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The redesigns are close enough to the originals for them to be recognizable.

I still would prefer to have seen them make miniatures out of the Japanese redesigns. Those were cool looking.

Warhammer


Shadowhawk


Rifleman


Wasp


Yeah, I'd rather see those.

Wonder if we'll get LAMs for the Wasp, Stinger and Phoenix Hawk?

This looks much better and more in line with the original models than the Project Phoenix designs from a decade ago and I am always eager to pick up a model of a Warhammer (and Battlemaster & Locust).

I don't get it. They already did redesign them for Project Phoenix? Why does this exist?

Don't get too excited; if all of the redesigns run this close to the originals then they'll never see the light of day. Harmony Gold watches BattleTech like a hawk, and with a RoboTech movie in production at Sony right now, they're vigorously defending their IPs.

 Vertrucio wrote:
I honestly think the primary reason for Battletech limping along for the past decade has been its refusal to update the miniatures.

Until recently, BattleTech did not make their own miniatures (with the exception of the plastic starter set). They were always licensed, first to Ral Partha and currently to Iron Wind Metals.

 SkaerKrow wrote:
Don't get too excited; if all of the redesigns run this close to the originals then they'll never see the light of day. Harmony Gold watches BattleTech like a hawk, and with a RoboTech movie in production at Sony right now, they're vigorously defending their IPs.

With all the time they've spent NOT defending their IP against other designs over the years that are just as similar, I think that they'd lose pretty handily.

 SkaerKrow wrote:
Don't get too excited; if all of the redesigns run this close to the originals then they'll never see the light of day. Harmony Gold watches BattleTech like a hawk, and with a RoboTech movie in production at Sony right now, they're vigorously defending their IPs.

Only if HG like to fight an up hill battle, TOPPs isn't some small company that they push around. If you notice IP bullies like easy targets.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I don't get it. They already did redesign them for Project Phoenix? Why does this exist?

Project Phoenix introduced new designs into the setting, but left the depiction of the originals unchanged. This seems to be a retcon of the original designs; that cover art mockup in post 7 is now what they're saying Marauders, Warhammers and so on have always looked like, from 3025 (or earlier) onwards.

As for scale, I don't ever remember seeing heights of the 'Mechs given in any of the Technical Readout books, ever. Without that, it's a bit hard to claim miniatures are in scale. Some of the old "Unseen" models had odd features due to the anime designs they used being for something a different size to what it was portrayed in Battletech. This redesign should eliminate those oddities as a side effect (like the Scorpion having two cockpits).

Although I recently bought the Robo tech game just to get these Mechs - excited tos ee new Warhammer models and great to see the Black Widow's version depicted

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
Project Phoenix introduced new designs into the setting, but left the depiction of the originals unchanged. This seems to be a retcon of the original designs; that cover art mockup in post 7 is now what they're saying Marauders, Warhammers and so on have always looked like, from 3025 (or earlier) onwards.

Right, sorry, I get it now. Project Phoenix was a reinvention of classic designs for a modern era that became part of the story, where as this new thing is an actual fluff retcon. Gotcha.

 Vertrucio wrote:


Now, I wonder if it's a good time to also reboot the fiction.

Do you mean re-write everything from the ground up or re-release novels? If the later then you might be happy to know the novels are coming back and they even have Michael Stackpole involved writing new Battletech novels.

This is pasted from the announcement in the OP.

THE RETURN OF BATTLETECH NOVELS
It’s been a long, long haul to get here: fusion drives off-line; blown helium seals; mis-jumps … you name it, we’ve slogged through it.

However, over the last year we’ve successfully published six Shadowrun novels, with more on the way. We’re now applying that success to novel-length BattleTech fiction, with the launch novel, Embers of War by Jason Schmetzer, at the printer right now!

For Ezra Payne and the Stealthy Tiger mercenaries, professionalism is everything. Hired to assist in the bitter, bloody fighting on the planet Hall, they quickly earn a decisive victory for their employer. They settle afterward in for a needed period of rebuilding, and a few months’ peace before moving on to the next contract.

