2019 Clan Invasion Crowdfunding Campaign
- This article is about the crowdfunding campaign. For the actual product, see BattleTech: Clan Invasion.
The 2019 crowdfunding campaign for the BattleTech: Clan Invasion boxed set was successful beyond expectations, and led to a slew of additional digital and physical products, many of them new and some exclusive to the crowdfunding campaign.
This was Catalyst Game Labs's first crowdfunding campaign for BattleTech, but it was neither CGL's first crowdfunding campaign (they had previously had similar, successful campaigns for other games, namely Shadowrun) nor the first crowdfunding campaign for BattleTech.
Contents
Background
CGL announced on 13 June 2019 that they would run a crowdfunding campaign for a boxed boardgame set that was set in the Clan Invasion era of ca. 3050 and beyond, instead of the Succession Wars era of around 3025 that all previous boxed sets of the game had depicted.
Fans had repeatedly requested such a boxed set in the past, but CGL had been uncertain wether or not it was a viable product. One problem was the high production costs, especially creating moulds for the plastic OmniMech miniatures that would be included; another was that the Clan Invasion brought new technologies to the game which came with a significant expansion of the rules, and might thus primarily appeal to experienced players, whereas previous boxed sets were aimed at new players. By 2019 BattleTech was perceived to be in a general upswing though (boosted through Harebrained Schemes' successful BattleTech video game that had a very successful crowdfunding campaign in 2015), and CGL was also already in the process of redesigning and updating 'Mech art. Thus CGL committed to producting a Clan Invasion boxed set. The crowdfunding campaign specifically sought to fund the 3D models and high-end tooling necessary to create redesigned models of the OmniMechs that originally debuted in Technical Readout: 3050, beginning with a star of five OmniMechs released as the core of the BattleTech: Clan Invasion box set, with additional options available as stretch goals.
Campaign
The campaign proper was launched on 17 July 2019 through the Kickstarter funding platform, and lasted until 18 August 2019. The stated funding goal was only 30,000 US$, which was surpassed in less than seven minutes after the campaign went live. The Kickstarter concluded with $2,586,421, with additional funds raised from late backers. CGL later indicated that they had only expected to raise around one million, and that two million had been their most optimistic forecast.
The campaign featured a number of different levels of possible funding, with various rewards available, drawn from existing and new products. The names of the individual reward levels reflected ranks within the hierarchy of the Clans, as well asa number of other recogniseable terms from the BattleTech universe. The campaign was successful; compared to an initial target of $30,000 USD, the total funding raised was a grand total of $2,586,421 - more than eight times the minimum necessary. During the early period of the campaign, numerous stretch goals were actually exceeded before they could be posted to the website. While some stretch goals consisted of additional physical products, some enabled upgrades to planned products (such as the additional of Elementals to the Clan Invasion Box Set) and others created events.
Rewards
The following products were available through the Kickstarter, either as core items, stretch goals, or add-ons:
Name | Item Type | Status |
---|---|---|
MechWarrior: Legends | Art Book (digital) | New |
MechWarrior: Legends | Art Book | New and exclusive |
Campospecs Unit Art Manual | Art Book (digital) | New |
Shrapnel (magazine) | Magazine | New |
Break-Away | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Den of Wolves | Short Story (digital) | New |
A Dish Served Cold | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Fall From Glory | Novel (digital) | Pre-existing |
The Field Is Lost | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Forging Of Blood | Novel (digital) | New |
Honor and Glory | Short Story Series | New |
A New Game | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Nothing Ventured | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Prometheus Unbound | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Rules of Engagement | Novella | New |
The Spider Dances | Short Story (digital) | Pre-existing |
Visions of Rebirth | Novel (digital) | Pre-existing |
Camospecs Painting Guide | Reference Text | New |
Batchall | Scenario (digital) | New |
Diminishing Returns | Scenario (digital) | New |
Grand Melee | Scenario (digital) | New |
Last Stand | Scenario (digital) | New |
Trial of Position | Scenario (digital) | New |
Chaos Campaign: Battle for Tukayyid | Scenario (digital) | New |
BattleTech Record Sheet | Proof of Concept App (digital) | New and Exclusive |
Expanded Clan Invasion Guide | Sourcebook | New |
Clan Juggernaut | Digital Wallpaper | New and Exclusive |
Inner Sphere Response | Digital Wallpaper | New and Exclusive |
Technical Readout: 3050 | Digital Wallpaper | New and Exclusive |
BattleTech Leather Dice Bag | Accessory | New and Exclusive |
Challenge Coins | Accessory | New and partially exclusive |
Challenge Coins Collector Set | Accessory | New and partially exclusive |
Clan Juggernaut | Poster | New and exclusive |
Clan and Inner Sphere 'Mech Recognition Poster | Poster | New and exclusive |
Clan Daggerstar Dog Tag | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Clan Daggerstar Keychain | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Double-sided Poster | Poster | New |
Faction Dice | Accessory | New |
Faction Dice Collector Set | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Faction Pack | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Inner Sphere 3025/3052 Map | Map | New and exclusive |
