Robotech RPG Tactics photos from Gen Con

[AlexM]

Thanks to the fine folks at crittohit:


http://www.crittohit.com/events/gen-con ... ks-day-one




Alex Marciniszyn

[Killer Cyborg]

Okay, those look pretty awesome.

[BuzzardB]

Ill get a MAC II, for sure I will.

[jaymz]

I'll be getting anything and everything I can that isn't in the Battlecry pledge level. At least that way I'll have a unit of everything...

[Alpha 11]

Thanks for the pictures!

[Marcus]

Old school miniatures with an old school paint job...

Not my cup of tea, far from it.

[Spinachcat]

Old school miniatures with an old school paint job...

True. Compared to modern sculpts, the minis look like escaped from the 1980s. But Robotech is a nostalgia product and its being aimed at an older audience who watched the show as kids. There's a literalism and a lack of dynamic posing that strange to see today. Hopefully, the final rules aren't hidebound in the 80s - the initial demos did look like streamlined modern rules.

And I run Beakies for 40k so I do enjoy mixing it up with ancient minis.

I expect we'll see some pro paints online a couple months after the game hits retail. I understand the slapdash paintjobs since they didn't have time to engage painters to do detailed work. But that's okay for an initial demo. Next year, hopefully, PB will show to GenCon will LOTS of boxes to sell and a full cabinet of pro-paints to inspire people.

[Marcus]

Old school miniatures with an old school paint job...

True. Compared to modern sculpts, the minis look like escaped from the 1980s. But Robotech is a nostalgia product and its being aimed at an older audience who watched the show as kids. There's a literalism and a lack of dynamic posing that strange to see today. Hopefully, the final rules aren't hidebound in the 80s - the initial demos did look like streamlined modern rules.

And I run Beakies for 40k so I do enjoy mixing it up with ancient minis.

I expect we'll see some pro paints online a couple months after the game hits retail. I understand the slapdash paintjobs since they didn't have time to engage painters to do detailed work. But that's okay for an initial demo. Next year, hopefully, PB will show to GenCon will LOTS of boxes to sell and a full cabinet of pro-paints to inspire people.

All very good points about Robotech. I think what bothers me most is the basic paint job, which is less than even just underwhelming.

[Mike1975]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126258081 ... 540359845/

[Glistam]

The paint job in those photos looks good to me. I don't see what's "bad" about it.

[everloss]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126258081@N08/sets/72157646540359845/

The Flickr photos look really good!

[NMI]

Have you guys talked to any of the reps at gen con about taking photos? I haven't seen one picture of anything palladium yet on the gen con Facebook page.

There were a lot of photographers coming thru the booth today taking pictures of the booth as well as the booth demo area of tactics, the opened box sets, the displayed unpainted minis and the displayed painted minis.

I don't know who these photographers were or what they were from much less when / where they might be showing the minis.

[Alpha 11]

Nice to see more picture.

[Bad_Syntax]

They aren't done uploading yet, maybe another hour or so, but I'm 99% sure these will be the best pics out there:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wbz8wcjbuyh9g8x/AACpoTVrg0Cv2KiOLElMd2y2a

PB let me pull them out and compare all to a Battletech Charger.

Some could be blurry, I did it with a camera so sorry. The videos were of a demo, but I think they may all be crap so sorry for that.

[BuzzardB]

They aren't done uploading yet, maybe another hour or so, but I'm 99% sure these will be the best pics out there:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wbz8wcjbuyh9g8x/AACpoTVrg0Cv2KiOLElMd2y2a

PB let me pull them out and compare all to a Battletech Charger.

Some could be blurry, I did it with a camera so sorry. The videos were of a demo, but I think they may all be crap so sorry for that.

Thanks for those, good job.

[Jerell]

Stuff is looking good. Seems like I really need to start clearing off my desk for assembly and painting in the near future.

[Alpha 11]

They aren't done uploading yet, maybe another hour or so, but I'm 99% sure these will be the best pics out there:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wbz8wcjbuyh9g8x/AACpoTVrg0Cv2KiOLElMd2y2a

PB let me pull them out and compare all to a Battletech Charger.

Some could be blurry, I did it with a camera so sorry. The videos were of a demo, but I think they may all be crap so sorry for that.

Thanks for those, good job.

Agree.

[NMI]

Have you guys talked to any of the reps at gen con about taking photos? I haven't seen one picture of anything palladium yet on the gen con Facebook page.

There were a lot of photographers coming thru the booth today taking pictures of the booth as well as the booth demo area of tactics, the opened box sets, the displayed unpainted minis and the displayed painted minis.

I don't know who these photographers were or what they were from much less when / where they might be showing the minis.

I been watching the Facebook feed hoping I see something pally related. I figured RTT would at least have a few photos by now. Here's to hopin some pop tomorrow.

