Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So I've been getting an itch for a mech wargame, however it seems that the market for such is abit, well; lacking from what I can see.

Heavy Gear appears to have a wide range of models, but has major problems with its rules system. In addition its not only somewhat costly, but worse very small in the UK (most stores I can see don't stock it, ebay has hardly nothing and even big retailers like Wayland have very little listed models for sale). As such it might have a nice range of models; but its likely just for collection only and no chance of any games.

Battletch appears a bit more popular, but again its limited in the UK.

Warmachine - probably the best playerbase wise, BUT most of the factions focus upon fewer warmachines and more upon casters and troops. It's also steam punkish, and fantastic as that is, a more futuristic approach would be what I'd be after.

Infinity - rather like warmachine it has some mechs, but the focus is upon troops only; its also very skirmish level in general.

Dropzone Commander - Has some cool mechs and appears to be a bit more strongly supported; not cheap and army sizes appear to be on the skirmish/small side.

And then I've run dry, there are a couple of KS running or having recently run that I recall; but most are (again) small scale affairs and some are very new systems with no history; and likely are a few years from really getting their feet under them in the market.


So there I have it - are there any others that I've neglected to note which would be worth considering (esp in the general UK market); or have I gotten the wrong end of the stick with some and my early impressions are incorrect?

Would Battletech be an option if you could find players?

If so, check out this thread on the Catalyst Game Labs forums: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=14610.0

It is two years old but it lists retailers in the UK that carry Battletech, so if one is local perhaps you could find an existing club/group that plays.

Problem is that Battletech just doesn't grab me with their miniatures. Whilst I'm a fan of things like the mech-warrior games the miniatures just don't interest me as much as some others.

Paulson Games recently ran a KS (not delivered yet) but the mechs look really good

http://www.mechafront.com/page/page/8798042.htm

https://www.facebook.com/MechaFront

the beta rules looked pretty good last time I looked (and you could always proxy mechs you liked if his don't grab you)

Reaper Miniatures have the CAV system (again free rules)

https://www.reapermini.com/Games/CAV

the best UK source of their minis is Miniature Heroes

http://miniature-heroes.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=487_498&zenid=0b67d37a7aa25a752f202e1f7185c213
(they do regular restocks from the USA so if you order something it does show up, I've ordered OS reaper paints and had them delivered in 2-3 weeks)

(Reaper is also thinking on a mini KS to take CAV to bones plastic, but nothing is certain on this. IF they do expect the game to get a lot bigger)

Edit: Oh I suppose I need to mention Palladium's Robotech KS, not yet delivered but they might suit eventually

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/521733.page

(lots of negativity, some of it warranted, but worth a look, and depending how things play out possibly available cheap if the game bombs)

 Overread wrote:
So I've been getting an itch for a mech wargame, however it seems that the market for such is abit, well; lacking from what I can see.

It is a niche market unfortunately. There are a few in the works, recently from Kickstarter these two have recently become funded.

Mecha Front

Mechadrome

I'm in a similar boat.

I am hoping that the new edition of SuperSystem will feature more comprehensive rules for vehicles or the rules for using powers under a single origin (e.g. tech) are clarified so that it becomes easy to create a variety of giant robots. I also purchased a copy of the Savage Worlds Sci-Fi book which has rules for creating power armour or mechs although I haven't given them more than a cursory read.

Hopefully I'll find a ruleset that will allow me to recreate those Landmate vs Landmate moments from Appleseed

Here are some suggestions (some repeated) from an older thread:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/546316.page

Just as a note, Heavy Gear just radically changed their rules with the release of a "beta" ruleset not compatible with previous versions. If you hated the old silhouette rules, they're completely gone with this new one. I'm not a huge fan of the new one but the download will be free to try out so check it out a bit closer to gencon if you like.

Someday when PB releases robotech, it will hopefully be a good game. Looking forward to destroying battlepods.

