I’m still on the market for a quick and easy way to get my grey BattleTech miniatures tabletop ready. My most recent experiment involved contrast paints, but they seem to be more trouble than they’re worth. The initial coat looks good and makes those panels really pop, but closer inspection reveals numerous flaws that have […]
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Sarna moves! DLC arrivals! Fan projects! Big industry news! It’s a May unlike any other! So much news that I’m desperately trying to keep the word count to a minimum. But BattleTech has other plans. So I’ll stop running my actuators and dive straight into all the BattleTech news for May 2025. Sarna Has A […]
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I know this sort of flies in the face of some very good advice from a certain Hitchhiker’s Guide we’ll talk about later, but the whole tariffs thing made me panic-purchase a new computer earlier this month. The good news is that I now have a top-of-the-line machine that’s going to absolutely crush the new […]
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Did you know the Locust IIC is over 40 points in Alpha Strike? The Fire Moth Prime is close to 30, and there’s even a Kit Fox that’s 40 points. My point is, it’s hard to find a cheap Clan ‘Mech to round out a 200-point Star. Even Elementals are around the same point value […]
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Gale Force 9 and Thunderhead Studios, makers of HEXTECH, have once again expanded their offerings with a third wave of products. This wave is yet more Trinity City buildings, including the Trinity City Megablock, the Trinity City Tri-Towers, and the Trinity City Binary Towers. For those who missed my last review, HEXTECH is a series […]
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It was a busy month! We’ve had AdeptiCon and KerenskyCon happen this month, which means we have a lot of stuff to cover. And since I don’t really have anything else to complain about this month, we’ll just jump straight to the news! Catalyst Announces New BattleTech Products At AdeptiCon Before we get into the […]
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We’re starting the year off with a bang here at Sarna. We’re asking the tough questions, getting the unexpected answers, and determining where BattleTech will go over the course of 2024. I recently sat down with BattleTech Line Developer Ray Arrastia and Assistant Line Developer Aaron Cahall for the lowdown on what’s coming to BattleTech […]
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I’d managed to avoid COVID for nearly three years, but my luck finally ran out just a few days before Christmas. I can now say from firsthand experience this disease sucks. Holiday plans dashed, gatherings with friends and family delayed, and my throat and sinuses are a mangled mess. Also, mint flavors are now… different. […]
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I’m pretty sure I’d like November more if Canada celebrated Thanksgiving this month instead of last. Halloween already sucks most of the air out of October so there’s not a lot left for a turkey to breathe. Worse yet, November brings the grey months to Ontario. I probably won’t see the sun again until sometime […]
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A few weeks back, I spoke with Matthew “Stinger” Cross of Cross Electric Designs. While it was fun debating the merits of the Thor and Thor II, Matt was also looking to showcase his line of ready-to-paint BattleTech terrain pieces. We got to see a few of those in the interview, but Matt was kind […]
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Welcome to another episode of Community Outreach! This time we’ve got someone who’s made truly significant contributions to BattleTech, whether it be model-making, technical writing, or fiction. Matthew “Stinger” Cross has truly done it all, and he’s recently embarked on terrain and accessories for your next tabletop BattleTech game. Together, we go over his prodigious […]
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Painting models is already a time-consuming process. You know what’s equally time-consuming? Making terrain. That’s why I’ve always preferred BattleTech’s hex maps so you don’t have to do anything: just buy the map and you’re ready to go. But dedicated tabletop wargamers just aren’t satisfied with hexagons on a piece of paper (or neoprene if […]
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August has been a trip. I received my first communicable disease since the pandemic this month. It was just a cold, but after having evaded pretty much all infections for over two years, it still felt like I’d been run over by a mucus-filled buffalo. Worse, it came just as I was about to head […]
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Being part of the Mercenaries Kickstarter, I recently got to try out some of the playtest materials for BattleTech Aces, a single-player or cooperative version of Alpha Strike. It was also, coincidentally, my first time playing Alpha Strike, and let me say, I’m a big fan. But I’m especially a fan of the Aces playtest […]
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