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 Kanluwen wrote:

They hit $4mil.

Any clue what's a Rifle and Command Lance on the stream?

M.

I think there's an updated graphic on the KS itself now, Miguel, as it didn't look like that when I just checked.

Contents were listed as:
- Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun
- Bulldog Medium Tank
- SturmFeur Heavy Tank
- Von Luckner Heavy Tank

Hetzer would be a nice addition. Thanks Dysartes.

M.

SturmFeur? I don't own any of those.

 Ghaz wrote:

 zend wrote:
Clan Invasion's $150 tier gave you all of them, plus a shirt and custom dice to match your faction choice.

Shirts are in the Catalyst Game Labs store so no need to waith for a Kickstarter if you need a new shirt, as are dice which can actually be used as dice (unlike the misshapen so-called 'dice' from the CI Kickstarter).

So long as you're from the USA, you're right. Otherwise, buying from the Catalyst store is a non-starter. They wanted $150 to send me a premium mini to Europe.

So actually, yes, there IS a need.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
SturmFeur? I don't own any of those.

The names don't really mean anything to me - aside from the Hetzer, in historical/WoT context - but the Von Luckner name amuses me

 Albertorius wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

 zend wrote:
Clan Invasion's $150 tier gave you all of them, plus a shirt and custom dice to match your faction choice.

Shirts are in the Catalyst Game Labs store so no need to waith for a Kickstarter if you need a new shirt, as are dice which can actually be used as dice (unlike the misshapen so-called 'dice' from the CI Kickstarter).

So long as you're from the USA, you're right. Otherwise, buying from the Catalyst store is a non-starter. They wanted $150 to send me a premium mini to Europe.

So actually, yes, there IS a need.

Plus 21% VAT, and whatever Correos decides to extort from you for the priviledge of paying the VAT. Catalyst is totally a no go outside the US. (Same to Japan is 110$, just checked)

M.

I didn't look that closely at the add-ons when I pledged yesterday - were the t-shirts not in there?

Nope. There is just the one 40th anniversary T-shirt available I think.

I don't mind the delay, it seems like a hollow threat on KS, as pretty much any KS ever was delayed by several month or years. I don't expect timely delivery anymore. So 2-3 months more seems neglectable.
The extra force packs are direly needed, that was a good move.
Right now, at batallion level I get around 260€ retail price worth of minis for 275$ plus about 100$ of VAT and shipping. As I don't care about stickers and posters, the free forcepacks and salvage boxes make all the difference.
No idea how this works out for our friends in the US that get stuff for very low retail prices anyway. Seems like a pretty bad deal for them especially...

Hmm. Seems to be going in The right direct though. On the main page, the 5m stretch gives out a free forcepack to Company and 2 forcepacks to battalion. Update 11 seems a bit less sure on that though.

 Dysartes wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
SturmFeur? I don't own any of those.

The names don't really mean anything to me - aside from the Hetzer, in historical/WoT context - but the Von Luckner name amuses me

They are all classics from 3025 and 3026, which with the original 3050 clan mechs are by far the most memorable assets in BattleTech.

Von Luckner was in the original 3025 book as a sample advanced heavy tank, it has a well rounded arsenal and weighs 75 tons. In requires a fusion engine so is expensive.

The other three are from 3026

Bulldog is the standard 'laser tank', in the Inner Sphere tankls follow two patterns, simple cheap tanks powered by oil burning engines, they tend to only mount auotcannon and missile racks. If they do has a olaser as the Bulldog does they need to carry a lot of gadgetry to support it, so overall the tech is crude cheap and mass inefficient.

The Hetzer resembles the WW2 tank of the same name, is a wheeled assault gun with a long history of being manufactured with the cheapest materials and the most shortcuts. This does not effect its functionality in the rules, but in the background a crew assigned to a new Hetzer will spend the first few months getting the vehicle servicable. It has decent armour and is equipped only with an AC20 in the front. It is unpopular with crews being a deathtrap, but popular with players because it is the perfect ambush piece and is a very memorable design.

The StrumFeur is a heavy missile tank, it is heavier than the LRM carrier and has fewer missile racks, but makes up for this with armour, lots and lots of armour. It was a 'recent design' in 3026 and was intentded as a survivalbel missile support vehicle. It is frankly overinsured as vehicles die to crits not armour loss. We dont see it often and while remembered it didnt make the shortlist of vehicles to add to computer games, it is a good addition as its armour values are wildly high, offering a change in gameplay.

Overall it is a good force pack. I will be wanting at least one. I would however have preferred a swap out for the Hetzer, including another 'quality tank' like the Patton/Rommel instead. The Hetzer deserves to go into a militia support pack for cheap vehicles like J Edgars, Scimitars, Saladins, Savannah Masters, Scorpions or Strikers.

Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

 Dysartes wrote:
I didn't look that closely at the add-ons when I pledged yesterday - were the t-shirts not in there?

Yet another failing of this campaign.

Watch the pledge levels please and the stretchgoal lists.

The physical copy of Sun Tzu, Art of War, which presumably is the actual book with in character forward, was listed as Battalion or above unlock for $500K.
Now it is only included in the updated lists for Regiment.
These 'mistakes' happen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

The updates are very ambiguous. The only thing they have locked in is a second bonus Force Pack at $5M, I don't see a third at that pledge level. Still it is not a kick in the teeth, just rather cheap for our commitment..
Also bonus Force Packs might be exactly that, Support Packs are not guaranteed beyond the initial pledge, and they tried to wiggle out of even that.

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

Sorry, yes, I meant 9 in total. Personally I dont think the double forcepacks offer is necessary, but 50% extra seems to bring it into a reasonable position.

@Orlanth - the update text is ambiguous, but the 5m stretch goal on the mail page says 2.

 Flinty wrote:

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

Sorry, yes, I meant 9 in total. Personally I don't think the double forcepacks offer is necessary, but 50% extra seems to bring it into a reasonable position.

@Orlanth - the update text is ambiguous, but the 5m stretch goal on the mail page says 2.

I have a strong feeling that that is a running total. I would like to be wrong, but Catalyst love to max the sales hype too much in this campaign, and have not rally been ethical so far. Once we reach 5 million, which i did not think we would get to frankly, then 'my bad' and 'sorry about the misunderstanding' and a vague promise appears for 6 mil that offers more than it does.
One inconsistency I have noticed is that Catalyst are very careful with their wording. They offers us 'more plastic' it means more marketing, but it isn't a lie. They parsed out months of pre project content into 'unlocks'. They inflate values of .pdf and 4" mechs to pad out deal sizes, yet they are suddenly sloppy over future rewards. I am not buying it.

That being said if it is true and we do get 9 Forcepacks for Battalion, then that pledge is looking reasonably solid now. It's Regiment that gets the kick, and Full Kerensky of course, but anyone backing that is lost to reason.

 Albertorius wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

 zend wrote:
Clan Invasion's $150 tier gave you all of them, plus a shirt and custom dice to match your faction choice.

Shirts are in the Catalyst Game Labs store so no need to waith for a Kickstarter if you need a new shirt, as are dice which can actually be used as dice (unlike the misshapen so-called 'dice' from the CI Kickstarter).

So long as you're from the USA, you're right. Otherwise, buying from the Catalyst store is a non-starter. They wanted $150 to send me a premium mini to Europe.

So actually, yes, there IS a need.

Ping them an Email about that and they reduce the shipping massively, for my last order direct from them was an Alpha strike box and 3 mech packs, postage was £16 ish

 Orlanth wrote:
Watch the pledge levels please and the stretchgoal lists.

The physical copy of Sun Tzu, Art of War, which presumably is the actual book with in character forward, was listed as Battalion or above unlock for $500K.
Now it is only included in the updated lists for Regiment.
These 'mistakes' happen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

The updates are very ambiguous. The only thing they have locked in is a second bonus Force Pack at $5M, I don't see a third at that pledge level. Still it is not a kick in the teeth, just rather cheap for our commitment..
Also bonus Force Packs might be exactly that, Support Packs are not guaranteed beyond the initial pledge, and they tried to wiggle out of even that.

Apologies, should have been clearer : Battalion base pledge : 6FP, 5M stretch goal adds +2FP, another earlier stretch goal added another FP = 9 total.

Currently at Veteran and staying there until the 5M is reached (some 800k to go, averaging 31k/day.. possible).

I'm not expecting the other levels (6M, 8M) to be attained (unless they drop some superlative value/money and all the backers go bananas).

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Orlanth wrote:
Watch the pledge levels please and the stretchgoal lists.

The physical copy of Sun Tzu, Art of War, which presumably is the actual book with in character forward, was listed as Battalion or above unlock for $500K.
Now it is only included in the updated lists for Regiment.
These 'mistakes' happen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Old-Four-Arms wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Hmm. If it gets to the 5m then I might be tempted to bump up to battalion actually. 9 extra forcepacks bring the ppm down to about 3.50, and it comes with a map pack as well.

Typo ? 9 total ForcePacks (6 standard + 3, if we hit 5M)..

The updates are very ambiguous. The only thing they have locked in is a second bonus Force Pack at $5M, I don't see a third at that pledge level. Still it is not a kick in the teeth, just rather cheap for our commitment..
Also bonus Force Packs might be exactly that, Support Packs are not guaranteed beyond the initial pledge, and they tried to wiggle out of even that.

