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2024/09/30 00:12:38
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2024/09/30 20:45:13
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
[edit] - In fact, not even just the battle armour, how are the mould lines looking?
Honestly they are so small the detail is basically irrelevant.
I don't honestly see a ton of difference in quality between these and elementals. It's a bit hard to judge in an unpainted state.
The Salvage boxes seemed to be roughly the same quality as the stuff in the Core Box. As in, "it will need some work but it's not a ton of effort to make it presentable for painting". Mostly leftover vents, not much in the way of mold lines. You get what you pay for, preassembled cheap plastics aren't going to come as clean a stuff you cut off the sprue yourself and file down.
Honestly they are so small the detail is basically irrelevant.
I don't honestly see a ton of difference in quality between these and elementals. It's a bit hard to judge in an unpainted state.
The Salvage boxes seemed to be roughly the same quality as the stuff in the Core Box. As in, "it will need some work but it's not a ton of effort to make it presentable for painting". Mostly leftover vents, not much in the way of mold lines. You get what you pay for, preassembled cheap plastics aren't going to come as clean a stuff you cut off the sprue yourself and file down.
Honestly, that's pretty bad, even at that scale... Especially given the price point. PVC just hits a hard limit for BA and infantry I'm afraid.
I've recently painted up these very basic 3D prints (and I have an ANCIENT printer by today's standard... And it really puts these new CGL models to shame.
At $30 for a box of 4 of these bases, they really did drop the ball on this box. That's really not even a cheap price point for what you get. You would pay far less than that for instance in the new Armoured Clash boxes and you don't just get 5 times as many models for the price point, it's high quality polysterene plastic too.
These new BA aren't cheap, but they sure look that way.
The boy, I say, the boy is as sharp as a sack of wet mice...
2024/10/01 15:35:08
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
My experience is that for whatever reason small pockets minis don't photograph well. Every unpainted BT pvc mini i have seen in photos looks like utter crap, but then I look at the same mini in person and it's night and day.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
2024/10/01 16:06:22
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
Honestly they are so small the detail is basically irrelevant.
I don't honestly see a ton of difference in quality between these and elementals. It's a bit hard to judge in an unpainted state.
The Salvage boxes seemed to be roughly the same quality as the stuff in the Core Box. As in, "it will need some work but it's not a ton of effort to make it presentable for painting". Mostly leftover vents, not much in the way of mold lines. You get what you pay for, preassembled cheap plastics aren't going to come as clean a stuff you cut off the sprue yourself and file down.
Honestly, that's pretty bad, even at that scale... Especially given the price point. PVC just hits a hard limit for BA and infantry I'm afraid.
I've recently painted up these very basic 3D prints (and I have an ANCIENT printer by today's standard... And it really puts these new CGL models to shame.
At $30 for a box of 4 of these bases, they really did drop the ball on this box. That's really not even a cheap price point for what you get. You would pay far less than that for instance in the new Armoured Clash boxes and you don't just get 5 times as many models for the price point, it's high quality polysterene plastic too.
These new BA aren't cheap, but they sure look that way.
Mine are a different sculpt and I painted them in like 10 minutes for testing purposes, but the sculpts are way sharper than the official ones, even with my potato phone camera
Spoiler:
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2024/10/01 16:07:12
2024/10/01 17:23:18
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
Not much new news since last week, but checking in nonetheless.
Wave 2 Address Verification (Domestic, CAN, and RoW) went out last week, and shipping for Wave 2 has already begun this week.
For domestic/CAN/RoW (areas without hubs), as the shorted merchandise arrives, complete orders will be placed in the queue and will receive an Address Verification email ahead of the order being shipped.
For Europe, Asia, and Australia/NZ, hubs are still waiting for all shipments to arrive before beginning fulfillment.
Clarifier from last week on the Arano Coins in a nice bulleted list. Apologies for the confusion:
The plain coins were add-ons available that came from the Clan Invasion Kickstarter
The Enamel coins are from THIS campaign, and these were the ones we were short
You can contact QML if the Arano Coin is the only item holding up your order and choose to remove it from your order entirely for a $10 store credit.
We are aware of strikes and inclement weather world-wide and it may cause complications, but we won't know for sure unless or until it happens. So far, we are still on-track with our updates from last week.
That's all for now!
Have a great week, everyone!
