AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited September 2021
One thing I really enjoy about Battletech is that when it comes to paint schemes you can't go wrong.
You can have a grungy Russian camo painted Marauder alongside a Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Atlas with both next to a white and gold trimmed UrbanMech.
And it works.
Hell, my two main forces are one inspired by 1960s Italian military camo and the other off of horrible Renaissance era fashion sense.
Your paint scheme can be super complex or dead simple. You can try to paint up digital camo or just the entire Mech in OD Green.
You really can't go "wrong". Even a bad paint job can just be hand waved away as a Merc getting drunk one night and deciding he has a great idea for how to paint his Mech.
edit- One dumb idea I had is to "NASCAR" up a Mech. Like a Solaris Mech covered in sponsors. Because why wouldn't they? It'd probably involve a lot of custom decals though.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Alright, I guess I'll give the painting thing another try only this time I'm gonna ignore the whole "just use water to thin" stuff and skip straight to Vallejo's actual thinner since their pigments seems to separate out badly with water.
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Alright, I guess I'll give the painting thing another try only this time I'm gonna ignore the whole "just use water to thin" stuff and skip straight to Vallejo's actual thinner since their pigments seems to separate out badly with water.
Oh shit thinning paints? Well hell, I can help with that one.
Get yourself a Wet Pallete and never ever have to worry about it again. As a bonus your painting quality will improve noticeably with just the use of one.
Now personally I bought mine, this one to be exact, but they can easily be made yourself. The video above even shows how and of course talks about why you need one in your life.
edit- It'll honestly save you money too in the long run. YMMV depending on where you live and what the weather is like, but I can put paint on mine, seal it up, leave it over night, go to work, come back, do my routine, then sit down to paint and the paint from the previous day is still good to go. During winter for me it can last for about three days before the paint needs a refresh.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Is there a recommended painting tutorial video series that shows all this stuff?
I keep hearing amazing things about citadel paints. I might just just have to get a few pots of the colours I want for Oosik shenanigans.
I do like the citadel paints, but cost and the pots kind of suck. I do use the washes. They also have an app for colors and such, which is super awesome.
Vallejo is good for the most part. Light colors can be iffy in my experience.
I've been using the army painter primer and matching paint droppers lately. Stuff is pretty nice to work with.
But I use P3 the most for the sole fact it's all liquid. Quick shake to remix and good to go. No worrying about pigment settling and struggling to mix it. I paint so infrequently it's extremely convenient. Paints and flows well to boot.
Honestly, if you want the easiest path to attractive results, watch the Games Workshop painting videos and buy citadel paints. It's a little more expensive, but if you're only doing a few paint schemes it'll save you the headache as they do all the color planning for you.
What is this I don't even.
+1
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
But you don't need to do color planning.
Camospecs and the Unit Color Compendium both exist.
Buy some Vallejo, which across their entire Game and Model ranges you'll find appropriate color matches, and go forth.
Even then, we're not painting "Codex Compliant" armies. Color your stuff how you like. Or like a canon unit does. Or just camo, because there's never not "or appropriate camo" in a canon description.
You don't need three to seven slightly different hues of [Insert Color], like GW typically tells you to use.
I'll advocate all day against GW, simply because there are cheaper, comparable-to-better products out in the world.
Except for their washes. Their washes are pretty good.
Love ya, Nips, but the extra $30 a newbie painter is gonna spend on GW paints isn't going to make or break, and I've taken so many painters from total beginner to well, well above average very quickly with their lines. They're just simple as hell to use.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but I asked for some advice for my canon character at the start of 2020. Mostly wanted input on whether I was going too edgelord without seeing it myself.
I've had a draft for a post in this thread saved for more than a year now, and have been too embarrassed to post anything since I never replied to the advice you all gave.
Got a new apartment in February last year and ended up stressing about moving before any lockdowns, and after that I had the general corona malaise/mini depression.
So, all that is a longwinded way of saying that I never got around to sending in my canon character data, and I didn't add anything new during the open pledge period around christmas, for fear of my character credit that was given to all that hadn't submitted was used, since I still wanted my character if possible.
I have been following this thread, but I can't remember if Catalyst have said whether it is totally to late to still get the character?
