Mercenaries Kickstart Discussion 2: Contract Negotiations Begin

[Ghaz]

Basic Urbie weapons load is 13.5 Tons.  (12+1+0.5)

IS Streak-6s would be 13.5 exactly.
But it also has 11 SHS so w/ Streak heat only coming on a miss, I could see the 11th being dropped for 1 ton of ammo.

Othewise Clan Streaks would easily fit.
ATMs at 3.5 tons would be 10.5 so 3 tons of ammo would be a nice fit.

Regular SRM-6's gives lots of room for alternate ammo at 9 tons + 4 Ammo + CASE?

Regardless of what it ends up being, I'm just glad to see something that isn't an AC10.

Could also be six MML-3 launchers at 9 tons and 12 crits... 

[Colt Ward]

The plate has the 6 tubes together which is the reason I skipped over MMLs.  Typically they will 'cluster' the tubes in a single plate even if there is more than 1 launcher in a location.

[Wolf72]

AIV variant!?  ... or did I miss that, ... wait is that even an official variant or just lots of wish-mongering amongst the horde. *checks sarna* oh, its there.  To bad they can't fit it in w/o doing a near rebuild ... Unless CDS/SF or some other entity manages to stick a Clan version on there!

[Colt Ward]

I do not know what else is on the MRM variant compared to a A4 variant, but you could probably convert the MRM30 launcher to a A4 launcher depending on the look you want.

[SteelRaven]

https://www.ironwindmetals.com/index.php/product-listing/product/battletech-op-110/category_pathway-2

[Colt Ward]

I know those, but they are built for IWM designs like Timber Wolf & Catapult LRM boxes.  I have not tested one of those plates against the plastic's size.

[worktroll]

Different question: anyone game to guess the price for each pack?

I can't see it staying at $25, but would be prepared to be surprised. And do we expect the 8-vehicle packs being priced the same as the 5-'Mech packs?

[Colt Ward]

I think their goal would be to have the lances & stars stay the same price . . . if the Merc KS boxes are higher priced, the re-prints of the Clan Invasion KS would have their prices raised too.  As for the vehicles . . . $40 a box?  I think the Merc box will cost the same as the Alpha Strike box?

[Death_from_above]

With regards to the pricing/value, I'm wondering how they are going to "balance" Lance/Star ForcePacks
and Battlefield Support (vees) ForcePacks on the KS pledge/reward level.

1 reward = 1 ForcePack would enable one to choose only Battlefield Support packs and getting more value
(read : plastic crack) as opposed to someone picking Lance/Star ForcePacks..

[pokefan548]

With regards to the pricing/value, I'm wondering how they are going to "balance" Lance/Star ForcePacks
and Battlefield Support (vees) ForcePacks on the KS pledge/reward level.

1 reward = 1 ForcePack would enable one to choose only Battlefield Support packs and getting more value
(read : plastic crack) as opposed to someone picking Lance/Star ForcePacks..

In the CI Kickstarter, those who took Inner Sphere Lance packs got an equivalent number of Salvage Boxes to make up for the extra 'Mech that Clanners were getting with each box, so it's possible that they could take a similarly scalable approach. Just as a quick-and-dirty example, you could say one "reward" equals:

• one Battlefield Support pack
• two Inner Sphere Lance packs
• one Clan Star pack and three Salvage Boxes
• one ComStar Level II and two Salvage Boxes.

Exact numbers will of course vary, as that was just me spitballing, but I could see something along those lines being the case, no?

[Colt Ward]

I would not expect a ComStar L2 pack in the rewards.  We have been given no teaser about a ComStar organized release.

[pokefan548]

I would not expect a ComStar L2 pack in the rewards.  We have been given no teaser about a ComStar organized release.

Again, it's just an example for the sake of demonstrating a pattern. Don't take it so literally.

[Hellraiser]

I'm assuming that since the Vees are smaller it will be a similar amount of "plastic" as you say.
Yes, its more "units" but I assume a box is a box.

Which makes sense when you realize that IWM used to do 2 vees per pack for the price of a mech in MANY of the early vee packs.

[Greatclub]

Amount of plastic is basically irreverent, it's pennies either way.

Bigger is assembly (fewer pieces), and vees are typicality winners there. I just don't think it would be enough.