2024/10/01 17:56:37
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - QUICK CHECK IN (UPDATE #100)
OP seems to be borked again. Posting to see if that fixes the issue.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2024/10/01 22:08:56
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - QUICK CHECK IN (UPDATE #100)
I love most of the new stuff, but there is honestly no way I am paying $25+ for four bases of even the most detailed power armor figures (which these are definitely not) when I can get some pretty good analogues from Death Ray designs for 28 figures for less than 20 bucks (16 from my favorite online store), giving me 7 4-man bases.
Lots of people thought the Elementals were expensive, and they are still a better deal, and look better.
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
2024/10/01 22:50:32
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - QUICK CHECK IN (UPDATE #100)
1st October 2024
Guests: Devin Lewis and Will Schoonover, designers of Munchkin Shadowrun
News:
-New BattleTech Kickstarter update went out, they’re hoping to put something out weekly from here even if there’s nothing new.
-New releases:
--BattleTech universe goes live tomorrow (2nd October)
--Force Manual: Davion and Mercs paint set: October 11th
--Letter of the Law and Heavy is the Head by Phil Lee both available for pre-order now.
-30th October releases:
--Technical blueprints
--Force manual: Kurita (brought forward from next year)
--Revised Support Deck
--Field Commander’s case
-The store newsletter was mentioned
Q&A
-Will there be a BattleTech Munchkin? Could be, but they don’t like to invite speculation on projects they haven’t announced
-Are the product release dates North America or Worldwide? Worldwide
-When is McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry out? It’s supposed to be October 30th, B&N exclusive for the time
-Any updates on shipping costs for international backers? The new website should be live in the next six months which will allow for more webshop functionality and they’re still pursuing international hubs
-When are we cloning Randall? The world tour has been great but it’s been a lot on Randall on top of his regular work for CGL.
-Any MUL update? Rem talked about the delayed interview, it turns out that one of the devs, Jeff Gordon, died of cancer last week. He had been quite ill for a long time and Ray noted how much of his limited time he gave to BattleTech. Tex and the Black Pants legion raised at least $18,000 for cancer research during their premiere on Saturday
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2024/10/01 23:49:14
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - SHIPPING, SUPPORT AND STREET DATES (UPDATE #99)
I'm perfectly fine with these, they work good for tabletop. It's the price that's kept me from getting them, 4 bases for $30 is just too much. Detailwise, they're not good, but workable. A few extra blacklines painted into the recesses and a few sharp line highlights where a corner should be and they'll look great, I did the same with the old 3rd ed box set plastics that everyone compained about, they make fine gaming pieces. Ideally the model does all the work with crisp corners and deep recesses, but It's not that hard to paint a little extra detail that isn't there. Once they start hitting online discounts and sales I may pick up a box. I'll take blobby PVC over resin for these tiny, breakable minis. I need models that can survive a tumble when I inevitably drop them on the ground mid paintjob and they scatter across the floor in a direction and speed that defies physics.
The Thanatos concept sketch by Harri Kallio and Anthony Scroggins.
Spoiler:
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2024/10/09 23:19:54
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - QUICK CHECK IN (UPDATE #100)
New update. They have finally started dropping regular updates directly on the Kickstarter page again. Huzzah!
Unfortunately the practical upshot is that anyone outside the US is probably looking at delivery after Christmas.
Manufacturing is “on track”, which is still odd given that in June/July they were apparently just waiting for customs to clear, and then more weeks for distribution to international hubs.
Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!
Not much new information this week. Waiting on a couple straggling stock orders to ship, meanwhile some stock orders are showing tracking to be delivered in mere days!
We are in a waiting game for the next few weeks for the shipments to arrive, but we are inching forward. Wave 2 Domestic, Canada and RoW orders are still moving along.
We are so excited for international hub fulfillment to begin soon (and we know you are too!)
_______________________
Additionally, for anyone still in need of support:
If your pledge contains House Arano Challenge Coin, you can choose to message QML to see if that is the only item holding your order. If so, you can choose to have it removed from your order permanently and you will receive a CGL store credit of $10. Contact QML through their customer service link below if this applies to you. This is the only item available for cancellation at this time.
Also, contact QML at the following link if you have damaged items, or if you believe a package/shipment has gone missing. This applies to all backers, regardless of country.
* You have gotten more than one vehicle (as all potentially affected backers are receiving one additional salvage box) from Mercs salvage boxes
* You have potentially defective miniatures (Please include a picture in your first email)
Lorcan Nagle wrote:Episode 29
Tuesday Newsday: Episode 29
15th October 2024.
No guest, Q&A session only
News:
-PAX Unplugged will be the next big stream, they’re going to do a lot of product announcements including some on-stage.
