Topic: Battletech ...

[GamesPoet]

From KTG's thread on Dropzone and Dropfleet ...

... However, I did recently pick up a starter box of Battletech, but that'd be the wrong topic for this thread

Ha I have a weird fascination with Battletech. I have the original FASA Battledroids set



as well as second edition, now called Battletech, and all of the 1/144 and 1/200 scale kits scenario packs sold by TCI.



All waiting to be assembled. I do like Battledroids because it includes rules for infantry and vehicles that Battletech 2nd ed drops out.

I grew up overseas so knew these robots by their original names as I was a fan of the shows, so naturally was initially interested in Battletech. But the game of Battletech is pretty lame. It is actually based on a pair of old Takara games called

Battle of Stanrey (aka Stanley) - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8780/battle-stanrey

Battle of Kalnock - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/14165/battle-kalnock

I have both of these games and they are some of my most prized collector items. Took a great deal of effort to get two sets in great condition, because usually they are pretty beat up.

Both are based in the Dougram series and center around two major battles that take place in it. The majority of the rules are in japanese but some were translated by TCI for import for the US. Apparently the FASA guys saw these games and the kits at a convention and that is how Battletech got its start. When I got the sets I did, I got them from Japan, so they didnt include the english rules. I pinned down anyone who could read Japanese when I was in college to try and translate bits and pieces. It wasnt until I posted the games on an old website I ran did people reach out to me saying they could send me copies of the english rules. I was so thankful for those guys. But the english rules only cover a fraction of the japanese and I am not even sure they are 100% accurate.

It amazes me how popular Battletech got, given the terrible designs of many of the FASA non-anime robots, and the lack of any strategy in the game. I don't know where Battletech is today, but I have a fondness for old games and I do love having the original models the game was intended to use, as opposed to minis. The models are really too big for the task though. I gave some thought of hunting down the metal counterparts, but not sure I ever will.

I also know I will never play the game again.

It seems Battletech is seeing a revival of some kind.  I saw a guys 5 figures painted up, and I liked them to the point where I got curious.  When I saw the current starter set was only $20, that seemed like a decent enough entry point to see if I like it.  The rules look simple.  I love the maps in the starter set.  There were only two figures for painting, but no big deal, the game can be played with some board like cutouts provided in the starter set as well, and then see if this entices me further.  I've already learned that there are different eras of figures, and I am kind of liking both, but will see.

[Rowsdower]

Harmony Gold who own the U.S distribution for Macross [as well as the often derided Southern Cross and also not very good Mospeeda] keep trying to take legal action against EVERY company that has obtained licensees for items from Macross.

A handful of Macross mechs wound up in the initial Battletech [the Zantradi officers pod, Valkyrie and Tomohawk Destroid] but were removed and had to be renamed 'the unseen' as Harmony Gold had a hissy fit.

In 2014; they tried to sue Hasbro over a G.I.JOE jet which was based on the Valkyrie which in turn was legally licensed to Hasbro for their Transformers line from Taksanota [not sure if spelled right]

In short; Harmony Gold is the bane of EVERYONE who has ever been interested in Macross and or Robotech as they flat out refuse to do anything with the property, hurl death threats at fans over message boards and threaten to sue ANYONE who has legally licenced products.

By the way; in Battletech; the Valkyrie was dubbed 'Warhammer'
No, if you'll excuse; i have to watch Macross for the umpteenth time 

[phillyt]

I’ve been printing and painting an absurd amount of BT.  With things like Flech Sheet games can be had in a fraction of the time they used to!  I’ve got probably 100+ painted mechs at this point.  So much fun.

[KTG17]

By the way; in Battletech; the Valkyrie was dubbed 'Warhammer'
No, if you'll excuse; i have to watch Macross for the umpteenth time

Macross is the gold standard on mech design. I am not really a fan of many anime, I mostly watched it for the robots in action, but Macross was one of the few I really had an interest in and was frustrated watching it on chinese TV and not understanding what was going on. I had a chinese friend who could translate some stuff, but the rest I had to make up. And since it was that way with every robot show I liked, I just made up my own stories and so years later when the internet came out, and I could find info on these shows, I wasn't aways amazed at the plots.

Harmony Gold did provide me a way to follow a story, but I didn't realize how much that changed things until later. Now I am disgusted with Robotech and don't have anything to do with it... beyond buying the Robotech RPG Tactics game haha

Yes I did buy that old Robotech RPG and actually played it a lot on high school. So embarassed.

Anyway, I have this book from High School still:



It is one of the most amazing art books of all time. It covers the storyline of the original Macross, but its more an art book covering everything that was designed for the show, whether its the transformation process of the valkyrie to a coffee cup. Its an amazing book. I used to look at the pictures for hours and used their influence in my own drawings.

