Just got the box set... some questions

[worktroll]

Weirdo, I probably won't be painting these minis for a good time yet.  Little knowledge of the BT world or gameplay means I don't know which color scheme I would be wanting, and I don't suspect that the box minis will look good if I have to repaint them a couple of times.

-Ice,

Blowing my own trumpet here, but you may find the Army Report: 3025 series I made up some time back useful. They're shortish documents that give a brief background on each of the major Inner Sphere states as of 3025, both political and military. They also include some handy tables for generating representative forces that show the sort of equipment each favoured in the period, and details of 10 representative regiments (including paintschemes).

While they don't cover the more modern eras, they're a great stepping-stone from not knowing much, to being able to take advantage of the other free resources available:
The BattleTech Universe
The CamoSpecs website.

Hitting the BT history full-on can be a bit like drinking from a firehose, so a simpler, more structured intro can be useful.

Cheers,

W.

[Gryphon]

Could be worse really. As much as i like my two box sets enough I will maybe buy a third, I had...issues with my first box set.

Specifically, no Clint, No Atlas, the Vindicators arm was snapped clan off and somewhat disfigured, and at least one other mech, I can't recall which off the top of my head, had its right arm stunted during molding. I loved the rest of the box, but having one in six of the minis missing of flawed was...not inspiring really.

I still recommend the box, but i also feel that the minis you get with it are simply for starting out, and should be replaced as soon as you possibly can really. And I hear the newest boxes have better maps, and there is a chance at better moldings for the minis too. But I really would like to just buy mini sets too.

Mainly because I have to cry myself to sleep over my missing Atlas...  :'(

[worktroll]

Email the Catalyst support address (which I cant' think of at this point in time) - they'll mail you a replacement. I got my missing Cicada that way.

W.

[LastChanceCav]

There is also a thread in this forum with links to get your box set minis replaced --> http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,16789.0.html

When I orginally got my box set it had three Banshees and no Hunchback or Awesome. Catalyst was quick to fix the problem, and now I have 26 plastic minis! Too bad it wasn't the Awesome I got three of.  ;) I got the original box set and was reasonably happy, I was more disappointed with the maps quality than the minis. If I'd had the option I would have spend the extra money for better mechs and the extra clan minis. At least I can get the higher quality maps and more variety through the Hex Packs.

Cheers,
LCC

[RedMarauder]

I remember that being the very same grey/metallic plastic they used on my older boxed set minis i bought waaaay back in '92...was that 2nd or 3rd edition?  In any case, those miniatures SUCKED, SUCKED, SUCKED :'(.  The Thunderbolt had a hole in it's back from the screw up of the molding, the Battlemaster had one in it's chest I had to fill in, the Warhammer's left had a tendency to fall off because the peg to put it on was way too short.  There were 24 of them and they included the Unseen.

I also bought the Clan Assault Mech boxed set (Set of 4) and I have to say they were even worse in their own way.  They were blue plastic and, although the sculpts were excellent, they tended to be VERY fragile, like glass really.  I ended up breaking off the Warhawk's long gun barrels, both arms of my Dire Wolf broke of and I had to refind and then glue them back on at the elbow, which is nearly paper thin plastic.  The other two minis were relatively unscarred, but when you pay around $30 in 1997 for four minis that are supposed to be high quality, and they break like that, you get very upset and it even prompted me to write FASA a letter expressing my dissatisfaction. 

In any case, you pay $60 for the set and you get 26 minis plus all that other stuff.  At least they aren't fragile crap like the old FASA lance sets were and they should hold up to even a drop or two on hard concrete floors, my 24 help up nicely.

[Sunder Prime]

I look at it this way.  The Box set is $60 and comes with some nice stuff for new players, introductory rules and etc.  The two high quality map boards alone are worth over half of the price as the other hex packs cost $25 for one board.  So figure $40 for the maps alone, $7.50 each for the 2 clan mechs and $5 for the booklets and the other minis are free.  Initially these "free minis" were going to be my daughter's mechs, but I have since upgraded her company to metal minis.  Now they are going to be painted up as honorable enemies for my daughter to play against.  I understand your disappointment, since I felt the same way at first, but compared to other starter sets I have seen it really is a pretty good deal. 

