Heavy Gear Blitz - War for Terra Nova - Kickstarter, Finished and Funded @ $150,406

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**Alpharius**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
I think there's a reason why they no longer show the plastics alongside the metals.

Is there a good place to go and see the metals all in one go?

**warboss**

Albertorius wrote:
warboss wrote:
It makes me smile a little to see that the brawler mamba uses the same underhanded grenade launcher position as I converted mine into years ago.

That's... the way it is supposed to go, that one

That's not how the old art showed it traditionally.

Maybe you're thinking of the original pit viper gear art? That one was the inspiration for me in flipping it upside down.

**Albertorius**

warboss wrote:
Albertorius wrote:
warboss wrote:
It makes me smile a little to see that the brawler mamba uses the same underhanded grenade launcher position as I converted mine into years ago.

That's... the way it is supposed to go, that one

That's not how the old art showed it traditionally.

Maybe you're thinking of the original pit viper gear art? That one was the inspiration for me in flipping it upside down.

Look at the thumb of the left hand

. Also, the ironsights are on the right.

**warboss**

Alpharius wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
I think there's a reason why they no longer show the plastics alongside the metals.

Is there a good place to go and see the metals all in one go?

They have a gallery on their website www.dp9.com but it's neither complete nor easy to navigate. Sadly, your best best is a google image search for each. Here's a group shot of the stock metal versions of the kickstarted models (minus the King Cobra). Honestly, I don't newcomers will care much about the differences just like they didn't/don't between the blitz metals and the tacticals until someone points them out. It's like the differences between a 2nd edition metal marine and a 2000 era plastic one.

L to R: Jaeger, Mamba, Cobra, Iguana

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Albertorius wrote:

Look at the thumb of the left hand . Also, the ironsights are on the right.

gak... you're right! And all this time I thought I did a small conversion...

**Alpharius**

Those metals do look nice...

Is there a good place online to buy them still?

**HudsonD**

dp9.com

Not sure how long it'll take to have them retire the metal lines...
*insert "I'd do a sad face if I could still care, but really, I'm just going to shrug and say what a waste" here*

... What a waste.

**warboss**

Ebay metal starter deals are probably your best bet for the stuff at a discount if you want the metals. Then just buy the boosters of less popular gears as needed. The game has traditionally been mismanaged after every boost it gets in popularity and stores that decide to sell it get rid of the stock later. Miniature Market and especially Cool Stuff inc used to sell it (as did Wayland and the Warstore) but I don't see any HG minis on those sites anymore. Cool Stuff inc used to be my go to place for them as the HG stuff was usually at 50-90% off in their clearance section for years. I basically bought their entire stock of King Cobras (some of which were in the 2006ish packaging) back in 2014.

**JohnHwangDD**

Albertorius wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
I think there's a reason why they no longer show the plastics alongside the metals.

Heh, probably for the better. For them. Anyways, if they are cheap, they are good enough to start with.

What "cheap" means in DP9ese remains to be seen, though.

Yup.

I'm assuming "cheap" means "no price increase relative to existing metal product. For 2016. No promises for 2017." Do you want to take the over or under for that?

**Alpharius**

warboss wrote:
Ebay metal starter deals are probably your best bet for the stuff at a discount if you want the metals. Then just buy the boosters of less popular gears as needed. The game has traditionally been mismanaged after every boost it gets in popularity and stores that decide to sell it get rid of the stock later. Miniature Market and especially Cool Stuff inc used to sell it (as did Wayland and the Warstore) but I don't see any HG minis on those sites anymore. Cool Stuff inc used to be my go to place for them as the HG stuff was usually at 50-90% off in their clearance section for years. I basically bought their entire stock of King Cobras (some of which were in the 2006ish packaging) back in 2014.

There's quite a bit of HG Southern Army stuff on eBay, but I've no idea what I'd want, need or what will still be legal/viable/etc. in the near future!

**JohnHwangDD**

Alpharius wrote:
Those metals do look nice...

Is there a good place online to buy them still?

Ebay and Amazon. Starters, squads, lots and armies will come for sale at substantial discount (-40%, or more) if you just keep your eyes open for them. Ideally, you get a Starter (Strike & Fire Support), Recon, and GP squads for whichever force(s) you like.

From a minimalist head-to-head standpoint, 2 Starters (Strike & FS each) are nearly ideal, especially if you're liking and getting the "good" (i.e. most brokenly powerful) factions (PRDF / Pax River / Paxton; Black Talons; NuCoal / New Coalition).

Good luck.

**warboss**

You should definitely wait before you buy until the final 2016 version of the living rulebook comes out as that will be the print version in starters. The ETA was last week with no update so far. It obviously might change in the future (hence the living part) but at this rate it should be good for a year. In any case, you can't go wrong with having a 2:2:1:1 ratio of troopers (Jaegers), commandos (Mambas), fire support (Cobras), and scouts (iguanas). If you just stick with the basics for now, you can get a feel of your favored playstyle and then build from there once you know the stats.

**Alpharius**

Sounds like a good idea - thanks for the advice!

**Alpharius**

Living Rulebook - now available!

