funded Catalyst Game Labs: BattleTech Clan Invasion box set

[Corsair]

1 hour ago, Dan d'Lyon said:

 

 

And thank you!  That was really helpful!

Oh, and I'm not ruling out Star Colonel yet.  I did buy the AGoAC box.  Should be delivered in a few days.

Okay, I missed that you had bought the Starter! That would give you 20 IS mechs, almost 2 Companies worth. I would definitely grab another Clan Star then, giving you 15 [a Trinary] plus your 2 points of Elementals. [They can ride Omnimechs btw] You have 3 excellent choices right off the top:

Command Star

Mist Lynx [Koshi] a 25 ton light, fast Omni

Shadowcat, this little beast is a 45 tonner that is a wildcat on meth, very fun to play

Storm Crow [Ryoken] a 55 ton workhorse

Summoner [Thor] a 70 ton very useful mech with jump jets built in

Dire Wolf [Daishi] 100 tons of pure unadulterated Assault Mech. One of the most powerful mechs out.

 

Heavy Star

Viper [Dragonfly ] a very fast, lightly armed mech, great for carrying Elementals

Ice Ferret [Fenris] medium mech, very well balanced

Hellbringer [Loki] a fast moving hard hitting heavy mech

Mad Dog [Vulture] another heavy, with lots of pod space for some awesome loadouts

Gargoyle [Man o War] an assault mech, fast and mobile

This Star is for those who love mobility

 

Fire Star

Fire Moth [Dasher] a blindingly fast light lightly armed and armored 20 tonner

Kit Fox [Uller] another light mech but heavier armed and armored

Cougar , lives up to it's name, a heavily armed little medium that can rip faces off

Novacat a 70 ton brawler, heavily armed and armored a work horse

Warhawk [Masakari] an 85 ton Assault mech, one of the best around, not as fast as the Gargoyle, but much more heavily armed and armored.

[Dan d'Lyon]

Thank you again!  I'm really going to have to do some thinking on what to get, but your recommendations are certainly pointing me in a good direction.

[Corsair]

Glad it was useful!

[klarg1]

@Dan d'Lyon

 

@Corsair did a great job summarizing things. I would just add that Battletech is not, and has never been, a strict WYSIWYG game. If you get a mix of small, medium, and large models that look cool to you, you will be all set to play.

 

In general, I would say that the average game requires something like 8-20 models to play. (total for both players) I have gone way higher than that in my years of playing the game, but I would call anything bigger than that atypical for Battletech play. If you want to check out Catalyst's more streamlined Alpha Strike version, you might want double that amount.

 

Don't get me wrong,: It's always nice when the models fit the forces on the board, but I think Corsair addressed how to pick options for that goal. I just wanted to chime in with a little extra color, so you don't think you need to walk away with stacks and stacks of boxes just to get started. Stacks of expansion boxes are just a delightful bonus.

Edited August 9, 2019 by klarg1

[Corsair]

Klarg1 nailed it, I should have thought of that. You certainly can use a proxy mech[or mechs]. But once you do get into the fluff, it is a very well thought out universe.

Okay, some background on some of the IS mechs

Battle Lance

Warhammer, one of the iconic mechs of BT. A 70 ton heavy with good armor and heavy weaponry

Rifleman, a 60 ton heavy designed to stand off and shred an opponent at range, light armor

Phoenix Hawk, a45 to medium, with a good balance of armor, weapons and mobility

Wasp, a 20 ton light mech, light weapons and armor

 

IS Command Lance

Marauder, another icon, 75 tons, heavy weapons and armor,

Archer, a 70 tonner with 2 huge long range missile racks, tough and solid

Valkyrie, a 30 ton light mech with missiles

Stinger, another of the classic IS 20 tonners, see the Wasp above

 

IS Direct fire

Crusader a 65 ton workhorse, lots of missiles, tough, jump capable

Orion, a 75 ton mech, with missiles, cannon and lasers, tough

Marauder 2, a 100 ton assault mech, one of the best IS mechs

Atlas, another icon, 100 tons, max armor, huge autocannon, missiles lasers and a face like a skull

[Werkrobotwerk]

I couldn't hold off anymore. I am in at the $95 level.