Hmm seems there's a fair few rules sets kicking around but actual full and working miniature lines are few - honestly it surprises me considering how big mecha were only a few years back; then again I guess many just didn't get their feet under them enough to get into mainstream


Also I was just checking out prices on Wayland for Heavygear - £16 for an upgrade kit! Not even a full model just an upgrade kit (ergo I'm assuming mostly weapons). Even a weapon pack is a coupled of sprues of guns and is £14. Considering they are not huge scale that's kind of - well - its no surprise that they can't get a bigger playerbase if their prices are that high.

Can would be so much friggin' fun if Reaper could get their figures out on the open market again. I'm not even a big fan of bones for the lack of detail, but if they did a kickstarter for CAV Bones, I would absolutely be up for that. The one downside of CAV when it was easily accessible was the relatively high cost-per-figure because of the scale. But the rules were plenty solid, because I know of people who use to use re-based Mechwarrior clix base mechs.

 Overread wrote:
Hmm seems there's a fair few rules sets kicking around but actual full and working miniature lines are few - honestly it surprises me considering how big mecha were only a few years back; then again I guess many just didn't get their feet under them enough to get into mainstream


Also I was just checking out prices on Wayland for Heavygear - £16 for an upgrade kit! Not even a full model just an upgrade kit (ergo I'm assuming mostly weapons). Even a weapon pack is a coupled of sprues of guns and is £14. Considering they are not huge scale that's kind of - well - its no surprise that they can't get a bigger playerbase if their prices are that high.

Even before the recent sale, their Heavy Gear stuff was very reasonably priced (IMHO). Considering how little they have left on their site, I strongly suspect some pricing oddities while the retailers wait for the new Heavy Gear minis and kits. Generally a gear 2-pack is around £14. Maybe you were looking at one of the heavy vehicle or strider upgrade kits?

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/dream-pod-9/heavy-gear-blitz/north/north-weapons-and-bits-pack/prod_12407.html

http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/dream-pod-9/heavy-gear-blitz/north/north-aller-upgrade-two-pack/prod_12432.html

Are what I was looking at - yes some of the individual mech prices do appear to be more sane and might be the big change around is affecting prices.
I just saw those and they appeared to be far above what I'd normally expect those to be priced at.

Dropzone commander all the way man, new game W/ great company support. Can find @ a discount on line, but sometimes hard to find also.

Mech Attack?

1 Pound Wargames also has a decent set but the name escapes me.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Can would be so much friggin' fun if Reaper could get their figures out on the open market again. I'm not even a big fan of bones for the lack of detail, but if they did a kickstarter for CAV Bones, I would absolutely be up for that. The one downside of CAV when it was easily accessible was the relatively high cost-per-figure because of the scale. But the rules were plenty solid, because I know of people who use to use re-based Mechwarrior clix base mechs.

I enjoyed 1st ed CAV quite a bit, but never really liked the game engine they used for the 2nd ed. I think Bones are fine for certain things (ie, hordes of goblins, skeletons, etc), but they are not what I would choose for PCs or important models, so I can't say I would be thrilled it Reaper turned to Bones material for a CAV re-release.

Now, if they used a nice hard plastic that took detail well? Yeah, I'd back that KS in a heartbeat. Because even if I did not like the rules they used, I could always scrounge up 1st ed rules again, or use something else.

Ral Partha Europe is a fantastic way to get Battletech across the pond.

I will always recommend Battletech. The advantage it has over all of these things is an UNGODLY secondary market. You can get a few things off of sites and find if you like it, generally for a LOT less than any of the other options. Even if you just buy the new Intro Box, you get 26 actual decent quality 'Mechs, heavy duty map sheets, rules and such for $60. None of these other games can offer that much for that price.

Play it a few times and think it is too slow? Grab Alpha Strike. It is a fast play version that is utterly fantastic. To demonstrate how fast I give the following example:

Players that are quite familiar with all of Battletech's rules can get a game of 8 vs. 8 ('Mechs only) in probably 5 or 6 hours. I ran an Alpha Strike game of 24 vs. 22 in FOUR AND A HALF hours. That is pretty damn awesome. You can go super detailed, or large scale, and I don't think any of the other systems offer that kind of flexibility.

