Clan Invasion Kickstarter Discussion 5, Green Eyeshade Edition

[Bedwyr]

Yeah my antennae wave skeptically until proven otherwise. So my own stance is "they'll miss March, communicate that reasonably well, and I get a nice surprise if they hit that target".

[BirdofPrey]

My money's on May due to logistics complications.

[monbvol]

Most of my stuff was Wave 2 so I decided to get everything at once.  So delivery before late 2021 will be a welcome surprise.

[Daryk]

Same here... Wave 2 will arrive when it arrives...

[I am Belch II]

In theory, March.

Thanks....Thats what I thought. Cant remember if I separated my Wave 1 shipping with shipping of my Wave 2 products.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Just checking the pledge manager and canon character upgrade is at the bottom of the extras page now.

[Charlie 6]

Just checking the pledge manager and canon character upgrade is at the bottom of the extras page now.

Thanks for the heads up.

Edit:  Turns out it doesn't matter, by finalizing my pledge three weeks ago (upgrading to ensure I was in on the Add-on) I'm now locked into the upgrade to Galaxy Commander.  Oh well.

Edit #2:  Turns out the Canon Character can be upgraded by purchasing the Add-on if you want.

[Colt Ward]

Thought GalCom came with the canon character?

[Cubby]

How many pilot cards are included in the box? And how many more in the wave one packs?

The box has 10 pilot cards, with different pilots front and back, so 20 pilots total.

There are two pilot card "packs" in Wave 1, each with nine cards; different pilots front and back, so 18 pilots per pack, 36 total. Two Stars and two lances in each pack.

There are also two pilot card decks, details of which I don't have at this time.

Supposedly due out in about 3 months. And not a single submission has been taken yet?

The box set cards and the packs were finished before Christmas. They do not have canon characters from KS backers--they needed to get done, especially the box set cards.

The plan is for the decks to include canon characters, though they will not be the sole avenue for canon characters to appear--that'd be a lot of pilot cards.

Pilot cards in the box will probably be like the ones in the IS box - no art. Unsure if any of the premium pilot decks are wave 1

The box and pack cards will be just like those in the BB and AGOAC; they will have an image of the pilot's 'Mech, in the color scheme of their unit. The deck cards will be different, to incorporate the pilot images.

Two decks, Warriors of Kerensky I and Champions of the Inner Sphere, are currently slated for Wave 1. The other three decks, Warriors of Kerensky II, Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere, and Battle of Tukayyid, are currently slated for Wave 2.

We've already seen canon characters from backers in Pardoe's KS fiction, so something is already happening.

Not part of the larger canon character implementation effort; I asked awhile back why that was happening, but never got a response. (Shrug) As far as I know, the intent is to implement this in a thorough, carefully-tracked way--not to toss a few names into this or that. Blaine's been incorporating fan names into his fiction for the last year or three, so it's possible he's still doing that, and some of the names overlap with those of backers.

[Frabby]

As far as I know, the intent is to implement this in a thorough, carefully-tracked way--not to toss a few names into this or that.

Good to hear, though I never had any doubts that CGL would be professional about this.

Blaine's been incorporating fan names into his fiction for the last year or three, so it's possible he's still doing that, and some of the names overlap with those of backers.

In his foreword to Rules of Engagement, Pardoe is pretty explicit about using a number of canon characters from KS backers. Maybe these were top tier backers or otherwise people Pardoe knows personally.

[Charlie 6]

Thought GalCom came with the canon character?

It does but an add-on purchase will boost your scope of involvement somehow.

[Sartris]

?

[Colt Ward]

It does but an add-on purchase will boost your scope of involvement somehow.

The difference between Star Colonel and Galaxy Commander & Up boosted your scope- Star Colonel we just get name and the other blurb stuff that maybe used.  Galaxy Commander gets a likeness and more implied notice in the use of the character.  The Character Add-On, by the way I read it, was a stand-alone of the GalCom or better level character.

[Sartris]

That was my reading as well

[Charlie 6]

The difference between Star Colonel and Galaxy Commander & Up boosted your scope- Star Colonel we just get name and the other blurb stuff that maybe used.  Galaxy Commander gets a likeness and more implied notice in the use of the character.  The Character Add-On, by the way I read it, was a stand-alone of the GalCom or better level character.

I'm not trying to be pedantic or obtuse here so bear with me please.  The difference between SC and GC was that SC was name with no art while GC and above is name and art.  My interpretation of the the Add-on was to generate the same effect as at GC without pledging at that level (e.g., you pledge at Bloodnamed and get a canon character).  I base that belief on the Add-on saying, for $200 on less, "You will name a canon character, guaranteed to appear in sourcebooks or fiction, and will receive custom art making your likeness a part of the Battletech universe."  I believe we may be on the same page here but I struck your adjectives (i.e., boosted and blurb stuff) to make my point below.

