Still hasn't lol. I find it funny how some of these reviews are like 4 months old and they haven't even started shipping them in Europe. I'm lucky to get mine in like April of next year, retailers probably 2026.
We actually encountered the Thermo Police in a Mechwarrior RPG game set in the Outworlds Alliance and as a result I painted up a lance of them from the Clan KS set.
@@davidnemoseck9007 yeah the Glaug is the Marauder, It crossed over pretty much unchanged. Same with the destroids like the Excalibur and I forgot the name of the Rifleman in Macross. The creators of Battletech weren't artists they were engineers. So they just got the license to use the designs from some anime. Harmony Gold is one of the worst companies ever and deserves to not exist.
@@ChubbsMcgoo While I'm grateful for HG for bring me Robotech, I hate the way they handled things with Battletech. Things were also not helped with the way the copyright was done in Japan, which basically caused the mix up in the first place. Though, again, HG could have handled things a lot better. And because of how things were done, HG blocked Macross from coming over to the US, up until recently. Which I wasn't happy with at all.
Great Unboxing! I love the Starslayer.CGL Tuesday news day said 14k out of 25k backers orders have shipped. Hope you get your soon. Looking forward to more videos and updates.
Nice contents in that box, I look forward to it hitting the shelves someday. 2 thumbs up for the "Hammer's Slammers" reference - great series of stories, highly recommended. I have to disagree about the dice - they work well for me!
26:25 I don't think the box needs rules - it's listed as an expansion so you need either AGOAC or AS and then you can pick up either the Clan Invasion Box or this to expand your game. In terms of value it's two force packs and two salvage boxes + the Merc rules and Battlefield support rules and cards. As a value proposition it's decent before you add in the novella, map sheet, punchboard etc.
I've been looking for a good review of this box! In the 2 months since I started my journey in Battletech, I've purchased several things, and this looks like an amazing addition to the collection! Thanks for getting a copy to review!
21:09 but that's how hovercraft work though, that big pillow on the bottom is filled with the air that allows it to "hover", but it doesn't actually float above the ground, the pillow still touches the ground
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming 😂 I know I know, but they did model these hovercraft after real world hovercraft which is cool I guess, but I agree a sci-fi hovercraft actually floating off the ground would be cooler
Got my pledge last week. Got a Battalion pledge with some extra add-ons. All arrived in great condition and accurate to my order. Have faith fellow mechwarrior, you'll get yours soon. Also, those cardboard cutouts do serve a purpose to gameplay. The rules state that multiple assets may occupy one hex, the cutouts are meant to be placed under the miniature asset to signify two assets taking up one hex.
Thank you all for taking the time to review this. I hope when you get the KS you are happy with the product and do more reviews. We love to hear honest feedback and are always looking at making things better for our clients and their supporters. Note models can always have more details they would just require to have less models in a tool. -- Chris
@@thomberg3457 Liya International is just the manufacturer of the Battletech line. We have our own channel where people can see the products being assembled. We also facilitate other products for them as well like the scroll for Shadowrun.
The Chameleon is my fav as well. I have an IWM metal one already so I play them as two different variants. The plastic as the CLN-7V and the metal as a (rule corrected...) TRC-4B (which is actually my favorite 1,000 BV 2.0 mech and the leader of my ELH Recon Lance!!!)
Yes mechwarrior 3 was the one with 2 fire flies. It starts off with a firefly being chased and shot down with a madcat and a thor. The flea is the MechWarrior 4 flea.
We need to launch an operation to hijack the truck that is secretly carrying our Kickstart boxes to Fort Knox. I'm calling the movie "Now It's Personal". Rumor is that Vin Diesel is attached to play role of Aaron Clay.
Love seeing the detailed breakdown of what's in the box. Down here in Australia we have no idea when they're even going to start shipping our pledges. 😢 The turn-table close up of the miniatures is great, but it'd be even better if you had the name of the mech/vehicle on screen at the same time - not everyone recognises unit at a glance 😉
I still think 4 Mechs and 12 Vehicles would have made more sense. Then when added to the AGoAC or Alpha Strike boxes you'd get a full Company of 12 Mechs and a full Company of 12 Vehicles.
The designs of the Ost series of mechs were originally from Macross as the Zentraedi battlepod variants, but the name itself seems to come from what the Locust design was originally called in the anime Crusher Joe, the Ostall.
Loved the review and don’t worry lads your in the American half of the fulfilment group, there in the process of sending em out to you just extra slowly. Could be over here in the UK where were “expecting” October to be the actual start of them shipping, tho many of us are putting up bets of if we’ll receive them before the New Year
I highly doubt it will be in October. We're already nearly half way through September and they still need to send out address confirmation emails, then wait 2-3 weeks for the responses. It'll be November at the earliest now.
I can't even describe my displeasure with how they've bungled the shipping on these. I was super hyped for Mercs too, now I'm just hoping I'll actually get my all-in pledge.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I do kinda get why it is happening - once the stuff is with QML, its not like you can get it packed up and shipped to another fulfillment company without introducing even more delays. But also, by now people should know that QML can't handle even a remotely large kickstarter - I know mercs blindsided CGL butthey could've predicted it was at least the same size as the clan invasion kickstarter
@@geekchris105 even if that were true they then doubled down and expanded the KS further so the debacle rests entirely on their shoulders imo. This is their second go, it’s inexcusable to me that they have not invested in staffing to support this, refunded backers their overages or delivered pledges in a timely fashion. I am beyond upset by all of this, sorry to rant.
