Classic Battletech Is Awesome: the Thread!

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**H.B.M.C.**

Why a Locust?

**Miguelsan**

Original Ral Partha lance. PHawk, Stinger, double Locust.

M.

**aphyon**

a Ti Ts`ang

Such a nasty little surprise that one, been on the receiving end of it many times.

**aphyon**

Showing off a bit of a different table setup and some of my new 3d printed terrain.

The table-

Spoiler:

Given the terrain i decided to play with my typhoon urban assault vehicle, i also tossed in a couple quad mechs. so the force was pretty themaitc around heavy gaus and AC 20s as a proper steiner scout lance should be

My force was a hauptmann, barghest 4T, goliath and typhoon.

The marik player was using an orion, stalker, longbow and a marauder.

I lost both quads to concentrated torso damage/gauss rifle explosions.

So marik wins this round but it was a fun little battle.

Spoiler:

**Ghaz**

BattleTech at AdeptiCon; New Fiction Releases

Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Demo Team will be out in full force at Adepticon 2022, happening March 23 to 27 in Schaumberg, Ill. Stop by and play a game of BattleTech, or check out some of our latest and greatest products.

Available in very small numbers will be the next compilation Technical Readout, Technical Readout: Dark Age.

Technical Readout: Dark Age expands on Technical Readout: Succession Wars, Technical Readout: Clan Invasion, and Technical Readout: Clan Invasion by combining the ’Mechs previously found in Technical Readout: 3067, Technical Readout: 3075, Technical Readout: 3085, Technical Readout: 3145, Technical Readout: 3150, Technical Readout: Irregulars, and Technical Readout: Prototypes, this volume features some of the most common ’Mechs from the Jihad. Each machine is accompanied by an illustration, a description of its history, capabilities, and game stats.

We also hope to have on hand the next series of four Alien Worlds BattleMats, showing the amazing MapPack: Alien Worlds battlefields! We truly won’t know whether these products will make the convention until we’re on the floor opening boxes. We had hoped these BattleMats would ship out before Chinese New Year, be available in force at Adepticon, and then be available in our web store just a few weeks later. Unfortunately, the vagaries of international shipping reared their ugly head, and that didn’t happen. However, we’re trying to airlift in a few copies of each, and the full shipment is on the water and should be available in coming months.

CLAN INVASION SALVAGE BLIND-BOX QUICK START RULES

If you’ve picked up your Clan Invasion Salvage Blind Boxes, check out our all-new Quick Start Rules, designed to get your minis out of the blind box and onto the battlefield as quickly as possible, Full-color record sheets are included!

Download the Quick-Start Rules now: bg.battletech.com/QSR.

**Emperors Grace**

Miguelsan wrote:
Original Ral Partha lance. PHawk, Stinger, double Locust.

M.

"Recon Lance", IIRC

I chose "Light Lance" instead (PHawk, Griffin, Stinger, Wasp) when I had a choice between buying the two, long ago.

**Miguelsan**

Now I want one of those too! I have 1 unassigned Griffin, need the other 3.

M.

**H.B.M.C.**

I try to avoid getting too many duplicates, mostly because they tend to all look the same, and because variety is more interesting. I also don't like fielding Lances/Stars/Levels with all the same 'Mech, even if that is the Draconis way.

And yes, I say this as someone who owns 7 Mad Cats, Zeus, Catapults and 6 Hunchbacks.

**Charistoph**

Still, multiples of different types can be nice and handy at times.

I have the Project Phoenix models and CGL plastics of the Thunderbolt (as well as the Primitve version), Wolverine, Battlemaster, and Shadow Hawk. I also have some of the really old plastics of the Panther Commando, and Jenner, while having the CGL plastics, too.

As an example, I can place 3 Thunderbolts with 3 different configurations, and they rather work

I can play the Primitive on the left as a TDR-5S, the Phoenix on the right as a TDR-5SE, and the CGL in the middle as a TDR-5SS.

But I would try to avoid getting duplicates of what I have, if I have a choice. Having 7 Timber Wolves that are all exactly the same would be boring. One reason I'm not too enthused by the blind-pick salvage boxes.

Still, it would allow one to... modify them to be closer matches to the different variants. For a campaign we're running, the CM gave up extra an Hatchetman and Phoenix Hawk model for the force leader to rebuild it as a Hatchet-armed Phoenix Hawk (which was done in the game).

**H.B.M.C.**

Hmm... just for fun I ran the numbers.