Oh yeah, and we Battletechers have whole BOOKS of optional rules. You can make it as complex or as simple as you like. There is nothing as flexible as Battletech out there, at all.

Steer clear of Robotech. Only heartbreak lies down that road.

I'd say "Samurai Robot Battle Royale" from Ganesha Games if you want quick and easy, but that's a true skirmish system.

Battletech is the game that got me into miniatures gaming, so I'd suggest that if you don't mind record keeping. They have a more "mass combat" system, but I don't remember the name.

Battletech is good, but it can be a bit daunting simply because there is so much material available.

Best strategy is just get the core rules until you are situated with the game and know you like it as there are so many options you can go broke fast, particularly if you are buying from the vast library of older books. I'd recommend trying out the basic boxed set or the alpha strike rules before committing to other purchases as those will give you the best feel for the game, without needing a huge investment.

I'm also in the process of launching my Mecha Front game, not trying to flog it but there aren't tons of mech games out nowdays. (www.mechafront.com) The range will be available for general release in Nov-Dec.

Robotech is coming out, but it has some issues, CAV you can still get through Reaper although I'm unfamiliar with their rules, heavy gear is expensive and uses their own scale I also have a hard time finding it locally and in my experience it typically needs to be ordered online. If you want cheap plastics the battletech main box has some and also EM4 makes a line of plastic mechs that they carry on their website, not the best of quality but they are dirt cheap and modular. (EM4 is also in the UK)

There are areas where the MechWarrior clicks game is still around and you can usually pick them up without too much hassle on ebay. They are nice and big and work well for a number of 15mm games. There are a few 15mm games that handle mechs, but they are primarily focused on infantry and conventional arms, the mechs are at best support units in those games so they tend to be rather sparse on mecg action. Gruntz and Tomorrow's War may be of interest to look at as the 15mm scene is much bigger in the UK then it is in the States. Rebel Minis makes a decent selection of smaller style mechs for use with 15mm games. The Dropship Horizon blog and The Miniatures Page forum are places you'd want to check out for 15mm related stuff.


With my game I'll be offering models in both 6mm scale and 15mm so there's two options for those. (Micro Armor aka 6mm is the same scale they use for Battletech and Robotech) The lack of options for mech games is one of the primary reason why I started working on my own line as there's just not a lot of options compared to other styles of games like fantasy or more mainstream 28mm sci fi both of those have a huge range of options, mech games are much less common.

Whatever Mecha game you choose, (possibly excepting Battletech) it's likely that you will have to search hard, or convert players to play with you. It's best to just accept that from the beginning.

Easy E wrote:Mech Attack?

Mech Attack is easily my favorite Mech game. I play it in 10mm with rebased mechwarrior clix and in 28mm with various mech models. It's got all the basic battletech elements (damage gird, heat, customizable weapons, etc) but in a package that plays in less than 1/4 the time and 1/10 the rules. You can use whatever models you like and play in whatever scale you like. If I didn't have the mechwarrior clix, I'd probably play with Reaper CAV models which are all still available from Reaper.

warlordgarou wrote:

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Can would be so much friggin' fun if Reaper could get their figures out on the open market again. I'm not even a big fan of bones for the lack of detail, but if they did a kickstarter for CAV Bones, I would absolutely be up for that. The one downside of CAV when it was easily accessible was the relatively high cost-per-figure because of the scale. But the rules were plenty solid, because I know of people who use to use re-based Mechwarrior clix base mechs.

I enjoyed 1st ed CAV quite a bit, but never really liked the game engine they used for the 2nd ed. I think Bones are fine for certain things (ie, hordes of goblins, skeletons, etc), but they are not what I would choose for PCs or important models, so I can't say I would be thrilled it Reaper turned to Bones material for a CAV re-release.

Now, if they used a nice hard plastic that took detail well? Yeah, I'd back that KS in a heartbeat. Because even if I did not like the rules they used, I could always scrounge up 1st ed rules again, or use something else.

