Clans (AKA Betrayers of the Star League)

So when putting together my Eridani Light Horse, specifically the 21st Striker Regiment that I started with, I included some Clan Mechs under the guise of salvage for use in later era games.  But it bugged me a bit as I'm not a huge fan of the clans to start with.  There are a few cool storylines built into the clans but overall they just don't really appeal to me.  So as I've acquired more mechs, I decided to strip out those clan machines and make a separate force for them and return my Eridani Light Horse to mechs that can be fielded in pretty much any era and get them back to a pure Inner Sphere force.

So what to do with the clan mechs?  Clan Ghost Bear of course.  Of all the clans, there are only a couple clans that I put in the column of liking them to some extent.  As a fan of naval warfare I like Clan Snow Raven, but since no one here plays Aerotech, they're out.  By default then that leaves me to my other choice, Clan Ghost Bear.  So I took the pulled 5 clan mechs from my Eridani Light Horse, and combined them with some other clan mechs I have from some bulk trades/purchases.

So what I'm going for is a trinary as I figure that's not going to take much to add to for the final organization.  Right now there are four mechs missing counting the Star Captain so it's not far from being a complete force.

50th Striker Cluster (The Black Bears), Alpha Galaxy
     Star Colonel Paul Bekker,
43rd Striker Trinary
     Star Captain Eddard Jamieson,

Alpha Star
Star Commander Rachael Baird, Timberwolf (Madcat)
    Tomas Sarnow, Novacat
    Lucian Pyne, Grizzly
    Coleen Groenewold, Mad Dog (Vulture)
    Oscar Esterhaus, Timberwolf (Madcat)

Bravo Star
Star Commander Freyja Wycliffe, Novacat
    Simon Paulk,
    Fionna Giscard, Timberwolf (Madcat)
    Wilhelm Forsythe, Timberwolf (Madcat)
    Iroku Ashigara, Bowman

Charlie Star
Star Commander Jayne Cardones,
    Hideoshi Nakamura, Blackhawk
    Kaitrin Ericsson, Soiltaire
    Manfred Courvosier, Blackhawk
    Thorgeir Gaerwulf,

I want to see about adding a Thor and a Loki to the Bravo Star to retire the Bowman and then a Hellion and a second Solitaire in to the Charlie Star.  Then I want to get a Masakari or a Dashi for the Star Captain's ride and then perhaps the other mech to swap out one of the Madcats in the Alpha Star.  That'll make a nice hard hitting force with a fair bit of flexibility.

I'm going with a basic Alpha Galaxy color scheme as shown above, but I'm going closer to a white than the gray.  So first up all the clan mechs got primered in white.  Then I added a dark blue camo scheme to the Grizzly and one of the Madcats.

After that came a lighter blue over the dark blue.

Then finally a black wash over both of the whole mechs.

I still need to use a metallic color to pick out details like the cockpit, weapon bits, and such. I also need to add the spot pattern that goes over the overall paint camo.  So pretty good progress on the first two mechs and we'll see how it continues to progress.

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

Space Marine 30th Birthday

So I was over in Turkey Creek, west Knoxville at the Warhammer Store there for the Space Marine 30th Birthday Celebration.  There was a pretty good turnout for the store opening at 10AM.  There was some cool swag including a couple print options (I went for the Ultramarine one rather than Plague Marines, though it was a close choice as each are pretty nasty).  There was also some buttons and a limited amount of free White Dwarves.

One of the regulars for the store brought in a bolter cake for the other attendees.  The rolled wafer cookies for the shells and the swiss roll for the gun barrel were nice touches.

A couple of the other players who have been playing since the Rogue Trader era brought in some ancient goodies to show off.

 

Mick, the store's Fabricator General, also had his Reaver Titan Hyperion on display as part of the event.  It's a nice center piece to a collection and definitely makes an impression.

