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.

Depends on when the sculpt was done. i have most of my minis from ironwind, in the past few years they have really enlarged the new sculpts.

The size isn't really that much of an issue however given that it is 1:300 scale.

There are a couple exceptions of course the blod asp took 3 sculpts to get right.

The first one the legs were to small for the body




The second had way to skinny spindly arms and legs



3rd time is the charm as they say -finally got it right but seriously enlarged the mini to make it work.




If you want the best reference site for official paint schemes theses are all taken from cammo specs online

By faction and then broken down by specific unit.

https://camospecs.com/factions/

As you are looking into the lore aside from the tech readouts i highly recommend you find some PDFs of the field manuals they give you a lot more specific unit lore as well as optional specific rules for tabletop play

There is a book for each of the great houses, one for crusader clans, one for warden clans and i think one for the periphery states.

As a side note i also started out with kurita for my first inner sphere faction choosing the second swords of light and 2nd deiron regulars. after the clan invasion/fedcom civil war era i added the 10th lyran guards because it was prince victor steiner-davions old unit.

This is an old pic of the kurita force...could not find my akuma when i took it and have since added a few mechs with the newer complete starter box



The lyrans




For my clan affiliation i went with hells horse because i like combined arms. something of an odditiy among the clans.

The clanners



As you can see with the mix of minis the size difference really isn't all that apparent.

Thanks aphyon!

Great collections. and I see what you mean that when you get them all in a group, the size difference probably won't be apparent.

I painted my first set as the 1st Sword of Light to get the "classic" Kurita look.

And thanks so much for the link to the camospecs site. Looks like a fantastic resource.

I'll have to go dig up the Field Manual PDFs.

Two O-Bakemonos? Unusual choice...

 aphyon wrote:
The second had way to skinny spindly arms and legs

That mini can burn in hell for all eternity.

 aphyon wrote:
There are a couple exceptions of course the blod asp took 3 sculpts to get right.

I loved the Blood Asp in the video games (MechCommander 2) but nope'd out on the models.

kungfujon: are you aiming to start Classic BattleTech or Alpha Strike?

Wow, I didn't even realize that there was a third Blood Asp sculpt. I have one of those first ones and the legs really are comically bad.

I sure hope maybe they make a properly scaled plastic one eventually.

 Manchu wrote:
kungfujon: are you aiming to start Classic BattleTech or Alpha Strike?

I'm aiming for Classic Battletech. Preferably on the hexmaps. There something very appealing about the old-school feel of it. I played Babylon 5 Wars back in the day, so I'm not scared of the more complex damage tracking sheets. And I'm intrigued with the precision of the hex-based measurements/terrain/LOS.

But I'm open to either, if you have a suggestion!

Both styles are super fun and one of the great things about BattleTech is there is nothing stopping you from using your miniatures to play both!

Since you are thinking CBT, I really recommend getting some of the neoprene mats to play on, they are gorgeous. Here is a pic from earlier ITT:The Clan Invasion Kickstarter pledge manager is still open, too, which may be helpful to someone starting out.

 Manchu wrote:
Since you are thinking CBT, I really recommend getting some of the neoprene mats to play on, they are gorgeous.

Wow! That mat is amazing! I use similar ones for 40k and AoS and I really like them.
And I'll def check out the Kickstarter.

Thanks so much!

The mats have been harder to fine via online retailers but all four that a currently available can be purchased through the pledge manager. It’s worth noting they are double-sided.

Sword of Light/generic Kurita red has the benefit of not being too awful to paint. Here are some rush jobs I did a while ago, before contrast paints (would be even easier/better now). Just be sure to get some Fighting Piranha decals or similar.

Contrast + an aggressive drybrush does wonders on these new plastics. How quickly I can paint up new models and have them on the table is yet another reason I am loving BT recently.

How quick-playing Alpha Strike is, while still evoking CBT once you add in some of their optional rules, has been a godsend, and DFA's suggestion about halving the scale for movement makes it feel even more like CBT.

Yes I am trying to sell the DFA approach to my buddy.

And I'll try to sell the CBT method - proper rules, proper map sheets, proper record sheets.

Granular. Detail. Crunch. Nitty gritty. No guts, no galaxy.

BattleTech the way it was meant to be played.

There's a place for both. It is Covid year, so my options to game at all have been my wife and her father. Both have become impressive gamers over the decade we've been together, but are still no where near ready to dive directly into the crunch of CBT.

Alpha Strike with only its base rules is a touch light, but still really fun, and handles combined arms better than most games I have ever played...

... but AS with its optional rules engaged, plus the 1:1 scale (essentially an option in the book that DFA slightly elaborated on)... that's magnificent AND surprisingly accessible.

That it works as a gateway to Classic is pure bonus.

I get that people like it, and that's fine, but when I look at this and I see that it's weapons are just reduced to a firepower value and I think, what's the point? It just doesn't (alpha) strike me as interesting.

I felt the same way at first, HBMC. And I would never give up on CBT in favor of Alpha Strike. CBT is the real deal and Alpha Strike comes nowhere close to replacing it. That said, Alpha Strike is not just more accessible but also a proper miniatures game, unlike CBT, that scratches many of the minis gaming itches that CBT doesn’t. The best part is, if you already play CBT and you are already a minis gamer, getting into Alpha Strike is as easy as falling off a log.

