It is simpler yet, the renegade St Ives province finally saw through the New Avalon running dog media. So when his Celestial Wisdom offered mercy and reconciliation to his wayward kin the province saw fit to return to the Confederation.
Orlanth wrote: It is simpler yet, the renegade St Ives province finally saw through the New Avalon running dog media. So when his Celestial Wisdom offered mercy and reconciliation to his wayward kin the province saw fit to return to the Confederation.
Nah it's more like CGL made the mistake of letting Warner Doles write
I got a couple of print on demand source books from DriveThruRGP in the mail today, First and Second Succession Wars and Golden Century, and it got me thinking, why the heck are the modern books so hard to find? I would love to get a copy of Operation Klondike and the other Historicals but they are just like, non-existent. Why aren't they all available in print on demand like these couple were? I could get PDFs but I'll never read them in that format. It's been easier to collect a near complete set of Rogue Trader books this year than it seems to be to find any of these Catalyst source books from the last ten years. I don't see any of that content listed on their planned releases and reprints.
part of what makes finding them so hard is that old books don't become "obselete" every few years when a new edition rolls around. my fedcom civil war sourcebook (just to name a random example) is as relevant today as it was when it came out.
BrianDavion wrote: part of what makes finding them so hard is that old books don't become "obselete" every few years when a new edition rolls around. my fedcom civil war sourcebook (just to name a random example) is as relevant today as it was when it came out.
BrianDavion wrote: part of what makes finding them so hard is that old books don't become "obselete" every few years when a new edition rolls around. my fedcom civil war sourcebook (just to name a random example) is as relevant today as it was when it came out.
This is not quite verbatim but this comes up with CGL and their response generally boils down to having limited resources and all POD conversions taking resources. They have mentioned that Klondike, Brush Wars and I think some others will go POD soon though so at least parts of the back catalog will continue to go through that.
IWM wrote:Attention: Shipping to Australia is temporally suspended, due to USPS temporally suspending First Class package International Service and Priority Mail International due to COVID-19 Pandemic.
Not sure when this started. First time I've noticed the warning on their page.
Alpharius Walks wrote: This is not quite verbatim but this comes up with CGL and their response generally boils down to having limited resources and all POD conversions taking resources. They have mentioned that Klondike, Brush Wars and I think some others will go POD soon though so at least parts of the back catalog will continue to go through that.
This is perfect news for me! Is there anywhere that Catalyst actually posts news and more of a roadmap? Their site seems... poor. Knowing this is enough for me to know not to spend a huge chunk if one of these books came up on ebay so is really useful.
Was notified that my ,,Bloodnamed“ order is under way yesterday. Got it today.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Was notified that my ,,Bloodnamed“ order is under way yesterday. Got it today. I am impressed. Very good quality of the miniatures and the maps.
Had five salvage boxes:
Puma, Thor, Vulture, Mad Cat , Ryoken.
Could be worse.
And my salvage Legend box ist Morgan Kell.
Say, is there a good iphone/ipad app for tracking at least a lance for battletech. I've got a bunch of laminated sheet, but I figure in this day and age there ought to be a way to do it on the computer/phone.
<edit> I found there’s an official one, but it only appears to track one mech at a time.
The Tukayyid Salvage Bits Bags at Gen Con and Beyond
Our company, Creative Juggernaut, has been busy leading up to Gen Con. First, we produced hundreds of Stormcrow Tukayyid variants and shipped those to Catalyst for them to sell on their site. Second, we produced a batch of Black Knight Tukayyid variants and got those off as well. For Gen Con itself, we assembled Tukayyid Salvage Bit Bags, (around 700) as a convention release.
We jokingly called these “dime bags” in-house. They are parts and pieces of ‘Mechs that were unfit for release to the public. Some parts are partial casts, some are deformed in some manner, others have air bubbles (which look like damage). Our company believes in being green and rather than send these off to the landfill, we packaged them for resale. Each bag is the same size as the Black Knight and Stormcrow, but are crammed with random parts. The parts are from these two ‘Mechs, as well as some prototypes we did for a Marauder IIC, an UrbanMech, and a Crusader…but mostly Black Knight and Stormcrow parts and pieces.
So what good are they? These bits can be used on bases as battlefield debris for your ‘Mechs to be standing on or next to. The bits can be used to make fallen ‘Mech objective markers for Alpha Strike games. My personal use of these is for when a BattleMech is destroyed in a game. Rather than tip over a model I have worked hard to assemble and paint (risking damage), you can use these parts to mark dead enemies and comrades on the field/map.
I met one person that bought a few bags in hopes of getting enough to assemble a battle damaged Black Knight. No guarantees on such efforts, since the parts are randomly stuffed in the bags. I appreciated his ingenuity and creativity.
We didn’t announce these would be available at Gen Con because you never know until the last minute if they are going to be suitable for sale, etc. As it was, Brent loaded up a piece of luggage with Tukayyid Salvage Bits and lugged them personally to Gen Con. Things were so last minute, I don’t even have a photo of the bags right now.
Eventually, once the dust settles from convention season, these will go up for sale on the Catalyst Game Labs website – along with the Stormcrows and Black Knights. And yes, we are going to produce more ‘Mechs. No, we cannot solve international shipping prices nor are we selling these directly – you have to order them from Catalyst. Catalyst sets the sales price on these. There is no way to preview them online, so there’s no picking and choosing – you get a random bag stuffed with random parts.
We will do some social media posts when we know when they are for sale; but that is handled by Catalyst and there is no guarantee that we will gets a heads up. I would recommend watching their web site since you now know that they have stock of our products.
So what it next? I’m sworn to secrecy, but there are some big things coming from Creative Juggernaut…BIG things.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Wait, so, another Archer, another Rifleman and another Mad Cat?
Very likely the Archer is the 2W variant with LRM20 and SRM4 in each shoulder pod.
The Archer has a different pose and the shoulder pods are raised at the back. I think that is the SRM4.
The Rifleman is also a different pose, however Wolf's Dragoons did not produce Riflemen. They had a small mobile mech production facility with them from the start, but it only produced Archers.
I don't mind additional sculpts of 3025 mechs, don't mind at all, but this makes three Archers so far.
I'm guessing it's a business decision to get more mechs into a box, but isn't it kind of weird that they're mocking this up as a Star?
The Dragoons used lances while they were blending in with the Inner Sphere. It would have been an even bigger headscratcher to all the Noble Houses if some mercs turned up with new tech and a weird combat organization.
infinite_array wrote: I'm guessing it's a business decision to get more mechs into a box, but isn't it kind of weird that they're mocking this up as a Star?
The Dragoons used lances while they were blending in with the Inner Sphere. It would have been an even bigger headscratcher to all the Noble Houses if some mercs turned up with new tech and a weird combat organization.
infinite_array wrote: I'm guessing it's a business decision to get more mechs into a box, but isn't it kind of weird that they're mocking this up as a Star?
The Dragoons used lances while they were blending in with the Inner Sphere. It would have been an even bigger headscratcher to all the Noble Houses if some mercs turned up with new tech and a weird combat organization.
I am by no means up to date on my lore - but did the Dragoon’s reveal themselves and revert to Clan organization after the invasion? Just wondering, since all the new minis have been themed around the Clan Invasion, if that’s why went with a Star instead of Lance?
also new ISM minis, dunno what hapf this means but from fb group:
"For you metal mini fans, these are coming down the pipeline from Iron Wind Metals!
https://www.ironwindmetals.com/index.php/categories/cat-battletech Details:
Summer 2021 Releases
20-5194 Sojourner Prime 60 $15.95
20-5195 Archer ARC-9W 70 $16.95
20-5196 Goliath C 80 $18.95
Web Only New Releases at Gen Con
BT-445 BattleMech Recovery Vehicle $20.00
BT-463 War Crow A 70 $17.00
BT-467 Hierofalcon B 45 $15.00"
Soundtheory wrote: I am by no means up to date on my lore - but did the Dragoon’s reveal themselves and revert to Clan organization after the invasion? Just wondering, since all the new minis have been themed around the Clan Invasion, if that’s why went with a Star instead of Lance?
I don't think so. All of the fiction/sourcebooks I've read and seen indicate that the Dragoons had gone almost completely indigenous by the time the Clan Invasion rolled around, and that didn't change afterwards.
Soundtheory wrote: I am by no means up to date on my lore - but did the Dragoon’s reveal themselves and revert to Clan organization after the invasion? Just wondering, since all the new minis have been themed around the Clan Invasion, if that’s why went with a Star instead of Lance?
I don't think so. All of the fiction/sourcebooks I've read and seen indicate that the Dragoons had gone almost completely indigenous by the time the Clan Invasion rolled around, and that didn't change afterwards.
More Tales of the Black Widow states that the Black Widows were using Clan structure by 3040, almost a full decade before the Clan Invasion. Field Manual: Mercenaries states that the Dragoons were using a unique blend of Inner Sphere Lances and Clan Stars for their 'mech units.