@@thomberg3457 I totally get it, but CGL is frankly a ridiculously tiny operation - idk if they were up to snuff as far as staff when the kickstarter started for a clan invasion sized kickstarter, but even if they were it wouldn't fit. I think that they really should've waited another year so they had more of their own internal solutions available for warehousing, customer support, etc. But, much bigger companies than CGL use QML, so idk if it would've been different otherwise. I do think that when they got so big they should've looked harder into alternatives, but they may have already had a contract with QML without a back-out clause. I will say this - this is still the most on-time kickstarter I have ever backed. Which is more a commentary on kickstarters than on anything else, I suppose.
Devastator heresy! Been a fan since the MacCarron's Armored Cavalry sourcebook. However, I think it fails to visually impress since it's always had a bit of a jumbo Warhammer thing going on. It's a monster to field though.
23:13 Y'know, I think the setting has flirted with this idea. Every time a force shows up that really embraces combined arms, they sort of stomp, and everyone hates them for it. Mechs are the kings of the battlefield primarily because they're the toys of kings (and because their operational flexibility makes pencil pushers happy).
23:13 my take is that a tank is just better than a battlemech - in an environment a tank can operate But a mech can operate in low gravity worlds, or high gravity worlds A mech can operate in swamps, or river deltas A mech can operate in the rubble strewn streets of a city A mech can help load or unload a dropship in an emergency The tanks that they can produce in post helm-core innersphere can be far superior to mechs - in situations where their innate disadvantages don't rear their heads.
As a stand alone box it is missing some key essentials, as an expansion it is fantastic and adds several new elements to the game. The box should have expansion added to its title.
I guess UK, Europe and RoW will some time off getting their KS but at least that gives me a bit more time to paint my mech mountain. Thats the only positive thing i can say. Thanks for a great review guys.
As a german backer of the Mercs Kickstarter and fellow TH-cam content creator I feel you, Aaron. I feel ghosted by CGL these days. All this has really deflated my hype for the new BT stuff. 🤔
Great video . Thanks. Just got my KS on Monday. WARNING! Don't count on keeping any of the boxes. I really wanted to keep my boxes of the Bounty Hunter and the Somerset Strikers but both are bent. I may still try to display them somehow so that the bent parts aren't visible. Support cards-I don't understand a need for vehicle support cards. If you understand mechs then Vs are almost the same but with restrictions and different charts. Now having support cards for emplacements, artillery, mines, aircraft attacks,infantry, all those things that are either not in TW or an easy way to use some that are I can see a use for. Seeing this made me look up your own video for the Battlefield Support deck. Speaking of which-you guys should link that video in the description under this video! Ostsol's my favorite in the box because this finally replaces the Unseen with plastics. Also-I pulled 4 Behemoths in my Battlefield Support Salvage boxes. 😐 I'm with Aaron about 100 ton tanks. Shreck, Demolisher, Partisan are as big as they need to be for my uses.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Same. I'm kind of a loon about it. I have recycled egg boxes full of my empty force packs! Once we move I plan on setting up a game room with a history of Battletech display. I'm buying matching curio cabinets for rare stuff and lance packs from different periods. including ALL of the OG Partha Lance packs. Did you know they made experimental dropships out of ceramics back in the 90s? One will be at the center of my display.
My sole complaint with the box set: it includes 2 Maxims and 2 Galleons but no record sheets for them. Mercenaries is supposed to be the big vehicle kickstarter and this feels like a huge oversight.
Oh wow yah good point. I saw the AS cards… I assumed they were in the book of record sheets. Can’t believe they are not. I would guess they are pushing for use of the asset cards.
Sarna lists the Thermo Police as an Outworlds Alliance merc unit doing mostly pirate hunting. They look like an excuse to paint your mechs up like a crown vic. The real question for me though, is: does the Dark Wing use the slogan "When there's trouble you call DW"?
Unsure how this may change your evaluation for playing it straight out from the box but I do believe the basic rules are available online from their website for free. So as long as you have an internet connection and a device you can have access to the rules. Though I do agree that it still means it isn't as accessible as it can be, especially since having a proper instruction booklet can be useful to have in person.
My Kickstarter arrived last week. Everything was included. My salvage mechs were statistically unlikely but acceptable. My salvage vehicles were more useful. The one thing I was disappointed in was that they only created rules for the Battlefield Support Assets (vehicles) that they have recreated in plastic, and not all of the TRO 3025 & 3026 other classic vehicles that every Great House uses. This annoys me because I have IWM metals that I bought a few years ago to flesh out my houses before the plastic re-release (2x Galleons, 2x Packrats, 2x Strikers) [with no rules for the Packrats or Strikers]. Since one of my salvage vehicles was also a Galleon, I now have (more than I need...) 5x Galleons... and no rules to play the Packrats or the Strikers as Assets. 🙄
To continue on for everyone's reference... My KS (plus additional Force Packs) meant that I would getting 8 Salvage Boxes. I chose 6x Mech Salvage Boxes and 2x Vehicle Battlefield Support Salvage Boxes. Doing the math on the Mech Salvage Boxes, I had the following percentage chance for each one of getting (assuming that they were truly randomly distributed) a -- 3025 Tech I.S. Mech (IS) -- 52.63% Helm Memory Core Mech (Helm) -- 13.16% Wolf's Dragoons-supplied Mech (WD) -- 7.89% Clan Invasion Omnimech (Clan) -- 26.32% Expected numbers of each if randomly distributed and receiving 8 Salvage Mechs: IS -4 Helm -1 to 2 WD -
I am still disappointed they lock certain mechs. Like the Kintaro is only available in a 45$ box with 5 mechs and a “bonus” coolant truck you still have it basically pay for.
