45 replies to this topic

[Masterblaster57]

Hello everyone

I know that Wizkids has had a click table top mech game out for some time and was wondering what people thought of it. I am also wondering if there are any others out there. I am mostly looking for ones with models that come assembled and painted sense I have had enough of the painting and building thanks to Warhammer. Looking forward to your feed back.

[CeeKay Boques]

Can't tell if trolling or...

The Table Top wargame known as BattleTech, is really fantastic. You can get the intro box, it comes with 24 mechs. You can get basic rules for free. My wife loves it after one play, and she doesn't play these kinds of games, but she loves BT.

http://www.battletech.com/

Still can't tell if trolling... *scratches head*

[Masterblaster57]

Technoviking, on 06 December 2011 - 08:04 PM, said:

Can't tell if trolling or...

The Table Top wargame known as BattleTech, is really fantastic. You can get the intro box, it comes with 24 mechs. You can get basic rules for free. My wife loves it after one play, and she doesn't play these kinds of games, but she loves BT.

http://www.battletech.com/

Still can't tell if trolling... *scratches head*

What would make you think I was "trolling?" It's a legit question

[Datum]

Masterblaster57, on 06 December 2011 - 08:27 PM, said:

What would make you think I was "trolling?" It's a legit question

The "clicky" aspect is part of a newer version called Mechwarrior: Dark Age. It's generally frowned upon for being kinda cheezy and simplistic as well as doing mean things to the canon when compared to the actual Battletech game.
Must've thought you were talking about that.

[Masterblaster57]

...Okay well whatever anyway I looked at the battletech game and eh its a bored game and not really looking for that. That grid map set up it has looks like no fun. Is there any others out there?

[Kudzu]

Technoviking, on 06 December 2011 - 08:04 PM, said:

Can't tell if trolling or...

The Table Top wargame known as BattleTech, is really fantastic. You can get the intro box, it comes with 24 mechs. You can get basic rules for free. My wife loves it after one play, and she doesn't play these kinds of games, but she loves BT.

http://www.battletech.com/

Still can't tell if trolling... *scratches head*

Pretty sure it's trolling... or extremely young.

[Ryokens leap]

mechwarrior fails compared to Battletech, the realism of Battletech did not cross over to the click base very well. It was driven by the need to by product to get upgrades and complete your faction and this had an effect on the rule set. There are tons of collections on ebay since mechwarrior was discontinued.

[Masterblaster57]

Kudzu, on 06 December 2011 - 08:56 PM, said:

Pretty sure it's trolling... or extremely young.

Nope not young I am an adult just haven't really done much with mech warrior other then the video games from mech warrior 2 up to 4 and no I am not up to date on all the battle tech lore and crap. I am looking for a mech warrior or battle tech table top game to play with some friends so how about you fan boys stop being all defensive. Be helpful or don't bother posting.

[GI Journalist]

Masterblaster57, on 06 December 2011 - 08:54 PM, said:

...Okay well whatever anyway I looked at the battletech game and eh its a bored game and not really looking for that. That grid map set up it has looks like no fun. Is there any others out there?

I actually agree with you. The hex map version of the game is pretty simplistic, and I've never found it to be as much fun as a game played on terrain. Fortunately, there is a set of free official rules for adapting the BattleTech universe to terrain, making it a real wargame and not just a boardgame. You can download them from BattleCorps here:
Classic BattleTech Miniature Rules

Best of all the rules are compatible with either the Iron Wind Metals miniatures or the larger scale WizKids MechWarrior figures. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it after you've had a chance to try it out.

[Stinger]

Okay, having played the Mechwarrior Dark Age (MWDA) and done a large amount of research (but I have yet to play a game) on the standard Classic Battletech (CBT), DA is a much faster gameplay. Beyond that, it is easier to get started, with basic rules being only 20 pages long versus around 80 for standard CBT. The main reason that I don't suggest DA is because it is officially out of production right now. You really don't want to invest anything into a game that isn't going to be updated, and the only official game is CBT. So I suggest getting the new box set for CBT when it comes out soon (ish). But there is still painting with those...

[Masterblaster57]

GI and Stinger thank you for the feed back. Looked up iron wind metals and they look nice but how is there quality control with their molds? and what scale are their models?

[Datum]

scale is about 30mm tall for a large mech, so maybe 1/200.
It is definitely more fun with the terrain, and it's a very simple conversion.
Personally, I don't like the complexity of adding die rolls for each weapon, as it makes a very lengthy turn of going "uhhhhh" as you mentally calculate stuff.
It is fun, however, and probably worth a shot.
They sell a box set of plastic miniatures with starter rules that is about $40 and comes with 2 dozen mechs. The molding is significantly worse when compared to the nice pewter figures, but they're still pretty good when painted.

[Threat Doc]

The reason Dark Age didn't last, and I predicted this before it was even released, after I'd found out it was going to be, because I was extremely interested in trying it out, is because it's not BattleTech, and because people didn't want to spend a crap-ton of money on the game. Only 20 pages means crap rules. BattleTech's 80 pages actually covers 95% of anything you would ever need to know to play the game, and whether it's on a hex map or not, there are very few changes to the rules. Playing on 3D terrain, even hokey 3D terrain, is a lot more free, and it's easier to visualize the game, in my opinion.

Oh, and the reason people are wondering if you're trolling, and are getting defensive, is because most of the non-BattleTech/non-TableTop fans come to the forums to spread their unique brand of lack-of-knowledge-and-lack-of-care for the basis for all prior MechWarrior and MechCommander games, and they argue for some of the silliest crap I've ever heard of. So, a LOT of BattleTech veterans HAVE to be on the defensive in order to keep from being banned for how we would like to get hold of the twitch community and strangle the life out of them.