I backed at around $700, and I seem to remember from the update email that they would send out the big orders first, but I haven't got any emails. But I also live in Europe, so it might just be the later fulfillment window.
But I have a feeling my order might be held up since I haven't submitted or used the character credit.
Should I try to send Catalysts support email my character info, to see if it will be accepted?
I'm thinking they are pretty pressed atm, so don't know if I'm just making a karen out of myself.
@Nought In update #143 they said for those that hadn't submitted characters yet, they would automatically apply credit to your account. However, if you didn't go in and actually apply that credit to your order, the credit will just sit on your account. They would then get a list of everyone with those credits still on their account for follow-up to complete the character surveys. It's possible they are still behind on that survey process, but it wouldn't affect your order.
Since you've moved, did you at least complete one of the shipping address confirmations they sent out in July 2020 or May 2021 or updated it when they reopened orders in October 2020? As I recall, European shipments should have been going out before US stuff. But they would have sent your tracking info to the same email they've been sending all their other updates to.
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
After our first resupply was apparently seized by the Capellan freebirths, we did what you typically do when in need of re-arm and in exile. We found some Ghost Bear stuff and took it instead. Resupply get!
Interestingly, a box of salvage enclosed didn't contain the mech parts we expected, but a Shilone Aerospace Fighter. The documents inside indicate the prior pilot to have been Tyra Miraborg of the FRR. There is a storied history there for our Clan, so that is just fascinating to run into. (Also, I am surprised this fighter is still in one piece?) Those Oosiks we have been bumping into might be missing this.
I almost feel that the Quartermaster is deliberately taunting me, sending me this particular fighter when my original supplies were clearly Clan Wolf property.
Darkewolfe on
What is this I don't even.
+7
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
Did the FRR salvage Miraborg's Shilone and restore it?
Reinforcements get. Holding onto my precious Stone Rhino was all worth it
Ordered packs:
Clan Heavy Star
Clan Heavy Battle Star
Comstar Command Level II
Comstar Battle Level II
Legendary Pack
Salvage box contents:
Mist Lynx
Viper
Ice Ferret
Legendary Archer
And of course Urbie and Shilone.
Interestingly enough my (Kurita) dice were fine.
Of course, now I need to get a new case next weekend for my BattleTech stuff, and I need to figure out paint schemes. I want to go with something like one of the Ryuken or Genyosha schemes for the IS mechs, but I don’t really have much in the way of preference for a Clan scheme. Want to find something that’s a contrast to the IS scheme.
I simultaneously have more mechs than I will paint or play with in the next decade, and yet also deeply regret not buying a larger pile of them.
I dunno man. I'm sitting on a pile of 262 (new) mechs currently, and even I'm thinking it may be a bit excessive.
And I don't regret it one bit
Eh, I mean, that's only like two Regiments.
By gawd, you're right!
I'll need to augment the mech forces with 3D prints of about 500 vehicles. Then tack on a few infantry for good measure. I'm sure I can pump those rookie numbers up to at least 5 to 6 regiments easy.
+3
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
Of course, this is excluding support personnel, & various auxiliary elements typically attached to Battlemech commands (ASF, infantry, artillery, conventional vehicles). Also the Capellan & especially Comstar/WoB unit structures are wildly different.
Larger IS formations not in common use in the Succession War-era
3+ regiments per brigade (324+)
3 brigades per division (972+)
1-3 battlemech divisions per corps (972-2,916+) (typically 5-10 divisions total, once you add in other unit types)
3-5 Corps per Army (2,916-14,580+ mechs, in addition to the rest)
Here we are glossing over the fact that commands above brigade level would often have mixed unit types. For example, the SLDF and Fed Suns each had a different flavor of combined-arms multi-regiment unit called Regimental Combat Teams. Also worth noting is that the Com Guard used the terms Division and Army for their Level IV and V units, respectively. Though Level V's existed almost purely for administrative purposes, each covering all commands based inside one 'hour' of the 'Inner Sphere Clock' (the Comguard's way of dividing up the Inner Sphere map into apolitical regions), and were rarely deployed as a whole (Tukayyid and Operation SCOUR being the only noted exceptions).
This is why battleforce needs a new rule printing. Making combined arms RCTs is a super fun process mapping out different commands, logistics and support units... The whole kit and kabang. Mechs are fun and all, but it's even more fun making them be used more as detachments to augment strength for other companies, battalions or command structures.
