"Robotech Miniatures Combat" Topic

I've been working on designing a game based off the Robotech/Macross series which is part of why I've been doing my various 3D minis. The game is set at roughly 1/285 scale and the minis are the size of battletech miniatures.

I could use some opinions on the game and if you're up for it some playtest data.

I've made the rules available here: link

I also have my developement blog here: mechdudesblog.blogspot.com

This is still the first draft so feel free to point out mistakes or if stuff is missing. I don't mind criticism as long as it's helpful :)

I'll be doing all sorts of nice graphics and what not as I get this a bit more developed.

Here are some previews of some of teh miniatures I've been working on

Hey, Robotech stole those mech concepts from FASA!!!

The mechs look great!

Sorry it's the other way araound, FASA liscensed the mech designs from the japanese company that animated Robotech.

FASA also used a bunch of designs from Armored Soldier Dougram.

Robotech or Macross as it's known in Japan was the original source for the mech designs. Robotech originally aired in the US in 1982, Battletech didn't come along until 1986 (1985 if you count the battledroids version)

They look great and if these were available I'd buy them!

But be careful, Harmony Gold is very protective of Robotech.

I WANT… OH GOD I WANT!

One known issue is that I need to add a rules definition for how LOS works. I've added it to the list of revisions.

Once the system is a bit more polished it'll be headed to HG for review.

Very nice! Looking forward to seeing more. :)

Oh, wow! I'd love to buy some of those minis!

"I WANT… OH GOD I WANT!"

I'll second this.

Very nice . Just finished watching the first wave and now watching the Robotech masters . biorods on hover platforms . Very nice piecces

billthecat wins for best joke missed by the recipient.

But those are looking great. I was always mad that I missed the Dark Horse Robotech minis.

unseen!

The minis are great, I can't playtest I'm afraid but I'll certainly be picking up some the mechs at some point.

Nice models, will give the rules a read through this weekend

Neato but how are you getting by the IP issue? Did you buy the rights?

I'm in discussion with HG and Palladium about my mini designs. So far they've been very positive so there's a chance that these will end up as a liscensed product.

If it doesn't work out, then it'll be a very expensive personal project. :(

Okay I am interested. Nice figures, looking forward to getting some if the project works out.

Please eliminate the "torso twist" manuever.

It might actually be cheaper to deal (maybe) to work out a deal with the Japanese owner (probably Bandai at this point) and market it as a Macross miniatures game.

Palladium still has a license for the the Macekre series?

No. FASA liscensed the mech designs from the japanese company that animated Macross. Harmony Gold then licensed the series Macross and two other unrelated series, changed a few names edited some scenes out but otherwise changed very little threw it all together and called it Robotech.

And Studio Nue still holds the license for Macross, or maybe it's Big West that does. They must have as they are also behind Macross 7, Macross Plus, Macross II, Macross Zero and Macross Frontier.

Studio Nue current project is an Armored Core series.

Mech Dude – great project. Awesome to see folks trying their own Macross games.

If you build them, they will buy…….

I will at least. ;)

I'm in discussion with HG and Palladium about my mini designs. So far they've been very positive so there's a chance that these will end up as a liscensed product.

That's great news! I'm totally in. I first saw these mechs in Battletech and I've always loved these designs. I think it would be great to see them in microarmour or 1/285 scale. Also this wouldn't be the first time. Back in the 80's Dark Horse Miniatures had a line of Robotech miniatures in roughly this scale. Harmony Gold and Paladium gave them the nod (I would assume) and Paladium is still making Robotech RPG stuff so I would think that your chances are pretty decent.

Heck, Paladium was in serious financial trouble when it renewed the licence for Robotech. I think that is a hopeful sign as it shows that Harmony Gold is willing to take a chance on letting its IP be used by gaming companies, even ones in not great financial shape. I don't know your situation, but it can't be any worse than Paladium's.