Good video. Minis, imho, should be about $3/mini to be reasonable. All of your other comments are well taken, well said. I, as of this writing haven't received mu kickstarter either.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming it's a nice hood. I have the varis hood. And yeah all that track use tearing up that paint. Mines got less than 5k miles lol. It was actually in wekfest east 2 weeks ago.
It's been a real crapshoot as far as I can tell with the KS stuff. I was going to do it but backed off and am kind of glad I did. My friend got his stuff a few weeks ago but he had a smaller KS order so maybe that impacted why he got his faster. In good news, we have decided to do a override campaign set in 2028 at the start of the 4th succession war. Were going to start as a small merc unit working for the Fed Suns and beat up some capellans. We did a demo game and found it a good mix between AS and classic. Thanks for all the work on the rules!
On tank weights, a M1 Abrams already weighs like 60 tons, so if anything; I'd say it's immersion breaking that mechs weigh so little... The scale just feels a bit off
I think the older battlefield support rules, i.e. air strikes, arty, mines, are excellent. The new BS Assets rules are dumb and silly. They don't fit, AS or CBT. They require you to learn rules that you will have to unlearn later when transitioning to the TW or AS rules. The fact that they don't include the full vehicle rules in the rulebook feels like to me they want new players to only play with the new asset rules. I vehemently dislike these new rules and keep going into why I don't like them
As soon as they said "we want mechs to be the focus" I was worried. It's pretty wild that they went and turned other units into throwaway cannon fodder just as they release a bunch of vehicles...
@colbyboucher6391 call me weird but I do think the current TW rules are way too complex - so in that regard I think they were looking for a simple way to integrate combined arms. Buuuuut much like AS I think they went a little too far overboard on “abstraction” - but I don’t hate the idea.
CBT’s rulesets being so dauntingly crunchy necessarily incentivizes reimagining an “introductory” rules system if the goal is accommodating new players. Magic the Gathering has been trying versions of nearly non-mtg intro versions since the 90’s. These are tough problems to solve for sincere game designers.
so just an fyi CGL lacks the license to sell mech individually, i think only IWM has that license. that said still waiting for my kickstarter stuff (i live in Norway so i am not holding my breatk while waiting, also i am not that stressed about it cause i still have 3 clusters of clan mech to paint and 2 companies of inner sphere mechs for my (espinoza/ liao opforce and i also doing a lot of work on my wh40k dark angel space marine chapter (a project started back in 2000 and maybe finnished 2030 (some 1200 infantry and around 300 vehicles all glued primed or fulle painted (need nore rhino`s and some primaris vehicles) so no lack of stuff to do, being retired also helps (more time for hobby stuff and less time being shot at for a change) keep up the good stuff (you are in my daily rotation of content watched while doing boring parts of the hobby (despruing kits, mold line removal, putting sand on bases in bulk yhat sort of things) -specter out-
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming also about the kickstarter; the bigger the order the more likely it is delayed by shortages of spesific items at the various hubs. ranting and raving about it does no one any good. that said comunications from cgl on the current state of things has been sadly lacking and is my biggest gripe with the delays, other than that i take the delays with the serene calm of someone with 20 years in the military, where the word of the day allways was hurry up and wait.
Well, I do agree with everything you said - though my level of frustration is a different. I am not a consumer only. I have a business that is predicated on getting out timely reviews and producing quality content. Considering we are the biggest (by any metric) *dedicated* battletech-only channel, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little snubbed by the company we have so vigorously supported over the years. Maybe a rant, but it’s where I’m at right now.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming it sucks sure and its anoying and frustrating, and they should have learned from the previous kickstarter wich had serious delays to (though they comunicated the problems to us way better then. some of the delays i knew because of how logistics works, some happened because of container shortage (same as with the CI ks) and some happened because they use QML who once again was ill equipped for the task at hand (once again) lastly i think both CGL and QML vastly underestimated how much time the details of logistics eats into your time table. and time lost is time you cant get back, so when it happens several times you get massive delays wich as i said in the beginning of this post suck. in the words of reodor felgen (fictional character from the movie flåklypa grand prix) Time will show. -specter out-
Oh that's cute. You guys haven't got your stuff yet either? I won't go into my thoughts on CGL at the moment. It seems to me that you guys shoulda been near the top to get stuff due to your standing in the community. It really irks me that you had to pay a scalper to be able to do a review.
I enjoy the new vehicle rule set! Really fun with newbies and just running scenario based games. Pretty awesome! The new maps are great as well FYI! CITY (paper) I think it is better than SAVANNA. Friggin great for convy scenarios. BFM might be on my rader now... Also!!! Cannot wait to use my Caesar. Starslayer was fun to use with the Cicadia in my last game.
@kenhodge9046 Great! I wonder how your players will feel when you tell them you will have to forget everything they learned to play with the full rules. At least with mech half sheets, you're actually learning the real rules.
