Aka-Oni Irregulars: Enforcer, Stalker, Zeus, Trebuchet; Also, a Union Dropship!

The Aka-Oni Irregulars have salvaged four more mechs to add to their forces. This lance consists of an Enforcer with a balanced loadout of an AC/10 and a large laser, a Trebuchet geared toward raining long-range missiles upon its foes, a Zeus with another balanced loadout, and a Stalker with a vast array including just about every kind of weapon.

• Enforcer (50 tons, BV 1,032)
• Trebuchet (50 tons, BV 1,191) 
• Zeus (80 tons, BV 1,374)
• Stalker (85 tons, BV 1,559)

Total mechs: 34
Total tons: 1,965
Total battle value: 38,640

In addition to the mechs is a 3D printed, map-scale Union-class Dropship. This was a design by UnrestedGuy on Thingiverse that I modified to streamline it and make it printable without supports in FDM instead of resin. I originally just printed the egg-shaped dropship itself, but the landing feet proved prone to snapping, so I printed out a base to mount it on, appropriately scaled to fill the same number of hexes that the dropship occupies on the map.

I used generic grey colors with blue highlights and a bonewhite drybrush, not to represent any particular faction, but just to be usable by any faction. The Union class can transport and deploy twelve mechs (so I would technically need to print five more to transport all of my painted mechs), but this isn't really meant for frequent use on the tabletop. It's more that I thought it would be really cool to make. So I made it!

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Hunchback, Wolfhound, Maxim, Savannah Masters

The "BattleTech: Mercenaries" box from the Kickstarter campaign included a few vehicles, so the Aka-Oni Irregulars are finally starting their own little motor pool. In addition to the Wolfhound and the Hunchback (one of my personal favorite mechs), this force now includes three hovercraft: one Maxim Hover Transport and two Savannah Master scouts.

• Wolfhound (35 tons, BV 1,061)
• Hunchback (50 tons, BV 1,041)
• Maxim Hover Transport (50 tons, BV 764)
• Savannah Master (5 tons, BV 215) x2 

I've decided to count the vehicles separately, so the below stats are just mechs.

Total mechs: 30
Total tons: 1,700
Total battle value: 33,578

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Longbow

After the frenzied pace of painting of January, February has been absolutely silent on the painting front. In order to avoid an entire month of no progress, I finished off this battlemech to join the Aka-Oni Irregulars. It's a Longbow, providing heavy long range missile fire in the form of 50 long range missiles launched per round. That's some hefty sandpaper.

• Longbow (85 tons, BV 1618)

Total mechs: 28
Total tons: 1,615
Total battle value: 31,476

Leland's Fusiliers: Valkyrie, Panther, Jenner, Rifleman, Annihilator

Five mechs join the Fusiliers. Each of these has already been seen in Aka-Oni red, but now they're also painted up in the blue, grey, and orange.

Three of these mechs are Light, filling in a big gap that the Fusiliers had in their low-weight units. I love the Jenner, so it's good to have it painted up and ready to go.

If the Fusiliers can scrounge up seven more mechs, they'll be at Battalion strength. They might just need a dropship or two at some point.

• Valkyrie (30 tons, BV 723)
• Panther (35 tons, BV 769)
  
• Jenner (35 tons, BV 875)
• Rifleman (60 tons, BV 1039)
• Annihilator (100 tons, BV 1625)
  

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 29
Total tons: 1705
Total battle value: 33,691

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Stinger, Centurion, Archer

Three more Aka-Oni battlemechs, starting them off on the path beyond a mere two companies of mechs. We've got a tiny Stinger, which is a fast, weak, and incredibly cheap scout mech. On the left is an Archer with a whole bunch of missiles. Finally, on the right, is a very special Centurion. This is a model representing the Yen-Lo-Wang variant, which was piloted in the arenas of Solaris. It's got an AC/20 on one hand and a big ole' claw on the other. This one can almost serve as a five-ton-lighter Hunchback.

