1/60 Scale Battletech- Questions

[WallyTWest]

Ok- silly questions. Pleas shoot a response.

I friend has offered to let me purchase either one of a pair of mechs at 1/60 scale and I had some questions for the community that would use them.

My original idea was to try to assemble a light mech. In this case assemble a few extra weapons and (knowing that there was less than a 4% chance of getting to game with it a year) assemble it as a exploration of the battletech universe. Basically get 3-4 heavy infantry, another 2-3 light infantry, a princess, pilot and 1-2 scifi civilians and treat the thing as a study. Try to present a light mech as a military unit but enkeeping with the traditional ww1-esque space ace kinda feel. Go minimalist in my model buying and focus on my presentation of just a few components in a diorama stile endeavor.

For those of you with 1/60 scale mechs- or whom have tried gaming with a severe disparity in miniature sizes- what have you done? Have you been able to play with said miniatures? Scenerios? Do you find them gratifying to own?

The model in question is a Panther- but I'm also toying with a Hunchback IIC... But as a clan mech it kinda fails to meet my expectations of that 3025 romance...

[Daeothar]

There has been a surge of Battletech again the past few weeks here on LAF (yay!), with several threads popping up.

Check out these threads from Eilif, Predatorpt and  Wingnut for inspiration.

I'd say that, with the right set of rules, the minis you mention could very well be used for a great game.

I remember playing Battletech for the first time with a buddy back in the eighties. We used a 1/72 Robotech Excalibur (Warhammer for us Battletech nuts) to proxy a Wasp and bendy plastic soldiers for the infantry squad opposing it. We had an urban setup (using the Citytech rules) with plain white paper templates as buildings.

The Wasp was played by me (we rolled for it) and I remember so utterly trashing his infantry it wasn't funny. I felt bad for him and we switched sides. Same result; the mech ruled supreme.

So whatever you do; do not use the standard battletech rules to play on this scale; it's a recipy for imbalance...

[YPU]

I just ordered myself a pair of 1/300 destroid kits, seems like the giant mecha virus is spreading. 

[Predatorpt]

I just ordered myself a pair of 1/300 destroid kits, seems like the giant mecha virus is spreading. 

Where did you order them from? 

[YPU]

Where did you order them from? 

My bad, that should be 1/100 and 1/200, (that totals at 300 right? ) the Phalanx and Monster, respectively. Some guy on the local ebay had up for over a month without bids.

[Predatorpt]

My bad, that should be 1/100 and 1/200, (that totals at 300 right? ) the Phalanx and Monster, respectively. Some guy on the local ebay had up for over a month without bids.

Ohhhh. You shattered my hope 

But what I really need is a 1/72 Glaug Commander's Pod to do a Marauder, .

[Daeothar]

I have one that's too big for my projects... 

[eilif]

Ok- silly questions....

...I friend has offered to let me purchase either one of a pair of mechs at 1/60 scale...

My original idea was to try to assemble a light mech. In this case assemble a few extra weapons and (knowing that there was less than a 4% chance of getting to game with it a year) assemble it as a exploration of the battletech universe. Basically get 3-4 heavy infantry, another 2-3 light infantry, a princess, pilot and 1-2 scifi civilians and treat the thing as a study...

...For those of you with 1/60 scale mechs- or whom have tried gaming with a severe disparity in miniature sizes- what have you done? Have you been able to play with said miniatures? Scenerios? Do you find them gratifying to own?

Welcome to the addiction of big mechs...
It's not a silly idea at all.  I've been doing this for about 5 years and it's been intensely rewarding even though I only use them a couple times a year at conventions. It's also been an excuse to build ALOT of custom urban terrain and that has of course been very useful in many other games.

As for your idea for a force, that sounds like a fine idea. If  you and your friend both do the same you can have a rather good game. The "Mech Attack" ruleset works great with combined arms.  I'd suggest that each side have one of the "light" mechs you mention and add another smaller mech (maybe a robogear or other model kit) and maybe a vehicle per side.  Run the "Light" mech as Medium or heavy (in Mech Attack rules) and the other mech as a light or medium.

The important thing is to have a scenario where infantry are rewarded for seizing objectives.  As long as the scenario you come up with has a role for each unit it should be a good time.  If it's just a sluggfest without a good scenario it will be a mech dominated affair.

Check out these threads from Eilif, Predatorpt and  Wingnut for inspiration.

In my thread linked above, a rather balanced combined-arms game has been laid out.

Also, scroll down most of the way on the first page and you'll find a series of links including one that compares the sizes of various mech kits and toys.  I've used mechs from Kryomek, Robogear, Macross Toys, Macross models, Gasraki models, Gundam Models, Mechwarrior Die cast toys and others.  As for proper scales it's a bit varied. We're playing in our homegrown universe, so any mechs that look like they could scale well with a 28mm figure in the torso/cockpit are fair game for us.  If compared to the proper size of BT mecha, our mecha are probably closer to 22 or 25mm, but they look  great on the table and alongside 28mm mecha.  

I'm a real cheapskate and I've spent about as much (maybe slightly more overall) on my 28mm mecha as you would pay retail for 6mm Battletech units.