Well, we are all somewhat busy working the Palladium Booth or managing the MA GM's, working with customers, potential customers, etc... so I do apologize for not getting up pics for ya as we took them. As I just got back from Gen Con a little while ago and Gary & the PB staff will not be getting home until tomorrow, it might be a few days before a lot of pictures and/or videos start getting posted.

[MADMANMIKE]

I'm working on uploading all of my pictures this morning, will post a link when they're up.

[Mike1975]

Have you guys talked to any of the reps at gen con about taking photos? I haven't seen one picture of anything palladium yet on the gen con Facebook page.

There were a lot of photographers coming thru the booth today taking pictures of the booth as well as the booth demo area of tactics, the opened box sets, the displayed unpainted minis and the displayed painted minis.

I don't know who these photographers were or what they were from much less when / where they might be showing the minis.

I been watching the Facebook feed hoping I see something pally related. I figured RTT would at least have a few photos by now. Here's to hopin some pop tomorrow.

Well, we are all somewhat busy working the Palladium Booth or managing the MA GM's, working with customers, potential customers, etc... so I do apologize for not getting up pics for ya as we took them. As I just got back from Gen Con a little while ago and Gary & the PB staff will not be getting home until tomorrow, it might be a few days before a lot of pictures and/or videos start getting posted.

Completely understandable, I think many have posted pics for you so you should be perfectly fine. A nice video of a demo game would be awesome though.

[MADMANMIKE]

I'm working on uploading all of my pictures this morning, will post a link when they're up.

Okay, all of my photos are up in this gallery; pretty much all of the Robotech RPG Tactics images are clumped together so if you click on the first one in the gallery you can use the navigation buttons to peruse them all.

I only got to take a few images of cosplayers (mostly Star Wars characters for my son), but I also took close-ups of my paper minis on display (there's a Phase World Seljuk mini, all of the freebie sample minis and also an image of a couple of Skeleton Warriors from the upcoming Undead set). Lastly I took a series to document the booth setup, and also a few of the gang.

[Killer Cyborg]

The paint job in those photos looks good to me. I don't see what's "bad" about it.

Agreed.
But I'm not exactly a connoisseur of minis.

[MADMANMIKE]

All very good points about Robotech. I think what bothers me most is the basic paint job, which is less than even just underwhelming.

Please forgive my ignorance of the different ways of painting miniatures, it's never been my cup of tea.. Perhaps you could give a point by point explanation using this image?

As I said, I'm not a mini painter, but to my untrained eyes, this seems far from 'basic'..

[Marcus]

All very good points about Robotech. I think what bothers me most is the basic paint job, which is less than even just underwhelming.

Please forgive my ignorance of the different ways of painting miniatures, it's never been my cup of tea.. Perhaps you could give a point by point explanation using this image?

As I said, I'm not a mini painter, but to my untrained eyes, this seems far from 'basic'..

I would need to see the miniature with my own eye, I'll admit that. But to me it seems like it's basic paint job. Some brushing, maybe a bit shading. It's missing edge highlights and a couple of goes on the red especially.
Maybe less than underwhelming was a wee bit harsh. But it's not a paint job I'd expect to see as demo pieces by the producers.
Does that make any sense?

Semi related: If you are interested in getting into mini painting, I can recommend the guide book from GW.

[MADMANMIKE]

[quote="MADMANMIKE"

Semi related: If you are interested in getting into mini painting, I can recommend the guide book from GW.

Thanks, but no. After collecting dust on my shelf for 21 years I just sold my 1993 boxed set of Warhammer 40K at GenCon Saturday with most of it still on the sprue.

[JimmyB]

Normally I try not to mention other games on these forums, but I think it is relevant here.
I have played both Battletech and 40K since they began. And I love to paint my own miniatures.

It is true these minis are not painted to a 40K standard, which is VERY high. I have participated
in the Golden Deamon Painting competition many times. But we can not use that as a comparison here,
That is a whole new level of painting not seen anywhere else.

If we compare to Battletech though, a game I have loved from day 1, things are much different.
And I know for me, I was not even looking at the Paint, I was looking at the Details.
And when you do that, these miniatures are honestly amazing. Not only are they very detailed,
but because of how they are being made, easily customized.
You could easily build a dozen Tomahawks and have them all posed differently.

I would hope, anyone who made it to Gen Con, and actually got to see what we are getting.
That they agree on this. These miniatures were held to a very high detail. I for one
can not wait to get mine. As for painting, because it IS Robotech, I for one intend to
use a very classic painting style, as I want them to maintain their heritage.

[MADMANMIKE]

Oh hey, Bad_Syntax, I almost forgot to upload this image of you taken by Tom.

[Marcus]

Normally I try not to mention other games on these forums, but I think it is relevant here.
I have played both Battletech and 40K since they began. And I love to paint my own miniatures.