Of my 478 'Mechs:

A). 123 of them are unique.
B). 55 of them I own 2 of each type.
C). 28 of them I own 3 of each type.
D). 22 of them I own 4 of each type (the bulk of this are starter set/Kickstarter plastics!).
E). 8 of them I own 5 of each type (Jenner, Centurion, Dragon*, Grasshopper, Warhammer, Awesome, Daishi, Atlas).
F). 2 of them I own 6 of each type (Puma and Hunchback).
G). And as mentioned before, 3 of them I own 7 of each type (Catapult, Mad Cat, Zeus).

If something had a one piece metal mini (Hunchback, Grasshopper, Blackjack, Quickdraw) then I 100% own it. Of them, I think the Mad Cats have the most variety: Two CityTech 2nd Ed plastics, 1 normal metal (converted to a WYSIWYG Mad Cat A), 1 Anniversary plastic, 2 Kickstarter plastic, 1 Legends plastic.

What this has taught me is that I do not yet own a star of Ryokens. This is sacrilege!

*For some damned reason...

**Manchu**

That’s a good analysis, I should do something similar eventually.

**Charistoph**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Hmm... just for fun I ran the numbers.

Of my 478 'Mechs:

My collection is not quite as... diverse. I used to have the 3rd Edtion Box and the CityTech 2 box, but that was a LONG time ago. When I started collecting again, it was piece meal for years as the local scene wasn't much, and in-store procurement was low. When CGL started producing their plastics, my income was low and I didn't have a local group. That changed in the last year.

At present, I have 81 Mechs:
1 is a CityTech model, a Dervish.
15 are the same quality as the 3rd Edition boxset. I rebased and painted them, then left them in a box at the store for people to use.
37 are models from Ironwind Metals.
25 are from CGL packs.
2 are alternative 3D prints of Mechs I use in a local campaign and the original metals are horrible (Lancelot and Firestarter)

Of those, all but the Dervish, the FASA builds, and 9 Ironwind models were acquired since January 2021 when I found a local store and group.

61 Inner Sphere Mechs (6 Omni)
20 Clan Mechs. (15 Omni)

Weight Classes: (totaling 4475 tons)
Light: 21
Medium: 27
Heavy: 19
Assault: 14

I have 3 Commandos (2 the old FASA style) and Thunderbolts. 2 Dervishes and Enforcers (FASA style), with the Battlemaster, Shadow Hawk, and Wolverine being duped with Ironwind Phoenix models and CGL plastic, with Jenner and Panther having duplicated with CGL plastic and old FASA style.

If played chassis WYSIWYG, 3 models cannot be played with Total Warfare rules (Gauntlet, Sarath, and Wendigo). 13 of the remainder are not Introtech chassis, but I have a habit of creating "Downgraded" versions of them.

And no, this is not some grand memory, I created a Google Sheet to help me keep track of them all. I don't think I could track 478 by memory if I couldn't handle those 81.

**aphyon**

Well since we are having a gauss rifle measuring contest-

88 mechs
23 vehicles
15 protomechs
25 points of battle armor
2 mech scale aerospace fighters
5 warships (aerotech)
1 aerodyne dropship (click tech/mech scale)

total-159 units
of the mechs 72 unique, 8 for vehicles

as for duplicates
mechs-
.dragon-2 versions-IWM metal, 3d printed plastic
.thunderbolt-2 versions-IWM reseen metal, catalyst new plastic
.crusader-2 versions-original metal, catalyst new plastic
.obakemono-2-because my artillery lance NEEDS 2
.awsome-2 versions-9Q metal, 9M catalyst new plastic
.archer-2 versions-original metal, catalyst new plastic
.wolverine-2 versions-original metal, catalyst new plastic
.battlemaster-2 versions-orginal metal, catalyst new plastics

Vehicles
Since clans count 2 vehicles as a single mech i have quite a few of these-
.X2 enyo strike tanks
.X2 TYR IFVs
.X2 garuda VTOLs
.X2 huey artillery tanks
.X2 xerxes ASFs
IS side
.X2 goblin IFVs
.X2 challenger Xs
.X2 ontos

So 16 sets of duplicates

I also tend to run all sorts of non popular/well known mechs just because i like them. you see all the old classics t-bolts, warhammers, madcats etc... but it is fun to see things on the table like the shugenja, daikyu, cestus, jackalope, nighthawk, bowman etc... showing up.

**H.B.M.C.**

The weight breakdown I've got is:

20 Tons - 20
25 Tons - 16
30 Tons - 32
35 Tons - 35
40 Tons - 26
45 Tons - 29
50 Tons - 39
55 Tons - 27
60 Tons - 31
65 Tons - 31
70 Tons - 36
75 Tons - 32
80 Tons - 33
85 Tons - 24
90 Tons - 18
95 Tons - 19
100 Tons - 30

Seems 25 tons is the least represented there. *shrugs*

Vehicle wise there's 188 of them - 158 Inner Sphere and 30 Clan.

