Battletech! The Future of the 80s Forever!

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Rodan, Mothra, Gihodrah?

So far still working out Godzilla and Mechagodzilla, but hope to get to all of them (except Godzookie)

I was able to get some PVC gumball figurines from Japan that were the right scale
 
Maybe make them about as powerful as a heavy clan mech. The Thor from the starter set is certainly a match for half a dozen inner sphere heavies.
 
It's going to take some playing around, currently trying to figure out how to handle Crits for a flesh and blood creature
 
Bones, Joints, Heart, Lungs, Muscles they map to structure, actuators, power plants, and myomers quite nicely.
 
what doesn't map is the critical hit effects, like ammo explosion or life support destroyed. What I'm trying to do, essentially, is prevent Kaiju from being glass cannons - as that's not how they operate onscreen, but still to not remove all the disadvantages a mech has, since they already are not affected by heat, the primary weakness/controlling mechanism in the BT verse.
 
Well... reading this thread pushed me over the edge and into buying... Adeptus Mechanicus.
The giant battle robot is an appealingly silly idea, but I was always put off by the mech designs in Battletech (after they were spanked for using Macross designs early on).
But I think I'd like to borrow that idea of using giant Kaiju as opponents... they'd be huge Tyranid constructs in AT, I suppose.
 
So pretty. Oh well, so, sometimes big Hollywood monsters swell up and explode. Maybe they should have an explody thing inside them that goes off if they take too much damage.
 
I've been filling in my Unseen ranks with the absolutely insanely detailed Robotech models by MiniTech

I have a bunch of these. I'm filling out a Robotech RPG Tactics Roster with them.

My opinion, if anyone cares, is that these Mini-Techs are really good for your ace or elite units or for situations where you just have one or two of the miniature on the playfield. But if you're troop building (not really a thing for Battletech), they're price and detail overkill.

The Zentraedi mecha are a bit too big for standard Battletech boards. The RDF/UEDF force mechs are perfect for Battletech, though.
 
They're cheaper, individually, than Battletech minis. Yeah, the Marauder is a bit tall in comparison to it's Unseen counterpart, but unless you're mix and matching with the old models, it shan't make a difference. The still fit on the same sized hex bases

It's especially nice to find a veritech that doesn't look janky as hell. Those IWM are really starting to look long in the tooth
 
I think it's been on my ebay alerts for 9 years now

You can set ebay alerts?!@!!?!!?#?

Also

I'd love to pick up hard copies of the core rules for "current" battle-tech but it seems like every time I check the Catalyst Shop (which admittedly isn't to often) they are always sold out and it's only PDF's. Also I'd prefer to get these books with the "Classic Art" covers as i agree with ya TristramEvans TristramEvans on the new art being a bit garish and to colorful.
 
You can set ebay alerts?!@!!?!!?#?

lol, um yeah.

Otherwise you'd have to just go there and ...repeat the same searches over and over?

I'd love to pick up hard copies of the core rules for "current" battle-tech but it seems like every time I check the Catalyst Shop (which admittedly isn't to often) they are always sold out and it's only PDF's. Also I'd prefer to get these books with the "Classic Art" covers as i agree with ya TristramEvans TristramEvans on the new art being a bit garish and to colorful.

I always use Aries...

looks like they currently have 3 copies of Total War (the core rulebook) in stock, 11 copies of the Boxed Set
 
The Real-Life History of Battletech Preludes Part III

Also in 1985, Harmony Gold released the cartoon series Robotech. This is where things start to get convoluted.

BIG EDIT: I apparently confused Harmony Gold with Sandy Frank, the ones actually responsible for bringing Gatchaman AKA Battle of the Planets AKa G-Force AKA Eagle Riders to North American television. I direct interested readers to my website at Pariedolia.weebly.com/NIMH for the full, expanded, and corrected story.

In other words, Harmony Gold wasn't so much about translating anime, as it was reforging it into something they saw as commercially viable and culturally appropriate for Western audiences. Additionally, Harmony Gold had a pre-established relationship with Anime studios in Japan, who they licensed shows from directly, rather than going through an international licencor middleman such as Twentieth Century Imports.

Such was the case when Harmony Gold licensed three anime Mecha series, Super Dimension Fortress Macross , Super Dimension Century Orguss, and Fang of the Sun Dougram, and then cut and combined them to form Robotech. Harmony Gold actually didn't even come up with the name Robotech, instead licensing that from Revell, which had used it for a series of mecha-based model kits.

If two of those names sound familiar, that's because they were the aforementioned sources of several of the Mecha designs that FASA had licensed for Battledroids. And that's where even more troubles began for poor Battletech...

Belated and nit-picky correction...

It was FASA that used designs from Fang of the Sun Dougram, Harmony Gold included episodes of Genesis Climber MOSPEADA as the third part of Robotech.
 
I don't know what is going on recently. It seems Games Workshop shot themselves in the foot recently or something?

It used to be that I'd get regular recommendations for 40K videos on YouTube. I'd click these from time to time to listen to lore. Recently, all the 40K stuff has disappeared from my recommendations. The only thing that is left is Midwinter Minis. All the other 40K recommendations are just gone.