[WhiteWulfe]

Oh my.  60-90 days is what they've penciled in for the pledge manager phase.  Uhm....  Yeah, I'm going to rethink a lot of this, doubly so since the mention in update #19 that their new pledge manager allows for multiple tiers (so you can do things like 2x Star Colonel if you're nuts, for example, or Star Colonel + Ristar or such).  I'm kind of thinking of Bloodnamed + Star Captain + Ristar.  Sure, there probably are more efficient combinations, but I'm wanting six packs (three Clan, three Inner Sphere), and this way would give me a few extra salvage boxes for a similar cost (something like seven nine - one from Ristar, three from Bloodnamed, two from Star Captain, and three from the Inner Sphere lances), cover two sets of dice and three challenge tokens...  So I'd just have to add in the mats, and a third set of dice afterwards.

 

Yeah, rather tempted to say the least.  Very, VERY tempted.

 

...Thinking about it, yeah, it would be cheaper to just go with Bloodnamed + Ristar...  So I'd get four fewer salvage boxes, but it would be $35 cheaper than Star Captain, AND wouldn't have any doubling of the mechs...  Although I won't lie, a second Mad Cat never hurts, and I'd get four points of elementals.  Tough call either way.   ..........*thinks more* I just realized that I was going to want two faction packs anyways, so now I'm seriously contemplating the idea of 2x Bloodnamed + Ristar, which would get me such, PLUS two more packs.  My only question then is at that point if it's cheaper to just say screw it, and go for Star Colonel, and add in the second faction pack...  Arrrgh, this is tough to decide, I'm going to have to sit down and write down exactly what I want to get, aren't I...

Spoiler

 

2x Bloodnamed includes ($300 USD):

4x clan Stars, 4x Inner Sphere Lances, 4x elemental points, 10x salvage boxes (3 from first Bloodnamed, 3 from second Bloodnamed, 4 from Inner Sphere Lances)

2x challenge tokens, 2x dice

2x faction packs

 

Would have to add in: neoprene maps, 1x set of dice, 1x challenge coin (an extra $75 if you go for 1x Tukayyid map and 1x Strana Mechty)

Possible annoyance: doubling of Clan mechs

 

Star Colonel includes... ($300 USD)

4x clan Stars, 4x Inner Sphere Lances, 4x packs I'd have to decide on, 2x elemental points, at least 6x salvage boxes (2 from Star Colonel, and 4 from Inner Sphere Lances), more if I added more Inner Sphere mechs

1x challenge token, 1x dice

1x faction pack

 

Would have to add in 1x Neoprene map, 2x sets of dice, 2x challenge token, 1x faction pack (an extra $100 USD)

Possible annoyance: Figuring out what the other 4 packs I'd want would be, and is $25 USD more than the previous thought if you factor in my "in for all of what I want" thoughts.

 

 

Comparison: For $25 more, I'd be getting $80-100 worth of mechs, excluding salvage boxes that would be added in if I got Inner Sphere Lances...  Oh, and a canon character too.

 

Pulled Ristar out of the comparison, to make comparing the two easier, but it would add in... 1x challenge coin, 1x salvage box....  Plus beginner box, naturally.

 

 

For additional fox thoughts on a more drummed down pledge...

1x Bloodnamed + 2x Inner Sphere Lances ($190 USD)
3x clan stars, 3x Inner Sphere Lances, 2x elemental points, 4x salvage boxes (3 from Bloodnamed, 1 from Inner Sphere pack)

1x challenge token, 1x dice set

1x faction pack

 

Would have to add in 1x Neoprene map, 1x set of dice, 1x challenge token, 1x faction pack (extra $85, for a total of $285 USD, eep)

 

Comparison: It includes my six more or less core stars and lances, narrows it down to just Coyote and Wolf coins/dice, and one map (probably one of the Tukayyid ones).  $380ish CAD is a lot easier to sell to hubby than $535ish CAD, doubly so since it could actually start at $255ish CAD (none of the add-ons)

 

