Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC.

Art by Ian Stead, by commission.

Spinward Marches Solutions
Rhylanor/2716 Spinward Marches

UCP: Im◄2444●23►LLPAR●Sec◄0466●56►

Established at the end of the Fourth Frontier War by mustered-out senior Naval personnel, Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC., is a family-owned and operated mercenary, security and troubleshooter company, based on Rhylanor.  

Using their naval contacts, SMS were able to obtain a series of tickets for a subsidized 800-ton Type-M cruiser in the service of various march planetary governments, eager to re-establish peace and order in the wake of the recent war.  The first cruiser was paid off in just under ten years (1094). A second Type M was purchased used and paid off in eight years (1104).

The recent purchase of two additional Type M cruisers, while allowing SMS to service multiple tickets, has stretched corporate finances to their limit. It remains to be seen whether SMS can make the payments or has over-extended themselves.

Corporate recruiting policy is to engage previous-service mercenaries with either Army, Marine or Navy backgrounds. While this limits recruitment intakes, it reduces costs by reducing the need for basic training, and focuses on physical and mental reconditioning, as well as technical education.

Benefits are generous, with the leadership committed to attracting the best veterans in the subsector to their enterprise.

In addition to dirtside security, SMS offers a range of aerospace services, employing 6-ton light aero-space fighters. The company depends on High-Ticket, Moderate Risk assignments to keep operations profitable. Long term tickets with success-only bonuses are preferred.

Founder: Seth Coraille, Count of Aramanx

CEO: Garith Coraille,

CFO: Jone Coraille

Main Office on Rhylanor.  Servicing the Porozlo Schism on a retainer to Ling-Standard Products and the Free Trade Bloc.  3 Broadsword Cruisers carrying a Light Infantry Company.

Recruiting office: Marovic/Porozlo (5d+5 recruits per month)

Subsidiary Office on Vilis (4d+3 recruits per month).  Servicing Garda-Vilis brushwar in a government-supportive security capacity. 1 Broadsword Cruiser with Light Infantry Platoon.

Possible expansion projected to:

Aramis Subsector, with a recruiting office on Aramanx. (4d+3 RPM)

Glisten Subsector, with a recruiting office on Glisten (4d+3 RPM)

...Ω

Traveller: Interstellar Wars, using Dirtside II in 15mm

Megz and I decided to try a little Dirtside II while visiting the Tri-State Gamers Day of Games in Springfield, PA this past 17th November. Megz had never played before (though is familiar with StarGrunt II) and I hadn't played in some 4 years - time to knock some rust off.

We were joined by Cliff B. and Gil (?), which was a pleasant development (They were enthralled by the GEV APCs and first thought it was a Hammer's Slammers game - why disappoint them?)

Imperials Advance
I have no idea why my camera is tinting blue.

This was another "Assault on Alpha Centauri" scenario, first taken from the old boardgame Imperium and answers the statement "You should only attack with 3 to 1 odds." with "Sometimes, you only have  2 to 1 odds and you hope to get lucky...". Happens in Imperium all the time.


(Picture note: my I*Phone was fussing, so the first picture turned out rather blue-ish. We switched to the MegzCam(TM) for the rest of the game.)

The Vilani make a key mistake...they bunch up.

The Imps weren't playing very clever, we were just trying to close to range. Bit of a mistake, really. The Terran mortars took out an artillery scout sled, and then sustained heavy missile fire and high velocity rounds from the light tanks (nicknamed "Terridens") destroying the T53 Area Defense sled. Loss of the AD sled is always bad, as it protects the advance against missiles and mortar rounds. And so, the defeat begins...

The line is dressed,
and the advance may now continue...

Some good news; the artillery spotters were able to deploy a pair of mortars on the reverse of the ridge. The third mortar was still in the burning hover sled. Also, an attached Electronic Warfare sled set up jamming of the Terran communications.

Dirtside II doesn't have EW rules, so we ported them in from StarGrunt II. An active EW stand receive three chits, each can be spent to spot units, jam commo or spoof enemy guidance systems. The Imperial immediately began to jam the Terran artillery spotters requests for mortar fire. This blunted the Terran mortar fire, but did not entirely halt it.

The Terrans had very little capability to counter these EW attacks - Terran Tech lags behind Imperial, so their ECW assets aren't effective except in quantity, and there had been no room to land those expensive, and limited effective units.

The ConFed Marines would defend the giant
 drink cup facility, whatever the cost...

Terran Marine platoon, dug in on three low rises. The big building is some sort of infrastructure objective - maybe it refines and bottles water. It has to be strategically important for the Vilani to capture and not simply nuke.

