Wife and I just got our address verification emails. Courier is FedEx and cutoff for address changes is 10/2/2020. Maybe next Monday they’ll begin shipping? I’m squeeing internally right now.
Nostromodamus wrote: Wife and I just got our address verification emails. Courier is FedEx and cutoff for address changes is 10/2/2020. Maybe next Monday they’ll begin shipping? I’m squeeing internally right now.
Got mine as well. I might be getting an airbrush set up here soon. Just in time to start churning out some mechs.
I appreciate the commonalities, like the jets and so on, but they're still Phoenix Hawk C, Wolverine C, Griffin C, and Stinger C. Reading the comments people are dissatisfied with the lack of multiple barrels on the Pirahna's MGs, but as we've seen they would just be lost in the mold...
Wow! With so much going on right now, and so much about to happen, we wanted to catch everyone up on the status of Wave 1 fulfillment and Wave 2 preparations.
As of today, 10/9/2020, a few delayed ocean containers are causing some last-minute scheduling issues, but 23 of 26 worldwide shipments have already arrived, and the last three are days away from landing. One of our four customs-friendly hubs has begun Wave 1 fulfillment and the other three will begin shipping in the next 7-10 days. These shipments cover all backers who finished their pledge surveys and chose Split Shipping or who ordered only Wave 1 items.
Anyone want to know the numbers? That would be 9,824 backers, and a serious Overlord-DropShip-Level of product, with 268,797 physical items all being boxed, labeled, and mailed out over the next several weeks. That includes 31,543 UrbanMech Salvage Boxes! We know how excited everyone is for their Urbie!
We are waiting on the edge of our seats for the first backer to let us know their rewards have arrived! Due to their shipping advantage, we expect it to be someone in the UK or an EU backer close to the UK hub. [For those who want to know why the EU won the race, Australia had a critical container delayed due to a labor strike in Sydney’s port, customs in Asia gave us a little grief over the leather dice bags, and our final container for the U.S. got sidetracked in Los Angeles for twelve days, likely due to the wildfires.] So please, as your rewards arrive, drop us a note in the comments section (below) to let us know which countries and states we’ve reached!
WAVE TWO
Although we would love to wallow in the delivery of so many awesome rewards to so many amazing BattleTech fans, we know there’s still a lot of work to be done. How much work? How about a preliminary count of 187,499 more physical rewards: ForcePacks, Map Sets, T-shirts, Record Sheets, the Recognition Poster, the very cool Legends book being finished right now, and 3,837 additional UrbanMechs, just to name a few. Plus, eight new products we’re adding to the Pledge Manager for your enjoyment (more on that later).
Problems? At the moment, we’re racing against October 15thto finish the final Wave 2 BattleMech re-designs and digital sculpting, and coordinating all orders to get the Wave 2 rewards out of China before Chinese New Year of 2021. It’s going to be a photo-finish, but we’re feeling pretty good and will keep you posted.
October 15th is also the date we plan to reopen our Pledge Manager, as promised, so those of you who were waiting can complete and/or add to Wave 2 shipments.
What does that mean? Well, if you’ve finished your survey and are happy with your choices, not a thing! Just sit back and relax. But for those who desire more BattleTech goodness, the reopening of the pledge manager is great news. We will send out new links next week, allowing you to re-open your survey and continue shopping from Wave 1 and Wave 2 rewards. If you had any credit, it remains available. If you are moving in between waves, you can fix your address. Just remember: if you reopen your survey, you must complete all steps to close it again for Wave 2. No one left behind!
As for timing, we had hoped to have Wave 2 out before the end of 2020, but the insanity of a $2.5M campaign, 4-5 months of Covid delays, and some Chinese factories who didn’t believe us when we said “big” all contributed to significant delays in Wave 1. With the help of some good partners overseas, however, we managed to recover several months. Wave 2 is scheduled to fulfill near the end of Q1 in 2021.
[Note: Wave 1 items may become limited in quantity, so the earlier you commit, the more likely you can get everything you want! All physical ordered by November 15th are guaranteed to remain available to our backers!]
NEW REWARDS
That’s right. We plan to add eight new rewards to the Pledge Manager that may be added to your Wave 2 shipments.
Why? Why do we do this to you?
Well, some of these were potential rewards that we removed from the original campaign. Some of these are new ideas that we couldn’t wait to share! Also, for our foreign backers who can’t access the Catalyst store as easy (or as cheaply due to international shipping rates) we wanted to give you the opportunity to add as much as possible to your Wave 2 shipments to get the advantage of combined shipping costs. We understand how hard it is to deal with airmail.
If you are maxed out at the moment, don’t worry. The new items will also be offered on the CGL store and at conventions (fingers crossed) in 2021.
And if all this doesn’t get you excited, there is this monastery on Zaniah we highly recommend.
So excited about the possibility of shipping. I blew out my entire pile of shame (except for the models I'm working on now) and have about 2 companies worth of mechs coming in.
Probably something lame like the puzzles and t-shirts. I don't see it any way it could be more mechs, or anything interesting, really. They already admitted they were scrambling just to beat the Chinese New Year so that Wave 2 MIGHT be ready by the end of Q1 2021.
nobody wrote: There was a mention of an Urbanmech plushie, but I don’t remember seeing it on the add-ons, maybe that’s one of the items?
That is a wave 2 item already.
New items are likely new metal dice and some random books, possibly compilation TROs or other new stuff since the initial campaign and one or two truly new items.
nobody wrote: There was a mention of an Urbanmech plushie, but I don’t remember seeing it on the add-ons, maybe that’s one of the items?
That is a wave 2 item already.
New items are likely new metal dice and some random books, possibly compilation TROs or other new stuff since the initial campaign and one or two truly new items.
I thought last update was that backers get first shot at the Urbie plushie, but it wasn't available yet as an item?
That is the scariest Carebear of Doom that I've seen so far! Nice.
The Dragon's the best looking version of it, as well. Pity that I didn't go for that lance pack - I know, I could get it with the pledge manager opening again, but at the rate that I'm going, I'll end up wanting every pack that there is.
Is there a compilation of all the renders by forcepack? Since the PM is reopening Id like to add some additional, but Id like to see whsts what in the context of the redesigns
Where is that pic from? I don't remember it from any of the updates.
I've often said that I don't need any more bloody Spiders, but that is a cool looking Spider. I don't want any more Dragons either, as I already own a lance of the damned things, but the Dragon does look great.
As an FYI, you may now reopen your pledge in Crowdox if you need/wish to do so.
If you log into Crowdox (https://portal.crowdox.com/users/sign_in, you must have created an account which you can do with your email address for this KS if you have not done so already), select View Confirmation for this KS. Opening your pledge is now enabled. The option is at the bottom of the confirmation and uses the text:
Do you need to make changes or want to add an extra item? Re-open your selections
If I re-open my selections will I reset the shipping time of the stuff I already had pledged? I wouln't mind some more boxes, but don't want to lose out on my wave one stuff shipping soon.
So it is specifically per Update 133 just to add to Wave 2 shipping. If that is a concern, out of an abundance of caution it may just be prudent to wait until your Wave 1 ships. You should certainly get that for the US before 11/15, through which Wave 1 item availability is guaranteed.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Not sure I like what they've done with the Turkina. Or the Hellion.
I don't mind, it is easier that way. The Turkina and Ebon Jaguar were the only minis worth having out of the Clan Heavy Battle Star boxset, unless you are a completist. Catalyst made the choice not to buy painless.
Nice Ebon Jaguar though, ... damn.
I think it has to be a Crockett. It has SRM6's that the original design didn't really show all that well. Plus it has the clear side-slung small lasers on its arms.
It fits the profile, but is greatly, greatly improved:
Well it could not get any worse.
The only things I liked about 2750 were the King Crab, the Gotha and the Aegis.
The rest hit every branch of the ugly tree.
For me this will be the first time these mechs 'exist' in any real fashion. For all these years I airbrushed nearly everything out that wasn't 3025, 3026 or 3050. Frankly I don't even know what most of the post 3050 mechs are, who built them or their loadouts; but I know and love just about anything 3025 and can recall most of their stats apart from armour layout from memory.
H.B.M.C. wrote: The original Crab? The Guillotine? The Black Knight? The Thug? The Highlander?
And blocking out anything past 3050. That's very "groggy" of you, if you catch my meaning.
Thug is a fine mech by stats and Black Knight looks nice. Yep, should include the Black Knight.
Also I dont block everything post 3050. I like the Bushwacker and Cauldron Born. Love the Night Gyr stats but hate the model. But yeah, I am very 'groggy'.
nah a REAL gronard insists anything after 3025 was heresy!
Silence! 3026 is also acceptable, heretic.
Frankly I am almost there. I use a Jade Falcon handle in the fluff but I play almost exclusively 3025, I love the classic designs, its the art, it just, works. Unless it has Ost in its name, they can all hide in the closet of shame.
I am hardly alone in this, I cant tell you which mechs are in the 3058 book, I don't even remember if it the one with ships instead. I wont know until I look at the front cover again. They are all post 3050 splatbooks and my interest is passing. Grumble grumble.
Post Jihad stuff they had to make canon the kiddie toys from clicky tech; and they were mostly just weird.
My problem with this is that most of the infrastructure was designed in this era and portrayed as all new. So we know what cargomechs, lorries and civilian cars look like post Jihad but not much for any earlier time.
They could have thrown us a bone with the infrastructure vehicles and backdated more of them.
I just think that they've given us so much to work with, that it seems silly to pick a cut-off point and go "Everything from here on is bad!" before folding your arms and storming off.
I mean I can't identify most of the Dark Age-era 'Mechs by sight, or by name, yet I don't hate them for existing. I just haven't learnt what they are yet.
For me, it is just that post-3065 I stopped paying attention for the most part, since we were no longer played. I'm just not sure I want to learn, considering the way some things went (and seem to maybe still be going).
