Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you don't...

So a couple of things happened this week in gaming. Well a lot of things happened, but I'm going to focus on a couple that have particular interest to me.

It was announced this weekend that the game Robotech Battles that was in the works and I talked about in this post has not got the green light from Palladium and Harmony Gold. John Paulson of Paulson games was told that he would not be used for the project. On the robotech battles facebook page, it was announced that apparently the numbers do not add up, and that while the project may be viable in the future, they would not be using his company. I think this is a great shame considering the amount of work he put into this game, both with starting the rules, and with some of the great prototype figures he produced. I can only feel that Palladium or Harmony Gold, or both, have dropped the ball on this on, and instead seem happy to just let the licence sit there and do nothing.

You can read all about it at his blog robotech battles blog

Keep flying...

There'll always be a place in my heart for Robotech. It's what exposed me to anime and giant robots and started my love of both, and I was genuinely quite excited when I saw this game, and the miniatures it was producing. I reckon that dream will just have to wait a while longer unfortunately.

In other happier news this weekend the the website for Hawk Wargames new game Dropzone Commander went live. I would suggest you all rush over and check it out.

Hawk Wargames

It's a 10mm massed battle game, that has the premise that a lot of the time your forces are being deployed by Dropships (the name is a big clue to this). No more just lining up your forces (though I'm sure there will still be an element to that).

Frankly the pictures of these miniatures look gorgeous, and to those people that saw them in the resin at Salute can testify, they are still just as gorgeous.

I've prattled on about Dropzone Commander a couple of times now, probably cause I think it's worth. You had difficulty getting near the stand, and I think Dave has the next big thing in gaming on his hands. The prices are a bit higher than the rest of the 10mm crowd, and you're looking at £68 for a starter army (which is about the smallest game size), though I worked it out for the UCM army (as they're who I'm interested in) and it saves me £14.50 over buying the bits individually, which is good, and the rulebook is £15 which in this day and age is hardly expensive. So yes a bit pricey, but still reasonably in line with them. Frankly though, if you want nice miniatures, and these are very nice miniatures, you pay a bit more money. Same with Infinity, same with Mercs, and a whole load of other games that charge more for their figures.

Along with the miniatures, he's also releasing a line of scenery in the future, that will be modular double-sided tiles. So you can assemble them in anyway you desire. I think it's a great idea, and looking at some of the dioramas he's created with very little beyond his own figures and the scenery he's made it'll look gorgeous.

The United Colonies of Man on parade

The alien Scourge swarm through the streets of an abandoned core world city

The alien Shaltari invade in force

This and various others show what excellent work he has done, pretty much single handedly. I for one will be getting some.

I would suggest you go to the website and read up on the background that he's created for this, and if you're like me will be left wanting to know more. Speaking to him at Salute, I was very pleased when he said he whole heartedly believes in letting people know who they're fighting with, who the enemy is and why they're fighting.

And if you are still intrigued after that, the man himself will be on Facebook chat on Monday the 11th from 9am till 9pm on Hawk Wargames facebook page to answer questions regarding the rules, the game and anything else I imagine. I might pop on myself.

Mecha Ace out. 

Robotech Battles. Turns out dreams do come true

And who could say no??

So imagine my excitement, when during doing a quick check of the usual geek sites I frequent in the morning to see what's happening, I find out that somebody has approached Palladium about the production of a Robotech miniatures games.

Now for me this is a big thing, Robotech is what got me into anime and mecha, when I first saw it as a early teenager. To me it was amazing, as while other sci-fi shows that were live action were working with small budgets and the limited technology of the time, here was something that showed giant transforming robots, fighting aliens and massive spaceships. What's not to love.

The game is based on the aforementioned anime series (which in itself is an adaptation of the Japanese series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross) and tells the story of the newly fledged RDF, who are Earth's military, against an invasion by the Zentraedi, a race of giant green humanoid aliens. To counter this threat, Earth has developed the Veritech from the technology found when the Macross crashed into planet Earth, while it is being repaired and returned to service. The Veritech fighter allows the pilot to switch from Fighter mode, to Battloid mode (giant robot) and Guardian mode (a hybrid between the two) at will, and as the situation demands.

Anyways, enough of my waffle, here's a picture of two of the miniatures.

One of the human walkers, developed before Veritech fighters, and a Zentraedi Battlepod

From what I know it's going to be a 1/285 scale game, and they currently have a set of playtest rules that are available from their blog

Robotech Battles blog

They've also got a presence on Facebook, which shows a lot more pictures that have been put regarding models and 3D renders that have been carried out for future models. From what I know they've approached Palladium with both these and the current ruleset, with the intent on producing a miniature game, and I believe this has been met somewhat favourably.

Their facebook page, were they are keeping people up to date is here

Robotech Miniatures

I'm really hoping this goes ahead, as Robotech is a big memory for me, as mentioned it introduced to this whole thing of anime and mecha and all those things. All I can do is recommend you check them out and hopefully it'll go ahead and get produced. I've already warned my wife that if it does, I may end up filling our flat with tiny Veritech fighters.

Oh and one more thing, just to see if this can be the next dream to come true

Cause I can dream right...