I think I just convinced myself to go Star Colonel or Bloodnamed!, didn't I, since in the end, they're close enough in price...  Guess I'll have to figure out what I want other than...  (stars/lances in parenthesis are the ones that would be omitted if I went with a single Bloodnamed! pledge)

Clan: Command Star, (Elemental Star), Fire Star, and Heavy Striker Star

Inner Sphere: Command Lance, Direct Fire Lance, (Striker Lance), Urban Lance

 

Suppose I'll have to think about pledge levels for a bit longer though, simply because of one big thing - gotta make sure there'd be the cash first.  Oh, and that hubby says yes too, that's kind of important as well 

 

I technically would be happy with Bloodnamed, as I'd have pretty much everything I want, AND it would definitely be an easier sell to hubby.  Hmmmmm.  Or I could just pledge in at Star Captain, and add more funds in the pledge manager, then get the Bloodnamed! pledge since it's pretty much just a credit that goes into the pledge manager.  Yeah, I think I'll look at it that way.  No need to get approval if I do that!

 

EDIT: Pledged at Star Captain.

Edited August 10, 2019 by WhiteWulfe

[Corsair]

Star Colonel also includes one neoprene map! Add that in

[Zink]

I've been considering this one but the timings bad. I'm always broke midsummer. I haven't played Battletech (if you don't count video games)in years but still have a handful of mechs and a lot of the rules from the 80s/90s. Continually think about getting back into it and KS are usually a cheaper way to do that. I'm not so interested in dodads and swag but would like to maximize the amount of different mechs I got. Especially tempting with the newer lance packs containing the old classic mechs. Not as interested in the clan timeline but it's still fun and I like some of them.

 

Not sure if some of this hasn't been already answered as I didn't read the whole thread. For the people that have been paying closer attention what do you think would be the most economical choice for getting more mechs? Lower level pledge and buy as add ons or go for a more expensive pledge? Star colonel looks tempting but that's a lot of money. Could easily equal that in add ons though. WhiteWulfe, I feel your confusion. If I understand right you don't need to by double sets now and can pick other lance/star packs instead. I like that better because I'd prefer variety over more of the same although there are a few having doubles of wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

Am I losing it or was there not a listing of the available lance/star packs on the site yesterday.Glanced today and they're there now. Also wondering if I should pick up the A Game of Armored Combat box. Didn't I see an option for getting it cheaper as an addon earlier? Does the beginner box (Ristar or warrior) add anything that isn't included in the larger pledges?

[Corsair]

If you still have your rule books from back then the ones in the two current starters are "light" duplicates of those. The Basic box has a Griffin and Wolverine in it [only place to get a Griffin if you are a lover of it]. The AGOAC bow has 8 mechs all IS. Bloodnamed and above really start getting more mech goodness. The new front page of the KS has just added some very good visual explanations. There is also a $40 dollar add on for all 10 mechs from the 2 Starter IS boxes. Here is the spreadsheet with the current post 300k packs

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15gzi0ah_F2xKHcsN1KNnArS0kb38f_UZIbYEi5kcfuo/edit#gid=0

They also added one more Clan Star consisting of Kodiak, Fire Falcon, Hellion, Pack Hunter and Howler.

[WhiteWulfe]

23 minutes ago, Corsair said:

Star Colonel also includes one neoprene map! Add that in

Quite true.  It was factored into my amounts, but I didn't really write that out in the first two parts all that clearly.  The third idea, which was focusing on just my core stuff, leans towards having just one of the Tukayyid maps...

 

The biggest question for me though is...  Would I want the four extra mech packs, or better yet, could I actually decide which four additional ones I'd want?  If I were to factor in the two other sets of dice and challenge tokens, plus the Strana Mechty map, the difference between my (not quite so) barebones setup and Star Colonel drops to just a $55 USD difference between the two.

 

What I do know is I could probably justify the Clan Heavy Battle Star and Support Star, and then the Inner Sphere Heavy Lance as well as the second Striker Lancer (now called the Support Lance)...  And every time I look at it, I know I sure wouldn't mind shoehorning in the Clan Heavy Star, which I could get into that plan with no extra cost if it were taken instead of a star of elementals...  I'd probably wind up with a few doubles thanks to those Salvage boxes, but it wouldn't be an outright box of doubles...  Such would give me eight salvage boxes all in, as well, although I'm not basing my decision on those, just consider them an extra added in perk.

