Author Topic: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era  (Read 1933 times)

worktroll

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Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« on: 25 February 2020, 04:13:27 »

For most of the Draconis Combine's existence the Pesht Regulars were responsible for guarding the core of the Combine from Periphery-based threats. Until the Clan Invasion, however, the largest threat from the Periphery were bands of pirates. As a result, a posting to the Pesht Regulars was often used as a final post before an officer retired or used as a punishment for soldiers.

Lacking a border with a hostile major power, the 9th Pesht Regulars usually suffered from lower holdings of combat expendables, including armor, because of the low chances of them seeing combat. However, as guardians of Luthien, the capital of the Draconis Combine, the Regulars were well-trained in performing drills, marches and parades, providing examples to encourage greater loyalty amongst the citizens of the Combine.

The second and markedly less savoury role performed by the Regulars was that of suppressing civilian rebellions; acting in support of other formations, particularly the Sword of Light brigade, the Regulars took on responsibility for garrisoning and policing pacified areas, freeing other, higher-readiness formations for other actions. The Regulars would also be redeployed to other Military Districts on a temporary basis to cover garrison postings where other combat units had been deployed forward.

During the Clan Invasion the 9th Pesht Regulars quickly honed their skills. The Clans were the single largest challenge ever faced by the Pesht Regulars, and though they weren't always successful in defending against the Clans they learned their lessons: Instead of a retirement post or position of dishonor, the Pesht Regulars realized that they were responsible for defending the heart of their nation.

During the Dominion War, the Ninth Pesht Regulars were posted to Idlewind, and were one of the first commands hit by the Ghost Bear forces. Their commanding officer was killed early in the fighting and the Ninth lost all unit cohesion. More than 90% of the unit's soldiers were killed, and the remaining troops were assigned to other commands to make up personnel losses.During the Dominion War, the Ninth Pesht Regulars were posted to Idlewind, and were one of the first commands hit by the Ghost Bear forces. Their commanding officer was killed early in the fighting and the Ninth lost all unit cohesion. More than 90% of the unit's soldiers were killed, and the remaining troops were assigned to other commands to make up personnel losses.



The unit is pictured at the beginning of their deployment to Idlewind. While most Pesht regulars used a white parade scheme with grey stripes, the 9th used jade trim instead - the origin of this custom lost in time, but popularly believed to result from aid the unit's CO gave members of the O5P in the early Succession Wars period.



The 'Mech component of this battalion is classically Kuritan - no medium 'Mechs whatsoever. The CO leads his Command lance from his Atlas AS-7K, supported by a Warhammer WHM-7M, Victor VTR-9K, and Charger CGR-3K.



The Fast Assault lance is made up of Kuritan classics - a Dragon DRG-7K, a Grand Sragon DRG-5K, a Dragon DRG-7N, and a Catapult CPLT-K2K.



While an Order Lance of Panthers - PNT-12A, PNT-10K, PNT-10KA, and PNT-C1 - round off the 'Mech company.



TAG-equipped Scimitar hovers make up the primary recon/striker function for the battalion



Supported by speedy but hardy Myrmidon tanks



And nimble Packrat LRPVs.



Third Company deploys Field Infiltrators by squads, one per Packrat LRPV. The Raiden battle-armor is transported by two locally produced heavy wheeled APCs - their MG armaments removed to enable cramming in two full squads per vehicle. Finally, a platoon of rifle infantry protect a Field Artillery Forward Observer, travelling in a salvaged Galleon GAL-200 - removal of the turret, medium laser, power amplifiers and heat sinks providing the infantry with a hard-shelled battle transport.



White. Why did it have to be white ...

Well, it was self-inflicted. The unit is part of my "use up my old stocks before the KS hits" initiative. This included a Fatlas - being fair, I'm quite fond of this sculpt. And I did a proof of concept for a white scheme. Which came out indicating I could get a good result without too much effort.



What I hadn't accounted for was that the Fatlas had much deeper cuts than the more modern IWM & plastic minis making up the rest of the units, including some of the not-so-nice first-try CGL box plastics. Suffice it to say, it took a lot more work than planned, and not until the very end did I start to enjoy the results. Not Cazaril-white standard, but they look good enough for the table, I hope.

The APCs are BTR-60s, as many will recognise. They're from Skytrex' Action 200 line - WW2 and modern 1:200 scale armour. Just about perfect, and per-unit prices are excellent - however, the flat 15 pound international shipping fee may be a limit. I'll be picking up some M-60s - A1 and A2 - to represent Pattons and Rommels, respectively. They do also have a great selection of armoured recovery and bridging vehicles, of which I will be using in the future. Recommended for big-ish purchases!

This will almost certainly be my last effort at "worktroll white". This is the future - revolving around Citadel contrast paints.



Test pieces - Alpha Strike pack plastics. Seer grey base, black ink was, white contrast, drybrushed with Corax White, then a slightly lighter layer with a very bright white from Humbrol. It's a different style, but effective in it's own way, and much much less fiddly.

Comments, cheers, and brickbats welcomed as always,

W.



* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

avon1985

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #1 on: 25 February 2020, 06:18:52 »
Sweet! :thumbsup:

NeonKnight

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #2 on: 25 February 2020, 09:49:58 »
Good Jobs on the white.

