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Got another updated medium render. He's pretty much done now, just have to finish doing the enlarged versions of all of the other weapons. This guy has 2 missile pods, a Railgun and a Crusherfist



Lots of things coming together now for the campaign. I'm still hoping to launch it on the 20th. I'm going to build the page over the weekend and hopefully KS will approve it in time, if not I'll launch it as soon as they do. I expect to have my metal master minis delivered on Friday, so I'll have a few painted examples when the campaign launches plus pics of the 3D print for the 30mm terran light mech. I'll also have 3-4 different plastic terrain kits from Proxie Models for add-on items and we're chatting about making other plastic stuff too

In other news, I'm going to be publishing the game myself, but working with Game Salute for warehousing and retail distribution later on, and KS shipping using their new ShipNaked service. So I'll build everything, and they'll ship it wherever it needs to go. That means shipping will be much cheaper all over the world since they ship lots of stuff and get volume discounts. Here's a chart of what the shipping charges will be like. I think the average sweet spot pledge of 4 squads and a rulebook will be around 2-3 pounds but I'm not totally sure just yet... I'll weigh everything when I get the masters on friday



What I'm going to do is when the campaign funds, everyone who pledges $100 or more gets $5 bonus credit that you can use for shipping charges or for add-ons. Then there will be stretch goals mixed in to add another $5 here and there, so the more funding we get the more bonus credit you get to use on whatever you want. So, you'll still be charged shipping, you can just apply your credit toward that, or toward extras and just pay for shipping later in the pledge manager. The bonus credit will be treated like store credit in the pledge manager.

That's it for now. I'll post more pics when I get them. I'm going to do some high res 3D renders when I get the files for the medium mech and put together some squad shots

Quick update .. I was talking with Iron Wind last night about the 30mm Terran light mech, I haven't gotten the print just yet for them to give an accurate quote, but based on similar models they produce and the 15mm sized mechs they think it would be best to do the big ones in metal rather than resin. And then the price will likely be around $20 each. It's a little higher than I hoped but should still be OK.

I finished a new rules update last night, but I'm going to hold off on posting it till next week when I get some more background stuff and other rules to add to it. I mostly just changed some of the wording around and moved the custom mech building rules toward the front of the book, since the sets won't come with pilot cards now. So now it basically says "You can use pilot cards from the web or our upgrade packs to build a sanctioned team, or design your own mechs from scratch with these rules."

I've been talking with a bunch of folks who have been playing test games and many think the weapons are overpowered. I really wanted them to be, so there would be a lot of carnage, but I'm starting to agree now.. stuff dies too fast, and because of that the smaller squad level games with 3 mechs aren't as fun. So also in the next big update I'll be removing the power bonus for all weapons, though some will still have a bonus as part of their special ability, like Blasters will still have +1 Power for close range. I'm also going to remove heavy weapons, meaning bigger guns that take up 2 weapon slots. I'll keep the different weapons like the Ion Cannon and others, but they will all be standard weapons. Since the power of your weapon is based on the power of your Mech, you can still have powerful guns if you allocate your points properly. I'm also going to add a Ranged or Melee Combat requirement for a lot of weapons too, so some weapons will need a 2 in the proper attribute to wield, or 3 or 4. I'll probably group them up as Common weapons, uncommon and rare... or more like Standard Issue, Specialized and Experimental?

So that's where I'm at now. I should be getting the metal light mech samples today and the weather tomorrow will be perfect for spray priming outside. Gonna be busy painting for the next few days

Necros,

One quick question. Want to ensure I am reading, comprehending and playing correctly. For ranged and melee combat, if I have Salvo or Assault Mech, I get to roll double the attack dice, half for one weapon, half for the other (obviously 2 ranged or 2 melee, not 1 and 1). But then I can make that same attack again (double the dice), if I have another energy (action)?

I'll have the final background to you by Monday Necros

Salvo and Assault Mech combine the attack dice like you say, but after you make that attack both weapons are used up, so you can't attack with them again until your next activation. But, you can make an additional attack with another weapon that hasn't been used yet.

I kind of picture it as a final blast at the end of your turn that will make it easier to hit. So for example if you moved really far and have a to hit penalty, on your last action you can turn around and blast the carp out of something with all those extra dice helping to offset the to hit penalty for moving fast. Or it could be used like if you're a light mech but you really need to land a hit on heavy that's stomping everything, you blast em with a salvo and all of the extra dice give you a much better chance of getting through their powerful shields.

