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 Albertorius wrote:
Well, if they're going for "fieldable" units there shoud be either one or two stars in the box.

2 stars would be almost excessive, your average Battletech game is lance on lance

Well, that would allow you to play star on star right from the box, so...

 Miguelsan wrote:
I hope you are not trying to disrespect a honored product of the Dragon, otherwise the guys from the ISF might want a word with you.

M.

An onsen is a traditional Combine tradition, even on the most hectic of battlefields, and I'm sure ISF would be disappointed that you would disparge any part of the great tradition tradition of traditional traditions.

Besides, if it wasn't supposed to be that way, why did they use single heat sinks and such an effective heating coil? (that discharge though...)


Automatically Appended Next Post:

BrianDavion wrote:

 Mmmpi wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
that said sometimes ammo is placed in locations that make me go O.o

I'm ok with that. Some designs are poor because poor designs exist in real life. The K2 has Machine Gun ammo in the centre torso. Various Thor variants have 1 ton of LB-X ammo and 2 tons of missile ammo. It's just the way it is, and sometimes designs suck.

and if every design was perfect the game would have maybe a dozen mechs tops.

Alhtough nothing justifies the ER PPC with 10 SHS designs

Hey, maybe the designer was fond of saunas

Don't question the bipedal onsen.

.. I love how you instantly knew I was thinking of the Panther

Yeah...it...stood out.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

BrianDavion wrote:

 Albertorius wrote:
Well, if they're going for "fieldable" units there shoud be either one or two stars in the box.

2 stars would be almost excessive, your average Battletech game is lance on lance

They're also including the stat cards for Alpha Strike, so that would be a use for the 2nd star of mechs too.

What sort of plastic are the minis made from, board game PVC, Hordes PVC or some other type?

The renders look great and i have not seen any of the new stuff in person, so im guessing the KS plastic will be the same as the plastic they use now!

 Gitzbitah wrote:

Spoiler:

[

 Unix wrote:
I’ll need to see what is offered during the Kickstarter, but right now it looks to me like it’s going to be a glorified pre-order. Considering that the other intro box is $80 with 8 mechs (before discount) $50 is really high for 5 mechs during a kickstarter by a company that has produced figures of mixed quality and has had logistics issues regarding supply and shipping in the past. I want to be excited about this, but it’s going to really need to make money sense. I don’t need them to go insane with what they offer, but I need it to be much closer to $5 a mech than $10.

The value for the main box does look low compared to the A Game of Armored Combat. For now.

Something to consider is that those shots they posted do not show the back of the box, nor do they show the diecut cardboard sheet. Both of those are difficult to change if Catalyst has already developed the product, which I'm inclined to think they have, based off of the pictures of lances and Stars in retail packaging. So my conspiracy theory is that some of their planned stretch goals will be additions to the retail version of this box. I predict by the end it'll be up to 8 mechs to make the price per mech match the Game of Armored Combat.

That’s a good catch and if you’re right that it winds up being a force on force box set (so probably 10 mechs or two stars) I would be all in on this. I’m just cautious when the preview language refers to a low cost pledge point, and lots of optional add ons. If it winds up being a the type of Kickstarter that is most common for board games nowadays, with expanding value to some base pledge level with additional buy ins that are there mostly to hook people with completionist impulses, I will be very happy and will blow a years hobby budget on it. This is the Kickstarter I have been waiting for since Kickstarter started kicking, so fingers crossed.

 Original Timmy wrote:
What sort of plastic are the minis made from, board game PVC, Hordes PVC or some other type?

The renders look great and i have not seen any of the new stuff in person, so im guessing the KS plastic will be the same as the plastic they use now!

Boardgame PVC.

 Albertorius wrote:

 Original Timmy wrote:
What sort of plastic are the minis made from, board game PVC, Hordes PVC or some other type?

The renders look great and i have not seen any of the new stuff in person, so im guessing the KS plastic will be the same as the plastic they use now!

Boardgame PVC.

Ok thanks

2 Stars of mechs would be an awful lot, and amazing if it happens. But there is another way- I may be just a simple freebirth, but I've heard the Clans like using Elementals mixed in with their mechs. What if they did 6 mechs plus 4 stands of plastic Elementals, or 8 and 2? That ought to keep the cost on Catalyst's side similar to AGOAC, while satisfying Clan lore.