I've heard some tales that GW did something and several of the big lore channels just gave up and closed up shop? I don't know.

But the other effect is that suddenly I'm being recommended Battletech videos. I don't think I had ever searched for Battletech videos before, but now I'm getting lots of them in my recommendations. Mainly, I get recommendations of videos by some guy going by "Tex". I've watched a few of his videos. They have been entertaining, but honestly they're starting to get old because he seems to just say the same things over and over.

But, beyond that, could this mean that we're trading 40K in for Battletech? I know that one of the factors which finally got me to get into 40K proper were the videos on YouTube by creators. 40K got lots and lots of exposure on YouTube. Now it seems that exposure has disappeared overnight and the algorithm is saying that Battletech is the replacement. Could this help drive a resurgence of Battletech as it was already doing a bit of a phoenix act in recent years?

Battletech seems to have finally fixed it's image problem with the mechs. The Unseen are back in slightly modified, but still recognizably iconic forms. The other mechs which used to look universally horrible have spiffy new and stylish looks. There's not only Classic Battletech but also Alpha Strike for the non-hexgrid crowd. Is this the new golden age for the game?
 
Reading this thread made me dig though all the old boxes of books and games I left at my folks to find this. Haven’t played for a long time but I’d love to crack it open again.

For those who are more knowledgeable, is this a paired down version of another game? I don’t remember it being rules heavy and I’ve always associated Battletech with more complex rules. 43FCC25D-3B37-41FB-873C-A7487B024501.jpeg
 
Minis on wood shelves is just asking for lead rot
Most of my older figures are in those cardboard figure boxes from KR Multicase. Some are in those Chessex plastic boxes (which I guess can release acetic acid). I’ve never had a painted and lacquered mini rot though.
 
Most of my older figures are in those cardboard figure boxes from KR Multicase. Some are in those Chessex plastic boxes (which I guess can release acetic acid). I’ve never had a painted and lacquered mini rot though.
Wouldn't plastic bases (hex/round/square) prevent lead rot? Because they aren't sitting directly on the wooden shelf?
 
Wouldn't plastic bases (hex/round/square) prevent lead rot? Because they aren't sitting directly on the wooden shelf?

I don't think it's specifically touching the wood so much as the gasses released by the wood overtime interacting with lead. But then, most minis these days it's not a concern, they stopped using lead in the mid 80s.
 
Reading this thread made me dig though all the old boxes of books and games I left at my folks to find this. Haven’t played for a long time but I’d love to crack it open again.

For those who are more knowledgeable, is this a paired down version of another game? I don’t remember it being rules heavy and I’ve always associated Battletech with more complex rules. View attachment 34320


No, the core rules for Battletech have always been very simple. It's just that it's a modular system with tons and tons of options on top. You can play with just a lance of Mechs, or you can field an entire army with infantry, elementals, aerotechs, submarines, drop pods etc. You can wage battle on land , sea, or air, or in space. You can assault a planet from the atmosphere. You can design, build and customize your own mechs, or any other type of vehicle. You can research new weapon technologies, have your weapon systems run by AI or linked by satellite. You can run mercenary campaigns that account for the cost of upkeep, repairs, and your pay scale based on reputation earned on the battlefield, or follow the historical rise and fall of one of the galactic empires.

But it all comes down to a very simple one on one mech combat system that really hasn't significantly changed in 30+ years.
 
No, the core rules for Battletech have always been very simple. It's just that it's a modular system with tons and tons of options on top. You can play with just a lance of Mechs, or you can field an entire army with infantry, Elementals, aerotechs, submarines, drop pods etc. You can wage battle on land , sea, or air, or in space. You can assault a planet from the atmosphere. You can design, build and customize your own mechs, or any other type of vehicle. You can research new weapon technologies, have you weapon systems run by AI or linked by satellite. You can run mercenary campaigns that account for the cost of upkeep, repairs, and your pay scale based on reputation earned on the battlefield, or follow the historical rise and fall of one of the galactic empires.

But it all comes down to a very simple one on one mech combat system that really hasn't significantly changed in 30+ years.

Right on, what's the difference between Classic Battletech and the other games then? The setting info is different?
 
Right on, what's the difference between Classic Battletech and the other games then? The setting info is different?

The setting hasn't ever been changed (not counting the noncanon cartoon), just the timeline moved forward (Battletech fans are very protective of their established history - it's why the "Reseen" were so controversial, as they are the closest thing to a retcon BT fandom has ever endured). In the early aughts when WizKids got the license, they created the plastic "clickbase" version of the game called Mechwarrior: The Dark Age, which was set further in the future than the prior gamelines up until that point. GamePro then got a license from them to produce products for the original Battletech game system and to differentiate the two games called it "Battletech Classic" - kinda like new Coke and Coca-Cola Classic.

Once Catalyst got the license and Wizkids exited the picture, they went back to just calling it Battletech.

All Battletech starter sets, including Classic Battletech, start around 3025, just after the fall of the Star League & in the midst of the Succession Wars, as the default setting, with expansions advancing the timeline from there - so the further along the timeline you go, the more advanced technology, and hence more complex rules.
 
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