And it begins again...

As Friar is done with his story arc its time to start a new story. I plan on using a variation of Friar's Logistic system as its much faster and easier to run than previous systems, and the variations are intended to cover the quirks of specific eras. Yes, there are several different eras we can run in.

A) Star League era, specifically the Reunification War. There are two variations for this era, either playing as Star League forces or the Periphery forces. If we run as Star League forces, then you will play rather elite warriors fighting to unify the human race and fighting against unwashed hordes of under-trained forces. Playing as Periphery forces would be a game of under equipped, freedom fighters against tyrannical enemies.
**If you are familiar with Firefly/Serenity, this war is very similar to the war that the Browncoats lost - so do you want to be an Alliance soldier or a Browncoat? **

B) Founding of the Clans, Operation Klondike. This is a favorite of Brian, and works well for competitive play as different factions try to show up each other while fighting off their enemies. There will be advanced tech but a large chunk of the forces used will be limited or irregular forces like armed industrial mechs or converted vehicles.

C) Succession Wars. This is the original setting/era for Battletech, with the least available goodies. Repairing units is much more difficult as humanity did a good job of blowing up everything that can make replacement parts, and a technical support crew is as necessary for the long term as any warrior or unit. Pilots will somewhat tied to the units they own, so musical mech pilots is NOT an option.

D) Davion Civil War - nothing like a brutal civil war to drum up battles, though in a long running human tradition mercs are viewed as party crashers. Many weapon systems gained their baptism of fire in this era, as Inner Sphere technology tends to reach parity with the Clans.

E) Jihad era - when religious nuts decide to declare war on everyone, battle becomes a fact of life. As warfare spreads all over the known realm of mankind, the human tradition of finding new and interesting ways to harm each other results in another burst of technological development.

Regardless of which era we play in there are several caveats.
- I will be enforcing time periods, so some mechs, vehicles and weapons will only be available after certain years. Each mission will take place roughly 1d3 weeks after the last game.
- Each player will have to pick a faction their force is from, and this includes mercenary and pirate forces. Each faction will change the units easily purchased and give a bonus to represent what they are good at, like House Steiner having impressive mech production facilities, resulting in a small decrease in mech costs and access to more of the heavy and assault chassis.
- In some eras, technical support becomes much much more critical than usual, specifically the Succession Wars and Operation Klondike. Many of the battles in this era will end when one side signals defeat and withdraws. These are eras when units are hard to replace and a victory that results in a large number of casualties will destroy a force more thoroughly than any weapon strike.
- Do NOT expect all units or technologies to be available - I plan to hold to time periods and availability.

So I need votes on what era you are interested in playing most.

for the drop tournament

Ok - lets try this again since mobile blogger ate the first entry.

Brian wants everyone to look up a mech mini that they want their 5 dollar signup fee to go towards on http://www.ironwindmetals.com/store/index.php and pick out a mech they are interested in.

Just in case someone forgets or doesn't get the link for some reason I will have a small list of mechs but they will be focused on the mechs in the mercenary campaign.

Fixing the roster, an experiment

ACTIVE ROSTER

Pilot	Mech	Skills	Skill points	Gunnery/Piloting
Hauptmann Krauthammer  (NPC Unit Commander)	Thunderbolt TDR-10M	Maneuver Ace	-	2/3
Hunter	Lightray 4W2	Medium Mech Lvl 1           Laser Specialist Lvl 2	3	3/5
Jon	Madcat 3	Medium Mech Specialist Lvl 1	10	4/5
JT	Locust 6X2	Evasion 3         Melee Specialist 3           Light Mech Specialist 2           Lone Gunner 1	6	4/5
Matt	Orion Custom		17	4/5
Scott	Odin OD-1N	PPC Specialist 1	14	4/5
Friar	Archangel (WoB Omni)	Tactics 1            Assault Mech 2           Crackshot	3	3/5
AJ	Wight WGT-2SC	Targeting Ace           Crackshot	6
Patrick	Phoenix Hawk PXH-6D		11

