Showing posts with label Players. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Players. Show all posts

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Player Dossier: Harry "Flashy" Flashman

1st Davion Guards Dossier



Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Harry Flashman

Callsign: Flashy

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Flashman FLS-8K

Specialty:  Lasers, ER Lasers, Women



Flashy (Harry Flashman) is a charismatic man and the image of an ideal Federated Commonwealth officer. He claims only three natural talents: Mech piloting, facility with foreign languages, and womanizing. He's become an expert cricket bowler, but that was through hard effort (he needed sporting credit at Rugby School, and was afraid to play rugby football). He can also display a winning personality, when he wants to, and is very skilled at flattering those more important than himself without appearing servile.

As he admits, Flashy is a coward, who will flee from danger if there is any way to do so, and on some occasions collapses in funk. He has one great advantage in concealing this weakness: when he is frightened, his face turns red, rather than white, so that observers think he is excited, enraged, or exuberant - as a hero ought to be.

After his expulsion from school for drunkenness, Flashy looked for an easy life. He had his wealthy father buy him an Lyran officer's commission in the fashionable 10th Donegal Guards stationed in the system of Chateau. The 10th, commanded by Marshal Sarah Steiner, was a unit of renown in Lyran space.  Flashy threw himself into the social life that the 10th offered and became a leading light of Chateau society. A duel with another officer over a courtesan led to his being relocated to a different continent on Chateau. There he met and deflowered Elspeth Morrison, daughter of a wealthy Lyran weapons developer, whom he had to marry in a "shotgun wedding".  Though he was kicked out of the 10th for "actions unbecoming an officer".  The day he was to ship out, The Clans struck Chateau, wiping out the 10th and none lived to tell the tale.  He fled the system along with the other refugees.

Unfortunately, his language talent and his habit of flattery brought him to the attention of the Morgan Kell.  Flashy having weaseled his way into a royal banquet on Tharkad, found himself rubbing elbows with the Grand Duke of Arc-Royal.  After hearing Flashy's version of escaping Clan Wolf on Chateau, Morgan offered him a position with the Kell Hounds.

His first action with the Hounds was the 2nd battle of Twycross, against Clan Jade Falcon.  Flashy, in fleeing from the Falcon Guard, led them right into the trap that had been set by Kai Allard-Liao.  Battle turned in favor of the FedCom forces, when Falcon Guard were lured into a deep canyon where Kai Allard-Liao detonated planted powerful explosives in the canyon walls. Resulting in Jade Falcon Guards destruction by being buried under rock and rubble.  Flashy close enough to the mouth of the canyon, that his Shadow Hawk battlemech was only partially buried from the rock slide.  A video crew captured the image of the Shadow Hawk emerging from the rubble that had claimed nearly 50 Falcon mechs.  Flashman's fame of the incident was only surpassed by Kai Allard-Liao.   

Flashy survived the ensuing debacle by a mixture of sheer luck and unstinting cowardice. He became an unwitting hero: The Defender of Luithen's primary LRM ammo factory, where he was the only surviving Kell Hound from his company.  Flashy was found by the relieving troops in his armless shutdown Shadow Hawk surrounded by destroyed Smoke Jaguar battlemechs. Of course, Flashy arrived at the Ammo factory by accident, collapsed in terror rather than fight, was forced to stand and fight by his subordinate, and was 'pegged' for a complete coward. He had been trying to surrender with the arms of his kneeling Shadow Hawk upraised when the the primary ammo storage warehouse was hit.  Every mech within 200m was destroyed, except for Flashy who only lost the arms of his mech to the blast due to the kneeling position.  The reinforced lower walls of the warehouse protected everything under 5m.  Happily for him, all inconvenient witnesses had been killed.

This incident set the tone for Flashy's life. Always in spite of his best efforts to evade his duty. He was often selected for especially dangerous jobs because of his heroic reputation. He met many famous people, and survived some of the worst military disasters, always coming out with more heroic laurels.

