Painting Lore: Miniatures Inspired by the Story

The venerable weapons carrier platform is one of the most beloved systems in Battletech - and frankly one of the most realistic.  In a game filled with over-gunned systems the weapon carrier is a simple design - a tracked chassis designed to slowly grind as much of a single weapon type into range as possible.  As a dedicated support platform it can't be beat.   This is a DCMS weapons company sporting a platoon each of LRM, SRM and A/C carrier models.  The LRM and SRM are the new Catalyst game labs models which are outstanding representations.  There are a lot of really good 3d prints out there as well, but I had these on hand and no other specific use for them so I put them into the DCMS regiment - in this case a the last company of a medium armor battalion of the 3rd Luthien Guards.  Note the custom 3rd Luthien Guards logo. The A/C carrier is from Locust Labs and probably the most aesthetically pleasing takes on the A/C carrier model.  I had ori...

AI Colorized photo from the Luthien  Scenario pack. The Kell Hounds are a perennial favorite in the setting, always putting the Lyrans in a good light they are the poster boys for the 'good' mercs, same as the Wolf's Dragoons.  Its one of the reasons why I am not a huge fan of them - but they are iconic and they played a significant role in most of the late succession war and early clan invasion era so I felt compelled to complete this project.  This company, inspired mostly from the Luthien Scenario pack, is also my first foray in the clan invasion era.  This is consistent with that first generation of upgraded machines which attempted to match the clans in tech, and generally did not live up the hype - but still generally lived longer than there no-case carrying center torso loaded ammo death lockers of 3025 era.  It also completes the Kell Hound Battalion project, making a full battalion of late succession and early clan invasion mercs for scenario play....

Not a specific unit or time period for this one, but rather another Terrain project... this one was a lengthy effort but I love the way it turned out.  This is a 3d printed building terrain for the CGL Lunar Base battle mat provided in part by the great skulpts of GHIBtech .  This vendor created some great domes which really do a fantastic job of translating the 2d images on the map.  I then had some hextech structures from other maps, mostly the FOB and Commo Center file sets; adapted to fit the make up of this base - which I think they do an admirable job of.  The glass in the domes are done with a speed paint - which took forever but translates well I think. GHITBtech now has another version which prints without the 'glass' part making it just lattice work open to see the inside, which I have seen others use some LED lights to give it a glow which looks really cool... but I had already bought these, and besides they are super sturdy as single units.  Now on t...

  This lance is taken directly from the 4th Succession War Atlas sourcebook.  In the listings there the 1st Battalions command lance is listed as "H4".  When we reference this in the atlas tables for the standard Kurita lance of this type we see it is made up of a Dragon, Warhammer, Rifleman and Grasshopper.  In true fashion then I have added this exact lance to my 2nd Sword of Light Battalion to maintain its lore compliance - and these are as always classic succession wars mechs with beautiful lines to paint... even if I do think the Grasshopper is a bit to common place in the DCMS for its 'rarity' it has in the lore.

During the surprise - not surprise - attack against the Kell Hounds on Chara III the 2nd Sword of Light employed a force almost entirely composed of Panthers.  While they were prolific and produced in the Luthien Armor Works using a force composed entirely of light battlemechs - even one as awesome as a panther - is a dubious strategy.  They did have the for sight to include a small support force - specifically a mixed unit under Chu-i Akido Yoshogi which included 2 Kurita variant shadowhawks and 2 griffins.  In addition two additional machines - an Awesome and a Grand Dragon.   I took the liberty of completing the lance here with an OstSol and a Dragon pulled from the original 3025 lore.  The Dragon mentioned is in the 2nd Sword of Light and piloted by Leon Gambetta, an aged warrior in 3025 known for his city fighting.  The OstSol is seen in the 7th Sword of Light piloted by Lynn Woo - a renowned marksman.  Curiously both descriptions tell us tha...