Anyone that knows me and BattleTech will know that in my heart there is one faction I love and have played as them for many, many years now. The quasi-religious organisation that is ComStar.
Why ComStar? Honestly I don’t know, but there is something about them I love. Maybe it’s the secretive nature of them or maybe it’s the fact they know where all the successor states skeletons are. But ComStar and the Com Guard is my faction of choice. The Jihad story line has been a great opportunity for me to really let loose. We’ve been playing a campaign for many years that has covered the Clan invasion, Fed Com civil war and now the Jihad. As one of the three ComStar players in the group I’ve seen some truly nasty battles and participated in some of the most brutal scenarios our GM has devised.
Why ComStar? Honestly I don’t know, but there is something about them I love. Maybe it’s the secretive nature of them or maybe it’s the fact they know where all the successor states skeletons are. But ComStar and the Com Guard is my faction of choice. The Jihad story line has been a great opportunity for me to really let loose. We’ve been playing a campaign for many years that has covered the Clan invasion, Fed Com civil war and now the Jihad. As one of the three ComStar players in the group I’ve seen some truly nasty battles and participated in some of the most brutal scenarios our GM has devised.
I’ve spent a bit of time trawling through the myriad of designs I’ve made over the years in for BattleTech in HMP and its sister programs looking for units I could use in an upcoming game that could have a significant impact of the course of the aforementioned campaign. After much searching I think I’ve come across some winners, a trio of old 3060 era designs. The Mastodon AT (Assault Tank), The PRC-7R Precentor and the Pariah (ACV).
I’ve not used these designs in several years but they proved effective. So it’s time to bring them out of moth balls to mix things up once again, as Sun-Tzu said in The Art of War, "How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics--that is what the multitude cannot comprehend." Or to put it another way, use your enemies own tactics against him.
Now in the past I’ve always had to proxy them but I decided it was about time I made models of them. The result of this work can be found below and can now be purchased at the store.
Now in the past I’ve always had to proxy them but I decided it was about time I made models of them. The result of this work can be found below and can now be purchased at the store.
First of these is the Mastodon. An 85 ton tank with heavy armour and good speed with a mix of mid and short range weapons. Visually I wanted something a little different to the standard tank and opted for a cross between two tanks from two of my favourite games, the Mammoth from Command & Conquer and the M-808B Scorpion from Halo.
There are four different version of the Mastodon the AT, AT2 AT-G and AT-G2. The model on Shapeways is for the more common AT version, but an upgrade pack is available that contains the three parts needed to create the other versions.
The Mastodon AT mounts 2 RAC5s a ERMLs, a MRM 20 and 2 SRM4s.
The Mastodon AT2 has 2 RAC5s, a ERMLs 2 SRM4s and 2 SRM6s.
The Mastodon AT-G is armed with a Gauss Rifle, 3 ERMLs, 2 SRM4s and 2 SRM6s.
Lastly the Mastodon AT-G2 is equipped with a Gauss Rifle, 3 ERMLs 2 SRM4s and a MRM 20.
Next the Precentor. This is an 85 ton jump capable ‘Mech that follows the common theme of mid range weapons that all three of the ComStar units have. Speed is comparable to the Mastodon and reinforces it with extra armour. However it lacks the number of missiles, substituting SRMs for more lasers, which eases its ammo dependency but makes it slightly more prone to overheating.
The Precentor is armed with 2 RAC5s, 4 ER medium lasers and MRM 10. This model also comes with the parts to replaces the RACs with Ultra AC10s
Finally in my ComStar special is the Pariah ACV, a military Hovercraft. Hovercraft have one major drawback, they lack the space to mount large amounts of armour due to the limitations of their weight. However this is offset with their natural high speed and the Pariah is no exception. This 50 ton design can hit 150 kph, but it still has an impressive 6.5 tons of armour. Matching the others it mounts a mix of medium and short range weapons. Comprising of 3 SRM4s, 2 ER small Lasers 2 Medium Lasers and a RAC2.
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