funded Catalyst Game Labs: BattleTech Clan Invasion box set

[Weird-O]

Is it weird that the Mad Cat is the mech that excites me the least out of that bunch? It's still very nice, but I've been meaning to get a Puma for a while, absolutely need a pair of Black Hawks to finish my frontline Falcons, and dunno what I'll do with it, but I neeeeds that Gladiator. 

[klarg1]

 

Is it me, or does the Black Hawk / Nova look like the most massive 'mech in the group?

[Chrome]

 

25 minutes ago, klarg1 said:

 

Is it me, or does the Black Hawk / Nova look like the most massive 'mech in the group?

Look at their bases. The images aren't all the same scale.

[NebulousMissy]

$50 for one command star, 2d6s, and some paper.

 

Maybe gonna skip this one. More interested in the minis than the game. I can see what retail brings.

[Xiwo Xerase]

For comparison's sake, the equivalent metal minis from Iron Wind Metals cost $68.60.

 

Three minis are in general distribution, one is online exclusive (Black Hawk/Nova), and one is archived (Grendel).  If you assume you can get the general distribution minis for 20% off, you're still looking at $59.77 for the metal minis.

 

One of the selling points of the current Game of Armored Combat boxed set is that they include cardboard standees for the 'Mechs.  This means you can buy that set for 8 miniatures, keep the minis yourself, and give a friend an entirely playable game.  I presume this will be the case with the KS boxed set.  (You don't need minis to play BattleTech.  You never have.  I have a memory of seeing people playing it using dice as proxies.  I hadn't actually played a game with minis until a few years ago.)

[Weird-O]

And on top of that, there's the mapsheets that probably won't be sold anywhere else(at least, not for a long time).

 

Before the maps in the new boxes and the Grasslands set came out, it'd been over a decade since new maps had been released. Playing on a regular basis all that time...new mapsheets are worth a ream's weight in gold.

 

(All those old mapsare still intact, too. No worries whatsoever that these will fall apart anytime soon.)

[Pegazus]

6 hours ago, Xiwo Xerase said:

For comparison's sake, the equivalent metal minis from Iron Wind Metals cost $68.60.

 

Three minis are in general distribution, one is online exclusive (Black Hawk/Nova), and one is archived (Grendel).  If you assume you can get the general distribution minis for 20% off, you're still looking at $59.77 for the metal minis.

 

One of the selling points of the current Game of Armored Combat boxed set is that they include cardboard standees for the 'Mechs.  This means you can buy that set for 8 miniatures, keep the minis yourself, and give a friend an entirely playable game.  I presume this will be the case with the KS boxed set.  (You don't need minis to play BattleTech.  You never have.  I have a memory of seeing people playing it using dice as proxies.  I hadn't actually played a game with minis until a few years ago.)

 

But the teased figures aren't metal, so wouldn't that mess with that comparison? Or will they be metal when offered individually?

[Xiwo Xerase]

6 hours ago, Pegazus said:

 

But the teased figures aren't metal, so wouldn't that mess with that comparison? Or will they be metal when offered individually?

The assertion is: Assuming you have no qualms of plastic vs. metal, the KS price of the boxed set at $50 is still less than purchasing the five existing metal minis.  You can spend $50 and get a complete game with 5 plastic minis or you can spend about $60 for the metal minis.

 

This said, the KS minis are using entirely new sculpts.  The metal minis are using older sculpts.  (Which sculpt you prefer is likely to be a matter of personal taste.)

[Chrome]

An update on the Shadowrun KS - In May, Catalyst made a commitment (their words) that backers would get their copies first; before retailers. As of today Sprawl Ops is available at retail stores worldwide. Meanwhile 1000+ Rest of World backers don't have a single thing.

[Xiwo Xerase]

Specifically, CGL committed to postponing the retail release until July.  I believe they truly intended to get the product to the backers first but everything else intervened.  PSI's mistakes haven't helped.

