Flock of Crows

by | Jul 21, 2016

So I sat down the other night to paint some more Eridani Light Horse mechs .... and nothing.  I just couldn't get going on them.  After finishing the Ghost Bear force, I wanted to get more of my ELH done but I discovered that I was just sick of painting green mechs.  After a regiment and a half of them, just couldn't stand painting any more green mechs.  So only one thing to do, a new force.
 
A quick peruse through the old Camo Specs guide as well as the other CBT books I have yielded no units with a color scheme that interested me.  Thus there was only one solution, a new unique force.  A small mercenary force was the obvious answer.  I stripped a number of mechs out of the ELH queue and got them organized and whipped up a plausible start for the group and a brief background overview.  And then last night, I took one of the mechs and completed a test color scheme model.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out but am still contemplating a black wash on the white portion.  Anyone have any suggestions on how to get that wash layer over white without turning it a gray color instead of white?

So with that, I give you the mercenary band Flock of Crows.

Flock of Crows
This small mercenary command was founded at the end of the First Succession War in 2799.  The force started out as a company from the 4th Galedon Regulars.  When news of the Kentares IV massacre reached the regiment, they were as appalled as everyone else.  One company of the 3rd Battalion decided they could not honorably follow the Jinjiro Kurita's orders after such an act.  They took their mechs and some other like minded mechwarriors and support personnel and fled in an Overlord-class Dropship.

Fleeing to the Outworlds Alliance, the force organized themselves into a mercenary unit to sustain themselves.  Originally calling themselves The Ronin, they soon found themselves referred to as Crows by the locals on many Outworlds Alliance worlds due to their odd luck of arriving on a planet shortly before pirate raids.  Embracing the name, the Flock of Crows were born, thriving as pirate hunters.

As the unit grew to a full mech battalion with a support battalion of armor and infantry, they began to worry about the DCMS discovering them and seeking retribution and began seeking contracts farther away from the Draconis Combine.  By the end of the Second Succession War the Crows were in the Magistracy of Canopus under contract for pirate hunting and the occasional raid into the Free Worlds League.  Losses have currently attritioned the unit down to a combined arms battalion.

Aerospace Assets
Crow's Nest, Overlord-class Dropship, Dai-i Tsing Ashigara
    Raven Flight (4 Aerospace Fighters)

Command Lance
    Chu-sa Aioki Yoshido, Cyclops
    Cho-sa Raizo Itagake, Battlemaster
    Seiji Nagumo, Katana
    Ichiro Chang, Orion

First Company (Storm Crows)
    Command Lance
        Tai-i Taoka Nomuri, Assassin
        Analiese Singh, Firestarter
        Genji Yoshinaka, Ostroc
        Li Tomanaga, Thorn
    Alpha Lance
        Chu-i Hideshi Matsudaira, Wolverine
        Obai Nishiyama, Panther
        Miko Aoyama, Javelin
        Kasumi Fushida, Dervish
    Beta Lance
        Chu-i Tomo Daikichi, Shadowhawk
        Narita Meiji, Wasp
        Iruma Hachiojo, Wasp
        Maeda Nguyen, Stinger
    Charlie Lance
        Chu-i Kono Matsuda, Cicada
        Ororo Akasaki, Jenner
        Sato Ugaki, Hermes
        Chang Iriarte, Jenner

Second Company (Dark Crows)
    Command Lance
        Tai-i Narami Amagiro, Atlas
        Hiroshi Mizoguchi, Black Knight
        Tsiao Nichigama, Awesome
        Osami Mikawa, Thunderbolt
    Alpha Lance
        Chu-i Ito Shiazawa, Dragon
        Misu Tatsuo, Stalker
        Tojo Inoue, Thug
        Isoroku Misodeki, Dragon
    Beta Lance
        Chu-i Yonai Mitsumasa, Archer
        Saito Takeji, Longbow
        Raizo Koto, Crusader
        Tokichi Arima, Catapult
    Charlie Lance
        Chu-i Keiko Nakatomi, Griffin
        Rioko Iagachi, Hatchman
        Taoka Fuchiawa, Grasshopper
        Niama Oshika, Quickdraw


I still need to get some APCs, tanks, infantry, and aerospace fighters to finish off the unit as well as work on getting the mechs painted, but this seems like a nice fun unit to get organized and will get a number of mechs out of the paint queue and into the finished list.  The fighters will be attached outside the unit as a support role and then the rest of the nonmechs will be organized as a combined arms company to round out the battalion.  I'm thinking a mixed lance for the command lance, 2 infantry platoons (mechanized or jump I'm thinking), and then a tank lance.

Comments, questions, and suggestions as welcomed as always and I'll see you all next time.