RESERVE ROSTER

Pilot	Mech	Skills	Skill points	Gunnery/Piloting
Dave	Longbow 12X	Missile Lock	11
Steven	Centurion CN9-D5	Rapid Fire AC	4
Garrett	BlackJack Omni	Medium Mech Lvl 1        Jump and Shoot	18	4/5
George	Blackjack BJ-3	PPC Specialist 1            Shoot & Scoot 1	9	3/5
Tony	Hunchback 5P	Scoot and Shoot 1	8	4/5
Virus	Blood Asp (Clan Omni)	Pulse Laser Spc. 3	6	4/5
Jake	Phoenix Hawk	Medium Mech Lvl 2	3	4/5
Billy	Wolverine WVR-9W2	Jump & Shoot	5	4/5
Alex	Hollander BZK-F6X	Crackshot	9	4/5
Typhoon Alpha	Typhoon RAC		2

KILL BOARD

Name	Mechs	Vehicles	Infantry	Others
Dave	4	6	0	0
Garrett	3	4	2	0
George	3	5	0	0
AJ	3	1	0	0
Jon	0	0	0	0
Billy	1	1	0	0
Steven	1	1	0	0
Friar	7	1	0	0
Matt	1	0	0	0
Scott	1	0	0	0
Virus	1	0	0	0
Alex	1	0	0	0
Hunter	1	0	0	0
JT	2	0	0	0

Let me know how it looks, and if you like it thank Scott for doing the Html coding

Roster for 2/5

Unit roster

Pilot            Mech            Skills            Skill points left
Hauptmann Krauthammer Thunderbolt TDR-10M    Maneuver Ace        11
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
    G3, P4
Garrett            BlackJack Omni        Medium Mech Lvl 1     18
    G4, P5                    Jump and Shoot
George            Blackjack BJ-3        PPC Specialist 1    9
    G4, P5                    Scoot and Shoot 1
Hunter            Lightray 4W2        Medium Mech Lvl 1    20
    G4, P5
Jon            Madcat 3                    8
    G4, P5
JT            Locust 6X2        Evasion 3        13-x
    G4, P5                    Melee Specialist 1
Matt            Orion Custom        none            17
    G4, P5
Scott            Xanthos XNT-3P        PPC Specialist 1    10
    G4, P5
Friar            Archangel omni        Tactics 1        3
    G 3, P5                    Assault Mech Lvl 2
AJ            Wight            ?            X+12
Patrick        Phoenix Hawk        ?        11


Reserves
Dave (Inactive)        Longbow 12X        Missile lock        11
Steven (Inactive)    Centurion CN9-D5    Rapid Fire Autocannon    4
Tony (inactive)        Hunchback 5P        Scoot and Shoot 1    8
    G4, P5
Virus (inactive)    Blood Asp omni        Pulse Laser Spec 3    6
    G4, P5
Jake (inactive)        Phoenix Hawk        Medium Mech Lvl 2    3
    G4, P5
Billy (inactive)    Wolverine WVR-9W2    Jump and Shoot        5
    G4, P5
Alex (inactive)        Hollander BZK-F6X    Crackshot        9
    G4, P5

Typhoon Alpha        Typhoon RAC        none            2


Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
Name  Mechs Vehicles Infantry Other
Dave    4    6    0    0
Garret    3    4    2    0
George    3    5    0    0
AJ    3    1    0    0
Jon    0    0    0    0
Billy    1    1    0    0
Steven    1    1    0    0 

Friar    1    1    0    0 

Matt    1    0    0    0
Scott    1    0    0    0
Virus    1    0    0    0
Alex    1    0    0    0
Hunter    1    0    0    0
JT    1    0    0    0

preliminary thoughts on revamping the skills

Here are the changes Im considering

Instead of the current Chassis specialists

• Natural Born Pilot - the piloting spin off of the current chassis specialist, inspired by the fiction as there are certain pilots who remain in the same weight class their whole career.
• Protective Piloting - the damage reduction spin off. 

Instead of the existing autocannon breakdowns the new tech requires;

• Standard and Light ACs
• Rapidfire ACs (Ultras and Rotaries)
• Cluster ACs

 Missles need to be broken into the following

• LRM
• MRM
• SRM
• Rockets

Artillery needs its own ability, to represent additional ability at ranging in a target hex

Range Abilities will be rewritten the range brackets in the rules rather than arbitrary ranges, as the distances written are written for 3025.

To address the disparity that arrays of small guns have on the skills I am considering instituting a skill point bonus for killing a mech in one fell blow.

