S. O. S. Profile: Archibald "Apollo" Kennedy

Name: Archibald "Archie" Kennedy 

Callsign: Apollo

Player: Larry

Faction: Lyran Alliance (House Steiner)

Rank: Leutnant (Lieutenant)

Unit:
Unattached
Formerly 5th Lyran Regulars (Destroyed)


Current Battlemech:
Hunchback HBK-4H


Arena Kills:1.5



Best finish:
3rd (of 6) - Hartford Gardens - Battle 4A

Current Stable: none

Current Sponsors: none

Background:
"Archie" Kennedy comes long line of mechwarriors.  Someone in his family has been a mechwarrior with one of the Lyarn Guard or Regular units since the foundation of the Lyran Commonwealth.

At this time though, he is a Mechwarrior without a unit.  A loyal supporter of House Steiner, he fought along side his unit the 5th Lyran Regulars to their destruction in February of just this year.  his usnit fell to the Free Skye Militia on Freedom (formerly known as Carver V), he being one of the few survivors.  He was captured but quickly exchanged for political prisoners.

He was placed on the first jumpship out of Freedom system, that just so happened to be headed to the Solaris VII system.  Knowing his skill and future potential, his commanding officers thought it would be best for Kennedy to get his feet back under him on the arena floor, rather than in the trenches of the FedCom Civil war.  The timing was right, with the Solaris Olympiad starting and the there being an open slot that the Lyran's needed to fill.

So arriving late, after Jumpship issues delayed his arrival.  Kennedy is ready to represent House Steiner in the initial Solaris Olympiad Series..

Correcting the Close Combat Rules.

After speaking with a couple of the guys last night I feel we need to tweak the close combat rules.

First some reasoning as to the change.
There is a gap in the conversion when going from Hexes to inches.  The 1" Hexbase the mini is on does not expand with the conversion.  So the mini is taking up a lot less space on the hexless tabletop than it was on the Hexmap.  Which means mechs have been having to move father on a hexless map to get into Base to base and perform physicals.

Example:  On a hex map the Nightsky needs to move 6 hexes to get next to the Hunchback IIC to use it's hatchet attack.  Convert that to a hexless tabletop and the Nightsky now has to move 13" to get into base to base, or use 7 of his MP rather than just 6 he would have had to use on a hexed map.  So on a hex map the Nightsky could walk or jump into position, but on a hexless map he now has to Run..

Here is how we will correct this issue.

For Punch, Kicks, Pushes, and Weapon attacks you will only have to get within 1" of the edge of your targets Hexbase to make an attack.  Of course facing still maters. So if there is 1" or less between the edges of your two hexbases and you are facing the correct way, you may make one of those attacks. Yes I know, to follow path of logic all the way through, it should be 2" (an extra inch for each hex base).  The 1" will work fine, and I really don't want to deal with intervening mechs between physicals.

For Charges and Death From Above attacks you will need to be able move to the center of the target mechs Hexbase (Not just into base to base).
Meaning you have to move 1/2" further now that you did than the way we were playing.  This is due to the rule that you must be able to move into the target mechs hex when doing these attacks.


Preemptive Editorial Response:
But what about shooting? Shouldn't that get the extra inch too?  No and here is why.  Shooting on the hex map is just like Charges and DFA's.  Your weapons range have to reach the target hex (meaning the center of the hex) on a hex map, not go to the edge of the target hex.  So measuring from Hexbase edge to hexbase edge will give you the same "Range" after conversion that you would have had on a Hexmap.
Example: A Blackjack wants to shoot it's Med laser at a Spider.  The max Range of 9 Hexes is just that on a hex map if there are 8 empty hexes between the Two mechs, the Black jack is in range and can hit.  Now that 8 hexes converts to 16 inches on the hexless tabletop.  Likewise, There should be 18" center to center between the Blackjack and Spider when you convert their location (9 hexes apart) to a hexless tabletop.  So measuring from hexedge to hex edge between the two mechs will give you 17" or within range for the Med Laser to hit.  You actually get a little extra range from your weapons with the conversion, but it is easier to measure edge to edge the center to center.  So Edge to edge, just like we have been playing.   

Rumble Contest Rules!

So in November we will have our first "Rumble" contest.  Here are the rules on how it will work.

We will Randomly draw our starting order 1 through 13 (or however many we have that night).  You can tell the group your starting order or you can keep it secret and announce it when it is your turn to enter the arena.

The First two contestants will enter the Coliseum on turn #1.

On Turn #2, Who ever drew the 3rd entry position will enter the map.  On turn #3, Who ever drew the 4th Entry position, will enter the map.  An so forth until Turn 12...our 13th warrior will come onto the field.

We will be using the Coliseum map.

Entry points for each contestant will be Random.. The Coliseum has 16 entry points.  When the turn starts, but before initiative cards are flipped, The player that in entering the battle will Roll a D20 and take the corresponding entry door (re-roll 17-20).  The first two entrants can't use the same door, so if the 2nd player rolls the same entry gate roll again.

Awards are as follows:
Solo Kills will receive an additional 1,000,000 C-Bill award over what you already receive.

