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Hi. I was just posting this to ask if anyone knows anything about Heavy Gear. The website didn't give me much and I was thinking about trying it out. Things like basic rules, cost of miniatures, and any experiance on the game if you have some. I feel like a change from the gothic, gore ridden 40k universe and wanted something more "classic" sci fi. Any ideas?

What would you like to know?

(I'm Dream Pod 9's web guy... and I'm working on the website when my day job lets me out of the office.)

The current basic rules are the Field Manual and the appropriate rulebook for the faction you're playing. The Starter sets come with mini-versions of these, or you can get the big versions.

Most 1,000 TV armies are roughly 3-5 Combat Groups (Squads), but this can vary a lot by army build. A core Heavy Gear 'philosophy' is that Gears (the main Mecha) have to be lucky or us pack tactics to take on tanks. As such, a single main battle tank can cost nearly as many points as a squad of Gears.

Anyway, the starter sets are $115 Canadian, and generally include rulebooks and two squads. For many forces it's a Strike and Fire Support Squad. Some, like the CEF, are a bit different as they're based around hovertanks and such. I know I've done some quick calculations and you get something like 500 points assuming you take the most basic squad builds. You can push this to 700 with weapon upgrades, swaps, skill increases, etc.

You'd probably want to add one more squad to a starter, but there's a lot of options. Want heavy armor? Add a tank or three. Want some more elite gears? add a stealthed squad.

Actually, I've got a question - how up to date are the rulebooks in the Starter boxes?

And any advice on magnetizing the weapons?

infinite_array wrote:And any advice on magnetizing the weapons?

Polarity sux?

Seriously, make sure each weapon you're magnezing has at least 2 contact points. This will avoid the "Spinning Guns of Doom!" syndrome. This is almost impossible to do with the shoulder mounted rocket pods, which might limit a few configurations.

My recommendation: blue tac, not magnets. Once you've worked out which weapon loads fit your playstyle then glue those puppies!

infinite_array wrote:Actually, I've got a question - how up to date are the rulebooks in the Starter boxes?

And any advice on magnetizing the weapons?

They're the newest rulebooks available. The Field Manual is the core rules, and the starers include an appropriate 2nd book. Some, like the CEF starter, actually incldue some bonus material from a couple other books.

I magnetize turrets and such, but haven't messed with the smaller weapons. The hand-helds are roughly similar to 40k in actual size, so think of magnetizing Space Marine bolters. Possible, definitely.


I magnetized the bodies and legs of all of these guys:




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(Of the above, I nearly have the infantry painted. I paint really, really slow..)