The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the forests are all on fire. Welcome to summer in 2023! Not only is it the season of sun, sand, and swimming, but it’s also the season of BattleTech! We’ve got a DropShip load of art, stories, videos, and news from across the Battletech universe, but we’re going to kick things off with a world first for the franchise.
Queer And Allied Writers Bring Us BattleTech Pride 2023 Anthology
June is the month of Pride, and to celebrate BattleTech being for everyone, several LGBTQ+ BattleTech writers got together to produce an anthology of short stories revealing that queerness does indeed exist in the 31st and 32nd centuries. Robin “Valk” Briseno, Albert “Blundering Albatross” Ross, Allen “Highmont” Nickloy, Detocroix, and Russel Zimmerman all contributed their works, with a forward provided by authors Bryan Young and Michael A. Stackpole. That incredible Bullshark cover art was provided by the talented Samantha Richardson, and there’s even more interior art courtesy of VersusJordan.
I won’t get into any spoilers, but I will say that all five of the short stories you’ll find within are entertaining in their own unique ways--just like Pride should be. Not all of them are about MechWarriors. Some don’t even portray MechWarriors in a particularly flattering light. Even still, I ate this anthology in an afternoon and enjoyed every page.
Up until Fox Tales and The Nellus Academy Incident, I’d never read about an even tangentially queer story set in the BattleTech universe. That’s not to say that BattleTech didn’t still speak to me, but the predominantly hetero-centric motivations for its characters certainly didn’t. Something like this though, makes me think that BattleTech is for everyone.
Best of all, the BattleTech Pride Anthology is 100 percent free. Head on over to Itch.io to download the anthology in your preferred file format.
Pride Anthology Causes Major Shakeup In BattleTech Reddit (And Opinion)
Now that we’ve gotten the Pride Anthology out of the way, let’s talk about the unfortunate fallout that the Pride Anthology caused on the BattleTech subreddit. This is both a longer story and a bit personal, so consider this in lieu of the usual opinion piece.
It’s no secret that I’m a frequent visitor of the BattleTech subreddit. I’m honored to have had Redditors repost the Bad ‘Mechs series there, and I’ve always loved looking at the various miniatures and personal projects shared by BattleTech fans. And while the rest of my Reddit feed always broke out into rainbow colors every June, the BattleTech sub remained chromatically muted.
For years, I thought nothing of it. I just assumed that there wasn’t a whole lot of overlap between the queer community and BattleTech. It’s only in the past year thanks to sites like Discord and Twitter that I’ve discovered there’s actually quite a vibrant and active queer community that loves its big stompy robots as much as I do. But even that wasn’t enough to get me to suspect something was up with the BattleTech subreddit.
It wasn’t until the Pride Anthology came along that I found out what was actually going on. It turns out the BattleTech subreddit moderators had been trashing any posts having to do with Pride or LBGTQ+ themes. Any rainbow-colored minis, any Trans flags flown on a Timber Wolf‘s arm, or any discussion at all about homosexuality in the BattleTech universe was effectively banned on the BattleTech subreddit.
We’d never would have found out if it wasn’t for the big splash made by the Pride Anthology. Only after several Anthology posts got removed did folks notice that it wasn’t just the Anthology that was having trouble sticking to the BattleTech subreddit. Eventually, the moderators came clean and provided a curiously tone-deaf explanation as to why the BattleTech Pride Anthology wasn’t worthy of the BattleTech subreddit.
According to Mr_Severan, one of the now-former BattleTech subreddit moderators, any queer content (including the Pride Anthology) broke Rule 1, which forbade any discussion of “real world politics.” Apparently, the existence of LGBTQ+ people was considered too political, and the moderators were instructed to remove any posts that even smelled slightly gay. I’m not even going to get into the bizarre 1988 excuse, as though queers didn’t exist before or after that year.
The post is now deleted, but I’ve read it, and it’s all garbage; that’s probably why it was deleted. And to his credit, Mr_Severan has since admitted such and apologized. But it served to further galvanize the queer BattleTech community, who brought the controversy to the attention of Catalyst Game Labs. Anthology author Rusty Zimmerman, alongside CGL community and marketing director Rem Alternis, went to the heroic effort of setting up an entirely new subreddit called r/OfficialBattleTech over the course of a single night in order to both distance the brand from the toxic moderation policies of r/BattleTech and to provide a CGL-approved presence on Reddit.