If you need help funding this then go hit kickstarter! I'm sure that there are a lot of gamers who would happily toss some change into the kitty to help you defray some of the costs. I know I would toss some in.

I'm very curious to see how you deal with the Valkrye and its ability to change modes. Battletech never quite got that on "right" with the LAMs.

Good luck with the project! It will be totally exciting if this goes through.

Do you plan to expand to the other parts of the show?

My thoughts…
I was pumped to get a look at "your" rules… then I opened them I was disappointed to see that they are very similar to TMP member Greg B's Robotech MSIA (Mobile Soldier In Action rules.) You can see the original MSIA rules at link
Readers can ask Greg B for a copy of his rules or I can send you a copy of my adaptation of and stat cards for Greg B's rules. My e-mail is Drboynton@yahoo.com if you want a copy.
Sure you did eliminate the buckets of dice but the rest is basically the same game, pilot dice, initiative, actions, "go supersonic", "fratricide"… all the nearly the same…

You say…
"Recommendation: Assign each mecha a numbered token with the number of its turn order for this round's initiative marked on it. Remove the tokens as each mecha is activated."

From my adaptation of Greg B's Rules…
"Recommendation: Assign each mecha a numbered token with the number of its turn order for this round's initiative marked on it. Remove the tokens as each mecha is activated. If both players agree we recommend eliminating the option to pass to significantly speed up game play and to limit confusion."

I am just disappointed that you are going to potentially profit of everyone's work. At lest give credit to the MSIA creator Trevor Lemon and Greg B if you are barrowing so liberally from their work. Now don't get me wrong I want a Robotech Game but I think you might want to make some "adjustments" to your rules so that if your game gets picked up for production that it is not shot down by legal problems.
Cheers,
Mike
PS
I just checked my MSIA rules and it looks like Trevor did copyright his work.

Woah, it's just a working draft I'll certainly be granting credits. Yes I used their stuff as the base for it, I've never stated otherwise.

The only thing I'm looking to produce is minis, the rules are strictly for fun, so relax a bit.

I, for one, will buy these as soon as you produce them.

But be careful, Harmony Gold is very protective of Robotech.

Too bad they got kicked in the nuts over their overprotective lawsuit. Harmony Gold does NOT hold the rights to gaming miniatures with those likenesses.

Go straight to the Japanese source(s) for your IP license, neither Palladium nor HG can grant you that license.

But you need to use Palladium as a contact to talk to Studio Nue/Big West, the Japanese like having a shared acquaintance/reference before talking business.

I would really like this to succeed, I'd love some 1/285 scale Valkyries!

"Woah, it's just a working draft I'll certainly be granting credits. Yes I used their stuff as the base for it, I've never stated otherwise."

That's not the point. If you used someone elses stuff for minis that needs to be stated up front and -if it's copyrighted- agreed to well in advance.

"The only thing I'm looking to produce is minis, the rules are strictly for fun, so relax a bit."

Fair enough, but giving credit where credit is due from the get-go is only right.

That said, I'm really hoping these get into production. They look great and would certainly fill a very important niche in wargaming miniatures.

Remember that game mechanics are not copy righted, but the text is. Credit is not enough. You must get permission. No needs a bad rep.

Love the minis BTW.

So, there is objection that he might have borrowed mechanics from another system, but not that he is doing Macross minis?? :)

I'll take a giant pile of pods!

Headzombie,
Of course! We don't want to throw the mechies out with the rulewater.

Interestingly there's another fellow writing rules for Robotech and also says he's in communications with the various copyright holders.

robotechbattles.blogspot.com

Yep I've been talking a bit with Tom, he's looking to push his own rules set with Palladium/HG, while my end would involve doing the miniature developement. (not the rules)

Which is why I been tinkering with Trevor's and Greg's set for fun.

