The Scorpion Empire : Plus Ultra

[Col.Hengist]

Coyotes as Apaches? Nah. Apaches struck me as more Cougar favoring or Wolf favoring than Coyote. More physically powerful and direct. I will admit that my perception of Coyote and coyotes is flavored by the native tribes I have lived near. *glances at a pack of coyotes that live closer to Humptulips than any Jade Falcon will ever get*

As far as strength goes, we do not know how big the Coyote's growth explosion was. We also do not know how far the Goliath Scorpions have degraded in their time on the Castillan Worlds. It all boils down to Not Enough Information. For my own part, the Imperio has too many strikes against it. They lack infrastructure, stability, and cohesion. The Coyotes as written seem to have more going for them.

Humptulips? Do you game in Hoquim? I didn't think there was any game stores out that way.

[Decoy]

I live in Hoquiam. We've got one game store here near the border of Hoquiam and Aberdeen, but it's strictly Magic and D&D that I know. The pack of coyotes...is a pack of coyotes.

[rebs]

I hope the Coyotes are on the run, too.  Clans have the ability to be ultra-mobile when they plan it out well.  Just look at the Wolf Empire.

Our honored Escorpions haven't done that bad, either.

[Weirdo]

...you know you've got an extensive minis collection when going through all your unassigned stuff nets you close to two Trinaries' worth of units suitable for the Imperio. The question is, aside from an obvious need for infantry of any kind, what should I add to make this a nicely balanced force? Here's what I've ended up with:

Clan mechs:
Man O'War, Fire Scorpion, Galahad, Pouncer

Blakist mechs:
Highlander, Legacy, Blue Flame, Initiate, Nexus

Castillian mechs:
Battlemaster, Rifleman, Locust, Wasp

Protomechs:
Delphyne, Minotaur(x3), Triton(x3), Orc(x2), Satyr(x3)

Vehicles:
Von Luckner, Burke, Ares(x2), Hetzer, Svantovit(x2), Pegasus, Galleon(x2)

Fighters: Chippewa(x2), Sabutai(x2), Samurai(x2)(maybe?), Batu(x2), Seydlitz(x2)

On top of all that, I have a short Star consisting of a Kodiak, Highlander IIC, Marauder IIC, and Urbanmech IIC destined to be painted up as a Delta Galaxy Star.

[snewsom2997]

...you know you've got an extensive minis collection when going through all your unassigned stuff nets you close to two Trinaries' worth of units suitable for the Imperio. The question is, aside from an obvious need for infantry of any kind, what should I add to make this a nicely balanced force? Here's what I've ended up with:

Clan mechs:
Man O'War, Fire Scorpion, Galahad, Pouncer

Blakist mechs:
Highlander, Legacy, Blue Flame, Initiate, Nexus

Castillian mechs:
Battlemaster, Rifleman, Locust, Wasp

Protomechs:
Delphyne, Minotaur(x3), Triton(x3), Orc(x2), Satyr(x3)

Vehicles:
Von Luckner, Burke, Ares(x2), Hetzer, Svantovit(x2), Pegasus, Galleon(x2)

Fighters: Chippewa(x2), Sabutai(x2), Samurai(x2)(maybe?), Batu(x2), Seydlitz(x2)

On top of all that, I have a short Star consisting of a Kodiak, Highlander IIC, Marauder IIC, and Urbanmech IIC destined to be painted up as a Delta Galaxy Star.

That should stand up to anything short of a Clan Front Line Unit, or prestige IS unit.

For the infantry, i would suggest some Ku's, Indra's, Cobra's, and Goblin's to move you infantry. Maybe a star of Battle Armor, for every Company of foot sloggers.

[Dulahan]

Just an honest question.  where did the Imperio get Blakist mechs?  I don't recall anything about that yet.  Though could easily be forgetting.

[Maelwys]

Waypoint 531 was a Blakist cache that was discovered by the Scorpions (Along with the Dark Caste). After all the fighting was done, the Scorpions made off with about half of the cache. You can read about it in WoR on pages 128-130.

[Weirdo]

Yup. This is why you see so much WoB stuff on the Imperio RATs in ISP3. We don't have any hard availability, but my assumption is that anything that was in general deployment before the Jihad kicked off(ie, TRO 3067 or earlier) has a decent chance of having been in that cache.

Gives me a good excuse to deploy the one Legacy mini I own, I love those things. Tempted to paint it in Delta Galaxy colors, to show one of the few survivors of that Galaxy honoring his fallen brethren.