@@korge1184 Lol! For sure, I build up on the rules.. like layers of detail. Pretty simple to determine peoples level of interest from the people here. Those who even pickup a book to dive deeper, those are the ones who get the DEEP dive of BT.
I got my KS last week and played my first game at the weekend. One of my add ons was the neoprene hex map with no terrain, and I have been building and buying hex terrain in anticipation. Oh my does it make playing AGOAC so much simpler and more direct. The other stuff, mostly really good looking mechs and vehicles. Im really looking forward to trying some combined arms games and appreciate getting the choice to use simpler vehicle rules. Also while I don't use cardboard cut outs normally, the infantry unit tokens will probably see some use. I also think it should have included full rules, but checked and the clan invasion rulebook also only includes rules for the new equipment, so I guess these two boxes have to be seen as strictly expansions.
Was waiting for a review from you guys! Ok, I'm curious about new assets rules, if it works similar to video games - cool! Anything speeding up the game is welcome. The only mechs I like here are the Quickdraw and Starslayer (it was a thing in Mechcommander 2), others are meh. Maybe the Ceasar, but it's weird. Tanks are fine, but instead of half the mechs they could've included just more heavier vehicles. Firefly, Flea, who would ever run these.
My kickstarter just arrived last week. Have faith, Kerensky shall deliver!
I am definitely in the “third succession war” era of my grief cycle.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Same, Aaron
Excellent unboxing video, even if you had to jump through hoops to get it done. We the fans appreciate the work that went into it.
I accept wawa gift cards (jkjk you patrons do enough!!)
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming If you ate at Sheetz, you'd have your box by now. Just saying. ;)
lol
I find it weird that there are tanks with cargo space included in the box, but no infantry minis to be transported by them.
*Infantry sold separately
Solidarity with those fellow players patiently still waiting for their KS. AFAIK no one outside the US has had anything delivered yet.
Still hasn't lol. I find it funny how some of these reviews are like 4 months old and they haven't even started shipping them in Europe. I'm lucky to get mine in like April of next year, retailers probably 2026.
@oskulock I'm hoping for shipping confirmation this week but am prepared to be disappointed...
We actually encountered the Thermo Police in a Mechwarrior RPG game set in the Outworlds Alliance and as a result I painted up a lance of them from the Clan KS set.
I think the OST series were originally based on the Zentradi battle pods from Macross. They just decided to change the art before TRO 3025 came out.
^ This guy is right.
Beat me to it. They were literally Regult battle pods with their legs twisted backwards and a head mounted on top.
Don't forget the Officer Pods, and others.
@@davidnemoseck9007 yeah the Glaug is the Marauder, It crossed over pretty much unchanged. Same with the destroids like the Excalibur and I forgot the name of the Rifleman in Macross.
The creators of Battletech weren't artists they were engineers. So they just got the license to use the designs from some anime. Harmony Gold is one of the worst companies ever and deserves to not exist.
@@ChubbsMcgoo While I'm grateful for HG for bring me Robotech, I hate the way they handled things with Battletech. Things were also not helped with the way the copyright was done in Japan, which basically caused the mix up in the first place. Though, again, HG could have handled things a lot better. And because of how things were done, HG blocked Macross from coming over to the US, up until recently. Which I wasn't happy with at all.
Great Unboxing! I love the Starslayer.CGL Tuesday news day said 14k out of 25k backers orders have shipped. Hope you get your soon. Looking forward to more videos and updates.
Nice contents in that box, I look forward to it hitting the shelves someday.
2 thumbs up for the "Hammer's Slammers" reference - great series of stories, highly recommended.
I have to disagree about the dice - they work well for me!
Thermo Police were in the Mercenaries Combat Manual. Still waiting on my email for the Kickstarter too, so I feel your pain. Keep up the great work!
The Thermo Police also have a "Spotlight On" module written about them.
26:25 I don't think the box needs rules - it's listed as an expansion so you need either AGOAC or AS and then you can pick up either the Clan Invasion Box or this to expand your game. In terms of value it's two force packs and two salvage boxes + the Merc rules and Battlefield support rules and cards. As a value proposition it's decent before you add in the novella, map sheet, punchboard etc.
It’s a fair point, though even an Alpha Strike quick start guide or one pager would have been useful.
I've been looking for a good review of this box! In the 2 months since I started my journey in Battletech, I've purchased several things, and this looks like an amazing addition to the collection! Thanks for getting a copy to review!
I have to wait for retail, but hot damn I like this box.
21:09 but that's how hovercraft work though, that big pillow on the bottom is filled with the air that allows it to "hover", but it doesn't actually float above the ground, the pillow still touches the ground
Oh my bad. I thought we were playing a science fiction game with giant robots 😁
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming 😂 I know I know, but they did model these hovercraft after real world hovercraft which is cool I guess, but I agree a sci-fi hovercraft actually floating off the ground would be cooler
Haha I tease I tease. I will admit your comment has made me feel better about the new hovercraft models overall. 😛
Ost series came from Robotech Zentradi battle pods if I remember correctly
I'm in the States and still waiting on my battalion. My friend 2 streets over already has his. But it looks awesome.