But, it certainly has been an interesting week for me, discovered that some local people I know are actually getting into Battletech, they apparently all backed the Kickstarter. Time to break out all my old books and things now, teach them how to play.
Also, I got that Heavy Star just for the Turkina, in fact, I backed the Kickstarter mostly for the Turkina and I kind of like the new sculpt. It has always been a weird mech, but that's most of what makes me like it.
H.B.M.C. wrote: I just think that they've given us so much to work with, that it seems silly to pick a cut-off point and go "Everything from here on is bad!" before folding your arms and storming off.
I mean I can't identify most of the Dark Age-era 'Mechs by sight, or by name, yet I don't hate them for existing. I just haven't learnt what they are yet.
Not exactly sure how, or why, would one equate "playing something" with "hating that other thing for existing", but alright then.
Personally, what I've found is that a lot of the latest techs like X-pulses, ATMs, Streak LRMs, binary lasers et all, don't seem to add much to the game except unneeded complexity.
H wrote: For me, it is just that post-3065 I stopped paying attention for the most part, since we were no longer played. I'm just not sure I want to learn, considering the way some things went (and seem to maybe still be going).
But, it certainly has been an interesting week for me, discovered that some local people I know are actually getting into Battletech, they apparently all backed the Kickstarter. Time to break out all my old books and things now, teach them how to play.
Also, I got that Heavy Star just for the Turkina, in fact, I backed the Kickstarter mostly for the Turkina and I kind of like the new sculpt. It has always been a weird mech, but that's most of what makes me like it.
a very valid point, if the only thing to keep the game going is to add new content it gets overloaded and bloated
can be very well seen now in 40k with Space Marines, were nearly every unit/weapon has 2 or 3 copies that all have models but are doing the same thing on the table and because of "must be different" one will be the most point efficient one to get the job done and it adds no value any more to the game
here the solution for BT works well to a point as giving specific years a limited amount of Mechs to use (because new technology is invented while older ones are no longer available) and you can keep things balanced without having too many units that are too similar to each other
it is just that everything that is there being also available in all future updates is a problem, if there is limited access to models prior 3050 in the past 3060 games, it is not a big problem and people can decide if they want to go that way or not
Is there a page that collects all of the Mech packs(preferably with pictures) so it's easier to remember which is in which pack? Kind of annoying hunting them down individually.
Platuan4th wrote: Is there a page that collects all of the Mech packs(preferably with pictures) so it's easier to remember which is in which pack? Kind of annoying hunting them down individually.
The main campaign page has such a listing if you scroll down to the miniatures pack section:
Platuan4th wrote: Is there a page that collects all of the Mech packs(preferably with pictures) so it's easier to remember which is in which pack? Kind of annoying hunting them down individually.
The main campaign page has such a listing if you scroll down to the miniatures pack section:
a very valid point, if the only thing to keep the game going is to add new content it gets overloaded and bloated
can be very well seen now in 40k with Space Marines, were nearly every unit/weapon has 2 or 3 copies that all have models but are doing the same thing on the table and because of "must be different" one will be the most point efficient one to get the job done and it adds no value any more to the game
here the solution for BT works well to a point as giving specific years a limited amount of Mechs to use (because new technology is invented while older ones are no longer available) and you can keep things balanced without having too many units that are too similar to each other
it is just that everything that is there being also available in all future updates is a problem, if there is limited access to models prior 3050 in the past 3060 games, it is not a big problem and people can decide if they want to go that way or not
the differance between Battletechs new units and say 40k, is battletech is balanced, at least in theory, in it's design rules. so when a new battlemech design is introduced, it follows the construction rules already out there and thus is likely to be better balanced then 40k where they just toss stuff together.
balance is not the point but "too much of the same" is
even if 40k would be balanced with new releases, the game gains nothing from more different Bolter weapons (there are now more different Bolter in the Marine book than other factions have wargear in total)
yet BT gets around this problem by assigning the specific years to the new machines and if someone does not want to include too many different Mechs, for whatever reason, it is 3025 and you are done
Does anyone know of a thread or place for swapping salvage boxes? Looking through the various forums of people that have received their shipments, it looks like there have been a lot of duplicates in the salvage boxes. Would that be something for the swap shop forum?
mumsnarf wrote: Does anyone know of a thread or place for swapping salvage boxes? Looking through the various forums of people that have received their shipments, it looks like there have been a lot of duplicates in the salvage boxes. Would that be something for the swap shop forum?
It could be. Maybe ask the Mods if we can set something up in the Other Sci-Fi Games section?
I think Battletech sort of accidentally avoided the Pokemon problem by adopting the MTG model by accident, inertia and custom. It may be measured only in game years, but essentially every 'Era' is it's own season, with some revised cards (upgrades of older mechs), banned cards (designs destroyed or made obsolete) and specific ones made for each era.
It's really remarkable how many things Battletech got right with it's system and universe.
The answer to that query is "Yes, but really no.".
I've always likened BattleMech manufacturer to car manufacture. The various 'Mech/car companies bring out new designs and models every year, and they are meant to replace the existing lines.
The "Pokemon problem" stems from the idea that we're meant to be using all the 'Mechs invented, all the time, forever. That'd be like if Ford was producing their latest 2020 model cars, but were still manufacturing the Model T, and everything in between, and expecting them to sell.
There are a lot of 'Mechs, and given the propensity for people to hold onto 'Mechs for generations, it means that there are a lot of varieties out there, but a lot more of that vast quantity of different designs are no longer in production. Pokemon on the other hand are ever green, unless they start to make species go extinct.
H.B.M.C. wrote: The Turkina's a monstrous thing. It's why I own 3 of them... well, 4 now, I guess.
Albertorius wrote: Not exactly sure how, or why, would one equate "playing something" with "hating that other thing for existing", but alright then.
You must've missed the "groggy" reference I made earlier.
There's a whole sub-set of BTech players who like to pretend that the 3rd Succession War never ended and that it's been 3025 forever.
That would be because FASA did a lot of bat-crap crazy stuff in it's day, but the absolute WORST thing it ever did was invent the Clans. Made me (and everyone else I played with at the time) stop playing for 20 years. Everything after 3025 can go rot in hell.
The answer to that query is "Yes, but really no.".
I've always likened BattleMech manufacturer to car manufacture. The various 'Mech/car companies bring out new designs and models every year, and they are meant to replace the existing lines.
The "Pokemon problem" stems from the idea that we're meant to be using all the 'Mechs invented, all the time, forever. That'd be like if Ford was producing their latest 2020 model cars, but were still manufacturing the Model T, and everything in between, and expecting them to sell.
There are a lot of 'Mechs, and given the propensity for people to hold onto 'Mechs for generations, it means that there are a lot of varieties out there, but a lot more of that vast quantity of different designs are no longer in production. Pokemon on the other hand are ever green, unless they start to make species go extinct.
In my case, it was more commentary on how Btech has so much sheer amount of stuff that it's kind of a losing proposition trying to get all of it in my head at a time.
Seen some people claiming shipping is being done biggest orders first but both my wife and I made large pledges and have heard nothing so far. Maybe because we late backed? Or maybe the “biggest first” rumour is bollocks?
As someone with OCD this has been a challenging time checking FedEx app, email and doorstep every hour or so. I need to be released from this seemingly Sisyphean routine!
Fairly large backer here in the US and I have not heard anything at all regarding if my stuff has shipped - im like around 4000 in backer # so maybe not there yet but the wait is difficult
People need to chill. Seriously. There were over 11K backers, plus who knows how many late pledgers. It's not all going to be done in a few days. And someone is going to be last. Probably you.
totalfailure wrote: People need to chill. Seriously. There were over 11K backers, plus who knows how many late pledgers. It's not all going to be done in a few days. And someone is going to be last. Probably you.
No. Gib mek.
Ghaz wrote: Pics of delivered product are starting to show up, dispelling any doubts about quality.
totalfailure wrote: People need to chill. Seriously. There were over 11K backers, plus who knows how many late pledgers. It's not all going to be done in a few days. And someone is going to be last. Probably you.
Actually, I'll probably be last. That is the way my luck goes.
Albertorius wrote: Anyone knows when these initial lance packs will reach stores?
So yeah. Looks like it's a trade off between lower prices at retail, and getting them way sooner via the kickstarter.
That's for stores that didn't order the Retailer backing(which let them buy at 50%). Some stores have already received product via the Kickstarter and if they ordered Mech packs, they're probably offering them at the lower regular retail price.
Wow, this stuff looks awesome. I picked up a hardcopy of the updated Techmanual a few days ago and started painting up a few 3d printed mechs I had to keep the hype train going. Hoping to see something in the next week or two.
Nostromodamus wrote: As someone with OCD this has been a challenging time checking FedEx app, email and doorstep every hour or so. I need to be released from this seemingly Sisyphean routine!
They said shipping would happen over the next few WEEKS. So calm yourself, and happily wait for a surprise.
Or put your pledge in your will to me, so if you stroke out in anticipation I get a gift to paint up in your memory.
Nostromodamus wrote: As someone with OCD this has been a challenging time checking FedEx app, email and doorstep every hour or so. I need to be released from this seemingly Sisyphean routine!
They said shipping would happen over the next few WEEKS. So calm yourself, and happily wait for a surprise.
Or put your pledge in your will to me, so if you stroke out in anticipation I get a gift to paint up in your memory.
Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
Stormonu wrote: Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
might be able to find a few out there on thingverse.
Stormonu wrote: Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
might be able to find a few out there on thingverse.
He (and I) is talking about CGL redesigned models. The overwhelming majority of what you might find out there are MWO designs. Which are cool, too, yes.
Stormonu wrote: Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
might be able to find a few out there on thingverse.
He (and I) is talking about CGL redesigned models. The overwhelming majority of what you might find out there are MWO designs. Which are cool, too, yes.
I imagine CGL is going to want to SELL their Minis. not get a one time infusion of cash followed by never seeing another cent.
Stormonu wrote: Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
might be able to find a few out there on thingverse.