The marines are supported by light, airmobile AIFVs and a pair of light tanks (with hi-velocity guns). There are mortar teams behind the crests of the rises, the squad leaders are acting as spotters - something the Vilani would never contemplate.

The near squad has lost their Chariot-class AIFV to the 44mm gun of the T53 sled. These small vehicles are light enough to drop into positions, but they have thin armour. All Terran Marine Jump Infantry vehicles are built on the same light chassis, easing logistics ever so slightly.

The view of the Vilani, humping over the ridge, from the Terran ConFed perspective. The Terran mortar teams are still being jammed, as the Command Post attempts to re-activate a mortar section to hit the Imps. This was another StarGrunt II rule we imported - a command unit may pass it's activation to a subordinate unit upon making a successful commo roll.

One thing we did not get on camera was an auto-cannon armed Chariot raced down the Vilani right flank and shot up several elements - Imperial mortar section and spotter section as well as the EW sled.  Megz is a lunatic, but the attack worked. Though the "Mad Chariot" was destroyed by the 22mm autocannons of an Imperial AIFV, with the loss of the Imperial EW team, and the supporting mortar, AND the squandered T43 ADA sled, the Vilani cancelled the assault.

The Vilani have second thoughts...

Post Game Thoughts:

Designing Interstellar Wars ground actions can be tricky, especially if you're trying to stay in Traveller Canon. The first few wars must have been a nightmare, with the Ziru Sirka/Vilani lobbing tactical nukes about like lawn darts. The Terran ConFed would need to keep very mobile, which would be somewhat difficult if they're dropping light troops from orbit - unless they're dropping directly onto targets the Imperials can't (or won't) nuke.

Ziru Sirka/Imperial scouts - these poor b@stards.  Light, open hover-sleds leaves them vulnerable to all kinds of artillery shenanigans. They might need their own Area Defence Artillery, also in a light, open hover-sled.

The Electronic Warfare sled was a lot of fun to play. Blocking unit activations makes up for a lot of a beating. In hindsight, we should have jammed both mortar sections and the command post. Live and learn.

Converting Traveller vehicle designs is, in itself, entertaining. Ken Pick has several excellent articles over at Freelance Traveller - highly recommended....Ω

Marines watch while a Chariot brews up.
Let's hope the crew got out.

Tears for Arusage - Redux

This past TravellerCon/USA, I needed a Traveller-themed miniatures game for the Sunday morning slot, and decided to give "Tears for Arusage" another go.

To prevent the game from descending into the bogged-down slug-fest from LAST TIME, I took a page from DirtSide II and assigned objective markers to various spots in the encounter zone. These represent abstract victory conditions met, so even if a side didn't recover all four missing nukes, it might be possible, through reconnaissance, to find clues where the nukes might be.


Unfortunately, Player #1 (Dan - Condor Legion) took a lucky (or unlucky) hit on the first turn, and it threw his game off permanently.

PWND! Condor Legion debus and take cover:
the card disk is mortar searching fire.

Player #2, Beta Quandrant Security (aka The  BQS Mercs aka David) won the initiative and deployed their weapons team (mortar) and disabled the Legion's leading APC, incidentally scoring 2 - 3 casualties as well.


The surviving Legion decided to debus ("Call the shop!) and take cover beneath the ornamental-yet-sturdy Vilani-built fortifications. They also were "suppressed".

This is StarGrunt; naturally they were suppressed.




Player #2 (David) had his BQS mercs occupy the housing block and motor pool. A simple quality roll would activate an APC (originally abandoned by the Viliani withdrawal and virtually identical to the Legions vehicles. The objectives (4 abandoned nukes) must be exited from the table on a vehicle.

David kept his mortar team behind the ramparts and used his officers as artillery spotters - not very accurate, but effective in keeping the pressure upon the Legion.

Centre: the Khikkei/Vilani Cenotaph, while at top, the
2nd Legion Squad occupies a block house.

Turn 3 - 4: As an additional stroke of undeserved good luck, the BQS Mercs found one of the missing nukes in the back of a salvaged APC.

Jammy B*ggars.

Meanwhile, the Legion commander decided to debus his troops from their TL10 mortar-magnets and move to cover, while using the APCs (armed with single .30 cal MGs) as infantry support.

Condor Legion troop occupy the missile silos - are the
warheads still there?

The Legions gambit was pretty effective, in that his two APCs, aided by unexpected reinforcements (more on that in a moment) tied up the BQS Mercs long enough to recover two nukes.


Unfortunately, both Legion APCs were destroyed/disabled by RAM grenades or the LAG AP rifle of the weapons team.

