8 replies to this topic

[mistlynx4life]

Greetings, all!

I'm trying to get into the miniatures game and I'm seeing the following: 1) Alpha Strike doesn't have an into box yet, 2) Battletech Introductory Box Set is triple digits in price and out-of-print, 3) Age of Destruction (Wizkids with the clicky bases) is also out-of-print but cheaper and pre-painted (I was looking forward to painting them). Am I just not looking in the right places for #1 and #2, and does anyone have any advice on/experience with the Wizkids products? My younglings will be involved in this endeavor and they are 10 and 11, so the Wizkids feels like the most bang for my buck...

And my darlings know me well:

Me - "Does this look like something you'd be interested in playing?"
Them - "Yeah... is there a Mist Lynx in it?"
Me - (Lamentations and woe)

Lemme know any thoughts ya'll might have or places I can get the Intro Box for a reasonable price, if possible.

Thanks!
#mistlynx4life

[Exilyth]

Mechwarrior Dark Age, the clickytech game which was once produced by Wizkidz, is now out of print. Also, it uses completely different rules compared to Classic Battletech (although some people like to play CBT with the clickytech figures). Mech and vehicle designs between CBT and MW:DA tend to be a bit different too.

The clickytech figures are roughly somewhere between 1:144 to 1:160 scale (or N gauge) while the CBT miniatures are roughly 1:285 scale (smaller than Z gauge, which is about 1:220). The latter scale is also known as 6mm scale since that is roughly the height of an infantry figure.

Clikytech comes pre assembles and does not require painting.


First thing first: you can find free PDFs with introductory rules here: http://bg.battletech...the-board-game/


The introductory box set would be your best bet, but Catalyst Game Labs is having problems keeping them stocked. 24 plastic mechs, record sheets, 2 map sheets, dice and a simplified ruleset are a great deal when you can find it for MRSP or lower. Afaik they have a new intro box planned, so best keep an eye on http://bg.battletech.com/ from time to time.


As an alternative, if you're only interested in mech vs. mech play and can live without vehicle, infantry & aircraft rules, you could get the battlemech manual: http://bg.battletech...tlemech-manual/ which contains only rules for mechs.

(or grab the total warfare rule book if infantry and vehicles do interest you. That one also has rules for spacecraft and naval units, but thoose are used less often.)

In addition to a rulebook, you would need

• a technical readout for the point in the timeline you'd like to play units from, e.g. TRO3039 has many of the units in MWO, while TRO3050 provides many of the clan units from MWO. TRO:succession wars is a compilation of technical readouts which contains TRO3039, TRO3050 and some more. The number on a TRO marks the year of release in lore.
  
• Record Sheets - best get them as a pdf so you can print them out. Alternatively: There's a free download of blank record sheets which you could print and fill out yourself (takes lots of time though).
  
• Miniatures - iron wind metals sells the metal minis as a single mech per blister. The alpha strike lance packs are a good alternative, containing 4 mechs each, which are also usable in the TT but suffer availability problems similar to the intro box.
  
  • glue - some quick bonding stuff like crazy glue helps with assembly.
    
  • knife for removing mold lines
    
  • (optional) primer and paint, preferably water based acrylics.
• map sheet - any piece of paper with a hexagonal regular lattice would do. The forums of the TT have some user made maps which are free to print. The available map sheets on the store are nice (and needed to play scenarios from the scenario books). Finally, some enthusiasts go the extra mile and create 3d terrain using scale modelling supplies, but for starting our, hexgrid paper would suffice.
  
• 2 or more six sided dice
  
• pencils (& maybe an eraser)

Engagements in the TT are usually played at the lance level, e.g. 4 vs 4 mechs (or 5 vs 5 for clans) - such a game would last about one-two hours. Larger games are possible, but take more time.



Units are balanced by a point cost mechanic called "battle value", e.g. an Urbanmech costs only a fraction of the points of an Atlas. Do note that inner sphere and clan technology are unbalanced against each other until about 3070, just after the steiner-davion civil war ends and the jihad era begins.


Can't say anything about alpha strike since I haven't played that one yet.

Edited by Exilyth, 05 September 2017 - 10:06 AM.

[mistlynx4life]

Wow, Exilyth. That is a most thorough and awesome response. Thanks a billion! I knew the Age of Destruction rules were different from TT but if it means the difference between waiting indefinitely (or paying through the nose) and playing next week, we're casual enough to go with the clicky ones I think. I've played the TT version twice with a friend who had his original stuff and it was loads of fun. Thanks again!

#mistlynx4life

[Exilyth]

mistlynx4life, on 05 September 2017 - 10:08 AM, said:

Wow, Exilyth. That is a most thorough and awesome response. Thanks a billion! I knew the Age of Destruction rules were different from TT but if it means the difference between waiting indefinitely (or paying through the nose) and playing next week, we're casual enough to go with the clicky ones I think. I've played the TT version twice with a friend who had his original stuff and it was loads of fun. Thanks again!

#mistlynx4life

TBH, I was afraid the wall of text would be too much.

If you search around the web you might be able to find rules for MW:DA archived somewhere.
Also be carefull: It's a collectible miniature game, so unless you buy singles, the miniatures in the boxes are random.

[mistlynx4life]

I'm probably clearing Amazon out tonight - AoD Starter Set and 5 boosters, lol. That'll be good for a start and we'll grab more as we go along.

[Exilyth]

If someone could tell us about their experience with alpha strike, that would be nice.

[Spheroid]

If the goal is to teach Battletech there is no need for miniatures. The record sheet pdf file for the Introductory box set includes cutouts.






I have the anniversary box set and the miniature quality for the I.S. mechs sucks. The new CAD modeled Clan molds are awesome though, but that is only two mechs out of twenty-six.

You could ask the community about making your own 3D printed minatures from MWO assets. I don't know how well these translate to boardgame size though.

Edited by Spheroid, 06 September 2017 - 01:20 PM.

[Hell in a Helmet]

Sent PM.

[mistlynx4life]

Wow! Thanks for all the help folks - HiaH, I got your PM. I'll shoot a response when I have more time. I forgot you can play with the cutouts too. You still have to buy the manuals though, right? Which ones would I need?

Edit: I see the quickstart rules comes with some paper cut-outs. So rad.

Edited by mistlynx4life, 07 September 2017 - 09:18 AM.