Got my pledge last week. Got a Battalion pledge with some extra add-ons. All arrived in great condition and accurate to my order. Have faith fellow mechwarrior, you'll get yours soon. Also, those cardboard cutouts do serve a purpose to gameplay. The rules state that multiple assets may occupy one hex, the cutouts are meant to be placed under the miniature asset to signify two assets taking up one hex.
I actually got my stuff a month ago. Really love the updated mechanics, really liked the box.
Thank you all for taking the time to review this. I hope when you get the KS you are happy with the product and do more reviews. We love to hear honest feedback and are always looking at making things better for our clients and their supporters. Note models can always have more details they would just require to have less models in a tool. -- Chris
You got it. Thanks for watching!
Chris - What is your relationship to Catalyst?
@@thomberg3457 Liya International is just the manufacturer of the Battletech line. We have our own channel where people can see the products being assembled. We also facilitate other products for them as well like the scroll for Shadowrun.
The wins for me are the Starslayer and Firefly! That MW3 cinematic gave me the love for the Firefly.
Any bets for ks to Australia by November or Christmas
Australia? Where's that?
I am starting to think “Pennsylvania” by Christmas……
Still hoping for October here in Europe
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Yeah - CGL are being shifty.
Japan here... Sometime before they announce their next KS? "lol, you probably don't have anyone within thousands of miles to play with anyway..."
I want the Chameleon mini. That one is my favorite of the box. I want more Chameleon minis so that I can do kitbashing conversions.
GET THE BONE SAWWWW
The Chameleon is my fav as well. I have an IWM metal one already so I play them as two different variants. The plastic as the CLN-7V and the metal as a (rule corrected...) TRC-4B (which is actually my favorite 1,000 BV 2.0 mech and the leader of my ELH Recon Lance!!!)
Yes mechwarrior 3 was the one with 2 fire flies. It starts off with a firefly being chased and shot down with a madcat and a thor.
The flea is the MechWarrior 4 flea.
We need to launch an operation to hijack the truck that is secretly carrying our Kickstart boxes to Fort Knox. I'm calling the movie "Now It's Personal". Rumor is that Vin Diesel is attached to play role of Aaron Clay.
My dream would come true.
To be clear I’m talking about Vin Diesel. I’m over the KS haha
Hammer’s slammers is a great book. Buch of short stories of hover tank mercenaries off on mercenary adventures.
Got mine not too long ago. Ordered an extra set of Merc boxed set minis as well as a pretty large haul of vehicles. I am happy with the set.
Love seeing the detailed breakdown of what's in the box. Down here in Australia we have no idea when they're even going to start shipping our pledges. 😢
The turn-table close up of the miniatures is great, but it'd be even better if you had the name of the mech/vehicle on screen at the same time - not everyone recognises unit at a glance 😉
Noted!
Cool my boxes are in transit till kickstart get there boxes on a month now August 6th
I still think 4 Mechs and 12 Vehicles would have made more sense. Then when added to the AGoAC or Alpha Strike boxes you'd get a full Company of 12 Mechs and a full Company of 12 Vehicles.
Yah more vehicles would have been a highlight for me. Great thought.
The designs of the Ost series of mechs were originally from Macross as the Zentraedi battlepod variants, but the name itself seems to come from what the Locust design was originally called in the anime Crusher Joe, the Ostall.
I got that model kit joe crusher
Great anime series
Hahaha, "You ordered it from Capellan space". That was good.
lol thanks for watching!!
Cant wait for my pledge to arrive, thanks for the review! 😊
Can't wait to add those to my dark grey plastic pile of shame!
Loved the review and don’t worry lads your in the American half of the fulfilment group, there in the process of sending em out to you just extra slowly.
Could be over here in the UK where were “expecting” October to be the actual start of them shipping, tho many of us are putting up bets of if we’ll receive them before the New Year
💔
I highly doubt it will be in October. We're already nearly half way through September and they still need to send out address confirmation emails, then wait 2-3 weeks for the responses. It'll be November at the earliest now.
The OST series of mechs are based on the old Zentraidi power armor from Robotech.
I can't even describe my displeasure with how they've bungled the shipping on these. I was super hyped for Mercs too, now I'm just hoping I'll actually get my all-in pledge.
Yah… I have always been extremely supportive of CGL. This one is hard to defend 😬
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming I do kinda get why it is happening - once the stuff is with QML, its not like you can get it packed up and shipped to another fulfillment company without introducing even more delays. But also, by now people should know that QML can't handle even a remotely large kickstarter - I know mercs blindsided CGL butthey could've predicted it was at least the same size as the clan invasion kickstarter
@@geekchris105 even if that were true they then doubled down and expanded the KS further so the debacle rests entirely on their shoulders imo. This is their second go, it’s inexcusable to me that they have not invested in staffing to support this, refunded backers their overages or delivered pledges in a timely fashion.
I am beyond upset by all of this, sorry to rant.
@@thomberg3457 I totally get it, but CGL is frankly a ridiculously tiny operation - idk if they were up to snuff as far as staff when the kickstarter started for a clan invasion sized kickstarter, but even if they were it wouldn't fit. I think that they really should've waited another year so they had more of their own internal solutions available for warehousing, customer support, etc.
But, much bigger companies than CGL use QML, so idk if it would've been different otherwise. I do think that when they got so big they should've looked harder into alternatives, but they may have already had a contract with QML without a back-out clause.
I will say this - this is still the most on-time kickstarter I have ever backed. Which is more a commentary on kickstarters than on anything else, I suppose.
