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the metal ones vary in quality a fair bit, some look great others look horribad

I'm also sure some of the sculpts are older than me...

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'm also sure some of the sculpts are older than me...

the oldest one I've seen there is 2008 but if there are older it'd not suprise me

I'm certain some of the vehicles go back to the 80's.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'm certain some of the vehicles go back to the 80's.

I don't see anything older then 2008 there.

BrianDavion wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'm certain some of the vehicles go back to the 80's.

I don't see anything older then 2008 there.

I believe some of the sculpts that Ironwind has made were made from Ral Partha molds, or based on the same design. So it could be that far back, originally.

 Charistoph wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'm certain some of the vehicles go back to the 80's.

I don't see anything older then 2008 there.

I believe some of the sculpts that Ironwind has made were made from Ral Partha molds, or based on the same design. So it could be that far back, originally.

Yeah, the reissue date by IWM doesn't necessarily represent the actual original release date of the sculpt.

Most of my collection goes back to the Ral Partha days so well before 2008. Late 90s to early 2000s. I've since picked up some stuff from Ironwind to round things out and then kickstarter allowed me to flesh out some new forces. I now have about a battalion for each of the 5 major houses plus Rasalhague, a merc unit, comstar/word of blake and about a trinary for 4 clans. The mechs from 3060 were pretty fugly and their configs seemed like rehases of existing designs so I don't plan on building any post jihad forces.

BrianDavion wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I'm also sure some of the sculpts are older than me...

the oldest one I've seen there is 2008 but if there are older it'd not suprise me

got mekHQ working and daaaaamn that is one complicated system, looking forward to cracking it though as I quite like the idea of knowing every single mektech, pilot, Dr etc.

Anyone on Dakka run any Megamek campaigns and can give advice ?

Whilst I haven't organised everything and put it in foam yet, I have gone over and updated my full listing of 'Mechs.

475 (145 Clan, 330 Inner Sphere) 'Mechs in total.

Adding things from this Kickstarter actually added 'Mechs I did not own previously, specifically the Linebacker, Battle Cobra, Crossbow, Conjurer, Goshawk, Pack Hunter, Highlander (no really!) and the Flashman.

Looking at duplicates, some highlights include 6 Pumas, 5 Centurions, 6 Hunchbacks, 5 Dragons (*groan*), 7 Catapults, 5 Grasshoppers, 7 Madcats (3 different plastic Mad Cats!), 7 Zeus, 5 Atlases and 5 Daishis!

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
5 Dragons (*groan*)

Seriously. I don't understand why the Dragon isn't better. It's ubiquitous and great looking and so underwhelming.

 Prometheum5 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
5 Dragons (*groan*)

Seriously. I don't understand why the Dragon isn't better. It's ubiquitous and great looking and so underwhelming.

In the case of the original, well... the AC/5 is sort of crap, and weight-wise 60 tonners kind of drew the sweet spot short stick. The Grand Dragon is decent enough for what it is, though, and you can use the same model.

yeah the dragon is meh, the grad dragon is ".. reasonably good"

 Albertorius wrote:

 Prometheum5 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
5 Dragons (*groan*)

Seriously. I don't understand why the Dragon isn't better. It's ubiquitous and great looking and so underwhelming.

In the case of the original, well... the AC/5 is sort of crap, and weight-wise 60 tonners kind of drew the sweet spot short stick. The Grand Dragon is decent enough for what it is, though, and you can use the same model.

So long as a 60 tonner doesn't jump, it can compare pretty well with 55 tonners. I worked out that if you dropped the Dragon by 5 tons, you're only losing out on 1 ton of equipment. However, the Quickdraw get seriously hosed as each of its jump jets weigh in twice as much as a Wolverine's, so gaining out on about 1.5 tons of equipment by dropping 5 tons in weight.

 Prometheum5 wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
5 Dragons (*groan*)

Seriously. I don't understand why the Dragon isn't better. It's ubiquitous and great looking and so underwhelming.

It has a very specific role in kurita military doctrine. It is a pursuit mech designed to run down lights in keeping with the kurita preference for fast heavy mechs.

Think about being a mechwarrior in a commando or something similar and that heavy mech is staying with you or catching up to you.

The improvement to the grand dragon variant near the end of the 4th succession war turned it from a decent mech into a fantastic mech.

Now if you want to talk about the sherman tank of the combine-cheap, easy to mass produce and kind of "meh" let me introduce you to the panther. the "light" mech that has none of the benefits of being a light mech.

I have a full Lance of Panthers now. They're just so... bland!