The arrival of a Condor Legion recon team in TL10 air/rafts did cause some trouble, as they arrived on the rear flank and immediately threw fire on the mortar team.

The mortar and accompanying security dashed into a nearby block house and returned fire - suppressing the recons.

At this point, as we were running out of time, the Condor Legion player conceded the game.


Post Game Thoughts:

Rough game for the Condor Legion. Due to an error (third person) in setting up the map, the Legion was given an extended approach, while the BQS Mercs arrived on board and "Bobs yer uncle!" they were in cover. This doesn't mean Dan had to drive straight down the road, but, to his credit, he was acting according to his briefing, in that no opposition was expected.

The objective markers did help a bit in preventing a huge "pit of suppression" at the silos, and I will use these again in the next re-fight.

I think Dan's counter-attack was more-or-less sound, and if he hadn't lost the first APC, he could have carried off at least 2 - 3 nukes and won the game.

The Beta Quadrant Security Mercs also had a slight quality advantage, being Veterans to the Condor Legion's Regular status. This gave them the initiative advantage about 2/3rds of the time.

Rules, no matter how well written, can't compensate for bad luck....Ω

15mm Zhodani Lift Infantry Platoon - GZG

After nearly 30 years of gaming, I've decided it's time to update my 15mm Zhodani Lift Infantry.

Originally, I had started with early resin Ground Zero Games vehicle mini's back in the 90's, with a combination of Martian Metals and Laserburn 15mm for the infantry. The rules were the original Striker and occasional Ashanti High Lightning for GDW.

Times and tastes have changed, and inspired as I am to do some Fifth Frontier War scenarios using StarGrunt II, I've returned to GZG for the vehicles (and Denizen/Darkstar Ventaurans for the infantry).

Reinforcements Have Arrived - Models by Ground Zero Games

For a Consular Guard Lift Platoon, I used 3 x GZG V15-56A, 1 x V15-58A and 1 x V15-57A for point defense. In retrospect, since I had to heavily modify the 57A, I could have used another 56A and saved the gun for future use. Live and learn.

GZG V15-57A

For the point defense sled, the 57A hull was used, and a new deck was created from bits of styrene sheet, with a turret from Combat Wombat.

New Deck and Turret (Turrest from Combat Wombat)

Combat Wombat turrets are nicely shaped, but suffer from a near-future look with too much reactive armour cast onto the turret, so I had to dremel the beggar to far-future standards. Then added some GZG greebles.

Miniatures included for scale: Citadel Traveller Zhodani (OOP), GZG NAC, Laserburn Ships Crew.

I plan on putting together another platoon, plus company assets (CP, EW, FDC, MRL and PD sleds), for either a large convention game or a Dirtside II game.

I suppose this means I also have to update my 15mm Imperial Marines...hmmm - I should have better thought this through....Ω

GZG 15mm Vilani Imperial Officers and Staff

Between phases of building my next 7TV extravaganza, I was able to finish some Vilani Imperium officers, staff and gunners.  Included in the photo is an old Force XXI ACV Infantry Carrier.

Miniatures by Ground Zero Games and Force XXI

These are from GZG # SG15-J14 and SG15-J15, being part of Jon's new updated Japanese Corporate release. They are smart little figures, and I'm looking forward to deploying them as part of my Imperial 484th "Nusku" Infantry Brigade.

Miniatures by Ground Zero Games and Force XXI

Animation: 5
Detail: 5
Proportions: 5
Variety: 5
Overall: 5 out of 5

Miniatures by Ground Zero Games

The two chaps on the single "squad" base are from the initial, pre-2014 GZG release. They are fully compatible with the new sculpts - though they lack some animation...Ω

StarGrunt II at NJ Con

As has been mentioned previously, NJ Con in Edison NJ is a great convention.  I ran two StarGrunt scenarios, both of which were designed for TravellerCon-USA.

Full write-ups of these can be found here and here - however, I'll post some recent pictures from NJ Con to keep current.

The SMS Mercs - Pinned atop the Dinom Corp HQ.

Crystals from Dinom - I had one player, John R, which is all the game needs if I take the opposing side. John did a fine job of getting the pinned-down mercs off the board.  I think it took him four turns, which is some kind of record.

John caught one of my squads in the middle of the street, shot them up with vehicle-mounted lasers, and proceeded to over run them.

Here comes the cavalry - 1300 HP worth

The miners brought out their mining vehicle (armed with a short range laser) and two prospecting "dune buggies" (armed with 50 caliber MGs) but were unable to make much of an impact on the Mercs APCs (I think we might have shot off one of the rear-vision mirrors)

And they're gone.

