Gruntz 15mm: Battletech project: The Green Machine Battlemech Battalion

So I have played Battletech since I was a wee teenager. I think the first real wargame that I bought was the Battletech Starter Box when I was 13. I still have the maps from that box set but the rules and cardboard counters are long since lost to the ages.

For awhile back in 2002 or 2003 I got into Mechwarrio Clix from Wizkids and enjoyed the game but it didn't seem like real Battletech to me. Real Battletech is a pain in the ass to play with more than a lance on each side. I wanted to play at least a company level engagement an maybe a battalion without it taking weeks. 

Somewhere I read that Robin Fitton, the guy who created Gruntz 15mm, did it to play Battletech originally which I totally get. So I have been playing around with barracks and creating stats for all of the mechs I had painted up in my two main units (I have others and clan models but they are not painted yet). 

The Green Machine are down on their luck Merc unit. It is a large unit but has been languishing in the Perhiphery for decades. Their mechs are mostly older models with few advanced systems and their pilots are real combat experience. Most of their mechs are slow mediums but they do have some heavy and assault class mechs as well as six light mechs. They currently operate as a short battalion (2 x lances in a company) but with a separate command lance that usually joins Alpha Company.

 Alpha Company 

Bartoski's Lance

Centurion (Capt. Henry "Black Bart" Bartoski)

Hatchetman

Griffin

Griffin

Arnold's Lance

Hunchback (Lt. Dan Arnold)

Hunchback P

Hatchetman

Hatchetman

Bravo Company

Coombs' Lance

Raven (Lt. Mike Coombs)

Firestarter

Mongoose

Valkyrie

Oleg's Lance

Longbow (Capt. Oleg)

Longbow

Muskateer (Custom Assault class Rifleman)

Muskateer (Custom Assault class Rifleman)

Charlie Company

 

Mikhau's Lance

Centurion (Lt. Blaise Mikhau)

Hatchetman

Hunchback

Hollander

Tex's Lance

Hatchetman (Capt. Herman "Tex" Caine)

Centurion

Griffin

Griffin

Command Lance

Centurion (CO Major Thomas Paine)

Thunderbolt (CSM Leroy Jenkins)

Crossbow (XO Captain Heather McKenzie)

Wolfhound (Adjudant Lieutenant Monty Wilson)

Their paintjobs are minimal becasue they can't afford to paint their mechs and the current paint is chipping and fading in places. Major Paine hopes to find a well paying contract in the near future with a good opportunity for combat since his troops desperately need the experience and the salvage.

They are currently pulling garrison duty on a Taurian Concordat border planet named Laconis. What Major Paine doesn't realize is that his unt is about to see more combat than he could hope for. A Capellan Confederation noble has hired merc units to raid the world and destroy its defenders.