Ish

Bargained well and done.

Adult or child?

So… Kickstarter’s front page has a little graphic where you can see recently started crowdfunding campaigns. BattleTech: Mercenaries is in list and the little info box just says “9,058% funded.” I just find it amusing how nonchalant that info is presented.

It’s only $500 worth. Three books is a small stool.

I jumped in at the Company level ($150), I’m not particularly excited by any of the ‘mechs in this round (I’m a sucker for the machines from the early eras), but I really want those vehicles Force Packs for the M*A*S*H / mobile command set and the LRM/SRM carrier set. I figure by the time this set arrives next summer, I’ll have actually played enough BattleTech that I’ll be ready to start adding more combined arms elements to my game play.

Catalyst’s latest Kickstarter is for the next expansion of the revamped BattleTech franchise. The Kickstarter campaign launched this morning and has already (as I type this) hit $2.9 million dollars in backing and rising fast. The physical products from this wave aren’t expected to begin delivery until June or July 2024. But holy heck… The hype-train is rolling. Edit to Update: It’s a little after 10:00 AM PST, as I type this, on day two of the KS and they’re sitting just shy of $3.8 million dollars. Bargained well and done! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cgl/battletech-mercenaries?ref=user_menu

As someone who had a job for several years where I could not leave the property, even on lunch break, and also had to work weird hours… I’ve used Postmates, et. al., a whole lot. Like, a lot a lot. Too much probably. Like… I’ve been recognized by more than one Postmates driver when out and about in public. Delivery time can be pretty variable, especially in the wee hours of the night (10:00 PM to 7:00 AM) or if the weather is especially bad. But under normal conditions, you can usually expect most meals to be delivered to you in about a half-hour to forty-five minutes. About on par with traditional pizza delivery, really. Most hotels are pretty used to Postmates, et. al., bringing deliveries to guests these days, as it’s probably become even more common than the traditional pizza delivery guy. Not sure how they’d handle deliveries to people in a conference room… But it shouldn’t be that outrageous.

I’ve stayed in that hotel. Nothing fancy, nothing terrible, pretty typical Holiday Inn experience. The Cascade Station strip mall is about 5-ish minutes away by car but there’s no good public transport from hotel to shopping center. It’s got a Panda Express, an IHOP, Jersey Mike’s, and a couple other fast-casual places. There’s also an IKEA if you’re craving meatballs and flat-packed plywood furniture. You’ll want to car-pool with friends or have some GrubPostHubDash delivery.

Model looks great and the potential for interesting storytelling is definitely there… …but unless the rules get a major revision and the business model a major change, I have little interest in WH40k. Kinda sad, as the Dark Angels have long been my favorite canon chapter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cgl/battletech-mercenaries Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal.

But I want my free ice cream now!

Anyone want to give BattleTech Alpha Strike a go? Just got the starter set and have been skimming the rules… Doesn’t seem terribly complicated.

Apparently, based on internet chatter, a lot of people like to play Alpha Strike using the hex maps of classic. Basically, take the ranges on the AS cards, divide by two, and that’s your hex count.

Popped into Guardian Games last night on my way home from Ordo, I was hoping to find the A Game of Armored Combat starter set… They didn’t have it. So I picked up the Alpha Strike starter. Excellent value, just for the ‘mechs alone. The game itself looks like a lot of fun too… All the giant stompy robot action of classic BattleTech, but in a format that makes it possible to have company level conflicts that don’t require a full weekend to play.

I haven’t, but as a fan of both Oathmark and Frostgrave (who also likes what I’ve read about Rangers and Stargrave) I’m positively inclined to believe it’s probably good… But nothing in the description makes it feel like a “must buy.” Maybe if it goes on sale?

Gonna try to head straight to Ordo after work, probably be there 5:15-5:30. Hoping to try out Kill Team.

Still haven’t gotten around to trying OPR. Keep meaning to…

This is obviously just a result of the fan-made rulebook trying to match the official GW rulebooks in terms of quality and proofreading.