Clan Armour/Protos is... I don't have that written down, would'ja believe? Looking at the notes, which aren't complete, it would seem to be:

20 points of Elementals
10 points of Gnome BA
5 points of Afreet BA
5 points of Corona BA
5 points of Golem BA
5 points of Rogue Bear BA
5 Rocs
5 Centaurs
5 Minotaurs
5 Gorgons
5 Orcs

And for the Inner Sphere... umm... I'm honestly not sure how they're organised so, I'll just list the figures:

6 bases of Inner Sphere Standard
6 bases of Hauberk
6 bases of Kanazuchi
6 bases of Rotweiller
6 bases of Void
6 bases of Infiltrator Mk.II
6 bases of Phalanx
6 bases of Grenadier
6 bases of Kage

And I think 6 or so bases of Fa Shih BA, but I got them from a friend who over ordered them and I've never put them together, so I'm unsure of the number. Yeah I kinda just started collecting for Davion, Kurita, Ghost Bear and Jade Falcon and, along the way, ended up with a Liao force. And a pirate force. And part of a ComStar force. Things like that happen to me. It's weird.

Charistoph wrote:
And no, this is not some grand memory, I created a Google Sheet to help me keep track of them all. I don't think I could track 478 by memory if I couldn't handle those 81.

Oh no I've had an Excel sheet with all this stuff for years now.

**Emperors Grace**

Miguelsan wrote:
Now I want one of those too! I have 1 unassigned Griffin, need the other 3.

M.

The really nice bit is that I picked it up in the 80's... so they're the "Unseen" versions - Ral Partha #10-802 with the Skull Squadron painting on the front.

I thought they were Robotech at the time given the cover. I didn't actually start BattleTech until the mid 2000's, so most of my collection is preassembled plastic. I'll build them up one of these days when I finish the plastics.

**Charistoph**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
The weight breakdown I've got is:
...
Seems 25 tons is the least represented there. *shrugs*

My least represented weight class is my poor plastic FASA Cyclops at 90 tons. Next most common are triples it is 20, 60, 85, 95, and 100. My most represented are 55 tons at 11.

I don't have any BT Vehicles or Infantry. At best, I have an old DropZone Commander Shaltari starter box which I use its hovercraft for proxying.

I could use the infantry in there for that (technically they are Battle Armor), I suppose, but the bases are rather big and I'm... hesitant to take them off of it. And if I did, I think a Hex base would be too big, so I have wonder if I should just keep it to a big enough base to keep them balanced, but not consume a whole hex. Too which, I wonder how much I should keep together, just one so I can maximize how much I put out, or set them up in the triples they are based as.

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Charistoph wrote:
And no, this is not some grand memory, I created a Google Sheet to help me keep track of them all. I don't think I could track 478 by memory if I couldn't handle those 81.
Oh no I've had an Excel sheet with all this stuff for years now.

I thought it might be something like that. That is a LOT of data.

**H.B.M.C.**

Ok. 479 'Mechs now.

When I ordered the new plastic Annihilator I picked up the Wolf's Dragoons Blackjack as well... or I thought I did. Turns out I just ordered the regular Kickstarter one again.

So I found someone selling the actual Wolf's Dragoons Blackjack, and that arrived today. Except it broke in transit, which brings me to my question and the reason for this post:

Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

**aphyon**

I have never had to do repairs to any of the new catalyst plastics, however after all the years of metal models (battletech included) along with resin or plastic i swear by CA+ zapagap (green thickness)

**Platuan4th**

IIRC, they're PVC based plastics, so you'll need super glue.

**H.B.M.C.**

Thanks everyone. I'll keep that in mind and add it to my "metal repair" area.

**Charistoph**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

From what I understand, only GW plastic works with GW's plastic glue. Since it is a reagent-based bonding system it requires the plastics to be within very specific parameters, and GW doesn't tell if it doesn't have to.

**Platuan4th**

Charistoph wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

From what I understand, only GW plastic works with GW's plastic glue. Since it is a reagent-based bonding system it requires the plastics to be within very specific parameters, and GW doesn't tell if it doesn't have to.

Pretty sure HBMC meant just regular plastic glues like Testors, not GW's specifically.

**Albertorius**

Charistoph wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

From what I understand, only GW plastic works with GW's plastic glue. Since it is a reagent-based bonding system it requires the plastics to be within very specific parameters, and GW doesn't tell if it doesn't have to.

