Nerds Excluding Nerds

*authors note* I plan on making a you tube video of this script, but I wanted to get it out there first

So there is a debate raging on in the Battletech community currently, and it is one that seems to pop up every once in a while. Should Battletech be considered a What You See Is What You Get style miniatures game?

The reason this debate has popped up again is three fold. First off the introductory box released a little over two years ago by Catalyst Game Labs contained 24 plastic Mech Miniatures. These Mechs were not made of the best quality materiels but provided a decent visual aid for new players to build interest in the game beyond the box set. There are now mutterings of a Clan Expansion box set to be released hopefully sometime in the next year, that will include more plastic minis.

Secondly Catalyst is working with a second Miniatures company, along with Iron Wind Metals to release relatively inexpensive, High-quality plastic miniatures. These minis are suppoused to be of even beter quality then those of Games Workshops Warhammer and 40K lines.

Finally Battletech is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Between people brought in from the Now Defunct Wizkids Mechwarrior Game, and converts from War Machine and Warhammer 40K, the Battletech player base has increased substantially over the past four or so years.

All of these are contributing to an ever popular demand to make it so that when playing Battletech on the table top, the minis you play with on the table are the Mechs you are actually using. But will this become the official way Battletech tournaments are played?

Before I begin my editorial on this subject I would like to say that catalyst has already officially spoken on the matter. At the beginning of every major rule book they state that the use of Proxies in their game, is not only allowed, but encouraged. While to some this means using any mini for any Mech, many catalyst have taken it a step further by suggesting coins, bottle caps, and even scraps of Post Its for game play purposes.

So really, the debate is moot and we should all give it up, and delay by an infinitesimal amount, the eventual heat death of the universe.

I on the other hand, wish to be a loudmouthed prick, and speak my mind about the practicality of Battletech as a WYSIWYG game.

What You See Is What You Get is a common practice in many table top war games. These range from the Warhammer universe, known for its players strict adherence to the WYSIWYG policy as it is for the expense involved in the game. There is Warmachine and hoards where Proxies are possible but not practical, and then we have a few games like Catan where WYSWIG is necessary but also not an issue thanks to the materials provided in the game.

Battletech however is inherently different. Like other games, the forces you can deploy are inherently fluid, and can even be determined randomly. There is also a hypothetical ideal in the universe that every faction involved has access to any and all war materiels that ever existed in the universe, provided you are willing to spend the right amount of in game money. That means that each nation has access to at least 500 different BattleMechs and over 2000 configurations alone. When we get into tanks, aircraft, space craft, and infantry the combinations literally get to numerous to count.

This makes Battletech unique in that it does not force a player to commit to one nation or faction in order to play. Unlike Warhammer 40K where it would cost a fortune to multi task, or Flames of War, were personal history and nostalgia, along with a love of flavor permit a person to commit to one nation or force, Battletech not only allows but ENCOURAGES the player to play as a nation one game, and then another nation the next.

The kicker is that most of the machines available in Battletech lack serious stylistic distinction. with that in mind, how can you even be certain that your lance fits the flavor of the Magistracy of Canopus, or the Free Rasalhauge Republic . The current bad guy of the Battletech Universe, if there ever was such a thing as a bad guy, the Word of Blake, not only have their own special war materiel, but they also use and abuse war materiel from every corner of the galaxy, even the Clans, who keep a pretty tight rein on their war machines.

The second issue I want you to consider is economics. Again I have to refer to Games Workshops properties in this case. A typical basic unit of soliders, like the Space Marine Tactical Squad, will cost you 35 dollars and buy you ten models. If we go to Iron Wind metals website, we find that the same amount of money will by you anywhere from 2 to 5 models depending on what you purchase. While a typical Battletech game is four Mechs on four Mechs, thus making this price point not a problem, it does not change the fact that you, under a WYSIWYG game would be forced to use those same four Mechs over and over. Then what happens if you want to use two of the same Mech in a game but do not have two of that Mechs miniature? Suddenly a game that is well designed for players on a budget becomes really expensive really fast, all because of the demands of a few nerds that do not care about thier credit score.