 JP1138 wrote:
I'll have the final background to you by Monday Necros

yay!

So on a medium with 4 weapons, it would only be two actions out of 4 to fire all of them then? Got it. Tactics adjusted.

Just got the samples for the light mech .. here are all the parts



You can click on it for the gallery pic to zoom in.

Top row from left to right we have Missile pods, chainguns (2 styles), plasma guns, railguns, blasters, booster jets. Next row is Booster Jets, Jackhammers, Siege Drills, Crusherfists & Buzzsaws. Then all 4 bodies and the shoulder armor plates. They have the plates reversed on the sprue though with the right pad on the left and the left pad on the right.

I was surprised that there are pretty much no mold lines and just a few little bits to file off. Gonna clean these 4 up and start painting!


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Oh .. also.. I got the prices for these minis and, of course, they're going to cost a lot more than I thought, like twice as much. So rather than a big squad box full with every single weapon, I'm going to have to break things up more. It's basically going to be a pack of 2 mediums or and pack of 1 light mech for $20, and probably $25 for retail. Heavy mechs will likely be in the $35-40 range.

So the pack of 2 light mechs will get 2 random bodies, 3 different weapon sprues including missiles or booster jets, 1 sprue of shoulder plates and 2 25mm bases for $20. Medium Mech will be 1 torso, 1 leg sprue, and then also 3 kinds of weapons and a 40mm base.

The KS sweet spot bundle will be 2 packs of lights, 2 mediums and a rulebook for $100. That'll be a nice sized team, and could also work as a 2 player starter set for small squad vs squad games.

So, not to be dismissive of the actual game and intent of this project (which I am interested in) but will any of the light or medium mech options that you've described be Ogryn sized?

As a matter of fact, quite a few models will be ogre/ogryn/centurion sized. This was totally by accident and not intentional at all whatsoever

So, the Medium Mechs will be a good choice. They might be a half a head shorter, but should still work quite well. The other option will be the 28mm scale light mech, that will be slightly taller than the 15mm medium.

There will be lots of other options too as we unlock other mechs

nice, I'll be watching this one.

Put a few together and now I'm about to go a-priming.

One thing though, I think I'm going to have the shoulder armor plates be an equipment piece for Reinforced Armor. So each pair of mechs will come with 3 sprues of weapon arms, 1 equipment (missiles, jets or armor) and 2 bodies. This was mostly because as I was building them, before I added the plates on I decided I kind of like the look without them. It makes the mechs look a little more slender and agile. Here's a quick pic I took of both kinds.. wadaya think?

These look awesome. Very much looking forward to painting some up.

Been working on the KS page all day! I think I have it all set now, I'm going to submit it to KS soon. If anyone would like to check it out early, here's a preview link

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gangfightgames/1206348501?token=09a8ec54

Let me know if you have any quests/comments/concerns

Once I finish painting the first few minis I'll be replacing the artwork at the top of the page with a photo of the painted minis in an action shot.. I figured seeing the actual finished minis would "sell" the game better.

After getting the final mini costs I came up with $25 for a pair of light mechs or 1 medium mech, $45 for a squad of 3, and then a starter set "sweet spot" for $100. I want to keep the pledge levels simple rather than having tons of them. I will probably add a "Leage Team Set" for $140 that will be rules, 2 squads and a heavy when the heavy is unlocked. And maybe a design your own official team pledge for maybe $300, that will include a league team set, and the extra cash will cover the costs of getting an emblem designed professionally and extra emblem bits for the models.

anyway let me know what you think

Only thing I saw was you spelled "Light Mechs" as "Lighte Mechs" in your pledge levels image under $25 Get Some Models. Everything else looks great!

Oops.. thanks, fixed it

Maybe a softball question, but as someone trying to work out a pledge in advance...

How big are those plastic terrain pieces? Big enough to hide a light behind or big enough to hide a heavy?

Page looks good Necros. I'd show the shipping calculator graphic so people know how much it will be and can add to their basic pledge accordingly.

Now when do we go live?

I'll have some of the terrain in the photos when I get the minis painted so you can see them better. But it's all good for light mechs and mediums too. Heavies will have a tougher time hiding because they're so big, but it will still provide good cover for them.. and will make for some good obstacles either way since you can't cross over terrain unless you have booster jets to jump over it

The arena walls are pretty tall though, and you can also stack them up 2 or 3 high if you want. Same with the prefab buildings. They're just flat wall panels so you can build square buildings like the pic, or stack them up and make towers or make long rectangular buildings or whatever you want to do.

