BattleTech Miniature Packs – Clan and Inner Sphere Beginner Box minis $10
Clan Invasion Box minis $30
A Game of Armored Combat $40
Grab some reinforcements for your Clan or Inner Sphere forces with these miniature packs, offering the miniatures from the Clan Invasion box, Beginner Box, and the A Game of Armored Combat box respectively. Previously offered only through the Kickstarter campaigns and at conventions, these will go fast!
It's also stuff exclusive to conventions so could be overstock from them; but more and more creators now also release convention exclusive models online or after a period of time. Simply because its not the 90s any more and people see those convention exclusive models the world over, but if your team only goes to them in 1 country then that locks out a huge chunk of your market from even having a chance at getting them (to say nothing of all those who are just locked out by not being able to attend conventions)
Overread wrote: It's also stuff exclusive to conventions so could be overstock from them; but more and more creators now also release convention exclusive models online or after a period of time. Simply because its not the 90s any more and people see those convention exclusive models the world over, but if your team only goes to them in 1 country then that locks out a huge chunk of your market from even having a chance at getting them (to say nothing of all those who are just locked out by not being able to attend conventions)
None of that product is exclusive to conventions. 'A Game of Armored Combat', 'Clan Invasion' and the 'Mechs from the 'Beginner Box' are all available at retail. The only benefit is getting the miniatures at a cheaper price without all the extraneous product that comes in the boxes.
In other news, for some reason I was not expecting the map-scale DropShips to come boxed like this:
H.B.M.C. wrote: I tried getting a few T-shirts, but the shipping was $250.
I've messaged them about fixing that.
But you live on the other side of the PLANET!
I just wanted the AS Rulebook while it was in stock at the Catalyst Store. A £34 book with £118 postage to the UK.
I also tried a forcepack I couldn't find in the UK. Forcepack £20 and another £97 postage to the UK.
I messaged them, weeks ago. Never heard anything back, other than the automated reply.
In the end, I got the Forcepack from eBay in the USA and they managed less than £10 for postage.
Still waiting to find a rulebook to actually play the full game though. meh.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Does anyone know what to do about the shipping issue?
Did they respond to your message?
More than one person has claimed to me that if you message them to say, "I tried to place an overseas order on the webstore but the automated shipping quote was insane" they will give you a more sane quote. I don't know if it's true or not (or was at one point and isn't any longer).
I'm pretty curious how their store is set up/why it does this. Even the USA --> Canada quotes are buck wild, varying between 60-100 USD. Aren't most webstores these days, like, integrated with mail services by whatever company runs the webstore app? Why is the Catalyst store spitting out these nonsense numbers that bear no relationship to what postal services or freight companies charge? It can't just be that they have high handling fees built in, because then we would hear the domestic customers complaining too. It sucks, but it's also sort of funny/charming to me because it feels like ordering something in 2006.
they might have a relationship with a postal service that is reasonable for domestic shipping but awful for international (but since most of their customers are domestic that's mostly ok),
and they can ship internationally cheaper but have to do so manually and not via their shipper who comes and collects stuff regualrly
H.B.M.C. wrote: I wonder how much those'll be for general release...
I got a message from the factory's media manager that saw fit to answer my comment on YT that said Catalyst had ordered more than enough to hit retail (though this is probably just in the US) and that Catalyst is ordering restocks from them all the time, so there is a chance of further runs if demand is high.
I should have paid better attention during the campaign, because I was under the impression that the dropships were announced as resin one-offs from a different shop than the plastic modelmaker.
Ghaz wrote: Need some of the Mechs from the boxed sets?
BattleTech Miniature Packs – Clan and Inner Sphere Beginner Box minis $10
Clan Invasion Box minis $30
A Game of Armored Combat $40
Grab some reinforcements for your Clan or Inner Sphere forces with these miniature packs, offering the miniatures from the Clan Invasion box, Beginner Box, and the A Game of Armored Combat box respectively. Previously offered only through the Kickstarter campaigns and at conventions, these will go fast!
The thing about the reinforcement extras is that they really cost the same as the full boxes do when they're on sale, except maybe for the Beginner's Box. And then more for shipping on top of that.
I was excited about the sale of the minis from the boxes, until I realized that with shipping it's not much better than the prices off of Amazon. And then you at least get all the other gaming material that comes in the boxes.
Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
Scale has shifted a bit between metals and plastics of various editions. The current plastics are on average a bit taller and a bit wider in part due to redesigns that make the mech a bit wider.
But on average it's all close enough that it doesn't matter which version you use in classic battletech. Not sure if it matters for alpha strike.
Example this is 3 different editions of the plastic centurion left to right , 90s box set, alpha strike forcepack, clan invasion Kickstarter.
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
The IWM miniatures didn't have a consistent scale for the longest time (the newer sculpts have been for the most part). CGL has been using volumetrics, so a 55-ton Wolverine and Griffin will have more or less the same volume. They're doing the same for Combat Vehicles, but note that a Combat Vehicle is more compact than an a BattleMech and therefore will be smaller as a result.
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
*Technically*..... IWM is *supposed* to be 1/285th which is roughly 6mm and CGL is *supposed* to be 1/265th which is some scale they pulled out of their ass that no one uses for anything else.
TalonZahn wrote:
*Technically*..... IWM is *supposed* to be 1/285th which is roughly 6mm and CGL is *supposed* to be 1/265th which is some scale they pulled out of their ass that no one uses for anything else.
Ghaz wrote:The IWM miniatures didn't have a consistent scale for the longest time (the newer sculpts have been for the most part). CGL has been using volumetrics, so a 55-ton Wolverine and Griffin will have more or less the same volume. They're doing the same for Combat Vehicles, but note that a Combat Vehicle is more compact than an a BattleMech and therefore will be smaller as a result.
Werkrobotwerk wrote:Scale has shifted a bit between metals and plastics of various editions. The current plastics are on average a bit taller and a bit wider in part due to redesigns that make the mech a bit wider.
But on average it's all close enough that it doesn't matter which version you use in classic battletech. Not sure if it matters for alpha strike.
Example this is 3 different editions of the plastic centurion left to right , 90s box set, alpha strike forcepack, clan invasion Kickstarter.
Thanks for the answers and clarifications. It's probably a combination of all of the above giving that impression to me as someone who peripherally follows Battletech. I've never gotten into it but I keep trying once every 6-8 years, lol. I'm due in the next one or two for another demo so I'll probably see them in person then.
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
*Technically*..... IWM is *supposed* to be 1/285th which is roughly 6mm and CGL is *supposed* to be 1/265th which is some scale they pulled out of their ass that no one uses for anything else.
CGL can't go larger as some of the larger 'Mechs are already close to spilling over their bases (and some like the quad Scorpion do spill over by quite a bit). They can't go smaller if they want to produce plastic Battle Armor as it took Liya (the plastics manufacturer) three separate sets of moulds to get Battle Armor that didn't look like plastic blobs.
Recognition Guide Vol. 33 has been released. Catalyst needed a few more entries for vol. 2 of the Recognition Guide compilation so we've got this nice little Christmas present consisting of the following units:
Quick pledge manager question, in case anyone has looked recently - are shipping addresses locked yet? Will need to adjust mine before they ship, due to moving house, but I've not looked at the pledge manager recently to see if that section can be updated or not.
Oh I dunno, the 3X Arrow loadout isn't necessarily good but it is hilarious. It's very much a heavy backline fire support 'Mech that should just have 'please don't look at me' written across the chest.
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
*Technically*..... IWM is *supposed* to be 1/285th which is roughly 6mm and CGL is *supposed* to be 1/265th which is some scale they pulled out of their ass that no one uses for anything else.
Well 1:265 is close to gw's titans in adeptus titanicus. 1:269.
The difference between 1:285 and 1:265 is that 1:285 is "6mm" (actually 5.7mm) measured to top of head. 1:265 was done to make it proper 6mm to eye level which has become the convention and standard for the industry.
Prometheum5 wrote: Oh I dunno, the 3X Arrow loadout isn't necessarily good but it is hilarious. It's very much a heavy backline fire support 'Mech that should just have 'please don't look at me' written across the chest.
They're not Arrows. It's 3 Thunderbolt 20s. It's... just weird.
chaos0xomega wrote: The difference between 1:285 and 1:265 is that 1:285 is "6mm" (actually 5.7mm) measured to top of head. 1:265 was done to make it proper 6mm to eye level which has become the convention and standard for the industry.
1/285 is actually 6.2mm and anything measured "to the eye level" doesn't make it proper scale, it makes it proper to how GW measures scales.
Which of course all these scales far pre-date GW or their "to the eye" change of how measuring is done for gaming.
Scales were in place and agreed upon until GW had some issue on how to measure things; idiocy, to make it theirs, to force everyone else's hand in gaming, etc.
Prometheum5 wrote: Oh I dunno, the 3X Arrow loadout isn't necessarily good but it is hilarious. It's very much a heavy backline fire support 'Mech that should just have 'please don't look at me' written across the chest.
They're not Arrows. It's 3 Thunderbolt 20s. It's... just weird.
Oh right, I always forget Thunderbolts are a thing. Much dumber than what I was mis-remembering.
H.B.M.C. wrote: Yeah the Thunder Hawk in the new Rec Guide is pretty rubbish. I'm warming to the 'Slowki' though.
The ATM slowki is pretty absurd. That's a terrifying number of missiles. The T looks rock solid... but it's very odd that they have so many ammo bins in the arms.
And the new Gyrfalcon art is gorgeous! I hope we get it in plastic soon.
warboss wrote: Silly noob question but... are those plastic mechs bigger in scale than previous metals? Has there been a general scale shift with their newer line of plastic boxed kits? Or are they just higher tonnage mechs and therefore in universe bigger?
No, they're definitely a somewhat larger scale. I have an old metal Timber Wolf along with a Catalyst one. The new one can comfortably look right over the old metal one.
Scale has always been all over the place. I have three completely different plastic Mad Cats, and there's no similarities between them other than aesthetics.
I'm just glad that these new plastics are all designed to be within scale to one another.
Dysartes wrote: Quick pledge manager question, in case anyone has looked recently - are shipping addresses locked yet?
Ask and ye shall receive:
Latest KS Update wrote:Hey there backers!
With the large amount of address changes coming in, we would just like to announce once more to message us here on Kickstarter if your shipping address will be different in 2024 so we can get that updated for you! To send us a message go to the main page of the project, and click on our name - Catalyst Games. Click “Contact Me” on the pop-up to send us a message!
They said "correct" to the proposition of "marchish" and that is a sliver more specific than "early 2024".
Just seems like a bizarrely paternalistic instinct (on behalf of someone who is serving as a self-appointed news dispenser) to want to strip that out of the comment.
Altruizine wrote: They said "correct" to the proposition of "marchish" and that is a sliver more specific than "early 2024".
Or they were simply confirming that was what people were being told at PAX, the situation has since changed, and are now clarifying/CYA-ing it's actually "early 2024".
I entered the rabbit hole 32 years ago. I was studying in the US, one day went to a bookshop, and picked up a box with a cool looking robot on the front for 20$. The rest is a story still in the making...
Yeah, that tracks. Started playing BattleDroids (which became BattleTech after a C&D letter came in from Lucasfilm about their use of the word 'droids') freshman year of high school, 39 years ago.
