The Scarlet Hussars (pre-Clan Invasion)

[E. Icaza]

The Scarlet Hussars


TO&E (22 June 3040)

Command/Strike Lance

Captain Eliot Mori (P3/G3) DRG-1N Dragon
Althea Jurgen (P4/G4) GLT-4L Guillotine
Jiro Kimura (P5/G4) QKD-4G Quickdraw
Phineas Elton (P5/G4) PNT-9R Panther

Support/Battle Lance

Lieutenant Olivia Paulsen (P5/G4) AWS-8Q Awesome
Adam Ghaffari (P4/G3) CGR-1A9 Charger
Wilhelmina Cho (P5/G4) VND-1R Vindicator
Jack Jackson (P5/G4) FS9-K Firestarter

Pursuit/Recon Lance

Lieutenant George Sandusky (P4/G4) CN9-A Centurion
Deborah Ito (P3/G4) JR7-D Jenner
Katsurou Anderson (P5/G4) CLNT-2-3T Clint
Joshua Harmon (P3/G3) WLF-1 Wolfhound




Unit History:

The majority of the Scarlet Hussars is made up of elements of the 9th Dieron Regulars that were defeated on Sadachbia during the War of 3039.  Chu-i Mori managed to arrange covert transport off-world after his unit was cut-off from the remainder of the Kurita forces fighting the 8th Deneb Light Cavalry, disobeying orders to stand and fight to the last man.  Declared ronin, the unit traded a pair of heavily damaged 'Mechs for passage to Galatea, where they realized that they had little alternative to becoming mercenaries.

While the unit was repairing and re-fitting on Galatea, they absorbed the remaining lance of another mercenary company shattered during Anton's Revolt (Paulsen's Pulverizers) in addition to a pair of solo Mechwarriors to bring their unit to a full company in size.  Despite some teething issues, the disparate forces and personalities have begun coalescing into a cohesive unit and Captain Mori has begun to search for the units first contract.

Fortunately, the remnants of the Pulverizers managed to escape with the majority of their Tech staff and their Union-class DropShip "Beast", giving the unit sufficient support and transport elements to maintain and move the entire unit.

Notable Personalities:

Captain Eliot Mori: Eliot comes from a long line of modestly successful samurai, but when his lance was ordered to hold position against an overwhelmingly superior foe due to the incompetence of his commanding officer, he chose to exercise the better part of valor and withdrew.  Unfortunately, his commanding officer was politically connected and his family had Eliot and those who withdrew declared ronin.  Eliot led the survivors of his unit to Galatea, where he originally hoped to join a larger mercenary command, but instead chose to incorporate a smaller unit.  Mori's piloting prowess is undeniable and he has the Dodge and Speed Demon SPA.

Lieutenant Olivia Paulsen:  Olivia's father was the CO of Paulsen's Pulverizers, a company-sized mercenary unit destroyed during the Andurien Secession Crisis.  Olivia led the shattered remnants of the unit to Galatea, where she encountered Eliot Mori and the two hashed out a merger of their respective commands.  She grew up in the Pulverizers, serving first as the unit's "mascot" and unofficial good luck charm before eventually taking a combat position.  Her status as a good luck charm comes from her uncanny ability to predict an enemy's actions, providing her with the Combat Intuition SPA.

Joshua Harmon:  If there is a crisis point building within the unit, it is certain that Joshua will be at the center of it.  He deserted from the LCAF during the Skye Crisis, intending to join the Free Skye forces, but was stymied by an inability to find transport.  An ardent supporter of Free Skye, his argumentative and opinionated nature made it difficult for him to find long-term employment with several mercenary units.  Due to rising debts, he was forced to swallow some of his rhetoric and found a position with the Hussars.  Since then, he has been an ongoing discipline problem, but Captain Mori is reluctant to discharge him due to his undeniable skill with a BattleMech.  Joshua has the Speed Demon and Maneuvering Ace SPA.


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Because I love making units!

My good friend Jon, who I played a few games with recently, picked up a bunch of the Alpha Strike Lance Packs and gave me half of them as an early/late Birthday/Christmas gift and to encourage me to create a unit for him to play against.  I got the Pursuit/Support/Striker box sets and he took the Command/Assault/Recon box sets.  He intends to paint up his unit and bring them for whenever we have the chance to indulge in a game or two when he's visiting.  He's not as enamored of the BT lore/universe as I am, but I had to give my unit a backstory.  :P

He enjoyed the games we played last week, but he's not as up on some of the newer developments and requested that we just play Intro Tech for now.  I introduced him to the Chaos Campaign rules and he's intending to use them to come up with his force and fluffed out that we'd be starting in 3040 or so, so we can gradually introduce more advanced tech as time goes on. 

