Author Topic: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures  (Read 17150 times)

Black_Knyght

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"Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« on: 13 February 2016, 21:55:50 »
I have a question that I'm hoping I don't get in trouble for, and I'm hoping folks in this terrific community can answer it for me.

I recently returned to Battletech after a loooonnng absence, and immediately have set about buying tons of miniatures and rules books and source materials once more. Then I proceeded to entice my oldest son back into the game, and even a couple of friends into trying it.

All with great success !!!

But the question has come up that I need to ask here - What "alternative" sources are there for mechs, vehicles, battle armor, etc? NOT that anything is wrong with IWM materials, but my friends want to create some "custom" mechs and vehicles that aren't either modded IWM figures or some version of existing designs. I talked my friends into ordering some of both from IWM, but what "alternative" sources are there?

I ask this NOT as a plan to substitute IWM products, but rather supplement them. I've heard of 3D printed items, but no clue where or how to get them. I've seen tons of cool pics of other mechs, vehicles, and such (such as the Robotech Tactics models) that aren't IWM, but again no idea who made them or where to get them.
« Last Edit: 13 February 2016, 23:03:05 by Black_Knyght »

Sartris

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #1 on: 13 February 2016, 23:48:14 »
CAV miniatures are a reasonably-scaled mecha line.

some good old GHQ tanks are solid armor substitutes.

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pheonixstorm

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #2 on: 14 February 2016, 00:57:58 »
If you can find free 3d files of different mecha you could use a 3d printer for those, or if any of your friends are good with 3d modeling you could have them create something to be printed out.

Don't know what the link is but you can print the models used for MWO and use them in your games BUT the rules for those are a tad more strict. First you can't post pics to these forums and any minis create from the MWO art can only be printed by a 3d printer you own (I think).

Then there is sculting your own mini from green stuff.

Just a few ways to make customs.

Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #3 on: 14 February 2016, 01:37:34 »
Not interested in posting Non-IWM pics to these forums ( I have no desire to get punitive action from a moderator   ;)  ), just trying find to out WHAT might be available out there.

Does anyone know of any decent 6mm/15mm/other that might be out there? Someone in a different forum mention he "thought" there was a manufacturer that made spaceships, tanks, and Aeronets (?) but he didn't know their name.

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #4 on: 14 February 2016, 05:26:04 »
You won't get punished for post non-IWM mechs here. The moderators haven't stopped others from doing it in the past.
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JadeHellbringer

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #5 on: 14 February 2016, 08:08:15 »
You won't get punished for post non-IWM mechs here. The moderators haven't stopped others from doing it in the past.

Hell, I've POSTED some of my CAV stuff.  ^-^

What we don't allow are Battletech Mechs made without IWM/Catalyst permission, which includes the MWO miniatures that are popping up all over the place- they're a legal grey area, and as you can imagine with this games' past in the courtroom we'd rather not go down bad paths again.

So, CAV? Post away. Gear Krieg, Warhammer, etc? Bueno, show us your work. MWO/knock-off IWM work? Then you'll have one of the red-Beemer'ed ninjas talking to you. Hope that helps clarify a bit.

I do recommend CAV as an alternate source for Mechs- the miniatures tend to be a good bit bigger than Battletech's stuff, but some of the smaller stuff fits our game nicely, and their vehicles are very useful (I own several of their 'Whisper' vehicles, which are basically Soviet-style Scud launchers). Their fighters are especially nice, coming two to a pack and even including some nice 30mm hex bases- no need to use those on the fighters, which have flight bases already, but very handy for putting Mechs on.

Here, since I mentioned it, here's a 'Whisper' in desert camo along with some Battletech examples to compare to.
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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #6 on: 14 February 2016, 09:11:45 »
There are also some fair Russian made stand-ins that are pretty cheap. Additionally, if you want to pay a bit, the Robotech tactics miniatures are good. The  Warhammer is excellent. Scale of the others is a little off (a little big or small) The Marauder is much too large but if you aren't that worried about it. I don't have them, but supposedly they are a bit of a bear to assemble.