Vulcan wrote: Yeah, that tracks. Started playing BattleDroids (which became BattleTech after a C&D letter came in from Lucasfilm about their use of the word 'droids') freshman year of high school, 39 years ago.
Now where's my cane?
I'll trade you a cane for your copy of Battledroids.
Vulcan wrote: Yeah, that tracks. Started playing BattleDroids (which became BattleTech after a C&D letter came in from Lucasfilm about their use of the word 'droids') freshman year of high school, 39 years ago.
Now where's my cane?
I'll trade you a cane for your copy of Battledroids.
Oh, no you don't you whippersnapper! I can get a new cane; can't find a new copy of BattleDroids!
It's... hardly mint condition either, to be honest. "In pieces" is probably way more accurate.
Didn't know it was Battledroids before being Battletech - have pretty much only heard of it being referred to the latter, aside from where game branding like Mechwarrior comes into play.
Having had a quick look at the Wikipedia article on it, nice to see how familiar the artwork is.
I've been adjacent to the Battletech universe since around the time of Mechwarrior 3 and the Sega Genesis game.
Every once in a while I would end up with metal or resin (like, the old Ral Partha blue resins) mech from the hobby store, but I was mostly into 40K/Necromunda in the early 90's, and they were just cool curiosities that I knew were some sort of mech from the same universe as the computer games.
Been playing the miniatures game proper since the Kickstarter and the age of 3D printing gave me mechs that weren't the (to me) godawful Ironwind metal models of my late 90's, early 2000's youth.
My first set was actually Aerotech, because my FLGS sold the last Battletech set about 15 minutes before I got there (though they had a copy of CityTech). I was a bit bummed as I was a huge Robotech (Macross & Defenders models) fan.
Played my first game (Aerotech) in my high school American Government class - it was a draw, my couldn't maneuver as he was thrusting in deep space and I was caught in a decaying orbit. But I was hooked.
Got the Battletech box set by the next month, and our game group played the hell out of it - I think our biggest battle had some 30 mechs on the field at once.
Liya International just posted 9 more videos on YouTube. Here's the most interesting videos with the Visigoth and Blood Asp. It's been mentioned that they also posted a video packing Savannah Master Salvage Boxes that got pulled...
On the one hand the cheery music is delightful. On the other I wonder if they have ever inadvertantly posted a video with some major incident like someone losing a hand to the mechanism!
AegisGrimm wrote: I've been adjacent to the Battletech universe since around the time of Mechwarrior 3 and the Sega Genesis game.
Every once in a while I would end up with metal or resin (like, the old Ral Partha blue resins) mech from the hobby store, but I was mostly into 40K/Necromunda in the early 90's, and they were just cool curiosities that I knew were some sort of mech from the same universe as the computer games.
Been playing the miniatures game proper since the Kickstarter and the age of 3D printing gave me mechs that weren't the (to me) godawful Ironwind metal models of my late 90's, early 2000's youth.
Mechwarrior 2 was definitely a big, defining game for me as a kid. Figuring out how to get it to work was a huge incentive to really learn how computers work and eventually how networking works with the release of NetMech (though internet use at the time was too expensive per minute to really play). I picked up the tabletop game but never really figured out how to play it. Old computers were easier
Is anything known about what the faction packs will be like? The most iconic/common mech of each size class? Some particular kind of lance, like heavy or medium? Are they aiming for just a BV?
Rosebuddy wrote: Is anything known about what the faction packs will be like? The most iconic/common mech of each size class? Some particular kind of lance, like heavy or medium? Are they aiming for just a BV?
SLDF forcepacks -One per quarter
-separate from the Kickstarter
-will be on the CGL store for sure, unsure about distribution
-image of painted Thunder Hawk shown
-Star League Command Lance out Q1. Contains Atlas II, Thunder Hawk, Phoenix Hawk Special, Orion.
-Other packs themed along other lines
-Second Star League pack will have Civil War designs
-One mini per forcepack will be pre-painted
-The Pre-paint will be a notable unit in each case
-Victor Davion's Daishi will be a pre-paint.
-They showed the Thunder Hawk photo again at this point, but this seems to be an error
-The minis will be easily repaintable, either by prime over or repaint.
-the pre-paints will all be minis that have variants available elsewhere
Randall added the following on Sunday:
-he showed the prototypes of the Command Lance, including a painted Orion. Orion is a hand-painted sample by a friend of Randall's named Jared. Randall said it's 90% of what you'll get from the factory.
-Randall reiterated the prepaints will be easy to paint over or strip.
-they will put out the pantone colours for the prepaint minis online if you want to match the colours on the rest of the lance packs.
-confirmed the prepaints will all be variants or reposes of existing mechs
-Second Star League Assault Lance: Daishi Prometheus (pre-paint), Emperor, Argus, Helios, Coolant Truck
-Third Star league Striker Forcepack: Lament, Jackalope, Kintaro, Hammerhead 2( or II), Havoc. J-27 Ammo Transport
-Third Star League Battle Star Forcepack: Savage Wolf Prime (Randall said basically Alaric's Mech so presumably this will be the pre-paint, which means a plastic Savage Wolf elsewhere as well?), Wendigo, Excalibur, Peacekeeper, Malice, Saviour Repair Vehicle
-They were signed off a few weeks ago, sketches and renders will be shared soon.
Faction forcepacks -not part of the Kickstarter
-"we have many coming"
-Not just the Star league
-Will publish in 2024
-specifics will be forthcoming, Ray didn't let Randall give more detail.
-are being worked on in between the SLDF packs.
Pre-painted? Why bother unless you are going to do whole force packs for people that hate painting?
It's neither fish nor foul. Most will just wonder how to strip the bloody thing as they already have forces painted they want these mechs to fit into.
Been involved with the community for decades and never once have I heard of a demand for pre-painted miniatures. I find this course of action bizarre to be frank from CGL.
I can see the attraction. Whilst the Wargame market is very much keen for blank models to paint; the boardgame and DnD markets are much more middle of the road and many want prepainted models specifically.
What baffles me is including 1 prepainted alongside unpainted in a single set.
That doesn't appeal to either market.
The market that wants prepainted now has 1 model and the rest blank; whilst the market that doesn't want prepainted now has one model in a pack that's extra work to paint strip. Even if its the same colours as what they use now, it might be to a different style/standard.
It just seems like a really odd way to do it. If they were doing whole separate packs of prepainted that would make more sense.
Overread wrote: I can see the attraction. Whilst the Wargame market is very much keen for blank models to paint; the boardgame and DnD markets are much more middle of the road and many want prepainted models specifically.
What baffles me is including 1 prepainted alongside unpainted in a single set.
That doesn't appeal to either market.
The market that wants prepainted now has 1 model and the rest blank; whilst the market that doesn't want prepainted now has one model in a pack that's extra work to paint strip. Even if its the same colours as what they use now, it might be to a different style/standard.
It just seems like a really odd way to do it. If they were doing whole separate packs of prepainted that would make more sense.
Neither fish nor foul.
If you are going to do it you need to do it by force pack.
Not sure if pre-paints would intice boardgamers to BT. Big step from Settlers of Catan to a very crunchy wargame. I'm dubious for any major drive into the boardgames market using pre-painted miniatures as the lures. Most boardgames come unpainted - paint isn't the reason boardgamers aren't playing wargames. Especially a game like BT where a lance can be painted as quick as the four adventurers in a Heroquest box.
niall78 wrote: Pre-painted? Why bother unless you are going to do whole force packs for people that hate painting?
You can find a list of factions HERE on Sarna.net. Each faction could have dozens of different units with each having it's own unique paint scheme. Having them all painted would make as much sense as GW putting out prepainted Space Marines for the Direglaives chapter. As is we'll only have to strip the paint off of one mini instead of four or five.
The prepainted BattleMechs are Legendary MechWarriors. The three prepaints we know of are for Aleksandr Kerensky, Victor Steiner-Davion, and Alaric Ward. Also note that the pre-paints will all be minis that have variants available elsewhere so you won't have to strip the miniature and just get the unpainted one instead.
niall78 wrote: Pre-painted? Why bother unless you are going to do whole force packs for people that hate painting?
You can find a list of factions HERE on Sarna.net. Each faction could have dozens of different units with each having it's own unique paint scheme. Having them all painted would make as much sense as GW putting out prepainted Space Marines for the Direglaives chapter. As is we'll only have to strip the paint off of one mini instead of four or five.
The prepainted BattleMechs are Legendary MechWarriors. The three prepaints we know of are for Aleksandr Kerensky, Victor Steiner-Davion, and Alaric Ward. Also note that the pre-paints will all be minis that have variants available elsewhere so you won't have to strip the miniature and just get the unpainted one instead.
Who are these three prepainted miniatures for?
Maybe I'm just not getting it. I just don't see the point. Are these for display? Maybe if they came in a force pack as a named character and their command lance - all prepainted. As it stands it's just random.
CGL just got an injection of $7.5m they are probably just experimenting with something to see if it sticks. Probably too much of a risk to do whole packs, so they are compromising on just one, and coming up with a vague reason that can be consistent across a few packs.
If the quality is sufficiently high when deployed at scale and they can see some kind of demand I image they might stretch to whole prepai red Lance packs.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Market-research-by-fire
Starting at the 3:13:30 mark and summarized in my post above is all of the news we got on the prepainted models.
Flinty wrote: CGL just got an injection of $7.5m they are probably just experimenting with something to see if it sticks. Probably too much of a risk to do whole packs, so they are compromising on just one, and coming up with a vague reason that can be consistent across a few packs.
If the quality is sufficiently high when deployed at scale and they can see some kind of demand I image they might stretch to whole prepai red Lance packs.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Market-research-by-fire
This is best (and only) answer we have at this time.
Flinty wrote: CGL just got an injection of $7.5m they are probably just experimenting with something to see if it sticks. Probably too much of a risk to do whole packs, so they are compromising on just one, and coming up with a vague reason that can be consistent across a few packs.
If the quality is sufficiently high when deployed at scale and they can see some kind of demand I image they might stretch to whole prepai red Lance packs.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Market-research-by-fire
That makes a lot of sense.
If they were testing the waters wouldn't you merge the three prepaints add another and release a force pack fully painted. You're only risking one force pack release if it falls on its behind and you get the gauge the market for that type of product properly.
Probably. But a whole prepainted force pack might be perceived to be cost prohibitive for a test. I'm just spitballing though. Made sense in my head, but I am neither a games designer or ,marketing specialist
Thing is if they are doing multiple prepainted models in different sets then they could afford to do them all in one set.
It just seems like a really unfocused idea right now. Who knows perhaps the factory wants the extra income pre-painting would generate and thus they are pushing for it to be included. So in the end they gave in and let there be one per pack for a few packs as an experiment.
If it works and people want more the factory gets what they want and the extra work; and if it fails they can turn around to the factory and show evidence that customers don't want it and that it doesn't improve sales.
Who knows perhaps somewhere is someone pushing for prepainting hoping for that "starwars" type market which extends outside of your general wargamer spaceship market
My guess is that Liya International made Catalyst some sort of offer, along the lines of "You know we have a paint department, right? Is that something you'd be interested in? If so, we can produce some for you for <free/discount> and you can see how your customers respond."