Despite his admitted cowardice, Flashy was a dab hand at fighting when he had to. It should be pointed out that most of these acts of 'bravery' were performed only when he had absolutely no choice, and to do anything else would have resulted in his being exposed as a coward and losing his respected status in society, or being shot for desertion. When he could act like a coward with impunity, he invariably did.

Flashy left the Kell Hounds on Arc-Royal to join with the 1st Davion Guards on New Avalon in Davion space.  He did so to get out of Lyran space and away from transplanted Clan Wolf in Exile who's Clan warriors would see right through Flashy and jeopardize his reputation.  He thought he would be safe, back on a capitol world, living the life in the upper echelons of society.  Then Operation Bulldog was launched and Harry Flashman was once again in the middle of the major conflicts of his time.

Harry had managed to hide on one of the invasion Jumpships, missing his invasion drop to the northern part of Port Arthur.  Just as he was about to be discovered, he snuck into a batch of reserve mechwarriors that had recently arrived.  He was assigned to replace combat losses of the 7th Company.  Upon joining the 7th he was assigned, of all mechs, a Flashman class heavy mech. 






Player Dossier: Benjamin "Patriot" Martin

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Benjamin Martin

Callsign: Patriot

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Guillotine GLT-3N

Specialty:  Lasers, SRM's


At the beginning of the War of 3039 between the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine,
Benjamin Martin is a veteran of the Fourth Succession Wars and a widower raising his seven children.  He is living in the Rochester system and is a second cousin to Field Marshal James Sandoval, The Duke of Robinson.  Martin is called to Robinson and offered a Company command for the Invasion of the Draconis Combine. Fearing the consequences of a war, Martin declines to posting. Ashamed of his father's perceived cowardice, Martin's eldest son, Gabriel, enlists in the Federated Suns Military against his father's wishes.
Colonel Tavington, Fourth Ghost Regiment
A within months the Draconis Combine has launched a counterattack which includes landings on Rochester.  Gabriel returns home to Rochester, having been wounded in early action.  His unit was wiped out, but he escaped capture returning with valuable information about Combine forces. The Martins open their estate to wounded / recovering veterans of the conflict.  However Draconis Combine forces soon arrive at the Martin estate.  A lance of the Fourth Ghost Regiment, led by the ruthless Colonel William Tavington.  They arrest Gabriel as a spy and intend to execute him back at their camp. When Benjamin's next eldest son Thomas attempts to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Colonel Tavington. Tavington orders the Estate burned, and the wounded shot.
On their way back to camp, the Fourth Ghost Lance is ambushed by Martin and two of his sons, freeing Gabriel in the process. Gabriel and Benjamin decide to rejoin the Federated Suns army and fight the Combine Forces on Rochester, leaving the rest of the children in the care of his sister-in-law, Charlotte. Due to his battlefield experience, Benjamin is appointed a Captain and put in charge of the local militia. His goal will be to keep The Fourth Ghost Regiment occupied in order to prevent them from marching north to the higher populated areas of Rochester. Benjamin recruits and trains his force with the assistance of Major Jean Villeneuve, a retired Lyran Tank commander, who is assigned to Martin's militia unit.
Benjamin's militia uses guerrilla warfare with limited Mechs, Tanks and infantry, harassing Combine supply lines and capturing goods. These tactics earn him the disdain of Colonel Tavington who is willing to use whatever means necessary to capture Martin and crush his militia.  Tavington learns the identities of some of the militia members and proceeds to attack their families and burn their homes. Benjamin's family is forced to flee Charlotte's plantation, after it is burned, and settle along the coast with a group of former servants.
During his campaign, Tavington rides into a town known to support the militia and has the inhabitants locked in the church. He then orders the church burned, killing all inside, including Gabriel Martin's new wife Anne Howard. In a rage, Gabriel and a small group of militia attack Tavington's encampment. Before Benjamin is able to arrive to support his son, Gabriel is killed by Tavington.
Heartbroken, Benjamin leads the militia in a decisive battle against Tavington. The Rochester militia forces prevail over the Fourth Ghost Regiment and Benjamin kills Tavington. 
Now 20 years later, all his children are grown and have lives of their own.  Martin at 54 still feels he has something to offer the Federated Suns in their battle against the Clans.  Needing every able bodied Mechwarrior, the Federated Suns quickly took Martin back.  He was assigned to the 1st Davion Guards, a unit that would be at the forefront of the Jaguar counter offensive.  Fed Suns media made his posting to the unit wide spread on many media outlets. The idea being to show the Draconis Combine allies that even a veteran of the last two conflicts between the Dracs and the Suns is in full support of liberating Combine space and removing the Clans from the Inner Sphere.  Little did they know he is really bat%&$^ CRAZY!