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #7 on: 14 February 2016, 13:59:51 »
For mechs, I recommend CAV, as well --- with vehicles, you do have options. Brigade Models, and Ground Zero Games, while mostly space fleet oriented, do have 6mm vehicles. I also buy from GHQ models, which are 6mm real world sculpts.....

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #8 on: 14 February 2016, 14:25:50 »
CAV (flawed game) has some excellent mechs and vehicles to use. Or you can make your own like I did. I the picture below, in the upper right corner are five hovercraft that were made by me way back in the late 80s out of balsawood. All I did was cut them with an exacto knife to shape them and then sanded them lightly. Insert various wires as needed into them, prime and paint. Done. None of them have turrets.

The green/black/white one on the left was basically the hovercraft version of a Saladin. It has an AC20.
The blue hovercraft had four SRM 6s.
The black hovercraft with the longer gun was armed with a Gauss rifle.
The green one had two medium lasers.
The red one had 14MGs and ended up tearing apart an Awesome 80 ton mech after multiple turns, from the front...  :o


worktroll

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #9 on: 14 February 2016, 16:19:47 »
EM4 Miniatures out of England produces some nice, inexpensive plastic 'Mechs - 3 designs, several swappable arms/weapons.

CAV - the Bones minis (starting to come out) are excellent to work with, and will be really competitive price-wise. Looking forward to getting some Bones vehicles to see the detail.

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pheonixstorm

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #10 on: 14 February 2016, 17:33:30 »
Yeah the AV plastics where I am are around $5. I only wish CGL would offer the Lance pack and intro box minis in plastic baggies...

Trajan Helmer

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #11 on: 14 February 2016, 21:11:00 »
I'm going to use some NorAm models from Mecha Front as special raiders and opfor for my ATOW game
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Domi1981

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #12 on: 15 February 2016, 09:47:50 »
Imho the nicest way to get a custom build is by ordering mechs and maybe some separate weapons and build one yourself. If you have kids you could teach/learn with them on how to tinker on your very own design. Get some green stuf and a Dremel. But cover your eyes.

JadedFalcon

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #13 on: 16 February 2016, 00:31:45 »
They can be hard to find, but the Mekton miniatures from the 90s are perfect for custom mechs. Unfortunately, when they show up on eBay they're either a bit pricey, or missing parts, or both.

Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #14 on: 16 February 2016, 02:12:46 »
I've seen hints os MWO or 3D printed mechs. How does one find those?

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #15 on: 16 February 2016, 06:00:23 »
I've seen hints os MWO or 3D printed mechs. How does one find those?

Through sites other than this one. We do not allow MWO miniatures on these forums.
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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #16 on: 16 February 2016, 11:25:12 »
Yeah, CAV has some excellent parts for creating custom mecha. All of these are a mix of CAV and IWM parts. Sorry, it's all much older work, but hopefully is helpful...






















Archer77

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #17 on: 16 February 2016, 12:13:14 »
Oh my...... [drool]

Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #18 on: 16 February 2016, 13:40:30 »
Through sites other than this one. We do not allow MWO miniatures on these forums.

My apologies. I was unaware that was an offensive subject.

Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #19 on: 16 February 2016, 13:44:21 »
@ IAMCLANWOLF


Oh Holy Hell !!!!

My envy factor just jumped off the scales...........

klarg1

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #20 on: 16 February 2016, 14:40:03 »
For what it's worth, CAV parts should be available on the cheap, in Reaper's Bones plastic relatively soon.

The material has it's quirks and foibles, but it will be hard to beat the price for spare robot parts.

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #21 on: 16 February 2016, 15:11:28 »
some good old GHQ tanks are solid armor substitutes.

GHQ works well for armor (as mentioned above), as well as for IFVs -- especially some of their more obscure offerings from the "Third World Warriors" line which can look futuristic enough without gear-heads saying "Hey, the FedSuns still uses the Bradley in 3025?" I've even thrown in some Humvees and Toyota "technical" (Toyota Crew-cab trucks used in some brush wars in Africa that have HMGs on tripods bolted to the cargo area) for a rebel militia I've been working on for an ongoing ad-hoc campaign game.