I believe, the Add-on goes beyond that now at GC, since the character name and art is included, because doing the Add-on at GC boosts your profile so-to-speak, and I'm paraphrasing here, so that you could be included in an expanded role of some sort:  serial fiction, novelization, or something.

Clear as mud?  Crack open your pledge manager and let me know if yours says something different.

[The_Big_Red_Bear]

Pretty sure the Upgrade for the GC's just gives you more characters.

[Charlie 6]

Pretty sure the Upgrade for the GC's just gives you more characters.

Here's what the Add-on says:

"Canon Character Upgrade [Galaxy Cmdr and above]   $125

For those who asked, and want to guarantee higher level art/placement of their Canon Characters, subsequent repetitions of this add-on will upgrade your character to a more prominent guaranteed placement in a fiction novel, box set or sourcebook.
Your current Canon Character will already get priority placement due to your reward-rank!
Extra priority can include larger art development, upgrades to serial character, or involvement in larger storyline plots."

I don't read that as an additional character.  I also don't know what it means at Star Colonel or below.

[Asgo]

Here's what the Add-on says:

"Canon Character Upgrade [Galaxy Cmdr and above]   $125

For those who asked, and want to guarantee higher level art/placement of their Canon Characters, subsequent repetitions of this add-on will upgrade your character to a more prominent guaranteed placement in a fiction novel, box set or sourcebook.
Your current Canon Character will already get priority placement due to your reward-rank!
Extra priority can include larger art development, upgrades to serial character, or involvement in larger storyline plots."

I don't read that as an additional character.  I also don't know what it means at Star Colonel or below.

for colonel it reads as this:

Canon Character Art Add-on/Character Upgrade [Star Colonel] $125
3 per customer (3 Left)

For the Star Colonel who has a Canon Character and wants the Art Upgrade...  This is it!

Your character image will be guaranteed to appear in a future BattleTech product.  There is no guarantee it will appear with your Character name and stats, but we will make a reasonable effort to do so, according to the needs of the product.

(For those who asked, and want to guarantee higher level art/placement, subsequent repetitions of this add-on will upgrade your character to a more prominent guaranteed placement in a fiction novel, box set or sourcebook.)

so in general this is not an additional char addon it is an upgrade to the existing one part of either SC or GC pledge.
My read is that, at SC with one of these upgrades you will have the art and possibly the priority of the GC version without extra updates.
Additional upgrades would increase priority in both cases.

Of course it isn't clearly defined what sort of priority increase it really is, so personally I wouldn't use it for that purpose.
In the SC case it might be worth it for the art, depending on interest and how much money you are willing to  spend for that.

a bit of unnecessary vagueness that might bite them later on. ;)
I'm not even sure that anyone ever asked for offering increased priority upgrades.
A simple art upgrade for the non artsy char and the still/again/for good missing char addon might have been easier.

[Colt Ward]

Ah, those were not even options when I looked at it IIRC . . .

Basically it looks like you can buy more input on what happens to 'you.'

[The_Big_Red_Bear]

Damn, now I wish I could upgrade to Galaxy, lmao

[Sartris]

Blighting the btu with my visage is satisfying enough. It doesn’t have to be a continuing gag

[Charlie 6]

One thing my receipt quote didn't have was a count on the add-on. SC has up to three while GC has up to two so I would hazard a guess that Khan's can likewise bump up with one add-on to a Full Kerenksy level.

[Asgo]

One thing my receipt quote didn't have was a count on the add-on. SC has up to three while GC has up to two so I would hazard a guess that Khan's can likewise bump up with one add-on to a Full Kerenksy level.

since your quote has "[Galaxy Cmdr and above]" I assume it is the same for Khan and GC.
the "up to 2" instead of the "up to 3" in the SC case stems likely from already having art.

But again it is just too vague to be really useful.

For example, the "priority" value depends on the numbers you don't know and can result in a effect of "a lot" to "almost nothing" depending on how many people take it. And since they haven't defined on how a char description could look like -  beyond the early draft  - , there is also no measure  how much is "more" in that regard.

In short, this whole addon would make a lot of more sense if they would have detailed and finalized the process on how to submit characters and on how the chars are used (priority and such).

[RazorclawXLS]

Welp, I got some extra cash from work today, so I can spend more on the kickstarter.

I opted as Star Captain with Clam Heavy Striker Star and IS Command Lance (gotta get me some Marauders) as pledge rewards and an IS Battle Lance and Legendary Mechwariors mech pack as extras. Right now I don't know what else to get. I want to keep my items Wave 1 only.

I was thinking of getting another IS Battle lance and the Clam Command Star, but than there is also IS Retaliation pack and a number of rulebooks with free shipping (that would cost about double their price total with shipping, when ordered from Catalyst store).

