4-9 Eirmont - Mosquitoes and Baboons and Tyrannosaurs, oh my!

 Rested and bathed, Broneslav felt good being on board his ship, The Stout Meg, and letting others take the burden for a while. That first night, they stopped at the village of Burowao. The locals were friendly and knew what to expect because of the contact with Tanaroa. It took four more days of sailing to reach the point where Broneslav wanted to make land briefly. He knew it would take two days to reach the dragon's cave from here and two more to return so he packed accordingly.

The explored part of the Isle of Dread

"Captain, I need half a dozen stout men, who can help me carry away the treasure I know is here. Will you detail them or find volunteers?"

The captain found six volunteers and Broneslav made sure they were outfitted appropriately. The ship's boat landed them and they made their way into the interior. The sailors grumbled about having to walk instead of sail, but still marvelled at the colourful wildlife around them. That night they camped in a clearing in the jungle.

Their preparations for camp were disrupted by a loud crashing in the undergrowth as something huge approached. The sailors drew their cutlasses and Broneslav drew his broadsword as they backed to the far side of the clearing. Moments later a monstrous lizard crashed into the clearing and gave an earsplitting, fearsome roar. This was too much for one of the sailors, who dropped his cutlass and ran off into the jungle.

The monstrous lizard charged. Broneslav charged too. He guessed that this way the beast would focus on him and not on the unarmoured sailors. His sword glittered in the air and blood flew as he sliced a nasty gash in its side. It bit at him, its teeth leaving bloody gashes. He then ducked under the beast's gaping mouth as its teeth tore more holes in his flesh and cut another massive gash in the lizard's throat. The next exchange saw both parties cutting smaller tears in each other's flesh, but the Tyrannosaurus Rex was weakening faster than Broneslav. The young hero leapt into the air, planting a foot on its nose to steady himself, as the dinosaur reached down to bite at him once more. His sword pierced its eye and penetrated its tiny brain. Moments later the lizard crashed to the earth with a noise like thunder. It thrashed a while and then lay still.

Broneslav washed his wounds and bandaged them. He was used to this, but the sailors' jaws had dropped at the speed of the violence. Then he turned to the sailors, whose number had been strengthened by a sheepish looking man. The returning sailor picked up his cutlass again as Broneslav spoke.

"We'd better move our camp, lads. This beast will attract scavengers and we won't get a good night's sleep otherwise. Grab yourself a souvenir if you want. No one will believe you when you tell them about this beastie if you don't."

The sailors looked big-eyed at Broneslav. It was one thing to be told by him that he had slain a dragon and not really believe it, but a whole other thing to see him actually kill a huge monster like this. They grabbed some of the Tyrannosaur's teeth to keep as souvenirs and carve scrimshaw from. Then they moved camp.

New Terrain and 3d Printing

 As my loyal reader will have noticed from the last couple of battle reports, I have added 3D terrain to my Battletech/Alpha Strike games. I bought a Bambu Labs P1S FDM printer earlier this year and have gone wild! Well, maybe not wild, but I have had a lot of fun learning how to print terrain and figures. There have been several elements to this that I outline below. Mainly it is about terrain, but the realisation that I can produce reasonable miniatures and vehicles with an FDM printer has been eye-opening and makes me wish I had the money and space to set up a print farm! It is probably a good thing that I do not.

1. Hills and vegetation

I bought the hills sets for the Battletech mapsheets from Thunderhead Studio, and the vegetation pack. These are for pimping the mapsheets. Adding them to the mapsheets makes you realise just how close the terrain can be on some of them. These files all need painting, although I tried to minimise that by using sandstone filament to print the hills. You can judge for yourself how well it worked out from the photos below that appeared in an earlier battle report.

The hills will come in handy for a variety of scales and periods. I have a vague idea of using them for a Five Leagues from the Borderlands: Deep Below campaign as cavern walls, for example.

