Author Topic: Grand Rapids Michigan  (Read 5478 times)

Goober415

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Grand Rapids Michigan
« on: 30 June 2019, 12:11:58 »
Hey just looking to get a feel for any players in the Grand Rapids Michigan area that are looking for a BattleTech Tabletop gaming group to get started back up.

We have a handful of guys that play semi-regularly, but it has been a while, so we are trying to see if any new blood wants to join as well.
As many of us have pretty busy schedules, so hard to always make schedules work, but with a few more lost souls we could hopefully keep a good pool of players going.

We play BattleTech, AlphaStrike, Succession Wars, BattleSpace, AeroTech, BattleTech CCG you name it, LOL has been a while for some, but if it has to do with the BattleTech Universe we do it.

My group is also the group that runs the BattleTech Pods here in the Midwest, so you see us at Gencon, Origins, etc.....
( So we have some unique bonuses for our game group :D

We have a warehouse were we keep the pods and try to do a "Pod night" once a month which is open Pod Play, but have tabletop games going as well.
We then generally try to get some tabletop nights a couple-few times a month in addition to that.

Let me know if you are in the area or slightly out of it and interested, as would love to grow the group and the mayhem!

Thanks!
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Starfury

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #1 on: 21 July 2019, 19:56:50 »
I live in Kalamazoo, but I would be interested.  I've been playing BT on and off since 1987.  I have the latest rules set, but my stock of minis have long since been savaged by the wars of times past.  My schedule is pretty free on the weekends, other then one Sunday a month.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #2 on: 24 July 2019, 17:05:25 »
Great Starfury.

So me and my crew are gearing up for Gencon, we will be taking out BattleTech Tesla Pods there, so next couple of weeks we will be "working" Battletech.

Once we get back from Gencon, I will be looking to schedule something.

As soon as I can lock in a date I will let you know.

What works best for you post the first weekend in August?
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Starfury

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #3 on: 24 July 2019, 20:04:34 »
Anytime other then the 18th of August.  Are PDF versions of the rules sets fine, or do you want hardback copies?

Coanunn

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #4 on: 05 August 2019, 11:51:04 »
It's awesome you guys are just up there in GR!  It's just far enough I wouldn't be able to make the trip too often but might have to try to come up sometime.  I haven't played but maybe 3 games in the past 15-20 years unfortunately and was never great at it, but took my 8 year old son to GenCon and we did the Grinder most of the 3rd and all of the 4th day! He got more kills than I did!  If I had looked on here before going I would have known to come meet you guys while we were there as we were only about 20 feet from where you had the Pods set up that entire time.

VincentDegrassa

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #5 on: 06 August 2019, 17:43:46 »
Goober415,

Have you joined the Facebook group for Michigan BattleTech players?  If not, think about joining.  We post events and have discussions for BattleTech players across Michigan. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MichiganBattletech/

I try to run events in Battle Creek but mostly in Jackson.
Jim Topa
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"Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day accept this Mech as gift on my daughter's first tournament"

Proud Member of the Vortex of Suck Merc unit
--Keeper of those in debt and head of J'mes Jokers

Tiger1833

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #6 on: 06 August 2019, 20:03:08 »
I’m in ada, but I have only played in megamek and that was forever ago.  I’ve caught the bug again after seein the clan kickstarter

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #7 on: 10 August 2019, 18:03:41 »
Sorry about the delay, work was killing me a bit post Gencon.

So we are running what we have affectionately called M3 ( Mechs Munchies and Mayhem ) starting again August 24th this month.
We hope top keep these running indefinitely now.

Our new location ( which just so happens to house 20+ of the Battletech Firestorm Pods ) is 3552 Roger B Chaffee Memorial Blvd Wyoming MI 49548.
We will be starting at 10am on the 24th.

I will update by next weekend rules and scenario. ( still up in the air if doing normal rules or Alpha Strike ), may have both ready to go based on how much time I have.

What we normally do is play for 3-4 hours, and share munchies we bring along to share, then after game is done, hit the Battletech Pods, which we do not charge for if you come and play Battletech, perk of M3 day :).
Then we have play area that if anyone wants to run pickup games as well of anything else we encourage that as well.
Then we usually break up around early evening or later if we get caught up having to much fun.

Look forward to seeing any new faces we can get.

Feel free to DM me your email if you want to get on our group email, as not everyone in our group is on this forum.

Thanks and have a great one!
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #8 on: 10 August 2019, 18:05:35 »
@Vincent, I actually dont have a Facebook account LOL.
I work in IT and many of us see that as the DEVIL :) hahahaha.