[E. Icaza]

Snow's Spartans

TO&E (30 June 3040)

Command/Battle Lance

Sang-wei Jon Snow (P3/G2) CP-10-Z Cyclops
Bekka Parks (P4/G3) CPLT-C1 Catapult
Virgil Shin (P4/G3) CTF-1X Cataphract
Yi Zhang (P4/G3) RVN-1X Raven

Assault Lance

Sao-wei Lian Snow (P3/G3) AS7-D Atlas
Vasily Dubikoff (P4/G3) VTR-9B Victor
Josephine Horne (P4/G3) GHR-5H Grasshopper
Wallace Martell (P4/G3) BJ-1 Blackjack

Recon Lance

Sao-wei Xiu Mei Yu (P3/G4) VL-2T Vulcan
Mark Pulaski (P4/G3) CDA-2A Cicada
Erin Chernikov (P4/G3) SDR-5V Spider
Jesse Rivers (P4/G3) FLE-15 Flea

Unit History: 

A careless word about the quality of the Confederation's leadership is all it takes to earn a visit from the Maskirovka in Romano Liao's Capellan Confederation.  Sao-shao Jonathan "Jon" Snow and his wife Lian were officers in the CCAF's Third CRC forced to flee when they were marked for "re-education".  A sympathetic member of the Maskirovka informed them that they were to be arrested and the couple used the opportunity to gather several warriors who were more loyal to the Sao-shao than to the CapCon and secure transport off-world.

Although there was some debate as to whether the unit should offer their services to the St. Ives Compact or Free Capella, they were unwilling to go so far as to join the outright "traitors" to the Confederation.  Instead, the Snows bartered for transport to Galatea where they began the process of becoming a mercenary unit.  After a short period of refit & repairs, the unit has begun searching for its first contract.

The warriors were forced to leave the Capellan Confederation without their technical staff, but were able to entice a band of freelance Techs to sign on with them shortly after arriving on Galatea.  In addition, they have also kept the Union-class DropShip "Chariot" that they "liberated" while escaping from the CapCon.

Notable Personalities:

Sang-wei Jon Snow:  Jon's parents were Servitors as their world was captured from the FWL but they eventually earned their Citizenship.  Despite their previous affiliation, they instilled in their son a loyalty to the Confederation that led to him joining the CCAF and eventually being trained as a Mechwarrior.  He rose through the ranks of the CCAF despite intense scrutiny from the Maskirovka due to his heritage.  He served with distinction during the disastrous 4th Succession War and was awarded the Cluster of Conspicuous Heroism during the Andurien-Canopus invasion and given a battalion command in the 3rd CRC, which is where he met his wife.  Jon is a skilled commander, possessing the Tactical Genius and Multi-Tasker SPAs.

Sao-wei Lian Snow:  Lian's family has a distinguished heritage within the Capellan Confederation, with members of her family serving in the CCAF & House of Scions since the founding of the Confederation.  She was on maternity leave from her position in the 3rd CRC when word of her upcoming arrest by the Maskirovka reached her, but she was able to disable or evade the Mask operatives sent to capture her and infiltrate the CRC base and escape with her 'Mech.  With her and Jon's young son and infant daughter stuffed into the cockpit of her Atlas, she made contact with her husband and fled off-world with him.  Lian is a skilled martial artist and that carries over to her piloting prowess with her 'Mech as well, giving her the Melee Specialist and Fist Fire SPA.

Sao-wei Xiu Mei Yu:  A long-time friend of the Snow family, Xiu Mei is, unknown to the Snows, an informant and sometime agent of the Maskirovka.  Indeed, it was her report on their unpatriotic comments that landed the pair on trouble with the Mask, much to her shame and guilt.  Since leaving Confederation space, she has thus far ignored two attempts by her Maskirovka handler to make contact, fearing that they will order her to take action against her friends.  Since she still has family in the Confederation, she is understandably concerned that they will face retribution if she continues to evade her "responsibility" to the Chancellor.  Like her friend Lian, Xiu Mei is a skilled martial artist and served as Lian's most frequent sparring partner.  She is also a skilled pilot, possessing the Jumping Jack SPA.

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At my friend Jon's request, I made up a unit history and such for the force he made up with his Lance Packs.  Although he is mostly "faction agnostic", the lance packs that he got had a very CapCon flavor.  His wife is from Taiwan, so he was cool with having it done up as a CapCon defector force as he lived in Taiwan for a few years.  We also decided that since he's stuck with a SW era Raven, that we'd rule that in addition to its "pseudo-ECM/Probe" abilities that if it was in the same lance as the unit commander that it will give him a +1 initiative bonus so long as the equipment is active/undamaged.