But their respite does not last. More mercenaries, hired by the Allied Mercenary Command itself, land on Hall. They believe the Tigers’ employer to be league with the Word of Blake, a shadowy interstellar organization that worships technology, and which has been building its own empire among the worlds around Terra.

The Tigers want nothing of this battle, but war rages across the Inner Sphere. The hard-fought cease-fire cannot last, even on Hall, and when every faction is embittered and fueled by fervor, peace has no chance at all.

As a new conflict erupts, will the Stealthy Tigers’ BattleMechs be enough to save them? Or will the looming threat of renewed war engulf them in its fiery embrace?

And more are currently being written. In fact, check out the link below for synopses on the next three novels, including the return of Michael A. Stackpole to BattleTech!

http://bg.battletech.com/books/upcoming-releases/

Somewhere in the rules (not the tech readouts) it said the Battlemechs were between 7 and 17 meters tall. The 3025 tech readout specifically mentioned the Banshee as one of the tallest Battlemechs ever.

Btech was my very first miniatures game and I have always loved the universe. My only gripe was that planets could (and did) fall to a platoon of Mechs (read: 12) while millions of people still existed on the planet.

I liked the later eras where there were regiments and divisions of mechs were involved in conflicts. Then came the Jihad. Again, in the aftermath we have 5-6 mechs taking over planets and garrisoning them.

The only real drawback I see to Btech is that there are something like 400+ mechs, not variants. Individual designs. With no clear divisions of forces (all the houses use a variant of the Warhammer) even hoping to have most of the variants for a House is a financially daunting prospect.

Still... the fluff for the universe is top-notch, rich in detail and there's an amazing amount of it.

I always did like the idea of Battletech, but I just never could get into it. Originally because I had nobody to play it with in the 80s and 90s, and then because the "stuck-in-the-80s" designs were a turnoff for me. I think Battletech would greatly benefit from a reboot, using more modern designs, as well as using current knowledge of science and technology along with future concepts to help rewrite the story. As mentioned, the idea that a handful of mechs would conquer an entire planet just doesn't work, much like the 40K idea of a 100 Space Marines conquering a planet. Science Fiction has evolved a lot over the past 30 years, and Battletech could greatly benefit from that.

Give me Wasps and Stingers that suck less and I'll be buying them by the dozen. The original sculpts where kind of bleh.

M.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
As mentioned, the idea that a handful of mechs would conquer an entire planet just doesn't work...

The background for the BattleTech Universe really hasn't reflected that since its earliest days when it was a Mad Max type setting, unless you're talking about some backwater colony world which would be the equivalent of a company of M1A1 Abrams tanks taking over Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show.

Stackpole's back?

Cool.

As long as everyone's fusion reactor doesn't stackpole when the Mech is taken out!

I'm not sure that Stackpole's return is a good thing...

M.

 Miguelsan wrote:
I'm not sure that Stackpole's return is a good thing...

M.

I loved his Warrior Trilogy

 Mr Morden wrote:

 Miguelsan wrote:
I'm not sure that Stackpole's return is a good thing...

M.

I loved his Warrior Trilogy

Exactly. He's done some good stuff. I just have to grit my teeth every time a shot up mech is "engulfed by the miniature sun in its heart".

Even my favourite book, Close Quarters by Victor Milan suffered with the follow ups. Can't win them all...

 Chillreaper wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:

 Miguelsan wrote:
I'm not sure that Stackpole's return is a good thing...

M.

I loved his Warrior Trilogy

Exactly. He's done some good stuff. I just have to grit my teeth every time a shot up mech is "engulfed by the miniature sun in its heart".

Even my favourite book, Close Quarters by Victor Milan suffered with the follow ups. Can't win them all...

Must admit I was not bothered by that

Ah did you not like the follow ups? Cassie and friends were good characters I thought............ I even made a card for her and her unit of the old CCG

 Mr Morden wrote:

 Chillreaper wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:

 Miguelsan wrote:
I'm not sure that Stackpole's return is a good thing...