Do we have an estimate how the size of the box compares to a lance pack? Shipping is more relevant than it used to be

[Hellraiser]

My guess/hope is the vees will probably need something bigger than a lance box, but, no bigger than a L-II box.

Hmm, actually, going back & looking at the con pictures, definitely need a L-II box or maybe more, some of those minis seem quite large.

[pokefan548]

Since they're shorter, they might be able to stack them vertically, though. With four on bottom and four on top, most could easily fit within a lance pack.

[Ghaz]

Different question: anyone game to guess the price for each pack?

I can't see it staying at $25, but would be prepared to be surprised. And do we expect the 8-vehicle packs being priced the same as the 5-'Mech packs?

ACD Distribution has the Northwind Highlanders Command Lance (which is exclusively theirs for the time being) listed at $29.99 and has been for some time now.

[klarg1]

I would not expect a ComStar L2 pack in the rewards.  We have been given no teaser about a ComStar organized release.

I agree, and I do not think we will see one, but a surprise pack comprised of reimagined versions of the Fury, Rhino, Kanga, and Zephyr would be pretty cool.

[Wolf72]

How many total units were there for CI? 120-ish?

And how much smaller scaled is "smaller" for the Merc KS? Right now I have 55 different units counted, and it seems like (based on some previous posts) that the lance start packs still need to be rounded out, adding quite a bit more units.

[pokefan548]

My guess, off the cuff, is we're probably looking at high-60s to mid-70s for unit count, not including any out-of-left-field surprises they decide to throw our way.

[Kerfuffin(925)]

Urbie company is 5 dollars a mech. Although it looks like nothing else is included card wise. So I think the second wave pricing will hold for the mech packs. Vees I would probably guess between comstar (35) and 40 dollars. I probably wouldn’t pay over 45 that being said.

[worktroll]

ACD Distribution has the Northwind Highlanders Command Lance (which is exclusively theirs for the time being) listed at $29.99 and has been for some time now.

True, but that's through distribution channels. One might hope the KS price is less, but we'll have to wait.

[Hellraiser]

Wasn't the Dragoons pack like $5/10 more than the stuff in the KS though?

I seem to recall it was the first thing to hit shelves & thinking the price was higher but since its a store exclusive that didn't surprise me much.

[worktroll]

First KS was nominally $5/mech - $25 for a star, or for a lance pack + salvage box. Which made the C* boxes a good deal, if only more of the 'Mechs had wider use in different eras.  Would love to see this again; budgeting at base $30/box at the moment, with $40 for vehicle packs.

[pokefan548]

Force Pack prices have risen from just $5 per-mini to $5 per-mini plus an additional $5 on top. As it's currently priced on the CGL store, the WD Assault Star is thus in line with the current Star Pack prices, though I believe that price predated the increase in standard Force Pack pricing.

[worktroll]

Again through distribution channels, with 1-3 additional layers trying to make some money out of them. So hopefully KS boxes will be less than retail prices.

[Aotrs Commander]

I mean, I was least half assuming that vehicles are being done by pairs because they are about half the volume of mechs. Which makes a ton of difference in 3D printing and  presume also injection moulding in terms of production cost - and one also assumes that you would, like, fit eight vehicles in the same size box as four mechs; which would, in theory, standardise your packaging box sizes?

That there is an assumption people will use vehicles always in at least pairs seems to be a more unlikely consideration of the two, since the latter reason is basically down to game mechanics and the former potentially involves real-world money and one feels that is more convincing arguement.

[Weirdo]

These aren't printed. The prototypes are, but not the actual production minis. Same for all the CGL plastics.

[Scotty]

Again through distribution channels, with 1-3 additional layers trying to make some money out of them. So hopefully KS boxes will be less than retail prices.

The KS prices were the retail prices when they first hit retail.  The simple unavoidable fact is that everything that requires shipping is more expensive now than it was then.

[Aotrs Commander]

These aren't printed. The prototypes are, but not the actual production minis. Same for all the CGL plastics.

That doesn't necessarily change the volume equation, though, given that the most cursory glance at the IMW store confirms that there are a fair number of vehicles (including stuff as big as the behemoth) - not all, granted - which come in pairs for the same sort of price variation as battlemechs. I.e $15-21 for two, as opposed to the same sort of price for one BattleMech.

So I was assuming that, given that the plastics are going to be cheaper, something on the order of the same sort of assumption was not unreasonable.