I also picked up an 30th Birthday Space Marine.  I got it assembled once I got home but being me, I couldn't just leave it alone.  A dig through the bits box was in order.  He got a head swap, a banner pole, an icon/purity seal bit, different shoulder pads, and some bits for the base out of the old GW basing kit.  All in all, a nice model kit that has a very old school feel to it while still embracing the new aesthetics of the current GW models.

 

 

I also took a good hunk of my Lions of Harlech to the event.  It was fun to show them off after they've been sitting unused for a while.  I got to swap a number of gaming stories as well as discuss what we miss and don't miss about previous editions of 40K, and generally enjoy the socialization.  Mick's got a great environment in the store and there was a good stream of the locals going in and out the entire time I was there.  I wish I was a lot closer to get in there more often for some gaming.

That's all for now.  I'll see you next time and keep the Emperor's Faith fellow Astartes!

Bolt Action and BattleTech

So this past Saturday I got a 1000 point game of Bolt Action in against Bob's American Paratroopers.  I took my British Paras with a bit of support.  I had 3 squads of 8 paras with 7 rifles and an LMG each (though the LMGs never fired the entire game as I forgot them and used them as rifles instead), a 2nd Lt (Jack Flag in his battle debut) with a bodyguard, a FAO with bodyguard, a MMG team, a recce jeep with  MMGs, a Bren Carrier with 2 LMGs hauling a flamthrower team, and a Sherman M4A4.

We played scenario 6: Demolition.  I outflanked with my recce jeep, the Bren Carrier with flamethrower team, and the Sherman.  It was a pretty close affair but my three outflankers all on the same flank let me get through to his base at the last turn while his own Sherman (also an M4A4) which was about to get to my own base was taken out by his own air support which finally came in on the 4th attempt and then misidentified it's target.  Jack Flag didn't fair nearly as well as the Cap version for my Americans did.  He was annihilated along with his bodyguard by an airstrike on turn 3 before he accomplished anything beside advancing.

It was an enjoyable game, as games against Bob almost always are, and I'm definitely pleased with the Bren Carrier.  It's got great mobility, decent fire power, and can carry a surprise inside.  I definitely want to add some more of them to my collection in the future.  I'm hoping to get another game in this coming Saturday so we'll see how it goes.

On the BattleTech front, a lot of primed models got their base layer of green today.  I still need to add the gold to them all and then get the wash layer on them.  Then they'll join the long long long list of mechs needing to be based.  The 4 LAMs still need to be painted as well.  I also need to work all these mechs into the Eridani Light Horse force organization chart.  Oddly enough, I'm trying to pick up a few more mechs though more to get some missing options in the pre-3025 universe than actually needing more mechs.  A Vulcan, a Hussar, a Hatchetman, and a Firestarter are on my list but trying to get them via trade on a BattleTech group rather than purchasing them.

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

Death From Above

So I've gotten 4 of the Robotech Tactics models put together to use as Phoenix Hawk LAMs.  I used the Guardian mode variant to make them stand out from a regular Phoenix Hawk.  While the other Robotech models for the Warhammer, Longbow, Rifleman, and Archer were pretty easy to assemble, this kit was a bit more of a task to assemble.

If the rain continues to be past us this afternoon, I've got a number of models that need primed and I'll be working on that.  In addition to the LAMs, I've got the Bren Carrier, the Humber Scout Car, and about a couple dozen other mechs that need primed.  If I get all the priming done today, since I'm off work on Tuesday, I'll be trying to make a dent in the paint queue.

Speaking of the Bren Carrier, it'll be getting its debut battle tomorrow evening against Bob.  I'm not sure if he'll be running his US Paras or his Germans, but my British Paras with a bit of support will be heading into the breach for King, Country, and maybe an extra pint at the pub.

Also coming up in the near future, on Saturday, April 16th, I'll be in west Knoxville at the new Warhammer store there for the Space Marine 30th Anniversary festivities with my Lions of Harlech.  If anyone is a marine fan or in the area, hope to see you all there.

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