Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Clearing the air...

This was the picture on my business cards....


Back in August of 2011, the initial "group that got the ball rolling" consisted of me, just me and my Robotech Battles Blog.. I found John Paulson of Paulson Games, when viewing some Robotech message boards and we discussed our separate current projects involving Robotech. His consisted of Miniatures and a game based of another game system and mine consisted of a Tabletop game created from scratch based entirely for the Robotech Universe. I had decided to call around to Harmony Gold and then Palladium check interest and to see what happened. Upon my initial discussion with Harmony Gold, I was instructed to approach Palladium. There was NOWHERE else that I could go to pitch the ideas that I had. The Robotech License is very limited. Paulson Games had called Palladium as well at around the same time which really piqued their interest. I had several discussions with Palladium and they soon approached Harmony Gold with the prospective projects consisting of Miniatures and games... There was a positive response but nothing definite.

Robotech Battles, Is not associated with the Robotech Miniatures Facebook page any longer or are we currently associated with any Macross or Robotech Pages currently out there. There is one exception which is the Robotech Battles Facebook page... (with its current 15 "likes"). facebook page : Robotech Battles

The original (now shut down) Robotech Miniatures Facebook page was created and run by John Paulson of Paulson Games to showcase some early prototype miniatures to get people talking. Early in the project we were going to work together to get a mutually beneficial project running and take it to Palladium for approval. We did. When this information made the Tabletop Gaming news there was a HUGE positive response. As I had stated above, Palladium Books, the current Robotech RPG licence holder decided to look into expanding their license as a result. As the project progressed Palladium made a business decision to not use Paulson Games (John Paulson) for the miniatures. At that time (June 2011), Paulson Games and his amazing prototype miniatures was no longer associated with the Palladium Game Miniatures and/or Game project. This was a business decision by Palladium and it was for business reasons that I cannot discuss.. Myself and Robotech Battles was and still is associated with the original Robotech Project which is now known as the Robotech® Tactical RPG project.

When this all happened back in June, there was a lot of misguided negativity shot at Palladium for their decision. I feel that these responses were a bit premature and there was alot of big picture to look at. Well there are many positive things happening with the project and you can follow snippets from Kevin Sembieda on the Robotech® Tactical RPG project. (as it's now being called). The big picture will hopefully be revealed as things progress.

Robotech Battles, was created to get a tabletop game started, plain and simple.. Miniatures were a second place item which Paulson Games agreed to try to fill.. The decisions that were made in June cut the miniatures side of things out of that agreement. Based upon my discussions with him, John decided that he would still pursue Miniatures for Robotech/Macross. The Second Facebook page, Macross Minis was created at that time to see if there was interest by the Foreign Macross licencees to start a miniatures line. All of this is no longer associated with Palladium, Robotech Battles or the US project that is currently being worked on. I have no knowledge of the status of the Macross Minis project or if it is still a viable project. I wish John well with it if he is still pursuing it. He has some great alternative miniatures and items available.


Paulson Games had a very big hand in getting as many people talking about creating Robotech miniatures and a tabletop game. I couldn't be more thankful for the Help he gave to get the word out.


Currently, there is alot of negativity concerning a Macross only era game or minis. I wouldn't like a limited scope like that either. Whether people know it or not. I have been listening and voicing the concerns of the readers such as yourselves. I can bend an ear or two, so I have stated to the powers that are making the decisions some of these concerns. There are plans to do all eras of the Robotech Universe. Whether they see the light of day is still being discussed. Have some faith that this is a worthwhile project and the fans will be impressed. But ultimately it comes down to the fans. The fans want all the mecha and all the wars represented and they want everything to happen yesterday. SOOOO... Step up give support and tell palladium and Harmony Gold what you want to see. I'm only one person and I want to see all the mecha and wars fleshed out.

Palladium is not the bad guy everyone thinks. Upon looking behind the curtain and hearing about some of the inner working of the business. They are trying to do things the right way and are doing things to the best of their ability to bring out new Robotech material and books in a timely manner. Nobody else could do any better in my opinion.