He (and I) is talking about CGL redesigned models. The overwhelming majority of what you might find out there are MWO designs. Which are cool, too, yes.
I imagine CGL is going to want to SELL their Minis. not get a one time infusion of cash followed by never seeing another cent.
Once they see a big dip in mini sales then selling stls makes sense. They won’t have to produce more, pay shipping costs and store the rest until they sell through the stock. You just don’t want to make them available too soon or you’ll sit on stock that you already made. Besides, with scanner technology out there someone will scan your item and post it sooner or later, you might as well get in on the money.
BrianDavion wrote: I imagine CGL is going to want to SELL their Minis. not get a one time infusion of cash followed by never seeing another cent.
They have done that and are doing that, what with the KS and all getting literal millions. And as you said, MWO designs are already out in the wild, so people already have options to 3d print their own mech designs.
I get that they can keep making money by selling more stuff to new and existing people, but well... they can still keep doing that too, and many companies already do.
I'm feeling a big deja vu right now, to past discussions on pdfs.
Theophony wrote: Besides, with scanner technology out there someone will scan your item and post it sooner or later, you might as well get in on the money.
Scanner tech is still a ways off from being able to pull this off that simply. The people that want to do what you described can't afford the scanners that have the resolution and accuracy needed to make reproductions that could seriously threaten Catalysts business, the people who can afford/have access to that tech generally don't have any interest in pirating someone else stuff. Give it another 5-10 years though and it might be different.
Stormonu wrote: Well, I ordered up a couple IS boxes from Miniature Market. I'd get a boxed set for the mechs that come with the base game, but I've already got a zillion copies of the rules in different formats, and no space to put another set. I'll probably pick those mechs up off from the set from e-bay, if I can - I can make room for a few more minis.
Having just recently started 3D printing with a resin printer and I'm really wishing Catalyst or Iron Wind would make available STL's for the various mechs for purchase. I'd certainly buy a handful of my favorite mechs.
Which base game, the Clan Invasion box or the 'original'?
If the original, the rules aren't too big there. The mats and datasheets end up taking up as much if not more space imo.
I think the important thing is that Battletech has managed to rise, like an Amaris Phoenix, from the ashes of no longer being able to pirate the images of much better looking mecha.
H.B.M.C. wrote: More the point that there's a difference between collecting millions of dollars and making millions of dollars.
Yes, there is. Once again, didn't exactly imply the opposite. Rather, I was contending the idea that having digital files on sale would make people just buy those and never again minis. That, and equating the idea to that of digital books.
Have they stated any reason why the Goliath and Scorpion weren't done as a part of this? It's impossible to find old-school copies of them and the current Iron Wind versions just don't grab me.
Stormonu wrote: Have they stated any reason why the Goliath and Scorpion weren't done as a part of this? It's impossible to find old-school copies of them and the current Iron Wind versions just don't grab me.
I remember reading about the issue with quads being about getting them to fit on a hex base - can't remember if it was an official statement or just internet talk, though.
Because they're trying to get a more accurate parallel of the mech tonnage to volume, the quad designs end up too much space on the X and Z axes and really overspill the hex base. The bipedal mechs, being able to distribute the volume up the Y axis better means that they fit; even then, assault mechs are pushing it a fair bit.
Nurglitch wrote: ... no longer being able to pirate the images of much better looking mecha.
Don't start that again.
I was trying to infer that Battlemechs don't tend to look so chintzy these days. That Crockett, for example...
give harmony gold time and they'll insist it looks like a Destroid, somehow
Harmony Gold's been a bit gun shy ever since Hasbro didn't back down and won the courst case over the GIJoe vehicle with added Macross-esque rocket boosters painted as Jetfire.
It's almost like HG's afraid of actually finding out where that line is.
Nurglitch wrote: ... no longer being able to pirate the images of much better looking mecha.
Don't start that again.
I was trying to infer that Battlemechs don't tend to look so chintzy these days. That Crockett, for example...
give harmony gold time and they'll insist it looks like a Destroid, somehow
Harmony Gold's been a bit gun shy ever since Hasbro didn't back down and won the courst case over the GIJoe vehicle with added Macross-esque rocket boosters painted as Jetfire.
It's almost like HG's afraid of actually finding out where that line is.
Nurglitch wrote: ... no longer being able to pirate the images of much better looking mecha.
Don't start that again.
I was trying to infer that Battlemechs don't tend to look so chintzy these days. That Crockett, for example...
give harmony gold time and they'll insist it looks like a Destroid, somehow
Harmony Gold's been a bit gun shy ever since Hasbro didn't back down and won the courst case over the GIJoe vehicle with added Macross-esque rocket boosters painted as Jetfire.
It's almost like HG's afraid of actually finding out where that line is.
The important part is that it was dismissed with prejudice:
"In the formal legal world, a court case that is dismissed with prejudice means that it is dismissed permanently. A case dismissed with prejudice is over and done with, once and for all, and can't be brought back to court".
And the fact that it's an important precedent on the relation of Battletech's and HG's IPs. Simply put, there's is little chance of them going to court again for anything related with Battletech, unless they start using the old Macross et al designs again.
Harmony Gold's been a bit gun shy ever since Hasbro didn't back down and won the courst case over the GIJoe vehicle with added Macross-esque rocket boosters painted as Jetfire.
It's almost like HG's afraid of actually finding out where that line is.
That looks awful. Like some blind kid had a toy jet and glued on a smaller scale Super Valkyrie FAST pack and was super proud of it and no one wanted to tell him how bad it looked.
Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
Obsidorox wrote: Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
It does not seem to contain the rulebook, outside of a PDF sent to backers at the end.
Are you planning Clan or Sphere though? Because that choice might make the GoAC box a better choice.
Obsidorox wrote: Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
The rulebook in the box only covers the new Clan stuff, mech construction, and force building. There are 3 scenarios, but they're the same ones received as PDFs through the campaign.
Obsidorox wrote: Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
It does not seem to contain the rulebook, outside of a PDF sent to backers at the end.
Are you planning Clan or Sphere though? Because that choice might make the GoAC box a better choice.
Had not given it much thought. Are you locked into one or the other when setting up a lance? Aside from the Timberwolf and one or two others, I'm more familiar with the Sphere mechs from the Battletech PC game and early days of MWO. Push comes to shove, I'd probably focus on Sphere.
Platuan4th wrote:
Obsidorox wrote: Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
The rulebook in the box only covers the new Clan stuff, mech construction, and force building. There are 3 scenarios, but they're the same ones received as PDFs through the campaign.
Thank you! Going to need to get the core rules one way or the other then.
Obsidorox wrote: Does the clan invasion box set come with a set of the core game rules or is it just specific stuff for the new clan mechs? I was looking through the kickstarter campaign and could not find a clear answer. I'm only just getting into battletech with the beginner box and debating if jumping into the kickstarter makes sense or just grabbing the age of armored combat box set. The new minis look great.
It does not seem to contain the rulebook, outside of a PDF sent to backers at the end.
Are you planning Clan or Sphere though? Because that choice might make the GoAC box a better choice.
Had not given it much thought. Are you locked into one or the other when setting up a lance? Aside from the Timberwolf and one or two others, I'm more familiar with the Sphere mechs from the Battletech PC game and early days of MWO. Push comes to shove, I'd probably focus on Sphere.
Honestly, it matters as far as you and your play group care for it to matter. You're not really "locked" in by Faction as much as you are by Era you're playing in. By the end of the Invasion, both sides were salvaging, capturing, and using Mechs from either side as needed. Post Invasion, there was an amount of trade between the Clans and IS.
I've never seen a BTech core box that didn't come with the rules.
If you mean the full rules that includes stuff for vehicles, infantry, battle armour, aerospace and so on, then no, it won't have that, but it'll have all the rules you need to play the game.
H.B.M.C. wrote: I've never seen a BTech core box that didn't come with the rules.
If you mean the full rules that includes stuff for vehicles, infantry, battle armour, aerospace and so on, then no, it won't have that, but it'll have all the rules you need to play the game.
It does not contain the base rules, I received mine yesterday. The rulebook in the box contains only the things I stated up thread(Clan tech & Elementals, Mech Construction, Force Building, and 3 scenarios).
Automatically Appended Next Post: For those wondering, here's the non-model contents of the box:
2 unlaminated paper maps, punch outs, summary page, map, Record Sheets, Clan Invasion Primer, Rulebook, novella.
That is a REALLY weird design choice if that's the case, especially because the original KS promo images showed it (and listed it out in the contents) as including a "Clan Rulebook", not a clan supplement or expansion or anything else. It also explicitly says you do not need AGoAC to play (well, technically it says you don't need AGoAC to "enjoy" Clan Invasion).
I just re-read that part, it's indeed stated in the KS that backers get a rulebook PDF. Very, very strange that with everything else they shoved in the box that they didn't just include the full rules. They really need to clearly mark the box as an expansion in that case, because it really looks like a stand-alone starter set.
Finally got my canon character rebate and picked up all the map sheets (no premium mats for me. lol.) and the campaign ops book. Plus my Wave 1 stuff is supposed to come tomorrow!
It did feel weird getting the map packs when I mostly intend to use heroscape terrain to play. but want the maps to help me see how the board should look.lol
Are they still doing the canon character rebates? I think I want to exercise the option for my first Star Colonel pledge, so that I can buy a second Star Colonel and also rebate that in order to buy some more stuff
How much is the rebate? $75?
I really dig that desert map, wish it was available in neoprene though.
chaos0xomega wrote: Are they still doing the canon character rebates? I think I want to exercise the option for my first Star Colonel pledge, so that I can buy a second Star Colonel and also rebate that in order to buy some more stuff
How much is the rebate? $75?
I really dig that desert map, wish it was available in neoprene though.
yes, it's $75. no idea if they are still doing it. I was one of those people who never even received their survey until well after wave 1 orders were locked. If they hadn't unlocked the orders for wave 2 they probably would have had to send me a gift card. lol.