I always saw Alpha Strike as playing Apocalpyse level of models of BT, but without the same time consuming concept that Apocalypse brings to mind. Definitely a bit more Epic-style of play, if you get my meaning.

A little too abstracted in my opinion, I'd rather having something that was about halfway in between, but that's just me.

I initially played Alpha Strike when it first came out and found it pretty boring. The first edition just wasn’t all that great and I think it has prevented some people from taking the concept seriously. But it’s been a while since then and in the meantime CGL released Commander Edition.

Here’s an Alpha Strike batrep from DFA. These guys have used a lot of the Commander’s Edition optional rules to add some “crunch” to Alpha Strike that, IMO, makes it a perfect miniatures gaming version of CBT.

I painted my first set as the 1st Sword of Light to get the "classic" Kurita look.

I have discovered a technique i really like that brings out the details for painting sword of light. i base coat in flat back and then lightly dust the model in a dark red. it can be done either by spray can or air brush.

I loved the Blood Asp in the video games (MechCommander 2) but nope'd out on the models.

It is pretty brutal in the mechwarrior living legends game...speaking of, since we have some new players i should plug this fan made game again

https://wiki.mechlivinglegends.net/index.php?title=Main_Page

The black pants legion has been running some streaming events (TEX is the the man!) of the game on their channel if you wants some gameplay footage. it is a free game made by the fans so it is not that flaming pile of garbage call of duty version (MWO). and true to real classic battletech it is combined arms-tanks, planes, VTOLS, battle armor, hovercraft, mechs, artillery etc..

They even got the one and only Duncan Fisher to reprise the solaris arena maps announcer

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR5zhFCFVb9UO50RFWCayzsGshr1LrOC6

I'm aiming for Classic Battletech. Preferably on the hexmaps. There something very appealing about the old-school feel of it. I played Babylon 5 Wars back in the day, so I'm not scared of the more complex damage tracking sheets. And I'm intrigued with the precision of the hex-based measurements/terrain/LOS

I still play B5 wars including the conversions to trek, star wars etc....SW armada and trek attack wing ships fill the role quite well, they also have a company that does the expanded battlestar galactica mini line.

That aside yeah alpha strike takes away much of what makes battletech so much fun to play-crits, pilot interactions, detailed heat and movement control etc...

 aphyon wrote:
I have discovered a technique i really like that brings out the details for painting sword of light. i base coat in flat back and then lightly dust the model in a dark red. it can be done either by spray can or air brush.

Nice! I primed mine with Citadel Grey Seer and based with Contrast Blood Angels Red, then hand painted increasing highlights with traditional paints. Then added the black details, metallics for the weapons, and blue-glass effect for cockpits.

I still play B5 wars including the conversions to trek, star wars etc....SW armada and trek attack wing ships fill the role quite well, they also have a company that does the expanded battlestar galactica mini line.

That aside yeah alpha strike takes away much of what makes battletech so much fun to play-crits, pilot interactions, detailed heat and movement control etc...

I do miss B5Wars, but I lost all my stuff in Hurricane Katrina, oh so many years ago. I still do have a CD-ROM of all the ship sheets though! (it was at my office that wasn't destroyed. lol)

I've got some casual skirmish-type games to scratch the itch of a low-crunch, fast-play game. I looked into CBT for the crunchiness.

 Charistoph wrote:
I always saw Alpha Strike as playing Apocalpyse level of models of BT, but without the same time consuming concept that Apocalypse brings to mind. Definitely a bit more Epic-style of play, if you get my meaning.

A little too abstracted in my opinion, I'd rather having something that was about halfway in between, but that's just me.

I think you nailed it. I LOVE Epic 40k, so playing a 500pt game of Alpha Strike with combined-arms, in two hours, feels reeeeeeally good.

I do miss B5Wars, but I lost all my stuff in Hurricane Katrina, oh so many years ago. I still do have a CD-ROM of all the ship sheets though! (it was at my office that wasn't destroyed. lol)

Well this is the point where you are going to love me or hate me..or both at the same time-

Behold all the B5 wars stuff for free on PDF including all the alt universe conversions.

http://b5warsvault.wikidot.com/

 aphyon wrote:
Well this is the point where you are going to love me or hate me..or both at the same time-

Behold all the B5 wars stuff for free on PDF including all the alt universe conversions.

http://b5warsvault.wikidot.com/

YOU. ARE. A. MONSTER.

lol. Thanks so much. I'm going to dig into that!

Phew! Just cleaned up all the mechs from AGoAC, and I forgot how much Sedition Wars made me absolutely hate Restic for mould line cleaning!!

But at least that's done, and I am on to priming and painting, while I wait for my 3D printed Atlas to arrive because of some atrocious mail service (so far it's been over 10 days to cross just three states, and it's still not here, grr....).

Still not sure if the two forces I'm splitting up the set into will be tied to a larger House, or just represent mercs. But because one force will be blue with a red left arm/right leg I guess they could pass as Lyrans, while the grey and green could be Capellans. Still learning my way through the background fluff.

Don't remind me about Sedition Wars cleanup!

I've got better at doing restic since then, but it's still a case of "Ehhh... I guess that'll do...", rather than a cleanup that I'm actually happy with.

Got a second Circle of Equals map.

I mean, just look at it:

That is... impressive.

Probably could pretend that it's a cool Solaris arena, too.

Might work as The Factory. It's all ruined.