2. Cityscape

I also bought the Concordia City stl pack. This is a pack of pre-painted files to print. So, when I print them out, I do not need to do any further work with them, if I use suitable colour filaments. I have been working on building up a large cityscape with these. Part of that appeared in the last post about the Galtor 3025 campaign. However, that was not the full extent of what I have produced so far, and I felt like setting up as much of it as I can, so here are some photos of an approximately 3-mapsheet set-up.

Two overview shots of the full set-up on my 150cm x 90cm (5' x 3') dining table:

Some detail shots:

Map-scale Broadsword dropship in the foreground

How did that 3d-printed 15mm SdKfz 222 get into this shot?

3. Other stuff

In addition to the terrain, which was the main reason for getting the printer, I have been messing around with printing figures and vehicles with varying levels of success. My initial experiments have made me think that FDM figures are not terrible. Any flaws can be covered by a thick layer of paint and they look virtually indistinguishable from metal minis at tabletop distances. This will hopefully let me fill gaps in my armies easily and without incurring customs charges.

My first experiments were 15mm figures which I printed using a 0.4mm nozzle and standard settings on the printer. I have since bought a 0.2mm nozzle which should help with detail when I get it set up, as should tailoring the settings better, now that I am starting to get to grips with them.

Fat Dragon Games 28mm fighter with sword rescaled to match my 15mm collection

He came out surprisingly well. The shield was a bit thin, but a healthy dollop of paint has concealed the issues. The figure is optimised for support-free FDM printing.

Brite Minis 28mm kobold with pickaxe

This is a freebie from Brite Minis, again scaled to 15mm, that is optimised for FDM printing. I plan to print enough to make a unit of engineers for my Oathmark orc army once I get the smaller nozzle dialled in.

3D Breed 15mm viking with metal shield from the bits box

I also tried the free samples from 3D Breed to see what I could get out of those, because they offer vikings and Normans. I think that these really require the smaller nozzle, but it is also one of the earliest prints I made, and I have learnt much since then. Also, this range is not optimised for FDM, so it requires more care to get the figures right.

Dice-Heads Zoontalis 28mm penguin ranger

I've been working on printing some Zoontalis guilds and think I have cracked the code, which is nice. There were a lot of failures in the early prints but I now have penguins, platypuses, cats, allosauruses, and stegosauruses ready to be painted and deployed.

Battletech map-scale dropships waiting to be painted and sent to the front

Battletech Leopard dropship found on Thingiverse

A Union-class dropship dwarfs the humble Leopard. Thunderhead Studio buildings in the background.

26 Sviftmont to 3 Eirmont - Return to Tanaroa

 The final part of the journey back to Tanaroa went without incident and it was with relief that Broneslav got there. The only difficulty was persuading the gate guards that he really was still alive! Better yet, the Stout Meg was already docked and loading with trade goods and provisions. She had returned just a couple of days ago, so he would not have to wait long to return to Karameikos.

The boy's first job was to bathe and get his clothes washed. He knew he needed it from the winces and careful expressions of the villagers as they tried not to give offence.

With that done, he spoke to Captain Decentius about how the trading had gone. The captain reported that all had gone well and that there had been a premium on the first goods they had returned with that meant that Broneslav was really quite wealthy now. Broneslav thanked the captain and the crew for their hard work.

Then he told the tale of his own explorations. Several of the sailors scoffed at his tales of dragons and giant lizards until the young hero rolled out the hides of the dragons that he had carried back. Then their eyes got big and their mouths stayed shut. It occurred to them that this 16-year old youth, who could barely grow a beard, was actually quite dangerous.

"Captain, shall we be able to depart tomorrow?"

"Aye, milord, we're finished loading goods and supplies and can cast off on the tide tomorrow."

"Good. I would like us to sail around the west side of the island and put in towards the northern end. There is unfinished business there and a bonus for those that help me with it."

The captain looked dubious but assented.