Almost want to get the new ilClan book or the sole purpose of pouring over the combat operation overview. This delicious NATO style units, maps and arrows all over the map. Yum!
HydroSqueegee on
+1
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H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
edited September 2021
SLDF RCT (functionally a brigade, with a handful attached independently at the Corps level, intended to act as a faster deployment option than line units in a division)
4 Independent battlemech regiments (basically the same deal as typical Succession War IS structure; mech-focused with a smattering of other units in auxiliary commands)
Fed Suns RCT (should be considered a division since it's 9 regiments plus an assortment of battalion-level commands)
1 Battlemech regiment
3 Combat vehicle regiments
5 Infantry regiments
2 ASF wings
1 Artillery battalion
1+ Engineering battalion(s) (typical but optional)
optional assorted auxiliary units such as special forces detachments or marine commands for coastal operations
Probably wouldn't be insanely difficult to mod into Heart of Iron 4. It would take a long time though. If it's done as a group project then the hardest part would be everyone agreeing what soft/hard attack, piercing, etc. to assign to a certain type of lance
Cobalt60 on
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
This is why battleforce needs a new rule printing. Making combined arms RCTs is a super fun process mapping out different commands, logistics and support units... The whole kit and kabang. Mechs are fun and all, but it's even more fun making them be used more as detachments to augment strength for other companies, battalions or command structures.
Almost want to get the new ilClan book or the sole purpose of pouring over the combat operation overview. This delicious NATO style units, maps and arrows all over the map. Yum!
Funny you mention Battleforce, they're literally in the process of updating and revising it for a new release of Interstellar Operations.
Hearing rumors that Catalyst had an Annihilator mini at PAX.
+6
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited September 2021
You dare refuse by Batchall!?
Some fun fluff about him.
So the cartoon is not canon, except for the fact that it was a cartoon that existed in universe. The cartoon was an exaggerated version of the exploits of the 1st Sommerset Strikers. Seemingly with Adam Steiner (main character of the cartoon) as an executive producer.
The cartoon made its why to the Jade Falcon OZ. Members of Jade Falcon found the Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain depiction of Nicolai Malthus to be pretty hilarious. Nicolai was already somewhat diminished in influence and this only made things worse as many Jade Falcons would make jokes about it and conflate the real Nicolai with his cartoon self.
Nicolai would travel to Tharkad and sue Adam Steiner. Arguing that the cartoon effectively murdered his career. Things didn't go well and he would challenge the Judge to a Trial of Grievance. This also did not end well. IIRC he was imprisoned? But I am not positive. At any rate his career was completely and thoroughly destroyed at this point and any hope of him ever again being a frontline warrior was dead.
Adam Steiner would eventually go on to become the Archon of the Lyran Alliance during the Jihad. He is the one who would rename the Lyran Alliance back to the Lyran Commonwealth and his line still rules to this day.
edit- or to sum up, Nicolai Malthus was a douche from start to finish.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
+4
Options
NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
This is why battleforce needs a new rule printing. Making combined arms RCTs is a super fun process mapping out different commands, logistics and support units... The whole kit and kabang. Mechs are fun and all, but it's even more fun making them be used more as detachments to augment strength for other companies, battalions or command structures.
Almost want to get the new ilClan book or the sole purpose of pouring over the combat operation overview. This delicious NATO style units, maps and arrows all over the map. Yum!
Funny you mention Battleforce, they're literally in the process of updating and revising it for a new release of Interstellar Operations.
"Soon"
ive heard slight rustlings, but im not holding my breath.
Posts
You can have a grungy Russian camo painted Marauder alongside a Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Atlas with both next to a white and gold trimmed UrbanMech.
And it works.
Hell, my two main forces are one inspired by 1960s Italian military camo and the other off of horrible Renaissance era fashion sense.
Your paint scheme can be super complex or dead simple. You can try to paint up digital camo or just the entire Mech in OD Green.
You really can't go "wrong". Even a bad paint job can just be hand waved away as a Merc getting drunk one night and deciding he has a great idea for how to paint his Mech.
edit- One dumb idea I had is to "NASCAR" up a Mech. Like a Solaris Mech covered in sponsors. Because why wouldn't they? It'd probably involve a lot of custom decals though.