I will probably have to break down and jump on that, as want to grow our community in GR, so will have to let the hate go.....
« Last Edit: 11 August 2019, 11:34:54 by Goober415 »
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VincentDegrassa

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #9 on: 13 August 2019, 08:51:55 »
You don't have to have a Facebook account.  Anyone that is part of the group can add events for you if you want.  PM me if you want your events in group but don't want a FB account 

IronSphinx also maintains a website http://www.playbattletech.org that lists events around the Michigan area.  PM him to get his email address and he will post your events up on the website....

I just checked the site and IronSphinx has your event up there alreeady
Jim Topa
Don Degrassa, The Godfather of Battletech
"Someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day accept this Mech as gift on my daughter's first tournament"

Proud Member of the Vortex of Suck Merc unit
--Keeper of those in debt and head of J'mes Jokers

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #10 on: 17 August 2019, 11:02:48 »
Thanks Vincent,

Will get details pit tonight as have been traveling for work all week.

I’ve known Chuck for quite a while and he is on the list, he has been great about posting our events over the years.

Look for an update late tonight or in AM with scenario details!
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Coanunn

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #11 on: 17 August 2019, 13:13:54 »
@Vincent, I actually dont have a Facebook account LOL.
I work in IT and many of us see that as the DEVIL :) hahahaha.

I will probably have to break down and jump on that, as want to grow our community in GR, so will have to let the hate go.....

This is super tempting but unfortunately I think the earliest I could be up that way is around 1-2pm.  We hold our business meetings every Saturday morning which runs to between noon and 1.  I might make it up, depends on what happens this week.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #12 on: 17 August 2019, 13:22:18 »
No problem if you cannot make it up for the early game, but we do run usually into the late afternoon and evening depending on what we get into.

As recall we have the BattleTech Tesla Pods at our gaming site, so usually we get into playing those afterwards, or even other table games.

Regardless, no worries, but swing by if you can would love to have you out!
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #13 on: 17 August 2019, 13:45:50 »
** Update - Ruleset and Scenario for August 24th 10am game...

Rules - Base Rules - AGoAC book, BattleTech Manual and TW are compatible
Focus here is to keep it relatively simple so no super advanced rules or anything crazy as goal is to just get to know all our new and old faces, and then when playing this time get a feel for what everyone is most interested in doing. ( we can talk campaign stuff, alpha strike, aerotech, etc.........)

Scenerio - In with keeping it simple and fun so it is more of a get to know your new and old Battletech brothers, going to run Divide and Conquer ( slight mods ) from the AGoAC Box set rulebook.
Mechs will be as listed, but instead of using the paper mapsheets, we will use one of the new larger neoprene maps that CGL has produced., they are roughly the size of 2x mapsheets themselves, that way we have cohesive terrain. ( I think laterally there is only a 3-hex difference )
So mechs will be all old school mechs and good old fashioned down and dirty fighting.

If we rip through that one, we can play also Trial by Fire ( depending on attendance ) which is small and quick.

Or we can jump into the Battletech Pods early as well.

While there will really want to get feedback on what type of games people are interested in playing, such as rulesets ( like do we want to rotate between TW and Alpha Strike ) which maybe depending on size of engagements. Do we want to try to tackle more of a campaign?
As the new Chaos Campaign Succession Wars PDF CGL just released looks like fun.

Again looking forward to seeing you there, adn if you cant make it right away again we go to early evening with all the other actvities we have there, so stop by if you can and say high or look for next months update!

Have a great day everyone!
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Coanunn

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #14 on: 20 August 2019, 12:00:27 »
Well I have been informed by my better half that we have plans that day (a close friend's birthday party).  I hope to catch your next gathering.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #15 on: 22 August 2019, 22:03:08 »
No problem

Look forward to next time.

Post game day this Saturday I will try to do an after action report and then get next date picked.

If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #16 on: 27 August 2019, 08:50:03 »
Hey everyone, thanks for coming out, good times.

We had a small 12x mech engagement, and of the 10x deaths, 6x were by headshot, including one that was kicked off! ( GOOOOAAALLLLL!!!!)
crazy....

After the game we spent some great time in the BattleTech Pods.

I will work on getting a date set for September as soon as I can.
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #17 on: 27 August 2019, 08:53:51 »
Couple of Pictures -
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Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #18 on: 27 August 2019, 08:54:17 »
Pods
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Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #19 on: 08 September 2019, 18:31:16 »
So time for Mechs Munchies and Mayhem September Edition!

Saturday September 21st 10am
 Address of new Pod Bay is - 3552 Roger B Chaffee Memorial Blvd Wyoming MI 49548
Feel free to bring a dish/muchie/drink/etc.. to pass, but not required.

Scenario will be a little salute to recent Battletech Kickstarter, we will see some Inner Sphere VS Clanner action.