M.

I loved his Warrior Trilogy

Exactly. He's done some good stuff. I just have to grit my teeth every time a shot up mech is "engulfed by the miniature sun in its heart".

Even my favourite book, Close Quarters by Victor Milan suffered with the follow ups. Can't win them all...

Must admit I was not bothered by that

Ah did you not like the follow ups? Cassie and friends were good characters I thought............ I even made a card for her and her unit of the old CCG

I absolutely loved the first one. Made me want to make up a merc company with a random collection of nutcases. Fell in love with the idea of sticking an Arrow system on a Catapult!

The follow ups just went a bit too messy and cloak and dagger (not that the first one didn't have its share of that!) - felt like a bit of a divergence.

Cassie was played by Jessica Alba in my brain movie of the book.

Hmm... maybe I should give them another go...

The problem with Stackpole and BT is that he really doesn't understand the game... or if he does, he ignores it and writes cool stuff that can't happen in the game.

Although the worst offender for it will forever be the 'I Am Jade Falcon' maneuver, where a washed-up solhama warrior without even a bloodname to her credit manages to take out one of the greatest Mechwarriors ever to pilot a 'mech, in the clans OR the Inner Sphere.

God I missed those Macros designs! Dat Behemoth!!

 Vulcan wrote:
The problem with Stackpole and BT is that he really doesn't understand the game... or if he does, he ignores it and writes cool stuff that can't happen in the game.

Although the worst offender for it will forever be the 'I Am Jade Falcon' maneuver, where a washed-up solhama warrior without even a bloodname to her credit manages to take out one of the greatest Mechwarriors ever to pilot a 'mech, in the clans OR the Inner Sphere.

But you can do that attack......if you are playing with advanced rules.


And so can the worst taking out the best, luck does play a role in the game. How often do you see a Savannah Master drop a Timber Wolf on the first turn of the game? I did it, of all the dumb luck, floating crit for first hit, center torso location and boxcars for the crit roll. Gyro and 2 engine hits later the big boy is down, the pilot KO'd do to a failed Dashboard check, and the Savannah Master ran from his buddies for all he was worth.

Well there are a few "unseen" Robotech miniatures out with the Palladium Books kickstarter.
Marauder would be unusable: wrong scale.
You could see a few on eBay now since the KS is sucking large for "wave 2" with no end in sight for the other models.
Looking forward to these new versions though.

Stackpole happens all of the time.
We had this crazzed Hatcheman Pilot take out 1 Stalker, 1 Cyclops and an Atlas in two turns with a mix of Auto Cannon head Shots and Hatchet swings to the head and all of them were in base contact.

 Vulcan wrote:
The problem with Stackpole and BT is that he really doesn't understand the game... or if he does, he ignores it and writes cool stuff that can't happen in the game.

And that really bothers you? That he doesn't "follow the game rules" when writing the fiction?

 Vulcan wrote:
Although the worst offender for it will forever be the 'I Am Jade Falcon' maneuver, where a washed-up solhama warrior without even a bloodname to her credit manages to take out one of the greatest Mechwarriors ever to pilot a 'mech, in the clans OR the Inner Sphere.

Something which, as pointed out, is completely possible within the rules.

The Age of Darkness (or whatever followed the Jihad) had mixed companies of Mechs and vehicles taking over planets. Of course that was after Devlin Stone somehow convinced entire Houses and various warring factions to simply quit fighting. Cause, you know.... after 300 years, isn't that enough?

Srsly? WTF? Then the fluff kind of "rebooted" to the universe that exists now. Mechs are rarities and factions sprung up like mushrooms, oh and the HPG network is down.

IMHO, Btech needs are complete reboot (as was stated above). Military concepts such as drones and cyberwarfare didn't exist when Btech was thought of.

Yeah, and that's part of the charm.

It's the future as imagined by folks in the 80's.