BattleTech

[Ithekro]

But Robotech does, which started making miniatures that just happen to fit Battletech's scale.

[Chibiloli]

Loophole abuse much?

[Nerroth]

Originally Posted by Chibiloli

Are those Unseen? Thought they didn't have the rights to Macross mechs anymore?

The new "classic" designs are meant to act as a full retcon of the "Unseen", in a way which works in order to represent each unit type while doing so in an IP-friendly manner.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

But Robotech does, which started making miniatures that just happen to fit Battletech's scale.

That depends on who you ask; according to the most recent Japanese court rulings on the subject, Tatsunoko hold the international licencing rights to the original Macross series as a single entity (which allowed them to deal with HG when Robotech was first being stitched together), but not the individual designs (which remain the property of Studio Nue and Big West). While HG claim otherwise, the matter has never been addressed in an American court.

(But even if Studio Nue and Big West went after HG in the US, the result would no longer be relevant to BT - since the Unseen are being phased out in any event.)

As it happens, Studio Nue also created their own designs for the Japanese release of BattleTech itself. But even that art is now technically "Unseen", as CGL avoid using any material which they (or rather Topps, who currently holds the BT IP) do not control in-house.

[Nerroth]

CGL has posted a beta PDF for BattleTech - Combat Manual: Mercenaries, the first in a series of faction-specific* volumes aimed primarily at expanding the Alpha Strike game system.

These volumes seem to be set in the early Clan Invasion era, to match the initial focus of the AS core book itself. I'm not sure what kind of setup CGL may have in mind for other eras later on.

Also, the page introducing the BT setting has been revised, to add a new universe primer and a quick-start PDF for AS.

*If one counts the overall "mercenary" banner as a single "faction", per se.

[Nerroth]

The PDF has been released for BattleTech: First Succession War, a new volume which looks at the most devastating conflict in Inner Sphere history.

A print edition of this volume will be out in the not too distant future.

[GundamFan0083]

Originally Posted by Nerroth

The new "classic" designs are meant to act as a full retcon of the "Unseen", in a way which works in order to represent each unit type while doing so in an IP-friendly manner.


That depends on who you ask; according to the most recent Japanese court rulings on the subject, Tatsunoko hold the international licencing rights to the original Macross series as a single entity (which allowed them to deal with HG when Robotech was first being stitched together), but not the individual designs (which remain the property of Studio Nue and Big West). While HG claim otherwise, the matter has never been addressed in an American court.

(But even if Studio Nue and Big West went after HG in the US, the result would no longer be relevant to BT - since the Unseen are being phased out in any event.)

As it happens, Studio Nue also created their own designs for the Japanese release of BattleTech itself. But even that art is now technically "Unseen", as CGL avoid using any material which they (or rather Topps, who currently holds the BT IP) do not control in-house.

You are correct.
Harmony Gold/Robotech do not have the rights to the images of Macross. They only have distribution rights for the first TV series.

Macross World has a great write up on this issue.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/inde...howtopic=36541

[Nerroth]

Another Kurita-themed book has been released in PDF form, with a print edition in the works; this one is aimed at supporting the Alpha Strike miniature game system (sort of a younger, faster-playing sibling to "classic" BattleTech):

[LoweGear]

For those who may not have been following this:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/xLtlynQrG6c

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

Harmony Gold, just WHY

Here's a link to the actual lawsuit for anyone interested. The lengths of straw grasping that CancerBlight On The EarthWaste Of Space Harmony Gold is going to for this is pure and utter idiocy.

[Ithekro]

The Harebrained mechs don't even look like anything in Robotech from what I see on the last few images in the lawsuit. Aside from being bipeds, they aren't even close.

The Piranha Games ones, yeah sure (that was actually the point of them), but the Harebrained ones...no.

Thought that does explain why the VR prototype I playtested back in the 1990s never appeared. IT was sued out of existence.