Hi. I've heard people talk about Battletech tanks/infantry being
a bit large for Dirtside II. Since I'm starting off with a bunch of GW Epic
stuff, are they bigger than those? I know I've decided to make my Renegade
Legion tanks into Full Thrust spaceships because most of them are too small
compared to things I've got already. I've heard GW is a bit big, too. Would
Btech and Epic scale be compatible? I see the infantry is noted as 8mm on the
Ral Partha web catalog. Actually, Epic things aren't even in scale
with each other--the characters are much bigger than the basic figures.
I've got Battletech, but don't like many of the mechs, and have only played a
couple of times. But going through their pictures, I have found a lot that
don't look like a big guy in armor, and I like those. I like almost every tank
I saw, too.
Thanks,
> Hi. I've heard people talk about Battletech tanks/infantry being
The battle tech stuff is bigger than the epic stuff 8mm compared to the 6mm
(at least that's what it is supposed to be).
But, a lot of the GW stuff is very large (e.g. the super heavies).
What i suggest is if you want to use miniatures that are over / under
sized...
1) change the scale
2) make those vehicles small class / very large class (e.g. GW super
heavies = oversized [size 6+] tanks)
Question to the board:
If ya'll say that the B-tech stuff is to big, those (miniatures
company) infantry do you use?
I always though B-tech stuff was fine...
let me know...
CMC
> At 08:55 26/06/97 -0500, you wrote:
I would catagoricly say, so what?
I use a mix of Epic, CMD figures and Renegade leagon, and find that the mix is
great.
for example, i use of Epic falcons for a size 4 grav tank, as well as the RL
stuff as size 3 and 4.
Remeber that there is a slight scale difference between Imperial and American
scales, but in real terms this is so slight it does not matter.
> to make my Renegade Legion tanks into Full Thrust spaceships
Use the older GW stuff. Cheaper (you can find them in discount bins) and they
are more in scale with the CMD stuff.
> I've got Battletech, but don't like many of the mechs, and have only
I use Mechs extensively (at lkeast 1 per army), Remember that Mechs are way
overgunned in DSII (as are Renegade Legon). For exapmple, I like the
Rifleman mech, but there is no way I can put f good guns on a size 4/5
mech, the space would not allow it (you also have missiles and PDS on these
things and that too eats up space).
Speaking of figure sizes, anybody know what size the Heavy Gear infantry are?
They are scaled to their Mech figures but all the flyer I saw said was the
standard "Figures not shown to scale" disclaimer. The infantry did look rather
nice. I am hoping they are 20mm which I plan to use for StarGrunt. 20mm has
such a wide range of modern accessories. I would just love to get my
hands of some 20mm sci-fi stuff to take advantage of the cool modern
stuff.
-Daric Morris
> Speaking of figure sizes, anybody know what size the Heavy Gear
They are 15mm a little small but the figures are great.
I bought a few packs the other week... Mostly infantry but a mech or two... I
like them because they are more squared, they look like they were build by
humans and not some jampanise cartoonist... (even though they were..) oh well
I'm waiting for the platforms to come out, though are some nice looking
vehicals...
CMC
> On Thu, 26 Jun 1997 jrmintz@juno.com wrote:
> I am hoping they are 20mm which I plan to use for StarGrunt.
20mm
> has such a wide range of modern accessories. I would just love to get
Speaking of figure size, how do the Stargrunt figures compare with the
1/72 scale modern plastic figures?
> At 01:05 PM 6/26/97 -0400, you wrote:
Thay are actually about 17-18mm. Too small for 20s, too big for
15s. I think, although I would not want to put any money on this, that they
are HO scale, which would be about 1/87th. Blade makes some nice 20mm
SF figures, though, and some very nice resin vehicles to go with them. You
might also want to check some of the modern ranges, like FAA, for Riot
Police--the full face visor gives a nice futuristic effect. In my
opinion. It is, however, over 95 degrees in this room, so my opinion should
not be counted on.
One thing worth nothing, though: I saw a Heavy Gear "Strider" that will be
released this summer, and was VERY impressed by it. It's bipedal, about twice
the size of the typical Gear model, well detailed, lots of guns.... It will
fit very nicely with my 25mm Battletech Kurita troopers. If anybody knows, by
the way, where I could find another box of them, please tell me. I've come up
with a really nice Urban Cammo pattern for them, and I could use some more of
them to make a functional force.
> Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 22:09:48 -0400 (EDT)
It will fit very nicely with my 25mm Battletech Kurita troopers.
> If anybody knows, by the way, where I could find another box of them,
> At 01:05 PM 6/26/97 -0400, you wrote:
The
> infantry did look rather nice.
20mm
> has such a wide range of modern accessories. I would just love to get
[snip]
AFAIK, Blade Miniatures don't exist any more - they went belly-up well
over a year ago (sadly, 20mm SF just didn't seem to be a big enough market to
keep them going); don't know what happened to their range, though it was up
for sale in one of the UK wargames mags some time back; if anyone has taken it
up they haven't got it back into production yet.
Excerpts from FT: 26-Jun-97 Re: figure sizes by John Crimmins@voicenet.c
> Thay are actually about 17-18mm. Too small for 20s, too big
I would... just look at the back of the packaging. I think it mentions that
the minis are HO scale there. If not, it's in the rules somewhere....
> One thing worth nothing, though: I saw a Heavy Gear "Strider"
that
> will be released this summer, and was VERY impressed by it. It's
Oh, boy. There goes some more money.... <sigh>
> If anybody knows, by the way, where I could find another box of them,
Um... try asking your local store to order 'em?