Now a Typical WYSIWYG player’s response is “man up, you are supporting the game.” I tend to hear this mostly from Games Workshop converts. This is where I want to point out that that statement is only half right. Battletech is produced, on a very real basis, by two separate companies. Catalyst game labs produces the rules, art, and fiction for the universe. A second company Iron Wind Metals, produces the Metal Miniatures for the game. Now I am a fan of both companies… But I would argue you support the GAME more by purchasing Catalysts books and rules then Ironwinds Minis. In either case Catalyst makes money from the purchase of either, thanks to License agreements, but the “man up” argument deserves a counter

After a 1100 dollar a month mortgage payment nearly 400 in associated bills (gas power water) and 200 in groceries, I have around 200 dollars a month in “free” cash, and on occasion that has to go towards things like buying clothes for my wife, son and myself, or fixing a car, house etc. I also have other hobbies like Video games and movies to feed, and a credit card I need to pay off. Sometimes “supporting the game” is a secondary concern.

It should also come to light that you are only really supporting the game if you buy from your game store or from Iron Wind directly if you buy minis. Purchasing from ebay, particularly older or out of date miniatures, usually means that Catalyst (or its predecessors FASA or Fanpro) already got their money out of it and you are lining a third parties pocket. Compund that with the fact that catalyst makes its money from the Game Books, and only gets a small residual from Miniatures sales, THAT argument is false out the gate.

Another piece to consider is a small bit of technology in the Battletech universe called Omni-Tech. First introduce by the Clans in 1991, Omni-Mechs, and later Omni-Tanks, and Omni-fighters (and to a limited extent Omni Battle Armor) gives a war machine completely modular capability, permitting a the same machine to be outfitted one way, and then over night be deployed with an entirely different load out the next day, much like how an F-15 can be equipped as a light bomber on one sortie, then an Air Superiority fighter the next. Under this prevalent technology, some players would either have to have upwards of nine copies of a single Mech to cover every different configuration of an Omni-Mech, and then need to do it twice or three times in case they want to field more then one of those Mechs.

As well there are variations of non OmniMechs that are done in factory (or sometimes jerry rigged in the field) are you going to force me to SHOW you that that Hammerhands mini is in fact the 5D as opposed to the 3D model? WYSWIG Gamers usually will bend about this and say “only so far as the base chassis.” But I call that a cop out to promote their ideology. But then the problem is compounded by another issue. There are many miniatures that have been out of production for years, sometimes over a decade. There are also several other designs that have been taken out of production, so that purchasing new means having to pay a premium.

Well what if I wish to play with one of these designs? Am I shit out of luck because I was not into the miniatures side of the hobby back then? If you allow me to sub, lets say a Dervish mini to represent an Apollo, then the whole WYSIWYG argument goes out the window to demanding that you play with miniatures only instead of paperboard cutouts, and that is another debate all together.

If all of these concerns were not enough, I have a practical matter for you. Battletech Minis are both fragile and heavy. I have lost count how often I have had to glue on the same damned arm to a Berserker mini of mine. Figuring out how to store and transport minis is a pain in the ass and carries its own expense with it. I for example have literally more Mechs then I have items to hold them in. Some are languishing in foam lined cardboard boxes as a result. I am not proud, but I have run out of materials to put them in. In a WYSIWYG play environment, the problem becomes compounded because I will need to haul it all to location A, in case I want to play a particular Mech on a last second whim.

For me the bottom line in the WYSIWYG debate is simple. We have a side of the Battletech player community who wants to show off their toys, and compare them to other peoples. It is part of the imaginary ownership that players and fan of any universe claim when they adhere to their random form of nerdness, and their desire to be offended that others do not take it seriously. The next step from WYSIWYG will be players demanding that other players claim ownership of a particular faction in the universe (where there are over 50 recorded factions alone), and then after that would be claiming and painting all of your minis in a particular military unit within the faction. While the argument is incumbent on the slippery slope fallacy, I would like to think I had already addressed well and good the ridiculousness of the issue at hand in order to indulge in it.

My personal take on the whole issue is this. Nothing supports a game better then playing it. That means butts in seats, dice in hand. Whether it is with miniatures, cardstock cut outs, or bottle caps and bobby pins I don’t care. Battletech is a game designed to be as simple or as complicated as you wish, so there is no real sense in trying to be exclusionary when someone wants to play the game with you, but has not shown the same kind of commitment you have. You could be missing out on making a good friend, or at the least a hell of a challenging game.