Nurglitch wrote: How do the Unit Roles work in AGOAC? I thought they were a thing in the simplified version.
Also, that TOC hurts me right in my STC place...
Unit Roles are used, as far as I know, only in Alpha Strike. They're both a way to show what the unit is intended for (don't expect a Brawler to move fast, and don't expect a Scout to last long in combat) but they're also optionally used in making Formations, where you need to make Lances/Stars/Level IIs of certain unit roles to get extra benefits like rerolls or bonus movement.
And yeah, those four combined maps are gorgeous. I wonder if the Desert battlesheet pack will match up with the aesthetics of the AGOAC and Beginner Box boxes.
My wave one stuff arrived today, the archer from the legendary mechwarrior box is bigger than the ones from the omnimech salvage box and lance pack. Though might be just it is crouching less.
H.B.M.C. wrote: How many salvage crates did you get, and was there a decent variety or just 3 of the same thing?
I did 5 crates + omnimech. the 5th was the legendary salvage crate which naturally just gave me a random duplicate of the legendary mech pack. in hindsight maybe not the best grab. the other 4 salvage crates I ended up with 2 of them being the same mech (Either the mist lynx or nova cat I think? Can't remember and I'm not home to check).
So now I am looking at my pledge and it says I only should have gotten 4 salvage crates not 6. So I am questioning my ability to count. Maybe I'm crazy and only got 4 with 1 being the omnimech and 1 being the legendary mech. meaning both my normal crates were dupes.
Salvage boxes -
2x Daishi - making three in total for me as I got one in my Clan Command Star!
1x Koshi
1x Thor
1x Gladiator
Grayson Carlyle's Marauder
And the cute little Urbanmech...
A little disappointed in the miniatures quality. I had the previous boxed set, AGoAC, but I was hoping that perhaps they had switched to a new manufacturer. I don't foresee purchasing any of the additional plastic lances or stars when they become widely commercially available (in like, 5 years...).
Das_Ubermike wrote: I don't foresee purchasing any of the additional plastic lances or stars when they become widely commercially available (in like, 5 years...).
Insaniac99 wrote:If a store was a retailer Backer then they get it at the same time as everyone else. If they did not back, then the retail stores will release on This Schedule:
* Black Friday for Clan Invasion Box
* January for Map Pack Tukayyid and Elemental Force Packs
* February for the two Command Units
* March for the Last Two Force Packs
* Wave 2 Force packs stretch out over the rest of 2021, Starting April-ish and maybe then some.
I had 3 legendaries and 14 salvage boxes. Pretty good mix, although it could have been mixed better. I play Jade Falcon and Ice Hellions though so at least most of the ones that I got are common for those clans.
Das_Ubermike wrote: I don't foresee purchasing any of the additional plastic lances or stars when they become widely commercially available (in like, 5 years...).
Insaniac99 wrote:If a store was a retailer Backer then they get it at the same time as everyone else. If they did not back, then the retail stores will release on This Schedule:
* Black Friday for Clan Invasion Box
* January for Map Pack Tukayyid and Elemental Force Packs
* February for the two Command Units
* March for the Last Two Force Packs
* Wave 2 Force packs stretch out over the rest of 2021, Starting April-ish and maybe then some.
And a load of the retailer Backers already have theirs up for sale - Knightly Gaming, for example. There's a couple of FB threads listing them if anyone's interested.
beast_gts wrote: And a load of the retailer Backers already have theirs up for sale - Knightly Gaming, for example. There's a couple of FB threads listing them if anyone's interested.
I would be interested, but don't do FB. Could you repost the list here?
beast_gts wrote: And a load of the retailer Backers already have theirs up for sale - Knightly Gaming, for example. There's a couple of FB threads listing them if anyone's interested.
I would be interested, but don't do FB. Could you repost the list here?
Will do. These seem to all be UK ones - I'll update when I find an international list.
You know how there was going to be one guy who was going to end up with Ice Ferrets and Mist Lynxes? I was waiting for them to post about their tale of disappointment and woe, just so I could offer my condolences whilst secretly thinking "glad I'm not that guy!"
Well now I am very glad I added this to my pledge:
CGL wrote:The second book, then, not only is a reprint of Campaign Operations (folding in all current errata, as we do for all such reprints), but the sections we sliced out of SO above all fit very well within the confines of this book. What’s more, in the original SO there was almost a third book: Maintenance, Repair, Salvage and Customization. Once again, building towards how players use these books, moving that section into Campaign Operations makes perfect sense, as those are almost by definition campaign oriented. For this cover we used Steve Venters BattleForce Box Set from 1987. (This is one of those heated debates where there were several excellent illustrations on the table, but I think through sheer pig-headedness I got to use this wonderful image).
Well, last night I managed to check out all of my new minis and compare them to my existing mechs.
Now, these are a mix of styles, ranging from the 3rd Edition flaky mold lines plastics, old metals, new metals (please, please don't tell me how long ago the new Clan resculpts were done!), to MWO 3d prints.
Just checking to see if I could cope with mixing the new ones in; this is not something that is going to be happening!
My 3d prints pale in comparison when it comes to detail, my new-ish metals are dwarfed - that new Dire Wolf is a big boy. So, it looks like I'll end up looking at the old stuff, feeling sad and then trying to work out how much more money I should throw at that CrowdOx page...
Really happy I pledged. It was my first Kickstarter so didnt know what to expect but I gotta say I love these mechs.
Family negotiations have netted me 3 Lance packs from wave 2! Definitely getting IS direct fire Lance, comstar command pack and 1 clanner pack TBD. Any thoughts on the essential wave 2 clanner star?
jedi76 wrote: Really happy I pledged. It was my first Kickstarter so didnt know what to expect but I gotta say I love these mechs.
Family negotiations have netted me 3 Lance packs from wave 2! Definitely getting IS direct fire Lance, comstar command pack and 1 clanner pack TBD. Any thoughts on the essential wave 2 clanner star?
I picked up the Fire Star to complete my Trinary in Wave 2.
I got 2 Urbanmechs when I was only expecting 1, and only 5 random salvage boxes when I was expecting 6. Did Catalyst say one of the salvages at Star Colonel would be an Urbie or did I get a mispack? Either way I’m happy as I love Urbies.
As for those random packs I got a Daishi/Dire Wolf, Man-O-War/Gargoyle, Puma/Adder, Dragonfly/Viper and a Ryoken/Stormcrow, with the Legendary being Aidan Pryde’s Mad Cat/Timberwolf.
You ever back a kickstarter and kinda feel like you shouldn't have? I had a low rumbling feeling about this one for a little while - maybe I should have waited for retail, etc.
Well, my pledge arrived yesterday, and, upon opening it, any negative feelings were swept away. Everything looks amazing. To be honest, I've felt that post-FASA Battletech has been struggling with looking like a cohesive brand, and it always felt kind of unapproachable. Welp, after I got the Beginner box and AGOAC box a while back (and being suitably impressed) I was hopeful that it was a new future for Battletech. Just opening the big shipping box felt great. The contents just looked amazing. The art direction and branding and graphic design look like a cohesive professional product from a much larger company. For the first time in a long time, it feels to me like Battletech has a positive future full of potential growth.
Anyways, everything looks great. If I saw this product on a store shelf, I would not be able to resist. The packaging on the lance and clan star packs are so inviting. The new map packs look so, so much nicer than the old ones. The card packs look nice and all the new art direction on the cards themselves are exciting and clean, if you know what I mean.
I also didn't know/realize that not only do the lance/star packs contain alpha strike cards but the salvage boxes do as well. I really, really hope Catalyst capitalizes on this and releases an Alpha Strike box set. As much as I love Alpha Strike, the commander edition book is a bit overwhelming. A starter like AGOAC for Alpha Strike would be utterly amazing. An Alpha Strike starter with a variety of mechs, and perhaps even expansions with plastic terrain such as buildings and forests and hills (perhaps created in such a way as they could be used on hex maps or in AS hexless games) would be impossible to resist. But I digress.
My salvage boxes thankfully contained a mix, which were a Mad Dog, Storm Crow, Ice Ferret, Executioner and Viper. My legendary salvage box has an Aidan Pryde, which was perfect, as he's one of @Manchu's favorite characters, and he didn't back the KS, so I'm giving it to him.
The Clan Invasion expansion box is great. The primer gives you just enough information about the Clans to make them seem familiar yet alien. The rulebook is also great, picking up from where AGOAC leaves off and introducing more advanced tech in a simple way. The battle armor rules are a bit crunchy and will probably take a new player a couple read throughs to get them, mainly because literally all the rules for them are in the section. I kind of wish they had perhaps had an "edge cases" section for some of the more bizarre things that could happen to reduce some of the clutter in the elemental rules themselves, but the upside is that literally all the elemental rules are in a self contained section.
And oh boy, I love the Zellbrigen rules section. Now, the rules for it have been part of BT for a while, but I think this was the first time I had encountered them all nicely written across two pages, including Dezgra. Incorporating them totally into normal games really helps balance the clans, and also does make them more of an "advanced" force to play.
Lastly, the mech roles are completely new to me and I love them. The specialized stars/lances give some nice bonuses and really help players theme their forces. When playing Battletech casually in the past, it was always overwhelming to make a force given the sheer number of choices. Having the roles listed for each mech and variant, along with requirements for types of lances/stars, will make this significantly easier. Now I can quickly choose the mechs with the unit role for the lance/star I wish to make (obviously, four Dragons. Long live the Coordinator!), and I get some really clever bonuses for doing so! (the Recon lance/star "Maneuvering Ace" is a phenomenal bonus and should help those light mechs stay a live just a little bit longer, for example)
As an added bonus, the random kickstarter accessories like the shirt, posters, pins, etc, are all really cool.
Overall, I am super pleased with the first wave. I didn't get much of anything for wave 2 but now I am seriously considering adding some stuff. I'm super stoked to bust out my new toys and play the scenarios included, and get some games of Alpha Strike going as well. A solid "A" from CGL.