[Wereferret]

If you want to see some of the potential behind the grey plastic, here's a reasonable outcome you could expect with a little painting effort.  These are the very first minis I've *ever* painted, Battletech's intro box set was the first game that's ever demanded such talents from me.  There was no cleaning up sprue or erasing mold lines or any other such nonsense.  I did get the little decal kits from Fighting Pirannha, but these are the same mechs that are in your box.  These were painted up to go along with the 'Sword and Dragon' Starterbook and Campaign, which I *highly* recommend if you want a time period and some missions to go along with your intro mechs and get you oriented.  It also has *just* enough extra mechs required for the full TO&E to purchase from Iron Wind Metals to get your feet wet wet their metal line and see if the quality is up to your standard.  Good luck and have fun with the game!












 

[Lysenko]

Wereferret, great job on those. :)

[SteelRaven]

Wow, awesome job Wereferret! You give me something to aim for when I finally pony up the cash for my own starter box

[Hellraiser]

At this point, I don't feel too happy with my box set purchase as now I'm thinking of buying the plastic minis but in metal form... 

Don't deny yourself metal but IMHO, don't be upset at the plastic mechs.

They are still a SCREAMING good deal for what you paid.

There is SO much stuff in that box that the mini's are almost an afterthought or if you turn it around, $6 for the Premiums & $2 for the Originals means all your game material was the free part.

I can fully tell you that they are not the best quality but they will be great for filling out your armies.
Get Metal, by all means, but focus on those minis that you don't already have in plastic & eventually use the plastic as a way to bulk up your armies w/ extras of the most common mechs in universe.

I have been playing battletech since the mid-80's and I still picked up the boxed set for no other reason that to use those 26 minis as "extras" to fill out my TO&E rosters of painted house factions.

And really, seeing a DC Metal Jenner & DC Plastic Jenner side by side, the quality while off, isn't so bad as to make you just hate it, at least IMHO it isn't.

[willydstyle]

I remember my first box set of Battletech minis from the 80s. The minis then weren't much different than now.

Which is the root of the problem.  I'm not gonna lie to you Ice, if you're used to a more modern, high quality aesthetic from the BT line of minis, metal included, you're going to be disappointed with at least 80% of the sculpts.

The minis are a huge barrier to getting new players into the game.

[Swiftfire]

Battletech is not the only game with mini issues.

I play Starfleet Battles as well and the minis for that game are not anything to write home about. The people that use them put a lot of love into them and can make something great out of a less than stellar product. The new minis from Mongoose go a long way to change that. I've bought some of the minis, but they are actually a bit too large for my tastes.

The Battletech minis, while not perfect, do provide a good balance of size, quality, and price.

[Ice_Trey]

I think part of the issue that people have from buying the introbox is a subconscious misconception: They assume that the contents of the box outside of the minis are freebies, like ketchup packets from a restaurant.

The truth is, most Battletech boxed sets in the past came with no minis at all (Instead coming with cardboard standies), rulebooks were mostly in black and white, and said contents managed to still have roughly the same price point as the box we have now, in spite of the cost of living having shifted dramatically since the 80s and 90s.

Had those plastic minis been made in high quality plastic, the box would probably have doubled in price.

That said, I don't think it would have been worth doing, anyway. Most of the box set contents are old designs from the 80s that aren't going to wow new players who are expecting Mechwarrior Online designs or something looking like out of the Armored Core series. Likewise, the sculpts for most of these 'mechs in pewter form are pretty stagnant, too.

Instead, Ice, Consider that these 'mechs are soft plastic, therefore very easy to cut and repose when compared to hard pewter.

[greasyspoon]

Just go my box set last week.  The main mechs are ok quality, much like my old box set from the 80's.  The odd thing was my premium mechs were in pieces, not on a spure just parts in a bag.  Not a big deal to me, as I am into scale modeling it just take a few minutes to put together.  Just need make sure I have all my parts though.

Teaching my son is quite fun, but the barrage of questions is quite challenging.   

later,

[martian]

The odd thing was my premium mechs were in pieces, not on a spure just parts in a bag.

Both? Usually Summoner comes assembled while Hellbringer comes in pieces.

[Lysenko]

I got two boxed sets, one for me and the other for my daughter. Both of hers were unassembled; my summoner was together.