BattleTech: Clan Invasion Kickstarter Discussion, Vol. 4, The Madness Begins

[Sharpnel]

The only thing I worry about for Catalyst is proper allocation of resources now that the Kickstarter is done. I know at GenCon they mention wanting to do a kickstarter for the flying ship game next year but with amount of money they just made for this Kickstarter it’s time to focus on battletech and other projects can wait a few years. This project could put Catalyst “back on the map” and propel them to new heights undreamed of if they stay focused! Great Job Everybody  :D

Leviathans, the flying ship game, has already too long to be fully realized. I will support that one next year as well.

[jrvk777]

Probably going with a Tukayyid special (half Clan, Half ComStar) here. Glad the project took off so well.

Would love to see reimagined artwork/dioramas of key battles and personalities of this battle soon^TM :D

[wolfspider]

But I am sure those were the plans before they made 2.5+ million, which I don’t think they expected but as we all know is that no plan survives contact with the enemy. All other plans for other game systems need to be put on hold until they full feel everything or at least 80% of this one, then they can work on other projects.

[Maingunnery]

But I am sure those were the plans before they made 2.5+ million, which I don’t think they expected but as we all know is that no plan survives contact with the enemy. All other plans for other game systems need to be put on hold until they full feel everything or at least 80% of this one, then they can work on other projects.

Yes this KS has become very important for CGL, if they successfully complete it then it will revitalize BT and boost CGL's brand.

[Ursus Maior]

That would be unwise, in my opinion. Each project should move forward in it's own time frame. Certainly, a small company like CGL can only work properly, if large projects as this KS get outsources a lot. And 2.5 million should be enough to get good external help.

During the early KS CGL offered a glimpse into their production costs for the miniatures. We offered them enough money, so they can get everything done and not jeopardize their other businesses. That's important, because CGL is in that spot, where you cannot afford to be a one-trick pony. They need to reconnect with and establish their other fansbases, too.

[niall78]

Yes this KS has become very important for CGL, if they successfully complete it then it will revitalize BT and boost CGL's brand.

If this Kickstarter works out the skies the limit. With good quality minis and new player support with products in stock it will grow the fan base. There is a big possibility to run fresh Kickstarters in the future.

Screw it up on the other hand ..... 

And not being bad but who really cares about Leviathans? Dedicate the resources where they bring the most bang for your buck. An obscure steampunk airship game isn't that bang after raising $2.5 dollars on interest in your core line product Battletech.

[wolfspider]

That would be unwise, in my opinion. Each project should move forward in it's own time frame. Certainly, a small company like CGL can only work properly, if large projects as this KS get outsources a lot. And 2.5 million should be enough to get good external help.

During the early KS CGL offered a glimpse into their production costs for the miniatures. We offered them enough money, so they can get everything done and not jeopardize their other businesses. That's important, because CGL is in that spot, where you cannot afford to be a one-trick pony. They need to reconnect with and establish their other fansbases, too.

You have a valid point but you can also try to do to many things and get burned. I am not suggesting that they only do battletech, but other projects can be moved back a few years so that they can prove to the very fickle gaming community that they can achieve what they started. It will pay off big dividends down the road.

[Sartris]

did we not know that cgl also does shadowrun and dragonfire plus smaller projects like the duke and some other stand alone games?

Not everyone at cgl is in the Battletech department

[Colt Ward]

I am not sure why people are wondering about the staffing time working on other projects.  For one thing the reasons Wave 1 says Mar20 is because most of the prep work has already been done, some stuff has to be finalized I am sure and then its just locking in the contract with whatever Chinese company, they produce it, and then its shipped.  Same deal with all the swag going into Wave 1 except the UrbanMech plushie since Loren was talking about it in the AMA.

You want CGL employees twiddling thumbs for that period of months?  Wave 2 stuff?  Guess why we did not see any final renders/art?  Because that is what needs to be done- so yeah, I imagine Scroggins is going to be busy for a while, but with all the 'how' work done in Wave 1, once the art is complete its going to be a case of plugging that result into what they already did in Wave 1.

Since CGL does not build, box or ship what we are getting, the staff has plenty of time to set up the Leviathans KS- which will probably start at a point in time so its going on during GenCon again- and I look forward to see what they are doing there.

As someone said, now the hard part . . . waiting for 7-8 months for Wave 1 to hopefully arrive.

[Wrangler]

Hope it turns out in a timely fashion.
Can we get a link to the Kickstarter page on the top? I would make life easier for people checking in.

[Frabby]

Where can I find a video or transcript of the AMA?

[pheonixstorm]

And not being bad but who really cares about Leviathans? Dedicate the resources where they bring the most bang for your buck. An obscure steampunk airship game isn't that bang after raising $2.5 dollars on interest in your core line product Battletech.

I do for one. Don't forget, BattleTech isn't the hot ticket you make it out to be, hell it isn't a high sales item for them compared to Dragonfire and Shadowrun.

