Thursday 17 November 2016

QKD-4G Quckdraw and a thought or two.

You are right I am not painting much this week. But here at least is another Battletech mech the 60 ton Heavy, Quick draw.  As heavy mechs go this is a fast mech with jump capability. But in order to get the speed and the jumps it does sacrifice armour and to some extent heavy weapons. I must admit I have never played against or piloted one of these beasts however here are my thoughts on it. Yes it is fast and that is in my opinion its best feature as it should allow it to always get shots on target and to some extent stay out of trouble.  But the jumps and the speed do come at a cost. And this time the cost is in armour. For a heavy mech it is quite lightly armoured and the medium lasers also mean it is lacking a knockout punch. While it does have a long range missile system (LRM 10) with only 12 shots in it's holster for this it will want to close quickly. Within 9 hexes it has a short range missile system, thet you want to fire at every opportunity because you have 25 shots close in. But the main weapons are 4 medium lasers. Medium lasers are an OK weapon but they only do 5 points of damage with each hit and as each hit will probably hit different areas of an opponent they will most likely get soaked up by armour. At least in the early part of any game. Additionally fast moves and jumping and medium lasers can lead to this mech overheating. Which is the consequence of having a heavy mech that can jump. We all like to pull off "Death From Above" jump attacks on enemy mechs and this does have the speed and jump ability able to do that but that tactic is fraught with danger. So unless you have a player who is a good pilot and knows how to carry out attacks like that I really would not recommend this mech.

A change of direction perhaps (but only a little change)

So that is my giant robot fix for today. But I am not yet finished with sci fi! I have been a little down in the dumps of late and lacking motivation. But I did speak to a neighbour yesterday and they did cheer me up. And that got me thinking.  I do like 1/300th scale, and I do like Science fiction games. yet in all my life I have never collected a 6mm sci fi army! What is more I also Know Tony in Brigade Models (LINK) and see no reason that should not be a place to start and look for a game.
I was going to have a quick poll on the blog (I do enjoy them) asking what kind of world I should set the game in. However I have already decided that a snow/ice world would suit me best. Why a snow planet? Well firstly there are no trees, secondly hills and cliffs and other snow terrain is easy to build. Oh yes it is! Additionally I rarely see games set on snow planets so I am seriously now looking at this as an idea. I see it as being a game I can transport easily (1 or 2 A4 box files.) be fairly cheap and a good stand by game at the club. Rules wise (someone always asks) I am looking at "Future War Commander" as I already have those rules and they should give the kind of game I am thinking of. And just to put the icing on the cake the local games shop actually stocks (some but not all) Brigade Models so I can if I choose pick up a pack every now and again.

Thanks for reading the waffle I will have some historical figures on the blog soon. I hope to finish some Burpas by Sunday at the VERY latest.

All the very best Clint.



24 comments:

  1. 6mm SF is great fun. I will watch with great interest!

    I have been holding onto my large collection for decades - I know I'll find another opponent one day :-)

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    1. Thanks Paul. I can clearly see brigade is he way to go and the terrain should be straight forward at 1/300th scale. Cheers for the boost.

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    2. Don't overlook GZG either Clint - they have lots of complimentary offerings that mix well.

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    3. I have a list of 6mm sci fi companies. Thanks mate

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  2. I still have a couple of mechs around here someplace. I always liked the game, I think it was either first edition or second????

    Ian

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    1. Thanks Ian I still have 1st edition, but this mech is from the 25years on addition. Although the stats are 1st edition.

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  3. I like the idea and look forward to seeing it's development, look after yourself cat herder!

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    1. Thank you Fran. I feel I will start on this soon. I already have the ideas bouncing around in my empty head.

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  4. You have done a very good paint job on the Quick-draw but it is not a Mech I'm very fond of. I have fought against one before and its lack of armour made it an easy target, despite its speed.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. At 60 tons you do need armour more than speed. Never seen one on the table but your conclusions make a great deal of sense.

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  5. I do enjoy both your painting and thoughts concerning Mechs Clint, and this posting doesn't disappoint in either regard. Looking forward to seeing your 6mm project - as long as it doesn't prove too tempting ;-)

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    1. Thanks Blax, I will of course make it as tempting as possible. I think I may start it this weekend as well.

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  6. Cool (sorry, no pun intended!). Look forward to seeing an ice setting and sci fi...reminds me of a certain film from the 70's

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    1. Thanks Lee. While I suspect you mean the Ice Planet Hoth, my mind first went to the Kurt Russel film of "The Thing". Which shows you how messed up my mind is!

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    2. I like your thinking, Clint!

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    3. Thanks Bryan. It is a good film and strongly reminds me of my youth.

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  7. An ice planet would be a massive cost saving, all that terrain that you don't have to buy!!

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    1. Thanks Ray. The hard part is making either a matt or a board. But I think I have that sussed. I think a single bed sheet from Wilkos will be cheap enough and then with either ink or dye or even spray paints I can colour it. Got to be worth a try.

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  8. Excellent 1:300 in a great scale, and we really enjoy Blitzkrieg Commander so on the assumption they are the same family the rules will be great, and easy. A new collection a new period and a new planet.......must be fun😀

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    1. Thank you Matt. I also have BKC and FWC is just about the same but with things like hover and grav vehicles as well as robots, cyborg Terminators, bugs and yes even OGREs, for the Steve Jackson fans. And Blower tanks for Hammers slammers players.

      I have already had a rummage in my unpainted figures box and found some 6mm sci fi trucks from Brigade and I think they will be the start.

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  9. That's a mighty fine giant robot Clint and what better way to lift the spirits than to start a new project - works for me!

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  10. An interestingmech, but imo badly designed,; I doubt I'd be jumping anywhere with it!

    6mm Sci Fi then? Not before time yu had another project! (teehee)

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    1. Thanks Joe. I think this will be a swift project. Many projects I start and come back to years later. So no start is ever wasted but some projects have a LONG gap in between.

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