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But in battletech the Battlemaster is 30 tons heavier and two weight classes larger then the wolverine.

 Barzam wrote:
If the distribution is decent and the actual production minis work out the 3D printing kinks these prototypes have,

This is like the fourth time this has been brought up - What do you mean? What would 3D printed prototype artifacts of a cad design have to do with plastics tooling?

 Barzam wrote:
If the distribution is decent and the actual production minis work out the 3D printing kinks these prototypes have, I'd be inclined to actually pick these up.

Do we really need like twenty posts with this caveat? Do people honestly think those are the final models ready for casting?

I'm getting really excited for this, but I also wish it was coming sooner so they don't miss out on the HBS Battletech swell. Didn't know about Alpha Strike either, might have to check that out and see if I can get anyone to play it.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 LunarSol wrote:
... that aren't stolen...

Stolen?

Buying into HG's bull gak are we?

Nah. I honestly couldn't care less about HG in this instance. Stolen is a strong word; license, borrowed, whatever is the correct term go with it. My point is really just that most of the early designs haven't really caught on and a lot of the early appeal comes from some use of far more iconic mechs from elsewhere. The game has tons of iconic mechs though and mechs in general. The game would really benefit from a relaunch that focused on iconic designs regardless of era.

Hey, I'm just saying, you never know what the quality of the final product will be like until you actually see the final product in hand. Just look at Mantic as an example. How many times now have they changed material, designs, and sculpts midqay through production now?

 judgedoug wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

And going by Anthony Scroggins (Shimmering-Sword) DeviantArt Gallery there is no Catapult. What's in the box while it looks like a new sculpt may or may not be an updated design.

As an actual employee, he does not post all of his CGL owned work on his DeviantArt gallery.

To be fair, he's only been the BattleTech Art Director since late March, plus a link to his DeviantArt page with lineart for all of the 'mechs he's done so far is provided in the announcement of his promotion to Art Director.

The sculpt is so much of an improvement it is functionally a redesign.

The feet look more like the MWO version but the nose is pointed like the CBT version. So this seems like a hybrid.

This is timely indeed. In the last month I've started picking up models from Palladium's aborted Robotech game for the use in Battletech (perfect representations of the unseen) and now this! My only complaint would be that the wolverine is duplicated in both boxes but the griffin is not. Can't get all the models in the advanced box, and buying both only gets one new sculpt. Granted I still will, nothing wrong with duplicating a wolverine. It's just a weird choice to me.

 judgedoug wrote:

 Barzam wrote:
If the distribution is decent and the actual production minis work out the 3D printing kinks these prototypes have,

This is like the fourth time this has been brought up - What do you mean? What would 3D printed prototype artifacts of a cad design have to do with plastics tooling?

I believe they ment that Catalyst doesn't make enough copies and it is only a one time maybe two time release and never make any more. So basically it's the die hards, people already in Battletech scoop them all up and then there is not enough for new people to be able to buy it.

It would be like GW making the 40K/AoS starter set with only 5000 copies and that is it. Once they are all gobbled no more are made and the only way to get into it would be buying books and separate minis. No box set savings to get into the hobby.

Is this the old eighties rules?

I really like the setting, well until the clan stuff went from silly to really silly, but I’m not sure I’d want to back to those. It was a bit of a book keeping fest and took a long time to play...

Read up (including ITT) on Alpha Strike if Classic BattleTech is too crunchy for you.

That’s the free form thing isn’t it? Was hoping that this would be hexes etc but with a more modern take on the core rules

 torgoch wrote:
Is this the old eighties rules?

I really like the setting, well until the clan stuff went from silly to really silly, but I’m not sure I’d want to back to those. It was a bit of a book keeping fest and took a long time to play...

I believe so. While not 100% 80's rules it has been updated, but basically the same. While I haven't played in ages, when I did buy the book a few years ago to get back into Battletech (never did since nobody played) some things have changed, but it still plays the same. Same movement phase, same shooting phase etc. Mechs are still built the same. Just updated as the eyars went on.