Update #136

Jul 4 2016
Post Kickstarter Update #68: Updated Living Rulebook ebook Now Available to Download!
1 Comment
2 likes

We just updated the Heavy Gear Blitz - Tabletop Wargaming - Living Rulebook ebook today (July 4th, 2016). Its available now on the DriveThruRPG website at the following link for free download.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144759/Heavy-Gear-Blitz-Tabletop-Wargaming--Living-Rulebook-Beta?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=19&affiliate_id=4310

We also included a Changes Log to see whats changed from the fall 2015 Living Rulebook Beta edition ebook. Updated Weapons Sheet and new Objectives Selection Sheet have been added to the other free downloads included with the ebook.

Heavy Gear Blitz - Tabletop Wargaming - Living Rulebook Cover.

We'll be finishing up the Quick Start Rulebook, to be included in the Core Starter Sets, this week and sending it off to the printers once its ready.

Quick note for our International Backers we plan start sending out payment requests for the international shipping costs later this week.

**Nomeny**

Downloaded!

**warboss**

Got the email and the dakka bump as well. Thanks! I took a quick peek and like the revised much smaller list of UAs. I'm not so much a fan of the cover though as it kind of looks like the plastic 3d files just plopped into a background and color added. The sensor eyes are definitely plastic'y. I miss Ghislain...

**JohnHwangDD**

I see that that the CEF jump packs are only +1 for the regular Frames, rather than +2 - that makes them potentially playable.

**warboss**

I have no idea if that is a good thing for non-CEF players (i.e. balanced) but congrats regardless! From the kickstarter comments a few days ago:

Creator Dream Pod 9 3 days ago

@ LanceCPL210. For retialers we only plan to offer the 4 army box sets at $59.99 USD each and the 2 player starter set (north and south armies with the quick start rulebook) at $89.99 USD and the Quick Start Rulebook at $19.99 USD. These will also be available thru the Dream Pod 9 Online Store and a bit later in the year we'll make individual plastic sprues available to purchase, but only thru the DP9 Online Store.

That seems fair (especially if those are the retail prices and an online retailer discount it further); if those are the discounted prices that the retailer will then mark up 40-50% then not so much. I'm glad they're making a more sensible 2 player starter instead of 4 player like in the KS... that's another suggestion I made years ago that was (until now) ignored.

**Albertorius**

warboss wrote:
Got the email and the dakka bump as well. Thanks! I took a quick peek and like the revised much smaller list of UAs. I'm not so much a fan of the cover though as it kind of looks like the plastic 3d files just plopped into a background and color added. The sensor eyes are definitely plastic'y. I miss Ghislain...

If it helps any, that's what it is, so... and so do I, yeah.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

warboss wrote:
I have no idea if that is a good thing for non-CEF players (i.e. balanced) but congrats regardless! From the kickstarter comments a few days ago:

Creator Dream Pod 9 3 days ago

@ LanceCPL210. For retialers we only plan to offer the 4 army box sets at $59.99 USD each and the 2 player starter set (north and south armies with the quick start rulebook) at $89.99 USD and the Quick Start Rulebook at $19.99 USD. These will also be available thru the Dream Pod 9 Online Store and a bit later in the year we'll make individual plastic sprues available to purchase, but only thru the DP9 Online Store.

That seems fair (especially if those are the retail prices and an online retailer discount it further); if those are the discounted prices that the retailer will then mark up 40-50% then not so much. I'm glad they're making a more sensible 2 player starter instead of 4 player like in the KS... that's another suggestion I made years ago that was (until now) ignored.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... if those are final retail prices it would be a fairly decent starting point... But I'm not sure it will be, since the army boxes went for $65 each during the KS. Hopefully they will be posting the final retail prices soon.

**JohnHwangDD**

Based on the pricing being "$x9.99", I think those are MSRPs.

**Albertorius**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
Based on the pricing being "$x9.99", I think those are MSRPs.

KS prices were in $CAD, so hopefully you're right.

According to the internet, $65 CAD would be about $50 USD, and above they said $59.99 USD ber army box, so that's probably MSRP, yeah.

Hm... so that ill be about a dozen plastic minis for around 54 euros. That's... actually not that good, TBH, taking into account the size of said minis. Still, a big price reduction for Caprice.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some clarifications posted:

Those are going to be the Suggested Retail Prices (SRP) that customers will pay in stores, we sell them to our retailers and distributors at a discount on the SRP:
Northern Army Box (14 plastic minis) $59.99 USD
Southern Army Box (16 plastic minis) $59.99 USD
CEF Army Box (15 plastic minis) $59.99 USD
Caprice Army Box (10 plastic minis) $59.99 USD
Two Player Starter Set (includes Northern Army, Southern Army, and Quick Start Rulebook $89.99 USD
Quick Start Rulebook (full color, softcover) $19.99 USD

So it will cost $209.97USD SRP get all the same 4 armies of plastic miniatures and quick start rulebook (buying the Two Player Starter Set plus CEF and Caprice Army Boxes) included in the War for Terra Nova Core Starter Set backer reward packages that we'll be mailing out. The Kickstarter backers pledge of $115 CAD (about $90.00 USD with the present exchange rate) to help us get the expensive plastic injections molds made, which gets them a pretty amazing Core Starter Set or army box backer thank gift reward package.