I put him and his wife Lian in as two of the unit officers.  And yes, his real name is Jonathan "Jon" Snow.  And yes, he's heard all of the jokes. ;)

[Nav_Alpha]

Nice looking unit. My only comment would be that the CapCon didn't bring in the Asian influenced rank names until the Xing Shen reforms in the early 3060s
But if this was my campaign i would just hand wave that to "well, we're all speaking Mandarin in Liao space anyway."

[E. Icaza]

LOL, yeah I forgot about that.  The best part is that I had to look most of them up and he'll probably keep them out of revenge for me insisting on using Clan names for 'Mechs and DCMS ranks when we play.  Those I know like the back of my hand.  :)

Me:  "My Summoner fires at your Bushwacker."
Jon:  "What's a Summoner?
Me:  <Points>
Him:  "Oh, you mean the Thor?  Why didn't you say so?"

[Dave Talley]

great start

[Nav_Alpha]

LOL, yeah I forgot about that.  The best part is that I had to look most of them up and he'll probably keep them out of revenge for me insisting on using Clan names for 'Mechs and DCMS ranks when we play.  Those I know like the back of my hand.  :)

Me:  "My Summoner fires at your Bushwacker."
Jon:  "What's a Summoner?
Me:  <Points>
Him:  "Oh, you mean the Thor?  Why didn't you say so?"

Im with him! I always seem to go with IS names for omnis. Just call me a spheroid born

[E. Icaza]

We did our first Chaos Campaign game today!  I fluffed our contracts up to be that both the Hussars and Spartans, along with several other smaller merc commands, were hired by the Fed Suns to hunt and eliminate various pirate bands operating out of the Tortuga Dominions. 

We flipped a coin and my Track was first (Recon) and we're doing the Spartan's Track (Supply) tomorrow.  I took my Pursuit/Recon Lance and the opposition that he rolled up was a RFL-3N Rifleman, WTH-1 Whitworth and a pair of LCT-1V Locusts all Veteran skill.  I chose both of the options (Complicated Weather and Treacherous Terrain) and lucked out with Light Rainfall and Mud, so no effect on the battle.  My MVP was definitely the Wolfhound, who got a lucky ammo hit on the Rifleman.  The Centurion took the leg off of one of the Locusts, which we'll be able to salvage.  I was tempted to stay and slug it out with the remaining pirate 'Mechs, but I'd already fulfilled all of the objectives and taken a few good hits in return (a sensors floating crit rendered my Centurion pretty much useless the turn after he legged the Locust and the Clint took a fall that damaged two leg actuators), so I decided to exercise the better part of valor after I'd fulfilled all of the Objectives. 

Jon's Supply Mission will be tomorrow and he chose his Assault Lance.  We rolled up everything in prep for tomorrow.  He chose the "Timing" Option and the result was Solar Flare, so he'll have some issues.  The OpFor that I'll be playing is a MAD-3D Marauder, VND-1R Vindicator and a pair of DV-6M Dervishes all Regular except the Marauder pilot who is P5/G3).

Jon took some pictures and was planning to do the same for our game tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to have him send them to me and post them.

[truetanker]

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...


Please?  [notworthy]

TT

[E. Icaza]

Waiting on Jon to send the pics. 

The combat side of the Supply mission went well for him, as I couldn't seem to hit anything.  He took out the MAD-3D and Forced Withdrawal of my other three 'Mechs (well, calling one of the Dervishes a 'Mech at that point would have been generous), so he'll get the chance to salvage that.  For the actual extra salvage from the Supply mission, he only got enough to re-arm his 'Mechs with a very little bit left over.

We did pick Tracks for the next game, which will likely be some time in August.  I went "Full Samurai", so I'm going with Assault with the Complicated Weather (Full Moon Night). He chose Defend with "Surprised" as he figures his Initiative bonus should minimize the penalty.  We decided that the contract would allow for three Tracks, so we'll have one more after this one before moving on to another.

On an interesting side note, I did point remind him that the contract only gave us 20% salvage and that the SP he found in the pirate base were considered salvage and that using them to re-arm could be considered a breach of contract if the Davion Liaison Officer wanted to be a real stickler.  I mean, how likely is that when he's dealing with a bunch of filthy Cappies.   ::)

For salvage, we've been keeping a running total for each force and when we're done we'll take our cut at that time and can claim the 'Mechs we downed at a small discount if we choose to go that route.  Or we can just add it to our WP/SP pools to represent extra cash, supplies, etc.