I'd be really surprised if the expansion (Clan Invasion) has more mech models than the boxed set, especially since the individual mechs are so much more capable.

It’s possible but from the unit boxes that have been previewed already it seems like they are doing complete lance or star sized packs. A mixed Star with points of elementals or the like is possible, but isn’t really common in the background. A nova with 5 mechs and 5 elemental stands might be more likely. Obviously they’re going to do what they’re going to do so who knows. I can really only predict based upon what they’ve done so far. I hope they do elementals, armor and I would kill for an AeroTech release as part of this, but I haven’t heard anything beyond mechs at this point.

Doing a Nova would be an awesome way to add infantry into the base game, in a meaningful way, for new bloods.

I like the idea of layered expansions. First the basics, then to the standard rules, adding infantry. Then conventional vehicles and more assorted infantry. Then Aerospace and conventional aircraft. Then advanced/experimental units and terrain.

But then, I'm not in charge of the line so...….

I do hope the value proposition offers more, as it seems like they over-value the worth of things like their paper mats. A 1.75" hex battle-mat, and a cheap $50 worth of Ebay Heroscape tiles, and any Battletech player is literally set for life.

So I’ve never played Battletech (aside from the Clix Mechwarrior back in college) but this upcoming Kickstarter has caught my eye. Any advice on where to get started?

Bob the Accountant wrote:
So I’ve never played Battletech (aside from the Clix Mechwarrior back in college) but this upcoming Kickstarter has caught my eye. Any advice on where to get started?

https://bg.battletech.com/books/introductory-products/

 Gitzbitah wrote:
2 Stars of mechs would be an awful lot, and amazing if it happens. But there is another way- I may be just a simple freebirth, but I've heard the Clans like using Elementals mixed in with their mechs. What if they did 6 mechs plus 4 stands of plastic Elementals, or 8 and 2? That ought to keep the cost on Catalyst's side similar to AGOAC, while satisfying Clan lore.

I'd be really surprised if the expansion (Clan Invasion) has more mech models than the boxed set, especially since the individual mechs are so much more capable.

Older boxed sets easily had 10+ mechs.

Though it would be kind of nice if they followed the old Battletech/Citytech sets, where the latter added in conventional units to the mix.

And by 10+ we actually mean 26

Bob the Accountant wrote:
So I’ve never played Battletech (aside from the Clix Mechwarrior back in college) but this upcoming Kickstarter has caught my eye. Any advice on where to get started?

the basic boxed set is a good place to start. It has the introductory rules which is honestly the core rules, from there you can get the core rule book which gives you more weapons options etc. (the box set gives you what they refer to now as "introductory tech" and old timers like me still call "level 1" tech) you can also, and I do reccomend it, look into the novels. If BTW you're a fan of the Star Wars X-wing novels, you might be intreasted to note that Mike Stackpole has been writing Battletech novels for a looong time.

Bob the Accountant wrote:
So I’ve never played Battletech (aside from the Clix Mechwarrior back in college) but this upcoming Kickstarter has caught my eye. Any advice on where to get started?

I honestly found Catalyst's "recommendations" overwhelming and not terribly clear...

As a first step, the current core set has enough to enjoy "Classic Battletech", mechs vs. mechs on hexes with nice crunchy rules. It also has some Alpha Strike cards if you want to play a hex-less, but crazy simplified version (that frankly is worse than the standalone game "CAV").

From there the REAL core book is called Total Warfare. Its the rules leap that goes from the Game of Armored Combat starter, and adds essentially all the other bits like infantry, tanks, etc... Its wild in how much it offers in one book, but clearly is intended to let you add the elements you want as you want them.

Finally the Technical Manual is 300 pages of madness... but awesome madness, with incredibly nuanced rules for building your own mechs and such. Its great, but ten-ish games in and I only now feel capable of reading it. :-p

For a series with about ten million intimidating books of still current and valid rules... almost tailor-made to scare away new players.... there's really only the two core books if you want to just play and get creative.

One thing it's worth stressing about Battletech's books is that 90% of the sourcebooks out there are pure fluff. once you have total warfare and tech manual you don't need to buy another book again. it's a fantastic CHEAP table top war game.