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #22 on: 16 February 2016, 16:20:05 »
I would also recommend looking at Shapeways, they (afaik) do not have any BT designed units but they do have mecha, vehicles, VTOLs and small craft designed by other people that would fit in the scale.  Some of it has been posted here painted up and when it warms up again so I can paint and let things dry in my garage then I hope to order some of it in.

One other thing to consider is that if you can get them the old MWDA stuff can be mod'd, just look at what worktroll and others have posted here . . .

I have a box I have started to collect bits in, the SRM pack off the Intro Box plastic Battlemaster for instance when I made it a -1D.
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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #23 on: 16 February 2016, 17:17:01 »
That Stalker... ohhhhhh myyyyyyy.
"There's a difference between the soldier and his fight,
But the warrior knows the true meaning of his life."
+Larry and his Flask, 'Blood Drunk'+

"You know, basically war is just, like, a bunch of people playing pranks on each other, but at the end they all die."
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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #24 on: 16 February 2016, 17:58:34 »
I thought the same thing JHB...

That is the way the Stalker should look like.

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #25 on: 16 February 2016, 19:08:39 »
Glad you guys like them. I've felt pretty lame recently; getting absolutely zero done to share in my favorite section of the forums.
Hopefully, this old stuff will help to show off some excellent CAV parts.

Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #26 on: 17 February 2016, 02:07:51 »
I would also recommend looking at Shapeways, they (afaik) do not have any BT designed units but they do have mecha, vehicles, VTOLs and small craft designed by other people that would fit in the scale.  Some of it has been posted here painted up and when it warms up again so I can paint and let things dry in my garage then I hope to order some of it in.

One other thing to consider is that if you can get them the old MWDA stuff can be mod'd, just look at what worktroll and others have posted here . . .

I have a box I have started to collect bits in, the SRM pack off the Intro Box plastic Battlemaster for instance when I made it a -1D.

I just recently started perusing Shapeways, and there are indeed a fair number of goodies there! I initially went there hoping to find some reference to MWO miniatures, given that I'd heard they were 3D printed. I had considered asking around here more but it seems to be an offensive subject here.

Another question, and one I'm uncertain if it's offensive or against the rules to ask (which I am clearly stating up front) - Is there a section around this forum to attempt to find and buy older miniatures and bits? There are a number of them I like much more than the more recent redesigns (i.e. the Catapult) and would be interested in getting my hands on them.

My apologies up front if that breaks some rule or offends someone. It is not my intent to do so.

Nastyogre

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #27 on: 17 February 2016, 05:50:52 »
I was looking through my various links for good alternates. There was a post a while back of a unit somebody had done. Sort of Japanese anime looking. Sort of rounded. I want to say painted in purple and black? Anybody remember that post? I looked and couldn't find it.

I found it. Onslaught miniatures. Their Okami line is very slick looking. The grav tanks are amazing. Their command rigs might pass for protos. Buuut. Their Kaiju Mega rigs are pretty nice. A touch big, but not overly so. There has been at least one painted up.

http://www.onslaughtmini.com/145-kaiju-mega-rigs.html

On my list to add to my collection. 
« Last Edit: 17 February 2016, 06:52:52 by Nastyogre »

Wikkid

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #28 on: 17 February 2016, 05:59:58 »
I just recently started perusing Shapeways, and there are indeed a fair number of goodies there! I initially went there hoping to find some reference to MWO miniatures, given that I'd heard they were 3D printed. I had considered asking around here more but it seems to be an offensive subject here.

Another question, and one I'm uncertain if it's offensive or against the rules to ask (which I am clearly stating up front) - Is there a section around this forum to attempt to find and buy older miniatures and bits? There are a number of them I like much more than the more recent redesigns (i.e. the Catapult) and would be interested in getting my hands on them.

My apologies up front if that breaks some rule or offends someone. It is not my intent to do so.

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Black_Knyght

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Re: "Alternative" Mechs and miniatures
« Reply #29 on: 17 February 2016, 11:38:35 »
Thanx, I appreciate that.

I needed to know that for sure, and that I wasn't just missing some section somewhere. I guess I'll have to see what I can find now somewhere else that isn't quite as sensitive an issue.