Tag: Long Nights mercenary company

Categories
BattleTech Miniatures

Pure joy: playing BattleTech with my kiddo

I haven’t played BattleTech in 20 years, and if you’d told me a few years ago — when I started enjoying miniature painting, and painting Warhammer 40k stuff every day — that my first-ever game using miniatures I’d painted would be BattleTech, or would be played with my kiddo, Lark, I wouldn’t have believed you.

We used the old (2015, I think?) Alpha Strike Quick Start intro scenario, for which I painted four specific ‘Mechs to make two balanced teams of two: Marauder and Valkyrie (Lark) vs. Archer and Wasp (me), with the win condition being first heavy ‘Mech destroyed.

Lark surveys the battlefield during the first turn
The first face-off between the two heavies; both took a solid hit
Things are looking grim for that Marauder
Lark’s damaged Marauder takes cover in the woods about halfway through our game
A beautiful move by Lark, who won initiative: getting into my Archer’s rear arc; the game could have gone either way at this point
My Archer survived this rear-gunning, and I stacked my Wasp behind the Marauder to close out the game

Last year I got to play D&D with Lark for the first time, and playing BattleTech — the wargame I’ve loved the longest and played the most — with Lark was just as awesome an experience. We had a blast, and we’re already looking forward to our second game on a larger map, two full lances per side (these four plus the next batch that I painted with our second game in mind).

One of my favorite moments was watching Lark get a ‘Mech’s-eye view to establish line of sight for the first time and being excited by how much fun that was. Sharing the visceral and tactile joys of miniatures wargaming with Lark was just pure joy for me.

On top of that, Alpha Strike was a great intro for Lark, a great return to the game for me, and not in any way “kiddy BattleTech.” AS 100% succeeds in distilling CBT into a shorter, punchier game without losing sight of what makes BattleTech fun. It’s streamlined and simplified, but not in any way simplistic. That’s a thing of beauty.

The core box is one of the best values in gaming, too: It’s actually everything you need to start playing, and for barely more than the ‘Mechs would cost in separate force packs.

I took some time during our game to talk a bit about the differences between AS and CBT, and I suspect Lark and I may have some CBT in our future, too.

What a fantastic Saturday all around!

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Categories
BattleTech Finished miniatures Lightbox photos Miniature painting Miniatures

Second lance of Long Nights ‘Mechs

Today I finished painting my second lance of ‘Mechs, two heavies and two mediums for my Long Nights mercenary company.

No outdoor shots today, just the lightbox — but I remembered to use my grey backdrop this time!

L to R: Rifleman, Warhammer, Phoenix Hawk, Blackjack

I sometimes regretted combining two colors that are notoriously difficult to paint — white and yellow — in the Phoenix Hawk’s color scheme, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Walking the line between looking like an anime mobile suit and looking like a BattleMech without being too twee about it was an enjoyable challenge.

It also gave me a chance to try Soulblight Grey, GW’s new grey wash, for the first time. It’s interesting stuff, almost feeling more like a contrast paint than a shade paint; it’s kind of milky. But it walks a pleasing line between no wash and a black wash.

Butts

I’m not sure how long it will last, but my goal is to never repeat a paint scheme. “They’re mercenaries” is a great excuse to just experiment and have fun painting whatever feels right at the moment.

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Categories
BattleTech Finished miniatures Lightbox photos Miniature painting Miniatures

My first lance of ‘Mechs in 16 years

Today I finished the first ‘Mechs I’ve painted since 2007.

L to R: Valkyrie, Archer, Marauder, Wasp

This lance for my Long Nights mercenary company is full of firsts: essentially my first time doing camo (I was about 10 for my actual first time), pin washing, flocking, detailed glass, and really pushing for subtle edge highlights.

Natural light close-ups

Sigourney “Lucky” Long’s Marauder
Ragnar “Night Sweats” Thorpe’s Valkyrie
Gabrielle “Dozer” Baudin’s Wasp
Ishida “Beef” Toyokazu’s Archer

Lightbox shots

These didn’t turn out as nice as the natural light shots above, but I took ’em so here they are anyway.

The whole lance
Marauder (my favorite angle)
Marauder front
Marauder rear
Valkyrie front
Valkyrie rear
Wasp front
Wasp rear
Archer front
Archer rear
Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Categories
BattleTech Miniature painting Miniatures

Pour one out for my first camo ‘Mech

Well, shit: I just ruined a fully painted miniature by using the too-thick dregs of my varnish bottle and completely fogging it out. I haven’t done that in years! Not since the last time I used spray varnish, at least a decade ago.

I should have trusted my impression that it looked a little thick, but I’d used the same bottle a couple weeks ago with no issues and I was in the groove.

That’s several hours of work — on a model slated for a first game of BattleTech with my kiddo next week, and a ‘Mech I was happy with — just wasted.

This little Stinger, an STG-5M piloted by Ozan “Gatling” Almaz, was the first ‘Mech I ever tried to paint in a camo scheme. Here he is after being base-coated:

You will be missed!

Luckily I’ve got a Wasp partially painted, so I can scramble to finish that one and slot it in for the match Lark and I were planning on next week. If I grind hard and don’t paint anything else at the same time, I might even be able to finish it only a couple days behind when the Stinger would have been done.

It’s a silly thing to be bummed about, but I get invested in the minis I’m painting.

Update 1/8: As luck would have it, I had a light ‘Mech — a Wasp — already primed and fully based, so I spent a chunk of today finishing it up as a replacement for the Stinger. I’d forgotten how quickly this can go when I’m painting a ‘Mech, not a 40k model, and just painting one model, not several. It was a fun day.

Then, after testing my varnish on Brother Test-Mech first, I varnished the first lance of ‘Mechs I’ve painted since 2007. They won’t be done-done until a couple days from now, when I add flocking to their bases; I need the sealant to be bone-dry and fully cured for that step.

First lance WIP, freshly varnished (and still shiny): Marauder, Wasp, Valkyrie, Archer

It’s a real joy to be painting ‘Mechs again!

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.
Categories
BattleTech Miniature painting Miniatures

The best mini I’ve painted (so far)

This unassuming little Valkyrie represents a lot of firsts:

  • The first ‘Mech I’ve painted in 16 years
  • The first ‘Mech in my Long Nights mercenary company
  • My first time pin washing (instead of all-over washing)
  • Also my first time attempting proper edge highlighting
  • My first time trying to do a detailed pane of glass (the cockpit)
  • And currently the best miniature I’ve ever painted
Still needs decals, weathering (maybe), grass flocking, and a painted base rim

I started with the Valkyrie because it’s the plainest of the lance I’m currently painting, and the one I cared about least. I figured I’d goober some stuff up here before moving on to something cooler.

I’m taking a more subtle approach with my ‘Mechs than I generally do with my 40k minis, but I suspect this approach will bleed back into my general bag of tricks for painting. Patient pin washing following by equally patient edge highlighting is a really neat one-two punch.

In the Long Nights, this Valkyrie is piloted by Ragnar “Night Sweats” Thorpe, and I feel like I did him proud!

Out now: The Unlucky Isles

The Unlucky Isles [affiliate link], the first system-neutral guidebook for my Godsbarrow fantasy campaign setting, is now on DriveThruRPG.