BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - EU WRAPS UP, WAVE 4 NEWS (UPDATE #130)

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**frankelee**

Altruizine wrote:
Bit off-topic, but seems worth asking here:

I'm considering doing something to keep all the potentially-loose parts on the models from this KS (ie. vehicle turrets, stuff that plugs loosely into its base like the Savannah Masters or flight stands, etc.) stable and accounted for. Don't want to lose a main gun during drunken Alpha Strike lol.

But I also don't want to permanently commit with something like superglue. Need to keep my options open when painting & basing in the (distant) future.

Would PVA glue be good for a temporary-but-indefinite hold? It should remain water soluble, but I'm not sure if water would actually penetrate all the way into a PVA'ed turret socket...

PVA can work, but it'll break immediately with rough handling or after awhile with careful handling, and does leave that PVA skin you'd want to break off before super gluing. I really like to use white poster tack aka removeable poster putty for things like that. Maybe not in the connection joint itself, but a small ball of on the base that gets smooshed down by the model on the base, or in a ring around the connector at the connection point gripping onto the model, for flight bases and things like that. Though other people may have smarter solutions. Also I avoid the blue tack because the blue dye can leach out leave a blue mark on the model and I don't care for it.

**deleted20250424**

Interesting.

**No One Important**

I almost feel annoyed enough to make my own cookbook, but I lack the budget to hire enough muscular women to play the part of elementals in the photos and I will NOT compromise my artistic vision.

**Prometheum5**

TalonZahn wrote: Interesting.

That's uh, not a good look...

**Flinty**

I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

**deleted20250424**

Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

That's cool hyperbole there.

I'm no chef, but I can come up with 10 recipes of stuff that I cook off the top of my head.

It would have been easier to send out a company EMail and ask, lol

**Prometheum5**

Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

Lmao what is this justification?

**deleted20250424**

Prometheum5 wrote:
Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

Lmao what is this justification?

Plumbing the Depths:

10 plums, cut in half place skin side down in 9x13 pan
Sprinkle Fairy Dust ( cinnamon and sugar ) on top of plum halves
Squeeze Coolant from 1 Orange cut in half over plums
Cover with tinfoil and throw in the reactor at 375 degrees for 30 minutes

**Altruizine**

Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

There's no excuse for not,

- crediting the original sources
- rewriting the instructions (if they are indeed close to word-for-word copies)

**Ancestral Hamster**

Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

Public Domain cookbooks. There are a number of them at Project Gutenberg.

**Flinty**

Not trying to justify what they did in any way, I'm just pointing out how half-assed CGL tend to be in the way they operate in every other way.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Altruizine wrote:
Flinty wrote:
I didn’t think they would be plumbing the deep depths of ancient family recipes for what is a pretty throwaway joke publication. Where else were they going to be getting the recipes from?

There's no excuse for not,

- crediting the original sources
- rewriting the instructions (if they are indeed close to word-for-word copies)

I imagine its a combination of:
- Not really caring about the project because they thought it was a joke;
- not wanting to spend any money on the project;
- forgetting that the internet is full of people who like poking things with sticks to find mistakes; and
- not wanting to spend any money
- did I mention the money part?

**Miguelsan**

Even if it's public domain, at least credit them if you are charging money.

M.

**frankelee**

I appreciate the former, ahem, Battletech Reddit mod's message here, but good luck making something out of this one fellas.

I don't know if it's right or not, I'll let the chefs in the forum come to their own conclusions, but most recipes in that book are generic as can be, and there usually is no such thing as citations or end of book credits given in a cook book. You can't own a recipe, and usually any recipe you find online is simply a passing down of common knowledge. They shouldn't plagiarize right off the internet, but as to the rest of it, "okay."

**Soundtheory**

Altruizine wrote:
Bit off-topic, but seems worth asking here:

I'm considering doing something to keep all the potentially-loose parts on the models from this KS (ie. vehicle turrets, stuff that plugs loosely into its base like the Savannah Masters or flight stands, etc.) stable and accounted for. Don't want to lose a main gun during drunken Alpha Strike lol.

But I also don't want to permanently commit with something like superglue. Need to keep my options open when painting & basing in the (distant) future.