Apparently CGL was approached by B&N for a store exclusive product and the deal was too good for CGL to say no to. Ive seen the kinds of deals that B&N, Target, etc give publishers for board game exclusives, its mad money with insanely good terms.
More Tales of the Black Widow states that the Black Widows were using Clan structure by 3040, almost a full decade before the Clan Invasion. Field Manual: Mercenaries states that the Dragoons were using a unique blend of Inner Sphere Lances and Clan Stars for their 'mech units.
Good to know!
I guess it depends on whether or not a Battalion/Regiment commander follows IS or Clan doctrine.
A big, big day here for mercenary MechWarriors–the Barnes & Noble exclusive Wolf Dragoons Assault Star ForcePack is available for pre-order! The expected availability date for this item is Dec. 15, 2021, so be sure to….annihilate…your holiday season with this exciting new pack.
But that’s not all. Like the Dragoons, the Gray Death Legion is a fan-favorite, elite mercenary unit revered across the Inner Sphere. As the story of a new incarnation of the GDL plays out in the ilClan Era, we are thrilled to offer this brand-new, full-length novel by original GDL author William H. Keith, set in the classic era of the Legion’s early days!
Wolf Dragoons Assault Star
Pre-order: $30.00 (Barnes and Noble Exclusive)
The Wolf’s Dragoons are the most well-known and respected mercenary command in the Inner Sphere and their MechWarriors are some of the most skilled and feared across hundreds of worlds. Once more, the Inner Sphere is poised for war and the Wolf’s Dragoons are on the forefront.
This B&N Exclusive Expansion set includes the new Annihilator, as well as re-posed Timber Wolf and Rifleman and new variants of the Archer and Blackjack BattleMechs – no assembly required – along with 10 MechWarrior pilot cards and five Alpha Strike cards! Perfect for BattleTech and Alpha Strike action!
Unleash the Wolf’s Dragoon Assault Star on your enemies! This Barnes & Noble exclusive includes:
5 High quality, fully assembled, (Unpainted) miniatures
10 MechWarrior Cards
5 Alpha Strike Cards
A Rock and a Hard Place
A Gray Death Legion novel by William H. Keith
E-pub: $6.99 / Print-on-Demand: $14.95
ALIVE OR DEAD…
Just a few months after their universe-shaking campaign on Helm, and the distribution of the Helm Memory Core, all Grayson Carlyle and his Gray Death Legion want is to settle into their new home on Glengarry. But they barely touch down on-planet when a Lyran Commonwealth general contacts the GDL, intent on hiring them to track down and capture Draconis Combine agents behind a daring raid on Lyons.
Tracking the Kurita raiders to the Draconis border system of Valdis—better known as Wheel—Grayson and his people have their work cut out for them. The system’s main feature is literally a wheel-shaped deep-space station and recharge facility at the Valdis star’s zenith jump point. Its structure means a direct assault with BattleMechs will be extremely risky, both because of the tight quarters and the very real danger of an errant shot or missile depressurizing and destroying the entire station. Also, Grayson will be splitting his force, with Lori Kalmar providing a decoy operation on the nearby mining planet Valdis I, otherwise known as Rock, to draw the Combine’s attention away from Wheel.
It’s a high-risk operation on both ends, but Grayson and the GDL have their orders, and they intend to capture the Draconis operatives one way or the other…even if they have to risk destroying the entire space station to do so…
More Tales of the Black Widow states that the Black Widows were using Clan structure by 3040, almost a full decade before the Clan Invasion. Field Manual: Mercenaries states that the Dragoons were using a unique blend of Inner Sphere Lances and Clan Stars for their 'mech units.
Good to know!
I guess it depends on whether or not a Battalion/Regiment commander follows IS or Clan doctrine.
It's not really that simple. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon are formed into standard regiments with the exception of their Elementals which are fielded as Stars. Zeta and the Wolf Spiders consists of three Trinaries each, with the Wolf Spiders also having a squadron of six aerospace fighters and the Third Infantry, Seventh Kommando. The Command Company of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon consists of a four- 'mech command lance, two five- 'mech stars, a two-fighter aerospace Point, an Elemental Point and a mixed recon Point.
Of course, this is all circa 3059 and probably trends to a more Clan structure when rebuilding after the Jihad.
All good news! I'm like a third of the way through Price of Glory so will definitely jump right into the new GDL novel after that. At some point the Legendary Mechwarriors box will become available enough that I can start to expand my GDL force based on the books. The Rifleman from the Wolf's box will fit right in!
TalonZahn wrote: Grrrr. damn B&N site giving me crap with address... lol
B&N giving me an issue where its saying my phone number isnt there after I put it in, or changing my address everytime I fix thing and then refusing to check out.
Soundtheory wrote: I am by no means up to date on my lore - but did the Dragoon’s reveal themselves and revert to Clan organization after the invasion? Just wondering, since all the new minis have been themed around the Clan Invasion, if that’s why went with a Star instead of Lance?
I don't think so. All of the fiction/sourcebooks I've read and seen indicate that the Dragoons had gone almost completely indigenous by the time the Clan Invasion rolled around, and that didn't change afterwards.
More Tales of the Black Widow states that the Black Widows were using Clan structure by 3040, almost a full decade before the Clan Invasion. Field Manual: Mercenaries states that the Dragoons were using a unique blend of Inner Sphere Lances and Clan Stars for their 'mech units.
who knows, pre covid the international market could order from B&N in the USA,
and some of their GW 'exclusives' have also show up in Germany so it's all going to depend on the contract (and whether anybody else wants to sell them)
Stormonu wrote: Say, is there a good iphone/ipad app for tracking at least a lance for battletech. I've got a bunch of laminated sheet, but I figure in this day and age there ought to be a way to do it on the computer/phone.
<edit> I found there’s an official one, but it only appears to track one mech at a time.
The 'official' app was only a proof-of-concept done as a stretch goal for the kickstarter. I doubt they'll be updating it much, Battletech has had great free/community-supported software for years already.
Check out Flechs Sheets, yeah it's a webapp but it's designed for tablets and phones and basically does exactly what you're asking for.
infinite_array wrote: I'm guessing it's a business decision to get more mechs into a box, but isn't it kind of weird that they're mocking this up as a Star?
The Dragoons used lances while they were blending in with the Inner Sphere. It would have been an even bigger headscratcher to all the Noble Houses if some mercs turned up with new tech and a weird combat organization.
the Black Widow company was expanded to a battalion as the dragoons rebuilt post 4th sucession war. Natasha Kerensky orginized the battalion in a "new and differant way" with lances of 5 mechs, in companies of 3 etc.which in hind sight was her reorginizing the Battlaion as a clan cluster. So this is presumably a post clan invasion lance of the black widow battalion.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
kodos wrote: So no chance that the international market get the box as well?
That is the question being asked by most of you who have yet to receive your Wave 2 shipment, some with patient understanding and some with far more...creative imagery. We understand. After two years of hard work, millions spent on development, production, shipping... we are just as hopeful as our 10,000+ backers to see a successful conclusion to this amazing campaign
As of 9/30, QML has reported to us the following:
US: Roughly 80% fulfilled, with the final 20% to be finished in the next two weeks.
Canada: 90% fulfilled, also finishing by mid-October.
EU: 87% fulfilled. In fact, the hard count is 213 orders left to ship!
UK: 95% fulfilled. We didn't get a hard count, but we expect it is in the same 200-ish range.
Aus: We did not get a %. And yeah, it's slow. Aetherworks expects to be 100% by end of October.
Asia: "About 2/3" was reported delivered or in transit. So call it 66%. The final 33% will be started after the current holiday period. We expect this process to still take extra weeks, because of how Asia distributes.
ROW: 97% shipped. This number is a little shaky because the ROW options come with their own headaches, like 10 of our 62 shipments to Russia coming back as "customs issues, not deliverable." Technically, that means Russia was 100% shipped but had a 20% failure rate. We have no idea why, since the other 52 shipments used the same customs forms and shipping method, and they went through without issue. We are in the processes of resending these shipments.
There's a lot more besides this, but that's the gist of it.
CGL didn't get a % from Aetherworks because Aetherworks hasn't fething sent anything yet. The only update is from 29/09, on their FB page, where Wave 2 is listed under 'Packing'.
Well, after getting lost on the way a couple times, the first wave of Ghost Bear forces finally lands on Réunion island, 11 months behind on schedule.
Tropical weather has never been kind to Ghost Bears, but that's what happens when your Star Captain draws the short straw for deployment.
Edit : Looks like I can't do pics anymore.
Edit² : 4th time's a charm !
Miguelsan wrote: My package, according to JP Post, is currently in Okinawa. Taking into account that Kobe is in Honshu it surely it's taking a weird route.
Package made it home! Along with my IS mechs I got double Vulture, a Dragonfly, and a Thor. Not a bad set of mechs to go with my previous edition Madcat.
Miguelsan wrote: Package made it home! Along with my IS mechs I got double Vulture, a Dragonfly, and a Thor. Not a bad set of mechs to go with my previous edition Madcat.