It does look like Catalyst may finally have turned a corner with this giving the a game that they can start to grow rather than keep on life support with occasional visits to the hospital garden when a plastic set showed up
(assuming they can bank enough money to reorder product when it runs out as we've seen false dawns before where they could have sold boxes but it took 18 months + for a reprint run)
I got my shipment! Oh man it is glorious, and I cannot wait for all the inevitable questions running around in my Comstar shirt will raise.
Salvage boxes were awesome.
We pulled a Daishi (Dire Wolf)
Mongrel, (Grendel)
Summoner (Thor)
And Greyson's Marauder. (Marauder)
Oh also the Urbanmech (Ubiquitous Trashcannicus).
Shipment was well packed, minis look awesome- the heft of the Daishi is really impressive for a plastic mech. And the Elementals look really, really cool.
I recieved my wave 1 stuff on Wednesday and am really pleased with what I got.
The quality of the mechs is excellent, good detail and made from a robust plastic that should last really well, unlike much of Games Workshop latest offerings which are too detailed and simply don't survive for very long on a gaming table without bits breaking off. There are some issues with them being preassembled and so you can get the odd wonky pose (my Vulture was firing at the sky), but that isn't too hard to fix. I would prefer them to be on sprues and assemble myself, although being able to use them straight out of the box has its appeal too.
I also love the new aesthetic and the overall more realistic feel of many of the mechs. A huge step up from the previous offerings from Ironwind Metals and Ral partha. Especially pleased with the decision to go with a a consistent scale which makes mechs like the DireWolf look so impressive.
The other swag was ok. Tshirt was nice, good quality cotton and a clean print. The only issue is with the dice which are quite poor, mine are badly made with clumped paint in the spots, an inconsistent colour and being decidedly biased (rolling far too many sixes on my test rolls).
On the whole a really good kickstarter and I can't wait for the rest of it.
P.s. has anyone else changed there priorities since wave 1 arrived? On Tuesday I was more interested in the inner sphere mechs and was most excited for my marauders and archers, but after opening all my clan stuff and salvaged boxes I found myself being much more interested in the clans now. The IS stuff has barely even been opened but I've already base coated my Clan Wolf mechs and primed the ones I'm going to use for their arch rivals the Jade Falcons.
P.s. has anyone else changed there priorities since wave 1 arrived? On Tuesday I was more interested in the inner sphere mechs and was most excited for my marauders and archers, but after opening all my clan stuff and salvaged boxes I found myself being much more interested in the clans now. The IS stuff has barely even been opened but I've already base coated my Clan Wolf mechs and primed the ones I'm going to use for their arch rivals the Jade Falcons.
I have had the same reaction. I don't think I'd realized what a dramatic upgrade the Clan models represented... most of my old Clan stuff came from the Citytech Plastics, and they are incredibly durable, but super smooth. With details added, the new omnis just look gorgeous. I'm just picking which Falcon color scheme to use!
I'm finding that it's not a case of choosing which packs I want, more about choosing which ones I can ignore without too much psychological discomfort.
I thought that I had my choices made until I saw the renders of the Vapor Eagle/Horned Owl et al. box, so there's another $25.
One thing that I spotted in the pledge manager was getting another copy of the Clan Invasion box, plus three randoms and an Urbie for $45. It includes those double sided posters and the map as well, neatly solving that issue.
Generalstoner wrote: So I got my wave 1 in and got a nice spread on ransoms with
2 Hellbringer
1 Timber Wolf
1 Grendel
1 Viper
1 Mad Dog
My legend was Aidan Pryde’s Timber Wolf.
Not a bad haul with the other Star Colonel pledge level stuff. Bring on wave 2!!!!
How much were the Salvage Boxes/Legendary Commanders anyways?
They were $6 each if you bought them separately.
You also got several depending on your pledge level and you would get one for every inner sphere lance you chose as a pledge reward (as they had 4 mechs instead of 5 for the clan packs).
Depending on pledge level you got to choose X number of mech packs. One regular salvage box is included for every IS Lance box you choose, that way you got 5 mechs whether you chose an IS or a Clan box. If you paid for mech packs as paid addons, they just made the assitional IS Lance sets cheaper, no salvage boxes there.
Well, I didn’t get in on the KS, but I bought a ledhendary box 4blind legendaries and two blind Omni mechs. Wound up with 4 marauders , which I love the looks of. Not sure how useful they will all be as I have never played a game, but I like my Zentradi commanders .
I managed to finally intercept the FedEx truck trying to leave without delivering my package again. Some great stuff in the box - altough my challenge coin is a little rough - looks like the medallion is smaller than the mounts for it in the coin. Still, its been a wonderful nostalgia trip and i look forward to teaching my oldest alpha strike.
Cubby wrote:It's new, for an upcoming product you'll learn more about on Friday. I just try to include a little reward in these releases, beyond the news.
I didn't bother with Wave 1, but then i was a late backer anyway and missed the KS campaign by about six months.
My Wave 2 order is obscene though, and if I extend it to what I want it to be it will be by far the largest Kickstarter or single hobby purchase I have made. So I took a second look.
My big problem are the mech packs, yes they are a reasonable retail idea and the price is bearable, but Battletech is all about getting the mechs you want in the numbers you want.
I took a long look at why I was going to be ordering twoFire Stars. I wanted a pair of Kit Foxes to do my Jade Falcon assets justice, but thats an extra $25 to cherry pick one mech.
Yes the other mechs wouldnt be wasted which is why I planned Ghost Bears and Smoke Jaguars instead, priced for the dice and everything.
I have a Star Colonel pledge and a Bloodnamed plesdge already, and wanted to expand to three Star Colonel pledges to get all the mechs I wanted in the numbers I wanted.
Thankfully I hadn't done that yet. Bones 5 still needs attention and I just forked out for Frostgrave and other miniatures purchases.
In the cold light of day I realised that this was a very good Kickstarter, it is designed to get you to overspend on the merch. Its good quality merch so much so I was taken in, and I am rarely taken in by merch.
I have cut my 'investment' from ludicrous to merely extreme. I will upgrade my Bloodnamed pledge to another Star Colonel add a couple of and call it good. Thats 24 lance/star packs and enough no character cloawback to buy a couple (actually three) of Inner Sphere Retribution packs and some funky dice and nick-nacks.
$520 plus p&p, a reasonable cut down from a spend of nearly $1k.
Orlanth wrote: I didn't bother with Wave 1, but then i was a late backer anyway and missed the KS campaign by about six months.
My Wave 2 order is obscene though, and if I extend it to what I want it to be it will be by far the largest Kickstarter or single hobby purchase I have made. So I took a second look.
My big problem are the mech packs, yes they are a reasonable retail idea and the price is bearable, but Battletech is all about getting the mechs you want in the numbers you want.
I took a long look at why I was going to be ordering twoFire Stars. I wanted a pair of Kit Foxes to do my Jade Falcon assets justice, but thats an extra $25 to cherry pick one mech.
Yes the other mechs wouldnt be wasted which is why I planned Ghost Bears and Smoke Jaguars instead, priced for the dice and everything.
I have a Star Colonel pledge and a Bloodnamed plesdge already, and wanted to expand to three Star Colonel pledges to get all the mechs I wanted in the numbers I wanted.
Thankfully I hadn't done that yet. Bones 5 still needs attention and I just forked out for Frostgrave and other miniatures purchases.
In the cold light of day I realised that this was a very good Kickstarter, it is designed to get you to overspend on the merch. Its good quality merch so much so I was taken in, and I am rarely taken in by merch.
I have cut my 'investment' from ludicrous to merely extreme. I will upgrade my Bloodnamed pledge to another Star Colonel add a couple of and call it good. Thats 24 lance/star packs and enough no character cloawback to buy a couple (actually three) of Inner Sphere Retribution packs and some funky dice and nick-nacks.
$520 plus p&p, a reasonable cut down from a spend of nearly $1k.
Agree 100%. My Wave 1 was 1 Lance & 1 Star box (plus a few salvage boxes), and I've re-opened the pledge manager a few times now but can't bring myself to add any more. Perhaps if I get the current stuff painted, but I doubt it...
Orlanth wrote: My big problem are the mech packs, yes they are a reasonable retail idea and the price is bearable, but Battletech is all about getting the mechs you want in the numbers you want.
If I remember correctly, the reason why Catalyst is able to release plastic miniatures at all is because of the mech packs. Apparently IWM has the rights to make miniatures for Battletech, so Catalyst could only make plastic mechs if they were marketed for Alpha Strike.
Thankfully, IWM has been getting the STL files for the new minis, so they're producing them in metal. I think at this point we've got the new Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Locust, Catapult, Thunderbolt, and Commando available. And some like the Locust and Catapult, come with variant pieces.
My wave 1 was a star colonel + ristar, as I'm new I also included a bunch of rulebooks and all of the neoprene mats, so total came out to ~$1100.
Wave 2 is adding a 2nd star colonel, 9 urbies (so I can field a full company in alpha strike lol), the wave 2.5 rulebooks, and I'm probably going to add some merch (I really want the complete faction dice set). probably another $500.
My wave 1 finally came in last night, dice are not great. The pips are fine, but the dice themselves are not entirely square and sure seem to roll awfully well. Everything else is fine.
Miniatures are as great as everyone else already said. Got some poor luck with salvage, and now I have 4 Daishis :/ Hopefully get some paint on them this weekend. I was originally planning to paint everything in Jade Falcon colors, but I'm now leaning more towards a Binary of Jade Falcon and a Binary of Clan Wolf, just need to determine the best breakdown of each to make them roughly even sides
Orlanth wrote: My big problem are the mech packs, yes they are a reasonable retail idea and the price is bearable, but Battletech is all about getting the mechs you want in the numbers you want.