Lapel Pin Collector Set | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Patch Collector Set | Accessory | New and exclusive |
Tactical Map Case | Accessory | New and exclusive |
T-Shirt Collector Set | Accessory | New and exclusive |
UrbanMech Plushie | Accessory | New |
BattleTech: Beginner Box | Box Set | Pre-existing |
BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat | Box Set | Pre-existing |
Clan Invasion | Box Set | New |
Clan Invasion with exclusive box cover art | Box Set | New and exclusive |
Clan Command Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Heavy Striker Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Fire Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Support Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Heavy Battle Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Heavy Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Striker Star | Star Pack | New |
Clan Ad Hoc Star | Star Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Command Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Battle Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Direct Fire Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Heavy Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Striker Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Fire Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Heavy Battle Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Urban Lance | Lance Pack | New |
Inner Sphere Support Lance | Lance Pack | New |
ComStar Command Level II | Lance Pack | New |
ComStar Battle Level II | Lance Pack | New |
Battlemat: Alpine | Battlemat | New |
Battlemat: Desert | Battlemat | New |
Battlemat: Lunar | Battlemat | New |
Battlemat: Savanna | Battlemat | New |
Map Pack: Alien Worlds | Map Pack | New |
Map Pack: Grasslands | Map Pack | Pre-existing |
Strana Mechty Battlemat | Battlemat | New |
Map Pack: Tukayyid | Map Pack | New |
Clan Retaliation Pack | TBC | New and exclusive |
Clan Elemental Star | Star Pack | New |
Legendary MechWarriors Pack | Lance Pack | New and exclusive |
Inner Sphere Retaliation Force | TBC | New and exclusive |
Champions of the Inner Sphere | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
Defense of Luthien | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilots I | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilots II | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilots III | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilot Deck: Battle for Tukayyid | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilot Deck: Champions of the Inner Sphere | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilot Deck: Mercenaries of the Inner Sphere | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilot Deck: Warriors of Kerensky I | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
MechWarrior Pilot Deck: Warriors of Kerensky II | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
Warriors of the Clans | MechWarrior Card Set | New |
Fortress | Miniature | New and exclusive |
Legendary MechWarriors Salvage Box | Miniature | New and exclusive |
Salvage Box | Miniature (random) | New |
UrbanMech | Miniature | New and exclusive |
Warhammer Statue | Miniature | New and exclusive |
Alpha Strike: Commander's Edition | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
BattleTech Manual | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
MechWarrior: Destiny | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
MechWarrior: Legends | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Premium Record Sheets | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Reinforcements (record sheets) | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Tactical Operations | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
TechManual | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Technical Readout: Clan Invasion | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Technical Readout: Succession Wars | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Total Warfare | Sourcebook | Pre-existing |
Individuals who backed at certain levels eligible to submit a name for a character who would be canonised in some form in fiction and/or sourcebooks. The higher the level of the pledge, the more prominent the character would be, with custom artwork included at higher levels. It was also possible to purchase the canon character reward as a $200 USD add-on. Those who backed at the highest level were guaranteed that their canon character would star in upcoming fiction, and copy of a free copy of everything produced for BattleTech in the two years following the Kickstarter campaign, including limited edition items. Furthermore, those backers at this level were invited to attend a three-day Catalyst excursion, accompanied by a friend, which included social events, gaming, and attendance at a high-level strategy summit; this offer came with a $500 USD stipend towards travel costs.
A special "What Would Victor Do?" live-stream event was also funded as a stretch goal, as well as a series of four-play Co-Op Missions within the upcoming MechWarrior 5 computer game staring Randall Bills, Brent Evans, Russ Bullock and a fourth, unnamed staff member. Another live-stream event was also funded, repeating the "Beard-Off" challenge between staff members from Catalyst and Harebrained Schemes.
During the course of the campaign, the backer reception to the announced contents of the various Star and Lance Packs was somewhat mixed. This led Catalyst Game Labs to engage in a consultation exercise, announced via the updates page, in which opinions were sought on the makeup of the various packs, particularly from those who were backing the campaign at the highest pledge levels. As a result, a number of the Star Packs which had already been announced saw their contents amended, and three previously-announced packs - the Clan Light Fire Star, Clan Pursuit Star and the Berserker Lance - were removed from the lineup, effectively becoming Vaporware.