Miguelsan wrote: Package made it home! Along with my IS mechs I got double Vulture, a Dragonfly, and a Thor. Not a bad set of mechs to go with my previous edition Madcat.
Miguelsan wrote: Package made it home! Along with my IS mechs I got double Vulture, a Dragonfly, and a Thor. Not a bad set of mechs to go with my previous edition Madcat.
Pics so I can live vicariously through you!
There you are! The IK is there to give an idea of the size of the plushie.
Yup, it's back to devil take the hindmost, or 'business-as-usual.' Ports are still backed up though. The US President made an announcement about an effort to work through the backlog.
Air freight is probably cheaper than container ship these days...
The fourth and final cycle of BattleMech Recognition Guide: ilClan kicks off today with Vol. 19, featuring the rare Iron Cheetah and a host of redesigned classics!
As a reminder, the Rec Guide series will run through Vol. 24, currently slated to come out on Friday, Dec. 24.
We’ve also got a sneak preview of an item coming out next week, so scroll down for more…
But before all that, we wanted to let you know about our next AMA session, happening Saturday, Oct. 23 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time (GMT -5). Join Tex from the Black Pants Legion, members of WolfNet Radio, Death From Above, Arbiter Studios, CamoSpecs Online, Renegade HPG, Battle Bound, and Ray Arrastia and ask them anything about creating and sharing content for the BattleTech community.
(Please note the slight time bump here to accommodate the participants. it’s gonna be a packed house, we’ll try to keep the chaos to a minimum!)
Recognition Guide: ilClan, Vol. 19
PDF: $3.99
The march of technology across BattleTech’s eras is relentless—but some BattleMech designs never die. Each installment of this PDF-only series not only includes a brand new BattleMech or OmniMech, but also details Classic ’Mech designs from both the Inner Sphere and the Clans, now fully rebuilt with Dark Age technology (3085 and beyond).
Allowing beloved units redesigned for the BattleTech: Clan Invasion crowd funding campaign to be competitive on “modern” battlefields, this series also includes in-universe development notes, battle histories, notable pilots, and record sheets for each ’Mech. Released as a series of 24 PDF-only documents through the end of 2020 and early 2021, many ’Mechs featured in this series will be collected in print upon its completion.
Available Next Week: Multi-Part Plastic Stormcrow!
Debuting next Friday, Oct. 22 exclusively in the Catalyst Game Labs web store is the plastic, multi-part Stormcrow TC! This high-quality model allows you to build your ’Mech how you like, with many different possible poses.
We’ll have several hundred miniatures available in this first wave of release, with more Stormcrows and a restock of multi-part plastic Black Knight expected soon. We’re limiting orders to one Stormcrow per person, and they’ll go live in the web store at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (GMT -5) on Friday, Oct. 22
First seen during the battle of Tukayyid, the -TC Stormcrow offered the Clans a configuration unique to this legendary battle.
This premium variant uses new modeling techniques being employed to update all BattleMech designs. It comes unassembled and unpainted – and includes optional parts (4 arms), allowing you to decide between the -TC and the -B variants of the Stormcrow!
Supply is very limited, so orders are currently restricted to one model per person.
NOTE: This premium item is the second (of two) created as a test run to gauge the level of interest in the market for premium figures. Due to the success of the first miniature we have asked the supplier to make every effort to stock this item in more quickly and in sufficient quantity. They are already working on how to increase their production. Thank you for your patience!
Price: 24.99
Also available next week will be the Tukayyid Salvage Bags, a collection of bits from the plastic Stormcrow and Black Knight production lines. They’re perfect for modding your mini, or using as battlefield salvage or objective markers. Like the Stormcrow, they’ll be available at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Oct. 22.
Production lines are far from perfect, even in the 31st century. Which is how Battle Salvage, Inc., a junior division of Kai Allard Enterprises, acquired a contract with workshops producing both the Black Knight Clanbuster and Stormcrow-TC to sweep up the cast-off pieces and parts for the first battlefield salvage kit. (Unconfirmed reports claim there may be salvaged items from other Mechs, specifically the UrbanMech and Crusader.)
*This package contains miscasts, imperfect parts, and other remnants. Modify your existing TO&E, build something completely new from scratch, or just litter the landscape with a graveyard of previous battles. Each bag comes unassembled and unpainted – and includes a random assortment of approximately 10 pieces which may include torsos, arms, legs, hands and heads.
Note: This product will be listed on an as-available basis, and relies specifically on workshop parts that failed QC inspection.
Seeing that unglued stormcrow almost makes me wish they all came that way. I've had several minis come with their arms glued in at an odd angle or bent weird, not pleasant to fix.
I just give 'em the hairdryer and cold water treatment. Even a catapult missile pod that I had to rotate quite far to line up with the other has stayed that way for months now.
Thargrim wrote: Seeing that unglued stormcrow almost makes me wish they all came that way. I've had several minis come with their arms glued in at an odd angle or bent weird, not pleasant to fix.
Did you have any minis come broken clean in half? Because I did (Stormcrow from a salvage box, the peg that connects the upper torso to the lower part broke off inside the slot, had to drill out a hole and pin it back together).
Im going to continue to not touch Creative Juggernaught minis with a 10 foot pole - though I am amenable towards changing my mind if they can either bring it to a cheaper price point or make availability and distribution more widespread so I don't have to go direct to Catalyst and can hopefully score a discount through other retailers.
Thargrim wrote: Seeing that unglued stormcrow almost makes me wish they all came that way. I've had several minis come with their arms glued in at an odd angle or bent weird, not pleasant to fix.
Did you have any minis come broken clean in half? Because I did (Stormcrow from a salvage box, the peg that connects the upper torso to the lower part broke off inside the slot, had to drill out a hole and pin it back together).
Im going to continue to not touch Creative Juggernaught minis with a 10 foot pole - though I am amenable towards changing my mind if they can either bring it to a cheaper price point or make availability and distribution more widespread so I don't have to go direct to Catalyst and can hopefully score a discount through other retailers.
Yeah same, I'll happily buy up any of the box sets CGL puts out, and buy metal variants of the modernized sculpts from Iron Wind, but I can't justify spending that much for a single mini when I could buy an entire box for the same price, brab a knife and some sidecutters and print out some replacement pieces to accomplish the same thing for a fraction of the price.
chaos0xomega wrote: is a mini which arrived broken in half considered a packing issue?
I'd contact Catalyst about that one.
They set me up with a replacement, pleased as a peach. I managed to glue the broken one back together (had to pin it, there was no way that it would hold otherwise), so I got a free mech out of the deal lol
So out of my 12 salvage boxes I got 4 Stormcrows, 2 Shadowcats, 1 Nova, 1 Ice Ferret, 1 Viper, 1 Adder, 1 Gargoyle, 1 Mad Dog. Unfortunately I pulled 2 Natasha Kerensky's out of the 2 legendary salvage boxes.
chaos0xomega wrote: So out of my 12 salvage boxes I got 4 Stormcrows, 2 Shadowcats, 1 Nova, 1 Ice Ferret, 1 Viper, 1 Adder, 1 Gargoyle, 1 Mad Dog. Unfortunately I pulled 2 Natasha Kerensky's out of the 2 legendary salvage boxes.
I mean 2 dire wolves isn't a bad thing... it's a good mech.
I don't mind the odd double if you get a massive box, but it's when you get only 4 salvage boxes and they're all the same god damned mech that is a problem
Salvage boxes were a mistake, but had an easy solution. A baggie with a number of loose miniatures according to your pledge composition. That way they could all be different.
Orlanth wrote: Salvage boxes were a mistake, but had an easy solution. A baggie with a number of loose miniatures according to your pledge composition. That way they could all be different.
Salvage boxes make plenty of sense if they were something that would get offered at retail and your FLGS could have on the counter near the register. Cheap impulse blind boxes with pre-assembled minis and a datacard so they can be used immediately is a perfect little offering. If they can get stock situations figured at some point in the future they'll be a great item. As something people bought in bulk thru the KS without any kind of case packout or clear distribution of the contents it seems a bit more frustrating.
Who/what is the market for salvage boxes as a retail product though? If you can get all the mechs contained therein in a fixed bundle of 5 minis for $20-25 (or $15 from a discounter...), why pay $9-14 (as the prices seem to go at various retailers) for a single random mini you may already have or not even want?
chaos0xomega wrote: Who/what is the market for salvage boxes as a retail product though? If you can get all the mechs contained therein in a fixed bundle of 5 minis for $20-25 (or $15 from a discounter...), why pay $9-14 (as the prices seem to go at various retailers) for a single random mini you may already have or not even want?
I assumed they were variant sculpts? If not then I see your point, but at the right price point I think there's still room for that product. At $5-7 a pop I'd probably grab one every time I went to the store for other stuff. The lance packs are certainly a better value but sometimes rolling the dice can be a fun way to inspire a project instead of pre-planning. Or a cheaper gateway purchase. Heck, if they came in cases like Magic cards I could see a cheap night of draft battles, everyone buys one and play a Solaris match. It's a great product for in person retail and gaming, which I admit is not the best market to be in these days.
