Yeah its not a problem with metal breaking off or anything, but the paint has a tendency to chip, even if you primer it really well. This in on its own is not a huge issue, it just requires a bit of care, but to me personally minis just look better when they are bigger and plastic. Makes them easier to make, easier to use. The new minis in the box set are ideal and anyone looking to get into Battletech, I think this is a perfect way to start.
Still though I think the developers could benefit from taking some lessons from popular and well received miniatures games that have come out in the last 5-7 years. A lot has changed since the days of managing games like this, it kind of feels like Catalyst is stuck a bit too much in the past. I mean I think its great that the game is so backwards compatible and so little has changed in the formula, but there are a few quality of life things they could do that would go a long way of bringing in more players.
Just some examples.
Tokens for tracking things
This is one place I think a lot of the modern mini games in particular from FFG have excelled at and even before my first game I added.
For example during movement, you always have to remember where you started from and how you were facing and in the heat of the moment of thinking about your move, I find we often lose track and it can lead to unwanted mistakes. We added a triangle shaped (stress tokens for those that know) from X-Wing. So when you start your move you throw down the token facing in the direction of the mech. This way you can pick up the mini and count out your moves, fiddle about while you decide where you want to land and then its easy to track how many hexes you moved. Simple token fixes it.
Tracking Attack and Defense modifiers
This is another thing everyone has a work around for (most use dice as the book recommends) but when you have a bunch of mechs bunched up in a small area this gets really messy really fast.
Heat Tracking
I know that everyone uses clear plastic slips and white board markers, but why not include a simple heat tracker in the box.
Size of character sheet
This is another thing that is sort of bulky. We find in a 4 on 4 mech game there are 8 character sheet at the table.. its a bit unwieldy, it would be nice to put some design thought into shrinking this and creating something that takes up less space.
Im not a designer so I suppose I dont have much advice to give but to me tokens, cards and simple game aids that compact the game, make it easier to track and clearer for the players is something that should be looked at not just for the benefit but just to make the game look more modern. I find my friends so accustomed to modern miniature games like those from FFG kind of look down on Battletech for its rather dated persona and I think its unwarranted because if you ignore the minis and look of the game, despite it being 35 years old it really holds up as a fantastic tactical game and Im actually quite surprise at how little attention it gets in the market. I really think with a bit of thought to its aesthetics it could have a real resurgence. Certainly this last box set was a great approach but I really think they could do a lot more to attract new players even without addressing the mini issue, though I would say this should be on the top of the agenda.