That could help explain the otherwise-bizarre decision to put a single painted mech in each lance pack. If the factory is doing it on spec it would be less disruptive to paint one mech during the production run of each lance pack than the whole pack.
People should keep in mind that Catalyst is a company of sci-fi authors who have shown no natural instincts for the tabletop market at any turn. I think you can basically assume they're going to take routes that don't quite seem right, but so far they still arrive at the right destinations.
frankelee wrote: People should keep in mind that Catalyst is a company of sci-fi authors who have shown no natural instincts for the tabletop market at any turn. I think you can basically assume they're going to take routes that don't quite seem right, but so far they still arrive at the right destinations.
Don't buy that for a second. CGL have driven the setting from near death - they helped revive the body - to rude health.
Were the two major kickstarters a 'show of no natural instincts'? Two of the most successful wargame kickstarters in history? A franchise in very good shape with a rapidly increasing fan base?
Where are you getting this from? You possibly have a few examples of their failures to show us?
I think we will need to see how much more expensive the box with one prepaint is compared to none. All of the points above make as much sense to me as my own rambling
chaos0xomega wrote: maybe savannah masters are this campaigns shilone? I.e. free surprise gift?
I think free gift might be pushing it, but I can see them opening the pledge manger again to add them on. Very happy if it was free, don't get me wrong, as we gave them an awful lot of money
So, prepainted Orion, Dashi/Prometheus, Lament, Savage Wolf/Madcat iv. I think they meant Daishi.
I'm sure they did, as Dashi is a Japanese soup stock. If you've had miso soup, you've tasted dashi as it is the most common base stock for that soup.
Interested in the first and second Star League lances. The bonus support vehicles are of little interest to me, but they can always be used as objectives or just battlefield clutter.
chaos0xomega wrote: maybe savannah masters are this campaigns shilone? I.e. free surprise gift?
I think free gift might be pushing it, but I can see them opening the pledge manger again to add them on. Very happy if it was free, don't get me wrong, as we gave them an awful lot of money
That’s a fair point as they won’t know if they have produced enough, and there will be some people wanting to order whole battalions of the things. Never mind, ignore me
The problem is that I don't believe they can reopen the pledge manager and make only one item available. So even if they could reopen it (and they had enough trouble doing so last year) doing so this close to fulfillment would throw any timetables out of the window. IMHO, the salvage box is either a gift for the backers or an upcoming retail release.
But we do still need to pay postage and tax, and confirm addresses. So they will need to do something, and they could perhaps slip it in there. However you have reminded me of the uproar and nonsense that happened last time they opened it
Miguelsan wrote: Nice, my first mech once I discovered that the Locust had no hands! (Crescent Hawks reference)
I want at least one.
Assuming you picked up the Mercenaries box, then you'll have one.
Miguelsan wrote: Edit: Reopening the pledge manager would be utter chaos, I for one would add one of each of the dropships I missed last time.
The DropShips will be available at retail after the Kickstarter from Catalyst, but of course you know what shipping outside of the US is like for them...
Interesting that he is visiting 4 EU cons other than Essen. Hopefully it means they have improved their logistics, and that sourcing Btech products outside of the US will be less of a pain.
M.
Edit: It's been pointed to me that it's called "Operation Reunification" last time somebody used the word Reunification related to Btech nukes were launched.
Watching that made me realize I wish they sold, like, a bag of blank hex bases directly. I rate the bases the official models come with higher than any of the metal/resin/mdf/3D printed hexes I've seen or tried.
Altruizine wrote: Watching that made me realize I wish they sold, like, a bag of blank hex bases directly. I rate the bases the official models come with higher than any of the metal/resin/mdf/3D printed hexes I've seen or tried.
Yes, they are actually quite nice bases. I've tried a few other alternatives for my Infantry/Battle Armor/IWM vehicles and the official Catalyst ones are much more to my preference.
... we are discussing doing smaller, focused ones, non-miniature Kickstarters. We have other games for the BattleTech IP in development that may go the way of Kickstarter.
You have been wondering what has been going on with CGL behind the scenes. Well, we are tired of keeping EVERYTHING a secret, so we are starting a new program!
Introducing Tuesday Newsday with our host, Rem Alternis!
Our first program will be available to watch next week on our YouTube channel, on February 13th! We hope to see you there! (Makeup not included!)
I thought that prepainted minis like the various clix games and the first Monsterpocalypse were abandoned due to the costs associated with prepainting. I wonder what the idea is here?
As previously mentioned, we're only getting four prepaints (the Orion, Daishi Prometheus, Lament and Savage Wolf). Catalyst has also gone on record that there will be an unpainted version of these 'Mechs available and the prepaints will be easy to strip if desired. All in all, nothing to really get worked up over.
I think it looks pretty good! If I buy multiples of the pack I guess I can strip it in a little LA's Totally Awesome, but I probably won't buy multiples of any of these. And the regular Orion is still available in the Atlas pack, and who couldn't use more of those? Why I only have 7.
Ghaz wrote: As previously mentioned, we're only getting four prepaints (the Orion, Daishi Prometheus, Lament and Savage Wolf). Catalyst has also gone on record that there will be an unpainted version of these 'Mechs available and the prepaints will be easy to strip if desired. All in all, nothing to really get worked up over.
Other than the stupidity of having a prepainted model in a box of unpainted ones, and making you pay for the prepaint if you want the box, that is.
If they want to release prepainted minis, they should be all prepainted. This way is stupid, and costlier for the customer.
RazorEdge wrote: I wish they would offer Moulded Plastic Kits on Sprues for Mechs..
I'd want that for vehicles, protomechs and maybe some various infantries.
Unassembled models would increase the number of SKUs that they would need to inventory and keep track of that they're just not capable of doing. They just don't have the necessary manpower.
Plastic infantry is a no go as they're too small. They had enough trouble getting the Elementals made and Liya had to try three different molds to get usable models and not plastic blobs.
Miguelsan wrote: Non--miniature, and other games for the Battletech IP?
Succession Wars maybe?
M.
Catalyst also has the shadowrun license.
And they... haven't been great with it. Like, Btech was given new life, but shadowrun's kinda languished.
Shadowrun wouldn't be covered in an article on Sarna titled 'BattleTech In 2024 – An Interview With Line Developer Ray Arrastia & Assistant Line Developer Aaron Cahall'.
RazorEdge wrote: I wish they would offer Moulded Plastic Kits on Sprues for Mechs..
I'd want that for vehicles, protomechs and maybe some various infantries.
Unassembled models would increase the number of SKUs that they would need to inventory and keep track of that they're just not capable of doing. They just don't have the necessary manpower.
Plastic infantry is a no go as they're too small. They had enough trouble getting the Elementals made and Liya had to try three different molds to get usable models and not plastic blobs.
This is, what, 6mm scale stuff? There are several manufacturers making historical infantry in that scale. It shouldn't be that hard to make minor modifications to 'de-history' them.
RazorEdge wrote: I wish they would offer Moulded Plastic Kits on Sprues for Mechs..
I'd want that for vehicles, protomechs and maybe some various infantries.
Unassembled models would increase the number of SKUs that they would need to inventory and keep track of that they're just not capable of doing. They just don't have the necessary manpower.
But isn't this something that Liya int. is already doing? Catalyst could either outsource it to them (at a cost but nothing is free) or piggyback their database (again at a cost)
RazorEdge wrote: I wish they would offer Moulded Plastic Kits on Sprues for Mechs..
I'd want that for vehicles, protomechs and maybe some various infantries.
Unassembled models would increase the number of SKUs that they would need to inventory and keep track of that they're just not capable of doing. They just don't have the necessary manpower.
But isn't this something that Liya int. is already doing? Catalyst could either outsource it to them (at a cost but nothing is free) or piggyback their database (again at a cost)
M.
No. Liya has nothing to do with the miniatures once they're in Catalyst's hands. Catalyst keeps track of what stock they have on hand and if they need more miniatures, then they get with Liya and place an order for what they need.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
As someone who just opened a box of Questoris Knights for Epic, I can confirm this is true.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Oh no, they're likely to keep doing what they're doing. It seems to make sense for them. I just like modelling and wish that the plastic ones were at least not pre-assembled.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
As someone who just opened a box of Questoris Knights for Epic, I can confirm this is true.
Anyone that's had to deal with the insanity that is the Robotech Tactics Veritechs can as well.
Ghaz wrote: From the Catalyst Games Facebook page:
You have been wondering what has been going on with CGL behind the scenes. Well, we are tired of keeping EVERYTHING a secret, so we are starting a new program!
Introducing Tuesday Newsday with our host, Rem Alternis!
Our first program will be available to watch next week on our YouTube channel, on February 13th! We hope to see you there! (Makeup not included!)
oin our Community & Marketing Director Rem Alternis as she discusses updates around each product line, and chats with BattleTech Demo Agent James Kirtley about events planned for the first half of the year!
Boardgame Division
New and upcoming releases
Announcing Voltron Board Game
Snoop Cereals Kickstarter
Announcing Kung Fu Panda partnerships
RPG Division
Dice Core System
Voltron RPG - old and Netflix versions coming! Yes, there will be Vehicles!
Wizard Riders
Announcement coming soon for another RPG
Convention Schedule
Booth events
Demo Team Events
EDIT: Planned June fulfillment and August retail from the live feed.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Oh no, they're likely to keep doing what they're doing. It seems to make sense for them. I just like modelling and wish that the plastic ones were at least not pre-assembled.
Well, if you're more into modeling, I'd go look at the likes of Max Factory (Fang of the Sun Dougram), Hasegawa (Macross), and Bandai (Gundam) and so on for models. 28mm Battletech is too big for play. Catalyst is making this scale for gaming, not for modeling.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Oh no, they're likely to keep doing what they're doing. It seems to make sense for them. I just like modelling and wish that the plastic ones were at least not pre-assembled.
Well, if you're more into modeling, I'd go look at the likes of Max Factory (Fang of the Sun Dougram), Hasegawa (Macross), and Bandai (Gundam) and so on for models. 28mm Battletech is too big for play. Catalyst is making this scale for gaming, not for modeling.
They might make more producing models for modeling, given that nobody is going to use that many mechs for BT unless it's Alpha Strike and even then it's less than a GW squad. There's no limit to the number of mechs people will buy to paint and make dioramas and stuff. It makes the product consumable.
Wargames Atlantic wrote: HIPS for the existing scale would result in a lot of small, fiddly pieces. Making 28mm-figure sized Battlemechs in HIPS is the way to go.
Catalyst is not going to ditch their current PVC molds just to remake them in HIPS. The waste of money to do so would be phenomenal.
Oh no, they're likely to keep doing what they're doing. It seems to make sense for them. I just like modelling and wish that the plastic ones were at least not pre-assembled.
Well, if you're more into modeling, I'd go look at the likes of Max Factory (Fang of the Sun Dougram), Hasegawa (Macross), and Bandai (Gundam) and so on for models. 28mm Battletech is too big for play. Catalyst is making this scale for gaming, not for modeling.
They might make more producing models for modeling, given that nobody is going to use that many mechs for BT unless it's Alpha Strike and even then it's less than a GW squad. There's no limit to the number of mechs people will buy to paint and make dioramas and stuff. It makes the product consumable.