As an international backer I’m most unhappy with the communication. Delays, issues, errors all happen, but communication is easy to control.
My group plays "pop-up" missions. The paper maps are a must for us to be moble.
Devastator heresy! Been a fan since the MacCarron's Armored Cavalry sourcebook.
However, I think it fails to visually impress since it's always had a bit of a jumbo Warhammer thing going on.
It's a monster to field though.
It was Mechwarrior 3, the fire fly got one shotted by a PPC from a Summoner. A col into, the tibmy got killed and killed the Atlas.
23:13 Y'know, I think the setting has flirted with this idea. Every time a force shows up that really embraces combined arms, they sort of stomp, and everyone hates them for it. Mechs are the kings of the battlefield primarily because they're the toys of kings (and because their operational flexibility makes pencil pushers happy).
23:13 my take is that a tank is just better than a battlemech - in an environment a tank can operate
But a mech can operate in low gravity worlds, or high gravity worlds
A mech can operate in swamps, or river deltas
A mech can operate in the rubble strewn streets of a city
A mech can help load or unload a dropship in an emergency
The tanks that they can produce in post helm-core innersphere can be far superior to mechs - in situations where their innate disadvantages don't rear their heads.
I subscribe to your ideas!
I’m in the EU and haven’t even gotten an email saying it’s shipped
As a stand alone box it is missing some key essentials, as an expansion it is fantastic and adds several new elements to the game. The box should have expansion added to its title.
I guess UK, Europe and RoW will some time off getting their KS but at least that gives me a bit more time to paint my mech mountain. Thats the only positive thing i can say. Thanks for a great review guys.
Haha I like the optimistic take!!
As a german backer of the Mercs Kickstarter and fellow TH-cam content creator I feel you, Aaron. I feel ghosted by CGL these days. All this has really deflated my hype for the new BT stuff. 🤔
*balloon popping gif*
Preach on!!!
Great video . Thanks.
Just got my KS on Monday. WARNING! Don't count on keeping any of the boxes.
I really wanted to keep my boxes of the Bounty Hunter and the Somerset Strikers
but both are bent. I may still try to display them somehow so that the bent parts aren't visible.
Support cards-I don't understand a need for vehicle support cards.
If you understand mechs then Vs are almost the same but with restrictions and different charts.
Now having support cards for emplacements, artillery, mines, aircraft attacks,infantry, all those
things that are either not in TW or an easy way to use some that are I can see a use for.
Seeing this made me look up your own video for the Battlefield Support deck.
Speaking of which-you guys should link that video in the description under this video!
Ostsol's my favorite in the box because this finally replaces the Unseen with plastics.
Also-I pulled 4 Behemoths in my Battlefield Support Salvage boxes. 😐
I'm with Aaron about 100 ton tanks. Shreck, Demolisher, Partisan are as big as they need
to be for my uses.
Oh no I love keeping the boxes!!
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Same. I'm kind of a loon about it. I have recycled egg boxes full of my empty force packs! Once we move I plan on setting up a game room with a history of Battletech display. I'm buying matching curio cabinets for rare stuff and lance packs from different periods. including ALL of the OG Partha Lance packs. Did you know they made experimental dropships out of ceramics back in the 90s? One will be at the center of my display.
I did not know that! Sounds awesome - look forward to seeing some pics when it is done!
Great unboxing, I am still waiting on the kickstarter...they just don´t know how to keep a shedule.
They meant June 2025 I think
My sole complaint with the box set: it includes 2 Maxims and 2 Galleons but no record sheets for them.
Mercenaries is supposed to be the big vehicle kickstarter and this feels like a huge oversight.
Oh wow yah good point. I saw the AS cards… I assumed they were in the book of record sheets. Can’t believe they are not. I would guess they are pushing for use of the asset cards.
@@hatework4282 More evidence they want to replace the TW rules with these new Asset rules.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming the lack of even basic vehicle rules and record sheets is a big fail for this box in my opinion.
I will say that the punch out infantry, vehicles, and emplacements are nice to have for those that use hex map sheets
Sucks you haven't gotten your KS yet but for me at least it's a cold comfort that I'm not the only one.
There are a lot of us in this boat together for sure.
What you missed was the back half that covered contracts and a short campaign.
Sarna lists the Thermo Police as an Outworlds Alliance merc unit doing mostly pirate hunting. They look like an excuse to paint your mechs up like a crown vic. The real question for me though, is: does the Dark Wing use the slogan "When there's trouble you call DW"?
Lmao I totally forgot about that show!!! Too good.
Unsure how this may change your evaluation for playing it straight out from the box but I do believe the basic rules are available online from their website for free. So as long as you have an internet connection and a device you can have access to the rules. Though I do agree that it still means it isn't as accessible as it can be, especially since having a proper instruction booklet can be useful to have in person.
Good point and definitely helpful - though I am with you and always find it easier to page through a physical document. Call me old school 😄
Man, I really hope your stuff shows up soon! I was so disheartened to read your update on Patreon, it's gotta be super frustrating.
My Kickstarter arrived last week. Everything was included. My salvage mechs were statistically unlikely but acceptable. My salvage vehicles were more useful.