Roster as of 1/23

Due to the importance and campaign value of the destruction of the Loyal Opposition players receive 3 skill points for participation instead of the usual 1. And we had our first pilot death, as Jon received a faceful of LRMs. I am listing piloting and gunnery skills under your pilots name as we are starting to get varied results, if youve changed yours and I dont have it marked let me know.

Unit roster

Pilot            Mech            Skills            Skill points left
Hauptmann Krauthammer Thunderbolt TDR-10M    Maneuver Ace        11
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
    G3, P4
Alex            Hollander BZK-F6X    Crackshot        9
    G4, P5
Billy            Wolverine WVR-9W2    Jump and Shoot        5
    G4, P5
Garrett            BlackJack Omni        Medium Mech Lvl 1     18
    G4, P5                    Jump and Shoot
George            Blackjack BJ-3        PPC Specialist 1    6
    G4, P5                    Scoot and Shoot 1
Hunter            Lightray 4W2        Medium Mech Lvl 1    13
    G4, P5
Jake            Phoenix Hawk         Medium Mech Lvl 2    3
    G4, P5
Jon            Deceased                    8
    G4, P5
JT            Locust 6X2        Evasion 3        13-x
    G4, P5                    Melee Specialist 1
Matt            Orion Custom        none            14
    G4, P5
Scott            Xanthos XNT-3P        PPC Specialist 1    10
    G4, P5
Tony            Hunchback 5P        Scoot and Shoot 1    8
    G4, P5
Virus            Blood Asp omni        Pulse Laser Spec 3    6
    G4, P5
Friar            Archangel omni        Tactics 1        9
    G 3, P5                    Assault Mech Lvl 1
AJ            Wight            ?            X+9


Reserves
Dave (Inactive)        Longbow 12X        Missile lock        11
Steven (Inactive)        Centurion CN9-D5    Rapid Fire Autocannon    4

Typhoon Alpha        Typhoon RAC        none            2
Typhoon Beta        Typhoon RAC        none            4


Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
Name  Mechs Vehicles Infantry Other
Dave    4    6    0    0
Garret    3    4    2    0
George    3    5    0    0
Jon    1    3    0    0
AJ    2    1    0    0
Billy    1    1    0    0
Steven    1    1    0    0 

Friar    1    1    0    0 

Matt    1    0    0    0
Scott    1    0    0    0
Virus    1    0    0    0
Alex    1    0    0    0
Hunter    1    0    0    0
JT    1    0    0    0

Roster as of 11/28

Unit roster

Pilot                                Mech                                      Skills                              Skill points left

Hauptmann Krauthammer  Thunderbolt TDR-10M           Maneuver Ace                8
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon                                 Thunder Thr-2L                         Crackshot                       14 Dave                              Longbow 12X                           Missile lock                      10 Jake                               Phoenix Hawk Lam                   Medium Mech Lvl 2        3 Billy                                Wolverine WVR-9W2              Jump and Shoot               5
George                           Blackjack BJ-3                         PPC specialist 1, Scoot and Shoot 1                  5 Alex                               Hollander BZK-F6X                 Crackshot                        8 Steven                            Centurion CN9-D5                   Rapid Fire Autocannon     4
Garrett                            BJ Omni - Command                Medium Mech Lvl 1, Jump and Shoot       5
Hunter                            Lightray 4W2                            Medium Mech Lvl 1        6
JT                                   Locust 6X2                              Evasion 3                         9
Virus                               Blood Asp omni                       Pulse Laser Specialist 3         5
Tony                               Hunchback 5P                         Scoot and Shoot 1           8 Matt                                Orion Custom                          none                               11
Scott                               Xanthos XNT-3P                    PPC Specialist 1              4

Typhoon Alpha               Typhoon RAC                          none                                 1
Typhoon Beta                 Typhoon RAC                          none                                 3



Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
Dave - 4 Mech Kills, 5 Vehicle Kills
George - 3 Mech Kill, 5 Vehicle Kills
Jon - 1, Mech Kill, 2 Vehicle Kill
Billy - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Steven - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Garret - 1 Mech Kill, 2 Infantry Kill
Matt - 1 Mech Kill
Scott - 1 Mech Kill
Virus - 1 Mech Kill
Alex - 1 Mech Kill

Welcome to Keystone

Welcome to Keystone, your new duty station mercs. Please remember to keep your re-breather on until you are in an environmentally sealed vehicle or building.

