Forums of the Megaverse®

from today'snewsletter:

UPDATE: Robotech®

You haven’t heard us talk about Robotech® much lately, because we have been secretly working on some big plans for that game line. As you know, I try to keep you informed about everything going on at Palladium Books®. However, sometimes we just can’t reveal our plans or projects for strategic business reasons. For example, we didn’t want a competitor trying to swoop in on Robotech® if we talked too much about our plans. Moreover, we get some fan complaints when we talk about an upcoming project and it gets delayed, or worse, it falls through. We didn’t want that to happen with Robotech®, so we quietly stopped talking about the line but kept working on things behind the scenes. Well, I can finally give you an exciting update.

This week, Palladium Books signed a deal to expand its current Robotech® license with Harmony Gold USA, Inc., including the right to produce and sell pewter game pieces of Robotech® mecha and spaceships. This has been one of the secret projects we’ve been working on for months. Our thanks to Tom Roache, Jon Paulson, Jeff Burke and Carmen Bellaire, along with many others, for their help with our investigation and research on the subject. How soon can you expect to see 1/285 scale mecha available? Probably not until next year sometime. We’ll keep you posted. Sculptors wanted.

cool.

gonna try and pick up plenty of Veritechs and Destroids...
sadly the Zentreadi battle pods and officers pods are probably too big for my needs, but the VF's and destroids ought to be awesome.

and hopefully we'll see some southern cross and new generation era figures as well. cyclones in 1/285th might only be 7mm tall, but it would still be cool to have them and some 18mm tall logans, 20mm tall hovertanks and Salamanders, etc..

I won't buy this product until they produce a Logan, Hovertank Alpha & Beta. I don't want yet another Macross only product shoved out in the market under the guise of being Robotech.

Colonel Wolfe wrote:I won't buy this product until they produce a Logan, Hovertank Alpha & Beta. I don't want yet another Macross only product shoved out in the market under the guise of being Robotech.

I agree, I won't buy the Macross minis until there are some from RM and TNG available. Besides a VHT, Logan, Alpha and Beta, I would also like to see a Red Bioroid with hoversled and some Invid.

Gryphon wrote:7mm?! Seriously?!

I would lie minis, but 7mm might be bit...conservative...

I still buy em of course, but I won't be 100% happy with it.

rule of thumb for 1/285 scale is that 1 foot = 1mm on the figure. so human sized infantry runs 6mm tall, most modern tanks run 9 to 11mm tall, etc. (scale example: a 1/285th scale Flak gun-88from ww2, with crew, alongside a AA battery)

on the other hand, a VF-1 would stand 45mm or more in battloid mode. some of the zentreadi mecha like the officers pod would stand near 60mm tall..
for reference, there are roughly 25mm in an inch.. so a VF-1 in battloid mode would be about an inch and 3/4ths. most of the destroids would end up roughly an inch and a half.
plus, the zentreadi end up at 32mm or so, a bit bigger than the rifts mini's..

basically palladium is going to use micro armor scale, like that pioneered by GHQ, Ground Zero Games,etc.

Seeing the way Robotech has been handled recently, I expect the minis in 2015.

Colonel Wolfe wrote:I won't buy this product until they produce a Logan, Hovertank Alpha & Beta. I don't want yet another Macross only product shoved out in the market under the guise of being Robotech.

What no AGAC and WTH is a Hovertank Alpha & Beta? -jk (I know you meant to put down: hovertank, Alpha & Beta).

I'm holding judgement on weather to buy it until I see how it is being offered. Is it going to be "pure" or "multi-" generation packs. It also would depend on if it's just a "paper weight" or part of a mini's game (with rules).

First, I hope they do all 3 generations, but I am so going to get them!

Alpha 11 wrote:First, I hope they do all 3 generations, but I am so going to get them!

same here

Here's a hopin'!

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here everyone. Let's wait and see IF they come out first.

jaymz wrote:Let's not get ahead of ourselves here everyone. Let's wait and see IF they come out first.

I'm not sure WHy they are doing them at all, weren't we just told that only 20% of fans want minis?

^Yeah, although I think it was 30%? Maybe it was your poll that showed like 70% wanted them

I definitely want Robotech minis, i agree that i would like to see minis of all three generations

Just to point out that if you don't have prototypes already cast / sculpt work already complete on the majority, if not all models, there is no way on God's green Earth that you'll get a mini range into production for market inside a year. Won't happen - you need the prototypes to produce a master mould. Parts cast from that are used to produce production moulds or as tooling sources for CNC (laser scanning) for metal mouldmaking (for injection machines). Do PB even *read around a subject they're trying to break into*? Apparently not.

