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People are looking for something to play / paint that isn't Games Workshop.
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Aug 30, 2021 00:52
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| # ? May 31, 2024 15:19 |
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BRB, going to protest GAME$ WORK$HOP's pricing scheme by paying $260 for ten plastic mechs.
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Aug 30, 2021 01:14
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I think there's a fair number of people who think that they need to have the miniature to field that unit. There was one guy talking about how he didn't think he could play because everybody in his area had bought all of the stuff from the kickstarter, and so they would have way more unit options than him. That's probably part of the squeeze.
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Aug 30, 2021 01:17
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Do people not know about Iron Wind and 3d printing? Or cardboard punchouts?
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Aug 30, 2021 01:25
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No they do not. Most of them are coming over from 40K where that stuff is expressly not allowed and need time to wrap their heads around the idea that you can play a whole game just with bottle caps.
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Aug 30, 2021 01:32
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Christ. You think someone would do any homework before dropping a quarter thousand, but that's nerds.
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Aug 30, 2021 01:36
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I liked most of the new mech redesigns and I didn't think the mold lines were particularly bad, certainly no more noticeable than an average GW kit. I didn't really spend much time at all cleaning them up before priming and painting.
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Aug 30, 2021 02:21
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The details are definitely softer than GW figures and I had to rebuild a corner of my Shadowhawk's Missile Launcher from putty, but for $5 apiece, still an arguably better deal
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Aug 30, 2021 02:26
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BT models have always been less detailed than GW. If anything the new models are a significant step up from where they were before.
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Aug 30, 2021 03:30
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Taerkar posted:BT models have always been less detailed than GW. If anything the new models are a significant step up from where they were before. I should get out my 25th anniversary box plastics and do a side-by-side with the new plastics. Even painted they're garbage. But that's OK because they worked fine for Battletech.
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Aug 30, 2021 03:43
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My favorite old plastic model is the Ostscout(?) that's running straight into a hex corner rather than towards one of the edges.
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Aug 30, 2021 04:08
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If people are anything like me a lot of the new people are coming because the models are no longer terrible, plus somehow the Battletech stigma seems way less significant, maybe the video games did that? I was always aware of BT, but it was a game played by weird 40 + guys in a corner at my local game convention. I was already avoiding the 40k people at that point, and the BT people seemed way more weird. Notably every once in a while they would smash someones model to bits with a hammer, all cheering. I still have no idea why, but it really stood out in my memory. Edit: Also I'm way closer to 40, so now gaming in my 40s seems admirable.
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Aug 30, 2021 04:19
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I'm guessing because they cored the mech or something and wanted to do something dramatic at the event to get really into it.
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Aug 30, 2021 04:25
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It was probably one of the two things that completely obliterate a mech and render it unsalvageable, artillery strikes or ammo explosions.
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Aug 30, 2021 04:30
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I can't imagine smashing my toys but I can totally see that being a thing people do. Have a Hell's Horses cross post from the Oath Thread!  I wanted to do white number decals for visibility, but had trouble sourcing them with a time constraint. Next time!
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Aug 30, 2021 12:23
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I dunno, maybe they were models purchased specifically for the event? I'm guessing that nerds in the 90s who played Battletech and attended conventions had few other things on which to spend money.
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Aug 30, 2021 12:26
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moths posted:I can't imagine smashing my toys but I can totally see that being a thing people do. hell yes! nice color scheme
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Aug 30, 2021 20:44
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Thanks! I can't wait to get the rest of these guys knocked out!
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Aug 30, 2021 21:00
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In my neverending quest to not play any Games Workshop games, I've now reached Battletech. What rules are the current set? From the last few pages I'm guessing Alpha Strike, but it seems like that's impossible to buy? It looks like there's plenty of files for 3d printing, so that's great!
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Aug 30, 2021 21:08
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A Game of Armored Combat / Total Warfare is the full BattleTech ruleset, Alpha Strike is a fastplay version that's easier to run / lets you run larger forces more easily but doesn't have some of the crunch. Alpha Strike is more game-like, Total Warfare leans a little more on simulation. I like both, they're both good games. PoptartsNinja fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Aug 30, 2021 |
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Aug 30, 2021 21:20
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Electric Hobo posted:In my neverending quest to not play any Games Workshop games, I've now reached Battletech. A Game of Armored Combat is the newest set. Any set of Battletech rules from the last 30 or so years is fine, though, since they don't change like GW rules do. They just get cleaned up and reorganized from time to time. I think the only changes in that time have been how pilot skills are noted, new weapons and technologies added to the game, and some tweaks to the cluster table. The Battletech Mech Manual is the rulebook you want if you just want robot fights. (Classic) Battletech Total Warfare is the rulebook you want if you want to include all the different unit types. Alpha Strike is a faster playing set of rules for bigger engagements. It's basically a separate game using the same figures and fluff.