Oh shit thinning paints? Well hell, I can help with that one.
Get yourself a Wet Pallete and never ever have to worry about it again. As a bonus your painting quality will improve noticeably with just the use of one.
Now personally I bought mine, this one to be exact, but they can easily be made yourself. The video above even shows how and of course talks about why you need one in your life.
edit- It'll honestly save you money too in the long run. YMMV depending on where you live and what the weather is like, but I can put paint on mine, seal it up, leave it over night, go to work, come back, do my routine, then sit down to paint and the paint from the previous day is still good to go. During winter for me it can last for about three days before the paint needs a refresh.
I do like the citadel paints, but cost and the pots kind of suck. I do use the washes. They also have an app for colors and such, which is super awesome.
Vallejo is good for the most part. Light colors can be iffy in my experience.
I've been using the army painter primer and matching paint droppers lately. Stuff is pretty nice to work with.
But I use P3 the most for the sole fact it's all liquid. Quick shake to remix and good to go. No worrying about pigment settling and struggling to mix it. I paint so infrequently it's extremely convenient. Paints and flows well to boot.
Camospecs and the Unit Color Compendium both exist.
Buy some Vallejo, which across their entire Game and Model ranges you'll find appropriate color matches, and go forth.
Even then, we're not painting "Codex Compliant" armies. Color your stuff how you like. Or like a canon unit does. Or just camo, because there's never not "or appropriate camo" in a canon description.
You don't need three to seven slightly different hues of [Insert Color], like GW typically tells you to use.
I'll advocate all day against GW, simply because there are cheaper, comparable-to-better products out in the world.
Except for their washes. Their washes are pretty good.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but I asked for some advice for my canon character at the start of 2020. Mostly wanted input on whether I was going too edgelord without seeing it myself.
I've had a draft for a post in this thread saved for more than a year now, and have been too embarrassed to post anything since I never replied to the advice you all gave.
Got a new apartment in February last year and ended up stressing about moving before any lockdowns, and after that I had the general corona malaise/mini depression.
So, all that is a longwinded way of saying that I never got around to sending in my canon character data, and I didn't add anything new during the open pledge period around christmas, for fear of my character credit that was given to all that hadn't submitted was used, since I still wanted my character if possible.
I have been following this thread, but I can't remember if Catalyst have said whether it is totally to late to still get the character?
I backed at around $700, and I seem to remember from the update email that they would send out the big orders first, but I haven't got any emails. But I also live in Europe, so it might just be the later fulfillment window.
But I have a feeling my order might be held up since I haven't submitted or used the character credit.
Should I try to send Catalysts support email my character info, to see if it will be accepted?
I'm thinking they are pretty pressed atm, so don't know if I'm just making a karen out of myself.
.
Island. Being on fire.
.
Island. Being on fire.
Since you've moved, did you at least complete one of the shipping address confirmations they sent out in July 2020 or May 2021 or updated it when they reopened orders in October 2020? As I recall, European shipments should have been going out before US stuff. But they would have sent your tracking info to the same email they've been sending all their other updates to.
Interestingly, a box of salvage enclosed didn't contain the mech parts we expected, but a Shilone Aerospace Fighter. The documents inside indicate the prior pilot to have been Tyra Miraborg of the FRR. There is a storied history there for our Clan, so that is just fascinating to run into. (Also, I am surprised this fighter is still in one piece?) Those Oosiks we have been bumping into might be missing this.
I almost feel that the Quartermaster is deliberately taunting me, sending me this particular fighter when my original supplies were clearly Clan Wolf property.
'Cause that would be one hell of a museum piece.
Ordered packs:
Clan Heavy Battle Star
Comstar Command Level II
Comstar Battle Level II
Legendary Pack
Salvage box contents:
Viper
Ice Ferret
Legendary Archer
And of course Urbie and Shilone.
Interestingly enough my (Kurita) dice were fine.
Of course, now I need to get a new case next weekend for my BattleTech stuff, and I need to figure out paint schemes. I want to go with something like one of the Ryuken or Genyosha schemes for the IS mechs, but I don’t really have much in the way of preference for a Clan scheme. Want to find something that’s a contrast to the IS scheme.