And for a while, r/OfficialBattleTech was the queerest subreddit I’d ever seen. Every post was a rainbow-colored ‘Mech or a King Crab in trans colors that said “This machine stomps fascists.” It was beautiful. I’d never felt more like a part of a community than during that single weekend when r/OfficialBattleTech was operational.
The subreddit didn’t last very long, and that’s because the owner of r/BattleTech, ddevil63, returned from a 15-year exile to boot the entire moderator team that had been screening queer content.
“I originally created r/battletech 15 years ago because I wanted a place to talk about Battletech on Reddit,” wrote ddevil63. “I have not been active as a moderator or contributor but I regularly read posts and comments. Yesterday was when I became aware of the removal of the Pride Anthology post and the rightfully deserved backlash. I have no moderation or community management experience but I’m trying my best to right any wrongs.”
In an AMA over on r/OfficialBattleTech, Catalyst reps including BattleTech line developer Ray Arrastia revealed they were in contact with ddevil63 to discuss the future of the two subreddits. It was eventually decided that the two subreddits would merge, with r/BattleTech becoming the official subreddit of BattleTech on the site. Additionally, a new set of community guidelines were established, among them being the number one rule from r/OfficialBattleTech: “BattleTech is for everyone.”
The thing that stuck with me through the whole ordeal is how it made me realize silencing all discussion of anything LGBTQ+ related really made me think that there wasn’t a single queer BattleTech fan out there in the whole universe. For years, I thought it was just me. It drove home how effective silencing discussion of LGBTQ+ concepts can be at isolating people; at making them feel sad and alone even when it’s about something that should be fun and inclusive.
I’m glad this story had a happy ending. Color has returned to the r/BattleTech subreddit, and while it doesn’t have quite the same number of pride flags being flown by Atlases, Centurions, and Elementals, I still see them often enough to be reminded that BattleTech really is for everyone.
However, there are lots of places that aren’t having a happy ending this Pride. Laws are being signed throughout the US that prohibit the display or discussion of LGBTQ+ concepts, which will have an equally isolating and harmful effect on queer people--especially children. It’ll also be a lot more destructive than just a bunch of mods removing Pride posts on a subreddit. That’s why it’s important for us to talk about these things here, now, so that nobody is made to feel alone.
And to anyone who wants to argue that the existence of LGBTQ+ people is “too political” for a BattleTech news blast, I can comfortably say you’re wrong. It’s never too political to stand up for what’s right.
Happy Pride everyone.
Mod Brings Back Ejection Seats To MechWarrior 5
Something incredible has happened! MagnumGB has made an ejection sequence and reactor explosion mod for @MW5Mercs. Here's a short demonstration coupled with the MW2 Betty mod I made #mechwarrior #battletech #imejectingejectingejecting pic.twitter.com/XnaCJR8DgQ
— Art of Battletech & Mechwarrior (@ArtofBattletech) May 31, 2023
Ever since the very beginning of MechWarrior, a downed ‘Mech didn’t necessarily mean a dead pilot. More often than not, pilots would eject from their doomed machines to fight another day. Get knocked down in MechWarrior 2 or MechCommander, and you’d be treated to an ejection seat rocketing away. Usually.
MechWarrior 5, however, assumed that you turned your ejection system off for some reason. Your ‘Mech being downed meant you died and the mission would have to be restarted.
This mod doesn’t stop you from having to restart the mission, but MagnumGB has given MechWarrior its ejection seat back. As you can see in the video above, getting your ‘Mech shot out from under will result in a rocket literally being fired under your ass. Rhiana will then call for recovery teams which will hopefully find you before an errant autocannon round punctures your parachute.
You can find this mod over on MechWarrior 5‘s Steam Community Workshop page as well as Nexus Mods (eventually).
The Chimera Leaps From MechWarrior 4 To 5 Thanks To Mod
The Chimera, my latest classic mech mod is now out for Mechwarrior 5. This marks the 11th classic mech mod that I’ve made, so if you want to support me doing more, I’ve launched a Patreon to help motivate me to continue the modding work https://patreon.com/CelestialMechWorks
by u/BoukObelisk in Mechwarrior5
I can’t say the Chimera was my favorite medium ‘Mech to come out of MechWarrior 4, but it was fast, came with a big MRM-20 that was a lot of fun, and was a reasonable choice to give to your lancemates early in the game. And now you can do the same thing in MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries thanks to this mod from Pawel Czarnecki and SankaraSamsara.