This makes the entry price level just $59.99 USD for new players getting into Heavy Gear Blitz and they have a nice sized army of plastic miniatures and can download the free Living Rulebook ebook. Or $79.98 USD for an army box of their choice and a printed copy of the full color Quick Start Rulebook. Or $89.99 USD for the Two Player Starter Set with North and South Armies (30 plastic minis) and a copy of the Quick Start Rulebook.

We hope that with the new rules, new plastic miniatures, and good entry level pricing we should be able to better compete with the other games on the market and build the Heavy Gear Blitz player base over the next year. Also the fact our new Plastic Miniatures are being Made in the USA and the new Quick Start Rulebook is being printed in the USA should help as well.

**JohnHwangDD**

A Games Workshop Tactical Squad is $40 USD, so you'd get 15 comparably-sized Space Marines with all their bitz for the same $60 USD.

**Albertorius**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
A Games Workshop Tactical Squad is $40 USD, so you'd get 15 comparably-sized Space Marines with all their bitz for the same $60 USD.

Thing is, GW is not exactly cheap, you know

. And according to their minis breakdown, it's between 10 and 16 minis for $60.

It is not stupid expensive like it was until now (for americans, that is, we dirty europeans will pay a tad more than that :p), but it isn't very cheap, either.

**JohnHwangDD**

As I recall, GW sees themselves as the Rolls Royce of gaming, with pricing to match. And their SM plastics re relatively affordable within that context. The Pod following GW pricing is about what I had expected.

The key difference being that GW's plastics are leaps and bounds better than what the Pod is selling.

**Nomeny**

GW is selling Heavy Gear miniatures now?

**warboss**

Nomeny wrote:
GW is selling Heavy Gear miniatures now?

Dreadnoughts... the OG gearstrider.. and something that belongs in HG almost as much!

I think the prices are a big improvement. With 14-16 minis in a polar faction set for $60 USD, that's effectively 3 squads (one gear short for the north, one extra for the south) using the old 5 man squads for $20 each. That's half the price of the old metals in squad boxes and only a little bit more than the price of a single metal FS gear by itself. I think that's a big improvement and the numbers probably only get better once you compare with the very price heavy larger resin Caprice and CEF models.

Does anyone know why there is a 2 model discrepancy in numbers between the polar factions? What's included in each? IIRC they had the same numbers unlocked (and then later relocked due to poor curreny choices by dp9). I thought they had parity between the two.

**JohnHwangDD**

For those who can't do basic math, the Pod is using GW's price points...

warboss wrote:
Does anyone know why there is a 2 model discrepancy in numbers between the polar factions? What's included in each?

If you go back to the KS...

16 South

Spoiler:

4 Jager
4 Black Mamba
2 Iguana
2 Cobra
1 King Cobra
3 Drones

14 North

Spoiler:

4 Hunter
4 Jaguar
2 Cheetah
2 Grizzly
1 Kodiak
1 Ferret

The difference is that South gets 3 Drones instead of 1 Recon Gear!

**warboss**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
If you go back to the KS...

16 South

Spoiler:

4 Jager
4 Black Mamba
2 Iguana
2 Cobra
1 King Cobra
3 Drones

14 North

Spoiler:

4 Hunter
4 Jaguar
2 Cheetah
2 Grizzly
1 Kodiak
1 Ferret

The difference is that South gets 3 Drones instead of 1 Recon Gear!

Ah, yes, thanks. I forgot about the drones. While technically, yes, they're correct that they're individual models via the in game rules from a modelling perspective it's like saying a rocket pack is a whole different "model".

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Albertorius wrote:

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... if those are final retail prices it would be a fairly decent starting point... But I'm not sure it will be, since the army boxes went for $65 each during the KS. Hopefully they will be posting the final retail prices soon.

I don't recall the exact currency conversion at the time but, looking at some of my earlier posts during the campaign in this thread, it looks like DP9 said $80 USD was $92 CAD.. so $1.15 CAD for $1 USD at that time. A single army box pledge was $65 +$15 shipping CAD so around $56.50 plus $13 shipping USD for KS backers. The typical online store discount for indy companies like DP9 is 20-30% ($42-48) and they frequently have more reasonable shipping rates due to not being international (and sometimes free shipping over a certain amount). If anything, the online retail deal will probably be better if all you want is a single force. This may not apply to you though due to the tertiary currency conversion and extra international shipping though. This is all dependent though on an online store actually carrying their products again which with my simple search last week indicated isn't currently the case.

**Nomeny**

From that perspective you could say that of any individual Gears in a squad.

**JohnHwangDD**

OTOH, the Pod counts each FLAIL for the CEF minis, no? Despite them being multi-based?

**warboss**

Nomeny wrote:
From that perspective you could say that of any individual Gears in a squad.

Individual gears are single piece and one point upgrades to other models like drones? I must have missed that change in the new rules.