Keystone Planetary Data 

• Number of Satellites: 1 (Ea)
• Surface Gravity: 1.1
• Atm. Pressure: Low (Tainted)
• Equatorial Temperature: 35°C (Temperate)
• Surface Water: 35%
• Highest Native Life: Plants 

You've been hired to provide additional support for the defense of the headquarters of Earthworks incorporated here on Keystone.

There are three active forces on planet that you will need to protect against.

1. The "Loyal Opposition" - this group is ostentatiously only against Word of Blake occupation of the Free Worlds League. Known to have one lance of medium mechs and one company of vehicles, primarily wheeled and hover.
2. Citizens for a Democratic Keystone - what started out as a peaceful student protest group has become something more sinister. Expect light vehicles supporting possible terrorist actions and rumors of massed infantry.
3. Freedom Now! - rumored to be trained by Capellan and Chaos March insurgents, while poorly equipped with older vehicles in general, the elite infantry of this group is rumored to have access to at least one squad of battle armor somehow, with rumors of a whole platoon.

Bonus Skill points
     Everyone has the opportunity to gain bonus skill points. I am currently working on a map for the city on Keystone you will be defending and policing. However a proper city needs buildings to fill it. So here's the deal;

• you gain 1 skill point for each unique building you come up with
• you can get 2 skill points for a building that is useful as an objective or has some additional side effect in game play. Give me something to use and you get additional points
• you can get a maximum of 6 points total
• to send an idea just post it in the comments

Roster for 10/23

Unit roster
Pilot                                Mech                                      Skills                              Skill points left

Hauptmann Krauthammer  Thunderbolt TDR-10M           Maneuver Ace                4
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon                                  Victor 9K3                              Crackshot                        10
Dave                               Longbow 12X                         Missile lock                      10 Jake                                Phoenix Hawk Lam                  Medium Mech Lvl 2        6
Billy                                Wolverine WVR-9W2              Jump and Shoot               5
George                            Blackjack BJ-3                        PPC specialist 1, Scoot and Shoot 1                  3 Alex                                Hollander BZK-F6X                Crackshot                        2
Steven                             Centurion CN9-D5                  Rapid Fire Autocannon     4
Garrett                            BJ Omni - Command                Medium Mech Lvl 1       13
Hunter                            Lightray 4W2                            Medium Mech Lvl 1        4
JT                                   Locust 6X2                              Evasion 3                         6
Virus                               Hunchback 5P                          Laser Specialist 1            1
Tony                               Hunchback 5P                          Scoot and Shoot 1           4
Matt                                Orion Custom                           none                               10
Scott                               Deva Achilleus                          Pulse Specialist, Scoot and Shoot 1                   1

Typhoon Alpha               Typhoon RAC                          none                                 0
Typhoon Beta                 Typhoon RAC                          none                                 2



Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
Dave - 4 Mech Kills, 5 Vehicle Kills
George - 3 Mech Kill, 5 Vehicle Kills
Jon - 1, Mech Kill, 2 Vehicle Kill
Billy - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Steven - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Garret - 1 Mech Kill
Matt - 1 Mech Kill
Scott - 1 Mech Kill
Virus - 1 Mech Kill

Campaign Roster as of 9/16

Updated campaign unit roster

Right now Garret's suggestion is the only one in - Dirty Dozen (or so)
Last Chance to bring up your opinion on it?

Unit roster
Pilot                                Mech                                      Skills                              Skill points left

Hauptmann Krauthammer  Thunderbolt TDR-10M           Maneuver Ace                4
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon                                  Enforcer III ENF-6T mark 2   Crackshot                         9
Dave                               Crusader CRD-5K                  Missile lock                      6
Jake                                Shadow Hawk SHD-5D          Medium Mech Lvl 2         2
Billy                                Wolverine WVR-9M2              Jump and Shoot               5  (under upgrades)
George                            Blackjack BJ-3                        PPC specialist                  5  (under upgrades)
Alex                                Panther PNT-12A                    Crackshot                        2
Steven                             Centurion CN9-D5                  Rapid Fire Autocannon     4
Garrett                            BJ Omni - Command                ?                                      x+10
Hunter                            Cicada CDA-3P mark 2            Medium Mech Lvl 1        x+2    (Mech Down)
JT                                   Hermes II 4k                             Evasion                           4

Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
George - 3 Mech Kill, 3 Vehicle Kills
Dave - 3 Mech Kills
Billy - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Steven - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Jon - 1, Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Garret - 1 Mech Kill

Roster 8/28

Updated campaign unit roster

Right now Garret's suggestion is the only one in - Dirty Dozen (or so)
What do you think?