Command Star is something I am really unsure of. On the one hand I get the urge of "gotta get them all", but on the other hand I am really interested in the Summoner and Dire Wolf out of that lance. Let's not forget I will be getting a Dire Wolf out of the legendary mech pack already, so it boils done to getting Command Star just for one mech I am really interested into. Maybe getting the Elemental Star instead would be a better option for me, but the price tag for that one is rubbing me the wrong way.

Considering that I already have AGOAC rulebook, and will be getting Clan Invasion rulebook, are other rulebooks essential for quality gameplay? Should I get rulebooks now, or focus more on the miniatures? I am still learning my ropes with BT, haven't played anything for more than a month now, since I had my first 3-4 games, so I haven't exhausted the usefulness of AGOAC rulebook yet.

[Arkansas Warrior]

Welp, I got some extra cash from work today, so I can spend more on the kickstarter.

I opted as Star Captain with Clam Heavy Striker Star and IS Command Lance (gotta get me some Marauders) as pledge rewards and an IS Battle Lance and Legendary Mechwariors mech pack as extras. Right now I don't know what else to get. I want to keep my items Wave 1 only.

I was thinking of getting another IS Battle lance and the Clam Command Star, but than there is also IS Retaliation pack and a number of rulebooks with free shipping (that would cost about double their price total with shipping, when ordered from Catalyst store).

Command Star is something I am really unsure of. On the one hand I get the urge of "gotta get them all", but on the other hand I am really interested in the Summoner and Dire Wolf out of that lance. Let's not forget I will be getting a Dire Wolf out of the legendary mech pack already, so it boils done to getting Command Star just for one mech I am really interested into. Maybe getting the Elemental Star instead would be a better option for me, but the price tag for that one is rubbing me the wrong way.

Considering that I already have AGOAC rulebook, and will be getting Clan Invasion rulebook, are other rulebooks essential for quality gameplay? Should I get rulebooks now, or focus more on the miniatures? I am still learning my ropes with BT, haven't played anything for more than a month now, since I had my first 3-4 games, so I haven't exhausted the usefulness of AGOAC rulebook yet.

Gotta get those Bivalve IICs.   ;D

[Colt Ward]

IMO it comes down to 3 questions-

What country are you in?  or at least shipping node- US/Europe/SE Asia-Australia

Is your local game store bought into the KS or will be buying product from the KS?

Are you wanting to play in all eras now*?


IMO for rule books all three are important questions; if outside the US, local store is not bought in or carry BT, and you want to play all eras now . . . then get BMM if you just want mechs, or by your Elemental comment you might dip your toe in combined arms, TW.

I selected a lot of things I will not be able to get outside of the KS for my add-ons, and made arrangements with my local store to buy certain things- like more singles boxes.  I also will be buying . . . I think the Clan Command Star from them and likely some of the Wave 2 stuff once I see how it looks.  I am lucky though, b/c of the BT presence among players and stated interest to the store, they bought into the KS.  It lets me spread my purchases out for budget reasons and intentionally buy from my local store.  They know I appreciate being able to buy and play BT in store so they also get my business buying Pokemon card packs for my wife and Settlers of Catan expansions for my nieces & nephew.

Additionally, if there are others who bought in in your area, you might find someone who is IS only willing to sell/trade a random salvage box's Summoner.  Or you can find IS only players in your region that will have it up on websites for sale.


Important question to TPTB, will the Clan box rules include Battle Armor rules?

[RazorclawXLS]

@Colt Ward

I live in Serbia, and Battletech gaming scene here is virtually non-existent. No FLGS here is willing to carry BT stuff. I can ask my go-to  FLGS to order BT stuff for me though, which is what I intend to do with Wave 2 items. I would also much prefer to go through my FLGS for all BT stuff, as their service is great.

However, I need some heads up with retail shipping dates on the new items, so I can get my FLGS on it in time. I found about AGOAC being in retail about a month later when it was all sold out. I asked my FLGS about it, and it took them almost 4 months to contact me back informing me that they have it.

I will not be playing all BT eras, mainly focus on 3025 to Clan Invasion (up to Operations Bulldog and Serpent) and possibly FC Civil War era.

[Colt Ward]

I guess it comes down to a decision point, do you want Total Warfare dtf or pdf?  If you want a printed copy you might compare its cost from KS to what your store could sell it at for you.  I am not in your position so like I said, I just did exclusive stuff through the KS and stuff generally available later from my local store.

[pheonixstorm]

For my Star Colonel two wave shipping (IS retaliation pack added) popped up at $37, single shipment $24. Not too bad.

[Daryk]

For rulebooks in general, pdf is the way to go.  I personally hate saying that, but the price differential is just too high.