I dunno man. I'm sitting on a pile of 262 (new) mechs currently, and even I'm thinking it may be a bit excessive.
And I don't regret it one bit
In what can only be called my best Called Shot in recent memory, everything described above has come to pass.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Eh, I mean, that's only like two Regiments.
Check the FedEx tracking page
Oh boy! DELIVERED
Twitch | Blizzard: Ianator#1479 | 3DS: Ianator - 1779 2336 5317 | FFXIV: Iana Ateliere (NA Sarg)
Backlog Challenge List
Well... You're not wrong...
Plot twist. He's already home and there's no package.
By gawd, you're right!
I'll need to augment the mech forces with 3D prints of about 500 vehicles. Then tack on a few infantry for good measure. I'm sure I can pump those rookie numbers up to at least 5 to 6 regiments easy.
Truly Liao is a master of deception.
Also, roughly 144 combat vehicles/VTOL/infantry will net you a Division.
Of course you will need enough DropShips to carry em all. :razz:
Oh and you'll need a Wing of Aerospace Fighters too.
Double fun fact, there are no Division sized elements in the Inner Sphere.
Yet...
Of course, this is excluding support personnel, & various auxiliary elements typically attached to Battlemech commands (ASF, infantry, artillery, conventional vehicles). Also the Capellan & especially Comstar/WoB unit structures are wildly different.
Larger IS formations not in common use in the Succession War-era
Here we are glossing over the fact that commands above brigade level would often have mixed unit types. For example, the SLDF and Fed Suns each had a different flavor of combined-arms multi-regiment unit called Regimental Combat Teams. Also worth noting is that the Com Guard used the terms Division and Army for their Level IV and V units, respectively. Though Level V's existed almost purely for administrative purposes, each covering all commands based inside one 'hour' of the 'Inner Sphere Clock' (the Comguard's way of dividing up the Inner Sphere map into apolitical regions), and were rarely deployed as a whole (Tukayyid and Operation SCOUR being the only noted exceptions).
Almost want to get the new ilClan book or the sole purpose of pouring over the combat operation overview. This delicious NATO style units, maps and arrows all over the map. Yum!
Fed Suns RCT (should be considered a division since it's 9 regiments plus an assortment of battalion-level commands)
Probably wouldn't be insanely difficult to mod into Heart of Iron 4. It would take a long time though. If it's done as a group project then the hardest part would be everyone agreeing what soft/hard attack, piercing, etc. to assign to a certain type of lance
Funny you mention Battleforce, they're literally in the process of updating and revising it for a new release of Interstellar Operations.
Replace Europe++.png with SPAAAACE.png.
Swap character name files.
Press go!
That's how that works, right?
You dare refuse by Batchall!?
Some fun fluff about him.
So the cartoon is not canon, except for the fact that it was a cartoon that existed in universe. The cartoon was an exaggerated version of the exploits of the 1st Sommerset Strikers. Seemingly with Adam Steiner (main character of the cartoon) as an executive producer.
The cartoon made its why to the Jade Falcon OZ. Members of Jade Falcon found the Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain depiction of Nicolai Malthus to be pretty hilarious. Nicolai was already somewhat diminished in influence and this only made things worse as many Jade Falcons would make jokes about it and conflate the real Nicolai with his cartoon self.
Nicolai would travel to Tharkad and sue Adam Steiner. Arguing that the cartoon effectively murdered his career. Things didn't go well and he would challenge the Judge to a Trial of Grievance. This also did not end well. IIRC he was imprisoned? But I am not positive. At any rate his career was completely and thoroughly destroyed at this point and any hope of him ever again being a frontline warrior was dead.
Adam Steiner would eventually go on to become the Archon of the Lyran Alliance during the Jihad. He is the one who would rename the Lyran Alliance back to the Lyran Commonwealth and his line still rules to this day.
edit- or to sum up, Nicolai Malthus was a douche from start to finish.
I'm also hearing rumours over at the official forums that a Wolf's Dragoon pack might be in the works.
Which...crazy coincidence there.
Wolf's Dragoons brought the following to the IS (sometimes back to it)
Edit: Wow, quite a bit more than I remembered. Still, kind of weird how many redundant tonnage chassis there are.
"Soon"
ive heard slight rustlings, but im not holding my breath.