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 torgoch wrote:
That’s the free form thing isn’t it? Was hoping that this would be hexes etc but with a more modern take on the core rules

What would be hexes? I believe they made rules for regular Battletech to be played without hexes as well. I can't remember if Alpha Strike can be played on hexes too.

 torgoch wrote:
That’s the free form thing isn’t it? Was hoping that this would be hexes etc but with a more modern take on the core rules

The new sets are the good old Battletech rules that have been around since the 80s, with very minor tweaks here and there.

BT is traditionally played on hex-maps, but rules do exist for playing it as a miniatures game, with terrain and tapemeasures.

Alpha Strike is the "zoomed out" version that came out a few years ago. It's a simpler ruleset that allows it to accommodate more minis per side.

It's traditionally played as a wargame with tapemeasures and terrain and stuff, but rules exist to allow it to be played on BT hex-maps.

 Da-Rock wrote:
Boy, lots of opinions screaming, "Do what I like because that's the right way".

I'm just happy Battletech is relevant right now. I am looking for the best way to combine the new Battletech with a pencil and paper RPG. (I wonder if I can harness Starfinder rules for Battletech RPG?

Use the RPG? It's called "A Time of War." Been out for a few years. Basically the fourth edition of the Battletech RPG.

 judgedoug wrote:

 warboss wrote:
I hope that they'll prep the minis a bit better than the one below that still has the 3d printing stepping visible.

That image is a prototype from a year or more ago.

The actual models are plastic and tooled in a plastics factory in ol China

Thanks for the clarification as that wasn't evident from your post (or in part from the interview) and good to hear that.


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 judgedoug wrote:

 Barzam wrote:
If the distribution is decent and the actual production minis work out the 3D printing kinks these prototypes have,

This is like the fourth time this has been brought up - What do you mean? What would 3D printed prototype artifacts of a cad design have to do with plastics tooling?

Catalyst has a history of occasionally doing stupid things (like not keeping a starter in production for years for instance with no explanation). Other minis company play loose with the nomenclature of plastic in the popular vernacular so we don't automatically know what material or method they'll actually use. Please see the Confrontation kickstarter for some "bright" ideas about production for example. Plenty of companies now 3d print a master for mould production and that's at least what I was worried about with the (now clarified as outdated by you) prototype. Spartan Games 3d printed prototypes for large ships for example and never bothered cleaning them up either.

 Insurgency Walker wrote:

Look at it this way, for the past 40+ years Battletech starter set have been based on the early parts of the Battletech that timeline. Even a decades after the clans invasion the Box game had the plastic press form inner spheres mechs. I don't think they plan on rewriting the history of battletech, so the MadCat will be coming along at some point. Could they have done a clan starter set set in the same timeframe? Yes, then their advancing the time line would be about the conflict of who gets to invade the backwards precursor innersphere. Might have been an interesting take on things but they are playing it safe by walking in the footsteps of the old game. The political environment of the inner sphere states with recovered tech and the clan reconnaissance however gives much more room for people to do their own thing in the Battletech world.

Don't get me wrong, the succession war is cool, and I read that background etc. WAAAAAaaaaay before I actually started playing the game (mid 90's?), but to me the Madcat is Iconic. Personally I'd make a starter which utterly ignored time period, lobbed in an Atlas, Madcat, a model of the Bushwhacker that isn't repellent (Liked me some Mechwarrior 3) and anything that's been on a rulebook cover over the last 30 years. Then point out somewhere that this technically shouldn't all appear at exactly the same time, have fun, if you enjoy the game here's the eras.

But they haven't done that, and I wish them every success in what they have done!

 Prometheum5 wrote:

 Barzam wrote:
If the distribution is decent and the actual production minis work out the 3D printing kinks these prototypes have, I'd be inclined to actually pick these up.

Do we really need like twenty posts with this caveat? Do people honestly think those are the final models ready for casting?