[Masterblaster57]

Thank you Datum.

I used to play Warhammer a lot so I am used to the dice rolls for weapons xD

[Hodo]

Masterblaster57, on 06 December 2011 - 08:27 PM, said:

What would make you think I was "trolling?" It's a legit question

Because you are here, and you mentioned "Mechwarrior Clickz" The worst thing that ever happened to the franchise hands down.

You can find most of the rules on that site posted, and you can actually play against people in a java version at Megamek.net.

[Red Pins]

...If you don't have another interested player to try the starter rules with, you might try playing MegaMek against the bot. There are a huge number of possible units, hex maps (always easier to start playing on one, you'll advance to normal table terrain quickly), and most of the optional rules (like artillery) are available for experimentation.

You can try the MegaMek thread in the official battletech website forum to locate a human opponent, or just ask for help to use the system.

Good luck.

[Stinger]

I also just recently looked at MegaMek, and I do recommend. It is definitely a good way to get into it. I am still curious to play the actual board game, but seeing that I can't get a hold of a box set and that I really have nobody to play with, that is still a bit of hopes and dreams right now. Megamek finally gave me a feel for how Battletech plays and it really shows if you are going to like it or not.

Also, I recently bought my first Pewter Mini, the thing is really nice. High quality stuff. But, if you are going to buy one, DO NOT buy from the ironwindmetals.com. They are waaayyy too expensive. I learned this the hard way, but I spent $50 on 3 miniatures, some hex bases and shipping from Iron Wind, I found it all for $35 from a site called FRP games. Needless to say, mechs aren't cheap.

Edited by Stinger, 07 December 2011 - 08:18 AM.

[ice trey]

I'm pretty heavily invested in the Tabletop gaming scene, so I'll prattle off some ideas for you.

Regarding your Clix game, I'd say perish the thought; The game has actually gone belly-up some time ago, and while it was a fun, fast paced game for kids and older players who like a more simplified game, there were apparently some serious holes in the game. If you come across any clix figs for Battletech, I'd suggest either using them for bits or decoration.

Battletech http://bg.battletech.com is a great game - but that said, it isn't to everybody's speed. It's a game I suggest for those folks that like a game that doesn't require much painting, but still lets you paint; for people who like a game where movement, range and terrain play a much larger role in tactics than synergic abilities; For people who would prefer to see fewer, tougher units on the table looked at in greater detail, than many units that die quickly on both sides. It's not everybody's bag - many tend to decry it as a game with ugly miniatures and slow gameplay, but those of us who like it, tend to like it a LOT - as you can tell from many of the forums, here. Many of us have been playing for decades, and with the recent release of the 25th anniversary introductory box set, there've been a lot of new and old players coming back into the fold. The game is most commonly played on Hex Maps. Some people have trouble getting their heads around that, but once you get used to it, you wonder how you ever did without. It makes setting up a game area very fast and - more importantly- very portable. The other benefit is that Battletech is very, very loose regarding the use of miniatures, since the company only makes the print product - outsourcing their miniatures to Ironwind Metals. That means that you're free to use anything from the miniatures, lego men, or even pieces of paper, just so long as there's a clearly defined "Front" facing (and it fits in the hex - which is unfortunately something that Mechwarrior Clix don't do well, as they're just too big)

Heavy Gear from Dream Pod 9 Studios makes a pretty nice game - and you can certainly feel similarities between it and Battletech when you play. However, you'll notice a much more streamlined aesthetic which draws heavily from Votoms. The book artwork seems to be drawn in a very pseudo-anime style reminiscent of older, big name 80s anime like Akira and Appleseed. It's faster paced than Battletech is, but still runs slower than many of the miniatures war-games out there, since - like battletech - it's about small-unit skirmishes and using terrain, while other games (Like 40K, Warmachine) will be heavily focused on troop formations and squads. The game used to use hex maps way back when, but these days it focuses heavily on the use of miniatures terrain - so you'll likely be building lots of terrain to play in. After playing a demo game, I can say it's really fun, but the price tag keeps me away, charging a very steep rate for their montreal-made miniatures. (If I remember correctly, the most basic starter product was going for $90 - and the contents were high quality, but just too few in number to justify the buy-in. DP9 also made some other mecha games, like Gear Krieg and Jovian Chronicles, but I don't know if they've been abandoned or not.

CAV is something I've never seen anyone play or sell, but I know it exists - they are produced by Reaper Miniatures. I flipped through the core book and noticed very strong similarities with Battletech (It's likely a knock-off product), but haven't had a chance to try it - or see a miniature for it in person, painted or in the blister. I can't say much more to it than that.

Likewise, there's a game by RedShirt games called MeckWars, but I know even less about it than CAV - What I do know is that they sell robot figures roughly on the same scale as Battletech that would make for great "Custom 'Mech" proxies, in a big bag for a reasonable price.

Beyond those four, there are other games that *have* robots in them, but don't focus on them like Mechwarrior or Heavy Gear do. Dust Tactics, AT-43 (Dead), Warhammer 40K, Warmachine, Monsterocalypse (Dead?), and - on a smaller scale - Infiinity, are just a few that come to mind.

Edited by ice trey, 07 December 2011 - 09:03 AM.

[Demi-Precentor Konev]

I've had some experience with CAV. It does feel like a BT knock-off but that being said it's a fun game. It has a little more 'crunch' to some of the rules as it uses open movement and not hexes. Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of giant robots with guns but ultimately it will lack the history and flavor you get from the BT products.

[S3dition]

If you're looking for good quality and budget friendly vehicles, I recommend looking at GHQ. They're modern, but a lot of vehicles work in the BT universe. I compiled a list of some of the best fits here.