I'll see how long it takes for KS to approve the page, I'm thinking I'll launch it on thursday, or earlier if I can. Maybe wednesday night I'll add in the shipping info at the bottom though. I was going to put that in a FAQ, but it won't let you add that to the page till after you make it live for some reason.

Well the campaign was approved already I still have some things to finish up with the rules (including campaign rules now) and I'll have the painted minis done tomorrow. I just did 4 for now. Also kind of stalling for my 28mm light mech print to show up.

I'm going to remove one of the stretch goals I had for the team emblems and cards and just make them an add on right off the bat.. but just the cards for now. I'll put one of the Free Agents in it's place.

So I'm gonna stick to my plan for making Thursday the official day, but I'll probably press the launch button wednesday night

How long will the campaign run? Hoping close to end of April for that payday.

*sent the bg doc last night.

It'll go for about 30 days.. planning to end it on April 20


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And, I just got some new screenshots of the medium. He's just about done and I should have the final 3D files today or tomorrow, then it's off to the printer with him.

This pic has 2 new weapons, the wrecking ball melee weapon.. and it's also a ranged weapon, since the chain is retractable and you can launch the ball at your enemies faces if they get too close enough. And also the blaster turrets up top, they will be turrets for the medium and heavy, but like pistols for the light mechs

Will you feature any shots of your painted minis on a game board with the Proxie Models terrain? That might help sell more of both.

Yep! I'll be finishing up 4 paint jobs tonight. I did 2 Terran Titans colors and 2 Team Bushido. And then I have some painted ruined brick walls and arena barriers. And I just got my 15mm Warboard last week, so that will be the arena floor

The arena barriers are actually 28mm scale road blocks, but I thought they looked great as is for arena obstacles, they're as tall as a light mech.

I like the warboard a lot, it's a good size for an average game with 2 squads and a heavy on each side. Some day I'd like to try and do my own board though, maybe the mouse matt kind. I'll save that for the Season 2 Kickstarter next year :p

Campaign has been launched!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gangfightgames/mechadrome-heavy-metal-combat

Expensive... Even more expensive when you figure in shipping sometime down the road. I'll pass on this one.

As an aside what made you decide that now was a good time to launch a kickstarter?

There's a lot of campaigns going on now, but I figured why wait? There's always going to be other campaigns. That and also the fact that I spent all I can afford to spend to get to this point, now i need to hopefully make my money back before the credit card demons drag me away I can't really afford to sink any more into the preliminary part, so I need the funding if I want to continue.

I wish the prices were lower :( but these are bigger and heavier than they look and metal is just pricy, but I just can't afford plastic. I hope to some day, just not yet.

Wow those are pretty pricey.. :/

It's the extra weapons that are driving up the costs actually. I guess I could offer it like 1 body and 1 weapon pair, but I want to be able to give folks lots of options for conversions or magnetizing. And it's a low model count game anyway.. a 3 mech squad and a 2x2 board is really all you need to play. Most teams will max out at 2 squads and a heavy for "big" games.

Have you looked into Resin? It might not do much to the price of the lights, but it'll probably halve your costs for the Mediums and Larger.

You might want to list out the extra parts that come with things, until your post just now I was under the impression there wasn't any optional bits.. it was just picking a loadout when you buy them.

 Necros wrote:
It's the extra weapons that are driving up the costs actually. I guess I could offer it like 1 body and 1 weapon pair, but I want to be able to give folks lots of options for conversions or magnetizing.

In that case, I would go with offering a couple of 'default' loadouts, and offer extra weapons as add-ons. (Edit -As Cyporean pointed out, right now your listing actually reads like you only get one pair of weapons anyway)

And if you haven't already gone that route, maybe look at casting the torsos in two pieces with a hollow center to reduce the amount of metal in each. That will help somewhat with both the cost of the cast, and with shipping.

And it's a low model count game anyway.. a 3 mech squad and a 2x2 board is really all you need to play. Most teams will max out at 2 squads and a heavy for "big" games.

Your price for a Starter Squad puts you into the same ballpark as a Warmachine Battlegroup - except the WM box is in most cases giving you the equivalent of one of your light mechs, 2 medium mechs and a heavy.

I wish you all the best with it (not least becaue I want to see those 28mm versions happen ), but I think you're going to struggle with those prices.