Of all the backers how many do you think are CURRENT players? A lot I would wager. In fact, the old guard have money to burn on this game especially considering we now have the classics which are better than the old RT unseen look. Top that off with new sculpts on a lot of classic favorites plus clans and it is a given how much this KS would make just from current players.

Where can I find a video or transcript of the AMA?

For yesterdays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EAdPUf6g-4

[Euphonium]

I upped my pledge to add my estimated shipping in the morning hours yesterday when $2.5M was still in doubt.  Fortunately, things picked up in the afternoon/evening!

I noticed that once we were about $5k clear of the 2.5mil mark half the time I refreshed the page the total dropped a couple of hundred $ so I'm guessing there were people who'd pushed their wallet a bit hard to hit the final stretch goal and later backed off a bit once they flt it was "safe" to do so.

[Euphonium]

HBS had some swag, though.
Catalyst had more swag. By about two truck loads.

HBS had some nice swag - I really wanted the MW jacket. The problem is that when the core product is digital the shipping on the swag hurts a more. I ended up going with the highest digital-only pledge because I couldn't justify something like +50% for shipping swag only

[Pat Payne]

I SAID STOP BEING SO EXCITED PEOPLE!!!!!!!!
 ;D
 :D
 :thumbsup:

NEVER!!!! :excited: :rockon: :smitten: :beer:

And to pheonixstorm's list of Urbies I'd like to add:

Egg and UrbanMech; egg bacon and UrbanMech; egg bacon sausage and UrbanMech; UrbanMech bacon sausage and UrbanMech; UrbanMech egg UrbanMech UrbanMech bacon and UrbanMech; UrbanMech sausage UrbanMech UrbanMech bacon UrbanMech tomato and UrbanMech;

(UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech...)

...UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech egg and UrbanMech; UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech UrbanMech

(UrbanMech! Lovely UrbanMech! Lovely UrbanMech!)

...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and UrbanMech.

More seriously, WOW. This was an awesome 30 days. This was the second-most explosive Kickstarter I'd had the privilege of being a backer on (the most explosive being Bring Back MST3K). Congrats on the amazing success, CGL!  :thumbsup:

[Euphonium]

The won't do Leviathans u til Wave 1 of the Clan KS has been delivered. They want to show that they can do it, before the engage in something new.

They NEED to show they can do it before they try another KS *cough*SprawlOps*cough*

[Teulisch]

if we want to list more urbies... why not an SRM urbie?

drop the AC/10 and its ammo, thats 13 tons. grab 3 SRM6 (9t), 3 tons of ammo, and a heat sink (for 12 total). so you can fire 18 missiles and be heat neutral, or +3 if you also jumped. it becomes a very slow javelin with some real armor.

or two large lasers(8 heat each) and 3 heat sinks (for 14 total). fire one of the lasers every other turn, and the heat is manageable. keep the range of the AC/10 without the need for ammo. i could see this being a good idea for garrison on an ice-world.

or even replace the AC/10 with two AC/2. because sometimes you need a mobile anti-aircraft turret.

[Ursus Maior]

You have a valid point but you can also try to do to many things and get burned. I am not suggesting that they only do battletech, but other projects can be moved back a few years so that they can prove to the very fickle gaming community that they can achieve what they started. It will pay off big dividends down the road.

I see your point, CGL certainly will give BT their full attention. If they will postpone everything else for a couple of years, who knows? After all, in a few years, maybe just two, we will demand a new BT Kickstarter. And then CGL would be in exactly that trap, I do not wish them to be in.

Right now, they are in the comfortable position that they have acquired the capital needed to grow. And grow they must, especially in labor power.

[niall78]

I do for one. Don't forget, BattleTech isn't the hot ticket you make it out to be, hell it isn't a high sales item for them compared to Dragonfire and Shadowrun.

Of all the backers how many do you think are CURRENT players? A lot I would wager. In fact, the old guard have money to burn on this game especially considering we now have the classics which are better than the old RT unseen look. Top that off with new sculpts on a lot of classic favorites plus clans and it is a given how much this KS would make just from current players.

For yesterdays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EAdPUf6g-4

It's a hot enough ticket. Hot enough to do millions in Kickstarter. It has brand recognition few other games have.

Shadow Run is also it's own thing. An equally loved setting.

Leviathans not so much. An unknown niche game really.

Plenty of new players by the look of the Kickstarter comments. Many brought in by successful computer games. Solidifying the new products and having them available is core to grabbing and retaining new players. Anything that takes away from that focus is a massive waste. Especially since Shawdon Run needs the same push Battletech needs at the same time.