 

Yup, decisions, decisions indeed.  Doubly so since hubby is using the "so long as the bills are paid and food's in the cupboard/fridge" line too.

 

 

...Why the desire to try and avoid doubles?  Right now, preference is towards getting a decent selection of mechs, and then rolling from there.  Won't lie though, Clan Retaliation is somewhat tempting, as is Inner Sphere Retaliation...

 

7 minutes ago, Zink said:

Not sure if some of this hasn't been already answered as I didn't read the whole thread. For the people that have been paying closer attention what do you think would be the most economical choice for getting more mechs? Lower level pledge and buy as add ons or go for a more expensive pledge? Star colonel looks tempting but that's a lot of money. Could easily equal that in add ons though. WhiteWulfe, I feel your confusion. If I understand right you don't need to by double sets now and can pick other lance/star packs instead. I like that better because I'd prefer variety over more of the same although there are a few having doubles of wouldn't be a bad thing.

Correct, now that the 1.5 million goal has been reached, any tier that says "double the star/lance packs" allows you to freely pick what those extras would be.

 

I had to write it all up and break it down, since with the ability to do multi-pledges in the pledge manager I really had to sit down and try to fully write it out, so I could see which would offer the best bang for the buck for what I want...  Wanting 3-4 sets of dice and challenge tokens adds up quickly, especially since some parts say the challenge coins/tokens are a Kickstarter exclusive, but other areas don't reflect this.

 

7 minutes ago, Zink said:

Am I losing it or was there not a listing of the available lance/star packs on the site yesterday.Glanced today and they're there now. Also wondering if I should pick up the A Game of Armored Combat box. Didn't I see an option for getting it cheaper as an addon earlier? Does the beginner box (Ristar or warrior) add anything that isn't included in the larger pledges?

It looks like they moved the lance pack listings down into the actual Campaign section itself of the Kickstarter - scroll down past the pledge levels and they have each one broken down, most have silhouettes at the moment due to not having been resculpted yet.

 

As for A Game of Armored Combat, with this Kickstarter, they are selling it cheaper than MSRP, however you can typically find it for even cheaper at some stores (sadly, most Canadian ones that I've checked are completely sold out - BoardGames(dot)ca (aka Mission Games), 401 games, and even MeepleMart).  Miniature Market had it for $45 USD a few days ago.

 

With Warrior and Ristar, it seems the only thing they include that the higher up pledges don't have is the Beginner Box.  Conveniently, their new pledge manager allows you to pick a higher up pledge AND a Warrior/Ristar pledge if you so desire (see update #19 for more info on that)

[WhiteWulfe]

So, uhm, yeah.  After a rather lengthy conversation with hubby, pledge has been bumped up to Star Colonel's base $300, and I'll add the extras in via the Pledge Manager if/when I'm able to.  1-3 extra die and coin sets (Clan Wolf and Clan Coyote are pretty much guaranteed to be acquired in my mind, but Jade Falcon and Kurita are also rather tempting), a faction pack, as well as at least one of the Tukayyid maps.  I figure it will be easier to do the larger set of money up front, and then add in small things later on than to do the reverse, doubly so with all the various other games I want to get into (and the time schedules I'm hoping to keep for such purchases).

 

Really hoping they release the details of that coin/die pack thingy soon, so I can get a better idea.

[Corsair]

One other thing to consider as well, duplicates from the Salvage boxes, extra rule books, etc can all be sold on fleabay to recoup some costs as well.

 

And I am sure there will be LOTS of PMs here about swapping!

Edited August 10, 2019 by Corsair

[Corsair]

Hmmm, just looking at the new updated KS page and the Clan Retaliation Pack cannot be chosen in your reward packs, add-on only.

 

On another note, I think these are some of the best looking images of BT mechs in ages! Seeing how good the current plastics look I am very excited to see these.

[Corsair]

Well, okay, poking around and found an old Champion mech. Now to try to strip it of it's old paint and get it together. No idea of where it came from but would go well with the Comguard units!