Would PVA glue be good for a temporary-but-indefinite hold? It should remain water soluble, but I'm not sure if water would actually penetrate all the way into a PVA'ed turret socket...

You can also use clear nail polish or water-based polyurethane to coat a loose fitting part. It'll wear down over time as you move/remove the piece, but it's easy to re-coat.

**Alpharius Walks**

The episode of The Valhalla Club where the cookbook authors were guests did not give me high expectations.

You can listen here - https://rss.com/podcasts/thevalhallaclubco/1255350/

Besides the personalities on display there (well one in particular) the whole subcontract a gimmick product to a small source with minimal oversight is not often a path to success.

So at least I am not disappointed.

**Ghaz**

Peachstate Hobby Distribution has the new BattleTech product from the Kickstarter on their website along with retail release dates. You will need to consult your Magic 8 Ball for accuracy

Mercenaries Box Set - 10/24

Recon Lance - 10/24
Security Lance - 11/24
Somerset Strikers - 12/24
Battle Armor - 12/24
Assault Lance - 1/25
Heavy Recon Lance - 1/25
Pursuit Lance - 4/25

Legendary Mechwarriors II - 3/25
Legendary Mechwarriors III - 4/25

Cavalry Star - 10/24
Direct Fire Star - 2/25

Recon & Hunter - 10/24
Assault & Cavalry - 10/24
Battle & Fire - 11/24
Objectives - 1/25
Heavy Battle & Sweep - 3/25

SB Mercenaries - 10/24
SB Battlefield Support - 10/24
SB Visigoth - 11/24
SB Blood Asp - 1/25
SB Savannah Master - 3/25
SB Legendary Mechwarriors II & III - 5/25

Union DropShip - 5/25
Overlord DropShip - 5/25
Overlord C DropShip - 5/25

Map Pack Savannah - 10/24
Map Pack City - 12/24

Battle Mat Savannah Lg. Lakes - 1/25
Battle Mat City Heliport - 1/25
Battle Mat Savannah River Delta - 2/25
Battle Mat City Engineering - 2/25
Battle Mat City Central Park - 3/25
Battle Mat Savannah Sinkholes - 3/25
Battle Mat AS Grasslands/Desert - 4/25
Battle Mat AS Lunar/City - 4/25
Battle Mat Grasslands/Desert - 5/25
Battle Mat Lunar City - 5/25

Legends II - 12/24
BattleTech Cookbook - 1/25

**deleted20250424**

Well, I guess that just means all Backers will have their stuff by October.

**Ghaz**

Looks like the fix for those who received a Maxim/Galleon in a Mercenaries Salvage Box will either be an $8 refund of a $15 store credit.

**Platuan4th**

frankelee wrote:
and there usually is no such thing as citations or end of book credits given in a cook book.

Interestingly enough, this cookbook does have a citation and credit for a few recipes in it.

**Theophony**

I got my order today. I have not checked the salvage box yet as dealing with some water in the basement from heavy rains. I only got the $35 basic bundle because the group was not excited. $29 shipping and the box was 4 times the size it needed to be to ship this.

I can say I am unhappy.

**Midnightdeathblade**

Id just love to receive a shipping notification. I'm sure they're just taking their time cause a $200 shipping fee must mean my package is extra special.

**ph34r**

Ah wow, almost an entire year for the full range of products to be available.

As a consumer that is super trash to learn, hah

**Ghaz**

ph34r wrote:
Ah wow, almost an entire year for the full range of products to be available.

As a consumer that is super trash to learn, hah

Don't forget it will be releasing alongside everything listed HERE, so your wallet will most likely need a rest at times.

**Altruizine**

Ghaz wrote:
Looks like the fix for those who received a Maxim/Galleon in a Mercenaries Salvage Box will either be an $8 refund of a $15 store credit.

Where'd you see this? And, wherever it was, did it say that any action would need to be taken? Or will it be an automated offer to everyone whose order went out before they started adding the extra salvage box?

**ph34r**

Ghaz wrote:
ph34r wrote:
Ah wow, almost an entire year for the full range of products to be available.

As a consumer that is super trash to learn, hah

Don't forget it will be releasing alongside everything listed HERE, so your wallet will most likely need a rest at times.

That's fair I suppose. Forgot about/didn't know about those products.