(Written by Patsfreak, Edit by RangerRob)

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Player Dossier: Patrick "Warlock" McDreamy

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Patrick McDreamy

Callsign: Warlock

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Vemon SDR-9K

Specialty:  Light Mechs



Patrick McDreamy started his piloting life making courier runs for his father’s company on Bacrelona, a Lyran Commonweath world the borders the periphery.  The rough terrain of mountains, ravines and constantly blowing gale force winds give Barcelona a unique culture and commerce structure. Specialized mechs were used to transport goods along the wildly uneven ravine floors as the surface winds were too violent to allow air travel. The dexterity needed to navigate the crags and gulches as well as avoid the random whirlwinds that plagued the ravines would have granted most couriers a spot on an Olympic team. The same was true of Patrick.

Eventually wanderlust set in and he left his homeworld of Barcelona and followed his love of mechs, not into a house army, but to the Mecca of all mech sport enthusiasts – Solaris VII. Initially he found work as a junior astech, which basically meant he drove the mech retrieval truck for one of the arenas. It wasn’t until he was assisting a senior tech in the repair of a Hermes 4S and took the mech for a test run around the speed track that his exceptional skills were noticed. Patrick activated the MASC on the mech and consequently broke the track lap record. The manager of the Hermes’ mech pilot witnessed the event and soon had signed Patrick up as a pilot for his newest venture: NASMECH racing.
   
His first season on the circuit he was an alternate driver and only saw one race midseason when the primary was in detox. He had been a bit overzealous and wound up trashing his mech and that of another racer when he overestimated his clearance and drove them both into the wall.

The next season the team picked up a second mech and Patrick was allowed to race full time. Playing it a tad more conservatively he finished toward the front of the pack and garnered a small amount of notoriety. Unfortunately he had only a handful more races under his belt when the clans attacked.


Word came that his homeworld of Barcelona had been overrun by Clan Jade Falcon in the initial waves of the Clan invasion.  Devastated, he reached out to his team owner, wanting out of his contract to seek revenge.  The owner, Hugh Gibbs, a well to do Davion business man, didn't want to see Patrick throw away his life by leaving Solaris just to join up with some lowly Merc Unit.  Gibbs secured Patrick a training position on New Avalon's NAIS.  Patrick graduated with honors, excelling with light mechs in a scouting role.   Now a member of the 1st Davion Guards, 7th company, Patrick hopes to put his skills to liberating the inner sphere. 

Addendum:  With the 7th lacking any light mechs, Warlock has taken the controls of a Hunchback IIC.  "At least the armor is like a light mech", he jokes with his fellow mechwarriors.

(Written by Gregg, Edit by RangerRob)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Player Dossier: Walter "Maverick" Sobchak

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Walter Sobchak

Callsign: Maverick

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Penetrator PTR-4D

Specialty:  Lasers, ER Lasers

Status: KIA, Port Arthur, Operation Bulldog


Walter is a widowed alcoholic with a short temper living in the Okefenokee system with his mother and little brother (Earl). Outside of being the towns mechanic, his days and nights are spent drinking and bowling with Earl, and playing the Solaris VII, a stand-up arcade game at the bowling alley. Eventually he becomes the highest scoring player of the game. Shortly afterwards, he is approached by a Davion Guard's recruiter, named Theo.  Theo lures Walter onto a shuttlecraft, with the promise of ale and women.  But before Walter realizes what is going on, he is on New Avalon, training to be a mechwarrior at NAIS.