• 13th Place: 5,000,000 C-Bills
• 12th Place: 4,000,000 C-Bills
• 11th Place: 3,000,000 C-Bills
• 10th Place: 2,000,000 C-Bills
• 9th Place: 1,000,000 C-Bills
• 8th Place: 500,000 C-Bills
• 7th Place: 250,000 C-Bills
• 6th Place: 250,000 C-Bills
• 5th Place: Roll on Lyran Alliance Light mech chart "F" column, or your factions light "F" chart (Clanners must take one of these choices, and not roll on their own chart).
• 4th Place: Roll on the Second Line Light Clan mech chart of your choice, or your factions Medium "D" Chart  (Lower Chart for WoB & Comstar, Bottom chart for Periphery)
• 3rd Place: Roll on the Second Line Medium Clan mech chart of your choice, or your factions Heavy "C" Chart (Lower Chart for WoB & Comstar, Bottom chart for Periphery) and +1 Fame
• 2nd Place: Roll on the Front Line Heavy Clan mech chart of your choice, or your factions Assault "B" Chart (Upper Chart for WoB & Comstar & Periphery without a "B" chart) and +3 Fame
• 1st Place: Roll on the Front Line Assault Clan mech chart of your choice, or your factions Assault "A" Chart (twice taking pick) and +5 Fame.

Rough Draft of Battle Schedule, Idea for September Event...

So I was thinking about our September event.  The Coliseum should be done by then, and I definitely want it to be the setting for that months "Grand Melee".

It is also very easy to set up, as I have mounted it on a board that I can store under one of the tables.

I also can pull out the 3rd table, and we could have three battles going at once.  So here are my thoughts, please shoot them down or poke holes.

Rather than doing the "Grand Melee" (where all players of that night are on the table at once) first.  We will randomly assign folks and split them up onto Three tables (4 or 5 players each).  We do those battles first, then bring everyone back together for the 2nd battle  of the night (Grand Melee) in the Coliseum.
Off board time would be on a first come first serve basis after the triple battle, so it is to your advantage to play quickly.

What do you think?

Rough draft of battle schedule.

August
#3 - Devils Bath (13 players) *First time on map
#4A - Hartford Gardens (First 7 players out of Battle #3) *First time on map
#4B - (Last 6 players) Hartford Gardens if 4A is done otherwise d6  (1-3) Factory - (4-6) Devils Bath

September
#5A - Hartford Gardens (Random 4-5 players)
#5B - Factory (Random 4-5 Players)
#5C - Ishiyama (Random 4-5 Players)
#6 - Coliseum (13 players) *First time on map
(Swap order if folks are concerned about the time...)

October
#7 - The Jungle (13 players) *First time on map
#8A - Devils Bath (First 7 out of #7)
#8B - (Last 6 players) Devils Bath if available, otherwise d6 (1-3) Jungle - (4-6) Factory

November
#9 Royal Rumble! - Coliseum - Random assignment First two contestants enter on turn #1, then either every turn or every other turn a new mech enters (to be determined, every turn might be too soon for mechs to be eliminated, every other might take too long...turn 12 for last mech entering or turn 23).
Entrants pick their entry point before the start of the turn, when the walls and pylons move.

if time allows...
#10A - Ishiyama (First 7 out of #9)
#10B - (Last 6 players) Ishiyama if available, otherwise d6 (1-3) Factory - (4-6) Hartford Gardens


December
Ishiyama (13 players)

then
3 smaller battles (5,4,4)




January
Survivor Series @ Hartford Gardens (13 Players)
Divy teams into equal teams no bigger than a Lance / Star depending upon the number of players, (12 = 4 lances, 13 = 2 Lances, 1 Star) - Team is eliminated when last mech of that team is eliminated.  Team gets awards.  See Survivor Series post for details on match.


Then
3 smaller battles (5,4,4)

Feburary
#11 Bracket Tourney (Duels) - Random maps - Random Seeding - No repairs or MW healing, Reloading ammo OK between rounds.  Lowest Fame gets the Byes (Levels the field)  Overall contest prizes same as if single map (Murphy's same as regular map, Contest winners may roll on Clan table of their choice.)


March
#12 Tag Team Matches - Random Maps, Random Tag Teams - Team eliminated when one mech of team eliminated.  If odd number of players that night - drop the tag teams and do Duels tournament like in January.

April
#13 Assassin! - You are given one target and must eliminate only that target.  When you eliminate your target that players target as your new target.  Will assign targets in order so that it is one big "loop" and all the other players will have to have been eliminated before you get yourself as a target.   (Factory Map)

May

June

July 

S. O. S. Profile: Barack "Prez" Bush

Name: Barack Bush

Callsign: Prez

Player: Josh

Faction: Word of Blake

Rank: Demi-Precentor (Major)

Unit:
7th Division "The Glorious" IV-Iota

"Keys of Hope" III-Lambda


Current Battlemech:
Kintaro KTO-19


Arena Kills: 0.5


Best finish:
-

Current Stable: none

Current Sponsors: none

Background: 
 Next to nothing is known about the entrant from The Word of Blake.  The image above was provided with the registration form for entry into the Solaris Olympiad Series.

He brings a capable Kintaro KTO-19, as his initial mech for the series.  Although, the listed Word of Blake unit has is known as a heavy tank unit. So it is not known if he is a very talented individual, or if the profile was fabricated.

All submitted information about Demi-Precentor Bush should be highly suspect until it can be verified.

Coliseum Update

Quick update on the progress on the Coliseum arena.

Got the walls all done. They will randomly raise and fall.

Still need to paint on or add entry points, mark the floor where the walls will be, and paint it up.

Should see action in the September event.

Bounty Rules and Current Bounties

Bounties may be placed on another players mech if you wish.  Someone have too much of an advantage, or you want pay back for them taking you out match after match, placing a bounty might get you a little help evening the score.

Bounties can be for a certain Battle or an ongoing bounty until you remove it.  You may not drop a bounty during a battle, but you may offer one up.  Bounties are for the elimination of a mech not for the killing of the mechwarrior.

You may offer up a killing bounty on the mechwarrior, but your mechwarrior will take a -20 Fame hit.

You may make side bets with another player if you wish.  First to drop an enemy, Who lasts the longest, First to score a hit with a physical attack, etc.




Current Mech Bounties:

• None

Current Mechwarrior Bounties:

• None