**Ghaz**

Altruizine wrote:
Ghaz wrote:
Looks like the fix for those who received a Maxim/Galleon in a Mercenaries Salvage Box will either be an $8 refund of a $15 store credit.

Where'd you see this? And, wherever it was, did it say that any action would need to be taken? Or will it be an automated offer to everyone whose order went out before they started adding the extra salvage box?

It was early in today's Tuesday Newsday. There's a Kickstarter update coming soon which should have more details.

Transcript of today's Tuesday Newsday from the BattleTech Forums

Lorcan Nagle wrote:Episode 20. Guest Aaron Dykstra, Demo Team agent and Shadowrun Missions Developer

Live streamed July 16th 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1GLncJYFYQ

News:
-No kickstarter shipping update right now. They're waiting on an update from QML.
-There'll be a backer update soon.
-If you got a vehicle in a mech salvage box you can apply got a $8 refund or $15 in store credit.
-If you have damages in shipping or other QC issues, a parts replacement process is being prepared for QML
-In the Shadow of the Dragon is out now
-New unabridged audiobook of Heir to the Dragon is on Audible now
-They'll have the list of GenCon events next week
-Rem and Randall will be at San Diego Comicon next week.
-Rem's team has officially started work on sorting out the outstanding issues with Clan Invasion custom characters. She went into detail on the issues but suffice it to say, it's a mess

Q&A:
-Is CGL aware of the possible QC issues with the Inner Sphere BattleArmour? Rem's seen one post. People should contact CGL to see how widespread the issue is. If it's not that big it'll be sorted in the QML parts replacement process.
-Is the Heir to the Dragon audiobook a Kickstarter reward? No. They have a bunch of the Kickstarter reward audiobooks ready to go, but they're reluctant to just put the files up for download as they're too big to upload into Backerkit's reward system.
-Can we get an update on international shipping out as a Kickstarter update? Yes, the next backer update should have details pending an update from QML. Apparently some of the info Rem was given last week was incorrect so she's reluctant to say anything else until she has a formal update.
-Any update on store credit from the Mercs Kickstarter? Rem needs to poke Talon to see the status, but it all needs to be done manually so they might need to hire a part-timer to do it
-Is there a timeframe to get all kickstarter shipments done? No idea, when it's done it's done.
-Any word on the Legendary (presumably they meant premium) BattleMaster? Not right now
-Is there a BattleTech Missions submissions group? Not an open one, it'll hopefully be discussed at GenCon.
-Is there a process for becoming a BattleTech writer (similar to Aaron outlining paths to becoming a Shadowrun one earlier in-stream)? Yes, there are a few paths. Rem will be doing author interviews and a fiction panel at GenCon and she'll be asking people in those. (As noted last week, they won't be streaming from GenCon but recording stuff for later release). Aaron brought up Shrapnel.
-What did the canon character prominence upgrade entail? They don't know right now?
-Any plans to fix international shipping from the Webstore? They're still working on it, ongoing issues with red tape, they're close to signing deals with distributors.
-Loren mentioned maybe making the 40th anniversary patch available outside Randall's tour? There's been an ad-hoc thing so far, reach out to CGL and then they'll try and get one out to you, they're thinking about doing an online event as part of this.
-Any chance of restocking plus-size shirts? Email the store, increased demand on that front will help get restocks done faster.

**legionaires**

That no shipping update sucks. I'm about to be traveling for 2 weeks and if it's coming by USPS I'm about guaranteed my local delivery guy will trash the package if we aren't home. Dude folded a hardback book once so he won't have to walk to the front door.

**Alpharius Walks**

QML fulfills with FedEx.

If you have an account with them (or start one) you can set a vacation hold for your address.

**Ghool**

Ghaz wrote:
Looks like the fix for those who received a Maxim/Galleon in a Mercenaries Salvage Box will either be an $8 refund of a $15 store credit.

If this is the case, anyone outside the US needs a refund or they will get hosed on shipping from their store.
I regret asking for store credit instead of a shipping discount.
For anything I order, regardless of size, it’s a flat $55 shipping.

**Dysartes**

Isn't it the case that their store is buggy when it comes to international shipping, with the general guidance being to contact CGL Customer Service so they can manually do something about it?

Not saying that's a good thing, but at least it is a known issue with a workaround.