Orlanth wrote: Salvage boxes were a mistake, but had an easy solution. A baggie with a number of loose miniatures according to your pledge composition. That way they could all be different.
Salvage boxes make plenty of sense if they were something that would get offered at retail and your FLGS could have on the counter near the register. Cheap impulse blind boxes with pre-assembled minis and a datacard so they can be used immediately is a perfect little offering. If they can get stock situations figured at some point in the future they'll be a great item. As something people bought in bulk thru the KS without any kind of case packout or clear distribution of the contents it seems a bit more frustrating.
I have seen salvage boxes in my local store, by the time you have distributed them you are paying a lot more for a random miniature than the per mech price of a unit of miniatures where you know what you are getting.
Nope - just the normal ones. The original KS idea of getting a free random mech with each Star / Lance pack you pledged was OK, but it became it's own thing...
actually the original idea of the salvage box was because the inner sphere lance boxes got you 1 mech less, you'd get less mechs if you choose the IS lance boxes, the salvage boxes where intended to counter balance this
Orlanth wrote: Salvage boxes were a mistake, but had an easy solution. A baggie with a number of loose miniatures according to your pledge composition. That way they could all be different.
Salvage boxes make plenty of sense if they were something that would get offered at retail and your FLGS could have on the counter near the register. Cheap impulse blind boxes with pre-assembled minis and a datacard so they can be used immediately is a perfect little offering. If they can get stock situations figured at some point in the future they'll be a great item. As something people bought in bulk thru the KS without any kind of case packout or clear distribution of the contents it seems a bit more frustrating.
A mech sheet on a poker-sized playing card would be handy.
BrianDavion wrote: actually the original idea of the salvage box was because the inner sphere lance boxes got you 1 mech less, you'd get less mechs if you choose the IS lance boxes, the salvage boxes where intended to counter balance this
which doesn't entirely make sense to me because they were explicitly clan mechs in the salvage boxes rather than IS mechs. If you were collecting both factions it wasn't a bad deal, but if you were only collecting IS I can imagine being a bit frustrated having mechs you probably wouldn't want to use
BrianDavion wrote: actually the original idea of the salvage box was because the inner sphere lance boxes got you 1 mech less, you'd get less mechs if you choose the IS lance boxes, the salvage boxes where intended to counter balance this
which doesn't entirely make sense to me because they were explicitly clan mechs in the salvage boxes rather than IS mechs. If you were collecting both factions it wasn't a bad deal, but if you were only collecting IS I can imagine being a bit frustrated having mechs you probably wouldn't want to use
as someone whose painting all his mechs as Davion Guards I'm fine with that. Salvage happens, by the FCCW era even the god damned capellans have SOME clan mechs
Salvage boxes weren't originally intended as anything OTHER than being the 5th random filler mech to keep prices the same between IS Lances and Clan Stars. And they're Clan mechs because this was the clan Invasion KS. Catalyst never intended to sell salvage boxes, but enough people asked for it in the comments that Catalyst added them as a paid option when the pledge manager hit.
Not sure why it's now a big deal all of a sudden. They filled their intended role perfectly and most people got a decent-ish mix with a few doubles/triples they didn't want. That's random blind buys for ya. Sounds like some people went full-stupid and ordered a whole bunch, then didn't like the random mechs they got. That's random blind buys for ya.
Kalamadea wrote: Salvage boxes weren't originally intended as anything OTHER than being the 5th random filler mech to keep prices the same between IS Lances and Clan Stars. And they're Clan mechs because this was the clan Invasion KS. Catalyst never intended to sell salvage boxes, but enough people asked for it in the comments that Catalyst added them as a paid option when the pledge manager hit.
Not sure why it's now a big deal all of a sudden. They filled their intended role perfectly and most people got a decent-ish mix with a few doubles/triples they didn't want. That's random blind buys for ya. Sounds like some people went full-stupid and ordered a whole bunch, then didn't like the random mechs they got. That's random blind buys for ya.
my only salvage boxes where the default ones I got, and yeah, getting 3 gargoyles kiiinda sucked.
it's not a big deal but I do wish they made sure to vary things more.
Take off 5 tons and you get the Mad Cat. You see, every Heavy 'Mech besides the Mad Cat from the invasion-era Clans is only distinctive in that they are not a Mad Cat.
The Loki is a piece of gak. The Thor is under armed and over jump jet'd. The Vulture is under armoured, and suffers from either crippling heat or ammo problems.
Ol' Gargy ain't a Heavy 'Mech, that much is true, but he's 5-tons heavier to the far superior Mad Cat, and ends up being the Clan equivalent of the 1A1. And no one wants to be compared to a 1A1.
Take off 5 tons and you get the Mad Cat. You see, every Heavy 'Mech besides the Mad Cat from the invasion-era Clans is only distinctive in that they are not a Mad Cat.
The Loki is a piece of gak. The Thor is under armed and over jump jet'd. The Vulture is under armoured, and suffers from either crippling heat or ammo problems.
Ol' Gargy ain't a Heavy 'Mech, that much is true, but he's 5-tons heavier to the far superior Mad Cat, and ends up being the Clan equivalent of the 1A1. And no one wants to be compared to a 1A1.
All this garble translates to, you pay too much for a rating 400 engine.
Omni's don't magically transform into Timber Wolves when they reach 75 tons.
Besides the Timber Wolf has two things going for it:
a) The script writers like the Timber Wolf prime particularly so they made it uber in the fluff It is legendary because it is made in only one factory and yet gets everywhere, especially on all the posters. To love the Timber Wolf is to love the Ultramarines, because they are both the bestest evah.
b) The configurations are not messed up.
The Night Gyr isn't as photogenic as the Timber Wolf, but is a better mech by all accounts.
That's a very kind way of saying "Go to hell". I won't return the favour.
Orlanth wrote: ... you pay too much for a rating 400 engine.
Over-engined 'Mechs end up being less than ideal is the situation.
Orlanth wrote: Omni's don't magically transform into Timber Wolves when they reach 75 tons.
Never said they did. What I did say however, is that of the four original heavies, three of them are only distinct in that they are not the demonstrably superior fourth one, and that what you lose when going from a Mad Cat to Gargoyle isn't worth the price of admission. D'ya get it yet?
Orlanth wrote: a) The script writers like the Timber Wolf prime particularly so they made it uber in the fluff It is legendary because it is made in only one factory and yet gets everywhere, especially on all the posters. To love the Timber Wolf is to love the Ultramarines, because they are both the bestest evah.
Literally has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. In the game, the Mad Cat is superior to the Vulture, Loki and Summoner. And ol' Gargy.
Orlanth wrote: The Night Gyr isn't as photogenic as the Timber Wolf, but is a better mech by all accounts.
In what regard? Firepower? Certainly. It can carry more guns. Manoeuvrability? For the most part, given its Jump Jets and how very few Mad Cat configs have JJs. But the Mad Cat is faster, and can have 5 JJs.
I know I'd prefer a Night Gyr over a Mad Cat, even without my Falcon bias, but I also know that I was talking about the original invasion Heavy 'Mechs (even mentioned 'em by name!), so why you're bringing the Night Gyr into it, something that only showed up right at the end and is clearly outside of the scope/context of the comparisons I've been making is beyond me.
BrianDavion wrote: Night Gyr also came around in tro 3058, too late to be THE iconic clan mech.
so it'll never be as iconic as the timberwolf for the same reason the Atlas is more iconic then the Devestator
True but. FASA chose the Timber Wolf to the posterboy, like it chose the Atlas (and Warhammer prior to Harmony Gold), though there was more dilution with the IS mechs, but clan imagery normally had the Timber wolf pretty prominent.. Night Gyr and Devastator were not around, but other mechs were. There is a lot of focus, and a bucketload of hype added.
Also for most of this time both the Marauder and the Catapult were unseen, and the 'Mad Cat' was a link to both toys we couldn't have, this added greatly to the mystique.
That's a very kind way of saying "Go to hell". I won't return the favour.
Come on H. That was a rant on clan heavies. Mad Dog is a fine mech, it is built for fire support and does the job well. Hellbringer, yes it has issues, but the Summoner is also a great design, it is let down by configurations, it has less pod space so it has more emphasis on heavy guns. That never made sense, you have to go a long way down the alphabet before you find a medium laser
Orlanth wrote: Omni's don't magically transform into Timber Wolves when they reach 75 tons.
Never said they did. What I did say however, is that of the four original heavies, three of them are only distinct in that they are not the demonstrably superior fourth one, and that what you lose when going from a Mad Cat to Gargoyle isn't worth the price of admission. D'ya get it yet?
You get the same downgrade moving from any of the four clan heavies. A Mad Dog pilot could say, you added twenty more tons for this!
Orlanth wrote: The Night Gyr isn't as photogenic as the Timber Wolf, but is a better mech by all accounts.
In what regard? Firepower? Certainly. It can carry more guns. Manoeuvrability? For the most part, given its Jump Jets and how very few Mad Cat configs have JJs. But the Mad Cat is faster, and can have 5 JJs.