As with last month’s Argus mod, Pawel Czarnecki made the model while SankaraSamsara did everything else. And as with the Argus mod (as well as SankaraSamsara’s other mods, including the Hellbringer, Summoner, Mad Dog, Timber Wolf, Hellcat, Stone Rhino, and more), your best bet to find this ‘Mech without touring the entire Inner sphere is to download and make use of the ‘Mech Delivery mod, something I sincerely hope gets incorporated into the base game eventually.
Download the Chimera Mod on either Nexus Mods or MechWarrior 5’s Steam Workshop page.
A Sunset For A Wolf
Before the r/OfficialBattleTech subreddit was taken offline, there was a flood of posts as CGL tried to get the word out to the community. Now that it’s gone, some of these posts will sadly be lost. Luckily, I’ve snagged a few choice pieces before they went back to being merged.
This one from Wild-Cat 144 is great because it shows a Clan Wolf MechWarrior wearing a bikini and perhaps the worst Mad Cat variant of them all, the Timber Wolf Alt. Config B. If I recall correctly, some MechWarriors got into their ‘Mechs wearing nothing but a cooling vest. Food for thought.
Lincoln Osis Says Screw Your Holotable!
Poor Lincoln Osis. It would be many years since his Clan Smoke Jaguar days before he’d see another victory, but we can always remember his goatee, cape, and dreamy mohawk hairdo. Too bad about the table.
This post came courtesy of Sharlink648’s artist friend. Thanks to you both!
A Lance At War
We also have this incredible piece from artist William Liu. This is clearly a lance making a fighting retreat as that Leopard DropShip comes in to whisk them all away from whatever it is they’re blasting. Also, that Locust can jump, which is notable as I can recall not a single Locust variant that has jump jets.
Catapult Says Trans Rights
https://twitter.com/ArtofBattletech/status/1666140608748978188
The Art Of BattleTech (aka SankaraSamsara) also gave us a mod for MechWarrior 4‘s Catapult model, but I’m less excited for that as MechWarrior 5 already has the Catapult. This one is painted in Trans colors though, so it gets a nod. Pride and all.
What If The Steiner Scout Squad Came In A Sticker Pack?
Finished the #SD AS7-D Atlas from #battletech! Smol scouts deserve to exist, so that's exactly what I did. #art #chibi #mecha #mechwarrior pic.twitter.com/5znFlefS6i
— EEE_V (Am a hobby page at the moment) (@Erikaceous_VT) June 7, 2023
It would probably look a lot like this. Koodos to @Erikaceous_VT on Twitter for this incredible image that seems like it’d make a great avatar for various messaging apps. Maybe even turn it into a gif for a Steiner Scout Squad emoji pack. A guy can dream.
A Slightly More Anime Phoenix Hawk
There’s a little bit of irony here as the Phoenix Hawk design originally came from anime, but I had to make sure geergutz’s latest commission made it into the news blast somehow. Don’t think the machine guns were mounted in the torsos, though I do love the way ammunition is being fed in from the gantry.
Gamma Regiment Takes No Guff
Artwork commission by @AdventuringZone of the character Wilhelmina Korsht of Wolf's Dragoons Gamma Regiment by Tan Ho Sim. Huge thanks to @AdventuringZone for sharing it with the #Battletech & #Mechwarrior community! pic.twitter.com/3WKb8jxzOn
— Art of Battletech & Mechwarrior (@ArtofBattletech) June 12, 2023
Can we have more art? Of course we can. This one comes by way of Art of BattleTech but it was commissioned by @AdventuringZone. It features Wilhelmina Korsht of Wolf’s Dragoons Gamma Regiment as drawn by Tan Ho Sim. A stunning level of detail is to be found here, from the lens flare to the painstaking recreation of the new Marauder II sculpt.
A Lego Marauder That Won’t Break Your Coffee Table
I heard you guy appreciated lego mechs. I present to you my latest build. The Marauder II MAD-5A. Hope you all like it.
by u/MoonBoots2077 in OutreachHPG
We all love a good Lego ‘Mech, and MoonBoots2077 has delivered unto us a Marauder MAD-5A that won’t break the metaphorical bank. Hansen’s Bricks are great, but some of those models are absolutely enormous and will shatter your coffee table if not your wallet. This one seems like it’ll fit neatly on a hanging shelf and won’t require a kidney to buy online.