I'm getting really excited for this, but I also wish it was coming sooner so they don't miss out on the HBS Battletech swell. Didn't know about Alpha Strike either, might have to check that out and see if I can get anyone to play it.

To be fair CGL has done this before, meaning what they showed in prototypes is what made it to production... print lines and all. It is a plague with the license, before 3d printing, sculpts have had fingerprints in the castings. The last time they did a relaunch, the plastic models were horrible and smaller than the metal counterpart versions. Now that doesn't mean they all are horrible, but they haven't exactly been clean releases without these issues, which is why it is brought up often enough.

I'm still waiting on Alpha Strike Box Set that was announced, what feels like ages ago and can still pre-order, but has never come to fruition. The release date keeps getting pushed back and I am doubting I'll ever see it which was what I was waiting for jumping into Alpha Strike.

 Graphite wrote:

 Insurgency Walker wrote:

Look at it this way, for the past 40+ years Battletech starter set have been based on the early parts of the Battletech that timeline. Even a decades after the clans invasion the Box game had the plastic press form inner spheres mechs. I don't think they plan on rewriting the history of battletech, so the MadCat will be coming along at some point. Could they have done a clan starter set set in the same timeframe? Yes, then their advancing the time line would be about the conflict of who gets to invade the backwards precursor innersphere. Might have been an interesting take on things but they are playing it safe by walking in the footsteps of the old game. The political environment of the inner sphere states with recovered tech and the clan reconnaissance however gives much more room for people to do their own thing in the Battletech world.

Don't get me wrong, the succession war is cool, and I read that background etc. WAAAAAaaaaay before I actually started playing the game (mid 90's?), but to me the Madcat is Iconic. Personally I'd make a starter which utterly ignored time period, lobbed in an Atlas, Madcat, a model of the Bushwhacker that isn't repellent (Liked me some Mechwarrior 3) and anything that's been on a rulebook cover over the last 30 years. Then point out somewhere that this technically shouldn't all appear at exactly the same time, have fun, if you enjoy the game here's the eras.

But they haven't done that, and I wish them every success in what they have done!

Well, ironwind metels still makes mechs so just pick up the rules and the mechs you want and have at it. Funny you should mention the Bushwacker, I have a single Ral Partha Bushwacker that is slightly different than the Ironwind versions and I definitely prefer the old sculpt. I haven't played any Battletech in over a.decade but reading this thread is making me think I should break out the miniatures. Anybody know of an IOS based mechbuilder app?

I imagine it would work anywhere, but look for Solaris Skunk Works.

It's a really good 'Mech builder.

 Insurgency Walker wrote:
I haven't played any Battletech in over a.decade but reading this thread is making me think I should break out the miniatures. Anybody know of an IOS based mechbuilder app?

Be careful there. By that I mean about making your own games. From what I gather, and I haven't started Battletech again because of this is it seems most people don't like playing against custom mechs. If you want a game, it's basically like 40K, and you have to use the "official" mechs. If you don't use a stock mech then you HAVE to use one of the variants.

To me part of the greatness of Battletech is making your own mechs/units. Not being able to take the magic away for me.

So I am not sure if you need a mech builder app to make a lance or to make actual mechs. I have looked and couldn't find one for either lance or mech building. Will be good to find one. I will buy the box set of course but the problem with Battletech is I don't care for the art work of old so that is why I left. Needing to go "official" I just couldn't get into mechs. Now of course I will buy the box set, but if I don't like the art work then I don't think I will be continuing. Just like how I hated Age of Sigmar and beginning of 7th edition 40K. The art style was horrible in my opinion. Here is hoping they come with a pleasant art style this edition.

 Dark Severance wrote:

To be fair CGL has done this before, meaning what they showed in prototypes is what made it to production... print lines and all. It is a plague with the license, before 3d printing, sculpts have had fingerprints in the castings.

Yikes.. I was basing my trepidation based on what I consider stupid things other companies have done (like my Spartan Games example) with 3d prints but wasn't aware that they had a direct history of doing similar things themselves. That definitely cements it to the wait and see real world copies side of things for me.