> Thay are actually about 17-18mm. Too small for 20s, too big for
The Heavy Gear rulebook states that the minis are 1/87th scale. p.113
> One thing worth nothing, though: I saw a Heavy Gear "Strider" that
Do you think they have plans to produce tanks and other non-gear armor?
I think I've seen howitzers already.
> They are actually about 17-18mm. Too small for 20s, too big for
Wow.... I got something correct last night. Dress warmly,
people--hell's about to freeze over.
> One thing worth noting, though: I saw a Heavy Gear "Strider" that
> I think I've seen howitzers already.
Actually, I've seen one of the tank models, and it was quite nice.
It was wheeled, if I recall correctly. We do some 20mm post-holocaust
roleplaying on occasion, and it seemed perfect for that. However, thinking
about it now, that was almost a year ago, at an open house that one of our
distributors held, and I have yet to see the model appear, or even be
solicited. There may have been a problem of some sort--you might want
to check with Rafm. The howitzers are out, and worth a look. They seem a bit
big to me, but since I'm going to use them with my NSL figures, I don't mind
that a bit.
> I am hoping they are 20mm which I plan to use for StarGrunt.
20mm
> has such a wide range of modern accessories. I would just love to
Kinda big.
They do fit reasonably well with 1/48 scale, though. Still a *little*
big,
but a lot closer than 1/72! I have a HIND 'copter model I use for a
troop
transport and air support. :-)
Now if only they'd make 1/48 scale armor (I've heard of a few tanks out
there...but very very few...)
Mk
> John Crimmins wrote:
Anyone wanting 1/87 stuff, theer's two companies I can recommend:
First, Preiser. German Model Railway figurines. But also has Bundeswehr
in 1/87 scale, about 200 to a box, every one a different pose. All
waepons are seperate, and include Karl Gustav 84mm RCL, Uzis aplenty, G3
> At 01:43 AM 6/29/97 -0700, you wrote:
> Secondly, RoCo Minitanks. Austrian I believe. Very large range of 1/87
I have a number of Traveller 15mm figures that I intend to use with Stargrunt.
I also have 3 of the original Traveller tanks, and one APC. I needed more
vehicles, so after hunting around I bought some Rocco minitanks. I'm currently
converting them.
The two designs I chose were the USS M551 Sheridan and the Bundeswehr Marder
APC. The Rocco minitanks' chassis pops apart into two pieces. From there, you
can easily lift out the track assembly. With the Marder, I carefully cut away
the short fender that goes along the top of the treads.
With styrene plastic sheeting, I cut two panels to cover the area that once
had the tracks. These panels are ALMOST rhombus shaped. I glued them on with
model cement. I then cut four triangular "end cap" sections to cover the
openings at the front and rear of the vehicle. Using the fender pieces from
the Marder, I cut them down and glued them to the newly created panels,
suggesting that they are anti-grav plates or maybe an anti-personnel
system. I'm now at the point of trimming the styrene, and then filling some
cracks with filling putty.
So far the models look quite good. I can imagine how much better they will
look painted. A couple of tips:
1) On the Sheridan, file off or sand of the rivets on the side panels of tank.
It gives it a sleek look. Besides, I doubt if rivets will be used in the far
future. 2) You might want to mount the.50 MG on the Sheridan's cupola ring. If
so, you might also want to modify it to look "science fictiony".
3) I picked the Sheridan because the stubby missile launcher/cannon
looks cool as an SF weapon. You might find some other tanks that look equally
as good. I found that the Sheridan was an obscure enough tank (which is being
phased out of service) that it holds that all important suspension of
disbelief. If you did the same treatment to an Abrams, for instance, you'd
have to change the turret shape or it will look like "an Abrams with the
treads cut off." 4) For the APCs I chose the German Marder APC (not to be
confused with the WWII vehicle of the same name). I picked the training
variant as the main vehicle, because it's a bit sleeker looking and has a
small dome shaped cupola on top. This vehicle is one of the vehcile
conversions on the cover of the Striker II rulebook. 5) For support vehicles,
I used a Marder with a TOW system on top. I varied the radar to make it more
sci fi, and to cut down the vehicle's profile. I intend to purchase another
variant of the Marder for another support vehicle.
All told, I'm happy with my conversions to date. I plan to paint up my 15mm
figs once I get back from GenCon. The cost is reasonable, as well. While the
Marder with the TOW system was fairly expensive (C$16), the other vehicles
were about C$8. To give you an idea, an airfix model kit costs about the same.
> At 11:11 29/06/97 -0400,Alan Goodall wrote:
8< snip >8
> I have a number of Traveller 15mm figures
Can we still get any in the uk? anyone, please!
> that I intend to use with Stargrunt.
YES!! I want Jon to do the 25mm range in 15mm with supporting vehicles; after
all you lucky Dirtsiders get them in 6mm!!
> I also have 3 of the original Traveller tanks, and one APC.
Wow I didn't know they had done any vehicles (can I get some) Jon(top cat)
Sprayforming Developments Ltd. [production tools]
made in
[prototype times]
'The future is now'
> At 12:31 PM 6/30/97 +0100, Jon wrote:
They are long out of production. I had a chance to get a second APC around the
time that I had the first, but I didn't have the money at the time. I've been
kicking myself ever since. These are big model. The tank is in four pieces:
the hull, the a "cover" for the hull that doubles as a turrent mounting ring,
the turret, and the gun. If you remove the turret and cover from the hull, the
hull doubles as a grav sled (which is the reason I glued the gun to the turret
but never glued any of the other pieces together). The APC looks like a
rectangular box that's been flattened a little so that the sides bow outwards.
The front of the APC has a fairly substantial slope to it, there are doors on
the sides, and there's a boxy little gun thingy on top. The tanks are much
nicer than the APC but they look good together. I wish someone could reproduce
them...