If I remember correctly, the reason why Catalyst is able to release plastic miniatures at all is because of the mech packs. Apparently IWM has the rights to make miniatures for Battletech, so Catalyst could only make plastic mechs if they were marketed for Alpha Strike.
I believe you! This sounds so much like Catalyst/FASA licensing model SNAFU.
Thankfully, IWM has been getting the STL files for the new minis, so they're producing them in metal. I think at this point we've got the new Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Locust, Catapult, Thunderbolt, and Commando available. And some like the Locust and Catapult, come with variant pieces.
Not tempted. I want plastic.
I decided in the end to get the mech packs I really like, and there are some of those and wait for ebay for the others. I am gambling that I will be able to buy singles of mechs on ebay. I will want one Kodiak and one Fire Falcon, so not needing the Ad Hoc lance pack. I want multiple Kit Foxes because 'I am Jade Falcon', and do something similar for single for other mechs to as and when. That cut down an awful number of mech packs out of my 'must buy' column.
H.B.M.C. wrote: That's good I suppose, but I'll take plastic over metal any day.
Seyla, trothkin.
chaos0xomega wrote: My wave 1 was a star colonel + ristar, as I'm new I also included a bunch of rulebooks and all of the neoprene mats, so total came out to ~$1100.
Wave 2 is adding a 2nd star colonel, 9 urbies (so I can field a full company in alpha strike lol), the wave 2.5 rulebooks, and I'm probably going to add some merch (I really want the complete faction dice set). probably another $500.
I am a right whale, you are a blue.
infinite_array wrote: Definitely save your money on the dice. They're awful, unless you mean the metals ones.
I have already decided on one dice set for each great house and the four invading clans. Of all the merch they are the least impressive in my opinion because 1, they are casino dice with hard edges and 2, because they are transluscent while spoils the effect of having an iconised six.
Still I am getting some, because they include my Jade dice. Sorry, I have to.
The patches are very nice though, as are the pins. I would add the challenge coins in the quality section also but am not sure what to use them for.
Kalamadea wrote: My wave 1 finally came in last night, dice are not great. The pips are fine, but the dice themselves are not entirely square and sure seem to roll awfully well. Everything else is fine.
Miniatures are as great as everyone else already said. Got some poor luck with salvage, and now I have 4 Daishis :/ Hopefully get some paint on them this weekend. I was originally planning to paint everything in Jade Falcon colors, but I'm now leaning more towards a Binary of Jade Falcon and a Binary of Clan Wolf, just need to determine the best breakdown of each to make them roughly even sides
I am not holding my breath for salvage boxes because the factory will batch them, and then the batches will be poured into the grab bin in the line up area and then put into backers boxes. So if a box of Dire Wolf salvage boxes get dumped into the grab bin, it is quite likely that the next backer to get his salvage boxes added will get mostly Dire Wolves.
At least with random toy boxes the multiple random toys hand loaded will involve a lot of intentional randomisation, with single random toys the packaging can end up in short runs of individual items all the same with end picks likely from an unrandomised whole. Yes our salvage mechs will be random, but I think that means the mech we end up spamming will be random.
Orlanth wrote: I am not holding my breath for salvage boxes because the factory will batch them, and then the batches will be poured into the grab bin in the line up area and then put into backers boxes. So if a box of Dire Wolf salvage boxes get dumped into the grab bin, it is quite likely that the next backer to get his salvage boxes added will get mostly Dire Wolves.
At least with random toy boxes the multiple random toys hand loaded will involve a lot of intentional randomisation, with single random toys the packaging can end up in short runs of individual items all the same with end picks likely from an unrandomised whole. Yes our salvage mechs will be random, but I think that means the mech we end up spamming will be random.
Nah, I've seen some people get doubles, but that's just the nature of random boxes, they seem to have done a decent job of mixing the pack up. I literally mean it was just bad luck. I bought the Clan Command Star and the Legendary Warrior set, which gave me 2 Daishis, then my Legendary Salvage was another Natasha (Daishi) and one of my regular salvage boxes was a Daishi. I also got a Gargoyle, a Loki, and a Nova. So it was a good mix, just not a good mix for me considering the rest of the stuff I bought. Wave 2 I'm getting mostly IS lance packs, so I'm hoping for some good Wave 2 salvage
My salvage was far from random, getting 3 Vultures and a Gargoyle in four packs. My legendary was the one a lot seem to be getting as well, Kerensky’s Dire Wolf.
All that said, for people that are unhappy with their Mechs or are looking for more of a particular one, there should be lots of opportunities in the usual places on the secondary markets to buy/sell/trade for what you want.
Hmm... kinda worried about the dice, if they are that crappy. I got FedSuns, FedCom, DC and Ghost Bear dice sets (to go along with my MW: DA Jade Falcon set) so I'd have one of all the main groups I play.
I don't know why they couldn't have just gone through, say, Chessex, who make really good dice. They didn't need to be sharp corner, and the translucence isn't appealing.
As you know from the 1m Stretch Goal, Catalyst committed to producing a Battle of Tukayyid PDF along the same vein as the Chaos Campaign: Succession Wars. However, as the months unfolded, and as the MapPack: Battle of Tukayyid mapsheets were being finalized and the sheer scope of how mazing they were became apparent, we decided to go a different route.
...
We felt we simply had to up-notch-kick-it. Instead of a 50-ish page PDF, the Battle of Tukayyid is a full-color, hard-back, 200-page book that takes you back to the greatest conflict in BattleTech’s history in a stunning, newly-immersive way. I'm going to walk through some of the awesomesauce put together by our team.
As you know from the 1m Stretch Goal, Catalyst committed to producing a Battle of Tukayyid PDF along the same vein as the Chaos Campaign: Succession Wars. However, as the months unfolded, and as the MapPack: Battle of Tukayyid mapsheets were being finalized and the sheer scope of how mazing they were became apparent, we decided to go a different route.
...
We felt we simply had to up-notch-kick-it. Instead of a 50-ish page PDF, the Battle of Tukayyid is a full-color, hard-back, 200-page book that takes you back to the greatest conflict in BattleTech’s history in a stunning, newly-immersive way. I'm going to walk through some of the awesomesauce put together by our team.
On 1 May 3052, twenty-five Galaxies from seven Clans clashed with twelve armies of ComStar’s Com Guards. For twenty-one days, one of the largest campaigns in BattleMech warfare unfolded to decide the fate of the Inner Sphere.
The Battle of Tukayyid Experience brings players back to this gargantuan campaign, allowing them to relive one of BattleTech’s most pivotal conflicts. Grab the first two, all-new short stories now and settle in for a new chapter each week, leading up to the release of the Battle of Tukayyid sourcebook, all-new miniatures, and more fiction!
It's a crying shame that my Comstar Level IIs won't be arriving until the second wave. You would have thought they'd be a first wave item with this focus on the Tukayyid campaign.
What does all of this mean for you backers? Well, the book does not go on sale until November 27th. However, by that date, as indicated in the Kickstarter campaign, every one at Star Colonel and above will gain access to the PDF for free. If anyone below that pledge level added the PDF, they will also gain access at that time.
Cubby wrote:For clarity: The KS update just now was in error. All backers at Star *Captain* and above will get this PDF. Anyone below that level can also add the PDF.
Stormonu wrote: I can't seem to find any information on this - what's being shipped in Wave 1 and what's in Wave 2?
It's in the Kickstarter Update #139. It's strictly a PDF for the Kickstarter and as mentioned in my previous post everyone who backed at Star Captain and above should gain access to the PDF for free by the street date of the physical book.
Stormonu wrote: I can't seem to find any information on this - what's being shipped in Wave 1 and what's in Wave 2?
It's in the Kickstarter Update #139. It's strictly a PDF for the Kickstarter and as mentioned in my previous post everyone who backed at Star Captain and above should gain access to the PDF for free by the street date of the physical book.
I do not see anything.
Edit: Dishonourable contraction removed.
From memory.
1. The Clan Invasion boxsets
2. Clan Command and Heavy Striker Star packs.
3. IS Command and Battle Star packs.
4. UrbanMechs
5. Fortess dropships
6. Merch such as patches, coins, dice and t-shirts.
Everything else is Wave 2. Though I cannot confirm maps and e-published material.
You're correct about the letters generally meaning what region the variant comes from, but that's for the Inner Sphere only.
The Clans just give their Omnis a different letter, and that can sometimes determine the role. The 'H' line of Omnis are variants that use Heavy Lasers. The 'E' line usually have ATM launchers (IIRC). The 'U' line was made for underwater combat.
The 'S' line was, I believe, introduced in the First Strike book, which was a great supplement to the 4th Ed BattleTech/2nd Ed CityTech boxes. As mentioned earlier, they're all about cityfighting and close-in urban combat.
A Vulture S sounds like a great idea. Pulse Lasers, SRMs and Jump Jets!
H.B.M.C. wrote: You're correct about the letters generally meaning what region the variant comes from, but that's for the Inner Sphere only.
The Clans just give their Omnis a different letter, and that can sometimes determine the role. The 'H' line of Omnis are variants that use Heavy Lasers. The 'E' line usually have ATM launchers (IIRC). The 'U' line was made for underwater combat.
The 'S' line was, I believe, introduced in the First Strike book, which was a great supplement to the 4th Ed BattleTech/2nd Ed CityTech boxes. As mentioned earlier, they're all about cityfighting and close-in urban combat.
A Vulture S sounds like a great idea. Pulse Lasers, SRMs and Jump Jets!
you could easily swap out the LRMs of the prime for 2 SSRM 6s 2 tons of ammo for them and 4 JJs. it'd be a solid varient albiet run a little hot. If I was designing it I'd go with ER LLs for the large lasers, for some added range, and save some weight for one more JJ and some heat sinks.
you could easily swap out the LRMs of the prime for 2 SSRM 6s 2 tons of ammo for them and 4 JJs. it'd be a solid varient albiet run a little hot. If I was designing it I'd go with ER LLs for the large lasers, for some added range, and save some weight for one more JJ and some heat sinks.