The one thing I was disappointed in was that they only created rules for the Battlefield Support Assets (vehicles) that they have recreated in plastic, and not all of the TRO 3025 & 3026 other classic vehicles that every Great House uses. This annoys me because I have IWM metals that I bought a few years ago to flesh out my houses before the plastic re-release (2x Galleons, 2x Packrats, 2x Strikers) [with no rules for the Packrats or Strikers]. Since one of my salvage vehicles was also a Galleon, I now have (more than I need...) 5x Galleons... and no rules to play the Packrats or the Strikers as Assets. 🙄
Great point!!
To continue on for everyone's reference...
My KS (plus additional Force Packs) meant that I would getting 8 Salvage Boxes. I chose 6x Mech Salvage Boxes and 2x Vehicle Battlefield Support Salvage Boxes.
Doing the math on the Mech Salvage Boxes, I had the following percentage chance for each one of getting (assuming that they were truly randomly distributed) a --
3025 Tech I.S. Mech (IS) -- 52.63%
Helm Memory Core Mech (Helm) -- 13.16%
Wolf's Dragoons-supplied Mech (WD) -- 7.89%
Clan Invasion Omnimech (Clan) -- 26.32%
Expected numbers of each if randomly distributed and receiving 8 Salvage Mechs:
IS -4
Helm -1 to 2
WD -
I got an address confirmation email two weeks ago, still waiting on shipping confirmation. It's extremely frustrating how long this is taking.
I got my address conf in July… so ☠️
At least we can be miserable together.
I have no shipping confirmation either brudda
Wasn’t the Dark Wing the antagonist’s from the original Mechwarrior computer game or am I mis-remembering the name?
I need it…. Please release in Asia!
'Sounds like a biker gang' describes a lot of battletech merc companies.
Haha fair point!!
Thermo Police are a psuedo police force out in the Outworlds Badlands, they have a Spotlight On Product.
They're nifty.
My Kickstarter just arrived last week it seems they are getting along slowly. Such a disappointing shipping process.
I feel like by time I get it I won’t even care haha
I am still disappointed they lock certain mechs. Like the Kintaro is only available in a 45$ box with 5 mechs and a “bonus” coolant truck you still have it basically pay for.
Good video.
Minis, imho, should be about $3/mini to be reasonable.
All of your other comments are well taken, well said.
I, as of this writing haven't received mu kickstarter either.
I would have appreciated full record sheets for the tanks
How does one get a banner like the ones behind you?
I did the design work then had them custom printed.
btw new lingo for fire is it has aura
I'm still waiting for my pack as well..... :(
I haven't even got an address confirmation email yet
Starting to wonder if I should have spent that money on an FQ hood instead haha overnight parts from Japan.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming lol. I actually have an fq400 full front bumper and carbon lip. Not many in the country. Just gota get it painted.
Beautiful! I love that kit. I do want to get the hood at some point…. But I need to get the body cleaned up. 13 years of dings and chips haha
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming it's a nice hood. I have the varis hood. And yeah all that track use tearing up that paint. Mines got less than 5k miles lol. It was actually in wekfest east 2 weeks ago.
@JustinPivinski-cm2rh oh nice!!! Man I haven’t been to the track in almost 20 years. Now I just zip around those country back roads avoiding deer 😂
That Battletech Merc contract is the second coolest contract i have ever seen. #1 is of course the "E-Girl domesticaton contract"
law suit are on the way. against catalyst games labs.
I still question the legality of offering store credit for shipping overages and not a refund to the payment method.
Right. I just spent thousands of dollars on KS stuff. I dont want a store credit. I don’t need more BT stuff.
Still waiting for mine.....
Who's kidney? Was it Thom? Poor Thom, I feel bad for him.
I'm a little salty on the KS. No word on mine and I have over a grand in it. Hammer's Slammers is freaking amazing. Aaron, you need to read.
I spend all my reading time making videos.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming Audiobooks, friend. lol
When?!
You dont kniw Hammer's Slammers!?!?!?!? Get it into gear, man!!!!!
lol my bad my bad
It's been a real crapshoot as far as I can tell with the KS stuff. I was going to do it but backed off and am kind of glad I did. My friend got his stuff a few weeks ago but he had a smaller KS order so maybe that impacted why he got his faster. In good news, we have decided to do a override campaign set in 2028 at the start of the 4th succession war. Were going to start as a small merc unit working for the Fed Suns and beat up some capellans. We did a demo game and found it a good mix between AS and classic. Thanks for all the work on the rules!
Thanks for the comment! Enjoy the campaign!
On tank weights, a M1 Abrams already weighs like 60 tons, so if anything; I'd say it's immersion breaking that mechs weigh so little... The scale just feels a bit off
You know what - that does make sense!!!
Its the sci-fi armor abstraction of being lighter but better than old armor
Are those the Thermo Police from Thermopylae?
I think the older battlefield support rules, i.e. air strikes, arty, mines, are excellent. The new BS Assets rules are dumb and silly. They don't fit, AS or CBT. They require you to learn rules that you will have to unlearn later when transitioning to the TW or AS rules. The fact that they don't include the full vehicle rules in the rulebook feels like to me they want new players to only play with the new asset rules. I vehemently dislike these new rules and keep going into why I don't like them
Haha I get it. I actually don’t hate them as it does streamline classic a bit! But I 100% see your point about “unlearning” rules.
As soon as they said "we want mechs to be the focus" I was worried. It's pretty wild that they went and turned other units into throwaway cannon fodder just as they release a bunch of vehicles...