Sorry but this project seems to have gone from having someone on board that knows the industry to... well, not having someone on board that knows the industry. I am not expecting Robotech minis any time soon. Pity.

I am soooo down for this.... Zentradi FPA - FTW!

I will be buying so many of these...... therefore please make LOTS of Battlepods and Invid Scouts

Gj on getting the license expanded!!!

Can't Wait!

What about the gentleman that had sculpts and such built and approached Kevin about it? He used to have a facebook page too and apparently Kevin turned him down and 2 weeks later (exaggerating) Palladium announces they are doing minis. I don't get it.

I will buy every single one of course, I just don't get why Palladium would start from scratch when they already had an excellent start they could have jumped on.

Concerning the Miniatures and the expansion of the RT license.. There is alot of speculation about what's happening and why things have happened the way they have happened. All I can say is that, there are alot of things being done behind the scenes that will be explained when the time comes. Have a little faith that things are trying to be handled the right way with the fans best interests in mind.
Progress is being made on finding capable miniature manufacturers. There are some big companies interested in working on the full lines of the miniatures in the 1/285th scale.. Sadly upon questioning Fantasy Flight games, they could not commit to the project. I tried to get an introduction set up, but their PR guy didn't go for it...
I'm looking forward to hearing about what happens from Gen Con next week. Wish I could have been there.
Would you honestly think that only a single Robotech era would be covered and not the rest. Sit tight, things are happening..
I for one want to see the Robotech Name expanded from just the RPG circles to Tabletop Gaming circles as well.. expanding the gaming audience will only benefit the players and allow for more expansion of the License and more goodies for you the fans.
Wish listing is welcome and skirmish ratios are a big priority...
Oh yah and I'm still working on all this..
Tom
Robotech Battles: Macross

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:Progress is being made on finding capable miniature manufacturers. There are some big companies interested in working on the full lines of the miniatures in the 1/285th scale..

Has Wizkids/Meca been considered for the Mini's game...? They were working with Hg around 2006-2007 to make a Robotech Clix game.... and the deal fell apart when Kevin Goddard left Wizkids and Topps shut down development... Tom Bateman a former HG employee was working with Wizkids closely and confirmed that they were in the planning stages of tooling designs.

Would you honestly think that only a single Robotech era would be covered and not the rest.

I've been a Robotech fan for ovr 20 years... so YES i honestly think that the middle chapter will be ignored and only Macross era will be completed and sold, the Masters Era will get cancled, and we will be told it sold to poorly to manufacture. This si the line of Garbage that I've been fed by staffers involved in Robotech in the past... that the reason that the Hover tank and Ajax are not getting MPc's is because they sold poorly... items that have not been made sell poorly...

Tom
Robotech Battles: Macross

with a name like this one... I'm not very confidant all 3 eras will happen... when every one of the test designs shwon by a possible manufacturer are Destroids and VF-1's... I have no faith that anythign else is going to get done.

Whats in a name: how about a place holder...
Robotech Battles: Macross
Robotech Battles: Masters
Robotech Battles: The New Generation
Robotech Battles: The Sentinels
Robotech Battles: The Shadow Chronicles and so on..
but you can't continue a project to its full potential when stage 1 doesn't sell.. all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

If you mean at Palladium I can believe it. If you mean in general...you'll excuse me if a guffaw at the notion the powers that be (note - Tommy Yune's bosses not Tommy etc) at Hg really give a damn one way or the other.

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:but you can't continue a project to its full potential when stage 1 doesn't sell.. all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

And yet again, no one gets it. Its almost laughable the amount of naivete and tail-chasing that Harmony Gold and its Licensees do with regards to the property they shell out money for time and again. Sorry, but I refuse to buy only Macross miniatures just to get told off later that "Sorry, but no one really wants Southern Cross stuff".

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:but you can't continue a project to its full potential when stage 1 doesn't sell..

that why "stage" one should include a mix of all 3 eras. Selling only Macross items when the market is flooded with Macross stuff form japan is insane.
as well, the guy who ran the facebook Page for this project closed it down and made a Macross-Battles page, with the intent of marketing the stuff her made to Big West. an action like that speaks alot louder than the faux promises to support that last 2 eras of Robotech.

all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

as Jaymz said, I honestly Don't think the powers at Hg care, or would care if only Macross Minis were made... and the last 2 Eras ignored.