 

Since they had the retail boxes in the warehouse ready to go, making the retail release now makes good business sense, although not necessarily good PR sense.  I'm not on the Shadowrun forums, and I don't read KS comments, so I don't know how this going down over there.

 

CGL's track record with the Sprawl Ops KS has been poor for the reasons you've pointed out.  I don't disagree.  However, I am cautiously optimistic for this KS because I expect CGL to learn from their mistakes.  Also, the current BattleTech line developers have overseen the creation of the new intro boxes and the boxed set in this KS is essentially the same format, just different miniatures.  As long as they don't get too weird with the stretch goals or addons, I believe they'll be in familiar territory.  (I believe it will still be late but that's just how KS projects go.)

[klarg1]

On 7/11/2019 at 11:49 PM, Pegazus said:

 

But the teased figures aren't metal, so wouldn't that mess with that comparison? Or will they be metal when offered individually?

 

The relationship between plastic and metal figures is complex, and nuanced.

 

All of the metal Battletech miniatures in production come from Ironwind Metals, not Catalyst. I would be very surprised if any part of that changed. All plastic production in the past decade+ has come from Catalyst, and has not included individual model releases - only boxed sets of 4 or more miniatures.

 

The two are (generally) based upon the same art sources, so contemporaneous pieces should resemble each other, but they are distinct product lines. IWM and CGL generally cooperate on these things, and seem to have (non-public) understandings about how releases might proceed, but they are completely distinct entities.

[Weird-O]

The general public perception (completely unconfirmed by any official sources) is that IWM will likely metal-release the Inner Sphere mechs at least, at some point after they've been released in plastic. No clue if the Clan designs will be similarly treated.

 

Again, there's been absolutely zero official word on this, this is just the fan perception.

[Xiwo Xerase]

On 7/12/2019 at 6:10 PM, Xiwo Xerase said:

Specifically, CGL committed to postponing the retail release until July.  I believe they truly intended to get the product to the backers first but everything else intervened.  PSI's mistakes haven't helped.

 

Since they had the retail boxes in the warehouse ready to go, making the retail release now makes good business sense, although not necessarily good PR sense.  I'm not on the Shadowrun forums, and I don't read KS comments, so I don't know how this going down over there.

 

FYI, the most event update for the Sprawl Ops KS included:

Quote

And yet another error on PSI's part.  Some of you may have seen retail versions of the game Sprawl Ops in LGS's.  (Local Game Stores).  I was asking people about it and noticed that retail versions were released to stores by PSI.  Catalyst did not sanction that release.  Their instructions were to wait until all or the majority of Kickstarter backers got their product.   

 

So it’s possible the release to retail wasn’t directly CGL’s fault.  A misunderstanding seems likely (see the commitment to July) but I’m not a privileged observer.

 

If CGL uses PSI for this KS, we might see similar mistakes.  We might not.  (I expect some safeguards to be put in place.)

 

On 7/11/2019 at 5:14 PM, Xiwo Xerase said:

One of the selling points of the current Game of Armored Combat boxed set is that they include cardboard standees for the 'Mechs.  This means you can buy that set for 8 miniatures, keep the minis yourself, and give a friend an entirely playable game.  I presume this will be the case with the KS boxed set.  (You don't need minis to play BattleTech.  You never have.  I have a memory of seeing people playing it using dice as proxies.  I hadn't actually played a game with minis until a few years ago.)

For a clarification that I had missed: The Clan Invasion boxed set is being billed as an expansion to the Game of Armored Combat box.  You can probably get this box, take the minis for yourself, and then hand off the rest of it to someone who already has the GoAC box.

 

[WhiteWulfe]

Wonder if they'll let you add in Game of Armored combat to your pledge... Sure, I could pick it up locally, but... Curiosity. 

[Xiwo Xerase]

We won’t know until Thursday. That said, if you’re interested in the GoAC box, please, buy locally if you can and support your FLGS.  (If you’re unsure, there’s a cheaper beginners boxed set too.)