GW plastic is just HIPS. Anything that works on HIPS will work on GW plastics, and vice versa.

As to the question, Btech plastics seem to be boardgame ABS, so most probably not.

**Gitzbitah**

Next time you're in your friendly local game store, look for the March issue of 'Game Trade Magazine' # 265. It has a full sized poster of the Battle for Tukkayid art with the sword wielding Black Knight fighting elementals, and on its reverse is a really sweet piece of a Banshee and a Stalker firing off into the middle distance that says Battletech at the top, and Mercenaries at the bottom. I hadn't seen the art before, and was really happy with it. It also has a little folder which has a guide for the order of rulebooks to purchase. Not bad for 3.99.

**Ghaz**

From reddit:

Spoiler:

**aphyon**

So quite a bit of battletech this weekend-

Fist off showing off my new 3d printed terrain additions with a solar collector station.

Spoiler:

The first game was a lance on lance battle. the other player just used some random mechs as proxies. i decided to take a few mechs i do not use very often from my second dieron regulars.

He had the advantage of a C3 network but since i was running a medium lance i had a speed advantage over him.

I used the terrain to pincer him and stay out of the firing lines of his assault class command mech.

Spoiler:

My black hawk KU went down to critical hits and i was losing a string of initiative rolls so i was fighting on the defensive.

Spoiler:

My wolverine (lance commander) stepped up and took down 2 mechs forcing my enemy to flee-

The other game i just snapped a couple of pics of as i was off playing a warmachine game at the time-

It was the same player i was up against before but he was running a clan star against marik-

Spoiler:

After that we did game 2 of the new campaign for the brown shorts legion mercenary company.

The players arrived in the landing zone and were set upon by a medium harasser lance. who managed to hold them long enough for the inbound heavy lance could engage them.

Spoiler:

The MVP for the players was their lance commander in his wolverine who took out the enemy hunchback with an ammo explosion that then took out his own friendly raven in the blast radius.

**H.B.M.C.**

"random mechs as proxies"

Yeah no kidding. One of those is a Blood Asp!

**chaos0xomega**

So do we know what that Highlander lance box has in it yet?

Also, I noticed some stores have Interstellar Operations reprints on preorder, one labeled "Battleforce" and the other "Alternate Eras". Any clue what they contain? Was there an announcement about these? Can't find anything on the Catalyst site, they don't even have it listed on their webstore from what I can tell.

Charistoph wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

From what I understand, only GW plastic works with GW's plastic glue. Since it is a reagent-based bonding system it requires the plastics to be within very specific parameters, and GW doesn't tell if it doesn't have to.

This (specifically the underlined/bolded part) is grossly, horrendously incorrect. GWs plastic glue will work with any HIPS based plastic regardless of manufacturer (aside from knowing this on a scientific basis, I also know it from a practical basis as I regularly use GW plastic glue on non-GW minis). It will not work with the Battletech plastics, because they are not HIPS (I believe they are vinyl/PVC but not 100% positive).

**auticus**

They split Interstellar ops into two books like they have been doing with all of the books.

Battleforce is the rules for running galaxy level battles and allowing macro-level roles and rules. Essentially if you want to run an entire greater house or clan and do sector battles in the sphere - this is for you. This is the tippy top of the scale in Battle Tech... entire battleforces engaging.

Alternate Eras is the second of the two books and has rules for every era of the game from the beginning of battletech timeline to 3151.

I have the original printing which had both of these in one book, and it was a pretty good, if not highly detailed, slog.

**Charistoph**

chaos0xomega wrote:
Charistoph wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Does anyone know if these Kickstarter plastics take plastic cement like GW minis? Or do I need superglue?

From what I understand, only GW plastic works with GW's plastic glue. Since it is a reagent-based bonding system it requires the plastics to be within very specific parameters, and GW doesn't tell if it doesn't have to.

This (specifically the underlined/bolded part) is grossly, horrendously incorrect. GWs plastic glue will work with any HIPS based plastic regardless of manufacturer (aside from knowing this on a scientific basis, I also know it from a practical basis as I regularly use GW plastic glue on non-GW minis). It will not work with the Battletech plastics, because they are not HIPS (I believe they are vinyl/PVC but not 100% positive).

You're a little late to the party on this.

However, how many other miniature lines are made using that same plastic? Not as many as would be liked, and often even less than that, from what I understand. That was more the point. This was what I was told at the time by modelers with far more experience than me. That was a few years ago, though, so obviously circumstances can change. Still doesn't change the fact that super glue is more consistent as a bonding medium, especially if you can get a gap-filling one.