It is true these minis are not painted to a 40K standard, which is VERY high. I have participated
in the Golden Deamon Painting competition many times. But we can not use that as a comparison here,
That is a whole new level of painting not seen anywhere else.

If we compare to Battletech though, a game I have loved from day 1, things are much different.
And I know for me, I was not even looking at the Paint, I was looking at the Details.
And when you do that, these miniatures are honestly amazing. Not only are they very detailed,
but because of how they are being made, easily customized.
You could easily build a dozen Tomahawks and have them all posed differently.

I would hope, anyone who made it to Gen Con, and actually got to see what we are getting.
That they agree on this. These miniatures were held to a very high detail. I for one
can not wait to get mine. As for painting, because it IS Robotech, I for one intend to
use a very classic painting style, as I want them to maintain their heritage.

Just some examples of what can be done with BT styles miniatures:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/226715
http://www.coolminiornot.com/148797
http://www.coolminiornot.com/252164

[Bad_Syntax]

Oh hey, Bad_Syntax, I almost forgot to upload this image of you taken by Tom.

That is my "speechless and exhausted pose!"

I should have my unboxing video up online within a few minutes, though I may have filmed half of it upside down (while I am no longer speechless, I am still exhausted!) and may have to redo it

[godsgopher]

Please forgive my ignorance of the different ways of painting miniatures, it's never been my cup of tea.. Perhaps you could give a point by point explanation using this image?

As I said, I'm not a mini painter, but to my untrained eyes, this seems far from 'basic'..

I'll take a shot at this. I have been a miniature painter for over seven years and even do a small amount of work professionally. I guess I'll go ahead and take the plunge and confess that several of the pieces in the display case were my work as I was commissioned by Jeff about a month before GenCon to complete several trial pieces.

For starters I think the primary complaint here is the over all quality of the demo pieces. We all wanted to see Robotech shown in the best possible light and I can understand how many may feel that some of the paint jobs didn't meet their expectations. With that said let me be clear, I have not seen these demo pieces in real life, only pictures taken unprofessionally. Under the harsh light of a camera even a piece professionally painted by a recognized expert can look rather poor or heavy handed. None the less I believe I do see a number of flaws in the demo piece you have shown.

For starters I take issue with the heavy dry brushing. This is a technique where you load up your brush with paint then wipe most of it off on a paper towel before dusting the miniature with the brush. The result of which is a light covering on all the raised edges which is intended to highlight them quickly. However you can over do this. And I defiantly think the black Tomahawk was over done. Its hard to tell what color its suppose to be, black or a dusty grey.

Second is the lack of any detail work. As I have said I have handled some of these miniatures and I can tell you they are detailed, wonderfully so! Detailed enough that I know some of you are going to find them intimidating to paint. But on these miniatures none of that detail is showing. None of it was specifically painted.

Third. The lining of the miniatures is VERY poorly done. Lining is where you darken every crevice and cranny on the miniature to distinguish the lines. Much like black lining a cartoon between the colors to better define the image. I'm guessing a dark wash was used to accomplish this, however washes go everywhere not only into the recesses. My complaint isn't the use of a wash but the fact they didn't even clean up after doing it.

Forth, there is no highlighting. Even on a table top miniature a basic highlight one or two shades lighter than the base color can be very effective when seen from a distance. That was not done here as far as I can tell.

Now those are my complaints, however let me share this with you. All of these miniatures from the ones on the table to the ones in the display case were rush jobs. Palladium had very little time to get any painting done before GenCon. They also don't have years of experience with miniatures or the miniature painting community. Which explains why an simi-pro such as myself was asked to do some work when I would have recommended one of the big named Pros.

I believe Palladium is doing their best to learn an entirely new area of gaming as quickly as they can. They are in my humble opinion doing good work. And while they obviously have a long way to go they will get better so please be patient and encouraging. Complaining is easy. Being a positive influence is much much harder.

[MADMANMIKE]

Oh hey, Bad_Syntax, I almost forgot to upload this image of you taken by Tom.

That is my "speechless and exhausted pose!"

I should have my unboxing video up online within a few minutes, though I may have filmed half of it upside down (while I am no longer speechless, I am still exhausted!) and may have to redo it

No worries, man. My ride had me leaving early yesterday at noon, and last night I was the walking dead. Still not quite with it today, despite getting my images up (which is actually the only thing I've accomplished today).

[MADMANMIKE]

I'll take a shot at this.

[Marcus]

Please forgive my ignorance of the different ways of painting miniatures, it's never been my cup of tea.. Perhaps you could give a point by point explanation using this image?

As I said, I'm not a mini painter, but to my untrained eyes, this seems far from 'basic'..

I'll take a shot at this. (snip)

Good post and sums very well why I was calling it basic paint jobs. That's what I meant.
But then again, maybe as I had to teach people how to paint miniatures I expect other stuff.