Author Archives: Dave Martin

About Dave Martin

Dave is a freelance writer in the tabletop gaming industry and the writer of The Duncan Fisher Minute, a joint project with George Ledoux, the voice of Duncan Fisher. When not getting blown up in MWO, Dave enjoys working on his Clan Ghost Bear cluster.

BattleTech in 2018: Clan Ghost Bear vs Mercenaries

I recently took to the table again, this time with the trusty forces of Clan Ghost Bear. ProbableKoz and I decided that we wanted a bigger Alpha Strike battle, so we each dropped 750 PV on the table. Having just completed my first battle armor project for the Year of Battle Armor, I wanted to […]

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Year of Battle Armor: Unit 1 – Corona Heavy Battle Armor

Late in 2017, I took a good look through the unassembled and unpainted BattleTech models in my collection, and I came to a decision about something I really wanted to see in 2018. One of my favorite parts of the BattleTech universe and game is Battle Armor, and I have collected a ton of it. […]

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First BattleTech of 2018: Republic vs Free Worlds League

This year brings with it new gaming goals and challenges. One of the chief goals that I have set for myself is to properly chronicle and record every game of BattleTech and Alpha Strike that I play on the tabletop this year right here on Sarna. On December 31, 2018, I want to look back […]

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A Short December 2017 BattleTech Gift Guide

At the time of writing, we’re already a couple of days into December, which means time is quickly running out to get some BattleTech related goodies for your gaming buddies, for your significant other, or hey, even for yourself! I’ve taken a bit of a look around, and here are a few good places to […]

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BattleTech Fall Classic – Republic Gunslinger Tournament

Back on November 4th (just shy of five weeks ago at the time of writing) six Middle Tennessee area MechWarriors descended on one location to fight it out in a series of matches that would determine who was worth of the title “Gunslinger”. With the gracious hosting of The Game Cave in Hermitage, TN, I […]

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An Interview with Jordan Weisman at GenCon 50

So yeah, this one is coming is pretty late. I do apologize to the readers out there. After GenCon got really hectic for me professionally, and, well, it is what it is.  At this point, the game has progressed a bit past the improvements of the then new patch that Jordan and I discussed, so […]

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Forging the Road Ahead – Local Level BattleTech on the Rise

Hello, Sarna! It’s been a while since you last heard from me, and so much has happened since I last wrote to you about our favorite game and science fiction universe. What have I been up to? Well, keeping the discussion to just BattleTech, there’s still a lot to talk about. For the past year […]

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Pack Hunter vs. Solitaire – Strength in Numbers, Army of One

In my previous “vs.” article, I compared two second line BattleMechs, the Rabid Coyote and the Ursus. You can find that article here if you would like to read my analysis on the match-up. In this installment, we again take a look at a pair of second line Clan BattleMechs, but these two are very different from our previous […]

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3D Printed Clan Ghost Bear Medallion

3D printing is growing both in the areas of industry and as a hobby. Many tabletop gaming players dream of getting a 3D printer and printing up all the models they’ve always wanted. While that may be possible for some, most 3D printing hobbyists can’t afford to by the level of printer that it takes […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – 2016 Leader Board, Week 6

My local group is partaking in a year-long Leader Board for 2016. Week 6 of the 2016 season kicked off Quarter 2, as players met on Saturday, April 16 for another round of quick and bloody ‘Mech action. Four players descended on the battlefield that day, including a new player who sported the colors of […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – 2016 Leader Board, Week 5

My local group is partaking in a year-long Leader Board for 2016. In cased you missed earlier Weeks, here’s Weeks One, Two, Three, and Four. Week 5 for the Leader Board Season was the last Saturday game for the 1st Quarter of the year, and we decided to cap off the accomplishment with a Mega Battle! The […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – 2016 Leader Board, Week 4

My local group is partaking in a year-long Leader Board for 2016. In cased you missed it, here’s Weeks One, Two, and Three. Real life travel has delayed the Week Four report until now, and as such much of my memory of the Week 4 games has faded. I do, however, have army lists and the […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – 2016 Leader Board, Week 3