The game was designed as a test to find those "with the gift" and only those that score high enough get a "visit" from the Davion recruiter. Walter set the high score throughout the Federated Commonwealth.
.
Before Walter can attend his first training class, word of a pirate raid on the Okefenokee system reaches New Avalon.  Apparently the worst ever.  Walter demands that if he is to stay in the Guards, he must first go back to defend his homeworld.  Theo reluctantly agrees, going back with Walter.  Upon arrival, back in Okefenokee, Walter finds both his Mother and Brother have perished in the raid.  Walter fully commits himself to the Davion Guards at that point.  Knowing the skills he will learn will give him the best chance at revenge. 

While on New Avalon during his training, Theo introduces Walter to Nash, a grizzly old dropship captain and former mechwarrior one evening at the Officers club.  They eventually get into a drunken brawl, and each sees the strength in the other and they become good friends.  Nash gives Walter some pointers and guidance during his training on the workings of a battlemech. The 1st Davion Guards, who are very suspicious of the new recruit, who was brought in due to his skill at a video game. After the first couple battles he earns the call sign "Maverick" because of his lack of knowledge of in the ways of mechs and mech warfare, but his willingness to fight in his own way.


Maverick was assigned to the 7th company of the 1st Davion Guards upon graduation from the NAIS.  He is one of the longest standing active members of the 7th and currently pilots a Penetrator PTR-4D Battlemech.

(Written by Fab, Edit by RangeRob)

Friday, December 17, 2010

Player Dossier: Jensen "Viper" Blayloc

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Jensen Blayloc

Callsign: Viper

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Maelstrom MTR-5K

Specialty:  Lasers, Sensors
 
Born on Arcadia during the waning years of the Third Succession War, Jensen was the third son of a minor noble. Raised as were most in his position, to be military and likely Mechwarriors, he attended New Avalon Institute of Science, College of Military Science.



The College of Military Science: Arguably the most prestigious military academy in the Inner Sphere, CMS turns out high-quality cadets in all military specialties. Formerly the New Avalon Military Academy, the NAMA was founded during the Star League years after it took over Albion Military Academy, with the NAIS built around the academy. Home to some of the most advanced training equipment in the Inner Sphere, CMS lacks nothing in the way of equipment or facilities, with plenty of training ‘Mechs, fighters, and simulators for any conceivable ‘Mech design known today. The College also boasts three Gauntlets, special ‘Mech training grounds. Its large alumni base includes such notable graduates as Kai Allard-Liao. 

His early career like most officers during peacetime was training and standing station on backwater planets making nice to the locals during liberty. That all changes with the Clan invasion. Jensen and his NAIS training unit were deployed to the Capellan border, replacing troops that were to being reassigned to the Clan front.  He has seen action on over a dozen worlds, mostly defensive actions against raids by House Liao.  In 3052 his training unit was stood down, and all the Mechwarriors were reassigned to other units.  Jensen found himself a member of the 1st Davion Guards.

His callsign is a result of a tactic he likes to employ, lie in wait until the enemy gets into optimal range, and then introduce yourself with an alpha strike. While he has been known to lurk in the underbrush, he has never been found stuck upside down in a tree..

His goal has never been to be a hero, but to go out, complete the objective, and return home alive. He likes to say: "Glory comes from being in the wrong tactical position, taking unnecessary risks, and usually landing you and your shiny new ribbons in the same box." and "If you find yourself in a fair fight, you have screwed up someplace."