So cool to see your Battalions, and it always make me wanna do up mine, but I so hate been seen as a 'poser and imitator.
AGENT #575, Vancouver Canada

Empyrus

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #3 on: 25 February 2020, 10:52:51 »
Cool!

Simon Landmine

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #4 on: 25 February 2020, 12:01:44 »
Nice!
"That's Lieutenant Faceplant to you, Corporal!"

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jimdigris

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #5 on: 25 February 2020, 16:30:00 »
 :thumbsup:

worktroll

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #6 on: 25 February 2020, 18:06:26 »
Good Jobs on the white.

So cool to see your Battalions, and it always make me wanna do up mine, but I so hate been seen as a 'poser and imitator.

Can't imagine anyone would think that. Pretty sure we all enjoy seeing unit builds of any size.  I'd like to see more!
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Force of Nature

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #7 on: 25 February 2020, 19:41:18 »
Nice work WT! White is difficult to get correct. I like the Plastech "Fatlas" also.

Watch out for the leg breaking at the ankle on that running Catapult though. It will get fatigued and break... Personal experience.

The Myrmidons are good workhorse tanks. I use them in my company also.

How long did it take to finish painting this battalion? Days, weeks, months?

.RL

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #8 on: 26 February 2020, 01:56:48 »
Awesome job Worktroll. Glad to see you completed this unit!
A bit obsessed with the BattleTech universe since I saw the glorious TV show as a kid...

My humble offering of painted 'Mechs

Colt Ward

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #9 on: 26 February 2020, 10:30:02 »
So . . . I may have closed the window before responding earlier . . .

It looks like besides walking, did you also put different weapons on the Dragons?
Colt Ward
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Valkerie

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #10 on: 26 February 2020, 11:22:01 »
Excellent work sir!  8) :thumbsup:

I am going to have to give that contrast paint a go when I get to my Word of Blake minis.
There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.   -Machiavelli

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worktroll

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #11 on: 27 February 2020, 22:00:31 »
Force, I started with the 'Mechs just after Chhristmas. Then more or less ignored them in January, due to the work not meeting my expectations. Got motivated in early Feb to do the vehicles - a slightly cut-down process - which gave me the motivation to go back & finish the 'Mechs. So something like 4 weeks elapsed, if you see what I mean.

.RL - yup, glad too. You going to post your Buenas here, or did I miss'em?

Colt, yup, love the plastics for customisation. The 7K has an ERPPC from DA stock, the 5K got leg & arm repose (the devs never meant the Dragon's right arm not to be articulated, check the CCG art), and the 7N - one of my favourites - got a metal gauss, and the RA autocannon repurposed to the LA.

Valkyrie, the trick is to have a drybrush of brilliant white over the top of the contrast work. Seer Grey base, ink, white contrast, Corax white drybrush, then the brilliant white top brush. YMMV, of course. But my 91st Division Cornstar (from the KS minis) will go this way.

Cheers,

W
* No, FASA wasn't big on errata - ColBosch
* The Housebook series is from the 80's and is the foundation of Btech, the 80's heart wrapped in heavy metal that beats to this day - Sigma
* To sum it up: FASAnomics: By Cthulhu, for Cthulhu - Moonsword
* Because Battletech is a conspiracy by Habsburg & Bourbon pretenders - MadCapellan
* The Hellbringer is cool, either way. It's not cool because it's bad, it's cool because it's bad with balls - Nightsky
* It was a glorious time for people who felt that we didn't have enough Marauder variants - HABeas2, re "Empires Aflame"

Empyrus

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #12 on: 27 February 2020, 22:22:12 »
91st Division Cornstar
🤔

That can't have been a typo, can it? lol

wolfspider

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #13 on: 28 February 2020, 13:50:43 »
 :thumbsup:
I may have a low amount of posts but I have a PHD in Battletech and mechs older then most people on this board!

Cazaril

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #14 on: 01 March 2020, 22:16:39 »
Not Cazaril-white

I have become an adverb! I kind of like that...

I'm also a big fan of the Fatlas... I have three painted and several more waiting... Beyond just the paint, I also like to mod the Atlas in an attempt to make it look better. Bigger AC-20. Larger medium lasers. Communication dish on the head. Coolant coupler in the rear. Thumbs. Anything that will nudge it towards the fluff and original art. If anyone cares, here is the last one I added to.

Just an FYI... Your fifth paragraph. The one that starts "During the Dominion War". You repeated yourself with the same text twice.

Watch out for the leg breaking at the ankle on that running Catapult though. It will get fatigued and break... Personal experience.

Crabs and Marauders suffer from this also... I prefer a piece of rigid .047 rod drilled up from the base, through the foot and deep into the leg. It gives extra support and I have yet to have the problem since I started doing this... For those who prefer it, paper clip would probably work too.

Caz

Phocion

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Re: Combined Arms Battallion, 9th Pesht Regulars, FCCW era
« Reply #15 on: 05 March 2020, 07:04:27 »
Thats a really nice force.   Its great to see combined arms battlegroupings and your color scheme is really cohesive, which ties them all together really well.  The custom mods on the mechs add a lot of character and distinctiveness.

Its also nice to see a whole lance of panthers together - I have a lance of them myself.  I think they work really well in groups on the tabletop.

Your work is plenty of motivation for me to get those armor lances  of typhoons and chevaliers that I keep promising myself.... ;D

 

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