I know I'd prefer a Night Gyr over a Mad Cat, even without my Falcon bias, but I also know that I was talking about the original invasion Heavy 'Mechs (even mentioned 'em by name!), so why you're bringing the Night Gyr into it, something that only showed up right at the end and is clearly outside of the scope/context of the comparisons I've been making is beyond me.
Well 75ers, as 55ers, sit at a very specific efficiency point and tend to be better than entry level assaults and heavies, respectively, that much has always been the case.
And the Clan Invasion 75er is the Mad Cat. Pretty iconic by itself, but also on the TRO cover, much as the MAD back in the day.
Wasn't that stormcrow supposed to go on sale today? I completely forgot about that. I guess I must've missed out cause I can't find evidence of it ever being sold on the catalyst webstore.
Thargrim wrote: Wasn't that stormcrow supposed to go on sale today? I completely forgot about that. I guess I must've missed out cause I can't find evidence of it ever being sold on the catalyst webstore.
Thargrim wrote: Wasn't that stormcrow supposed to go on sale today? I completely forgot about that. I guess I must've missed out cause I can't find evidence of it ever being sold on the catalyst webstore.
It's up now, they posted an announcement on the official site, along with the salvage bits bag and a bunch of vinyl stickers. Just ordered my Stormcrow
Just remembered and grabbed mine before thinking to check here. They did not make it easy to find things on their crappy site but I managed. Hoping either to make a Black Knight from my Salvage bags or see that one come back in stock soon. Thinking I'll make my Stormcrow into a C and then give the Gauss Rifle arm to a Nova to make a Nova C.
chaos0xomega wrote: Who/what is the market for salvage boxes as a retail product though? If you can get all the mechs contained therein in a fixed bundle of 5 minis for $20-25 (or $15 from a discounter...), why pay $9-14 (as the prices seem to go at various retailers) for a single random mini you may already have or not even want?
I'd say it get the same folks who'd buy the random D&D miniatures or the old Axis & Allies random minis. Some folks might even want to do a "random lance" game via blind buy. Or even just a chance to get something out of their comfort zone that they wouldn't ordinarily buy as part of a seen pack. "Oh, look - a Clan Gladiator. Never would've run one of those, let's see how it plays".
Theres something to that I suppose, but they would need to be cheaper IMO, like $5 a pop @ retail, to fill the niche of "I have a few spare bucks in my pocket, lemme just throw it at this blind box and see what pops out"
I am looking to get into battletech but the starters and miniatures in general seem like a real pain to track down. Are there any reliable UK retailers with stock?
Currently stock is rough, shipping disruptions and all. You have to be vigilant and be ready to buy at a moments notice as anyone posting stock seems to go out of stock within a couple hours of people noticing.
ListenToMeWarriors wrote: I am looking to get into battletech but the starters and miniatures in general seem like a real pain to track down. Are there any reliable UK retailers with stock?
you could start by ordering a map sheet and the battlemech manual in PDF... not ideal I know but then you'll at least be able to learn how to play
ListenToMeWarriors wrote: I am looking to get into battletech but the starters and miniatures in general seem like a real pain to track down. Are there any reliable UK retailers with stock?
Thirsty Meeples has the Clan Invasion box, the Clan fire star and the Direct Fire lance available.
ListenToMeWarriors wrote: I am looking to get into battletech but the starters and miniatures in general seem like a real pain to track down. Are there any reliable UK retailers with stock?
Thirsty Meeples has the Clan Invasion box, the Clan fire star and the Direct Fire lance available.
decent boxes. the fire star and direct fire lance is one my local shops had in recently so I think the distributors got their hands on some
Not to rub it in but I just got a tracking number from Catalyst for my fancy Stormcrow. Glad for that, I had heard that they could be hit or miss on fulfilling direct orders and this is my first one.
Thanks to Trafalgar Law and BrianDavion for the help.
I just started with the Inner Sphere Direct Fire Lance because I love the look of the Atlas and Crusader. My only concern is mould line removal, as the minis have some shockers on them, I guess a sharp hobby knife and trying to avoid the detail is the way. Also is a wash in warm soapy water advisable before painting?
Prometheum5 wrote: Not to rub it in but I just got a tracking number from Catalyst for my fancy Stormcrow. Glad for that, I had heard that they could be hit or miss on fulfilling direct orders and this is my first one.
I got my tracking a couple days ago, but it still says usps awaiting item. It's the same thing ebay sellers do sometimes..mark it as shipped but it 'technically' has not shipped yet at all. I'll be surprised if it shows up before next friday tbh.
Prometheum5 wrote: Not to rub it in but I just got a tracking number from Catalyst for my fancy Stormcrow. Glad for that, I had heard that they could be hit or miss on fulfilling direct orders and this is my first one.
I got my tracking a couple days ago, but it still says usps awaiting item. It's the same thing ebay sellers do sometimes..mark it as shipped but it 'technically' has not shipped yet at all. I'll be surprised if it shows up before next friday tbh.
Same. I didn't know what to expect, but at least it's the first step down.
BTW wheren't the founding of the clans novels supposed to be made avaliable to KS backers? the 2nd book is avaliable in the battletech shop now but no codes..
Wasn't it mentioned - in this thread or maybe on the Battletech forum - that CGL was working with IWM to produce the RecGuide 'Mechs in metal ?
They definitely are making metal Rec Guide figures. They have the Dominator, Hierofalcon, Sojourner and War Crow at least out so far- I probably missed a few. I can't wait for the Hermit Crab and Ion Sparrow.
Got my multipart stormcrow in the mail today, pretty happy with it. No real casting issues or weirdness at all, it almost feels more like resin than plastic though. I think it's still technically plastic, but it oddly reminds me of resin more than the typical figures for this game. The mold lines aren't as bad as the models from the armored combat box.
Well, I bought pretty much everything they would sell me. I can't wait to have at least one of each set so I can start to force build and know that I can fill gaps without having to check blogs constantly. Very glad to get the Legendary Mechwarrior set out of the way, and the new map mats look gorgeous. Only grabbed a couple for now, would love to see full shots of each so I could make better choices.
I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised at the way retail stock is flying off the shelves.
KS has a reputation for ruining things for retail; all the people that are interested in a product fill up and blow their wads, retailers (initially) thought "Wow, look how popular the new hotness is! Let's get stock in!". Stock which doesn't sell, because everyone who was interested has already got it.
For retail stock to be disappearing almost as quickly as a GW super-limited-edition-not-artificially-restricted-honest-guv product is bonkers. It's not as if Battletech can't produce shelf warmers; remember the Alpha Strike boxed sets?
I was one of the last to jump in on the kickstarter, not pledging till this may emailed them to ask when I could expect my stuff and they said we'll get an announcement soon. Apparently so many people bought in at the last second theres going to be a "wave 3" of some sort
As someone with no retail interest in the area, I honestly wonder if I'll ever be able to get any more of the CGL mechs, of any wave. I have the AGoAC set, and one of each of the Wave 1 Inner Sphere mechs, but all that was back in early spring. 3D prints and indie models will probably be my go to going forward, though I really prefer the durability of the CGL plastic mechs.
AegisGrimm wrote: As someone with no retail interest in the area, I honestly wonder if I'll ever be able to get any more of the CGL mechs, of any wave. I have the AGoAC set, and one of each of the Wave 1 Inner Sphere mechs, but all that was back in early spring. 3D prints and indie models will probably be my go to going forward, though I really prefer the durability of the CGL plastic mechs.
Plenty of places sell them online, including the CGL webstore
AegisGrimm wrote: As someone with no retail interest in the area, I honestly wonder if I'll ever be able to get any more of the CGL mechs, of any wave. I have the AGoAC set, and one of each of the Wave 1 Inner Sphere mechs, but all that was back in early spring. 3D prints and indie models will probably be my go to going forward, though I really prefer the durability of the CGL plastic mechs.
Plenty of places sell them online, including the CGL webstore
Yup. Just got an email a couple of days ago about having the 2nd wave in stock at their online store, including UrbanMech salvage packs.
While they sold out with most of their offerings last week there is a note on the catalyst website saying there will be a restock on the 15th and a 3rd restock in December so they’re trying to get stuff out as quickly as they can but demand is very high right now.
My local game store pretty much blows through ant product they get on the day it arrives. They put a cap on what people can buy so that other people have a shot at some and to avoid people scooping it up just for resale on ebay.
It might cost a bit but you could try hitting up a place that does sports trophies, the faux gold paint they use is really bright and shiny, you could see if they’d be willing to coat the Urbies, hell you could even have it mounted on a plaque or trophy lol
RedDogMinis wrote: It might cost a bit but you could try hitting up a place that does sports trophies, the faux gold paint they use is really bright and shiny, you could see if they’d be willing to coat the Urbies, hell you could even have it mounted on a plaque or trophy lol
The Golden Urbie needs to be on the tabletop, where it's shine will blind the enemy!
Copied from FB - Update from Aetherworks for Aus/NZ backers:
Aetherworks wrote:Time for the weekly update, everyone!
