Where Dungeons & Dragons have enjoyed over a decade of free publicity thanks to shows like Critical Role, BattleTech’s foray into podcasts and actual-play broadcasts is a more recent phenomenon. Thankfully, the franchise is well on its way to being well-supported in the realm of multimedia productions, and the latest to come out of Adepticon […]
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Spring has sprung itself on BattleTech like a female lion on an unsuspecting antelope. It starts with the KerenskyKon teasers, which set the antelope running. Then, it gets ambushed by another female lion [ed. or ‘lioness,’ as I have been recently informed] that jumps out of the bushes at Adepticon. Then, the rest of the […]
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BungleTech, the podcast about how BattleTech is really hard to play right, is about to embark on its most difficult journey yet. The Global Campaign 2025 will have both Classic and Alpha Strike players alike play through a nine-mission campaign where some will fail, some will succeed, but everyone will undoubtedly bungle something. Most likely […]
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As has become tradition around these parts, we’re starting the year with giving you, our dear readers, a preview of what’s to come in 2025. Or we would have if I hadn’t gotten sick, and then Dmon got sick, and then work stuff just sort of kept us from going over the final edits for […]
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As I write this, dump trucks full of snow haul their icy cargo down recently plowed roads. The ice banks reach up to my shoulders while the bottom half of my window is nothing but mud-speckled white. We are in the deep of winter where I do not go outside unless absolutely necessary. Like for […]
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We try not to get too political in the introduction, but the 25% tariff the United States plans to impose on Canada is quite likely to tank our dollar to the point where it’s going to be mighty difficult to continue purchasing those delightful BattleTech products. Us Canadians are going to have to make some […]
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I think all of us dream of being able to make our own official BattleTech products. Mine would be a box of exclusively bad ‘Mechs, but then the Mercenaries Kickstarter already had the Inner Sphere Security Lance, so I’m relatively satisfied. One person who wasn’t satisfied was Jerry Holkins, also known as Penny Arcade’s Tycho […]
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Do I need to describe the beauty, convenience, and value of HexTech to you at this point? Of course not. I think HexTech has long since conquered the hearts of BattleTech players with its fully painted and ready-to-play terrain that fits neatly onto your hex-based game boards or playmats. But the great minds at Gale […]
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About a decade ago, a group of friends came together to make some MechWarrior machinima, a hobby which eventually led them to create the best BattleTech animations the fandom had ever seen. Hired Steel was so great, it eventually led to them getting hired to create official cinematics for an actual MechWarrior title. I refer […]
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It’s Christmas time, except for those in Canada. Because of the mail strike (which for the record, I totally support), all our Catalyst and Iron Wind Metals orders aren’t going to be here until January at the earliest. So my Christmas isn’t going to be here until next month, but oh boy, it’ll be a […]
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For as long as there has been BattleTech, there’ve been people painting minis. In the earliest days, a well-painted miniature was sometimes the most realistic-looking image of a BattleMech you could get. These days, digital art has caught up with the real thing, but miniature painting has only gotten better as techniques and technologies improve […]
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We’ve got more HexTech to talk about! Gale Force 9 and Thunderhead Studios have been kind enough to send me their latest batch of pre-painted, ready-to-play terrain pieces. Wave 8 brings us yet more additions to the Atlean Steppes, the new autumn-flavored Light & Heavy Woods, and the all-new Sprawl. Volume 3 of the Atlean […]
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Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends! I’m Canadian though, so I’m doing things a bit differently. November has been a MONTH, so I’m spending the last weekend of it up in the wilds of the Canadian North with a select group of friends where I will get totally bent. I will then come back, […]
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One of the Clans we’re going to see a lot more of in the ilClan era is Clan Sea Fox. These industrious spacefarers have seemingly taken over the Inner Sphere, replacing ComStar as the de-facto communications web thanks to their numerous interstellar dealings and have even replaced the telecommunications company’s common currency. That said, we […]
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Back when I was but a wee MechWarrior, I remember seeing ads for what seemed like a heavenly place in Chicago where I could hop into a simulator to truly experience what it would be like inside the cockpit of a multi-ton death machine (or at least, the closest approximation to what that could be […]
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Welcome! It has been a busy month, from a brand-new MechWarrior game releasing to stellar reviews, to many new official product announcements, to a beloved fan-zine self-destructing. All of this happening while in less than a week an American election could spell the end of the Western world as we know it. That may or […]
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BattleTech is a massive universe spanning hundreds of planets with larger-than-life characters, but at the center of it all are the massive walking war machines we know and love. ‘Mechs make the BattleTech world go ’round, and there’s nobody at Catalyst with more passion for ‘Mechs than Johannes Heidler, Associate Developer for ‘Mech Design. They […]
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It’s September, and you know what that means. I’ve been planning on what to do with my grey pile of shame. It has grown exponentially since receiving my Mercs shipment (apologies for the brag to many of you who still haven’t received yours) and so I’ve been deciding on what units to insert each of […]
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Earlier this year, Sarna reached out to Catalyst Game Labs to see if we could interview Creative Director Randall N. Bills. Then Randall decided to jet-set around the globe on a BattleTech world tour, and it’s been really hard to get our schedules aligned. Thankfully, Randall was able to spare an hour just before heading […]
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August has been busy. If it wasn’t a camping trip or a wedding or a Jack & Jill party (which is a weird but fun heteronormative event I’d never attended before) it was disease. I luckily managed to just get some spiteful little bug instead of COVID, but pretty much everyone else I know has […]
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With the rising popularity of tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and the desperation for players to continue their tabletop experience during years of COVID lockdowns, “virtual tabletop” is now a well-known term amongst most gamers. But before Roll20, Tabletop Simulator, and Foundry, a group of BattleTech fans began work on a project that would ensure […]
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Fun story! I got my Mercenaries Kickstarter package earlier this month. I ordered seven Salvage Boxes since it’s the only enjoyable lootbox in existence, and because I wanted to try my hand at getting a few ‘Mechs from other ForcePacks. As luck would have it, the first two boxes gave me the Jenner IIC and […]
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Last month’s fan-made BattleTech Pride Anthology was bigger and better than ever, with a total of 13 stories and one technical readout all with decidedly queer quirks. There’s not a lot of queer representation in BattleTech, so when the first Pride Anthology hit the scene last year, I gobbled it up. The second one took […]
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Hey guys. It’s June. That means several wonderful things. First, it was my birthday. Second, the Mercenaries Kickstarter is being shipped, which is a wonderful birthday gift. And third, it’s Pride month, which means the 2024 BattleTech Pride Anthology is here. It’s the month that keeps on giving. And it’s giving way more than just […]
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April showers? More like May showers. And they’ll also certainly bring hordes of angry mosquitoes even this close to the urban centers of Southern Ontario. But you know what makes inclement weather and ravenous insects bearable? Spirit Cat Irregulars reinforcements! I love all these little guys, from the Crimson Hawk‘s goofy sculpt to the Avalanche […]
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