This may seem a bit weird, but I’ve decided to leave my safe zone of Battletech and build and work on my first Kill Team and Combat Patrols for Warhammer 40k.
I realize this is the opposite of what most people do. Battletech is the third highest selling miniature line, and has regularly drawn players from the Warhammer community since its last kickstarter was held last year.
So why am I moving to 40k? Well, I’m not. I do intend to keep BT my main game and play it basically every week as I have been. But as I’ve observed the war gaming community more and more, I’ve come to realize that anyone serious about this hobby has at least a toe in 40k. And here in South Florida, where pleasant weather makes demand for indoor activities less, 40k dominates.
Classic Battletech is nothing like Warhammer. Let’s count the ways it’s different.
- Hexes vs. Inches gameplay
- PVC vs. Polystyrene miniatures
- Skirmish-based with high health units vs. army based with low-health units
- $60 vs. $210 starter boxes
- Minimally changing rules vs. constantly changing rules
- Stewarded by small company vs. shareholder-led public firm
It’s the last three points that really seems to bring people in to Battletech from Warhammer.
There are areas where these games match: Space Opera, constant war, vast and lush lore and settings, variety of gaming prospects, huge character and model selection, etc.
And Alpha Strike thins that list down pretty considerably, effectively negating the first and third points and bringing them more in line with one another. As such, Alpha Strike often brings in converts who then move up to Classic, which is ultimately more popular.
By and large, these two properties are about the same age, with Battletech having about three years on 40k. (When ComStar and the Mechanicus are compared, I will often point to this difference!)
So I made the leap a few weeks ago and bought a 40k Kill Team, the Kasrkin, and last night I ordered a Thousand Sons combat patrol.
Naturally, since 40k requires painted miniatures before you play, I’m working through my models and following guides to bring it up to playable. I’m halfway through my kill team and am working through ideas on how to paint my Combat Patrol.
My hope is that by tapping into the 40k community I can bring Battletech to more players, get involved in the community more, meet new people outside the Battletech clique, and hopefully find people willing to play other games like One Page Rules, Malefaux and Frostgrave.
And in the meantime, have some fun. Cause that’s why we’re all here, right?
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