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Aug 30, 2021 21:23
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Electric Hobo posted:In my neverending quest to not play any Games Workshop games, I've now reached Battletech. Alpha strike is a new (ish) rule set that's designed to be much easier to run large battles with, at the expense of the "crunch" and granularity of the basic Total Warfare rules. It plays way faster and needs fewer dice rolls, but I'm personally but as large a fan because a huge part of the reason I like battletech is that units are much more than one HP and Armor bar, and they take his and degrade in function over time instead of going from working perfectly to dead. What you probably want is the beginner box, "A game of armored combat", or Total Warfare. I think the book is sold out but there's also PDF editions: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/collections/battletech/products/battletech-total-warfare-pdf?variant=16101325766690
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Aug 30, 2021 21:24
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Electric Hobo posted:In my neverending quest to not play any Games Workshop games, I've now reached Battletech. Here is CGL's "Get Started" section which will link you to the free quick start rules (which has some 'Mech tokens you can print out). After that, you wanna try to find either the "Beginner Box" or "A Game of Armored Combat" sets which contain the full rules and some plastic minis.
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Aug 30, 2021 21:26
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For the "classic" version of BattleTech: "Beginner Box" is a box set that has a simplified introductory ruleset that is a good starting point because the full rules are quite a lot to take in all at once. It contains two minis and a basic mapsheet. "A Game of Armored Combat" is a box set that has full battlemech rules and could either be your first stop or your next stop after the Beginner Box. It contains 8 miniatures and two mapsheets that have more complicated terrain than the Beginner Box. "Clan Invasion" is a box that has more advanced rules. It has rules for more advanced technology and battle armored infantry. This is an expansion; don't get it first! You can get it after A Game of Armored Combat or skip it and get one of the two books in the next section. It contains 7 miniatures (5 mechs and 2 squads of battle armor) and two mapsheets. There are two possible steps after that: "Total Warfare" is a hardcover book that contains the complete "standard" ruleset for BattleTech. It has the full battlemech rules and builds on them with more equipment. It also adds rules for buildings, a couple types of non-battle 'mechs, and all forms of infantry, ground, air, and smaller space vehicles. This is what you want if you want to do combined arms, or if you really liked the battle armor in Clan Invasion. "BattleMech Manual" is a hardcover book that contains everything from Total Warfare that is relevant to battlemechs. It has none of the rules for non-battlemechs. Aside from being more concise and readable in a lot of areas if all you want are battlemechs, it rolls in some content from more advanced books so it isn't just a strict subset of Total Warfare. This is what you want if you do not give a toss about non-battlemechs. Do NOT pay above MSRP for the boxes! It sucks that Catalyst never prints enough of everything under normal circumstances, and on top of that I don't think anyone foresaw BattleTech's sudden rise in gamer interest. The only part of the boxes that is hard to replace for getting into the games are the hexmaps. There are some standalone maps that may still be available but who knows given the sudden popularity. You don't need the official minis or even necessarily minis at all for playing it, so do whatever you want to represent forces on the field rather than fretting over having WYSIWYG official products. BattleMaster fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Aug 30, 2021 |
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Aug 30, 2021 21:52
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Electric Hobo posted:In my neverending quest to not play any Games Workshop games, I've now reached Battletech. Keep it simple: BattleMech Manual is all you need to play with the robots. (Alpha Strike isn't really BattleTech. A Game of Armored Combat/Total Warfare is what you'd step up to if you want to go full nerd with combined arms.) Don't even print out any miniatures, they're not necessary to play, there's no rigid requirements that make a game "official" or anything. You can even play with literal bottle caps marked with an arrow to show facing. Minis just make the game look nicer.
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Aug 30, 2021 21:59
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I like to use cardboard hexagons I cut out from cereal boxes and put red/blue arrows on with permanent marker to represent facing and side in a battle. But I like to use infantry and helicopters a lot so it's nice being able to have these fit into the same hexes as my SO's miniatures.
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Aug 30, 2021 22:07
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Alright then, that was more complicated than I thought! I'll check out the quick start rules, then probably go for the Total Warfare pdf, because I'm a huge nerd. I like that you can use whatever in place of minis, but I'm hoping that I can convince someone to play the game with me, so I'll need a little bling.