Reaper has already shown the CAV's in Bones and has said that they will be released, most likely as a kickstarter with the new CAV : Strike Operations ruleset. You can see the prototypes here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/516769.page
Though I think Reaper has said the finals will be even better. I'm not worried about PVC as a material for mecha. There were some stinkers, but by and large the PVC vinyl mechwarrior clix models were pretty good and bones seems to be a little step above that.

Also, The CAV First Edition Rules and both of the supplement "Journals of Recognition" books are all available from Troll and Toad. Thus far 1st edition is the only edition of CAV that has received a print release.

Mattlov wrote:Ral Partha Europe is a fantastic way to get Battletech across the pond.

I will always recommend Battletech. The advantage it has over all of these things is an UNGODLY secondary market. You can get a few things off of sites and find if you like it, generally for a LOT less than any of the other options. Even if you just buy the new Intro Box, you get 26 actual decent quality 'Mechs, heavy duty map sheets, rules and such for $60. None of these other games can offer that much for that price.

Play it a few times and think it is too slow? Grab Alpha Strike. It is a fast play version that is utterly fantastic. To demonstrate how fast I give the following example:

Players that are quite familiar with all of Battletech's rules can get a game of 8 vs. 8 ('Mechs only) in probably 5 or 6 hours. I ran an Alpha Strike game of 24 vs. 22 in FOUR AND A HALF hours. That is pretty damn awesome. You can go super detailed, or large scale, and I don't think any of the other systems offer that kind of flexibility.

Oh yeah, and we Battletechers have whole BOOKS of optional rules. You can make it as complex or as simple as you like. There is nothing as flexible as Battletech out there, at all.

Though I'm not a fan of the main BT game, I love the universe and the Alpha Strike rules are quite good. Also, if you dig into the huge number of BT mech designs there's actually quite alot of variation, so it's entirely possible you may find lots of mecha designs that are too your liking.

Lastly, it's a bit more expensive, but if you want great looking mechs in a larger scale, Paulson Game's Mecha Front is really looking good!

Mech Attack is easily my favorite Mech game. I play it in 10mm with rebased mechwarrior clix and in 28mm with various mech models. It's got all the basic battletech elements (damage gird, heat, customizable weapons, etc) but in a package that plays in less than 1/4 the time and 1/10 the rules. You can use whatever models you like and play in whatever scale you like. If I didn't have the mechwarrior clix, I'd probably play with Reaper CAV models which are all still available from Reaper.

Frankly I would, too. I really love the rules-lite quality of Mech Attack and how it plays, but I am somewhat lackluster on the paper models other than the vehicles. I also have had a long standing love affair with the CAV models, but in lieu of learning a complicated new ruleset alongside what I already have a hard time getting to the table, I think they would be awesome with Mech Attack, (though I would personally repaint all my old Mechwarrior clix infantry and vehicles as they can be had incredibly cheap and are the same scale).

The Mech Attack rules are awesome in the fact that they take about 15 minutes to learn how to play. Even faster than Alpha Strike for Battletech.

 AegisGrimm wrote:

Frankly I would, too. I really love the rules-lite quality of Mech Attack and how it plays, but I am somewhat lackluster on the paper models other than the vehicles. I also have had a long standing love affair with the CAV models, but in lieu of learning a complicated new ruleset alongside what I already have a hard time getting to the table, I think they would be awesome with Mech Attack, (though I would personally repaint all my old Mechwarrior clix infantry and vehicles as they can be had incredibly cheap and are the same scale).

The Mech Attack rules are awesome in the fact that they take about 15 minutes to learn how to play. Even faster than Alpha Strike for Battletech.

Sounds like a plan to me! I've never bothered with the MA paper minis. It's a cute feature and some folks will like it, but from the beginning I bought them to use with our rebased mechwarrior units. I would note that the largest CAV's are still going to be smaller than the larger MW minis, but that doesn't mean that they are incompatible (they're still all 10mm) just that you'll have to be a bit clever in mixing minis to get a full range of units in each force.