I don’t think they would. People play Classic still, but these days AS is much more popular (despite Catalyst pushing Classic as their primary game). I live in one of the three biggest hubs of BT play in the USA and we have a huge Alpha Strike community and a large Classic one (by comparison to the rest of the country, though still tiny compared to the AS community). Further, one of the guys in the group runs the largest competitive circuit for Alpha Strike in country, and Alpha Strike events sellout way faster than Classic events at conventions (if the Classic ones sell out). The Alpha Strike players buy lots of Mechs. I mean look at how much money the last Kickstarter made.
Also a lot of Battletech players (particularly Classic players, but some Alpha Strike players too), don’t like painting.
Not saying that there isn’t a market for Battletech models (I would probably pick up a few), but it would definitely be smaller than the one for miniatures.
I'm kind of disappointed that in my area, I am the only sole BT gamer that likes Alpha Strike.
Like in many BT groups, it's seen as the "dumbed-down, lesser game for people who can't handle Classic". Which is a bummer. I like both for what they each bring to the table. Classic is for intimate skirmishes where losing a hand actuator might actually matter, Alpha Strike (to me) is for Company or larger battles for when you want a big combined-arms spectacle on a big table. It's my new way to turn back the clock and experience a bit of that Epic 40K feel.
You'll tend to see more Alpha Strike in the wild as it's a lot easier to play in a store/convention situation than classic,
I suspect a fair amount more classic is played with groups of friends who don't play elsewhere so it's going to be tricky to say which is the most popular mode
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: You'll tend to see more Alpha Strike in the wild as it's a lot easier to play in a store/convention situation than classic,
I suspect a fair amount more classic is played with groups of friends who don't play elsewhere so it's going to be tricky to say which is the most popular mode
While that definitely is true about Classic, Alpha Strike definitely has a bigger "presence" and attracts a lot more players from other Wargames, where Classic is an entire different animal. On my State's Battletech Facebook page probably the most common thing we see from new players is "Hi, I'm looking to get into BT, I'm coming from playing (insert X Wargame) for (insert X amount of time), how do I get started?" Those people almost always prefer Alpha Strike, as Classic is more of a simulation/RPG than a wargame. Almost all of the Classic players in my region (that I'm aware of at least) have been playing Classic for 25+ years, and there are a mere handful that have been playing less than 5 years. Alpha Strike on the other hand has new players every month.
Without question though, Alpha Strike sells a TON more mechs for Catalyst.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
AegisGrimm wrote: I'm kind of disappointed that in my area, I am the only sole BT gamer that likes Alpha Strike.
Like in many BT groups, it's seen as the "dumbed-down, lesser game for people who can't handle Classic". Which is a bummer. I like both for what they each bring to the table. Classic is for intimate skirmishes where losing a hand actuator might actually matter, Alpha Strike (to me) is for Company or larger battles for when you want a big combined-arms spectacle on a big table. It's my new way to turn back the clock and experience a bit of that Epic 40K feel.
Sorry to hear that. Most of our Classic players in the are are pretty similar, and are vehemently against Alpha Strike (there are a couple that play both). Most of the Alpha Strike guys will play a Classic game if invited to an event or something, but don't go out of their way to play it. I don't mind playing a Classic game a couple times a year if it's with good friends and beers and what not, but it's not something I'd want to do regularly. They are definitely different games for different experiences, and I can see why people prefer one over the other.
Star League Command ForcePack has been on the ship for two or three weeks, with a late March release date planned.
Randall just mentioned a surprise Salvage Pack at AdeptiCon that should be in stores around the same time.
I skimmed through a chunk of it, but didn’t catch the bit about salvage packs. Do you have a timestamp for that bit?
It's right at the end of the BattleTech news, after where Randall was caressing the BattleTech Universe Precentor Martial edition box (38:40 minute mark).
I've already accepted that CGL isn't treating their 'Mech line like it's wartime rationing. They did just knock out a bunch of new, more legitimately important, 'Mechs with the Kickstarter too, so to stick this in now seems like a pretty reasonable ratio between serious products and unserious products. Not to mention every time this is debated on the subreddit you get 20 answers as to what they should have made instead. Like right now someone made a post about how it should have been a Hermit Crab, I don't have any interest in a Hermit Crab. I imagine from CGL's perspective, if you ask what should we do next and it's just a big crowd of people all yelling their own personal answer with no consensus, then they're keeping pace with the community's wants.
Battletech has always been a bit silly, so it makes sense that it should continue to be a bit silly. People who are super-serious about it have missed at least some of the point of the game in the first place.
I mean, the JagerMech? Back when Mick Jagger was still a big name? The UrbanMech itself? The very idea of big stompy robots as the supreme weapon on the battlefield? Machine gun ammo, of all things, exploding and destroying mechs from the inside out?
All a bit silly. That's part of the fun of the game.
Stormonu wrote: If you don't want the Urbanmech LAM, I'll take yours ... I'd certainly like to see all the old (and some new) LAMs return to Battletech.
Wonder if it will look somewhat like the Robotech/Southern Cross VF-8 Logan?
Catalyst did the design as an April Fools a few years back.
Stormonu wrote: If you don't want the Urbanmech LAM, I'll take yours ...
It's not a freebee for those who pledged for the Mercenaries Kickstarter like the Savannah Master is. It will be available for purchase first at AdeptiCon and then shortly afterwards via retail.
Dysartes wrote: So I get "Urbie" as short for "Urbanmech" - what's the LAM bit all about?
Land-Air 'Mech. Basically, a Macross/Robotech valkyrie.
A-yep. The original ones were the Wasp, Stinger, (Valkyrie) and Phoenix Hawk. They were able to transform into F-14 like jets, or a hybrid “gerwalk” mode that allowed them to hover and move like a helicopter.
In Battletech play, they were fragile, but almost impossible to hit while jetting around in hybrid mode.
Some info from Ray Arrastia (BattleTech Line Developer) from the BattleTech Forums:
Adrian Gideon wrote:So, a few points on the Urbie LAM.
* It’s 100% non-canon.
* It’s real and a joke.
* I hear you, those of you that don’t like it or raise issues with it. I fought that fight. The meme won. We’re in the minority. That’s ok.
* The Urbie salvage box SOLD like crazy. So did the lance pack. So did the company pack. Let’s not forget the plushie. You don’t have to like it. But any money towards BattleTech means more money toward things we do want.
* This concept was first released during the Clan Invasion KS on April Fools, and there was an overwhelming demand for this mini to be made.
* Side note, this is not a sign that LAMs are on the way. There was never a “Phoenix Hawk vs. Urbie” LAM question.
That’s dedication… I assume there will be one each of walker, flight and in between mode in each maxi-salvage-pack. So to really do a Lance in formation that’s what, £140 or more?
Flinty wrote: That’s dedication… I assume there will be one each of walker, flight and in between mode in each maxi-salvage-pack. So to really do a Lance in formation that’s what, £140 or more?
Yes. If you look close at the image, you can see a plume (like the jumping variants in the Mercenary ForcePacks have) in the lower left corner of the box that's most likely for the AirMech mode.
Its not actually a small single mech salvage box, its the "lance" pack right above it. First is "Heavy Recon Lance" then "Salvagebox UrbanMech LAM" then a small corner of a third
My understanding was the image was posted by Ray Arrastia on the battletech forums, but I could be mistaken. If so, that means it's legit, though that being said that cockpit on the back makes for a very odd design, would have made more sense for the top of the rubies head to be a clear dome ala a tie Fighter, and the cockpit just rotates to face depending on whether it's in air or ground mode.
Likewise, the design doesn't match the official concept art from the origin kickstarter.
Ghaz wrote: New Mercenaries Army Painter set coming out this Spring
With the pledge manager, the Kickstarter brought in $12 million
So I wasn't the only one tempted into adding a pledge on to my pledge.
I could be wrong, but I believe that is indicating that they brought in an additional $4.5 million when they reopened the pledge manager after the Kickstarter campaign ended.
Ghaz wrote: New Mercenaries Army Painter set coming out this Spring
With the pledge manager, the Kickstarter brought in $12 million
So I wasn't the only one tempted into adding a pledge on to my pledge.
I could be wrong, but I believe that is indicating that they brought in an additional $4.5 million when they reopened the pledge manager after the Kickstarter campaign ended.
Well they opened the pledge manager after the campaign ended, but yeah, that's what I meant.
This is Rem (Community & Marketing Director) stepping in for a moment to talk about BattleTech: Encounters. I found out about this yesterday, and it is important to all of us at Catalyst to communicate as quickly and transparently as we are able. To refresh your memory, Encounters is a dice game that was planned for future release, but we moved up production as a reward once reaching the $1 million stretch goal. Regiment backers and above will receive a free copy as part of fulfillment.
We had planned to release this after the Kickstarter fulfilled.
On Friday this week, a photo and link was sent to me showing that Encounters was in the wild at Barnes & Noble stores. I immediately asked the CGL team, and no one knew. After some back and forth, here is the context I got:
Our fulfillment agency and distributor has an exclusive relationship with Barnes & Noble. One of the only ways in the industry to get a game into B&N is to go through them. The distributor is constantly pitching games to them that they present from their warehouse stock. B&N has been incredibly happy with the results of having BattleTech in their stores, so when the distributor pitched a stand-alone game set in the world, they jumped. It is exceptionally rare to be accepted into B&N, so the distributor moved quickly. So quickly, that it seems they forgot to communicate with us at Catalyst.
Once a game is in the wild, it’s very hard to pull back. And the reach that B&N gives us to the next generation of BattleTech players that might not have found the hobby otherwise is exceedingly valuable to the future of this game. There is nothing we can do at this point about the B&N release.
However, we have made the decision that Catalyst will still not yet release via our store until after fulfillment. This may hurt our overall sales, as buyers seek it out at B&N, but it is important to us to honor our commitment to our backers as much as we are able. All backers will still receive their games as promised when we fulfill (we are still on track for June as of now).
Thank you all for your understanding, support, and patience. This is further proof that the reach of this game keeps exceeding ALL of our expectations.
chaos0xomega wrote: Would LAMs follow Mech organization (ie lance of 4) or Aerospace organization (ie flight of 2/squadron of 6)?
Nothing solid, but the old Field Manual: SLDF (published in 2012) makes mentions of some divisions having an "... attached company of Land-Air ’Mechs..." which would imply a BattleMech organization, at least for the SLDF.
As for the Inner Sphere powers circa 3025, LAMs were as rare as hen's teeth and were most likely held at the battalion level (if they had any at all).
If Clanners liked LAMs you would think that they would be perfect for the strategic command star type.
I wonder if the main reason for writing up about the clans not liking them was because otherwise they would inevitably end up being called C-LAMs. And then the memes write themselves.
Flinty wrote: If Clanners liked LAMs you would think that they would be perfect for the strategic command star type.
I wonder if the main reason for writing up about the clans not liking them was because otherwise they would inevitably end up being called C-LAMs. And then the memes write themselves.
Though Clans as a whole despised the LAM concept, at least Clan Jade Falcon ran a program where dual-cockpit LAMs were being developed, among them a Phoenix Hawk LAM, though the conflict between the aerospace and MechWarrior pilots and inherent fraility of the LAMs resulted in Star Captain Horse later issued a report to Khan Marthe Pryde, recommending the closing of the installation, and canceling its LAM program. There are no more references of more Clan attempts to create LAMs.