They should just retcon battlemechs to utilize zimmerit. Line problem solved!

Thank you judgedoug for that Btech vs Alpha Strike comparison, i wasnt aware.

So the best way to start Alpha Strike would be to buy the new starters, and the 2nd ed book coming out? Would that be right? TIA!

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I imagine it would work anywhere, but look for Solaris Skunk Works.

It's a really good 'Mech builder.

Thanks, I used I think Mechworks in the past. Even when not making custom mechs it's nice to be able to print out a sheet, though we used to put them in plastic sleeves and track damage with a dry erase marker back in the day.


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Davor wrote:

 Insurgency Walker wrote:
I haven't played any Battletech in over a.decade but reading this thread is making me think I should break out the miniatures. Anybody know of an IOS based mechbuilder app?

Be careful there. By that I mean about making your own games. From what I gather, and I haven't started Battletech again because of this is it seems most people don't like playing against custom mechs. If you want a game, it's basically like 40K, and you have to use the "official" mechs. If you don't use a stock mech then you HAVE to use one of the variants.

To me part of the greatness of Battletech is making your own mechs/units. Not being able to take the magic away for me.

So I am not sure if you need a mech builder app to make a lance or to make actual mechs. I have looked and couldn't find one for either lance or mech building. Will be good to find one. I will buy the box set of course but the problem with Battletech is I don't care for the art work of old so that is why I left. Needing to go "official" I just couldn't get into mechs. Now of course I will buy the box set, but if I don't like the art work then I don't think I will be continuing. Just like how I hated Age of Sigmar and beginning of 7th edition 40K. The art style was horrible in my opinion. Here is hoping they come with a pleasant art style this edition.

Been a long time since I played randoms, but it usually wasn't a problem to have some modifications or custom mechs. I typically modified the mini so there wasn't a lot of confusion. It was really about picking a tech level or weather or not clan tech, or clans would be used. The last 20 years has definitely seen some tech/power creep I stopped playing about the time the mini and mega mechs were making their debut. Elementals out side of clan? Heretical!

 rabidaskal wrote:
Thank you judgedoug for that Btech vs Alpha Strike comparison, i wasnt aware.

So the best way to start Alpha Strike would be to buy the new starters, and the 2nd ed book coming out? Would that be right? TIA!

Oh goodness no! Start the free and easy way.

The basic rules- https://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/AlphaStrikeQuick-Start-Rules.pdf?x64300

And a fairly comprehensive list of units, sorted by era, with their Alpha Strike game sheet. http://www.masterunitlist.info/

As far as minis go, they've released quite a few lance packs, which come with 4 plastic minis, and 8 Alpha Strike cards for them. they retail for 20, so finding them for 15 or lower should be pretty straightforward- like searching 'battletech lance' on Amazon.

One of the wonderful things about Battletech is that the older miniatures (3025 or so) have the most flexibility- there are variants with technology appropriate for Clan era, Jihad, and in some cases, even Republic. So pick something that looks cool, until you decide which House or faction to devote your collection to.

On a scale of "minor heresy" to "HERESY! Purge them!", how much of a bad person would I be if I used some of my old Reaper CAV models to supplement what I would get in the new starter boxes?

 Gitzbitah wrote:
As far as minis go, they've released quite a few lance packs, which come with 4 plastic minis, and 8 Alpha Strike cards for them. they retail for 20, so finding them for 15 or lower should be pretty straightforward- like searching 'battletech lance' on Amazon.

They're out of print sadly, and will, over time, become increasingly hard to find.

 warboss wrote:

 Dark Severance wrote:

To be fair CGL has done this before, meaning what they showed in prototypes is what made it to production... print lines and all. It is a plague with the license, before 3d printing, sculpts have had fingerprints in the castings.