Setting - 3052 Tairakana Plains Luthien, Combine defending against Smoke JaguarElements of Company A 1st Battalion of the famed Otomo will be desperately trying to halt the advance of the 1st Jaguar Guard Cluster.There be mechs on both sides, and yes some fun little toads on you know whos side.( I have put a special spin on this scenario so be ready for some fun! )

As always the BattleTech Pods will be up and running
Look forward to seeing everyone there!
Let me know if any questions.
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #20 on: 17 September 2019, 10:14:08 »
Just reminding everyone, Mechs Munchies and Mayhem in 5 days !

Saturday September 21st 10am
 Address of new Pod Bay is - 3552 Roger B Chaffee Memorial Blvd Wyoming MI 49548
Feel free to bring a dish/muchie/drink/etc.. to pass, but not required.

Scenario will be a little salute to recent Battletech Kickstarter, we will see some Inner Sphere VS Clanner action.

Setting - 3052 Tairakana Plains Luthien, Combine defending against Smoke JaguarElements of Company A 1st Battalion of the famed Otomo will be desperately trying to halt the advance of the 1st Jaguar Guard Cluster.There be mechs on both sides, and yes some fun little toads on you know whos side.( I have put a special spin on this scenario so be ready for some fun! )

As always the BattleTech Pods will be up and running
Look forward to seeing everyone there!
Let me know if any questions.
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #21 on: 29 September 2019, 15:32:29 »
Hello everyone, sorry for the delay for the M3 update. Been travelling quite a bit for work, and with us wanting to go to a campaign style for a bit, wanted to work a few things before I sent this out.
First off date - Saturday October 26th, 10am will be the date for October. Will play tabletop from 10-2/3pm ish, then Battletech Pods will be open as well as gaming tables for anything anyone else wants to play. 

Plan for the game/campaign - last month we as a group decided we want to start getting back into more of a campaign game, and through our discussion we landed on each person will pick a couple of units and as a whole this will make our Merc Unit, ( still to be named ) and we would start our timeline about 3040/ish so post 4th succession wars, post brush wars, post war of 3039. But still prior to Clan Invasion. The goal here is we can ramp up for the Clan Invasion kickstarter till it comes out, and then decide to advance our timeline when it releases to roll with the excitement there.I want to stress that this will be a fun and casual campaign. I dont want it to be or feel like it is "hardcore". I want to have enough strategic and tactical detail, but focus on fun for the group.When we meet this month we can hammer out some of high level details such as name, unit history, etc...I will be trying to tie this in with the free from Catalyst, the Succession Wars Chaos Campaign.So using the Chaos Campaign system for how we gain and spend money, handle repairs, etc...It is a easier system to manage as goal here is to not get completely mired down in the individual C-bill spending and tracking.What I need from anyone looking to join in ( and do not need to be there each month or right from get go, feel free to jump in late, focus is on building the group and enhancing the community ) is for everyone to choose 2x units ( Mech/Tank/fighter/?, and unit means = 1, so if mechs 2x mechs, or can be mech and a tank or any combo ). Then pick pilot names, and come up with some colorful history for "FLAVOR"!The thing to remember here is we will need tactical flexibility as there will be many different types of missions which not all units are great for.** For example, and Urbanmech while fun and flavorful, is not a practical daily driver LOL. But if you choose it, so be it!These units can be anything pre 3040, so anything from Tech Readouts such as 2750, 3025, 3026, 3039, even most the units in the new Tech Readout Succession Wars ( as some will be a no due to the fact Catalyst slipped 3050 and 3075 stuff in there :) ).If any questions on if unit or the variant you choose is Pre 3040 ish friendly, send it to me, or check Sarna or the MUL for when it was available.The general flavor you should work with when choosing is that we are all separate teams that are at least 10+ year veterans of the Succession/Brush/3039 wars and middle actions in there, that have come together to form a new unit. So you should choose units and flavor that fits your passion and play style. I will adapt campaign and scenarios to accommodate.Again just shoot me any questions on choices you are looking to make.Your pilots available one will be 3/4 and one will be a 4/4. That 3 can be pilot or gunnery again fit it to your style and choices.

QUIRKS - Then to add to the fun an flavor we are allowing units to have the new "QUIRKS" that started in Strat Ops book, but are in the new Battletech Manual. What I am allowing is up to 2x positive quirks per unit, but no more than 5x points total. And what ever you spend in Positive quirks you must then spend equal points or greater in negative quirks.* for example to fit the flavor of an Awesome 8Q, I would make one of my choices the Battle Fist, which fits with its left arm, and is also a positive design quirk.So read up on your choices and feel free to be creative. This is in then end something new we are trying and want to see how it goes, so we will adjust and tune as we go too.