There were also three Word of Blake LAMs in use during the Jihad (the Yurei, Pwwka and Waneta) that are all considered extinct designs shortly afterwards.
I just couldn't wait, though. I ended up getting a 3D printed Mauler for my Combine force. Not that it will stop me from getting this particular box at retail, though.
Orion IIC
Glass Spider (Galahad)
Phantom Prime
Lobo
Ice Ferret D
Ilclan Star (Quarter 1 2025)
Wulfen Prime
Amarok
Dominator
Night Wolf
Nova J
Word of Blake Celestials Level II (Quarter 2 2025 release) All are Invictus configuration
Malak
Preta
Grigori
Deva
Seraph
Archangel
Battlefield Support: Black Wolf & Raiden Battle Armor Platoons (Quarter 2 2025 release)
Black Wolf Battle Armor x5
Raiden Battle Armor x4 (Listed as Fa Shih in the screenshot, not sure if the unit list or the pack name is correct)
Clan Jade Falcon Star (Quarter 2 2025 release)
I'm REALLY interested in seeing the redesigned protomechs, those always had so much potential but the official ones looked so very, very stupid. Seen some great fan re-designs over the years
Holy cripes! If they can stick to that list it's an insane spread of releases. I already have a full set of metal Ares but a plastic box version is probably going to bankrupt me.
I'm REALLY interested in seeing the redesigned protomechs, those always had so much potential but the official ones looked so very, very stupid. Seen some great fan re-designs over the years
On the opposite end here: I love how the protomechs currently look and am worried that they're going to get "serious" "tactical" re-designs. If protomechs aren't dnd figures with laser guns then do they even have a purpose? At least they can't take away the ones I have and IWM will keep selling the ones I want, so there's no "bad" scenario for me!
Kalamadea wrote: I'm REALLY interested in seeing the redesigned protomechs, those always had so much potential but the official ones looked so very, very stupid. Seen some great fan re-designs over the years
I can't find the reference right now, but supposedly it was due to bad art direction on FASA's part. They told artist Doug Chaffee make the ProtoMechs look like their namesakes (or something along that lines) and he did so, really pushing those elements in the designs and fully expecting them to be rejected so he could get feedback for a better idea of what they wanted. To his surprise FASA approved the designs and that's why the ProtoMechs look out of place with just about all of the other elements in the game.
First pic: Left arm and leg Helios, Tian-Zong, Emperor, Awesome, Starslayer, Starslayer (jumping), Black Knight Second pic: ChimeraHellspawn, Thunderbolt, Thanatos,... see first pic
Third pic: See first pic
Fourth pic: Black Knight, Argus Fifth pic: Dire Wolf Prometheus,... see second pic
First pic: Left arm and leg Helios, Tian-Zong, Emperor, Awesome, Starslayer, Starslayer (jumping), Black Knight Second pic: ChimeraHellspawn, Thunderbolt, Thanatos,... see first pic
Third pic: See first pic
Fourth pic: Black Knight, Argus Fifth pic: Dire Wolf Prometheus,... see second pic
And now for the really interesting stuff
Is this from the forums too? I'm in a battletech server that doesn't allow certain kinds of leaks to be posted, I wanna make sure I can post these there.
First pic: Left arm and leg Helios, Tian-Zong, Emperor, Awesome, Starslayer, Starslayer (jumping), Black Knight Second pic: ChimeraHellspawn, Thunderbolt, Thanatos,... see first pic
Third pic: See first pic
Fourth pic: Black Knight, Argus Fifth pic: Dire Wolf Prometheus,... see second pic
And now for the really interesting stuff
Is this from the forums too? I'm in a battletech server that doesn't allow certain kinds of leaks to be posted, I wanna make sure I can post these there.
I'm not sure what you're asking here. If you're asking if they were named on the forums, then no. I can name the 'Mechs because some of them are reposes or alternate sculpts of existing plastic 'Mechs that are coming out and the rest of them look close enough to their previous artwork and/or miniatures to know what they are.
First pic: Left arm and leg Helios, Tian-Zong, Emperor, Awesome, Starslayer, Starslayer (jumping), Black Knight Second pic: ChimeraHellspawn, Thunderbolt, Thanatos,... see first pic
Third pic: See first pic
Fourth pic: Black Knight, Argus Fifth pic: Dire Wolf Prometheus,... see second pic
And now for the really interesting stuff
Is this from the forums too? I'm in a battletech server that doesn't allow certain kinds of leaks to be posted, I wanna make sure I can post these there.
I'm not sure what you're asking here. If you're asking if they were named on the forums, then no. I can name the 'Mechs because some of them are reposes or alternate sculpts of existing plastic 'Mechs that are coming out and the rest of them look close enough to their previous artwork and/or miniatures to know what they are.
Now this "Resurgent Empires" board game is something I am definitely interested in. Anyone know if more details were released? Honestly, to me, the minis almost look out of place here, but I am curious to find out more about this.
EDIT: A closer look at the pictures reveals those might still prototype component's given the paper map and graphic design of some of the cards.
H wrote: Now this "Resurgent Empires" board game is something I am definitely interested in. Anyone know if more details were released? Honestly, to me, the minis almost look out of place here, but I am curious to find out more about this.
Not much is known about it other than it is the 'spiritual successor' to 'The Succession Wars' board game published by FASA back in 1987.
H wrote: Now this "Resurgent Empires" board game is something I am definitely interested in. Anyone know if more details were released? Honestly, to me, the minis almost look out of place here, but I am curious to find out more about this.
EDIT: A closer look at the pictures reveals those might still prototype component's given the paper map and graphic design of some of the cards.
I am hoping those are just prototype components, the missing gun barrels and arm mounted PPC/medium laser weapon pods on some of those Marauders is not great looking.
Ghaz wrote: Not much is known about it other than it is the 'spiritual successor' to 'The Succession Wars' board game published by FASA back in 1987.
Ah, yeah, I remember some talk of it last year, wasn't sure if any other details might have come out. Hopefully later this year we'll learn more about the development.
NH Gunsmith wrote: I am hoping those are just prototype components, the missing gun barrels and arm mounted PPC/medium laser weapon pods on some of those Marauders is not great looking.
Certainly seems like they would be, they seem wildly out of proportion to the map (as in the bases are bigger than some of the spaces) and it's not a miniatures game, so I'd imagine each just represents a Mech Regiment (from the old Succession Wars game). Considering the map is just paper and some of the cards don't even have graphics on them, seems like this would likely be a "middle phase" prototype. I'd guess maybe they just used extra mech minis that were laying around and painted them the faction colors (or maybe they were test prints with defects, etc.).
H wrote: Now this "Resurgent Empires" board game is something I am definitely interested in. Anyone know if more details were released? Honestly, to me, the minis almost look out of place here, but I am curious to find out more about this.
EDIT: A closer look at the pictures reveals those might still prototype component's given the paper map and graphic design of some of the cards.
I am hoping those are just prototype components, the missing gun barrels and arm mounted PPC/medium laser weapon pods on some of those Marauders is not great looking.
Mentioned elsewhere, you also have to keep in mind that Randall has been hauling this all over the place showing it everywhere. Some damage will occur.
Randall just covered the Kickstarter fulfillment on the AdeptiCon livestream. Fulfillment is still due for June, but shipping is an absolute nightmare with the Anniversary boxsets, the UrbanMech LAM and the Star League Command Lance ForcePack being on the water for eight weeks (and thus missing AdeptiCon by about a week). Randall has confirmed that everything for the Kickstarter is currently on the water.
Lorcan Nagle wrote:Stuff from the intro session with Randall and Michael Ciaravella:
-Randall half-joked that he's been banned from posting to Instagram because he keeps posting things he shouldn't like the Urbie LAM
-Shipping has been even more nightmarish recently. The Star League Command Lance, 40th Anniversary box sets and UrbanMech LAM took 8 weeks to get shipped and they basically missed being at Adepticon by about a week. All Kickstarter products are apparently on the water right now and they're still tentatively good for June.
-On the Wars of Reaving and Celestials forcepacks, this is part of an attempt to have some support for eras outside the ilClan. The Jihad specifically was cited as one they have little intention to return to outside of fiction, but they did want to do era-specific minis too
-The kickstarter dice have been printed in massive numbers and they're setup to reprint in short order, the intention is to keep them in print
-"Some stuff that you guys are going to love" is coming for the Aurigan Reach.
-Work is progressing on the Brush Wars books, Randall doesn't have all the details though.
-There will be an update for late backers getting digital rewards soon.
From the Bryan and John chat:
-Without Question will be the Battle of Sudeten from the Jade Falcons' perspective and then is "uncharted territory with the Falcons charting their own path and Jiyi holding on for dear life. Alexis might be in over her head and not ready for the rigors of command" Slated for May 15th release
-Voidbreaker follows up on what happened to Tucker Harwell. Where he went and how he got into the hands of everyone he ends up in the hands of. A BattleTech take on a spy thriller/escapade. The idea came out of the last writer's summit, Ray said to Bryan that they need to figure out a plot point and they spent some time staring at the map to do it and Bryan thought "this would be a great spy thriller". Bryan likened it to a Sea Fox James Bond novel. Currently due out Q1 2025
-There's another Ghost Dogs novella on the way. It'll be about them fighting the Marians in the Free Worlds League
-Bryan wrote a short story for Hot Spots: Hinterlands
-Spotlight on: Fox Patrol is in fact check right now. Bryan wrote the biography sections and came up with the scenarios, which Josh Perian then worked into playable material.
-Bryan would love to write the Terran Falcons and their identity crisis. This will at least be touched on in Mike Ciaravella's Alaric novel
-In the chat, Craig Reed said he's still working on In the Shadow of the Dragon
-John talked a bit about the upcoming Tales of the Bounty Hunter anthology, the last story will be in the ilClan era
-They are still addressing the Shrapnel slushpile backlog. Phil and John will be discussing it at the con, they might just add more slush readers as they only have one right now. John apologised for the delay.
-Phil Lee had finished his editing pass on Letter of the Law (the follow-up to Hunting Season), it's going to John for editing soon and they're looking at Q3 2024 for release.
From the chat with Ray, Brent, Bryn and Mike:
-When asked about the hurdles to making a new aerospace game, Ray said the first one is that they would not be relying on an existing system, they need a ground-up game that is fun and engaging. After that is making it work within BattleTech as a setting.
-On balancing metrics for forcepacks, it's more gut choice, working around a shortlist of what will go into a box but it's always themed around the formation special rules. Logistics and the restrictions around what they can put in (like the repose, reprint, variant, new mini paradigm of the Merc forcepacks)
-Someone asked about the Hexpacks returning - no, the skyrocketing cost of cardboard made them too expensive. Also, Ray feels using the old map art hurt them the same way using the old designs hurt the prior lance packs
-They're considering putting more counter sheets into the map packs
-Liao and Marik Combat Manuals are planned, but way down the list
-A big part of CGL using Kickstarter as a marketing tool is to try and figure out how big to make print runs. It also lets them do things that would never work as commercial products like the Precentor Martial version of Universe
-They will redo the Solaris maps. It'll be more than just a redo of the art, they want to do it justice. It'd be a big project and they don't have a schedule for it yet.
