Suited up for Battletech

[Mr. White]

A local bookstore was doing 50% off on all games in December. I went in there looking for Blitz Bowl, but walked out with an armful of Battletech. Here's the first 8 of my models painted.





Short blog post on the proceedings: https://wyrdstonesandtacklezones.com/2023/01/09/battletech-clan-mechs/

[LouieN]

They look great. 

[majorsmith]

Fantastic stuff!

[Major_Gilbear]

They look very nice!

Coincidentally, I was bought the big blue BT rulebook for Christmas, and my own orders of the various BT starter boxes (ordered back in September...) all finally arrived last week. I'm very new to BT still, so I think there'll be a fair bit of reading before I fully commit. Hopefully the Alphas Strike starter will ease me in.

Looking through your blog (I was actually on it just last night, looking at your Mordheim stuff...), I also liked your painting on the previous mechs you bought too - great schemes and tidy paintwork.

[Daeothar]

Lovely black scheme; I especially like the cool, futuristic numbering

the green, slightly glowing cockpits are nice too.

@ Major Gilbear: Big blue BT book? Is that the newest complete rulebook then? I have the Classic BT Total War and Alphastrike books (as well as some original ones from the eighties, which got me into BT at the time), but they're not blue...

[Mr. White]

Thanks, all!

Lovely black scheme; I especially like the cool, futuristic numbering
the green, slightly glowing cockpits are nice too.

The green was a happy little accident. I painted the cockpits ulthuan grey as a light colored base then splashed on warpstone contrast. Some of the contrast got on the darker grey of the cockpit frames tinting that green. It looked ok so I left it

[Maniac]

Those look fantastic. 

As a diehard merc or Davion player (from 1988), I do have to insert the obligatory "Die Clanner!" here though

[Major_Gilbear]

@ Major Gilbear: Big blue BT book? Is that the newest complete rulebook then? I have the Classic BT Total War and Alphastrike books (as well as some original ones from the eighties, which got me into BT at the time), but they're not blue...

Yeah, sorry for the confusion; it's the current Battletech Total Warfare book I meant... The previous version (which I was tempted by many times previously) was blue.

Current:


Previous "blue" one:


As the current "BT:AGOAC" starter box is also blue, I keep forgetting the new/current book cover is no longer blue...!   

[Mr. White]

Those look fantastic. 

As a diehard merc or Davion player (from 1988), I do have to insert the obligatory "Die Clanner!" here though

Ha! I'm a noob to the game with no love for the Clans or the Inner sphere, but I do understand old school players hold a grudge against the Clans. Knowing that, but _nothing_ more, i wanted this clan to appear cold and merciless. A foreboding threat stomping into the IS on my tabletop.

@ Major_Gilbear: thanks for checking out the ol' blog. I haven't decided if I'm going to repaint those mechs, that I've rebought, the same colors or go with something new. Probably something new

[Maniac]

Ha! I'm a noob to the game with no love for the Clans or the Inner sphere, but I do understand old school players hold a grudge against the Clans. Knowing that, but _nothing_ more, i wanted this clan to appear cold and merciless. A foreboding threat stomping into the IS on my tabletop.

In a nutshell, the Clans are the inheritors of the former regime.  The Inner Sphere broke up into multiple factions and Kerensky took most of the military and scientist caste outside of known space.  They formed various clans and plotted to return to their Inner Sphere in conquest.  They arrived roughly in 3050 (though they were here before that in recon capacity) and tore through the Inner Sphere which had been weakened over the intervening centuries by 4 major conflicts (known as the Succession Wars).

They were narrowly stopped, and the Inner Sphere led a reprisal which wiped out Clan Smoke Jaguar (but like all comic book villains they have returned).  This led to a stale mate for a long time with some clans integrating.  In the most current timeline they returned again with a vengeance and captured Earth.  It remains to be seen if they can hold it, as the various Houses and Powers aren't giving up their authority any time soon.

You either love or hate the Clans and their test tube babies (clans have a caste system of their generically bred warriors and naturally born citizens, which is very difficult to cross).

The Wolf's Dragoons are predominately clan, specifically Clan Wolf which is the current Il-Clan that rules Terra/Earth.  They were part of the recon force that was in the Inner Sphere, sending back intel on the houses to support the invasion.  They worked as a Mercenary faction, and initially sided against the invading clans having come to prefer the Inner Sphere (haven't read a ton of the most recent stuff, so not sure if they've since merged back in with Clan Wolf, which has merged the two halves of Clan Wolf that split around the time of the invasion)..

Overall it is Game of Thrones, in Space, long before there was Game of Thrones.

[Mr. White]

Dang! Awesome. Thanks for summing this up!
I'll have to decide what my IS mechs will be part of, but I did enjoy painting these Clan mechs and the lore seems pretty interesting. I guess I'll probably be in for the upcoming Mercenary KS...oof.

Are mercs part of the IS or both?

[Maniac]

Mercs are strictly employed by the Inner Sphere.  The clans would view it as beneath them, although some clans do actively trade with them.  The original 5 Mercenary groups were;  Hansen's Roughriders (all assault/heavy with a good mix of infantry/vehicles), Linden's Battalion (currently destroyed, all light and medium), Eridani Light Horse (part of the army that didn't go with Kerensky, mostly light/medium, but with some heavy/assault), 21st Centauri Lancers (one of the most respected units in the Inner Sphere, predominantly heavy), and Wolf's Dragoons.  They range the gamut from tiny lance plus to full regiment in size that control their own small sectors of space.

Of course, the benefit with mercenaries is that you can paint whatever you want, field whatever you want, and fight whoever you want.  It's totally freeform there.  Most of the video games have had players as parts of various merc companies (the original Crescent Hawk PC games in the 80s were about a merc unit).

If you want to pick a known unit, Camo Specs online is super helpful.
https://camospecs.com/

A short bit about mercenaries:
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Mercenary

[zrunelord]

Nice work & thanks for the links.
Z

[Cypher226]

Mercs are strictly employed by the Inner Sphere.  The clans would view it as beneath them, although some clans do actively trade with them. 

Things are getting a bit more complex in the current point in time (3145) - some clans now resident in the Inner Sphere are finding themselves using sellswords more and more...

[Major_Gilbear]

I haven't decided if I'm going to repaint those mechs, that I've rebought, the same colors or go with something new. Probably something new

Why not a bit of a mix? You have plenty of new mechs, so you can add a few to each of the original lances, and still have lots left over for doing some new lances in new schemes. Either way, I wouldn't repaint any of the mechs for now, and leaving them as-is frees up time better spent elsewhere. If you're unsure, maybe you could re-touch them a bit, perhaps adding a few more decals or a bit more basing, etc., but I do think they look very good already!