As far as the rest of Macross - I do think Do You Remember is a great revision of the story. Maybe superior to the original. I liked Macross Plus, but once the delta I think it was called I lost all interest.

I do love the technical designs from Japan, and hate most western designs. There are some exceptions, like ED-209 or the AT-ST, but most designs like that fall way short.

[Rowsdower]

^ Funny you should mention ED-209 as the inspiration for Robocops nemesis was the Zantradi officers pod which one of the designers had on his desk.

I personally ignore all the shoe-horned stuff in the Robotech dub. It might sound like heresy but i think Mospeeda/ Invid invasion is the weakest of the three as NONE of the characters go through any significant arcs [Annie/Mint is a 3rd wheel and shouldn't even be in the show] and that segment has such a clumsy ending.

My fondest memories of childhood are rushing home from school with my miniature SDF-1 in hand to watch the Macross episodes and playing the Palladium RPG a few years later.

I also tend to ignore most of the official Macross sequels as from what little I've seen, they don't continue the story and tend to be rehashes. When i was 15, i had to pay an arm and a leg for a low quality bootleg copy of Macross II episodes 5 & 6 which were super statically and blurry.

Also....... I paid $600.00 AU for an old Transformer Jetfire toy so i could perch my old Minmay figure on it 

[GamesPoet]

Besides the Beginner Box set, I now have the figures from the boxes by Catalyst Game Labs called, "Clan Striker Star", and "Inner Urban Sphere".

Unfortunately I picked them up because they looked and sounded cool.  Who knows how these might play?

[Rowsdower]

I stumbled across some battletech minis at Sydney Supernova last week. I had to pass on them due to funds.
One of the vendors also had quite a lot of the old Matchbox Robotech toys but the prices on them were exuberant. I remember when Kmart couldn't give them away

[phillyt]

Besides the Beginner Box set, I now have the figures from the boxes by Catalyst Game Labs called, "Clan Striker Star", and "Inner Urban Sphere".

Unfortunately I picked them up because they looked and sounded cool.  Who knows how these might play?

The inner sphere box will pair well with the starter set models.  The clan box is sort of stand alone though.  Having said that, you CAN include a clan mech or two in an inner sphere Lance though it can be straining in terms of the fluff unless it’s a while bast the clan invasion.

[GamesPoet]

Hmmm ... don't know much about the fluff.  The Beginner Box has a map of the galaxy (or some such) divided into blue, purple, green, red, yellow, and if I recall white or gray in the tiny middle (some sort of high tech dudes or something).  They give some specifications on who these groups all are, what languages, religions, stuff like that.  There's a short story of some sort, and if I recall the two miniatures come from red land and yellow land, although beyond that, my knowledge is non-existent.

I probably just want to line up figures and have a go at some fun, hopefully.  Saw something about tonnage being how the figures compare for lining up to sides on the table top, yet not sure I saw that correctly.

[phillyt]

The beginner box starts with the year 3025.  Around 3052 the Clans invade.  Prior to 3052, those clan models can’t be used against Inner Sphere mechs.  I like both eras of play and we actually play the Civil War (3062-3068) as our main era of play since you can use pretty much anything in any combination.

[GamesPoet]

Hmmm ... sounds like they've put some detail into it.  Where's all that fluff located, in the main rule book?

[phillyt]

There is an ENORMOUS amount of fluff.

The best place to go is Sarna.net for everything fluff and mech related.

An invaluable playing aid site is https://flechs.net/.  Every mech data sheet is available on Flechs Sheets.

[Old Stonebeard]

Hmmm ... don't know much about the fluff.  The Beginner Box has a map of the galaxy (or some such) divided into blue, purple, green, red, yellow, and if I recall white or gray in the tiny middle (some sort of high tech dudes or something).  They give some specifications on who these groups all are, what languages, religions, stuff like that.  There's a short story of some sort, and if I recall the two miniatures come from red land and yellow land, although beyond that, my knowledge is non-existent.

I probably just want to line up figures and have a go at some fun, hopefully.  Saw something about tonnage being how the figures compare for lining up to sides on the table top, yet not sure I saw that correctly.

You literally cannot speak without being dismissive and condescending, can you?

[GamesPoet]

Hmmm ... don't know much about the fluff.  The Beginner Box has a map of the galaxy (or some such) divided into blue, purple, green, red, yellow, and if I recall white or gray in the tiny middle (some sort of high tech dudes or something).  They give some specifications on who these groups all are, what languages, religions, stuff like that.  There's a short story of some sort, and if I recall the two miniatures come from red land and yellow land, although beyond that, my knowledge is non-existent.

I probably just want to line up figures and have a go at some fun, hopefully.  Saw something about tonnage being how the figures compare for lining up to sides on the table top, yet not sure I saw that correctly.

You literally cannot speak without being dismissive and condescending, can you?

How that became an interpretation of my comments, I have no idea.  Hope you have a better day tomorrow.