Covid Compliance:
Aetherworks is operating with compliance to current regulations and advice to ensure the safety of our employees and the community.
Packing:
BattleTech Clan Invasion - Wave 2
We are receiving the additional stock Catalyst is having sent to complete the BattleTech Wave 2 fulfilment next week and all remaining Wave 2 orders will be shipped out by early December.
Future projects to be announced after the completion of BattleTech Clan Invasion - Wave 2
If you need to contact us please use the form at http://backers.aetherworks.com.au/ If you have questions about a future project, please contact the creator.
If a project is completed, it may still be a few days to receive a tracking notification email as this is generated by AusPost.
Miguelsan wrote: I want single, either plastic or metal. I want to buy a bunch of Wasps and Stingers to fill my scout roles.
M.
For sure, there's some basic, fundamental Succession War era mechs that pop up everywhere and I really hope end up easy to get multiples of. I can't wait for the IWM metal Wolverine release in December that will have variant options, but I would buy so many Stingers and Wasps to bulk out groups I'm planning.
Went over my friend's Kickstarter Wave 2 today. He had two Salvage Boxes in there and got... two Vultures. Could'a been worse, that's for sure. He gave me the spare one. 4 more Clan 'Mechs and I'll have 30 stars.
And it turns out he forgot to order the Pursuit Star, so he's missing the Linebacker, Black Lanner and... *sniff*... the Night Gyr. So sad.
ExcessivePunk wrote: Catalyst has a few lance packs in stock at this moment! Just picked up two lances and two stars.
Got the heads up late last night. Managed to snag two Command Lances that slot right into my GDL and Kell Hounds companies. Now I just need Battle Lances. Then I can complete my GDL company per the TO&E of the original sourcebook. I just started reading the Warrior trilogy so the Kell Hounds company will be next.
Prometheum5 wrote: IS Battle Lance was available this morning, finally snagged a few!
I dont know if that means you should buy a lottery ticket or if you already used up all your luck by getting those. They are certainly keeping the 3D print sellers on ebay, etsy and everywhere else in business.
Prometheum5 wrote: IS Battle Lance was available this morning, finally snagged a few!
I dont know if that means you should buy a lottery ticket or if you already used up all your luck by getting those. They are certainly keeping the 3D print sellers on ebay, etsy and everywhere else in business.
Seriously, it's the box I've been most desperate to grab a few to finish off some planned forces. It's just four must-have standard mechs for all sorts of Succession Wars forces. I would never have checked the Catalyst site first thing after waking up but just happened to this morning and I'm not complaining. I've given Catalyst an embarrassing amount of money in the past two weeks now that things are starting to be available, but I had a total blast today noodling out some mech companies now that I know I'll have new mechs.
Next white whale will be the IS Fire Lance- the Trebuchet is going to be the last missing piece for my Kell Hounds company. I just started Warrior: En Garde and want to do the rest of them once I finish my Gray Death with what I needed from the Battle Lance. With all the new stuff finally coming I pieced out a nasty thematic Kurita company that will be Sword of Light. It's got, uh, 14 PPCs in 12 mechs
H.B.M.C. wrote: If only Panthers had been part of the Salvage Boxes. you could have had a half dozen by now.
For sure, if I had more I'd use them. I ended up with three of the Panther box by accident which worked out because it also has the Jenner so I can spread around some Drac salvage which feeds into the Kell Hounds I keep harping on (and later era GDL if I was going to go down that route), but even with three I find myself trying to be a bit precious and not use up all of these fancy new minis at once in case I think of another force later. If I decide to run one of the historical scenarios at some point I think I can live with cardstock standee Panthers to bulk out the ranks... Fortunately I got two lead Panthers in a big lot recently that's going to feed into a vintage mini Genyosha force with Yorinaga leading.
One would think that given the chance the CO of a shock, elite force would opt to pilot a heavier mech yet Yorinaga didn't upgrade to a Grand Dragon until Misery IIRC.
Miguelsan wrote: One would think that given the chance the CO of a shock, elite force would opt to pilot a heavier mech yet Yorinaga didn't upgrade to a Grand Dragon until Misery IIRC.
I think you're mixing up Yorinaga Kurita and Minobu Tetsuhara. Minobu was disposessed for a long time during his stint as the liaison for the Wolf's Dragoons. Yorinaga had his Warhammer a lot earlier, since he killed Ian Davion's Atlas with it.
Miguelsan wrote: One would think that given the chance the CO of a shock, elite force would opt to pilot a heavier mech yet Yorinaga didn't upgrade to a Grand Dragon until Misery IIRC.
I think you're mixing up Yorinaga Kurita and Minobu Tetsuhara. Minobu was disposessed for a long time during his stint as the liaison for the Wolf's Dragoons. Yorinaga had his Warhammer a lot earlier, since he killed Ian Davion's Atlas with it.
Also it's worth noting Minobou was, for much of his time liasoning with the 'goons somewhat "out of favor"
privateer4hire wrote: I’m considering picking up some alternative 3D print mechs available on etsy, ebay, etc.
Anyone have any input on those? I’m mainly curious about their quality like detail and especially durability. Thank you for any information.
most of the 3D print models I've run across are from the Mechwarrior Online game and a bit samey looking. As said above detail is about 85%-90% that of CGL, as the CGL models tend to have more gubbins, panel lines and the like. The ones I did get are as durable as the CGL versions, but they didn't come on bases - had to get those separately.
privateer4hire wrote: I’m considering picking up some alternative 3D print mechs available on etsy, ebay, etc.
Anyone have any input on those? I’m mainly curious about their quality like detail and especially durability. Thank you for any information.
There are many, many different people selling 3D prints of these and the quality and durability has high variability. I would say that in general, even if you get a very good print with very high quality resin there is a strong likelihood that the pieces will be more rigid and brittle than Catalyst minis.
Maybe if you can find someone printing in Siraya Blu or a really well tuned Blu mix that will not be true? Always has been for me though. I have both purchased prints and done prints myself.
All that said, they are reasonably detailed and totally useable. Just on balance, given the choice, I would probably pick the Catalyst plastics. The major exception is where there are no plastics.
privateer4hire wrote: I’m considering picking up some alternative 3D print mechs available on etsy, ebay, etc.
Anyone have any input on those? I’m mainly curious about their quality like detail and especially durability. Thank you for any information.
most of the 3D print models I've run across are from the Mechwarrior Online game and a bit samey looking. As said above detail is about 85%-90% that of CGL, as the CGL models tend to have more gubbins, panel lines and the like. The ones I did get are as durable as the CGL versions, but they didn't come on bases - had to get those separately.
the one not on a base is a FDM print I found online. Came out pretty well and matched up size wise the newer models. THe same person had dozens of models available to print for free. I just have not tried any on my resin printer yet.
bigger issue for me with the 3d printed minis is that the scale on many of them is off or inconsistent with the correctly scaled CGL plastics. Probably not an issue for old timers who are accustomed to the minis not being in a consistent scale, but I prefer the consistency myself.
Prometheum5 wrote: The Wolf's Dragoon boxes from B&N are starting to process and some people even have gotten shipping notices!
I just got my notice this evening, with an expected delivery of tomorrow!
Same, things have progressed further since my previous post!
Also, there were apparently more Black Knight premiums in stock this evening? Didn't see any warning or the listing until after they had sold out again...
chaos0xomega wrote: I just received notice that mine were delivered, so I'll be seeing them in about another 5 hours.
Quick question - would the mechs in the Wolfs Dragoons box be considered Inner Sphere or Clan mechs?
Except for the Timber Wolf, all of the 'mechs would be built with Inner Sphere technology (with the exception of a few variants liike the Annihilator C).
chaos0xomega wrote: I just received notice that mine were delivered, so I'll be seeing them in about another 5 hours.
Quick question - would the mechs in the Wolfs Dragoons box be considered Inner Sphere or Clan mechs?
Except for the Timber Wolf, all of the 'mechs would be built with Inner Sphere technology (with the exception of a few variants liike the Annihilator C).
You could use the Mad Cat as a counts-as Rakshasa!
As as a special post-Thanksgiving treat, we’re pleased to announce that the BattleTech Tactical Companion App is now available for download! With its formation tracker and smart sheets, you've never played BattleTech like this before!
Shows up in the play store for my s10 free version doesn't have a comprehensive list of mechs but that's tonbe expected. Feels a bit clunky to use on my phone but that could be it expects a larger interface.
Nultaar wrote: Shows up in the play store for my s10 free version doesn't have a comprehensive list of mechs but that's tonbe expected. Feels a bit clunky to use on my phone but that could be it expects a larger interface.
they did say it was designed for a tablet not a phone
Catalyst store has had decent enough stock for me to snag an inner sphere company. Still sold out on a lot of stuff but much better than the past couple months
I mean... "great house" and "walking war crime" are synonyms in the Btech universe. Only reason Kentares got singled out back in the day is vecause it was the 80s and they needed to make extra sure you knew the japs were the baddies, but the First and Second Suc Wars happened, so...