I like it, though I'd probably swap one arm to a triple med pulse config, and use the weight for a couple more heat sinks.
you could easily swap out the LRMs of the prime for 2 SSRM 6s 2 tons of ammo for them and 4 JJs. it'd be a solid varient albiet run a little hot. If I was designing it I'd go with ER LLs for the large lasers, for some added range, and save some weight for one more JJ and some heat sinks.
I like it, though I'd probably swap one arm to a triple med pulse config, and use the weight for a couple more heat sinks.
You can easily discard configurations only if you are the sort of maverick who can get away with it. That list is short. Aidan Pryde, Natasha Kerensky and a handful others use bespoke configurations, everyone else has to go with stock.
My buddy's set came in, and he was surprised by the quality of the mechs as well. He got a Gargoyle and a Mongrel, plus the ubiquitous Urbanmech and Pryde. Once I explained his haul, he was very happy.
Also, I'll probably get a HC copy of the Tukayyid book. Looks great!
Hopefully we can actually get a game in this weekend.
Looks like Catalyst's new plan to replace the precision guided munition approach to Canon Character rebates with a MOAB has worked.
Character credit has come through which means that instead of just leaving things as they were, I'll be spending the $75 and adding a load more money on top of that.
Yeah... that dropship. Yet even more reasons for never touching again anything IWM had been involved with.
Good god, the casting quality on that thing is abysmal, FFS.
One really good look and another really good reason not to buy.
Call me mad, but I am going mech scale for my dropships. Will likely stop after a couple of Unions anyway, and if I can will foam them out and store models in them.
One really good look and another really good reason not to buy.
Call me mad, but I am going mech scale for my dropships. Will likely stop after a couple of Unions anyway, and if I can will foam them out and store models in them.
Wouldn't a mech-scale union only be like 10 and a half inches across? I doubt I could fit the bases of 12 mechs into that. Maybe multiple decks? Killer idea though. I see that old TMNT terror dome thing in my head.
One really good look and another really good reason not to buy.
Call me mad, but I am going mech scale for my dropships. Will likely stop after a couple of Unions anyway, and if I can will foam them out and store models in them.
Wouldn't a mech-scale union only be like 10 and a half inches across? I doubt I could fit the bases of 12 mechs into that. Maybe multiple decks? Killer idea though. I see that old TMNT terror dome thing in my head.
There are .stl files with Union interiors, but I don't want to go that far, just keep the volume of the dropship to store stuff in foam within.
A canon Union has many decks but two mech accessible decks, the bottom deck has four mech cubicles, the upper deck eight. Dropships can get quite big and have lots of room for stuff. Mass rather than volume is the limiting factor.
Whats the fluff justification for the spherical design? Seems rather space inefficient (cubicles inside a sphere? Because thats a great use of the interior volume...). You end up with lots of "dead space" around the perimeter where the hull bulges out but you don't have the floor space (or the height clearance if its going the other way) to actually put it into use.
Spheres are seen as one of the most efficient design for space craft in general because of the least amount of surface per volume and best structure against pressure difference
Spheroid dropships are mostly egg shaped, and eggs are a very strong structure.
Yes there is a lot of wasted space on the curves but a lot of that can be taken up by components that do not have to conform to a grid. You can get away with a lot with say water or fuel tanks which dont care if they are an odd shape.
Heard back from QML...my wave 1 should be going out this coming week. They said that it's likely that there will be a chunk of missing items due to stock concerns...but they wanted to get the majority of the shipment out. Thought that was a bit strange as I was part of the original KS, not a late backer or anything, and threw down for the Star Colonel level plus an irresponsible amount of add-ons. Oh well. Better late than never...thankfully the pile of shame is endless and I've had lots of other projects to work on. Fingers crossed that it'll come in this week!
As for the Salvage Boxes, I got 4 (plus Legendary + Urbie). A Man O' War (meh), a Thor (yay!) and two Shadowcats. I guess I'll be swapping that second one for something else. For the Legendary box I got the Marauder, which I'm pretty happy about.
I never understood the excitement for this game. Played it ith a friend I guess 25 years ago and it was extremely boring. And the miniatures were garbage.
Erm... after all those years they come out with this? A cheap board game miniature from the early 90s?
Well, there's a strong community out there I suppose. Can't understand why, but we're all strange guys collecting miniatures of soldiers, tanks and robots.
You're welcome. As far as I know it's not forbidden to look at threads and share opinions. Keep your excitement and maybe we'll see us in this thread in 25 years.
Dryaktylus wrote: I never understood the excitement for this game. Played it ith a friend I guess 25 years ago and it was extremely boring. And the miniatures were garbage.
Erm... after all those years they come out with this? A cheap board game miniature from the early 90s?
Well, there's a strong community out there I suppose. Can't understand why, but we're all strange guys collecting miniatures of soldiers, tanks and robots.
And the question is... why are you here, then? People don't usually go out of their way to crap on stuff they don't like or follow. I mean, there is probably a reason other than "hey, I'm going to piss on these people's cheerios, it will be fun!". Right?
Dryaktylus wrote: I never understood the excitement for this game. Played it ith a friend I guess 25 years ago and it was extremely boring. And the miniatures were garbage.
Erm... after all those years they come out with this? A cheap board game miniature from the early 90s?
Well, there's a strong community out there I suppose. Can't understand why, but we're all strange guys collecting miniatures of soldiers, tanks and robots.
And the question is... why are you here, then? People don't usually go out of their way to crap on stuff they don't like or follow. I mean, there is probably a reason other than "hey, I'm going to piss on these people's cheerios, it will be fun!". Right?
Yeah. This... This is not the way. And that's coming from someone who for 30 years has wanted to like tabletop Battletech but never actually did because the rules and minis actively discouraged it. That said... Objectively speaking, the miniatures and designs have finally markedly improved in quality across the line for the first time in decades with the latest series of mega releases so I'm happy for fans of the game.
Dryaktylus wrote: I never understood the excitement for this game. Played it ith a friend I guess 25 years ago and it was extremely boring. And the miniatures were garbage.
Erm... after all those years they come out with this? A cheap board game miniature from the early 90s?
Well, there's a strong community out there I suppose. Can't understand why, but we're all strange guys collecting miniatures of soldiers, tanks and robots.
I don't think you are remembering the 1990s BT plastic very well....
Personally, I've always loved the original Dougram & Robotech/Macross mechs (& Crusher Joe) the game was based off, and wouldn't have picked it up if it hadn't had those mechs. That initial buy-in got me interested in the whole game overall, and there's been some designs beyond the originals I love (Axeman, Vulture & Mad Cat, just to name a couple)
So, I'm really glad to see the reseen return - and they look good to me, and it's nice to see all the mechs get a similiar facelift.
ChargerIIC wrote: Any news on when Wave two ships? I'm debating getting a couple salvage boxes as sticking stuffers
Not going to happen. IF nothing goes wrong, the earliest wave 2 would be arriving is March/April 2021. If there are production problems, deadlines missed, world situations, it could be quite a bit later.
Wave one came in this week. Awesome stuff, aside from the slightly misshapen dice. Even then...I gave them a few throws and wasn't rolling the same number every time so that was encouraging. Hopefully they'll do something about it.
Other than that...great stuff and I couldn't be happier w/ the new models. T-shirt I ordered was too big...which is my bad. Hoping it shrinks in the wash.
It's pretty cool to see how the line of otherwise random designs is growing to have design similarities, like between the Awesome, Thug, Zeus, Dragon, or like the Warhammer and Crocket.
Friend of mine who managed to order extras by accident brought his stuff around for me to sort out today.
Another friend kept going on about how if there was a spare Kodiak and/or Hellion he wants those. I doubt my friend ordered a second Ad-Hoc star by accident, so I decided to change my pledge again and add a second Ad-Hoc star so he can have them when it finally arrives.
Also added a Ghost Bear T-Shirt. Wore the Jade Falcon one I got all day today. Surprisingly good quality.
With that said, we’ve never found a viable way to deliver unassembled or variant versions of our plastic miniatures… until now. Two of Catalyst’s very own–Art Director Brent Evans, and mainstay author Blaine Lee Pardoe–have teamed up to embark on a massive venture: creating a new plastic miniatures production company here in the United States.
This is going to be a massive adventure, and Catalyst is absolutely behind Brent & Blaine, as having a US-based company that can manufacturer high-quality, variant plastic miniatures–both assembled and unassembled–has long been gaming’s unreachable unicorn.
In the next couple of months they will produce the first two 'Mechs that will be offered through the Catalyst store: the Stormcrow TC and the “Clan Buster” Black Knight, both from the technical readout section of the Battle of Tukayyid campaign book above.
The miniatures team has authorized our sharing some behind-the-scenes peaks into the production efforts, starting with relatively raw shots of the designs as these variants were “pieced and parted,” as well as some of the first test prints. Worth noting is that the Stormcrow will have both the B variant, and TC (Tukayyid Configuration), whereas the Black Knight will have optional poses for forward leg and hands. Finally, we also feel its worth emphasising that these are not simply 3d printed models but instead will be fully cast, high-quality plastic miniatures.
Not only are their own staff doing the designs...they're trying to start up a plastic company here in the US!
Interestingly Warcradle (model end of Wayland games) is starting up plastic casting for Dystopian Wars in house next year (based in UK). It seems as if perhaps some of the start up costs for injection moulding plastic have gone down or those firms have saved up a lot or there's new more affordable avenues that weren't around 10 or 20 years ago.
I think also enough miniature firms have had issues with China in terms of quality control and such, plus the huge time lags (you have to get your stock ordering right else you'll go months without stock that you need or months with stock that won't sell as fast as you need it to) that doing it in-house is a much more attractive proposition.