Someone Turned Bad ‘Mech Articles Into An Audiotale
Apologies to Shrapnel of Battletopia, who has apparently been narrating BattleTech short stories for a while now, but I only just recently found out about his work after it was pointed out to me that he’d taken two Bad ‘Mechs articles and turned them into brief audioplays. That means they have sound effects, music, and production values that go way beyond your average audiobook.
My first time hearing the Hellbringer piece was absolutely surreal. I never really write the little vignettes at the beginning with any thought towards anything other than text, and actually hearing it work out with a bit of editing and voice acting was very cool. I think the Whitworth piece is even better just because there’s a lot more action involved, but they’re both quite excellent. Here’s hoping the Scorpion is next!
Oh, also, the Mauler is still bad.
Robber Baron LAM Gives Me Strong Crimson Skies Vibes
I believe i'm finally finished with the homebrew Robber Baron LAM i've been working on for some time now.
Quite happy with how it turned out in the end.#Battletech #3dart pic.twitter.com/X2XusxEAQr— Juodas Varnas (@st0rmeris) June 15, 2023
At first, this was one of those “thanks I hate it” posts, but then I kind of thought about it for a second and decided that I actually love it. If you were to turn an Assassin into a LAM, this is exactly what it’d look like. Plus it sort of seems like it’d be right at home in the Crimson Skies universe, another beloved FASA game that unfortunately never became quite as popular as BattleTech.
I don’t think I want to add transforming robots to Crimson Skies, but I do love the idea of a LAM somehow being able to stay aloft through a three-bladed propeller. Definitely would stick to the Crimson Skies conceit of having slower-moving planes because this was all prior to World War 2’s race for bigger and better engines.
Von Solaris 7 Mod For MechWarrior 5 Is In Development
You want more mods? We got more mods! VonSeiten, famously of the vonBiomes mod for MechWarrior 5, has embarked on an even more ambitious project: the “vonMissions” Modpack, which will include Solaris 7.
Ever since MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, it’s been a tradition for MechWarriors to briefly cease whatever the hell they’re doing midway through the game in order to become the Solaris Champion. That tradition tragically didn’t continue in MechWarrior 5, but because MechWarrior 5 makes it so easy to mod, the tradition is kept alive thanks to vonSeiten.
Things are still in early development, but we got a sneak peek at Solaris 7 thanks to vonSeiten’s preview video above. Solaris will have leagues broken down by weight class, meaning you won’t be able to take a Centurion into the light ‘Mech league. Combat is sort of a grand melee similar to how it worked in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. You can see vonSeiten struggles with taking on multiple opponents in the bring and colorful arena (love the holographic advertisements). Getting blown up means you’re out of the tournament.
If you’d like to support vonSeiten’s work, consider subscribing to his Patreon where you’ll get early access to mods in development. Expect the vonMissions Modpack to arrive on Nexus Mods and Steam alongside the rest of vonSeiten’s mods.
Wolves Arrives In MechWarrior 5
You can now use the Wave 1 mechs in MechWarrior 5 thanks to TheMonkeyMann!https://t.co/XYOarMAyv3 pic.twitter.com/5zCwCd4Ra8
— Wolves (@Wolves_Game) June 2, 2023
Another MechWarrior 5 mod we need to talk about comes courtesy of TheMoneyMann and the Wolves development team. You might recall Wolves as the MechAssault fan game that you can download and play right now for free because the people making Wolves are awesome. And now you can play the same Mechssault ‘Mechs in MechWarrior 5.
The MechAssault Wolves ‘Mechs mod works best in conjunction with the popular Yet Anther Mech Lab mod, but you can get it to work without YAML so long as you remove the invalid slots in the ‘Mechlab. The mod provides you with the Cougar, Arctic Wolf, Thor, and Atlas, with TheMonkeyMann promising to release another wave of Wolves ‘Mechs every month.
Head on over to Nexus Mods or the MechWarrior 5 Steam Workshop page to download the mod.
Catlases Are Multiplying
So I modified a model to print my own CAtlas. BEHOLD!
by u/Menarra in battletech
I’m not sure why the Catlas has captured my fascination so much, but I’m running with this meme until it reaches some sort of logical conclusion. This model, custom-printed by Menarra on Reddit, isn’t quite that conclusion, but it’s another lumbering step on the Catlas’s journey. Perhaps we’ll see a new Catlas every month.