Also, I think Alpha strike is a great companion game to Mech Attack. Though it plays fast, MA seems to top out around 8-10 units per player. It's playable bigger, but there's enough dice rolling per-unit-activated that it begins to bog down. It's excellent for representing a couple of Platoons, but for Company level play and larger, I think Alpha Strike is a great choice as engaging games of AS start at 10 units per player and it can handle many more.

If you do repaint any of the MW clix be sure to post them. I'd like to see how they come out. Only one of our club members repainted his, the rest of us just traded and exhanged from the big lots we acquired until we each had a big army from a given faction. I chose Nova cats, and have a ton of rebased units, but I have also collected an army's worth of mixed units and hope to repaint them someday into a second force.

If you want something popular, there is Heavy Gear, Battletech and maybe, maybe! Robotech. I recommend you use non popular game rules for mech fighting.

Mobile Frame Zero? It has 'cheap' minis since you are just making them out of Legos. It's skirmish level, but entirely mech oriented.

CAV! I can't believe I forgot that one. I own all the 1st edtion books even. I loved that Dictator model to pieces!

You might also want to try here for some games: http://www.freewargamesrules.co.uk/sci-fi.html

Figured I'd post a link to this recent news and rumors thread. Apparently CAV might be getting a bones style release.


http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/608773.page

 warboss wrote:
Figured I'd post a link to this recent news and rumors thread. Apparently CAV might be getting a bones style release.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/608773.page

About time! I posted pictures of the CAV bones figures almost a year and a half ago. You can see the pictures of bones Cavs here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/516769.page
I wasn't wowed by the CAV SO beta rules , but they weren't bad, and being able to get CAV's in Bones would be really great.

Thanks for the update!

No problem. I figured I'd post the news here in an existing thread instead of a new one in case the relatively small mech enthusiast community here missed it.

To the OP, you have friends to play with? If you have a group of players talk to them first before you buy a game.

So, I normally don't care for straight up mech games. While I love the Battletech universe, the Mechwarrior games, Mechcommander, even the books that I have read in it I have never found enjoyment from playing the tabletop games, although I don't enjoy straight skirmish ones either.

But, because you are considering DZC, Warmachine, and Infinity in your search for a new game I feel that I should throw out a game that I am really looking forward to testing and playing.

Spartan Games just demoed their upcoming Planetfall game in the Firestorm Armada universe. They took it to Claymore the games convention in Edinburgh this last weekend.

It is a 10mm scale sci fi wargame, but in the demo with the two standard human factions each one fielded at least one giant mech in addition to the normal smaller scale units. There will only really be up to 2 of the mechs fielded per army, although fielding the second mech will restrict the number of big heavy tanks able to be included.

http://element270.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/planetfall-makes-erm-planet-fall/

Spartan said at Claymore that the game with the first two factions (the human ones) will be released in October with the remaining four factions coming out starting the next month.

Of those four remaining factions, the Directorate are essentially mega arms corporations, Relthoza are an arachnoid race with big four legged walkers, Sorylians are a reptilian race which relies upon defense and so far primarily use walker units, and last are the Aquans, an aquatic faction that uses a lot of hover units and laser weaponry.

I think that using the Mech Attack rules (with a 200% range increase for scale) and 28mm mechs is the absolute best of both worlds, because then you don't need specialized terrain- you can have all the fun of mech combat at the largest scale that is easily feasible. The worst consolation is that it would be best to have infantry based as a 5-man unit on a large base- or at least a friendly way to establish the "center" of the unit if using them as individual bases (like the leader being fielded as the center point). It's truly a Mecha game with rules that are no more complicated than X-Wing.

I am actually thinking of doing this with papercraft models for the Mechs and vehicles and using my AT-43 models for light and heavy infantry, so that the cost investment is relatively nil for some units for a game I will probably only occasionally play (which the simplicity of the MA rules allows because there is not much of anything that is complicated to the game to have to re-learn).

The problem with Battletech is a problem I have with all FASA/Catalyst games. Battletech, Crimson Skies, and Leviathans all take FOREVER to chip away at an opposing model enough to take them out.