-Why redo the vehicle rules but not ’Mech ones? Because ’Mechs are the core of the setting and other elements would be out of balance or take too much focus away from ’Mechs
-The Remembrance book might not get a general print release but may get a PDF at some point
-they confirmed the premium mini is the Vulture Prime
-The Raven Alliance will probably just get a Combat Manual entry as part of the PDF update to the general Clan Combat Manual. But there will be more material for them in upcoming sourcebooks and fiction.
-If you want to pitch a game to CGL, reach out to them before a con and they will make time to meet you.
-What makes it hard to do LAMs properly? They're too fast on the tabletop and it makes them hard to keep balanced. Ray said it feels like they're not really fitting how LAMs work in the fiction too.
-Interest in tournament formats is effecting product development and organised play is becoming more important.
-Why are the logos all over the place on the spine? It was too hard to keep them lined up because of the vaguaries of printing so they stopped trying.
-Will the UrbanMech IIc be getting plastic soon? No plans yet. Will the Albatross be in a Marik pack? It's one of Ray's favourites and it nearly made a pack recently but lost out at the end.
-Will the Clan Protectorate be in the FWL or Clan ilClan update for their respective Combat Manuals? This is being determined soon
-Does WotC still own the card game? They own the rules.
-Will we see Clan Vehicle minis? Yes, they're on the schedule they put out.
-When asked if they'd do BattleTech in TableTop Sim, it's been discussed but it'd be a lot of effort when MegaMek is already out there as a competing product.
-Favourite Light Mech? Bryn: Jenner. Brent: Wulfen, Dola, Gunsmith, Rokurokubi, Ray: Locust
-Why not better coordinate the release of products like minis and books? They've tried and it's very hard to get it to line up for various reasons.
-If you have 12 months to get a dream product out, what would it be? Bryn: Get Leviathans done and then move on to the rest of the factions and consider a card game that was pitched. Ray: Aerospace, then Solaris (or just take more time for the current products). Brent: Facilitate an explosion of merc-centric products to help facilitate new players.
-Is there anything in Total Warfare that should be streamlined? Ray: Total Warfare should be the BattleMech Manual. Bryn: Vehicles and Aerotech as per the BSP rules. Brent: Evolving the record sheets, add colour, especially to the heat scale, an RPG element, layout tweaks
-They considered doing fiction where the Black Thorns explicitly die.
-There will be Combat Engineers options in an upcoming RPG product and the BSP rules
-There are plans to release pre-made campaigns, no further details.
-There's a 3025 map in the Universe book that shows the Aurigan Coalition
From the Directors' Q&A
-Favourite obscure characters: Brent's is Tara Bishop, Loren's is Agent Curatis, Randall had a few, mostly the stronger but not typical female characters.
-Products they wanted to do but couldn't - most products they wanted to do happened eventually, like the old Clan box set eventually became Clan Invasion, the Combat Manuals was another example of a thing who's time probably has come.
-Marik and Cappelan forcepacks will come eventually. Randall noted at this point that the planned forcepack list is subject to change if a cool idea comes up and bumps the line
-Aces is going to start moving full steam ahead, hurdles have been cleared but no further details for now. Randall says maybe an update in two months
-European Shipping Hub is "further along than it's ever been". The biggest roadblock right now is VAT
-the Locust/Wasp/Stinger box idea is still being worked out, as they have 2 mechs to a mold and there's no guarantee that the Locust and Wasp are on the same mold, for example. So they need to figure out what to do with the other minis that would be coming out of the mold. Likely there wouldn't be any scope for reposes or variants.
-There was a point last year where they thought the Kickstarter would be shipping around December, and Barnes and Noble ordered Encounters based on that idea. So when Encounters came in they saw a B&N order on the system and didn't cross-check to see if the street date had changed and it's out there now. But there's no real way to fix the problem and B&N acted in good faith so they have to live with it.
-The Celestials are the ’Mechs Randall wants out in plastic the most. He also has a soft spot for the Blood Kite though he has no idea if it'll ever appear.
-They still owe Loren a plastic Solitaire, Randall says they have it lined up somewhere.
-People should be getting warnings to lock in their address for the Kickstarter and we should be getting shipping charges soon.
-Kickstarter swag will be hitting the CGL store, but there are logistical issues around storage and picking (it's an obscene number of SKUs) which are being worked through.
-They're working on reprints of older books. They had to destroy three copies of Shadowrun 1st edition in order to scan it in different ways to get the text and art properly.
-Someone suggested a farmland map pack, and they guys loved it and it became a whole discussion.
-Randall is hoping to hit the East Coast as part of his tour, Ray and Aaron may do some appearances in his stead.
-Den of Wolves is still in progress, it's about 2/3 done on both Loren and Stackpole's side and they're going to have a chat to coordinate the ending.
-Force Manual Kurita is at the Printers, hopefully releasing late 2nd quarter/3rd quarter.
-BattleTech: COMMAND development stalled for a while but it back on track now. They'll be playing it on-stream over the weekend.
-Vehicles they would have added to the Kickstarter if they could? Randall: the Fulcrum or more VTOLs; Loren was happy with what they got in; Ray: Striker.
-There will be a map-scale Leopard DropShip in the future
-An IndustrialMech forcepack has been discussed
-Loren cannot comment on a DropShip carry case
-Silly forcepacks they'd like to do. Randall: Does the LAM not count? Ray: Critter-Tek
-The JES Missile carriers are on the list to do in plastic at some point.
-Someone suggested a pack of scatter terrain like cars, they liked it
-Someone asked about doing a third ComStar forcepack with the rest of the 2750 mechs, and they liked that idea too.
-They're looking at doing a booth at PAX Australia
-Loren was asked what was the biggest thing he wasn't allowed to talk about, and he talked about the Commander's Case, a grab and go box with space for a company of ’Mechs, some books, dice, record sheets and the like. Should be out for Gencon. This is the case we saw in some photos and that one video from KerenskyKon.
Miguelsan wrote: WYSIWYG coming to a Btech game near you soon (TM)
M.
There's almost thirty variants of just the Marauder alone. BattleTech will never be WYSIWYG beyond requiring that you use a Marauder mini for a Marauder
Lorcan Nagle wrote:-A plastic Urbanmech IIc is possible, never say never.
-The larger support vehicles are the least likely things to see a plastic release
-Plastic Omega is possible depending on if they revisit the Jihad more and how well the Celestials do.
-Jihad mechs that Ray would like the see the most - Lightray and Legacy (He said the one on the cover of TRO:3058, but it's clear what he meant)
-when asked about an official UrbieLAM recordsheet as it's been reverse-engineered from the Alpha Strike cards? "We'll see"
-Where is Arthur Steiner-Davion? In the Deep Periphery with the other Manei Domini
-Plastic Grand Crusader? Not any time oon
-More Aerospace minis? Depends on a number of factors but Ray would like that
-Celestial LAMs are lower on the list of the classic LAMs
-Plastic Periphery mechs like the Pentheselia? Not soon but they'd like to do them
-They're hoping to repackage the Alpha Strike space rules, possibly as a PDF
-Next Kickstarter has no solid plans, maybe not minis-based like the last two but nothing is set in stone
-They don't have a place in the near future to publish art of the Rhino
-They still haven't nailed down who did Grey Monday
-Ray thinks plastic OmniMechs with swappable parts would be very cool
-When asked about getting full TO&Es, Ray said the biggest we'll get in the future are the company/battalion sized units in Spotlight On...
-Ray thinks the Maelstrom is on the list for a rework
-The Imp has come close to getting redone but was cut twice
-The Solaris Mechs are nowhere on the list at the moment but they'd like to do them. Same with IndustrialMechs
-The Matador isn't on the list to redo soon
-Ray thinks the Grey Death Standard Battle Armour might be on the list though
-Favourite product for 2024? Unreleased is Universe, released is RecGuide ilClan volume 2.
-Campaigns for AtoW/Destiny? Not soon but something's in the works
-Will there be a system that bridges BattleTech and Alpha Strike Like Death From Above has made? "Can't say at this time really... No"
-Plastic minis of Mad Cat Family? "We're working on it"
-Plastic Atlas III? Not in the next couple of years
-Alpha Strike Commander's Edition? Should be this year.
-Plans to update old mapsheets? Yes, but not a straight reissue of the old map packs. They're being redone in the map packs little by little, ususally with the same name but not always.
-Star League Command Lance is held up in shipping
-The limitations on making modular OmniMech minis is more production than artistic. The swappable weapons parts in some of the Kickstarter sets are an experiment in this
-Plastic Jupiter? Ray says he doesn't think so, but I'm sure it's in one of the planned sets
-Plastic Blood Spirit? Randall really wants it but it's low priority.
-Will we see a Mech-scale DropShip? Yes
-The MechCommander's handbook will be a callback to the old Merc's handbook, you can create a unit (of any time) and run a narrative campaign with the same core system and different added flavour, like contracts generating missions in the merc's book.
-Selling the Visigoth outside of the Kickstarter is likely.
-ProtoMechs are largely relegated to the late Clan Invasion - Jihad era
-The MW5/MWO/HBSBT original Mechs are unlikely to appear in the tabletop
-Would there ever be a forcepack with the contents selected by vote? Internet polls and votes rarely reflect sales so if they did that it would be based on a pre-order system.
-Campaign books for the ilClan era are planned
-The Mechcommander's handbook will be era-agnostic with optional era-based info.
-Plastic Rakshasa? Ray would like to see it but not any time soon.
-Any chance for more solaris stuff? Yeah
-Do the Wolf's Dragoons have a Kerensky Honorname? No
-Updated Solaris box? Not any time in the future. They have lots of plans, lots of brainstorming but they're not just going to redo the old box/revamp the old duelling rules.
-Any chance of a non-forcepack pilot card deck? It's possible, they've talked about it.
-RPG-scale minis or Heroforge options? It's been discussed but they need to figure out how they make it happen
-the periphery factions will be seen and do more, but the focus will remain on the Inner Sphere
-No more Battleforce planned but they do try and support it where they can.
-House Arano is not a rights nightmare, they're in the universe book.
-More GDL novels? Probably
-Any app updates? Ray has no information
-Biggest channel for Ray's job? Not enough hours in the day.
-Ray's pie in the shy product? Sooner or later they all get made. The next thing Ray would love to see but is nowhere near starting is AeroTech
-Official Misisons and codified organised play is being worked on.
-We will see more of the Scorpion Empire, but they are a Deep Periphery state
-the RecGuides served a specific purpose, any may return but likely they'll use a new format for future unit releases.
-Weather/Planetary condition decks? Would be neat, but Ray doubts there would be much call for it.
-3D printed buildings/terrain? Not much movement, they're looking for someone to partner with that would produce and ship and sell them. They do want to make use of all the renders they're generating.
-What's Ray proud of adding or influencing in BattleTech? He has tried to not insert anything of his into the IP, he sees himself as a custodian. More broadly he's really proud of keeping the storyline moving and shepherding people into the new era.
-Interstellar Players 4 is planned
-Where would Ray place himself in the universe and do? He'd work in production or gaming, on one of the Golden Five in a safe timeframe like the late succession wars.