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:Whats in a name: how about a place holder...
Robotech Battles: Macross
Robotech Battles: Masters
Robotech Battles: The New Generation
Robotech Battles: The Sentinels
Robotech Battles: The Shadow Chronicles and so on..
but you can't continue a project to its full potential when stage 1 doesn't sell.. all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

Stage 1 should be Robotech covering the original 3 arcs main units initially. I don't know about any one else, but Robotech to me covers all 85 episodes that is divided into 3 arcs from 1 season (not 3 separate sagas/seasons the way it is currently portrayed).

Sentinels is likely doable, but TSC has so little "new" it would have to be done as an expansion pack.

Mini-Update, August 27, 2012
-Alex has been busy scanning stacks of Robotech® Macross model sheets and references as we prepare for the needs of sculptors and designers to create Robotech® game pieces of mecha and spaceships. He’s got more to do over the next few days, but I’m very happy with our progress on this front.

Another Quick Update, August 28, 2012
-UPDATE: Robotech® Game Pieces. I’ve got Alex scanning more material for artist/sculptor reference. And Ben's jaw dropped when I told him our plans for the Robotech® game pieces and who is likely to be involved with the project.

Wednesday Report, August 29 2012
-Carmen Bellaire dropped by around 10:30 AM. He and I discussed thoughts for Robotech® game pieces and the Robotech® Role-Playing Tactical game, and related game mechanics and product packaging.

This sadly sounds like its going to be a Macross only Minatures game... Looks like I'll be waiting to buy the Minis until after they release models form the later eras.

It will probably go: Macross, New Gen, and maybe Masters will follow - but because New Gen will bomb, they won't.

Tiree wrote:It will probably go: Macross, New Gen, and maybe Masters will follow - but because New Gen will bomb, they won't.

and they will Blame the Master's saga for the lines failure...

Xavier72 wrote:I would love to see them myself. I used to be big into miniatures wargaming and miss painting and collecting armies (my Space Marines and Eldar continue to sit in stasis in my basement). It would be great timing as my son, now 8, has watched the whole of the Macross saga and I would love to expose him to the fine art of painting minis!

They (Space Marines and Eldar) haven't tried to take over your house yet, have they? http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5474237/1/40k-ToyHammer

Jayne_Grimsnawk wrote:Honestly... I'd pay good money for Macross minis, especially a MAC II.

thats an 8cm model... a hefty block of ore...

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

Jayne_Grimsnawk wrote:Honestly... I'd pay good money for Macross minis, especially a MAC II.

thats an 8cm model... a hefty block of ore...

But it would look so COOL!

Gryphon wrote:But it would make a great tangent brick!

The other players wandering off topic again? Whack'em in the noggin with a 2 kilo miniature! BANG, instantly back on topic...except for the guy you just knocked out of course.

*Shrugs*

Casualties happen in war gaming! Get over it!

Agreed,


I want to support the mini's game, and i am dedicated at building large armies for my table top stuff. But i am not half as interested in macross as i am for the generations and even masters.
I want my models unassembled so i can make my stingers my way with less green stuff. I am lazy that way.

I can't wait to get some of these minis. I'll be getting all the macross minis and if get a MAC II I'm gonna flip.

Rabid Southern Cross Fan wrote:

WilhelmRochRedDuke wrote:but you can't continue a project to its full potential when stage 1 doesn't sell.. all the people involved in the Robotech Projects want to see things move forward.

And yet again, no one gets it. Its almost laughable the amount of naivete and tail-chasing that Harmony Gold and its Licensees do with regards to the property they shell out money for time and again. Sorry, but I refuse to buy only Macross miniatures just to get told off later that "Sorry, but no one really wants Southern Cross stuff".

I agree 100%.

I would have to say that I agree with that 1 fellow. In all likelyhood, the only mini's that we are likely to see will probably be all Macross based. I remember as a kid that the only Robotech Toys that I ever seen on the shelves of my local Toys'R'US store were all Macross gen and even then the only thing I saw were veritechs.

FreelancerMar wrote:I would have to say that I agree with that 1 fellow. In all likelyhood, the only mini's that we are likely to see will probably be all Macross based. I remember as a kid that the only Robotech Toys that I ever seen on the shelves of my local Toys'R'US store were all Macross gen and even then the only thing I saw were veritechs.

I ended up with a Officers Battlepod, Bioroid, Dana Sterling, Alpha, and a couple of Cyclones.