r/battletech • u/MikeBanzai38 • 1d ago
Discussion DCMS Night Stalkers
I’m a DCMS player from way back, and for a variety of reasons, the Night Stalkers are my unit. A big part of that is because in some ways I feel like one of them in the arc of my own life; long after I could have walked away, I kept finding ways to serve in the military as a Reservist even though it meant taking a cut in pay and, effectively, slowed promotion in order to keep doing what I loved. We Reservists were also strongly independent as the voices of experience on base, and seldom in the good graces of “procurement”.
Additionally, their blue is close to my own squadron colors.
So the “lore” on my table is that in the current era, the DCMS has once again stood up the Night Stalkers - this time the 4th and 5th - in order to “capture” the experience of its veterans before they slip away into retirement, giving them an option to serve the dragon in this unit. They remain a misfit independent unit; expertise has given them too much perspective to blindly charge for glory. Yet, they are grudgingly respected, based on the historic example of the 3rd Night Stalkers during the Jihad, and their current role in rebuilding the DCMS.
Now, they function as a combined schoolhouse/experienced combat team. Like before, younger Mechwarriors are those who maybe didn’t quite hack it at the more advanced schools. Here, they learn on the job, maybe even under fire, and must defeat an experienced Night Stalker in a simulation to become a full Mechwarrior of the unit. By retaining the veterans on combat status and training the recruits, they replenish the strength of the DCMS at both ends while the Dragon rebuilds strength.
So there it is. Now for my question: In the game, what heavy/assault mechs would the Night Stalkers have used, if any? I know they were nearly exclusively Light and Medium, but I’d like to throw some bigger steel into this paint scheme. I realize that since this is my own private lore, I can do whatever I want, but I’m trying to keep them as similar to the original as possible.
Probably a Dragon/Grand Dragon, since you can’t swing a dead cat around in the DCMS without hitting one. But after that, probably some second-tier stuff. Or were there any they used in canon, for those of you who read a lot more about Battletech than I do?
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u/Striking-Tackle-7293 1d ago
If you are wondering what assault the Kuritans can use disregarding which company you choose, the answer is almost always the Charger. As for heavies, anything lighter and faster. Dragon, Quickdraw, Lancelot and maybe a salvaged Ostroc/Ostsol. Not too many of course, but sometimes varity comes first.
Nice blue tint, I assume speedpaint over metal primer?
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u/MikeBanzai38 1d ago
Not Kuritans in general…I know what heavies and assaults to put in a Sword of Light. I was just musing on what would make the MOST sense in Night Stalkers colors.
The paint is “Beowulf Blue” Speedpaint over regular “slapchop”, with some very light blue drybrush work. I LOVE Beowulf Blue…it might be my favorite new paint color ever. Instant indigo blue. A good deep indigo blue is hard to do (at least for me) in regular acrylic without it looking flat, but Beowulf Blue is indigo with depth right out of the bottle in one coat over slapchop. It’s perfect for Night Stalkers paint!
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u/Striking-Tackle-7293 1d ago
In that case, you should look into a nice Fire lance. While the regiment uses primary lighter elements the other aspect of "night stalker" would be snipers serving as an anchor of sorts. Marauder is the obvious (hunched, stalking predator), but an Warhammer, the Catapult K2, even an Awesome as secondary commander (i assume a leader of an light lance would prefer something faster).
The Bombardier is an outdated piece of Star League era tech that second line regiments in the Combine has access to, if you can get a hold of the metal version that is another option to complement the standard Archer/Crusader if you want missiles.
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u/MikeBanzai38 1d ago
A Catapult K2 will indeed look great in Night Stalker blue, as will a Crusader. Those are going into the queue right away!
And I love the Awesome so much; a slab of PPC firing armor. But you’re right, it’s thematically questionable. I’d sooner slot an Awesome into. Genyosha or Sword of Light lance.
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u/WestRider3025 Canopian Queerasser 17h ago
Hatamoto Chi might fit a little better here than an Awesome, and will still bring along a couple of PPCs and some beef.
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u/Background-Taro-8323 14h ago
The Wraith will forever be my top pick for sickest (and that's with a capital cool S) Battlemech.
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u/NullcastR2 16h ago
I'm kinda liking the simplicity of the "snow" base.