My local group is partaking in a year-long Leader Board for 2016. In cased you missed it, here’s Weeks One and Two.  Week Three of the 2016 Leader Board Season was playing on Saturday, February 6. Clans Jade Falcon, Ghost Bear, and Snow Raven were represented, along with Wolf’s Dragoons, Draconis Combine, and Mercenaries. The […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – 2016 Leader Board, Week 2

My local group is partaking in a year-long Leader Board for 2016. In cased you missed it, here’s Week One.  Week 2 of the 2016 Leader Board Season was played on the evening of Thursday, January 21. The Jade Falcon, Snow Raven, Wolf’s Dragoons, and Ghost Bear players were able to make it. Additionally, we […]

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A Year of Alpha Strike – The 2016 Leader Board, Week 1

This year, my local BattleTech group is trying out something new. Instead of just simply getting together for games once in a while, we decided that we wanted to make our games count for something. The collaborative effort that came out of our many emails on the topic birthed the 2016 Leader Board Season. We […]

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Rabid Coyote vs. Ursus – The Second Line Bodyguards

While not as adaptable or flexible as OmniMechs, the Clans as a whole still see the indelible value of standard BattleMech technology. Even in their limited configuration state, when equipped with their venerable technology, Clan second line BattleMechs provide some of the most solid, dependable, and fun designs in the game. From the well-known Mad […]

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One Man’s Convention – GenCon 2015, Part 2

In Part 1 of “One Man’s Convention – GenCon 2015” I focused on my BattleTech experiences. In this part of the two part series, I will share some of my more general experiences, what I want to get out of future experiences, and some parting thoughts on GenCon in general. The General GenCon Experience The […]

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One Man’s Convention – GenCon 2015, Part 1

Another GenCon has come and gone, and now is the time when those of us who attended and participated are recovering from and reflecting on our personal and shared experiences of one of the most exciting weekends any gamer could hope to have. This GenCon was my third in total, over a period of the […]

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Enemy Targeted: Alpha Strike!

Have you played Alpha Strike yet? At first glance, it may be a bit too much of a shift away from BattleTech for some established players to be able to handle. Sure, it simplifies, abstracts, and condenses everything about our favorite game of stompy ‘Mechs and heavy metal mayhem into a neat little package that […]

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BattleTech Hobby Project: XII Hastati Sentinels Lance

Earlier this week I found myself staring at my BattleTech shelf, and the four lonely BattleMechs that I had spray painted with primer and base coated black six months ago once more caught my attention. I picked up the models back in November on a business trip to Fort Worth, TX, and I was now […]

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What If? – The Clans Won the Great Refusal

We’ve all done it. At some point in our lives as BattleTech fans, each one of us has taken a look at how something played out and asked, “What if….?” This series of articles will attempt to take a look at both pivotal and seemingly unimportant events in the BattleTech timeline and ask this very […]

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What If? – The War of 3039

We’ve all done it. At some point in our lives as BattleTech fans, each one of us has taken a look at how something played out and asked, “What if….?” This series of articles will attempt to take a look at both pivotal and seemingly unimportant events in the BattleTech timeline and ask this very […]

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BattleTech Battle Report – The Fox in a Bear Cave

“This is Star Captain Nick Hammond of Clan Sea Fox. I issue a Trial of Possession for your dining room table. I bring my command Star of BattleMechs. With what forces will you defend?” This was the general message that I received from a buddy of mine who had just finished building his first Clan […]

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Have You Visited the Master Unit List Lately?

The Master Unit List (MUL) is a fairly unique resource as gaming resources go. I am not aware of any other game or company that has a database of units quite like it. Catalyst has, free of charge, given us a tool that we can use to research units, find out where to get the […]

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The Clans of Kerensky, Part Three: Call to Revival

This article is Part 3 in a series on the Clans. The ongoing series attempts to cover the impact that the Clans, both as a society and as individual entities, have had on the Inner Sphere, since their arrival in 3050 to the present year of 3145. The series began with Part One: Rise of the […]

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