If they offered the “digest” size rulebook that they’ve included in the last couple starter sets and a barebones “digest” codex for $20-30 USD each… then maybe, maybe, I’d buy one. But asking me to fork over $60 USD for a textbook size rulebook that is 75% reprinted non-rules content from the last nine editions, $50 for a codex that is 90% reprinted non-rules text from the last eight editions… and a sub-faction supplement, a campaign supplement, a (only somewhat optional) tournament rules pack… and cards… and tokens… and other cards… and… and… I’m sorry. But, no. I’m a free market capitalist to be sure, I don’t begrudge a company wanting to make a buck, but this just isn’t the sort of way I want to participate in this hobby. Back in WH40k Second through Sixth Editions, I could get the main rulebook and one codex and that was all I needed. The rules cost less than $50 and the codices were under $30. I know inflation has occurred, but the prices have risen far ahead of inflation. Yeah, yeah, hobby gaming is a luxury item. It’s not a necessity… But for a fraction of the cost GW expects me to pay, I can get a heck of a lot more mileage out of Catalyst, Osprey, etc.

"For a period of ten days beginning on 14 February 2057, Lars J. Matthews will cease to possess any legal status. He will be stripped of all evidence of legal existence, including SIN, credsticks, DocWagon contract, bank accounts and so on. To the individual or group who ends Lars J. Matthews' physical existence during those ten days, I leave all of Matthews' assets and 1 million nuyen for a job well done. If Mr. Matthews survives and can prove his identity, his legal status and all possessions will be restored to him. Haven't you heard? Never deal with a dragon, Lars."

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a constant fire-hose of new, newer, newest like GW pushes for WH40k and AOS… But I’d still like to see the some of books on the shelves at their stores, most of the models available for sale on their website (even as limited stock or back order only items), and the occasional mention in their house magazine and social media channels. Instead of GW’s longstanding practice of Trotsky’ing their old game’s completely.

WH40k has never been my favorite GW game, even when I was a lot more actively into it and playing once or twice a week (and lately it’s been one or twice a year); WH40k was always just the game I collected armies for because it was the game everyone else was playing. I’ve got more than enough Adeptus Custodes to field a massive army and no real desire to add anything to the collection I currently have. (Maybe some of the big FW vehicles… But I don’t desire them strongly enough to pay FW prices!) I’ve got a cardboard box in my closet labeled “2020 Space Ork Project” that I started gathering things for in 2019 and never really started. Maybe I’ll revisit it someday. I’ve got a large Palanite Enforcers gang for Necromunda; GW no longer supports WHFB, Epic, or BFG; I find Frostgrave to be more fun than Mordheim (which is also unsupported) or WarCry; and the LotR game just never seemed to catch on (and I’d rather play Oathmark). I’m basically just… done… with GW. The author for Oathmark has said that he’s done with the game for the foreseeable future, although more supplements might come eventually. It’s wholly “miniatures agnostic” so if I ever feel the need to start a new project, I don’t have to worry about compatibility. BattleTech is getting a lot of attention from CGL these days, with new models and new books but the models are just redesigns of classic pieces and the “new” rule books are largely just revisions to the layout and formatting of the rules that have been, more or less, finalized since I was in elementary school. They also officially do not care if players use the miniatures they sell, third-party minis, 3D prints, or cardboard cutouts. The gameplay is also strategically and tactically deep, without being mindlessly complex for the sake of complexity. Necromunda remains interesting to me almost solely due to the effort @scottshoemaker puts into the campaigns he runs.

The impossible we do daily; the ridiculously impossible takes us about a week.

I’d already pretty much decided I was done with Warhammer 40,000; I’ll keep my models around, but I’ve got no desire to buy more for the game… BattleTech and Oathmark are probably going to be my only minis focus for the foreseeable future.

What’s weird to me is how many people are freaking out at the idea of removing toughness from the game. I’ve thought that the three part sequence (roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save) was unnecessary since at least 3rd… In the much more granular, pseudo-roleplaying style of RT/1st, the distinction between resisting damage due to armor or due to inherent durability was useful. But there were a couple dozen models on the table, total, back then. Now there are often over 100 per player.