@colbyboucher6391 call me weird but I do think the current TW rules are way too complex - so in that regard I think they were looking for a simple way to integrate combined arms.
Buuuuut much like AS I think they went a little too far overboard on “abstraction” - but I don’t hate the idea.
Agree with you on that one. They seem to be in a sort of middle ground hell where they're not useful for TW or AS players. Waste of time and effort.
CBT’s rulesets being so dauntingly crunchy necessarily incentivizes reimagining an “introductory” rules system if the goal is accommodating new players. Magic the Gathering has been trying versions of nearly non-mtg intro versions since the 90’s.
These are tough problems to solve for sincere game designers.
so just an fyi CGL lacks the license to sell mech individually, i think only IWM has that license.
that said still waiting for my kickstarter stuff (i live in Norway so i am not holding my breatk while waiting, also i am not that stressed about it cause i still have 3 clusters of clan mech to paint and 2 companies of inner sphere mechs for my (espinoza/ liao opforce and i also doing a lot of work on my wh40k dark angel space marine chapter (a project started back in 2000 and maybe finnished 2030 (some 1200 infantry and around 300 vehicles all glued primed or fulle painted (need nore rhino`s and some primaris vehicles)
so no lack of stuff to do, being retired also helps (more time for hobby stuff and less time being shot at for a change)
keep up the good stuff (you are in my daily rotation of content watched while doing boring parts of the hobby (despruing kits, mold line removal, putting sand on bases in bulk yhat sort of things)
-specter out-
Good stuff! Interesting regarding the licensing…
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming also about the kickstarter; the bigger the order the more likely it is delayed by shortages of spesific items at the various hubs.
ranting and raving about it does no one any good.
that said comunications from cgl on the current state of things has been sadly lacking and is my biggest gripe with the delays, other than that i take the delays with the serene calm of someone with 20 years in the military, where the word of the day allways was hurry up and wait.
Well, I do agree with everything you said - though my level of frustration is a different. I am not a consumer only. I have a business that is predicated on getting out timely reviews and producing quality content.
Considering we are the biggest (by any metric) *dedicated* battletech-only channel, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little snubbed by the company we have so vigorously supported over the years.
Maybe a rant, but it’s where I’m at right now.
@@DeathfromAboveWargaming it sucks sure and its anoying and frustrating, and they should have learned from the previous kickstarter wich had serious delays to (though they comunicated the problems to us way better then.
some of the delays i knew because of how logistics works, some happened because of container shortage (same as with the CI ks) and some happened because they use QML who once again was ill equipped for the task at hand (once again)
lastly i think both CGL and QML vastly underestimated how much time the details of logistics eats into your time table. and time lost is time you cant get back, so when it happens several times you get massive delays wich as i said in the beginning of this post suck.
in the words of reodor felgen (fictional character from the movie flåklypa grand prix)
Time will show.
-specter out-
Oh that's cute. You guys haven't got your stuff yet either? I won't go into my thoughts on CGL at the moment. It seems to me that you guys shoulda been near the top to get stuff due to your standing in the community. It really irks me that you had to pay a scalper to be able to do a review.
Yeah, like how are they not at least shipping out some review sets?
My thoughts on CGL at the moment would be mostly censored special characters at this point
I enjoy the new vehicle rule set! Really fun with newbies and just running scenario based games. Pretty awesome! The new maps are great as well FYI! CITY (paper) I think it is better than SAVANNA. Friggin great for convy scenarios. BFM might be on my rader now...
Also!!! Cannot wait to use my Caesar. Starslayer was fun to use with the Cicadia in my last game.
@kenhodge9046 Great! I wonder how your players will feel when you tell them you will have to forget everything they learned to play with the full rules. At least with mech half sheets, you're actually learning the real rules.
@@korge1184 Lol! For sure, I build up on the rules.. like layers of detail. Pretty simple to determine peoples level of interest from the people here. Those who even pickup a book to dive deeper, those are the ones who get the DEEP dive of BT.
I got my KS last week and played my first game at the weekend. One of my add ons was the neoprene hex map with no terrain, and I have been building and buying hex terrain in anticipation. Oh my does it make playing AGOAC so much simpler and more direct.
The other stuff, mostly really good looking mechs and vehicles. Im really looking forward to trying some combined arms games and appreciate getting the choice to use simpler vehicle rules. Also while I don't use cardboard cut outs normally, the infantry unit tokens will probably see some use. I also think it should have included full rules, but checked and the clan invasion rulebook also only includes rules for the new equipment, so I guess these two boxes have to be seen as strictly expansions.
Oh you are right - CI does not include rules either. Good call!
Great content for my content hungerr
Was waiting for a review from you guys! Ok, I'm curious about new assets rules, if it works similar to video games - cool! Anything speeding up the game is welcome. The only mechs I like here are the Quickdraw and Starslayer (it was a thing in Mechcommander 2), others are meh. Maybe the Ceasar, but it's weird. Tanks are fine, but instead of half the mechs they could've included just more heavier vehicles. Firefly, Flea, who would ever run these.
I have some ideas for the Flea. But agree the tiny things are mostly impractical outside of narrative style games.
No rules but cheapo dice lol with how they penny pinch, I'm surprised they put the dice in, since it's meaningless.
Haha good point - that doesn’t make sense to have dice and no rules!
21:00 to be fair, hovercrafts in real life touches the ground