PLAN IS NOT PLAN LOL
So what I mean here is pick your units, pick your pilots, pick your good and bad quirks, and show up Saturday October 26th, and lets have some fun. We will hash out stuff as we go, and learn from our mistakes.And we can take this any direction that the group agrees as a whole on from there.Goal is to have fun and blow shit up! And hopefully not get blown up in the process.And Lord willing we will all be back for SpaceBalls 2, the search for more money!

Let me know questions concerns, etc........
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #22 on: 22 October 2019, 08:39:20 »
Hey everyone so just get pumped for M3 this coming Saturday.

In preperation I would like to share my 2x unit force I am going to start with. I went with some oldies but goodies, a mech and tank that I always love to play. Did not go for any uber strong force, but more for what flavor wise I like and would be enjoyable for me to play.

I went with a Dragon DRG-1G and a J. Edgar Light Hover Tank.
I slightly modified my Dragon to replace the LRM-10 to use a SRM-6 instead as wanted to balance long-short range firepower better.
The J. Edgar is sitting stock still.

The Quirks I went with are,
Dragon - Positive I went with Barrel Fist ( 1pt ) to go with its left arm which seemed thematic. Also went with Stable ( 2pts ) as in BM book it calls out the Dragon specifically for this trait. Negative - I had a little fun with this one and went with Poor Performance ( 3pts ) which means before I can run,  I have to walk first. So could be interesting as means I cannot immediately hit running speeds.
J. Edgar - Positive I went with Improved Targeting Short Range (3pts ) as if you read flavor text it calls out the advanced electronics it had for Comms and Targeting, so thought that fit. Negative - Again going for theme here went with Obsolete ( 4pts) since it has been out of production for a while and this will make aquiring parts much harder. Should be fun!

Cant wait to see what you guys come up with, and again you dont have to choose Quirks, more just if you want a little more flavor, as there will be good and bad. I just like the idea of how it gives some better flavor for the 4th Succession and post era till there was a technology boom. At also gives that feeling of a USED mech versus traditionally how everything is in showroom shape.

See you all this weekend!
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #23 on: 17 November 2019, 13:14:58 »
Hey sorry for delay but still travelling and just trying to keep up.That being said, here is your update and mission status for this coming Saturday November 23rd.Be there at 10am and we will review last minute mission parameters and adjust forces as needed based on attendance.

Overview - Last month we took a defensive contract for the world of Milligan's World in the Outworld Alliance. President Mitchell Avellar has contracted us for the next 6x months to defend and repel pirate and Draconis Combine incursions from his world and keep his people and industries safe. The elevated level of incursions mainly by the Draconis Combine have forced many business to relocate to safer habitations, so this missions success is critical to the future of President Avellar and his world.

Status - In our encounter last month, those Combine pig dogs tried to catch us by surprise shortly after landing and arriving on world at our base of operations. We made short work of that piss poor attempt to catch us with our pants down. Our unit experienced only minimal damage while we were able to down 3x enemy mechs. All minor repairs have been made and our full force is in top operating condition. Of our salvage, 2x of the down mechs show some promise to be restored or have decent parts left on them for salvage. The commando fell victim to such a large ammo explosion that it was best left in place for future cover for infantry units in battles to come. The Panther and Wolverine, the quartermaster is recommending breaking down the Panther for parts, but feels the Wolverine 6K is worth trying to repair to operational condition. We can have the engine shielding fixed by next month but we are short a head! So once we track parts availability for that, we will keep you posted.

Next Steps - President Avellar has requested that do to our dominating performance in our first encounter we should take the battle to the snakes! We have recieved intel of the location of where there forward base of operations is, and its time to see if we can try to do what they could not and catch them while they are sleeping. We will want to strike hard and fast, so plan for mobile units but dont sacrifice to much firepower, as we will want to fly in fast, but we will still need to be able to hit them hard. As a Dragon with his back against the wall is still very dangerous. Forecast for this mission is supposed to be heavy rains so be prepared for reduced visibility and muddy conditions!

Let me know if any questions, and look forward to seeing everyone there!
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

Goober415

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Re: Grand Rapids Michigan
« Reply #24 on: 09 December 2019, 23:52:09 »
Situation: Plain of Curtains, 06:00 2 June 3050

Dropships inbound....
Unknown design....
Negative on force estimate....

This is Leftenant-General Cicero, assemble the troops, and let’s catch them before they can fortify....
Like the chaotic weather we enjoy here, we will smother them with the fury of a cyclone!

****This coming Saturday come recreate the initial landing of the Falcon Guards on Twycross and see if the TMM can fair better than what the history books depict.
Fun begins at 10am, feel free to bring a treat, and as always pods will be live!

See you there,
If you have to ask who is Goober....its already to late.

 

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