Currently, I hope that I can be involved with the next stage of the project. My fate with the project is still yet to be determined. Stay Tuned.
Tom Roache

Friday, September 28, 2012

Progress and Who is the Big Name in Game Design


Things are moving now!

Palladium announced that they are working to Nail down agreements with a big name Game design Company for the Robotech Tactical Role-Playing Game. So who do you think is the possible Big Name game designer? Who would be crazy enough to do a full line (in the same scale) of Miniatures.. er uhm sorry  "Game pieces"... I can't say... I want to, but I signed stuff.. Stay tuned to see if Robotech Battles will be part of this endeavor. Since I started this whole mess.. I want to be on the front lines to see it through.. What do you think?

Here is the latest on the game system. Direct from Kevin S.
This week has been jumping with activity on this front as Palladium works to nail down a formal agreement with the force we want behind the design of the game, packaging and sculpting. Emails and telephone calls have been flying, I have a draft agreement to review tonight, and follow-up calls to make tomorrow with this group as well as Harmony Gold. It is an adrenaline rush that should result in products that will wow and delight Robotech® fans of every stripe. Starting with plans to bring you more RPG products and gorgeous 1/285th game pieces for all eras of Robotech®.
Here is the full link to the update:
http://www.palladiumbooks.com/index.php/about-palladium/weekly-updates/625-palladium-booksr-weekly-update-september-27-2012

My Commentary:

   and Yes he said ALL ERAS OF ROBOTECH!!! So Trolls, stop with all the negativity on Palladium. People actually read the comments you write. (I would prefer to read the truth over fantasy..) On some of the boards I've seen a great amount of negativity towards Harmony Gold, Palladium Books and previous Robotech IP projects. This endeavor is NOTHING like what has been attempted before. You can't judge this project from other projects in the past..This is a whole new universe.
The scope of the project:
Minis: (or Game pieces). If the miniatures are anything like the prototypes that Paulson Games created, There are going to be some happy fans.. With the buzz that I'm hearing is realized then the miniatures that we'll get will be better!
The Game system: This project is not aimed at just Role-Players either. When I started the ball rolling with my initial project, I was looking to other gamers for support and interest. I looked at table-top gamers, Board gamers, Anime Fans and Role-players as the target audience. This is not something aimed at just Role-Players or just Robotech Fans. This project has great potential to reach many people outside of the current Robotech Fan base and I hope I can have a hand in seeing that potential realized. Its always good to have too many games to choose from.The way things look from this side of the internet, I betting this will be a great game.

 All I ask, is that if you like Robotech then try to get behind this project and give it your support.. One ounce of support is always better than anything negative.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Um... Yes, big things ARE happening.

I love this look to the RDF logo - It would make an amazing cover... to something


   Ok, so It's been 1 year and 5 days since I started this Blog.. ( I missed my own blog anniversary) and as I type this we've had 15,542 hits on the blog with almost 4,000 hits back in March when It was announced that a Miniatures game was in discussion with Palladium. Many phone calls later my persistence has paid off. There will be supplements to the Robotech RPG with miniatures. In what capacity, you'll just have to wait. until then know this...

MINIATURES ARE COMING and Hopefully things can be worked out for a Robotech® Tactical Role-Playing Game.. It remains to be seen whether Robotech Battles will be a part of that process but I'm hopeful that we can be a big help.

See this great post from Palladium Books on the Subject..
http://palladium-megaverse.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=132936
The new miniatures will not be your standard lead and pewter paperweights from 2004.. Look for some amazing cutting edge miniatures... More on that from Palladium later on as well.. I guarantee 2013 will be big for Robotech Fans

In even better news. I am in the process of getting under license a Gaming Company for my future dealings into the Game development Community. My partner is on board and I'm finalizing the paperwork now. As soon as I speak with 2 more people, things will be steamrolling from there.. Stay tuned.
Tom