Albertorius wrote: I mean... "great house" and "walking war crime" are synonyms in the Btech universe. Only reason Kentares got singled out back in the day is vecause it was the 80s and they needed to make extra sure you knew the japs were the baddies, but the First and Second Suc Wars happened, so...
I mean there's a differance between nuking a planet and sending your forces in to kill the entire population by hand.
and I'm pretty sure they where borrowing from the Rape of Nanking when they did it.
Albertorius wrote: I mean... "great house" and "walking war crime" are synonyms in the Btech universe. Only reason Kentares got singled out back in the day is vecause it was the 80s and they needed to make extra sure you knew the japs were the baddies, but the First and Second Suc Wars happened, so...
I mean there's a differance between nuking a planet and sending your forces in to kill the entire population by hand.
and I'm pretty sure they where borrowing from the Rape of Nanking when they did it.
I'm sure they did, but as I said, "successor state" and "walking war crime" are kind of synonyms, even not taking into account the meager nuking of a planet.
FedSun forces kidnapped all the population of Bell to use as slave labor, for example. Capellan forces gassed Davion troops in Wei and then used the same gas to perpetrate the Black Monday Attacks. All of them genocided the Smoke Jaguars. Multiple liran leaders used Loki on their own population to enact terror regimes... etc, etc ^^
Or in other words, countries, are countries. It's not like it's any different in the real world.
Albertorius wrote: I mean... "great house" and "walking war crime" are synonyms in the Btech universe. Only reason Kentares got singled out back in the day is vecause it was the 80s and they needed to make extra sure you knew the japs were the baddies, but the First and Second Suc Wars happened, so...
I mean there's a differance between nuking a planet and sending your forces in to kill the entire population by hand.
and I'm pretty sure they where borrowing from the Rape of Nanking when they did it.
I'm sure they did, but as I said, "successor state" and "walking war crime" are kind of synonyms, even not taking into account the meager nuking of a planet.
FedSun forces kidnapped all the population of Bell to use as slave labor, for example. Capellan forces gassed Davion troops in Wei and then used the same gas to perpetrate the Black Monday Attacks. All of them genocided the Smoke Jaguars. Multiple liran leaders used Loki on their own population to enact terror regimes... etc, etc ^^
Or in other words, countries, are countries. It's not like it's any different in the real world.
yeah except the bell exhibit is in the past. it sounds like the dracs are going Kentares on new avalon. So yeah the dracs are back to their "absurd mustach twirling bad guy" days
there are no "good" guys outside some individuals, who you can find in each faction
but the nations are all bad, and continue to do bad things
or how a friend ones said, he play Capellans because those are the only ones who don't pretend to be the good guys
Yeah sorry this is bumpkiss. If I take a large amount of black paint and mix in a bit of white, you don't get the same color as if you take a large amount of white paint and mix on a drop of white. Even the DCMS had the good sense to be demoralized by Kentares, even the Smoke Jaguars removed the warrior responsible for Edo Bay. But for the CC committing warcrimes seem to be a weekly occurrence.
And as for leadership
In the active battletech timeline they've been led by.
Maxmillian Liao who kidnapped Hanse Davion and replaced him with a not exactly willing doppleganger. Hmm maybe Hanse had a good reason for his invasion maybe...
Romano who tried to have her sister and her family killed and partially succeeded and may have offed her father in his retirement.
Sun-Tzu who decided that when he was acting as caretaker for the newborn star league and everyone was off saving the Inner sphere from the clans was the perfect time to start a war of conquest
and Lets not forget
Dao-Shen the guy who seems to really believe in his own divinity including getting his younger sister pregnant and its unclear how willing she was. But thats ok because he sent the Daughter warcriming through Federated Suns space with the Big Mac
If your friend wants to play evil thats fine but if hes trying to justify it as theyre all the same that just doesn't jive with game reality.
This is all very strange to me. I played a fair bit of BT back in the day, but never got into any of the background information for the BT universe. We'd just plop mechs down and fight, never worrying about which faction they were for - other than a general clan vs. IS division.
Stormonu wrote: This is all very strange to me. I played a fair bit of BT back in the day, but never got into any of the background information for the BT universe. We'd just plop mechs down and fight, never worrying about which faction they were for - other than a general clan vs. IS division.
It's easy to ignore the lore if you want since unlike 40k there aren't really faction army list. The closest you have is the MUL (Master Unit List) but all it does is tells you what's common for a given faction in a given time period and its neither against the rules nor lore breaking to have exceptions given that battlefield salvage is a thing.
One of the things that I have experienced that really sets battletech apart from 40k is that there are a large number of players I have encountered that DO play like the lore says they should and that the optimization cheese stuff for most events simply wasn't chosen because it went against the lore.
Lot of historical style players in the communities I've been. Lot of players that know a whole lot of the lore.
Are the sculpts for the Blackjack, Archer, Mad Cat and whatever the other non-Annihilator 'Mech in there different to the other KS plastics?
Archer is the Wolf's Dragoons model 2W with the SRMs under the LRM bays. That way you can make Jamie Wolf's ride, with his pilot card included.
Blackjack is the BJ2 model with the Large Lasers in the arms and paired Streak SRM2s in each torso.
Timberwolf is a repose.
Rifleman is a repose.
Really unless you're designing your own mechs there really isn't a lot of cheese available. I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common. I'd say more RPG players just because we're not necessarily refighting in game historical battles (although that can be done) but we're playing in our own little AU but want it to hold together, or maybe I just say that because I did RPGs way before I started wargaming.
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
Stormonu wrote: This is all very strange to me. I played a fair bit of BT back in the day, but never got into any of the background information for the BT universe. We'd just plop mechs down and fight, never worrying about which faction they were for - other than a general clan vs. IS division.
TBH you missed out. the lore is reasonably intreasting, and is arguably better done then 40k.
I say arguably because sometimes there;s too many... conveniant things that happen so the current "chosen faction" can win
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
At BattleTech's scale, they're all notable in some way. This isn't 40k with its nameless mass of models. Every pilot should have a name, look at the official record sheets Pilot Name_________ is somewhere up top. The clan invasion Kickstarter name thing just means they're using a real fan name in place of a fake name they be doing anyways. They've been doing it since the beginning decades ago.
And Storm, Brian is mostly right. Jihad/Dark age was a mess (Thanks Wizkids) and some of the twist to get us tp where we are have been eye rolling the initial groundwork back in 3025 to the clan invasion is pretty good stuff and I'm cautiously optimistic for Tamar Rising (fingers crossed)
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
At BattleTech's scale, they're all notable in some way. This isn't 40k with its nameless mass of models. Every pilot should have a name, look at the official record sheets Pilot Name_________ is somewhere up top. The clan invasion Kickstarter name thing just means they're using a real fan name in place of a fake name they be doing anyways. They've been doing it since the beginning decades ago.
And Storm, Brian is mostly right. Jihad/Dark age was a mess (Thanks Wizkids) and some of the twist to get us tp where we are have been eye rolling the initial groundwork back in 3025 to the clan invasion is pretty good stuff and I'm cautiously optimistic for Tamar Rising (fingers crossed)
At BattleTech's scale you're not going to have an entire force of notable pilots. Realistically you will have one (if that many) notable pilot and the rest will be the rank and file of whatever unit you're playing and giving them names does not make them a 'notable pilot'.
But just like any sport, any of them could be the benchwarmer that people will talk about forever. Notable isn't about rank, its not about skill level, its about doing something memorable and yeah sometimes that can be the whole dang lance. There's at least one lance that has at least three members called out so far.
That's the neat thing about BattleTech, your pilots are as notable or non notable as you decide. If you want to play a lance of periphery militia knock yourself out, if you want to play the command lance of Winson's Werewolves, a highly successful merc batallion, go for it. Either way you're not wrong.
Prometheum5 wrote: Archer is the Wolf's Dragoons model 2W with the SRMs under the LRM bays. That way you can make Jamie Wolf's ride, with his pilot card included. Blackjack is the BJ2 model with the Large Lasers in the arms and paired Streak SRM2s in each torso. Timberwolf is a repose. Rifleman is a repose.
Thank you.
So there are different models in there. I may pick it up. I mean, who doesn't need an 8th Mad Cat?
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
At BattleTech's scale, they're all notable in some way. This isn't 40k with its nameless mass of models. Every pilot should have a name, look at the official record sheets Pilot Name_________ is somewhere up top. The clan invasion Kickstarter name thing just means they're using a real fan name in place of a fake name they be doing anyways. They've been doing it since the beginning decades ago.
And Storm, Brian is mostly right. Jihad/Dark age was a mess (Thanks Wizkids) and some of the twist to get us tp where we are have been eye rolling the initial groundwork back in 3025 to the clan invasion is pretty good stuff and I'm cautiously optimistic for Tamar Rising (fingers crossed)
At BattleTech's scale you're not going to have an entire force of notable pilots. Realistically you will have one (if that many) notable pilot and the rest will be the rank and file of whatever unit you're playing and giving them names does not make them a 'notable pilot'.