-Plans for the New Jaguars? Yes
-Is there a job at CGL Ray would like to create? Yeah, but more in production or support capacities rather than creative.
-There is movement in the canon character database but nothing that can be discussed yet?
-any plans for an artbook? Yes
-Target has been happy with the Essentials box.
-New Bounty Hunter? Soon.
-New Black Marauder? Lance has three or four more stories in the cycle, they're being worked on
-Will Kitsune Kurita and Victor's other kids show up in ilClan? It's Possible.
-Can people adjust their canon characters? When a call goes out. Aaron said in chat to not message the campaign about it.
-Will there be plastic updates of the other Dragoons Mechs? "Not specifically"
-Will we find out the fate of the Aurigan Reach? Yes, they might be mentioned in ilKhan's Eyes Only
-Minnesota Tribe Revival? No. Forcebox? No.
-Can the RecGuide PDF product listings get an update to list their contents? Probably not on the store, Ray recommends the Sarna listings.
-Shattered Fortress reprint? Probably not, it's high on the PoD list though.
-any possiblity of a Lindon's Battalion return? No. It was discussed but they were wiped out over Mars
-What would Ray show someone in the Universe book to wow a new player? Depends on the person, show them the thing that reflects what they like
-Will there be more World-wide events? They hope so.
-Will Record Sheets be added to the MUL? There are plans, but no timeline.
Miguelsan wrote: WYSIWYG coming to a Btech game near you soon (TM)
M.
There's almost thirty variants of just the Marauder alone. BattleTech will never be WYSIWYG beyond requiring that you use a Marauder mini for a Marauder
Agreed. Worst comes to worst, BattleTech started with cardboard stands, you can always print a picture of your variant and go REALLY old school BT.
Miguelsan wrote: WYSIWYG coming to a Btech game near you soon (TM)
M.
There's almost thirty variants of just the Marauder alone. BattleTech will never be WYSIWYG beyond requiring that you use a Marauder mini for a Marauder
Just like you can sub in any ol' space marine for a similar one (primaris Mk X for any other Mk X) but with a different loadout and unit type in official 40k events, right? I don't think the number of variants will stop a greedy company from demanding it; only the fanbase can immediately, forcefully, and unanimously right after they announce it.
Miguelsan wrote: WYSIWYG coming to a Btech game near you soon (TM)
M.
There's almost thirty variants of just the Marauder alone. BattleTech will never be WYSIWYG beyond requiring that you use a Marauder mini for a Marauder
Just like you can sub in any ol' space marine for a similar one (primaris Mk X for any other Mk X) but with a different loadout and unit type in official 40k events, right? I don't think the number of variants will stop a greedy company from demanding it; only the fanbase can immediately, forcefully, and unanimously right after they announce it.
Before Catalyst can even THINK about demanding it, they'd have to produce a mini for each and every one of those 30 Marauder variants. And then 30 more Warhammer variants. Etc. etc. etc; ad infinitum, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Attempting to do so would bankrupt them, as there's no where NEAR enough demand for that many specific variants to make that many sculpts profitable.
lol, have we all become so infected with the corrupting influence of the Chaos Gods... err, Games Workshop, that we forgot how silly an idea a company demanding you play your game a certain way is in the first place? That only works with Warhammer players, and I suppose 5e players if we're including all tabletop gaming.
Otherwise nobody else cares. (Well I guess there were some rumors of X-WIng and Armada players actually buying ship packs just to get mini-cards cards they could print out at home for almost free, but those just had to be tall tales, right? Nobody could be that gullible.)
frankelee wrote: Otherwise nobody else cares. (Well I guess there were some rumors of X-WIng and Armada players actually buying ship packs just to get mini-cards cards they could print out at home for almost free, but those just had to be tall tales, right? Nobody could be that gullible.)
Yeah, who would do that for a game, right? Definitely not me... ever again. Though in my case, I was happy to have a 2nd copy of every ship from the OT era.
frankelee wrote: Otherwise nobody else cares. (Well I guess there were some rumors of X-WIng and Armada players actually buying ship packs just to get mini-cards cards they could print out at home for almost free, but those just had to be tall tales, right? Nobody could be that gullible.)
Yeah, who would do that for a game, right? Definitely not me... ever again. Though in my case, I was happy to have a 2nd copy of every ship from the OT era.
I have long suspected that a big part of that sales strategy was forcing players to buy more models they wanted to buy. At that point, what choice did you have, you needed that tiny card.
But Catalyst will have to think up something cleverer than that, it's been done.
I was half facetious in my original comment.
I'm not saying that it's sane, or that Catalyst wants it to happen but on the other hand stupid mistakes are made all the time, especially if the owners of the IP catch wind of what GW can get away with it. After all, DnD current troubles started when the suits on top got replaced by ex-Microsoft people that think that forcing players to get a sub to play DnD is a great idea.
warboss wrote: Just like you can sub in any ol' space marine for a similar one (primaris Mk X for any other Mk X) but with a different loadout and unit type in official 40k events, right? I don't think the number of variants will stop a greedy company from demanding it; only the fanbase can immediately, forcefully, and unanimously right after they announce it.
Lookimg at the Master Unit List (i.e., the MUL) there are 4,040 'Mech variants, 2,071 Combat Vehicle variants and 331 Aerospace Fighter variants. That's 6,442 units that would need to be divided up into ForcePacks. This would add somewhere around a thousand SKUs to keep track of and reorder (if they sell and don't sit in the warehouse and collect dust). I don't believe Catalyst is greedy, but they fully realize that making every 'Mech, Combat Vehicle and Aerospace Fighter would be a good way of killing their company. Additionally, Topps has been hands-off and only stepping in on social matters which don't belong in this thread.
Flip side is that Catalyst needs to keep the plastic flowing and the engine turning, so it's either they retire minis and reissue them with updated sculpts ala GW over time or they keep producing variants and new designs
chaos0xomega wrote: Flip side is that Catalyst needs to keep the plastic flowing and the engine turning, so it's either they retire minis and reissue them with updated sculpts ala GW over time or they keep producing variants and new designs
While that's not only true, but necessary for them to stay in business, it's not quite the same thing. Taking the Marauder for example, the 3025 variants just replaced PPCs and/or the AC/5 with LLs in various configurations. With a trivial amount of effort one could convert models of a 3R, 3D, 3M, and 3L interchangably. Most of the tech upgrades don't change the appearance overmuch either - there's little visual difference between a PPC, ER-PPC, or LPL; or between a ML and a MPL, ER-ML or other ML variant.
I'll grant you SOME variants do have a pretty hefty profile change - for example the Catapult C1 vs. the K1, or the Swayback Hunchback variants. But by and large Catalyst can release 'new' variants that are close enough to the base model that no one cares WHAT variant you use it as pretty much indefinitely.
All mini games except Warhammers have a life cycle, this current iteration of Battletech will too. Gimmicks won't extend that life cycle. I think if Catalyst wanted to provide players a way to have most of the variants they should create a Hero Forge style website. Then they could still sell minis and STLs to hardcore fans and make ongoing income, even as the force pack sales dry up.
Lorcan Nagle wrote:-What mech would you like to see more love in the fiction: Loren: SAGGITAIRE! Ray: UrbanMech (somewhat deadpan), Brent: Saggitaire, Randall: Celestials/the Jihad in general
-Why is Ray wearing a Kurita cap? Did he lose a bet? It's secret code
-Loren's favourite CGL game? The Duke
-Someone asked about getting a PoD of Trian under Fire, the Battlecorps serial Loren wrote that roughly adapts MechWarrior 3. There was some confusion originally, he'll have to check with John if it's thick enough to do a physical edition
-Faction flags? They've looked into them, materials have been considered
-Will Loren be at Essen? Unsure, he's planning to do one of the international shows, probably Essen or PAX Asutralia.
-Why are a lot of items and clothes sized out of stock? Initial orders tend to be guesswork as to what to stock, leading to sell-outs at different rates. Randall also said the Leviathans kickstarter sucked a lot of energy that would be used to fix these issues, I assume he meant mercenaries. Either way a big T-shirt order is on the way.
-Hour of the Wolf Audiobook ETA? That's a John question
-What are you most looking forward to do? Randall: All the travelling and meeting fans this year
-Will we ever go back to the old partial cover rules? No
-Are the Battlefield Support rules in the Mercs box? Yes
-Will there be more high quality prints? Brent hopes so, hopefully they ones they had at Kerenskykon and Adepticon proved popular enough.
-Does CGL have any con traditions? Try to not let Randall hurt himself too badly, he pulled out a little patch that read CAUTION: I CAUSE SECURITY BRIEFS
-When will the UrbieLAM find its way to the webstore? 2-3 months
-Will there be more Alien Worlds maps? Yes
-How heavy is the Precentor Martial Universe box, for beating the lore into people? It's very heavy, but Ray prefers you read it to them
-When will the Star League forcepack be in the webstore? About a month
-Will the high-end prints be on the webstore? No plans as yet, they're concerned about damage during shipping.
-Will they do BattleTech 3D terrain? They'd love to, whether they do it themselves or license it is to be detremined, they were having meetings the next day to figure it out. Randall's positive it'll happen.
-Mad Cat MK II and III when? They think the Mad Cat Mk II is still in but the III got cut very late in the decision process.
-Why are products like mugs allowed to sell out before the big kappas get their freebies? It's a side-effect of their unexpected popularity, in some cases they're not hitting the warehouse at all on top of ensuring the warehouse can ship them out safely.
-Ideas for new BFMs? There's a volcanic map pack coming, Randall really hopes it'll be one. There's a snow/arctic map planned too
-How would a cartoon/tv show/movie effect CGL? Only in a good way
-Would you do STLs for printing? Some of the terrain discussions they were going to have were around STLs
-Will some of the new maps be refurbished versions of old ones? Yes, the maps in the Mercs box and the Savannah map pack are new art and redesigns of old maps like river/delta and large lake to make them more playable.
-Favourite moment of Adepticon? Ray: Talking to everybody, Brent: When Mike Stackpole and Bryan Young convinced Big Red to betray Brent in their game on-stream. Randall: The size of the con, like he managed to get over to the historical games section which has to be in another hotel, and a bunch of them were BattleTech fans who came over to get patches. Loren: Seeing old friends and the energy and chaos, it helped especially with his recent tragedy.
-They showed Loren the shirtless Alaric pic Big Red commissioned. Loren laughed and asked "why?"
-Any movement on PoD? It's a lot of work to prepare old books for PoD, they're hoping to do a video or blogpost to show the process they went through for the Shadowrun 1st edition reprint which would illustrate it.
-Someone asked about getting the MechWarrior's guide to Solaris VII PDF on the webstore? It's in the queue somewhere.
-Any movement on the promised TRO: VA PoD? Might still happen, it's stalled in editing
-Any chance of an update Thorn? They've been talking about doing another ComStar pack to finish off the 2750 mechs.
-any updates on the last bits from the Clan Invasion Kickstarter like the beard-off? They haven't been forgotten about (and then the conversation drifted away)
-How is the cookbook coming? It's on a ship right now.
-Everyone was asked to name a mech to make a forcepack tomorrow? Loren: Solitaire, Ray: Albatross, Brent: Mad Cat Mk. II, Randall: most of what he wanted has made it back in, he said the Scarabus was the most recent one and they got that into a pack.