• Stinger (20 tons, BV 359)
  
• Centurion (Yen-Lo-Wang) (50 tons, BV 957)
• Archer (70 tons, BV 1338)

Total mechs: 27
Total tons: 1530
Total battle value: 29,858

Third Company: Blackjack, Rifleman, Archer

Three more mechwarriors have joined the Third Company. These are all the third model of each type of mech that I own; that's really the only requirement for joining the Third Company at this point; they're the leftovers.

• Blackjack (45 tons, BV 1011)
• Rifleman (60 tons, BV 1039)
• Archer (70 tons, BV 1338)

Third Company
Total tons: 315
Total BV: 6187

Battletech: Another Wolverine

Since the Wolverine is in multiple boxes of Battletech, I have three of them. I have one painted for the Aka-Oni Irregulars, one painted for Leland's Fusiliers, and now one more painted in generic green and purple. This paint scheme matches the Stalker, so this technically means I have a third faction started.

      Wolverine (55 tons, BV 1101)
      Stalker (85 tons, BV 1559)

Third Faction
Total tons: 140
Total BV: 2660

Leland's Fusiliers: Marauder, Battlemaster, Crusader, Enforcer, and Shadow Hawk

These five mechs bring Leland's Fusiliers up to two-company strength (24 mechs), on par with the Aka-Oni Irregulars.

Three of these mechs (the Shadow Hawk, Marauder, and Battlemaster) are already painted up in Aka-Oni red, since two are from the main Game of Armored Combat Box, and I had another Marauder from a "Legendary Mechwarrior" single box that came with the last Kickstarter campaign as a bonus. Of the remaining two, the Crusader has two LRM-15s, which puts it in my fusilier category. The Enforcer is a good but not exceptional 50 ton all-rounder.

• Enforcer (50 tons, BV 1032)
• Shadow Hawk (55 tons, BV 1064)
  
• Crusader CRD-3D (65 tons, BV 1338)
• Marauder (75 tons, BV 1363)
• Battlemaster (85 tons, BV 1519)
  

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 24
Total tons: 1445
Total battle value: 28,660

Despite both Leland's Fusiliers and the Aka-Oni Irregulars having 24 mechs each, the Fusiliers have a 55 ton and 1,456 BV advantage. In the grand scheme of things, however, the two forces are basically evenly matched.

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Rifleman, Banshee, Victor

Today we bring the Aka-Oni Irregulars up to a full two-company strength. 24 mechs! The Rifleman isn't a favorite of mine, but it's... well, it's a mech and it looks nice. The Victor is equipped with an AC/20, which is enough for me to enjoy it. The original Banshee wasn't great, but this model is the BNS-3S, which carries two PPCs, an AC/10, four medium lasers, and an SRM-6; this is a solid assault mech that would be a terror to face on the battlefield at any range. The Banshee also has a cockpit that looks like sunglasses; this is top-tier design.

• Rifleman (60 tons, BV 1039)
  
• Victor (80 tons, BV 1370)
• Banshee (95 tons, BV 1751)

Total mechs: 24
Total tons: 1390
Total battle value: 27,204

Leland's Fusiliers: Awesome, Locust, and Thunderbolt

New year, new mechs. Leland's Fusiliers have been reinforced with three new battlemechs. 

• Awesome (80 tons, BV 1,605)
• Locust (20 tons, BV 432)
  
• Thunderbolt (65 tons, BV 1,335)

Interestingly, I've already painted another copy of all three of these mechs in Aka-Oni red; they're all from the Game of Combat boxed set, of which I have two copies.

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 19
Total tons: 1115
Total battle value: 22,344

Leland's Fusiliers: Orion & Catapult

Two big, iconic mechs join the Fusiliers.The Orion (left) is basically a scaled-down Atlas; it's a solid all-rounder weapons platform. The Catapult (right) is a long range missile boat, backing up the LRMs with four medium lasers. I love missile boats, and I love this mech.