A higher dollar-per-mech value than the main starter box isn’t at all surprising, and it’s still on par with the beginner box. They’re mechs with high BV (points, if you’re new to BT), it’ll be a lower sales volume product (because it’s clans), and this time there are Kickstarter fees to pay.

I think it will be 5 'Mechs in the Clan box. Those 5 'Mechs would be a solid fight against the 8 out of AGoAC, provided the Inner Sphere 'Mechs aren't running Intro Tech.

Also, I don't think the expansions are retail ready. They don't look like packaging, they look like overlays, 'Mech images over a possible packaging idea. The "box" doesn't seem to have any depth to it.

I’m not sure what the price point per mech will be but I think they need to consider what they’re competing against. The mechs are about the size of a primaris space marine. Some a little bigger some a little smaller. You can get 10, multipiece primaris space marines, which are made with better material for $60 without a discount, and without having to wait and hope nothing goes wrong with the Kickstarter. Reaper miniatures has it’s almost annual Kickstarter where for $100 you can get a variation of this which is made out of the same material is all monopose, like the upcoming mechs.



I would love for Battletech to make a comeback. It is probably my favorite game and is somewhere in the top 3 for sci-fi fiction for me. For them to crack beyond the dedicated gamer who is doing this for nostalgia though there will have to be value otherwise people will yawn and just fund whatever it is that Cool Mini is doing a Kickstarter for this month

BTech has done two boxes with over 20 'Mechs in each. People just complained about the quality.

BrianDavion wrote:
One thing it's worth stressing about Battletech's books is that 90% of the sourcebooks out there are pure fluff. once you have total warfare and tech manual you don't need to buy another book again. it's a fantastic CHEAP table top war game.

TacOps is pretty good though. A lot of good rules in there.

Of course, that's why the alternate 'Mech-only rulebook exists.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
BTech has done two boxes with over 20 'Mechs in each. People just complained about the quality.

BrianDavion wrote:
One thing it's worth stressing about Battletech's books is that 90% of the sourcebooks out there are pure fluff. once you have total warfare and tech manual you don't need to buy another book again. it's a fantastic CHEAP table top war game.

TacOps is pretty good though. A lot of good rules in there.

Of course, that's why the alternate 'Mech-only rulebook exists.

ohh agreed. the core rulebooks are all rules heavy. although IIRC they do have fluff in em. But Battletech is very much a "ok here's the core. and now you can add this on" it's not perfect but it's a solid game and with a very low entry point. you can buy the box set, never make another purchase and your experiance'll be fine. Contrast this with a lotta games out there, and how often does the boxed set REALLY give you what you need to play the game? If you just have the core gamer you can sit down with someone whose been playing for 30 years and get a good game for the both of you in. Try to do that with.... any other table top game

The key with Battletech these days is very simple: We have a rule for that.

Want a simple, quick 2v2 fight? Easily done.

Want to do a kangaroo mounted infantry battle against dragon mounted infantry fighting on a wet navy battleship in the middle of a tornado made out of bugs? We can do that, too.

Got my box from Catalyst, took 10 days to get here and mostly it was due to Japanese Customs holding it for 4 days. So in my case Catalyst service was not bad.

M.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
that said sometimes ammo is placed in locations that make me go O.o

I'm ok with that. Some designs are poor because poor designs exist in real life. The K2 has Machine Gun ammo in the centre torso. Various Thor variants have 1 ton of LB-X ammo and 2 tons of missile ammo. It's just the way it is, and sometimes designs suck.

The "standard" 3025 Marauder having one ton of AC/5 ammo in one side of the torso, and nothing else meant a critical hit to that side was a violently impressive one-shot kill.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
that said sometimes ammo is placed in locations that make me go O.o

I'm ok with that. Some designs are poor because poor designs exist in real life. The K2 has Machine Gun ammo in the centre torso. Various Thor variants have 1 ton of LB-X ammo and 2 tons of missile ammo. It's just the way it is, and sometimes designs suck.

The "standard" 3025 Marauder having one ton of AC/5 ammo in one side of the torso, and nothing else meant a critical hit to that side was a violently impressive one-shot kill.

this is why the SMART great house replaced it with a Large Laser

Preview of the new Gladiator (Executioner) sculpt

It's pretty!

Only another day to go.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:


Only another day to go.

Hype Hype Hype Hype!