(Written by Scott, Edit by RangerRob)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Player Dossier: Lymm "Rock" McCullen

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Lymm McCullen

Callsign: Rock

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Crockett CRK-5003-1

Specialty:  Medium AC, SRMs, PPCs
 


The Steiner hero of Waco Flats, the Anvil that broke the Jade Falcons back... All of these titles are associated with Lymm, thou he lays little claim to any of them and will often tell people seeking his autograph not to believe all that you see on the news reels.

The battle was played up as a great victory, thou in truth it was a cluster #%@$ from start to finish.  It started off with a good plan to choke the enemy force in three mile wide valley leading out into some desert flats on Coventry.  For whatever reason command had called off the heavy mechs, leaving a reinforced tank battalion and a mix of medium and light mechs to hold the pass.  With the Falcons seeing this pass as the "easy" way through they pushed on it in force.  

Command scrambled and told the remaining elements to pull out, however knowing his tanks would be cut to pieces and unable to outrun the mechs on the open flats so he disobeyed the direct order to pull back and held his ground despite the remaining light and medium mechs pulling back.  The talking heads played it up as a big "feint" but the truth is the clan intercepted the comms and assuming the tanks were under the dust cloud of the retreating mechs went into the valley at speed.  It was a massacre, only 6 of the tanks in the reinforced battalion survived but they did put a severe beating on the enemy, surely not the massacre the Steiner propaganda played it out to be, but when hungry for a win or some hope, artistic license takes over.

Well, the Rock had the unfortunate luck to not only survive the battle and do well, his coms and vid link broadcasts were recovered.  The PR machine went to work, they turned his nickname of "Rock" into something meaning hard, when in truth it was given to him for being stupid.

Initially several of the tank crews abandoned there rides, however there was still enough firepower that the initial clan mechs charging down the valley were cut down in short order, Rock tucked his ride, a upgraded Patton Battletank, with the nomiker name of "Lady Kats Angry Beaver" in behind one of the dropped mechs and managed to get several flank shots and some good cover from the wreck.  Course the PR guys renamed the tank "Kathrine's Furcoat" or something, but they have no sense of humor...

In the chaos of the gun cam it looked like Rock and his crew were destroying every mech they fired on, truth is there was so much firepower being put into that gap that the clan mechs were getting mauled.  Course, clanners being clanners they neither broke nor hesitated and once they got to the line it all went to hell.  However, on a good note the Mech's that had been pulling back, upon realizing that the tanks were holding there ground returned and joined the fray.

With his tank destroyed Rock and his two surviving crew re-manned an abandoned mech and rejoined the fight, only to have that tank destroyed as well, still alive at that point rock then managed to rescue a downed mech warrior who's pod had failed to eject before stealing a chow truck and tear assing across the flats while the clans were regrouping.  The recreations of the battered and bloodied yet ruggedly handsome tank commander pulling the battered and bruised blond female mech warrior free from her wreck were all over the vids before he even got cleaned up. Truth be told she had shoulders like a man and was more stove up then even rock was at that point, but whatever... It helped people sleep better at night.  

The PR had turned a mutual asskicking into a "big win" and used Rock as the posterboy for it.  After that they made Rock do the hand shaking pony show tour they made him a mech warrior, he is alright with that, thou he often admits he misses the squeal and crank of tracks...  While not the legendary hero the propaganda reels make him out to be, he does have a wealth of battlefield experience and with that a cavalier disregard to his own safety or life expectancy making him an asset to any battlefield commander.
Hoping to keep the hero on the front page.  Steiner media managed to get "Rock" reassigned so he would be part of Operation Bulldog.  He was assigned as a reserve Mechwarrior for the 1st  Davion Guards, the Stiener folks thinking it was one of the safer deployments.  He was sent a with a lance of mechs on the condition that he pilot one of them in battle for the holocameras.  Feeling the most like a tank, "Rock" selected the Bushwacker, and has been deployed to replace combat losses with the Lucky 7th, 7th company of the First Davion Guards on Port Arthur.

Addendum:   Rock has swapped out the Buhwacker to be part of the C3 networked lance the 7th now has.  His new ride is a Daikyu DAI-02.