• Orion (75 tons, BV 1,429)
  
• Catapult (65 tons, BV 1,399)

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 16
Total tons: 950
Total battle value: 18,972

Leland's Fusiliers: Commando & Spider

These two light mechs add some much needed recon support to the Fusiliers. The Commando (left) is a non-jumping little fella that specializes in exploiting holes in enemy armor by launching a fusillade of short-range missiles. The Spider (right) specializes in speed and insane jump-jet range, at the expense of any weapons beyond two medium lasers. They're light, they're fast, and they're cheap.

• Commando (25 tons, BV 556)
  
• Spider (30 tons, BV 622)

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 14
Total tons: 810
Total battle value: 16,144

While I didn't mention it in the previous post, the Fusiliers now have enough mechs to fill three Lances (of four mechs each). That makes them Company-strength! Still not as powerful as my Aka-Oni Irregulars, but close to the BV of my Clan Ghost Bear forces.

Leland's Fusiliers: Atlas

Finally, I have painted up the face of Battletech: the 100-ton Atlas. This is probably the most recognizable Inner Sphere battlemech in the game. Here, it's shown next to the Urbanmech to give a sense of scale. It's big.

Along with my Fusilier livery, I've given the Atlas the traditional white skull-head. The paint job turned out pretty well.

Leland's Fusiliers Stats
Total mechs: 12
Total tons: 755
Total battle value: 14,966

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Raven, Blackjack, Grasshopper, Thug, Annihilator

Some more Battletech mechs have rolled off the assembly line. Decked out in the red and yellow livery of the Aka-Oni Irregulars we have a light, a medium, a heavy, and two assault classes.

• Raven (35 tons, BV 887)
• Blackjack (45 tons, BV 1011)
• Grasshopper (70 tons, BV 1417)
• Thug (80 tons, BV 1502)
• Annihilator (100 tons, BV 1625)

Total mechs: 21
Total tons: 1155
Total battle value: 23,044

Leland's Fusilier's: Archer, Centurion, Hatchetman

Here are three more mechs for the Fusiliers. These are the last for a while (unless I do one up quickly at some point to finish off this twelve-unit Company). I'm pretty Battleteched out and have some other projects brewing.

• Archer (70 tons, BV 1338)
• Centurion (50 tons, BV 945)
• Hatchetman (45 tons, BV 854)
  

Total mechs: 11
Total tons: 655
Total battle value: 13,069

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Dragon, Quickdraw

Left to right: Scorpion Light Tank, Quickdraw, Dragon, Scorpion Light Tank

The Quickdraw is a fairly mediocre 60 tonner. It has 10 tons of armor and a decent weapon loadout, but only 13 heat sinks to handle the load. It does have 5/8/5 movement (walk/run/jump), so that's pretty good for its size, but you can tell corners were cut to make it possible.

The Dragon, on the other hand, is an iconic mech of the Draconis Combine. Weighing in at 60 tons, it's a solid brawler. Along with the Jenner and Panther from the last post, I can now put together a very Kurita lance. In fact, with the new Quickdraw, the four mechs come in at a battle value of 3961; this is perfect for my favorite low-end game size of 4000 BV per side.

You can see the difference between the scale of the old models and the new ones. Those two mechs are meant to be the same weight, but one is substantially chunkier than the other. It's part of the reason why I'm not adding many of the old miniatures to my current forces. In this case, however, no new Quickdraw exists, so it's the old one or nothing.

Also in the picture are two tanks I painted up. They're not Battletech miniatures, but the scale is close enough. I'm counting them as Scorpion light tanks (each 25 tons, 306 battle value). (They're not taken into the main tonnage/BV calculations for the full force, below.)