-A Mercs update went out during the stream.
--Not much news. Shipping for Wave 2 domestic, Canada and areas that have no local hub is ongoing.
--Some shortfall production still finishing up, but the first shipments should be arriving to the hubs in the next couple of days.
-Rem says to definitely tune in to the Pax unplugged stream for BattleTech fans, there will be some big things announced.
Q&A
-Can we get an explanation of why international backers are behind retailers for Mercs fulfillment? They’re not. The only thing that will be delivered after retailers will be people who’s surveys were not resolved until after August - these people are now being referred to as Wave 3.
-All shipping from international hubs is held until all missing items arrive
-Will the pink Urbie hoodies be on the webstore? Yes, Rem needs to follow up with Talon on some items which haven’t been added to the store yet.
-Any update on Aces? Yes, but not until PAX Unplugged
-Will there be a sourcebook for the Free Rasalhague Republic? Nothing on the product schedule yet.
-Do we have a release date for McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry? It’s been pushed back to November, pending arrival of the boat with the shipment.
-How is the Succession Wars board game for BattleTech going? It’s still being discussed but no solid update at present. Ask again at PAX Unplugged
-Does Rem like the MW5 Clans launch trailer? Rem hasn’t seen it yet.
-I have no shorted items and should be in Wave 1, why has my order not shipped? Email QML and ask, they might be able to give an update.
At this point, Rem’s understanding is that if you haven’t got an address confirmation yet and are North America/a non-hub country
-Has Rem tried a ’Mech other than Widowmaker? Yes, she’s tried the Atlas,Rifleman, Archer, King Crab and Nova Cat. But the Daishi has so many pips to fill in
-What are the 20 items short in the hubs? Rem doesn’t know. Mentioning something that’s missing usually ends up with QML being drowned in requests to change their order and it’s impossible to fulfill all those requests.
-Any word of fixing international shipping on the webstore? It was discussed today on the Director’s call, VAT is still an issue, GDPR causes issues for the VAT filings as well, an issue which just reared its head. They’re still looking at using
-Could there be a Tuesday Newsday where Randall can show off the gifts he’s been given on his world tour? Maybe, Rem will ask and try and do it early next year
-Where can you sign up for the CGL newsletter? Scroll to the bottom of the store front page
-Update on the Retail grinder kits? This was discussed today as well. 1,000 kits were printed, 900 are going to distributors. Some are going to be given to high volume retailers. There’ll also be a SKU kit where the grinder pack will be included with a stock of starter items. They’re open to selling it to customers but they need to consider costs (there are 32 minis for example)
-Can we see a mockup of the Arano coin? Rem doesn’t have it to hand but has put it on the list.
-Can I remove any items from my Kickstarter to get it to ship faster aside from the Arano coin? No.
-Have there been any lessons learned from the mercs kickstarter communication?
-- Rem’s first CGL kickstarter was Edgezone, and she was dedicated there to full transparency and you end up being damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
--There’s always problems with Kickstarters, things that go wrong in production, shipping and so on. And what you commit to in writing will come back to haunt you if there’s a problem.
--Part of why they don’t want to communicate is, say the 20 items that are missing will lead to 7,000 people contacting QML to get things changed and that’s untenable. Ultimately giving too much information causes problems.
--Rem has taken over writing the updates recently and running them past all stakeholders for approval, and a select group of other readers like the Discord mods, and she’s trying to balance being informative and not causing issues.
--The massive success of the Kickstarter has been another issue because it’s meant that planned production orders have had to be increased which causes scheduling issues with manufacturers. The large number of SKUs has been an issue as well. Rem pushed for a lot of merch in the kickstarter in part to get it to international backers who can’t order from the store… And then it turned out the Arano Coin order for transposed with another one, so 30 Arano coins were printed instead of 3000.
-Will Somerset Strikers be out soon? It’s one of the later packs coming out next year.
-Will there be any CGL tie-ins with MW5 Clans? Rem doesn’t know, she’ll ask.
-Any plans to digitize old BattleTech products? Rem isn’t sure, she’ll ask Ray.
-When will the 40th anniversary dice tray be available? Rem will pester Talon, she’s pretty sure it’s one of the products held up with the recent store issues
-Will the Arano coin be on the webstore later? Rem isn’t sure but she thinks so.
