A Classic Battletech Revisit

David,  Ziggy and I got together for a refresher game of traditional Battletech on Saturday afternoon. It had been at least a year since the last time we played that version. There's something about the "crunchiness" of the game that scratches a particular gaming itch. I pulled six similar point-valued mechs from my collection and we randomly drew our mechs for the game, which was the always maligned three-player free-for-all. They usually turn into a 2 v 1 but somehow this time we managed to avoid that.

I drew a Wolverine, David got an Executioner and Ziggy got the white PPC-armed Catapult.

Initially, David and I chased each other around a bit, initiative being king in this scenario. We were both very hesitant to engage Zig's pair of death rays.

David ended up skirting around Z's left side and Zig pursued. I had backed off after being smacked and heating up a bit much.

At one point we did back Z into a corner but it wouldn't last and David took advantage of the situation to bushwhack me.

By the end of the game, my mech had lost its good arm (with a Large and Medium Laser). Ziggy's Catapult was in terrible shape with two engine crits. David's Executioner was unreliable and slow with mucked up hip and gyro hit. All in all, a very busy and eventful game that thankfully didn't devolve into a 2 v 1! I think we're ready to add BT into our gaming rotation. It was good to step through everything and hit the books to answer the questions that came up during the game. 

It's a Battletech Christmas Game

 Ziggy and I got together for what's likely to be our last game of 2025. We pulled out the BT Alpha Strike toys and I quickly assembled a themed game to go along with the thematic scenery. 

Sitrep: One of Santa's Sledtech units was inadvertently shot down in the northern polar region of Bethlehem IV. The combatants on the planet (Fire Mandrill Clan and House Steiner) dispatched units to collect what gifts they could from the accident. Let's face it, these guys weren't exactly on the "good" list and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ten gift tokens were placed on the battlefield, each with a different hidden value. Units could pick up one and only one gift and claim it. If the unit was destroyed, they'd drop the gift where they stood. We deployed in opposite corners.

I finally put my Elementals on the table. They're fun and interesting. I'd use them again with no hesitation.

My heaviest hitters, a Sun Cobra and a Pouncer held up my center.

My Griffin IIc keeps tabs on a distant enemy mech. Retaining loot is more important than knocking out enemy units, of course knocking out an enemy mech carrying loot is useful too!

An overhead shot of much of the table. An visit to Hobby Lobby earlier in the day was well worth it, I picked up 64 2-inch red, green and white trees for just over $20 (Christmas items were 60% off).

I had been hoping for some King-Konging and got it! My elementals ran off the filthy Steiner mech.

We ended the game after 6 turns or so. We each had snagged five tokens and magically only one point separated us at the end - my gift pile was slightly more valuable at 28 points to Zig's 27. A darn entertaining game and having the focus taken off just killing each other was a nice change for Battletech.

Merry Christmas and I hope your loot piles are wonderful! Peace and Love to all.

Tanksgiving 2025

 Last Sunday, November 23rd, the Space Cadets and some of the Savannah area HMGS members got together at Savannah Lions game store for a Tanksgiving game day. The group hosted games of Bolt Action, Team Yankee, Battletech Alpha Strike and What A Cowboy!I played in the Alpha Strike game while hosting / GMing the WAC scenario.

Wayne hosted the AS game. David and I took command of Clan Hell's Horses units and were tasked with keeping a Steiner force at bay. 

Our tabletop and deployment:

That's James, Ziggy and Wayne, left to right. David commanded the Stone Rhino and I think it was a Gargoyle. I had two squadrons of three very heavy tanks, each composed of two MBTs and the third vehicle being a multi-role AAA / Artillery vehicle. We needed to keep the IS forces away from the buildings circled in red.

I smoked one of Ziggy's Atlases early by simply combining a lot of fire on it. Three to go! Ugh... that won't be quite as easy next time.

I wasn't taking a lot of pictures. By the time I killed a second Atlas (and the Archer in the center), I had lost a whole squadron. David was working the artillery and other vehicles on the left.

There's David. Stomp that tank! Stomp that tank!

I ended up getting tabled but we did a fine job of keeping the enemy away from their objective. Not a bad job at all!

The other Tanksgiving table.

Say hi, Mark!

Next up was What a Cowboy. I set the game up for 5 players each with three characters.

Our game area. 3' x 4' is plenty for WAC. My water tank by the train tracks checks the "Tank" box. Each crew had an objective, three were trying to secure the lady int he center of town (Millie Mae) and two had to get to the cemetery and locate hidden loot.