September 3025: In the Bear's Den (Battletech: Alpha Strike)

1st-2nd September 3025, Real Star League Depot

"We're taking the fight to the Kuritans, Lemmings. We'll be all in on this one but it will be tough. The 7th Sword of Light has holed up in a Star League Depot. It's fortified and we'll have to attack on a narrow front, so it will be a slogging match. Bravo and Gamma lances will go in the front door. Your job will be to pin the enemy so they cannot blow the base. Keep them distracted. The locals have informed us of a back entrance to the place. I shall take Alpha lance through that. We've been allocated a dropship to put us behind them but it will still take time. If we can take the Kuritans in a pincer movement, there is a good chance we can recover lostech and get out of this intact. The plan has been transmitted to your datapads. We ride at dawn!"

The Scenario

This is the "In the Bear's Den" scenario from Historical Turning Points: Galtor. The Lemmings deploy as a full company. The defenders are a single lance from Kismet Battalion, 7th Sword of Light. Their goal is to hold out long enough for them to blow the Star League depot up and deny it to the FedRats.

The Kuritans deploy within the depot. Two hexes at the centre of the depot are defined as the critical location. If the Kuritans control those hexes on or after turn 8, they blow the depot, themselves, and anyone in there with them sky high. If the Lemmings have undisputed control of those hexes by occupying one or both of them for two turns with a mech, they can disarm the explosives.

Two lances of Lemmings enter on turn 1 at one end of the battlefield. The other lance enters on turn 4 from the centre of the Kuritans home edge.

If the Kuritans blow the depot up and/or destroy the Lemmings, they win. The Lemmings win if they defeat the Kuritans and capture the depot intact.

Forced Withdrawal is not in effect for this scenario.

The Battlefield

The approach to the depot is a light urban area with surrounding parks and greenbelt land. At the centre of it is the local museum and council offices. This is the first game All the structures and ground tiles in this scenario are 3d printed in colour from the Concordia City set by Eclipse Protocol. The vegetation is from Thunderhead Studio, and I had to paint that. Some of the ground tiles are flocked with a mix of Javis and Woodland Scenics scatter. I felt that the basic terrain was too "clean" and there should be areas of greenery in cities too.

Two lances of Lemmings enter from the right. The Kuritan defenders occupy the fort on the left.

The depot is defined by the walls at one end of the battlefield, although it is actually a three-level, hardened fort. However, the interior needs to be playable, so I am not attempting to model it in full detail. It is only accessible through the gate opening and the secret tunnel.

The Opposing Forces

Full Throttle Lemmings ( points):

1. Alpha (Command) Lance:

   1. Commander Jennie Raytor - Battlemaster BLR-1G (Named Pilot)
   2. Barbara Dwyer - Awesome AWS-8Q
   3. Ivor Biggun - Archer ARC-2R
   4. Ophelia Paine - Catapult CPLT-C1

2. Bravo (Striker) Lance:

1. Paige Turner - Thunderbolt TDR-5SE (Named Pilot)
2. Mike Hunt - Wolverine WVR-6R (Named Pilot)
3. Theresa Green - Griffin GRF-1S
4. Theresa Crowd - Shadow Hawk SHD-2D

3. Gamma (Recon) Lance:

1. Dirk Savage - Phoenix Hawk PXH-1 (Named Pilot)
2. Paul Bearer - Locust LCT-1V
3. Joseph King - Commando COM-2D
4. Kerry Oki - Wasp WSP-1A

Elements of Kismet Battalion, 7th Sword of Light:

1. Banshee BNC-3E
2. Stalker STK-3F
3. Grand Dragon DRG-1G
4. Panther PNT-9R

The Battle

The Lemmings advanced through the urban area, using buildings as cover as much as possible. Gamma lance had orders to close as fast as they could with the enemy and distract them, giving Bravo lance  time to catch up and Alpha lance chance to sneak in the back entrance.

No time to tarry!

"Come on, Lemmings," Paige called over comms, "Full throttle and damn the LRMs."

Bravo and Gamma lances obliged as they all sprinted towards the town centre, using the buildings as cover for their approach. Meanwhile, the Kuritans manoeuvred within the fort, looking for a line of sight to the approaching mechs. They were going to be hard to winkle out.

Enemy sighted!

The scouts of Gamma lance were the first to sight the hostiles.

