Lost treasure trove of Stoudio Nue mech designs?

[danth]

Discovered this link on toyboxdx:

http://www.gearsonline.net/btech/mechs.php

I've never seen these awesome, Studio Nue mechs before. Am I the only one who has never seen these? And does anyone know if Kawamori of Miyatake did any of these designs?

Here's a sample:

[promethuem5]

The Japanese CBT is ancient at this point, and extremely rare... I don't remember who in particular worked on it, but I think Kawamori or the like may have been part of it.

[F-ZeroOne]

I saw these some time ago, but I've no idea where. I also once saw a copy of the Japanese edition at a UK anime con, but that would have been several years ago now.

[Duke Togo]

We had a thread about these guys a long, long way back.

[Renato]

Well, that's Kawamori's signature on most of them (the little squiggle). Nice, I haven't seen most of these before.

[big F]

Easy way to doge the copyright issues involved with Fasa's orginal line up which robbed from almost all the Mecha franchises of the time.

Definatly a lot of Kawamori-esq designs in there, even the ones with out his squiggle on.

[ComicKaze]

So for someone who has no idea what CBT is...can somebody explain this?

What is Japanese Battletech? Did FASA ask Kawamori to make some designs for their RPG books or something at some point? I thought they just copied them!!!

[miriya]

Wow! Those are some amazing designs. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

[daeudi]

So for someone who has no idea what CBT is...can somebody explain this?

What is Japanese Battletech? Did FASA ask Kawamori to make some designs for their RPG books or something at some point? I thought they just copied them!!!

C.lassic B.attle T.ech

===

When FASA attempted to sell BT to Japan, they obviously couldn't use all the mecha designs that they 'borrowed' from Japanese anime... so they commisioned Studio Nue (mainly SK) to make new mecha designs.

Unfortunately, FASA failed to account for the fact that anime is full of FAST moving mecha, and BT is a very slow moving game. It moved even slower off the shelves, it seems the people of Greater Nippon were not intereested in it at all.

And so those beautiful designs fell to the wayside.

I still say that RTG ought to try to buy those images from FASA for a new Mekton World.

[danth]

Definatly a lot of Kawamori-esq designs in there, even the ones with out his squiggle on.

Yeah, I can totally see it.

So for someone who has no idea what CBT is...can somebody explain this?

What is Japanese Battletech? Did FASA ask Kawamori to make some designs for their RPG books or something at some point? I thought they just copied them!!!

You pretty much figured it out.

Wow! Those are some amazing designs. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Glad to! I never knew these existed, and I knew I couldn't be the only one.

[VF5SS]

Unfortunately, FASA failed to account for the fact that anime is full of FAST moving mecha, and BT is a very slow moving game. It moved even slower off the shelves, it seems the people of Greater Nippon were not intereested in it at all.

Don't forget that all the big franchises had boardgames too.

L-Gaim Macross Orguss

Gundam

Megazone 23

Also the fact that Battletech is kind of a terrible system doesn't help either.

[thegunny]

Also the fact that Battletech is kind of a terrible system doesn't help either.

Yep it must pretty awful to be able to survive basically unaltered for 25 years

If anyone is interested in what really happened with the original designs (instead of just making up stories that sound good) PM me and I'll send you a copy of an explanation that is in the opening pages of Project Pheonix.

[yellowlightman]

Yep it must pretty awful to be able to survive basically unaltered for 25 years

Considering that both Palladium and Dungeons & Dragons have been around for a long time with awful rules sets, I'd say it's quite possible!

If anyone is interested in what really happened with the original designs (instead of just making up stories that sound good) PM me and I'll send you a copy of an explanation that is in the opening pages of Project Pheonix.

I'd actually be interested in seeing that, why not just post it in the thread?

[big F]

Yep it must pretty awful to be able to survive basically unaltered for 25 years

I only loved it for the mecha. Ral Partha was only just down the road from me so I could buy direct from the factory, I just had to wait for the right molds to be in casting. The story books were good and the Tech manuals too. It wasnt until the advent of the PC games and then later and better Mechwarrior 4 that the gaming side of it was at its best. The board game took hours to do and got a bit boring. the Xbox game while graphically good, game play was too kiddie-fied and just plain old sucks.

D and D may also be a bit on the dated side but as hoard of school kids take it up each year and only really requires a pen paper and a adventure book to play makes it sooo much easier. BattleTech needed so much more to make it worth the bother.

Edited June 2, 2008 by big F

[promethuem5]

I only loved it for the mecha. Ral Partha was only just down the road from me so I could buy direct from the factory, I just had to wait for the right molds to be in casting. The story books were good and the Tech manuals too. It wasnt until the advent of the PC games and then later and better Mechwarrior 4 that the gaming side of it was at its best. The board game took hours to do and got a bit boring. the Xbox game while graphically good, game play was too kiddie-fied and just plan old sucks.

As someone who's first foray into miniature gaming was CBT, I agree wholeheartedly with this analysis of CBT as a property.

[VF5SS]

Yep it must pretty awful to be able to survive basically unaltered for 25 years

It has a lot of problems. I think it only got by on the fact that for the longest time, Battletech was the only game in town when it came to giant robot table top gaming. I know messing around with Megamek makes all the flaws seem more apparent when you can just run scenarios without dealing with the nitty-gritty of paper management.

[dominion]

I only loved it for the mecha. Ral Partha was only just down the road from me so I could buy direct from the factory, I just had to wait for the right molds to be in casting. The story books were good and the Tech manuals too. It wasnt until the advent of the PC games and then later and better Mechwarrior 4 that the gaming side of it was at its best. The board game took hours to do and got a bit boring. the Xbox game while graphically good, game play was too kiddie-fied and just plan old sucks.

D and D may also be a bit on the dated side but as hoard of school kids take it up each year and only really requires a pen paper and a adventure book to play makes it sooo much easier. BattleTech needed so much more to make it worth the bother.

I loved battletech and its rules. The paper management could be tedious...but the modability of each design made up for it. Besides, after 1995, I had a windows program that did most of the work for you.

The story line gave a convincing arguement of why the 2 story robots weren't instantly vaporized the moment they stepped onto the battlefield. Unlike what you see in most anime / giant robot shows, something as conspicuous as a 20 ft tall robot would absorb every round until it was a molten mound of goo.

Lastly, I loved the slow pacing. The pacing made you think tactically, instead of running around guns blazing. And in each game, you would have several ups and downs...adding to the excitement and sense of accomplishment. Add a campaign element with Aerotech and Battlwars and RPG stats for the mech pilots...and you were forced to think strategically as well.

That is why I find some newer games so unsatisfying...tactics do not seem to matter. All you do is get the most powerful units and mash them together. I guess I just miss the old Avalon Hill type board games that might take a night or two to finish

[F-ZeroOne]

I always enjoyed playing Battletech. It wasn't exactly quick to play, but it was relatively easy to get a game together with some boards, counters and some pre-made stat sheets.

It also had a very involving Universe, and one that evolved and grew as time went on. Even without 'Mechs, it would have been quite a solid basis for a SF setting.

The Clans threw the game balance out a bit - you either had to be the reincarnation of Alexander the Great or compensate the Inner Sphere side quite a bit to compete - but then FASA had to keep interest in the game going over time.

The difference in the depiction of humanoid fighting machines between BattleTech and Anime is basically that of a difference in perception; to the West until recently a humanoid robot was basically a walking tank, a bit awkward but with massive firepower, whereas in anime mecha have basically always been rocket-powered robot ninja.