If Greg has any issues with me modifying his rule set all he'd have to do is drop me a line, from what he's posted here and on his blog it was pretty positive so I'm assuming he's ok with it and he'll definately have credits listed in the later draft of the rules. There's a bunch of stuff beside the credits that I left out, as it's a rough first draft.

I enjoyed the MSIA base system and all I'm trying to do is further stream line it a bit as it's good, but when playing it with my friends we've found it a bit cumbersome at times.

There are a number of modifications that dramatically alter the game play, like removing the gobs of dice, changes to weapon ranges and adding a new critical damage feature.

There's still more stuff that I want to revise and it's a long way from complete.

Go straight to the Japanese source(s) for your IP license, neither Palladium nor HG can grant you that license.

But you need to use Palladium as a contact to talk to Studio Nue/Big West, the Japanese like having a shared acquaintance/reference before talking business.

I would really like this to succeed, I'd love some 1/285 scale Valkyries!

This is key… and considering all the other Macross titles available there's bound to be some serious kit available for sculpting.

It would be a real help if any of you could take a look at the rules for Robotech Battles: robotechbattles.blogspot.com
I am asking for Jon's help in all this because he is creating some excellent minis. I'm only creating A ruleset. I'm working through Palladium to get my rules on the Table. The rules are independent of the Macross license and are only dependent on the Robotech License. further rules and systems would be forthcoming, (Malcontent uprising, masters, and all the Invid goodness), but I can't even get the first rules produced without agreements and eventual licenses. I'm hoping that working together with Jon and showing that minis are a viable component, we all could benefit.
-Tom

The idea that soon, soon I may be able to get my evil little paws on real Warhammers, Archers, Riflemen, Marauders, Stinger/Wasps, Phoenix Hawks and Longbows fills me with frabjous joy.

Frabjous, I tell you.

I'm in discussion with HG and Palladium about my mini designs. So far they've been very positive

Of course they are. Palladium would love to have minis available for their game, and Robotech is so stale at this point that any license income to HG would be good news.

On the other hand, the intention last year for the latest version of the Mechwarrior computer game to include "the Unseen" turned out to be a pipe dream. There are probably good reasons for that.

On the gripping hand, you are a tiny operation compared to any computer game studio, so the license fees *should* be more reasonable based on the expected returns.

Well, OK, what I *really* want is the Macross Plus/Macross Frontier X9 Ghost UCAVs, but I would pay $10 USD per model or so.

I think this is probably the first complete miniature I've painted two years. I did a couple 1/200 scale model kits since then, but not actual minis.

I'm not the greatest of painters so I didn't go for any shading or washes. I'd initally tried a wash but it made the white look really dirty and I figured in solid colors it'd look a bit more like the animated series.

Beautiful.

Mini looks great!

Just one thought: Is there a more 'action' pose you could do for the legs? Right now it looks like it's just standing around, could be in the vehicle bay getting worked on or on parade.

Nice pod and lovely paint job, but what I'd really like to see is a MAC II "Monster" or a Variable Fighter 17 Nightmare…

The models are multi part so giving it a more dynamic pose is pretty easy to do.

Keep up the amazing work.

And keep pushing the guys at Palladium/Harmony Gold for the introduction for the production license for these!

I will buy … many of them!

To help anyone interested in playtesting, or who just wants some paper mechs I put together two sets of printable mechs that people can download.

Between the two files it covers pretty much all the base mechs that appear in the frist half the series. I still need to tend to the super veritechs and a few of the non-mech vehicles that would be used for support or as objectvies. Cat's Eye, Space Goose etc.

These are all scaled to be aproximately 1/285th and are close to the intended miniature sizes. (but not exact)

You can download them here:

Set One: link

Set Two: link

Also I will be doing some open play at Adepticon, if you are headed there drop by and check the Robotech table out.

What days will you be at Adepticon?

Have you contacted Trevor Lemon about using his copy written rules for MSIA as the basis for your game? Is your plan to profit off the rules you have posted or are they truly "just for fun"?