"Bravo leader, hostiles in the entrance to the depot," Paul called from the cockpit of his locus, "Painting them for you now."

As he said this, he fired his lasers at the hostile Stalker. Enemy fire splashed around him and around Dirk in the Phoenix Hawk behind him, but all it did was blast glass out of the surrounding buildings. His own fire turned armour on the Stalker to slag and Paige's missiles blasted some more armour off the Kuritan mech.

Hold them off!

As the Lemmings swarmed the entrance to the depot, the enemy commander in the Banshee chose discretion over valour, while the pilot of the Grand Dragon could not resist moving out to engage the oncoming Lemmings and the Stalker withdrew to guard the engineers setting up the explosives.

Dirk cursed as his Phoenix Hawk took a hit and blasted armour from the offending Panther. The other Lemmings focused on the Grand Dragon. It did not take long for its armour to be melted from its frame and one of its arms to be blown off.

Shit! They're behind us!

"FOR THE DRAGON!" the Grand Dragon's pilot roared their defiance, as they withdrew to guard the engineers. Someone else could take a turn in the breach. Unfortunately for the plucky mechwarrior, Jennie and the rest of Alpha lance emerged from the hidden entrance to the depot at this point.

The Kuritan leader manoeuvred to put their back to the wall, while the Stalker pilot held the main entrance. Bravo and Gamma lances moved up on the entrance and blasted the Stalker until its structure showed and most of its weapons had been.

Barb moved her Awesome up behind the Grand Dragon. A withering burst of fire reduced the Kuritan mech to a pile of twisted parts. Jennie grinned as her own Battlemaster trashed the Panther.

The end of things

The Kuritans were on the back foot now. They would need luck to survive. Unfortunately, that was in short supply for them. As Lemming mechs charged towards the entrance of the depot, shots from outside laid waste to the Stalker. Only the enemy commander remained, and they did not last long. Fire from every Lemming with line of sight to the Banshee reduced it to a wreck in the space of a mad minute.

The Kuritan engineers surrendered as soon as they saw they were surrounded by hostile mechs, and the Lemmings were able to disarm the explosives the engineers had been rigging.

"Congratulations, Lemmings," Jennie broadcast to them, "You all did well. I have a case of Timbiqui Dark that we can crack tonight."

Afterthoughts

With little cover for the Lemmings, and allowing partial cover for all targets within the depot that were shot at from outside it, I really thought that Bravo and Gamma lances would lose a mech or two. However, for the first time in this campaign, the Kuritans missed almost all of their shots. In fact, they hit a grand total of four times, scoring 4 damage and no through-armour critical hits either, which made a nice change. At the same time, the Lemmings hit a lot more than they normally do, although they still got way more "No critical hit" results than probability suggests should be the case. All in all, this has been a satisfying conclusion to the campaign and I look forward to the next one, once I decide where and when it will be.

I've been winging it in in terms of awards in this campaign, based on the idea that the Lemmings should make a small profit if they win a scenario. Perhaps the rewards should have been more generous, because the Lemmings did not earn enough to buy any new mechs, despite winning all the time. It would have been nice to add something extra to the stable after a successful campaign.

Where I have used scenarios from HTP: Galtor, those are designed for Classic Battletech, so I have had to adjust them for Alpha Strike. I am happy with how that went. The key thing has been keeping the campaign narrative right. That said, it would be nice to codify things for future games, so I shall have to see what Hotspots: Draconis Reach has to say on the matter, if anything.

Planning and printing the terrain for this has been fun and I like the look of what I have printed. I like even more that the Concordia City terrain is pre-coloured so there is no need to do anything more with it unless you really want to. I have enough to do a basic two-mapsheet board now so I am not restricted to the mapsheets for the hex-based games. I shall be printing more as I go along to use with Battletech and other sci-fi or stompy robot games.

On the hex front, I found this game easier to administer than some of the earlier games in the campaign.  Using hexes has its advantages, not least the reduced space required and the convenience of using the mapsheets. However, I think I shall return to the standard non-hex Alpha Strike for the next campaign, because measuring ranges is quicker than counting hexes for me.