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I have a full Lance of Panthers now. They're just so... bland!

Oh come on now, I'll rip on the Dragon but the Panther is great. Besides, I'm pretty sure there's multiple books worth of scenarios you can now play with a lance of Panthers.

Hmm... that's a point.

Let's see, 'Mechs I can now do full Lances of:

Commando
Spider
UrbanMech
Jenner
Panther
Hatchetman
Centurion
Enforcer
Hunchback
Trebuchet
Dragon
Quickdraw (another bad 'Mech... stupid Striker Lance!)
Rifleman
Catapult
Archer
Grasshopper
Warhammer
Marauder
Orion
Awesome
Victor
Zeus
Battlemaster
Cyclops
Banshee
Atlas

As a player who started with the combine from the beginning i have always had and loved my dragon, i refuse to even own a panther.



Until recently where i got the catalyst plastics i had nothing lighter than my komodo, and wolverines,

Komodos are fun.

Especially when they are paired with arrow IV obakemonos

The Panther's exactly what you'd expect when a society rejects the idea of medium mechs as a waste of resources. Technically, it's still a light- so it keeps the Combine ethos of lights and heavies going. But in every practical respect, it fights like a medium, filling that gaping hole in their TO&E.

Personally I love the little guys. They're scrappy, and brave enough to forego speed for a chance at reasonably damaging larger mechs.

I agree, Panthers and Jenners are very tough contenders, surprisingly fighty for their size.

 Gitzbitah wrote:
The Panther's exactly what you'd expect when a society rejects the idea of medium mechs as a waste of resources. Technically, it's still a light- so it keeps the Combine ethos of lights and heavies going. But in every practical respect, it fights like a medium, filling that gaping hole in their TO&E.

Personally I love the little guys. They're scrappy, and brave enough to forego speed for a chance at reasonably damaging larger mechs.

I would agree if it was a 5/8/5 movement. But it's just too slow to really fill that role. I'll take Shadowhawk 2k anyday over a Panther.

Trafalgar Law wrote:

 Gitzbitah wrote:
The Panther's exactly what you'd expect when a society rejects the idea of medium mechs as a waste of resources. Technically, it's still a light- so it keeps the Combine ethos of lights and heavies going. But in every practical respect, it fights like a medium, filling that gaping hole in their TO&E.

Personally I love the little guys. They're scrappy, and brave enough to forego speed for a chance at reasonably damaging larger mechs.

I would agree if it was a 5/8/5 movement. But it's just too slow to really fill that role. I'll take Shadowhawk 2k anyday over a Panther.

or if you have to go with a light mech with a ranged support weapon a Valkyrie.

"If it was't a Panther, the Panther would be good." is what I'm getting here.

And I can't stand the Valk.

I honestly like the Panths quite a bit, they're tough hombres.

But I've also just printed a Mauler so that I could add a stupid assault to a kuritan lance, so...

(I love the looks of the Mauler and I've been fond of it since I saw it on the Battletech Compendium. But 4x AC/2s is nuts. And the "Daboku", the 3025 era variant, is endearingly bad and ridiculous. The 1K is surprisingly decent, though).

BrianDavion wrote:

Trafalgar Law wrote:

 Gitzbitah wrote:
The Panther's exactly what you'd expect when a society rejects the idea of medium mechs as a waste of resources. Technically, it's still a light- so it keeps the Combine ethos of lights and heavies going. But in every practical respect, it fights like a medium, filling that gaping hole in their TO&E.

Personally I love the little guys. They're scrappy, and brave enough to forego speed for a chance at reasonably damaging larger mechs.

I would agree if it was a 5/8/5 movement. But it's just too slow to really fill that role. I'll take Shadowhawk 2k anyday over a Panther.

or if you have to go with a light mech with a ranged support weapon a Valkyrie.

Very interesting! The Shadowhawk's a no brainer- even by BV, it's 1.5 Panthers.

But there aren't many people who would choose a single LRM10 rack over a PPC- especially when it only has a single ton of reloads.

For speed and maneuverability, no question, 5/8/5 beats 4/6/4 hollow. But the Panther's about being tough enough to hold still, and put a few PPC shots accurately on target to open some holes for your Jenners to exploit.

There are only a few light mechs i am a fan of, i mostly gravitate towards mediums to do the same job, i love my wolverines for example but if i have to use them-
.talon
.night hawk
.razorback
.jakalope

On the clan side it is
.puma/adder
.piranha
.fire falcon

Is there a full list of the plastic mechs produced? I'm trying to go over the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion TROs to see which one haven't been produced so far to try and find 3d versions of those...