Apologies, should have been clearer : Battalion base pledge : 6FP, 5M stretch goal adds +2FP, another earlier stretch goal added another FP = 9 total.

Currently at Veteran and staying there until the 5M is reached (some 800k to go, averaging 31k/day.. possible).

I'm not expecting the other levels (6M, 8M) to be attained (unless they drop some superlative value/money and all the backers go bananas).

No apology needed, you did not read this wrong. It is just inconsistent with the wording on Update 9, and I suspect is a running total to make it appear to offer more than it does.
Stretchgoals are to get people to pledge, they cant be backtracked on but that can be 'clarified', Catalyst has got what they wanted, and people have chased a bonus with extra pledge that might not actually be there.
I would be happy to be wrong but lets wait and see, we might get some mileage on holding their feet to the fire if it is a 'mistake' after all Update 9 does not offer a Force pack to pledged at Company, and the Stretchgoal list does. This would give a strong case to indicate that the Update 9 text has been superceded and the 5 million unlock is not accumulative.
Catalyst may not listen, but Kickstarter might. Stretchgoals are funding lures, and I know from talking to other developers they are not allowed to backtrack on unlocked stretchgoals once the backers have unlocked them. If KS allowed bait and switch they themselves could be in legal hot water.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:
Just finished watching the interview with Anthony Scroggins. They will be moving directly into working on the faction-specific ForcePacks to be released alongside the corresponding Force Manuals. It also sounds like each faction may have era-specific ForcePacks (e.g., Davion would have Clan Invasion and ilClan ForcePacks, etc.).

Where was the interview?

On the livestream mentioned HERE. Unfortunately I don't see a way and go back and play yesterday's stream.

@Orlanth - update 12 has just confirmed the packs, and I don’t interpret the text as being a cumulative thing.

750k to go, and kicktraq ndifates almost 200k increase today so far, so looks promising.

 Formosa wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

 zend wrote:
Clan Invasion's $150 tier gave you all of them, plus a shirt and custom dice to match your faction choice.

Shirts are in the Catalyst Game Labs store so no need to waith for a Kickstarter if you need a new shirt, as are dice which can actually be used as dice (unlike the misshapen so-called 'dice' from the CI Kickstarter).

So long as you're from the USA, you're right. Otherwise, buying from the Catalyst store is a non-starter. They wanted $150 to send me a premium mini to Europe.

So actually, yes, there IS a need.

Ping them an Email about that and they reduce the shipping massively, for my last order direct from them was an Alpha strike box and 3 mech packs, postage was £16 ish

Was that just to their customer support, with what you were looking to order but the shipping cost put you off?

 Flinty wrote:
@Orlanth - update 12 has just confirmed the packs, and I don’t interpret the text as being a cumulative thing.

Ok, very good.

CGL just clarified in the 'Comments' that Veteran backers DO receive a Salvage Box at the $5M mark per Update #10 despite not being noted on the $5M Stretch Goal graphic.

Another comment indicated that they are updating the main page with renders of the mechs and vehicles in each box. Sounds like a good idea

I get the feeling that the smoothness of the first couple of days of the campaign has been rather stymied by the Adepticon shenanigans

Oh well, it was an important hype builder.

 Flinty wrote:
Another comment indicated that they are updating the main page with renders of the mechs and vehicles in each box. Sounds like a good idea

I get the feeling that the smoothness of the first couple of days of the campaign has been rather stymied by the Adepticon shenanigans

I'm surprised they seemed to have been caught on the hop not having graphics and descriptions of the boxes or a add ons list ready for the KS launch.

Yeah that's a pretty major oversight considering that's a huge part of what interests people in backing the KS.

I think its because they distributed all that media on other sites and kind of thought fans would keep clicking and following links to find the info elsewhere.
Kind of like how some of their marketing was "buy this £0 product from our store to get the marketing".

It "works" but its not straight forward

I get the impression Catalyst was a guy who scrapped up enough to get the license for books and tabletop to a largely bygone property, and over a decade later the company has managed to grow the property back beyond their own size and expertise because a dedicated fanbase was just waiting for anyone to do it. They clearly didn't do any homework for the campaign and didn't make basic preparations like graphics, which are just things we've come to expect from companies doing Kickstarters of nearly any size, let alone one this big.

Which is nothing terrible against them, it's just obvious no one you would ever hire to run a Kickstarter campaign can be found among their staff. The changes they've been making are good though, but again I'm wondering what happens when this campaign hits a wall, which it will, and moreover what if it does so BEFORE we hit 5 million.