Millie Mae was a slippery one. There was a lot of shooting each other from behind in this encounter. Just mean and nasty!

Just look at that! 

Mark's leader locates the treasure! Now, four inches to the edge of town and get the win!

James caught up with him before he made it away and the scenario ended with the loot being unsecured and Millie Mae sneaking off unattended. Mark and Wayne both made the most progress to victory so they shared a positive result. 

After playing the scenario, I should have started it with Millie already with the group her pappy sent to find her and they should have been closer to the train station. That gang had the most difficult objective and I should have given them some advantage by some other means.

Everyone had a good time and it was a great afternoon of toy soldiers. Be well and good gaming!

Southern Front 2025

I headed up to Raleigh, North Carolina for Southern Front game con last weekend. Overall, I had a really nice time. I haven't been to a con in almost 18 months so it was good to get back in the groove. 

I took my modernized What A Cowboy variant, Shakedown and hosted a game on Friday evening. I also took Rubber and Lead and three races were run for a few attendees.

My first game of the weekend was My Galley Sally, an older club-level ruleset for ancient Galley combat. I've never played that sort of game but it was a blast.

We, the Greeks!

If there's a choice, I always take yellow.

Some action.

I managed the first ram of the battle and got a terrific result, sinking the enemy vessel outright!

More boat-smashing, boarding and arrow-firing!

At the end, two ships had been captured, one Greek and one Persian and one sunk. There were many casualties as you can see! The Greeks were deemed the victors by the GM.

After dinner, I hosted my Shakedown game. We had the Latin Kings and Outlaws in a drugs for money transaction. The Cops and Bloods both showed up mid-transaction and chaos ensued.

I made some appropriate kill markers!

Officer Axel Foley and Dale Jr. get into it.

At the end of the engagement, the Bloods and Latin Kings were the big winners, with the Bloods making off with the cash and the LKs retaining possession of their product. The Cops and skinheads both took a beating. It was a mess but everyone enjoyed it!

The next morning, Mark and I both settled in for some Blood and Plunder. We were graced with a large, pretty table.

Mark and I split a detachment. He took the veteran gunners and leader and I took the less experienced melee pirates. That was intentional, to create a focused very powerful unit (not unlike a Kill Stack in Squad Leader).

Marks gunners work on capturing the pig sty.

A messy brawl on the beach!

My crew gets into it with the French buccaneers in the village. Blue markers are French casualties. 

Mark had taken a beating over to the far left there. I was ambushed by some uppity villagers who shot my boys int he backs!

My opponent and I were both decimated by the filthy villagers and our remaining fellows shook hands and decided to get out!

And there he goes, running past the mob!

Even though mark and I failed to capture the spy in the center (the gal in the red dress by the well), our teammates on the left and right flanks performed well, giving our side the win.

I hosted three rounds of Rubber and Lead after lunch. It was tough pulling in players, but those who played got hooked and kept playing.

The high degree-of-difficulty maneuver of crossing the finish line in reverse with the cement mixer!

My final game was a Western Desert 6mm game of Mein Panzer. It was set just after Rommel landed in North Africa and had started probing British positions. The game ended up being a 1 v 1 with a fellow I had hosted the Pirate game earlier. I took command of Ze Germans and Joe was the British commander.

The British started hidden so I deployed to send my tanks, a mix of Pz II, III and IVs, up the road on the left while my infantry company and aufklarung squadron handled my right flank. The three hills, circled in blue, are the objectives.

An 8-rad becomes the fist casualty. Turns out the British armored cars are on that flank!

I got a PaK38 deployed on the hilltop in short order. A PaK36 would follow a turn later.

My Panzers creep forward. 2-Pounders and A13s await them. 

I sent the motorcycles ahead to harass the positions in the center. That firebase needed to be disrupted.

The armored car battle on the right was brutal and both sides took considerable casualties. My ATGs were very effective. 

The motorcycles were also very effective once they got right up on the infantry position. 

But over on the left, my tanks had taken a slow beating which all of a sudden became a waterfall of pain. Many Panzers were brewed up and I was having real trouble silencing the Brits.

Then to cap things off, one of the command tanks was brewed up. The other command tank promptly failed a morale test as badly as one can fail (rolled a 20 on a d20). We called the game. Although I'd had some success on the right, the left and center were just too much and without a sandstorm or smoke screen in front of my tanks, I'd never get through six hull-down tanks and two dug-in ATGs. 

We really enjoyed the game and the scenario. It was a fantastic way to cap off the weekend. 

Another successful Southern Front and I look forward to the next!