Everyone Loves Hot Mechs (Pt.II)

I had picked up the 35th anniversary started box, mainly because the Unseen were back with really great new minis. I was going to paint up a new Black Widow Company to replace my long lost metal figs just for fun. Then the came the Clans Kickstarter, and hoo-boy the flood gates of awesome mech sculpts were opened. 

Battletech had always had an art problem. I'll not go into it here, as there are many entertaining videos about the '80s and '90s BattleTech art on YouTube. But wow, there was some seriously bad art and mech designs. Add that to the weirdly anemic metal mech miniatures and new players stayed away in droves. 

But now: super clean art, great "realistic" mech designs with well done plastic minis. Home Run.

The kicker for me was Alpha Strike. BattleTech Total Warfare is a wargame, Alpha Strike is a miniatures game. Subtle, but important difference. I enjoy the scale of Alpha Strike more, not to mention the much smoother, faster gameplay. So it's back to the 31st/32nd century for me.

As far as the "everybody is leaving 40K for BattleTech now!" goes, simple answer is no, of course not.

Did some? Sure. I don't know anyone who completely gave up 40K because of BattleTech. (Some of our group gave up 40K for different reasons) 

I still play 40K, I just started playing Battletech again. I love both franchises. Both games (and parent companies) have problems with rules and business issues. Both give me different, good, sci-fi gaming experiences. Battletech is slightly easier to get into, but still has this kinda obtuse wall of Lore that can dissuade new players. Alpha Strike is by far the more teachable rules set, and the box set is a fantastic starting point. 

I'm very pleased to see BattleTech make a comeback on the tabletop. I hope they can sustain it.
 

Go Roll Some Dice

Enjoy the Mech Renaissance