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Aug 30, 2021 22:16
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Electric Hobo posted:Alright then, that was more complicated than I thought! I'll check out the quick start rules, then probably go for the Total Warfare pdf, because I'm a huge nerd. Learning the rules without an intermediary between quick start and Total Warfare isn't going to be easy. Total Warfare is designed as a reference book and has no guidance for learning the game. But you can go this way it if you have help from an experienced player. Playing some online MegaMek games with someone who explains the rules as things go can help a bit. While MegaMek does all the math and rolling, it doesn't let you do anything that's impossible so it can help learn how movement and combat work.
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Aug 30, 2021 22:19
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BattleMaster posted:Learning the rules without an intermediary between quick start and Total Warfare isn't going to be easy. Total Warfare is designed as a reference book and has no guidance for learning the game. But you can go this way it if you have help from an experienced player. Playing some online MegaMek games with someone who explains the rules as things go can help a bit. While MegaMek does all the math and rolling, it doesn't let you do anything that's impossible so it can help learn how movement and combat work.
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Aug 30, 2021 23:39
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Also someone around here has a link to the SA Battletech discord (at least one of them) and it's a lot smaller and friendlier than the bigger ones.
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Aug 30, 2021 23:49
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Here's one of em: https://discord.gg/w9jNwY2 We most often talk the HBS Battletech game these days but it is a very good collection of nerds that go way back tabletop or otherwise.
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Aug 31, 2021 00:09
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New Battletech novel just released. Hunting Season covers House Marik shenanigans from 3146 to 3150, basically Shattered Fortress stuff. According to the author himself, Clan Protectorate gets a few scenes, which makes me happy. https://www.drivethrufiction.com/pr...irNHsqNZiL165KQ
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Aug 31, 2021 00:32
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Well, I wish it were set after material we already knew, but I'm glad the writers are actually showing interest in the FWL.
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Aug 31, 2021 00:33
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I need a sanity check here. I'm finally going to dip into classic with a friend. I'm pretty set on 3025 succession wars no lostech. <-- (edited cause the previous statement was unfair maybe) His faction choice comstar.. Ok I can deal with that as long as he's not trying to bring any of the normal bs. After many conversations he finally agrees to not field anything with the advanced comstar tech (I figured that should have fallen under lostech but I guess not). So now we are getting into a bit more detail on list building and he wants to bring a comstar level 3..So he's adding infantry.. Then he says to me, he's going to bring mechanized infantry with ac/2's... But he had to build them in mechlab cause there is no record sheet for them... As far as I knew and always played there was the standard infantry or jump infantry with Las Rifle, Balistic Rifle, SRM, LRM, or flamer... I can't even find anything about mechanized infantry outside of build your own rules. On top of that he's "building" a transport that has the proper carrying capacity for his mechanized infantry. I really want to just say if you have to mechlab it it's not legal. Am I the dick? Kilazar fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Aug 31, 2021 |
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Aug 31, 2021 18:39
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Kilazar posted:Am I the dick? Nope. Your friend trying to snipe you from across the table with infantry formations that inexplicably carry rapid firing cannons is the dick.
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Aug 31, 2021 18:42
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Do the historicals thing. Play a game, then switch sides and replay the game.
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Aug 31, 2021 18:43
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PeterWeller posted:Nope. Your friend trying to snipe you from across the table with infantry formations that inexplicably carry rapid firing cannons is the dick. Yeah he's trying to gaslight me a bit too with "I asked around and all the people saying you not being ok with comstar tech is weird cause it's all appropriately costed". I've never felt comstar tech was costed correctly for the impact it has on the board. when a mech can run dual gause against standard 3025 era mechs it's kind of got a huge advantage that I don't think the bv covers properly. I guess I could be wrong? But having been on the receiving end of that several times back in 2005 (last time I played) I just have a bad taste for anything high tech in the 3025 setting. moths posted:Do the historicals thing. Play a game, then switch sides and replay the game. If I had time I would, but I barley have time for one classic game a month these days!
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Aug 31, 2021 18:47
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Kilazar posted:Am I the dick? You and your friend obviously want to play at two different rules levels. Infantry towing autocannons is real but you ought to be allowed to field atmospheric bomber assets that wipe out entire stacks of them within a hex with Inferno or Cluster bombs, etc. Tell him to step down to your level or go gently caress himself, you're just starting out
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Aug 31, 2021 18:50
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Sidesaddle Cavalry posted:You and your friend obviously want to play at two different rules levels. Infantry towing autocannons is real but you ought to be allowed to field atmospheric bomber assets that wipe out entire stacks of them within a hex with Inferno or Cluster bombs, etc. Yeah that is about how I feel, he really wants to just play full on level 3 build your own everything and I just want to play stuff that uses the standard record sheets with no high tech(for the era). :/.
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Aug 31, 2021 18:53
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| # ? May 31, 2024 15:19 |
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You need better friends
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Aug 31, 2021 18:55
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