[wantec]

...you know you've got an extensive minis collection when going through all your unassigned stuff nets you close to two Trinaries' worth of units suitable for the Imperio. The question is, aside from an obvious need for infantry of any kind, what should I add to make this a nicely balanced force?

Right now you have a full aerospace star, I'd leave those as-is. You have 13 points of 'Mechs, 5 points of vehicles, and 12 Protos.

I'd add a few more Protos, enough to get you up to 3 full points. I'd also add two more vehicles (another Galleon or something else fast) to get you to 6 points of vehicles. That leaves room for 3 more 'Mechs. I'd suggest another recon 'Mech or two, depending on if you want a full recon star of 'Mechs or a mixed 'Mech/vehicle one.

[Weirdo]

Much as I love combined-arms formations, I think I'm this case I'd like to keep the tanks and conventional infantry separate, to represent a Grunt Caste unit.

[truetanker]

What about a few ELH?

In '71 ELH won a few Stars of Jupiters while being assigned to Delta Galaxy ('72) ...

TT

[wantec]

What about a few ELH?

In '71 ELH won a few Stars of Jupiters while being assigned to Delta Galaxy ('72) ...

TT

That one's a mixed bag. Pg. 146 of WoR, during the Grand Council session that led to the Coyote Trials of Cleansing, Khan Suvarov states that all the ELH that had joined the touman were dead (killed in combat) and that they had failed to amount to much of anything. However, the 1st Eridani Lancers did beat Star Colonel Brian Pryde to win a Trinary of Jupiters for the Clan in 3071. The Jupiter and Jupiter 2 were both in production prior to 3071, so you could grab one of those.

[Weirdo]

Honestly, I think I'm good for assault-weight stuff. I'm painting most of my stuff in Beta Galaxy colors, and those guys are more known for feints and flanking maneuvers, though I need to read more closely on the Clusters that were transferred in after the Reavings and Abjuration.

[Dulahan]

That one's a mixed bag. Pg. 146 of WoR, during the Grand Council session that led to the Coyote Trials of Cleansing, Khan Suvarov states that all the ELH that had joined the touman were dead (killed in combat) and that they had failed to amount to much of anything. However, the 1st Eridani Lancers did beat Star Colonel Brian Pryde to win a Trinary of Jupiters for the Clan in 3071. The Jupiter and Jupiter 2 were both in production prior to 3071, so you could grab one of those.

I definitely got the impression - for not other reason than my gut feeling - that Suvarov was lying about that little fact. 

[wantec]

I definitely got the impression - for not other reason than my gut feeling - that Suvarov was lying about that little fact.

I doubt she'd lie about them being alive, but I can definitely see her downplay any contributions they made to the touman. It'd be pretty easy to order a review of the Scorpion touman for any ELH survivors and if they ever showed up against another Clan it would likely trigger a Reaving or Annihilation.

[Dulahan]

My view was more the vested interest thing.  They already had 'plans.'   They liked collecting relics of the Star League, and were secretive about them.  thus, to me it makes sense they'd hide said evidence.  Even if the ELH survivors who hadn't died (and that's certainly possible most did!) got spirited off to some secret base to prepare for the invasion or even keep them alive. 

[rebs]

If the Scorpions were already getting sick of the Home Clans' schtick, I could definitely see her lying.

[Dulahan]

As for ways to round out the force listed above:

How about some Purifier Armor?  Now that I've gone back and looked into the Blakist thing (thanks for the cite!) - getting a hold of some of their Power Armor along with the mechs seems like a no brainer.

Interesting combination of forces too, some Purifiers, Elementals... 

[Knightmare]

Interesting combination of forces too, some Purifiers, Elementals...

The Imperio may be the only other faction to deploy that particular combo outside of the Republic.

[Weirdo]

Hmmm...given Beta Galaxy's love of feints and encirclements, I can see them being fond of a suit that performs very well when used as the jaws of a trap...

[pat_hdx]

Not a big poster, but want to thank the writers and developers who post here (wantec for example) on the Escorpión thread. I'm VERY fond of the faction and hope it has a long life in Battletech.

The mix of Clan and Nueva Castile/Umayyad culture, the short term WoB influence, the ready made (interesting) enemies in the Hansa, the Home Clanners and whomever comes out from the nearest part of the Innershpere (Steiner/Falcon space)and Periphery (including all the quirky factions from Interstellar Expeditions and the old RWR space), the race to develop and integrate technologies (new, old, and in-between) in order to come up with innovative ways to survive...it's an exotic setting that could really reward imaginative players and RPGers.