Yikes.. I was basing my trepidation based on what I consider stupid things other companies have done (like my Spartan Games example) with 3d prints but wasn't aware that they had a direct history of doing similar things themselves. That definitely cements it to the wait and see real world copies side of things for me.

I'm totally unaware of this. CGL doesn't really manufacture miniatures.* Iron Wind Metals makes metal minis for Battletech (with varying levels of quality).

* = while CGL doesn't make miniatures, they do contract some companies to make plastics - Leviathans for example, and the 2009 Battletech box set, which did have terrible plastic models (like crappy pvc) and the later 2014 re-release, which had fantastic plastic models. Catalyst was rightly berated for those terrible 2009 plastic mechs which is why the later re-release, as well as subsequent Lance packs, used a different company. This link from 2014 actually shows the comparison from the 2009 mechs versus the re-release and lance pack plastic mechs - https://bg.battletech.com/uncategorized/introductory-box-set-available-for-preorder-and-for-a-short-time-a-cool-deal/

I want to clarify for anyone reading this - the new Battletech mechs will be plastic, tooled from 3d sculpts. Those 3d prints are not indicative of the final plastics. This is much like GW does - design models on the computer, do 3d prints to check fit and for prototyping, but then use the computer designs for factory tooling. (there are actually painted images on GW site of 3d printed models - some you can actually see their 3d printed lines as well). These are not like Spartan Games, etc, models, which are computer designed, 3d printed, and then rubber molds made from the 3d prints to cast in metal or resin.


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 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Gitzbitah wrote:
As far as minis go, they've released quite a few lance packs, which come with 4 plastic minis, and 8 Alpha Strike cards for them. they retail for 20, so finding them for 15 or lower should be pretty straightforward- like searching 'battletech lance' on Amazon.

They're out of print sadly, and will, over time, become increasingly hard to find.

CGL sells them in their online store for $14.99 per pack. They are also available from Atomic Empire and Miniature Market.


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 rabidaskal wrote:
Thank you judgedoug for that Btech vs Alpha Strike comparison, i wasnt aware.

So the best way to start Alpha Strike would be to buy the new starters, and the 2nd ed book coming out? Would that be right? TIA!

There's a freebie Alpha Strike rules download to get you started! https://bg.battletech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/AlphaStrikeQuick-Start-Rules.pdf?x64300
Please note that these are based on the 2013 first edition of Alpha Strike. So 95% of these rules will form the basis for the 2018 release, which incorporated faq and errata and minor changes.

The stats for every mech ever can be downloaded for free at www.masterunitlist.info - just search for a 'mech and the Alpha Strike reference card is dynamically generated from MUL's database. NOTE that the Master Unit List has been updated for the 2018 edition.

As for mechs themselves, sure, get the new Battletech sets if you want the sweet redesigns. You can also get the Alpha Strike Lance packs, which each contain 4 mechs, for $14.99 MSRP from Catalyst Game Labs online store, Atomic Empire, Miniature Market, Amazon, ebay, etc.


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 Manchu wrote:
The sculpt is so much of an improvement it is functionally a redesign.

The feet look more like the MWO version but the nose is pointed like the CBT version. So this seems like a hybrid.

Yep. Alex Iglesias does the MWO designs and Anthony Scroggins does the Battletech designs. So yeah, while they are not the same, they share similar design aesthetics. For someone like me, with 3d prints of the MWO mechs, I'll happily incorporate these in. I mean, a Catapult is a Catapult but one could have been produced from a factory and one from a different factory, a hundred years apart, so using slightly different pieces. Most of it's the same, but lots of differences anyway, like, say, King Tiger production unit 1 versus King Tiger production unit 492

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
On a scale of "minor heresy" to "HERESY! Purge them!", how much of a bad person would I be if I used some of my old Reaper CAV models to supplement what I would get in the new starter boxes?

Not even a little. I backed the CAV 1 Kickstarter for that exact purpose, and I'm a freaking Demo Agent.

If you bring them to a tournament setting they are obviously going to be a proxy, but for your own games? Design and go nuts.