I dunno that depends what you mean by notable. I mean to be blunt, you could make a good case that ANY mechwarrior is notable
H.B.M.C. wrote: The old Clan Wolf and Falcon books did name literally everyone in the Touman. That'd be like naming every Marine in a Chapter. It's weird.
Wolf's Dragoons source book is the same way and then also goes into the fate of many of them (mech destroyed, killed or injured on Misery, etc.). It's fun to have a named company of pilots in the smaller source books but the WD one is nuts.
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
At BattleTech's scale, they're all notable in some way. This isn't 40k with its nameless mass of models. Every pilot should have a name, look at the official record sheets Pilot Name_________ is somewhere up top. The clan invasion Kickstarter name thing just means they're using a real fan name in place of a fake name they be doing anyways. They've been doing it since the beginning decades ago.
And Storm, Brian is mostly right. Jihad/Dark age was a mess (Thanks Wizkids) and some of the twist to get us tp where we are have been eye rolling the initial groundwork back in 3025 to the clan invasion is pretty good stuff and I'm cautiously optimistic for Tamar Rising (fingers crossed)
At BattleTech's scale you're not going to have an entire force of notable pilots. Realistically you will have one (if that many) notable pilot and the rest will be the rank and file of whatever unit you're playing and giving them names does not make them a 'notable pilot'.
I dunno that depends what you mean by notable. I mean to be blunt, you could make a good case that ANY mechwarrior is notable
'Notable' doesn't mean 'named' or else every single Mechwarrior in both Clan Wolf and Jade Falcon would be considered 'notable' due to their respective sourcebooks (rightly called the 'telephone books' by some). To be 'notable' you have to be noteworthy and just having a name like every other schmuck doesn't cut it.
I splurged on the Wolf's Dragoons box on an impulse, and now my fluff OCD nature is trying to figure out a way to use the Annihilator. Ostensibly I own two opposing forces of Inner Sphere mechs, which are both themed around mechs that are strictly pre-Clan Invasion save for a random 3D printed Thanatos that I got for free with an Etsy purchase.
I'm not sure if I want to paint a couple of the Dragoon box mechs as actual Dragoons, filling their number out with other mechs from the new packs, or if I just paint the Annihilator as an assault mech for one of my two existing forces (most likely my Lyrans) and keep it out of specifically themed games where "Battletech reality" might play a big part, unless I am fighting Clans post-Invasion.
Unless as a newbie I am just overthinking things. Because if "No Clan tech" is ever an issue in a one-off game, an Annihilator is just a simple Inner Sphere mech in most of it's variants.
AegisGrimm wrote: I splurged on the Wolf's Dragoons box on an impulse, and now my fluff OCD nature is trying to figure out a way to use the Annihilator. Ostensibly I own two opposing forces of Inner Sphere mechs, which are both themed around mechs that are strictly pre-Clan Invasion save for a random 3D printed Thanatos that I got for free with an Etsy purchase.
I'm not sure if I want to paint a couple of the Dragoon box mechs as actual Dragoons, filling their number out with other mechs from the new packs, or if I just paint the Annihilator as an assault mech for one of my two existing forces (most likely my Lyrans) and keep it out of specifically themed games where "Battletech reality" might play a big part, unless I am fighting Clans post-Invasion.
Unless as a newbie I am just overthinking things. Because if "No Clan tech" is ever an issue in a one-off game, an Annihilator is just a simple Inner Sphere mech in most of it's variants.
Yeah, the Annihilator is absolutely a pre-Clan Invasion IS mech. It was brought to the IS by Wolf's Dragoons but it was brought as a purely IS tech machine and you can gin up any reason for WD to have traded one to another IS force, or have it been captured as battlefield salvage. There's Clan-tech variants later, but it's plenty fair game before then.
H.B.M.C. wrote: There's bound to be the odd rare Annihilator floating around the IS between the end of the Amaris Civil War and the Dragoons showing up.
Oh, they might have existed in the IS during the Succession wars? My quick reading of the mech description on Sarna made me feel like it was designed, but then somehow the designs just ended up going with the Star League in Exile/Clans.
Either way my original intent (and still has a large chance to be) was to paint it up as a part of my Lyran force, as their military seems to have both the capital AND the urge to use big mechs, even one as slow as a glacier. It's be in good company in my force between an Awesome and an Atlas.
It was an end of Amaris Civil War design, so yes, they went with the Exodus Fleet. Of course, it's BattleTech, so it's not hard to justify that a couple may have been left off a shipping order, or there was a half-completed one from an aborted production run that languished in some warehouse for the first two Succession Wars until someone came across it and finished building it by hand.
Jerram wrote: I've been reading the recent rec guides and a large number of them have famous pilots listed under them from factions where the mechs they're know for aren't common.
Yeah, there's burning through the Clan Invasion Kickstarter Characters with the Rec Guides (they've got an estimated 2,780 charatcers to fit in somewhere). A 'notable pilot' is by definition not one that's representative of the faction as a whole in the first place.
At BattleTech's scale, they're all notable in some way. This isn't 40k with its nameless mass of models. Every pilot should have a name, look at the official record sheets Pilot Name_________ is somewhere up top. The clan invasion Kickstarter name thing just means they're using a real fan name in place of a fake name they be doing anyways. They've been doing it since the beginning decades ago.
And Storm, Brian is mostly right. Jihad/Dark age was a mess (Thanks Wizkids) and some of the twist to get us tp where we are have been eye rolling the initial groundwork back in 3025 to the clan invasion is pretty good stuff and I'm cautiously optimistic for Tamar Rising (fingers crossed)
At BattleTech's scale you're not going to have an entire force of notable pilots. Realistically you will have one (if that many) notable pilot and the rest will be the rank and file of whatever unit you're playing and giving them names does not make them a 'notable pilot'.
I dunno that depends what you mean by notable. I mean to be blunt, you could make a good case that ANY mechwarrior is notable
'Notable' doesn't mean 'named' or else every single Mechwarrior in both Clan Wolf and Jade Falcon would be considered 'notable' due to their respective sourcebooks (rightly called the 'telephone books' by some). To be 'notable' you have to be noteworthy and just having a name like every other schmuck doesn't cut it.
not quite what I mean, Mech warriors are rare and are the "astrocacy" of the battlefield. every mechwarrior is arguably a notable figure for the same reason in 40k every space marine is a notable figure
The definition of 'notable' is being unusual or interesting enough to be mentioned or noticed. The very definition in and of itself means that not every MechWarrior willl be notable as they need to be unusual or interesting enough to stand out from all of the other MechWarriors. When everyone is 'notable', then no one is.
Ghaz wrote: The definition of 'notable' is being unusual or interesting enough to be mentioned or noticed. The very definition in and of itself means that not every MechWarrior willl be notable as they need to be unusual or interesting enough to stand out from all of the other MechWarriors. When everyone is 'notable', then no one is.
I would second the idea that anyone who gets to pilot a mech is notable among the armed forces of Battletech. Infantry and tankers get to play the rank and file someone noted above, but when you're usually talking about mech forces of 12-15 dudes there's absolutely room for them all to get a little backstory or at least a name. Heck, even toothless local militia on backwater Periphery planets stand out and are worth fleshing out if that's where you're fighting. I would buy 'when everyone is notable then no one is' if we're naming all 1000 members of a Marine chapter, but to me a dozen pilots in a force still have room to stand out for one reason or another.
Jerram wrote: But just like any sport, any of them could be the benchwarmer that people will talk about forever. Notable isn't about rank, its not about skill level, its about doing something memorable and yeah sometimes that can be the whole dang lance. There's at least one lance that has at least three members called out so far.
That's the neat thing about BattleTech, your pilots are as notable or non notable as you decide. If you want to play a lance of periphery militia knock yourself out, if you want to play the command lance of Winson's Werewolves, a highly successful merc batallion, go for it. Either way you're not wrong.
Remember those classic notable Characters from 40k - they started as random generated dudes for White Dwarf Batreps..
- The Star Python (a goliath scorpion Nexus with clan tech)
- The Fuijin - it's a raijinn but the DCMS loves to randomly rename mechs when they receive them from comstar - Rifleman IIC
- Star Crusader (a clan omnimech based off the chassis of the Grand Crusader)
- Nova Cat (it's got a new TC/Pulse boat IJJ varient... among others)
- Lancelot
-Guilliotine
- Katana/Crockett (see my earlier comment about the DCMS randomly renaming gak from comstar
Rec Guide 24 Includes:
- Skinwalker (Ryoken III) this includes some intreasting new fluff
- Alpha Wolf: A 90 ton clan omnimech... with stealth armor
- Atlas (includes a Atlas (C) as well as a new atlas II, and a "AS8 Model that is supposed to represent a "best of all worlds" atlas because defiance has realized having an Atlas, Atlas II and an Atlas III is getting a touch silly)
- Elemental III (SRM 2 one shot pack, 10 points stealth armor, and a AP GR, Flamer or Micro PL)
- Grand Dragon
- Flashman
- Stalker
- Annialator (Gausszilla lives!)