-Any idea of release dates for the Kickstarter Audiobooks? Will Rem narrate any? Rem’s company was running the Shadowrun audiobooks and that’s ground to a halt due to her being hired by CGL, she’s hired a new manager to take over the Shadowrun audiobooks. The BattleTech books are with another company and they have some in progress but CGL won’t be renewing their contract and it’s going to be under Rem’s company as well. Rem has narrated some Shadowrun books in the past, would love to do more and do BattleTech ones, but she’s got no time and is still meant to be doing a full Shadowrun trilogy.
-Any update on store credit for Kickstarter shipping charges? Rem will double-check the status of outstanding issues
-How did the Target sales end up going? They did good, now that Essentials is on clearance in Target they want to check release strategies. They did a second print and want to get it out there.
-Do you think Mercs will be fulfilled internationally before the end of the year? Rem thinks yes. Worst case scenario stuff should be in the hubs by the end of November and she thinks it’s feasible to get those orders out by the end of the year because they’re spread between multiple hubs.
When will we have an interview with someone from CSO? Good question, Rem added it to the list.
-Any plans of expanding merch into figures or model kits? CGL is open to so much right now. No promises but there’s a million conversations about ideas like this. Part of Rem’s traveling for CGL is taking meetings with possible licensees. At San diego Comicon she met with Wētā, for example.
-How is QML doing post-hurricanes? They were only fully closed for one day, and the docker's strike resolved quickly. There are knock on delays like ships taking more time to arrive though
-Will the missing items list be made public? If it is, it won’t be until after the kickstarter is fulfilled and closed out.
-Big Red was in the chat and Rem joked about wanting to push him out of a car. When asked why, she said that you can’t say one sentence without him messing with you if he’s in the mood.
-Why is FM: Davion not on DriveThru RPG yet? Rem will chase.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2024/10/15 22:19:55
"--Part of why they don’t want to communicate is, say the 20 items that are missing will lead to 7,000 people contacting QML to get things changed and that’s untenable. Ultimately giving too much information causes problems."
...while I can see the logic of this, it still feels very much like a cop out.
Its the half-measures they are taking that are so frustrating. Proper information is the list of items that are missing, the current timeline to get them rectified, and therefore what the new ETA is for things to start moving.
They don't have to offer the ability for people to change their pledges or anything complex. They didn't have to bring up the ability to drop the Arano coin, and it was probably a mistake to do so. There are lots of comments on the Kickstarter board of people dropping the coin, but then their shipment not being sent anyway because its caught with one of the other short stock items.
"giving too much information" is not the problem. the problem is that CGL are not pitting enough resource on this to understand the problem, and therfore be able to convey accurate information. Therefore its all crap platitudes like "we are excited to be able to start sending stuff soon".
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2024/10/16 15:26:36
Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!
22nd October 2024
Guest: Jason Hardy, RPG Division Director
News:
-Backer update is coming soon for Mercs. Rem is just back in town after last Tuesday Newsday so she doesn’t have any solid info to report.
-New releases out now:
--Mercenaries paint set
--Force Manual: Davion
--BattleTech Universe
-Rem joined a grinder late in the con and played as a bounty, the player who took her down is getting a set of the 40th Anniversary dice
-BattleTech and Shadowrun remain their own things outside Jason’s RPG division.
Q&A:
-They’re discussing what to announce for all games at Pax unplugged.
-Any word on McCarron’s Armoured Cav forcepack? It was originally slated for this month, as of two weeks ago it hadn’t arrived at PSI and Rem hasn’t gotten an update yet.
-Will the mercs forcepack release dates be announced at Pax? If they have a solid grasp on kickstarter fulfillment, yes.
-Black Widow Company Command Lance when? Rem wasn’t sure if this was a serious question or a joke she wasn’t in as, but nothing is on the schedule.
-Upcoming releases:
--October:
---Battletech Technical Blueprints
---Force manual: Kurita
---Field commander’s case
---Battlefield Support deck: Revised
--November:
---Hot Spots: Hinterlands, though it’s not at the warehouse yet so that may slip.
---Second Star League Assault lance
-Any word on Star league forcepacks 3 and 4? 3rd pack should be May, 4th isn’t on the schedule yet.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.
Kanluwen wrote: This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.
Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...
tneva82 wrote: You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something...
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
Flinty wrote: Seems like US retailers are getting their stuff now. Will AUS/EU/UK/NZ get anything this side of Christmas? Seems unlikely.
They're not getting their stuff(bar those that backed for product to put on shelves), they're getting the notification to pre-order for release of the retail product.
It's to get numbers for what they'll need on release.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2024/10/29 14:26:59
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