On Saturday, I was pleased to have John return for "Canned Vland". Once again, he had choice of sides whilst I would run opposite. He chose the Planetary Defense platoon and supporting ConFederation Marines.  I would run the Vilani.

Downtown Mikanek - Soosboro

Going by The Book, I sent my recon sleds forward, hoping to draw some anti-tank rocket fire, but John was not to be gulled, and as the recon went deeper, the armour had to follow.

Once at the barricades, the fire from the PDF intensified, pinning down the Imperial recon - John decided he could spare a few LAW rounds, and one hover scout went boom.  I think some of the crew got out, and you can see them sheltering in one of the nearby burning buildings.  Idiots.

As the plasma main guns of the tanks fired in support of the recon unit, building caught fire and the PDF SWAT team lost half it's numbers.

Finally, around turn 4, the first tank crossed the barrier, and the missiles began to fly in earnest. Fortunately (for my side - hurrah!) John had some pretty mediocre rolls, and couldn't score a major hit.  He logged enough minor hits to disable the lead tanks plenum chamber (or Bernoulli drive, or whatever) and the crew de-bussed in a panic and took shelter in a nearby burning building.  Idiots.

Buy the end of turn 5, it was obvious the Vilani would be unable to get their three remaining vehicles (2 tanks and a recon sled) off the enemy side in time (end of turn six).  The Terrans were declared the winners. Well done!

Post Convention Thoughts
Both games played well - a single player has a certain advantage vs a team, in that his moves are well coordinated. He loses something of a broader perspective, but in a skirmish game, focus is sometimes better.

In both games, we played to a clear result in just over two hours - a fast moving game is ALWAYS better.

By the way, if the reader noticed the barricades were different in this game, you win a cookie. I wasn't able to find the corner stock berms from previous games, so I used my Northwest Frontier sangars from my 25mm Colonial collection. These were made back in the late eighties using ornamental pebbles and craft glue, and they have served honourably ever since...Ω

GZG 15mm 8-Wheeled APC

 Last week, painting was good, and i managed to finish four of Jon Tuffley's 8-Wheeled APC:s from the StarGrunt 15mm vehicle range. Specifically, V15-50A.

One significant difference is the vehicle weapon mount - those pictured are not supplied with the models as listed, they are from the GZG Grav APC V15-20A.  A platoon of which I've shown painted here.

V15-50A Miniature by Ground Zero Games

There was nothing wrong with the auto-cannon as supplied - I'm using these vehicles as part of a Traveller-universe TL-12/13 mercenary troop, named "Spinward Marches Solutions, LLIC".  They need plasma-guns for fire support. (I'll be including a writeup on SMS in the very near future...)

I'm well-pleased with these castings, the parts all fit nicely (I did need to dremel out the gun mount, as I was mixing bits) and the detail is up to GZG's usual excellent standards.
. 

V15-50A Miniature by Ground Zero Games

One minor hitch was my being able to find, after two year's delay, all of my GZG plasma turrets - only two could be found.  A frantic email to Himself at GZG resulted in a promise to cast me two more, at a very reasonable rate, to include with my next order.

Jon Tuffley's Customer Care simply CANNOT be beaten.  Full stop...Ω

Traveller - Sharushid Type 42 Fire Direction Centre

Sharushid Type 42b ACV/FDC

These second-line vehicles are converted from obsolescent Imperial TL 10 Type 41 APCs.

Miniature by Laserburn/15mm UK - bits from GZG and Grendel

Nicknamed “The Pig” (V. ishalap) by both Confederation and Vilani troops alike, the design dates from the Pacification Wars, and the Type 41 lags a tech level behind its Type 52 replacement.

Tens of thousands of Type 41’s have been manufactured. The Vilani deplore waste, and as a result many of the mothballed T-41’s were sent to the Frontier Legions.  Others were pressed into service as support vehicles.

In conformance with standard Imperial doctrine, the Type 41 was designed without weaponry or firing ports. Frontier Legion motor pools often modify the design by adding firing ports and support weapon mounts. It is known that some Gisadia line artillery batteries on extended active service will add anti-personnel mines to the exterior.  These mines are detonated remotely as a last-ditch defense measure.

The T-42c is the hover version, and coordinates the artillery battery fire missions. In Striker II terms, it acts as a Staff Satellite Uplink Stand for artillery units.

This vehicle was something of a lark for me, in that I can only foresee one or two scenarios where this miniature will appear, but I had the extra miniature and wanted to see it painted. It could also be used as a communications vehicle or as an objective.

The model is an old Laserburn Hover APC, soon to be available in resin from 15mm UK, with GZG and Grendel bits added. I'm only partially finished with painting it, but I wanted to get at least one post up for January...Ω