Unit roster
Pilot                                Mech                                      Skills                              Skill points left

Hauptmann Krauthammer  Thunderbolt TDR-10M           Maneuver Ace                4
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon                                  Enforcer III ENF-6T mark 2   Crackshot                         9
Dave                               Crusader CRD-5K                  Missile lock                      5
Jake                                Shadow Hawk SHD-5D          Medium Mech Lvl 2         0
Billy                                Wolverine WVR-9M2              Jump and Shoot               5
George                            Blackjack BJ-3                        PPC specialist                  5
Alex                                Panther PNT-12A                    Crackshot                        2
Steven                             Centurion CN9-D5                  Rapid Fire Autocannon     4
Garrett                            BJ Omni - Command                ?                                      x+7
Hunter                            Cicada CDA-3P mark 2            Medium Mech Lvl 1        x+2

Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
George - 3 Mech Kill, 3 Vehicle Kills
Dave - 2 Mech Kills
Billy - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Steven - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Jon - 1, Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Garret - 1 Mech Kill

Book Keeping 8/15

Here is the Butchers Bill for the last scenario

Combat units
Hunter needs repaired - 40 SP
Jon needs rearmed - 10 sp
Jake needs rearmed - 10 sp
Billy needs repaired and rearmed - 60 sp
Garrett needs rearmed - 10 sp
George needs repaired - 45 sp
Steven needs repaired and rearmed - 60 sp

Salvage
Typhoon Urban Assault (Rac variant) Alpha needs rearmed - 10 sp
Typhoon Urban Assault (Rac variant) beta needs repaired and rearmed - 45 sp

a total of 290 sp to bring all the units in the force back up to active duty statues

Roster 8/15

Updated campaign unit roster

Since I havent named the merc unit I will give a skill point to who ever submits the best name. Best as in most amusing or ironic.

Unit roster
Pilot                                Mech                                      Skills                              Skill points left

Hauptmann Krauthammer  Thunderbolt TDR-10M           Maneuver Ace                4
(the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon                                  Enforcer III ENF-6T mark 2   Crackshot                         7
Dave                               Crusader CRD-5K                  Missile lock                      3
Jake                                Shadow Hawk SHD-5D          Medium Mech Lvl 2         0
Billy                                Wolverine WVR-9M2              Jump and Shoot               3
George                            Blackjack BJ-3                        PPC specialist                  3
Alex                                Panther PNT-12A                    Crackshot                        2
Steven                             Centurion CN9-D5                  Rapid Fire Autocannon     4
Garrett                            BJ Omni - Command                ?                                      x+4
Hunter                            Cicada CDA-3P mark 2            ?                                      x+1

Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
George - 1 Mech Kill, 3 Vehicle Kills
Dave - 2 Mech Kills
Billy - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill
Steven - 1 Mech Kill, 1 Vehicle Kill

Jon - 1 Vehicle Kill

Campaign Roster as of 8/14

Here is the campaign unit roster - I will be using posts like this to cover the nuts and bolts of the unit.

Since I havent named the merc unit I will give a skill point to who ever submits the best name. Best as in most amusing or ironic.

Unit roster
Hauptmann Krauthammer - Thunderbolt TDR-10M (the NPC commander of the merc unit)
Jon - Enforcer III ENF-6T mark 2
Dave - Crusader CRD-5K
Jake - Shadow Hawk SHD-5D
Billy - Wolverine WVR-9M2
George - Blackjack BJ-3
Alex - Panther PNT-12A
Steven - Centurion CN9-D5
Garrett - ?
Hunter - Cicada CDA-3P mark 2

Kill Tally - whose the deadliest?
Dave - 2 Kills
Billy - 1 Kill
George - 1 Kill
Steven - 1 Kill

I will be listing Skill points next in line with the Chassis