• Dragon (60 tons, BV 1125)
  
• Quickdraw (60 tons, BV 1192)

Total mechs: 16
Total tons:  825
Total battle value: 16,602

My Clan Ghost Bear force (with Elementals) comes out at 16,320 BV. My Aka-Oni Irregulars are finally an even match for them (give or take; battle value isn't a perfect system). Seven Clan mechs and two bases of Elementals versus sixteen Inner Sphere mechs. Crazy. Now to try and get my Leland's Fusiliers up to that level.

Leland's Fusiliers: Hunchback, Cyclops

"Don't talk to me or my son ever again."

Here we have a 50 ton Hunchback and a 90 ton customized Cyclops.

The Hunchback has always been one of my favorite mechs. The whole thing is designed around carrying an autocannon/20, the most powerful standard weapon available in 3025. It will pair well with the long-range Trebuchet mech. Enemies will want to get close to the Trebuchet, but they'll want to stay away from the Hunchback.

The Cyclops, the stock CP-10-Z model, is underwhelming, to say the least. At 90 tons, it's only 10 tons below the maximum, but the CP-10-Z only has ten tons of armor, the same amount as the 40-ton lighter Hunchback. Its weapons are also mediocre. As I really like this physical miniature, I've decided to make it the personal mech of Commander Carson Leland, leader of Leland's Fusiliers. As such, I've made a custom variant, the CP-10-LFX, as his ride. I have the details below the jump break (so you'll have to load the full post to see it).

• Hunchback (50 tons, BV 1041)
• Cyclops (90 tons, CP-10-LFX*, BV 1691)

Total mechs: 8
Total tons: 490
Total battle value: 9,932

Leland's Fusiliers: Trebuchet, Longbow, Zeus

Three more mechs for the Leland's Fusiliers mercenary company, drawn from the "Inner Sphere Fire Lance" box. These really start getting into the fusillading spirit, with the Trebuchet and the Longbow (and, to a lesser extent, the Zeus) each capable of firing huge salvos of long range missiles downfield.

• Trebuchet (50 tons, BV 1191)
• Longbow (85 tons, BV 1618)
• Zeus (80 tons, BV 1374)

This is one medium and two assault class mechs. The Longbow is a favorite design of mine, ready to just sit back and rain fire down upon its foes. I picture this one as the mech piloted by Commander Leland's number two.

Total mechs: 6
Total tons:  350
Total battle value: 7,200

Leland's Fusiliers: Wolfhound, Blackjack, Wolverine

Once again, I've exhausted my supply of mech miniatures to paint. Here are the first three "new-sculpt" members of the Leland's Fusiliers mercenary company. It's a good start for those plucky young hotshots.

• Wolfhound (35 tons, WLF-1A, BV 967)
• Blackjack (45 tons, BV 949)
• Wolverine (55 tons, BV 1,101)

Total mechs: 3
Total tons:  135
Total battle value: 3,017

As an aside, this leaves me with just shy of 1,000 points to make this into a 4,000 BV medium lance. A Centurion or Whitworth would fit nicely to round out this jack-of-all-trades lance. It'll probably just end up being whatever mech works best from the next Lance Box I find.

Aka-Oni Irregulars: Panther and Jenner

While Battletech is sold out pretty much everywhere, but some stroke of luck, my friendly local gaming store had ten Striker Lance boxes (and no other Battletech). I picked one up and added a Panther and Jenner to my forces. These mechs are a hallmark of the Draconis Combine, so they'll fit in perfectly if I use the Aka-Oni as Kuritan forces.

• Panther (35 tons, BV 769)
  
• Jenner (35 tons, BV 875)

Total mechs: 14
Total tons:  705
Total battle value: 14,285

Fun fact! Despite having twice the mechs as my Clan Ghost Bear force, the full might of the Aka-Oni Irregulars is still inferior in terms of total battle value, 14,285 to 15,760. (This doesn't even take into account the two points of Elemental Battlearmor at 280 points each). It might be a close battle, especially if the Ghost Bears fight "honorably," but this just illustrates how powerful (or overpowered) ClanTech is versus the 3025 Inner Sphere technology I enjoy.