"Heavy Gear Blitz! Contests Announced" Topic

This is old news to any one on the DP9 forums. Although it seems to me the contest was to end in May. Did that change so they could get the word out?

My perception may be off, but it seems this latest incarnation of HG is being studiously ignored by and large.
I see the occasional mention, but there's little buzz or response.

Is that accurate? Is it the price? Rules? Previous experiences? Any thoughts on this?

They restarted the contest as it was determined that they hadn't given sufficient notice prior to the original deadline.

Dentatus, for what it's worth HB Blitz has been nominated for an Origins award this year.

Fair enough, but aren't lots of things *nominated*?

No slag intended here. It's probably just me.

It seems tho things like Infinity get attention, or new Artizan figs, AT-43, or GZG 15mm… the list goes on. But for a recognizable name/game, it strikes me there's a more sedate response this time around. Who carries this in the US? I know The Warstore lists it now on the site. Anyone else?

For me, it's a combination of "been there, done that" and the price.

I used to play the old HG game, back in the RAFM miniatures days. Though I loved the setting and the rules, I never seemed to have as much fun playing as I though I would.

HG Blitz was interesting to me as a concept as a faster, cleaner HG, but the markers and stuff turn me off. I'd have been slightly more interested in an HG version of Lightning Strike, though I imagine that's at a higher level of abstraction than many players would want for mech combat.

Also, the current figures are more expensive than I'll pay for 5 28mm figures. I know they're multi-part sculpts, are hard to produce, and have lots of "bits", etc. But I can get a Hydrissian[1] force of 5 soldiers, 3 Sentinels and a Power armor for almost the same price, and even a 40k Space Marine "Devastator" squad costs less[2].

But then again, I don't play Warmachine or 40k either, so maybe I'm just a cheapskate. :-)

[1] I picked Hydrissians because they are multi-part sculpts too, are roughly the same size as HG minis, and are priced in a pretty average non-historical figure price range.

[2] Devastators are also 5 to a pack with tons of customization potential. They *are* plastic instead of metal though, so it's not exactly apples to apples.

lugal, Jovian Chronicles Blitz is in development. From what I've seen, it'll be eminently more playable and "fun" than Lightning Strike. They're also retconning the background to fill some holes and make the overall setting tighter.

Dentatus, fair comments. I can't explain why DP9, and Heavy Gear in particular, don't seem to get the love around here.

Doesn't the "Miniatures aren't expensive enough!" comment originate within DP9? That's enough all by itself to turn off any large community of miniatures enthusiasts conditioned by $1 USD historicals.

While not HG specifically, I also ran up against the "expectation of wealth" when I was buying into Gear Krieg. "Here's a little starter scenario. You'll need a minimum of a dozen Gears, and it plays better with twice that many." At $15 USD to $20 USD a piece, mind you.

The "expectation of wealth" is IMHO one of the main barriers to people giving HG Blitz a try. $100us to get the rules and two squads to fight each other is a bit steep just to try a game out.

The minis are cool, the fluff is great, and from what I've heard the game is fun to play, but it's even less economical than 40k, and that's saying something.

Maybe DP9 could do a "Macragge"-like set that gets you just enough for an interesting game and costs under $50?

They need to purchase the capability to do plastic figures and do a plastic version of the set and offer more figures – perhaps 10-15 figures for each side in a starter box with the Blitz rules to get it out to mainstream and offer it at a reasonable price of between $40-60. That will spur interest. The figures don't have to be the intricate multi-part figures like the current metal line-up. More fixed poses or with minimal multi-pose abilities. I agree with Lugal – HG and DP9 need to up-grade their figure making capabilities to remain competitive with the likes of AT-43 and 40K – most of my friends won't invest because of the cost, new system, new scale, etc. as they already have 40K and AT-43 or Modern figs but in 28mm scale.

Just my thoughts – I have invested a bit more into the HG stuff just recently getting approximately 75 more gears, striders, and bits to add to my collection. It would be nice to have friends be able to pick up a relatively cheap boxed set so we could throw down without him having to use my figures.

I agree. If DP9 had a *loss leader* HG Blitz starter like Macragge, I'd seriously consider giving it a try. But $100 USD tends to get spent on items higher up the *Want* list.

DP9 is not large enough, nor possesses big enough pockets, to make a loss-leader product at all feasible, imho. I think serious plastics work is right out as well.

That said, great game, great minis, wish they got more press. I really want to the game succeed.

-Will

What about a Quick Start set of rules and Two, 3 Gear *strike cells* per side? Cheap B/W rulebook, dice, cardboard counters & cardstock terrain perhaps, and 6 figs. What'd that run?

What if they made it a website/online store special for newbies or demos…

Just thinking out loud here.

Maybe something like that could work. I'll post over on the forums and see what they think.

-Will

Though I ought to point out that the rulebook is already B&W, and only 22$ to boot, so I don't think they are going to save much money there. Probably the best way to see if you like the game would be to grab the rulebook (even just the PDF) and give a test run with proxies or counters.

-Will

Of course, I posted to soon- I forgot there are also a set of QS rules in development. And there are already counters and cut-out buildings DP9 could use for the box. And 3 gears aside means that players could simply pick up some 2-packs to get full GP squads. I'm thinking that Dentatus's suggestion could really work.

-Will

I was going to suggest doing a QS set like the older games have – that's really the best answer, all things considered.

Though since a version of the Blitz rules are up on the DP9 site, I guess the whole point is moot!

BTW, after reading the rules I do really like the new direction. Not so sold on the marker system, but the new sensor and damage rules are aces, as is the downplaying of the CPs.

I played Heavy Gear Blitz! for the first time this past weekend at CanGames, and it was a lot more fun than the other tabletop wargame that I've played. I was really impressed by the tactics you need to employ in order for your army to be effective. Painting targets with Scout Gear and drones and then relaying the co-ordinates to Fire Support Gears was great fun and quite challenging. What I saw at the tournament was that the combined arms armies are undoubtedly the most effective, although I didn't get to see that particular force play against the all-armour regiment, it would have been interesting.

The game is great and the minis are of excellent quality. I really hope that a Quickstart Rules poster can be added into the General Purpose Squad boxed sets. That way there'd be minimal loss to DP9 and a new player could start at $50. USD Which isn't too bad. I would imagine that cut-out counters from the poster insert could stand in for the opposing side until the buyer convinced a friend to try it out.

Anyway, I'm already planning out a new force for next year's CanGames tournament. Blitz! has me convinced.