From hints here I bought Interstellar Operations, and got a BattleCorps subscription to download Fragments of History.

Fired up ye old MegaMek and played a game using the Interstellar Expeditions RAT to create a ridiculously fun second line unit. Completely crazy mix of Clan, WoB, 3025, and off the wall units to defeat a dezgra Jade Falcon raider unit escaping into the Deep Periphery. Building a campaign around that.

Look forward to the Escorpión themed product!

My humble suggestion for an Imperio national (imperial?) anthem (based of the Mexican grito used on Mexican independence day):

¡Viva el Imperio del Escorpión!
¡Viva!
¡Viva los héroes que nos dieron Patria!
¡Viva!
¡Viva Colin Yeh!
¡Viva!
¡Viva Joseph Noye!
¡Viva!
¡Viva Connor Rood!
¡Viva!
¡Viva Lise Burrill!
¡Viva!
¡Viva el Imperio!
¡Viva! ¡Viva! ¡Viva!

[ThatPirateGuy]

Since my group plays with up to date toys (3145-3150) included and has people who are not going near Imperio space.

I am putting together a "Mercenary Command" that would have left Imperio space somewhere around  3095 and operated for the next 60 years mostly independently.

The goal of the force would be to gather resources for self preservation and to get supplies shipped to the Imperio when possible.

So how do you think that would work? Who would hire them to fight the Draconis Combine & Clan Wolf on a regular basis (both chosen due to ability to use other minis in my collection coherently)

I assume the first order of business would be purchasing or "liberating" from some "pirates" a jump ship so that the one they left on can go back to Imperio space so as not to drain Imperio resources.

Any one care to help me out in filling in a few details.

I am painting them in a matching color scheme to one of my son's stuffed animals.



In my head they make more C-bills selling the Star League era stuffie but as clan-descended warriors they can't give up the warfare. Plus with premium loot like that you can't take any chances with security.

[Deadborder]

It's a fun concept, but bearing in mind that due to how isolationist the Imperio seems to be, they might not be welcome back at all. Sort of a one-way trip kind of a deal. Definiitely on the lower tech end of the scale, but that's not allways a bad thing.

The most logical employers I can think of to be fighting the Wolves and the Combine are the Lyrans (For the former) and the FedSuns (for the latter).

[ThatPirateGuy]

Perhaps the individuals would not be welcome back but irregular and desperately needed supplies and outside information would be. Misfits that can't be allowed to stay but would cause too much tension to purge permanently could be sent to the command as when the supply ships leave after dropping off the goods.

The supplies and news would be needed very much post black out.

[Col.Hengist]

Since my group plays with up to date toys (3145-3150) included and has people who are not going near Imperio space.

I am putting together a "Mercenary Command" that would have left Imperio space somewhere around  3095 and operated for the next 60 years mostly independently.

The goal of the force would be to gather resources for self preservation and to get supplies shipped to the Imperio when possible.

So how do you think that would work? Who would hire them to fight the Draconis Combine & Clan Wolf on a regular basis (both chosen due to ability to use other minis in my collection coherently)

I assume the first order of business would be purchasing or "liberating" from some "pirates" a jump ship so that the one they left on can go back to Imperio space so as not to drain Imperio resources.

Any one care to help me out in filling in a few details.

I am painting them in a matching color scheme to one of my son's stuffed animals.



In my head they make more C-bills selling the Star League era stuffie but as clan-descended warriors they can't give up the warfare. Plus with premium loot like that you can't take any chances with security.

 Simple. The Lyrans.

[ArkRoyalRavager]

That would put them in close proximity with the Exiled Wolves. Tough one.

[ThatPirateGuy]

That would put them in close proximity with the Exiled Wolves. Tough one.

I do have a night wolf in my collections that could use some explaining...

[ArkRoyalRavager]

That's good. You could also get creative explaining to the Exiles when they start suspecting the Clan origins of your unit  >:D

[ThatPirateGuy]

That's good. You could also get creative explaining to the Exiles when they start suspecting the Clan origins of your unit  >:D

Sorry dudes I had a totally legitimate & convincing proof of our inner sphere origins ready but then I got high on Necrosia and left it in my other cooling jacket.

Quiaff?

[ArkRoyalRavager]

Aff. Or just be the Knights of St. Cameron. They might be Scorps in disguise.