A Few Wrinkles….

So as most of you know, I play Warhammer 40,000 in addition to being a stalwart fan of Battletech and Mechwarrior. In the last year or so, I’ve been working on multiple projects related to hobby modeling, as well as writing the rules for Battletech: Combined Arms, a 28mm scale Battletech game meant to complement the excellent models produced by Scott Murphy, Tim Fusco, Ravenstar Studios, SMT Kelly, and the now-outdated Armorcast.

While the game is, so far, not yet sanctioned by Topps or Catalyst Game Labs, the next stage of the project IS working out a publishing deal with them, and it will come to fruition fairly soon.

I’ve given a lot of thought to the rules of this game, however, and need to do some rewrites after analyzing the current state of miniature wargaming- I believe the initial rules are overcomplicated, and need to be smoothed out and toned down to attract new players and make gameplay more fun, and less unnecessarily complex. I should have another update for you guys in the near future here.

In other news, I finally got a Warhammer 40k game in with my Imperial Knights. In fact, it was the first Warhammer 40k game I have won in over five years…..and yet the victory was extraordinarily hollow. Imperial Knights are incredibly tough units, and, in my mind, overpowered in a standard 40k game. In fact…they require almost no tactical skill to use, and that worries me. While I do like winning now and again, I don’t want to just steamroll over my opponent- I’ve been on the receiving end of overpowered army lists far too often and know that it’s not fun to lose like that.

So while the models have turned out fantastically, and you can see pics on my Facebook page….I will likely be shelving these in favor of another 40k army that I’ll work on down the road.

My point in mentioning this is because Warhammer 40,000 is a great influence on my own game design. Now, I didn’t even remotely borrow any rules from 40k for Battletech: Combined Arms, but I am aiming for B:CA to compete with 40k directly. I want a game that players will want to play at tournaments, that suits casual gaming as well as competitive, and offers an exciting hobby in addition to a game. Hopefully with the coming rewrites I will be closer to that.

Other Projects:

Stalker- working on cleaning and sanding, should have assembly pics by Monday

Flea- need a pin vice and new base, won’t be able to make progress until next paycheck

Mad Cat MK II- Tim should be sending these out in the next few weeks, I look forward to the build.