Warcradle already started with plastic for Wild West Exodus
problem with China is not only quality but time
taking 6-12 months to the minis delivered is way too long for the fast changing industry now and a bigger problem as if you miscalculated the demand and run out before you ordered new have to wait (and if you ordered too early or too much you end up with more models than you have storage space)
and this is a thing for lot of industries, clothing brands faced similar problems years ago as if the stuff they ordered from China did not meet the expectations (like wrong colours) there is no way to get replacement in time
kodos wrote: Warcradle already started with plastic for Wild West Exodus
problem with China is not only quality but time
taking 6-12 months to the minis delivered is way too long for the fast changing industry now and a bigger problem as if you miscalculated the demand and run out before you ordered new have to wait (and if you ordered too early or too much you end up with more models than you have storage space)
Thinking on it more but I recall that another issue is that the worker culture in many/some/key factories in China is such that workers might not report production problems to higher ups. Thus many a time an error or issue persists for a whole production run - which is a disaster for a company who waits a long time to get stock, then when the customer gets it its a return and replacement for more incorrect stock. By the time you've realised you might have lost a lot of consumer faith; spent out on shipping and replacements (lost stock and money) and then have to fight with your factory half a world away to sort it out.
It's an extra problem for wargames because wargame customers are very picky with quality control. A few inconsistencies might slip through on toys or cups or such, but wargamers will notice missing details or soft parts or missing tiny bits and such.
One of the things mentioned by Privateer Press is that there's only a few that can do certain things, so there ends up being huuuuuuuuuge waiting times for those specific companies.
Kanluwen wrote: One of the things mentioned by Privateer Press is that there's only a few that can do certain things, so there ends up being huuuuuuuuuge waiting times for those specific companies.
I've also heard that Privateer Press had major problems of some kind with their Chinese manufacturer, and they're effectively holding PP's molds hostage; a big part of the reason that PP is trying to move everything in-house again and back to pewter/resin mixed models.
I'll buy some of those plastic Mechs on release just to show support for a US-based plastic production factory.
One of the hardest things to do is to translate 3D printable robot bits into plastic-moldable robot bits. Overhands especially, and I'm trying to figure out how they'd do that Stormcrow and Black Knight would having to redo the models.
I had expressed concern that although plastic rather than metal, getting into single mechs and variants was kind of IronWind's turf. Brent Evans wrote back, saying essentially 'Hey, it's all good for everyone; plastic releases help metal sales'. I guess time will tell.
totalfailure wrote: I had expressed concern that although plastic rather than metal, getting into single mechs and variants was kind of IronWind's turf. Brent Evans wrote back, saying essentially 'Hey, it's all good for everyone; plastic releases help metal sales'. I guess time will tell.
With nearly 650 distinct BattleMech chassis, and with each of those having anywhere up to a dozen variants (or more) there's plenty of room for both CGL and IWM to produce BattleMech miniatures.
not everything can be made in multipart plastics, specially some exotic Mechs and Weapon options were the market within a niche is very small
than, if Catalyst is going for 2-3 weapon options, selling additional ones in metal is a much bigger market than just selling models (having all possible options for an Omni Mech is impossible in plastic, yet metal bits or weapon packs are a different story)
Fair play to IWM for supporting the line for decades but their product and postage costs mean they can never help grow the line.
Hopefully they stay an important part of the ecosystem but the system needs good quality, average cost, high availability plastics for sale in starter boxes and Lance and star packs to support a modern wargame line. It has been a major issue with Battletech for the last thirty years.
Brent Evans wrote back, saying essentially 'Hey, it's all good for everyone; plastic releases help metal sales'. I guess time will tell.
This is true - right now - because people picking up the plastics want the currently IWM-exclusive metal variants of the new sculpts.
If plastic versions become available and at prices comparable to what they were offering salvage boxes at in the kickstarter ($6-7 ea), why would anyone ever go for a $10-15 metal one? Only way I see this working is if IWM and the new plastics company carve up territory so that they each stick to their respective variants and don't directly compete.
On that note, how do you guys think the Orca and Ares-chassis superheavies from Iron Wind will hold up to the new plastics? Will they be scaled correctly or should I wait and see if Catalyst or the new company get around to doing them?
So I need to eat some crow. I was one of those who dismissed Alpha Strike outright because it looked too steamlined to even resemble proper Battletech. This weekend the wife and I broke it out seeing as we got the new card packs on a lark...
It wasn't quite Battletech, but boy did it scratch an itch while playing suuuuuuuper fast, while still being a lot of fun.
I'm thinking we'll be giving it a fair shot going forward.
Definitely torn on doing a late backing for this one. I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior/Mech Commander video games and think the Battletech universe is pretty cool, but was always able to write off the TT version because the game did not look appealing to me. After watching Ash play some Alpha Strike on GMG and how great these minis look painted up I'm definitely tempted.
Seems pretty reasonably priced to get into too, but maaaaan I have so many minis and games I don't play already.
I was in the same boat, mechanically the game was intriguing to me (I like that style of crunch) but aesthetically it looked like Tonka had produced Baby's First Wargame with how the minis were designed. The plastic redesigns convinced me to give it another look.
Even as a non-player of Battletech (I could stand the crunch, but not anyone I would ever play with), I really want to pick up some of the Lance/Star packs when they become normally available. The new designs are absolutely beautiful compared to the old plastics and metals, and I could think of several non-BT rulesets that could see them getting onto the table, including Alpha Strike.
Sabotage! wrote: Definitely torn on doing a late backing for this one. I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior/Mech Commander video games and think the Battletech universe is pretty cool, but was always able to write off the TT version because the game did not look appealing to me. After watching Ash play some Alpha Strike on GMG and how great these minis look painted up I'm definitely tempted.
Seems pretty reasonably priced to get into too, but maaaaan I have so many minis and games I don't play already.
The new minis are really awesome. Only complaint is that I'm not crazy about the Marauder pose. Named character variant is good. KS quality was awesome...dice are a bit janky but hopefully CGL will correct. I'm a bit bummed because I got like 5 extra sets of dice and they are all jacked, but it seems like an honest mistake/production issue. Not holding it against them.
I just love having a Marauder that looks like a Marauder. The Project Phoenix one wasn't one of the best translations (unlike the Thunderbolt, Crusader and Phoenix Hawk), so this new one is a welcome return.
That's why I was happy to get a duplicate, and I don't usually like duplicates.
Sabotage! wrote: Definitely torn on doing a late backing for this one. I've always enjoyed the Mechwarrior/Mech Commander video games and think the Battletech universe is pretty cool, but was always able to write off the TT version because the game did not look appealing to me. After watching Ash play some Alpha Strike on GMG and how great these minis look painted up I'm definitely tempted.
Seems pretty reasonably priced to get into too, but maaaaan I have so many minis and games I don't play already.
The new minis are really awesome. Only complaint is that I'm not crazy about the Marauder pose. Named character variant is good. KS quality was awesome...dice are a bit janky but hopefully CGL will correct. I'm a bit bummed because I got like 5 extra sets of dice and they are all jacked, but it seems like an honest mistake/production issue. Not holding it against them.
Glad to hear that CGL is doing justice to the game and that the quality (dice aside) is good. I guess I’ll do some budgeting in the morning and see if I can fit in one of the 90 dollar pledges. 15ish mechs seems like enough to get a decent feel for Alpha Strike.
I loved every bit of my Wave #1 stuff, but never ordered anything from Wave #2. Since I would have to get Wave 2 mechs at essentially internet prices anyway, is it better to wait for retail? Are any pledge tiers particularly good if all I want is more mech packs?
Bloodnamed was an insanely good value, but I wouldn't want to duplicate all of it again.
my personal opinion is if you don't need the additional KS exclusives (like the Legendary Box), support your local shop instead for Wave #2.
I pleged the KS because I wanted to support CGL to show them that BT is still a strong IP doing re-designs is really worth it
now some stores here have already the Wave #1 stuff up for pre-order and I will buy everything else I want there, to show the shop owners that it is worth to stock BT products
Automatically Appended Next Post: my personal opinion is if you don't need the additional KS exclusives (like the Legendary Box), support your local shop instead for Wave #2.
I pleged the KS because I wanted to support CGL to show them that BT is still a strong IP doing re-designs is really worth it
now some stores here have already the Wave #1 stuff up for pre-order and I will buy everything else I want there, to show the shop owners that it is worth to stock BT products
H.B.M.C. wrote: I just love having a Marauder that looks like a Marauder. The Project Phoenix one wasn't one of the best translations (unlike the Thunderbolt, Crusader and Phoenix Hawk), so this new one is a welcome return.
That's why I was happy to get a duplicate, and I don't usually like duplicates.
Marauder is my 2nd favorite mech, just behind the Warhammer. I too really like the new look (and was disappointed with the Project Phoenix version).
Do they have any plans to do the vehicles in plastic? I see they've done the elementals/toads...
kodos wrote: my personal opinion is if you don't need the additional KS exclusives (like the Legendary Box), support your local shop instead for Wave #2.
I pleged the KS because I wanted to support CGL to show them that BT is still a strong IP doing re-designs is really worth it
now some stores here have already the Wave #1 stuff up for pre-order and I will buy everything else I want there, to show the shop owners that it is worth to stock BT products
My shop had some wave one stuff. I think it was extras of what the owner had ordered for himself. I steered away from the game for 30+ years, now I'm getting into it.
Also supporting the shop by printing a 3d version at 400% to put out to draw attention.
Archer on the left and a Warhammer still in it's supports on the right.
They want them painted up in Wolf's and Kerensky's colors.
WGF Ashigaru for scale (28mm)
Albertorius wrote: I used my refund on the named character to add an additional $90 pledge, so... I am set.
I am set.
I really don't need to spend more money.
...feth >_>
Tell me about it...
I added another Star Captain pledge when the PM reopened. I'm not sure that I've got the willpower to avoid making it Bloodnamed before they call last orders.
Im sitting tight at 2x star colonels right now plus a bunch of add-ons, I'm getting 2 copies of most of the Lance/Star packs, plus a total of 12 urbies.
I gotta tell you the temptation to add just a few more lance/star packs is killing me though.