From Mike Ciaravella and John Helfers' Lunchtime secrets:
-John reiterated that they are launching a Jihad-era fiction line. They're talking with Herb about being a consultant for the line
-What happened to the Kell bloodline when the Exiles rejoined the Wolves? That answer will remain a mystery a while longer
-Mike talked a bit about Trial of Birthright. Picks up minutes after the death of Devlin Stone, what has been created and destroyed on Terra and what will come from this. They finished an editing pass the night before. It's pencilled in for a July release
-Internal discussions are ongoing around the unfinished Case White novel Victor Milán was working on.
-Why did nobody make a trueborn child of Joshua Wolf and Natasha Kerensky? Good question, they might give an explanation somewhere down the line.
-What's going to happen to the story after ilKhan's Eyes Only? Still in small chunks? More a Ray question but they're working to 3-5 year plans.
-How do you balance filling in holes with moving forward? It depends on the plot, where it's centred and what they're focuing on. They want to leave some loose threads for players to fill in themselves too.
-Will the highlanders take employment with Liao again? Discussing the Highlanders' next steps is a current thing, they'll reveal it in the fiction.
-There have been internal hiccups with audiobook production, but there will be more on the way
-CGL have been working with Pirhana Games on MW5's story.
-Will there be more fiction featuring McCarron's Armoured Cavalry? Yes
-How does Gray Noton make a standard Rifleman do the things he does? John says he's that good, Mike insists he had advanced tech.
-They've discussed Jim Long writing new fiction, possibly featuring the Black Thorns
-Will there be a Solaris-centred Shrapnel issue? Yes, 17
-Any movement on reissuing Star Lord, Far Country and the other missing novels? Not presently, they go back to the rights holders on occasion to see if they've changed their mind
-Will Shadows of Faith be completed? That's a Loren question.
-Will other BattleCorps fiction be reprinted? They'd love to but there are capacity issues with Phil running Shrapnel and John running the novel line.
-Can we canonise the UrbieLAM? John said it was a Ray question. Ray immediately posted "No" in chat.
-I had suggested a Legacy II featuring a Warship earlier in the con, they liked the idea and discussion on the steam suggested LCS Invincible which went down well.
-Will there be a timelost Jumpship story again like Living Legends? No plans, maybe a good idea for Shrapnel? Ray popped up in chat to say there is an upcoming story featuring a misjump.
-Is Pope Leo getting fiction? No.
-Are there going to be a lot of deep-cut characters in Legends II? Yes, it's a good mix of new, old, and surprises. John hasn't taken a close look at it but Mike wrote some of the profiles, he says there are definitely some deep cuts.
-CGL has managed to get scans of some of the old comics, they are working on reissuing them. (John didn't go into detail on whether it was Malibu, Blackthorne, Spider and Wolf or what)
-How do authors come up with new Camospecs? Do they visualise or write something and let an artist interpret it? Usually CamoSpecs is ahead of them for unit colours as they work with the game production side. If they need to create a new unit, they sometimes bring them to CamoSpecs but it's usually best or easiest to come up with some colour ideas and let them do their thing.
-Any plans to give more of a spotlight on Lyran leaders? That has come up recently in discussion. Yes, but you might not like what happens.
-Will the Lyrans become a worthy superpower? They do need saving and desperate times call for desperate measures.
-What's the next step on the fiction journey? That's being mapped out now. In the chat Ray said they'll be in the ilClan era for a long time but there are lots of interesting stories in the works. They're in "Phase 1" now with plans out to "Phase 4"
-Raven Alliance novel? Mike Ciaravella is working on one.
-Will they fill in the pre-3025 era? Little by little, two pre-3025 German novels are in the process of translation and will go through fact-check to see if they can be considered canon
-Will there be a sequel to Damocles Sanction? Maybe, Mike's plate is very full right now
-Any intelligence units/agents as protagonists in upcoming fiction? Yes, particularly Voidbreaker
-When will Honour and Glory be wrapped up? Soon, Jason Hansa's last piece is in editing, it might be split in two.
-As a new hopeful contributor, what should you do? Established characters or find a corner? John says find a corner and develop it, the bigger elements are very complicated and harder to get a handle on.
-What is Jason Schemetzer's next project? They're working on that now, John would like it to be another Dragoons ilClan era book.
-is the Republic really gone, or will a remnant form? Trial of Brithright will deal with this to some degree.
-Mike's favourite eras are Jihad and Dark Age.
From Talon's interview with Loren Coleman:
-Asked about the decision to include a pre-painted mini in the star league forcepacks: Loren really wanted to do it while Randall was reticent around whether it'd improve sales, which is the reversal of their usual dynamic. Loren sold him over in part by suggesting they theme the packs around the Star League.
-Shadows of Faith crashed after 10-12 chapters and Loren only kinda realised what went wrong recently.
-Den of Wolves is about 20,000 words from being done, 10K each from Loren and Mike Stackpole. Loren's writing was derailed by his family tragedy of course, but they're hoping to get it finished soon. The book is going to be more Jamie, Joshua and Natasha meeting and teaming up and will end around the decision to form the Dragoons. They're hoping to do a sequel about the formation of the unit and then if they decide to make a third novel it'd be the arrival in the Inner Sphere and their first contract.
-Will they do another kickstarter? Probably. What will be the theme? Nobody knows. It'll probably be era-agnostic but it will probably have fiction elements, of course.
-Have they considered making BattleTech model kits? Yes, and they "might have something going on for that"
-Will ComStar return? Never say never
-Will there be more Destiny support? If they have the right project. It did OK, but there's no great drive to do more with it.
-The Star League Forcepacks pre-empted the FedSuns and Kurita ones, partially because Loren really wanted to do the pre-paint but didn't want anyone to think one of the factions was being shown preference.
-Any chance of other LAM packs? They joked about Ray saying on-stream that they needed more LAMs (but probably no)
-Why are Savannah Masters two to a base? Because they're small!
-Any chance of Infantry? Probably not in plastic in true scale, but maybe if they find a good way to do it.
-Updates on visiting PAX Australia? Unofficially they've been given a booth but they don't have confirmation yet. As soon as they know they'll be telling us.
From John's Interview with Michael Ciaravella:
-John is intending to reissue the Capellan Solution books in a single volume
-They talk about about how the ilClan/Capellan story had to be split up because the scope was so big, and the Cappellan side was given to Tom Leveen. Mike's 40,000 words over the limit on his current draft for Trial of Brithright.
-hardest things for John to edit? The spine novels, there's so many moving parts, so many references, timeframes... it's a lot to keep straight.
-Will we see more of Zeta Battalion? John hopes so
From the graphic novel roundtable:
-Mike Stackpole and Bryan Young will be writing the story, Eldon Cowgur will be artist.
-They're writing Full Script (which is where the writer gives a description of the page, number of panels and disposition on page, then what's in each panel and dialogue), this has been the standard comics script style since the 2000s
-Ray is going to work to ensure that the comics fit the tone and fit into the story in the universe
-There will be some established comics writers contributing to volume 1, but contracts have yet to be signed
-the stories will be mercenary themed
-volume 1 will be more of an anthology, 2-3 will be a single ongoing story.
-Each volume will be 88 pages long, expect them to come out over a span of years, not a monthly format
-Era is ilClan
-When asked about comics or creators that would have a similar vibe to the BattleTech comics, Bryan talked about Walt Simonson's adaptation of Alien and Jeff Smith's Bone in terms of economy of storytelling and techniques. Everyone agreed that the tone should be BattleTech as opposed to feeling like another SF comic. Stackpole explicitly talked about how if there's a multi-page battle then damage should accumulate over time and performance should drop off and so on.
-Why not adapt the Warrior Trilogy? John would be open to serialising comic adaptations of the big comics. Stackpole pointed out that the pacing of comics is very different to prose, citing how you can get inside a character's skull, but in a comic that has to be expressed in body language. You can have a page detailing a character's internal conflict before answering a question but in a comic that would be a couple of panels. Bryan brought up how the scale of storytelling is different, there's a lot more material in a novel than in a movie or comic. If you're adapting a novel to a comic or movie you have to cut stuff. He also cited screenwriter Graham Greene who was well-known for doing adaptations and apparently only had a good time when he was adapting a short story.
-will the character be wearing coolant vests and briefs or coolant suits? Depends on the story and character, it'll be used as a visual cue for the characters.
-Release format (Full retail or digital+PoD) has not been determined. Kickstarter backers will get digital for sure, John would love to go full retail.
-Will there be variant covers? maybe
-Will PPCs be lighting bolts or balls of energy? Byran said they come in a glass, it's grain alcohol cut with something. More seriously it'll probably be an energy beam like the cover of Shrapnel 15
Will the Highlanders will take employment with the CC again?
Who asked this, and why the CC would hire a bunch betrayers that backstab their employers? (CC in 3028, and FC in 3057, and let's not talk about the Jihad)
Personally as a new(ish) Battletech player I am perfectly fine with the lack of WYSIWYG.
The relaxed nature is particularly liberating from a long-time 40K player. It gives every model miles more of use. Instead of a favorite model that I only ever bring out when I want to field that particular variant, I can use that favorite model as a bunch of different variants.
Not that that stops me from some recreational WYSIWYG, which is what I use 3D prints for.
For instance, I have a friend who has a set of files for the Shadow Hawk that is done in the style of the old Dougram cartoon (with the LRM-5 as a round shoulder mount), but with all the individual variants modelled literally WYSIWYG. Right now I am painting a Shadow Hawk 2K, with a PPC on the shoulder instead an autocannon, and another Dougram-style that is the Royal 2HB version with a laser on each arm, and an extra SRM 2 on the center of the chest.
I just got a heads up that international backers got hit with a nasty increase in shipping prices. Supposedly someone got a 100$ shipping charge at batallion level.
I haven't received any emails yet, but this is concerning. Anybody got their email with the shipping charges?
M.
Edit: KS comments are going crazy with people posting the shipping charges.
I didn't get an email specifically about shipping, but I can view a shipping total by clicking through the link in the "Last Call to Update Your Shipping Address" email that arrived in the last day or two. I think that's what some (maybe all) of the distressed people are looking at.
My projected total is certainly higher than anticipated, at $68 on a relatively modest Battalion-level pledge ($275). It's unclear if the shipping total is listed in CAD or USD (but either way it's higher than the ~50 CAD or so I was expecting). It seems some of the EU pledgers have astronomically higher shipping projections.
Pretty disappointing if it stands. Being patient and ordering from retailers would've probably been less expensive in the end. There's already been a lot of back-and-forth between the simps and the haters on the topic of "this kickstarter is just a preorder" but I think that another layer of ugliness will be added to that conversation if the KS shipping fees ultimately dwarf those people would have paid to get stuff from domestic retailers, on top of the actual product prices being interchangeable.
No. QML uses the ports of Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Catalyst mentioned on their discord that they’re looking into the shipping prices to make sure that they are correct, but with this being Easter weekend they’re not expecting any news until Tuesday at the earliest.
I did the same than you, and got a provisional 78$ to Japan. Higher than expected but not bad unless the Japanese goverment hits me with extra tariffs.