Addendum 2: Having the Daikyu severly damaged, Rock has swapped to a Crockett  

(Written by Poe, Edit by RangerRob)

Monday, November 15, 2010

Player Dossier: Lymm "Poe" Mao

"Poe" at the card table
1st Davion Guards Dossier


Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Lymm Mao

Callsign:  Poe

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Raven RVN-3L

Specialty:  Sensors, SRMs

Status: KIA, Port Arthur, Operation Bulldog

Poe hails from a long distinguished line of House Liao Mechwarriors. The Mao's are a family full of honor, rich tradition and service to the greater good.  Hailing from the St. Ives commonality his family was torn when the St. Ives Compact declared independence from the Capellan Confederation after the fourth succession war.  Poe's Grandmother Zai Mao had been a Captain in the Death Commandos perhaps the most feared unit in all of the Inner Sphere.  While Poe was was only 5 years old, he knew he was destined to be just like his Grandmother and become a Commando.  However, his parents chose to stay loyal to the St. Ives Compact.  With his dreams of serving in the Death Commandos shattered at a young age, the great grandson of the honorable Zai Mao, has taken a very different path.

Poe had the best tutors and education, martial arts training and philosophic instruction through his upbringing on the St. Ives Compact.  However, he has followed a more primal urge at every available opportunity. In his teens he impregnated a cousin out of wedlock.  In high school he was a “person of interest” in a prostitution and gambling ring. In the academy he was again in trouble for gambling and professional female companionship.  Thou no longer a “person of interest” he was this time indited and sentenced. Thankfully with the influence of his family was let off with minimum time and pressed into service. Unfortunately for his family he continued to be a stain on the family tradition until it was arranged that he be sent to serve for Davion in a Mechwarrior exchange program.

So far that has been a good deal for both him and his family, Davion tends to run looser and over look various recreational pursuits when indulged in by a skilled Mechwarrior. He was transferred to the 1st Davion Guards just before Operation Bulldog, by a CO who was concerned the way his daughter was talking about Poe.  It is safe to say that Poe is the most "colorful" mechwarrior ever to be a member of the Guards.

His skills in a Mech are exceptional, undoubtedly due to the “grooming” he received as a youth and despite being an “outsider” his reckless courage when facing the enemy have earned him if not respect, a begrudged acceptance amongst his fellow Mechwarriors.

(Written by Poe, edit by Rangerrob)

Friday, October 8, 2010

Player Dossier: Esteban "Pillsbury" Manillo

1st Davion Guards Dossier


Type: Mechwarrior
Pillsbury (left) and brother Juan (right)

Name:  Esteban Manillo

Callsign:  Pillsbury

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Jagermech JM7-DD

Specialty:  Light ACs, Sensors


  Esteban and his brother Juan grew up in some of the worst colonial slums in the Davion sphere of control. When old enough Juan joined the military, to escape the gangs, and convinced his brother to go with him. Juan became a mech mechanic and Esteban joined the infantry. Both brothers excelled at their new vocations, but Juan pushed his younger brother to aspire to be more than a mere grunt. Knowing his brothers skills and intelligence, and using some contacts, he got Esteban a chance at being trained as a MechWarrior. Esteban aced his exams and got an appointment to an academy.

  Since his academy days he has done well as a light mech pilot, though now he has a Jagermech. Just like his days in the infantry, he doesn’t back down from a fight, no matter the odds. His call sign was given to him by his brother. Juan always teased Esteban because of his size (6’5”, 375 lbs) and appearance, calling him the Pillsbury Dough Boy in front of other Mechwarriors: the name stuck and has been with him ever since.

  Pillsbury is a loyal and tenacious fighter. He has shown a talent with auto cannons but is not above some close quarters combat, preferring to “curb stomp” an enemy mech.

Addendum: Pillsbury is now in a Daikyu DAI-01, having given up the Jagermech for a Rifleman...and losing the Rifleman in action with the Smoke Jags.




(Entry written by Kyle)