[Pat Payne]

if we want to list more urbies... why not an SRM urbie?

drop the AC/10 and its ammo, thats 13 tons. grab 3 SRM6 (9t), 3 tons of ammo, and a heat sink (for 12 total). so you can fire 18 missiles and be heat neutral, or +3 if you also jumped. it becomes a very slow javelin with some real armor.

or two large lasers(8 heat each) and 3 heat sinks (for 14 total). fire one of the lasers every other turn, and the heat is manageable. keep the range of the AC/10 without the need for ammo. i could see this being a good idea for garrison on an ice-world.

or even replace the AC/10 with two AC/2. because sometimes you need a mobile anti-aircraft turret.

One that would work well IMO would be a PPC-equipped Urbie. Drop the AC/10 and ammo, add a PPC, a Medium Laser, four heat sinks and a ton of armor. Still slow as all get-out, but the damage is increased and the Urbie is immune to ammo crits,

[General308]

It's a hot enough ticket. Hot enough to do millions in Kickstarter. It has brand recognition few other games have.

Shadow Run is also it's own thing. An equally loved setting.

Leviathans not so much. An unknown niche game really.

Plenty of new players by the look of the Kickstarter comments. Many brought in by successful computer games. Solidifying the new products and having them available is core to grabbing and retaining new players. Anything that takes away from that focus is a massive waste. Especially since Shawdon Run needs the same push Battletech needs at the same time.

Leviathan may be a unknown niche game.  But two things to remember.  All games start that way.  And more importantly CGL owns Leviathan's.

[SteveRestless]

Find myself looking at my anticipated force layout, with no bleedin clue where I'm gonna put this Urbanmech. >_>

[Colt Ward]

Call it a IIC and say its a Coyote transfer.

[Maingunnery]

Call it a IIC and say its a Coyote transfer.

It should be an easy gun mod.

[Sartris]

Find myself looking at my anticipated force layout, with no bleedin clue where I'm gonna put this Urbanmech. >_>

Wasn’t there a training mission in mechwarrior 2 where you blew up a drone mech? That seems appropriate

[Colt Ward]

They NEED to show they can do it before they try another KS *cough*SprawlOps*cough*

I can sort of agree with this . . . that is why I think the Mar20 attempt at delivery and I would expect a July (again) Leviathans KS.  It gives 4 months for things to slip on shipping schedules.

[Daryk]

As much as I love Urbies, the specific design suggestions really need to go down in the Fan Rules section before we draw Mod wrath...

[Maingunnery]

I can sort of agree with this . . . that is why I think the Mar20 attempt at delivery and I would expect a July (again) Leviathans KS.  It gives 4 months for things to slip on shipping schedules.

It is likely better optics if the Leviathans KS starts after wave 2 is delivered.

[Sartris]

If things go sideways and wave 1 gets delayed, they would almost have to push back any other potential KS efforts. It would not only be a very bad look, but would sabotage the leviathans campaign from the get go. Two botched product deliveries in a row is a good way to torch any bridges to your fans.

My hope is that they’ve had enough of a jumpstart on the box materials and first round of miniatures to mitigate any minor problems that pop up. With luck the non mini swag comes together quickly but anyone who remembers the bt themed foam bag disaster has a right to hold their breath

It is likely better optics if the Leviathans KS starts after wave 2 is delivered.

those would be the ideal optics but as long as wave one goes well and appropriate progress is shown on wave 2, I don’t see a problem. Unless someone can demonstrate that the team working on leviathans crosses over with Anthony’s mini team and would potentially bog down their workload

[Euphonium]

I can sort of agree with this . . . that is why I think the Mar20 attempt at delivery and I would expect a July (again) Leviathans KS.  It gives 4 months for things to slip on shipping schedules.

And I can sort of agree with this  :D

Right now it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that I'll get my Clan Invasion box before I get Sprawl Ops in the UK. My willingness to support another CGL kickstarter (because I *want* Leviathans!) is going to depend on them getting Sprawl Ops fixed and delivering Clan Invasion wave 1 with no more than a month or so of slippage. If they can do that and show they've learned from what went wrong then I'd love to see more KS projects

It is likely better optics if the Leviathans KS starts after wave 2 is delivered.

If things go sideways and wave 1 gets delayed, they would almost have to push back any other potential KS efforts. It would not only be a very bad look, but would sabotage the leviathans campaign from the get go. Two botched product deliveries in a row is a good way to torch any bridges to your fans.

My hope is that they’ve had enough of a jumpstart on the box materials and first round of miniatures to mitigate any minor problems that pop up. With luck the non mini swag comes together quickly but anyone who remembers the bt themed foam bag disaster has a right to hold their breath

those would be the ideal optics but as long as wave one goes well and appropriate progress is shown on wave 2, I don’t see a problem. Unless someone can demonstrate that the team working on leviathans crosses over with Anthony’s mini team and would potentially bog down their workload

If CGL can deliver wave 1 on time and give good progress updates on wave 2 I could cope with them not waiting for wave 2 to ship before starting a Leviathans KS.
If there are problems with wave 1 then for me the bridges wouldn't be burned, they'd be nuked with salted warheads!