Sharapnel #13, Hansen’s Roughriders T-Shirt, And Misprinted Rifleman Headline Catalyst’s June Offerings
Push Your Luck!
Issue #13 of BattleTech: Shrapnel, the Official BattleTech Magazine is now available at the Catalyst Online Store! Check out the stories from new and veteran authors alike!https://t.co/VLMRg1nQph#battletech #fiction #NewRelease
— CatalystGameLab (@catalystgamelab) June 17, 2023
A bit of a slower month for Catalyst, likely owing to work on the Mercenaries Kickstarter. We’ve got Shrapnel issue 13 to enjoy, featuring stories from authors like Bryan Young, Russel Zimmerman, David G. Martin, and many more. The other new product is a Hansen’s Roughriders t-shirt that will show your allegiance to one of the Inner Sphere’s largest but slightly lesser-known mercenary regiments.
Catalyst had one other announcement earlier this month. After being revealed at AdeptiCon, fans found out that some of the new premium Rifleman minis had been misprinted with incorrect proportions. Catalyst is asking anyone with a misprinted Rifelman to contact them at store@catalystgamelabs to arrange for a refund or replacement.
“We apologize for the inconvenience, but hope you enjoy your complimentary limited-edition Rifle-boy,” the company wrote, perhaps suggesting the direction of those incorrect proportions.
MechWarrior Online Kicks Off Beach Party Event That Lasts All Summer Long
Or at least almost all summer long. From now until August 22, players can enjoy MechWarrior Online: Legends‘ Big Beach Party 2023. This is a loot bag event, so if you’ve played in any other similar events, you’ll already know just how much free stuff you can get just for playing the game. On top of getting up to 400 loot bags which can contain anything from c-bills to cockpit decorations, players can earn up to four Hero ‘Mechs of their choice from each of the ‘Mech categories: light, medium, heavy, and assault. These Hero picks unlock after 250, 300, 350, and 400 loot bag redeems, with players able to get bonus redemptions by purchasing either a Platinum, Legendary, or Stone Rhino ‘Mech pack.
June also brings a brand-new patch to MechWarrior Online. First, we have two new Legendary ‘Mechs: the Quickdraw “Desperada” and the Timber Wolf “Howl.” Both have unique quirks and paint jobs, the 30-percent c-bill boost, and an associated mini battle pass that’ll unlock GSP, MC, premium time, and more. Desperada is also wearing Trans colors--an excellent nod to Pride month--as well as the phrase “uwu” on the left leg. There are also gay and Trans Pride decals available for purchase with c-bills.
In the balance department, the Cicada and Cyclops are this month’s big winners with adjustments made to the CDA-3M, 2A, 2B, and the Hero X5, as well the CP-11-A, DC, Z, and Slepnir. These are all buffs, so odds are your preferred Cicada or Cyclops is just going to be a whole lot better after June’s patch. The Fafnir also received some extra left and right-torso armor, too.
The patch is available now on all platforms. You can check out the patch notes here.
Big MechWarrior Announcements Coming Next Month
Just finished a nice dinner and a few beers with MW designer Chris Lowry. Great conversation. Who out there is starving for some MW news? You won’t have to wait too much longer, lots of news coming over the next couple/few months.
— Russ Bullock (@russ_bullock) June 24, 2023
Some short but also very important MechWarrior news. PGI President Russ Bullock has confirmed that there’s “lots of news coming over the next couple/few months,” and then later told No Guts No Galaxy on Twitter to expect an “announcement in July and a bigger one in September-ish.”
There are some game festivals in the UK coming in July as well as San Diego Comic-Con, so we might see an announcement at one of those. September brings PAX West and Tokyo Game Show. PAX is right around the corner from PGI’s hometown in Vancouver, so I could see a bigger announcement coming then (MechWarrior 6 perhaps?), and maybe some news on MechWarrior 5‘s Japanese localization at TGS.
Happy Pryde!
subreddit instructions unclear, painted Pryde ‘Mechs
by u/ValkyrieRaptor in battletech
Honestly, I’m surprised I didn’t see this joke earlier. I’m not a huge Jade Falcon fan, but I do love me some second-line Clan ‘Mechs. They’re almost as bad as Inner Sphere ‘Mechs.
And that’s all for June! Remember, the month after Pride is wrath, so be sure to keep your heads down and avoid the rampaging queens.
And as always, MechWarriors: Stay Syrupy.