I, Dædalus; my poor boy, Icarus; Thy father, Minos, that denied our course; The sun, that sear’d the wings of my sweet boy, Thy brother Edward, and thyself the sea, Whose envious gulf did swallow up his life. Ah! kill me with thy weapon, not with words. – William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act […]
Read More →Last week my order of Technical Readout: 315 arrived from BattleCorps. I’ve since gotten a chance to read through the book twice, and there are several designs that tweak my interest. What are the early impressions from the book?
Read More →After their unsuccessful Kickstarter in October of last year, the Oakland California-based MegaBots Inc. seems to have done the best thing they could do to stay active in the public arena. They picked a fight. In late June via video, Andrew Stroup and Gui Cavalcanti challenged Suidobiashi Heavy Industries to a duel- A batchall, if […]
Read More →A new video game, Mechs and Mercs: Black Talons, was released on January 9, 2015. Developed by Camel 101 games and published by Kasedo Games, this independent real-time strategy game is available now on Steam.
Read More →It was over a month ago that I wrote about a Warhawk ‘mech cosplay; I mentioned that the BattleTech themed projects I’ve seen online have been almost universally reverse-join clan designs entered in competitions. These have been more puppets than outfits, really; with the operator’s black-clad legs sticking out the back and between those of […]
Read More →I think the BattleTech cartoon was probably as close the franchise came to making the mainstream of popular culture. I could include the videogames (which I have discussed before) but the cartoon took place during a time where big fighting robots were generally in the mainstream anyway. MechWarrior 2, Robot Jox, and of course blockbusters like […]
Read More →Appended Minutes for the BMNS 1st Annual Meeting The BattleMech Naming Society calls its first official meeting in order to create a taxonomy of naming conventions for the powerful machines that captured the hearts and battlefields of people across known space. Let us begin. After discussing potential categorizations of ‘Mechs, and debating whether or not […]
Read More →Over the course of writing my reviews on the Technical Readout : 3145 series, I feel the need to regain perspective and look at the series as a whole, with respect to the units offered. The ‘Mechs, combat vehicles, battle armor suits, AeroSpace fighters and other units covered in these technical readouts essentially represent a […]
Read More →Even though it was decades ago, I’ll never forget the Saturday morning where I became forevermore helplessly, HOPELESSLY addicted to large military robots. I have since developed a bit of ‘flowery’ disdain for the bastard chimera that is the Robotech saga, but I am at least nostalgic that it was the vehicle with which I […]
Read More →In this edition of Product Reviews, we take a look at Technical Readout : 3145 Republic of the Sphere, the last of the faction TROs in the 3145 series covering the late “Dark Age” era. The Republic of the Sphere is somewhat unique in that there was no equivalent whatsoever in the “pre Jihad” era. […]
Read More →This week in product reviews, I examine Technical Readout: 3145 The Clans, the seventh in Catalyst Game Lab’s faction TROs covering the late Dark Age era. I’d like to open with another personal statement on my philosophy regarding ‘Mechs : I like tripped out units. There it is. I like BattleMech designs that take advantage […]
Read More →First, I want to extend my apologies to the staff and readers for being away for so long. A few months ago I took a new job in a new city. (A rather large city, in fact.) It has taken me this long to get settled and to reach a mindset where I felt I […]
Read More →The classic Technical Readout: 2750 displays the beginning of Readouts that feature newer technology. The impact this Star League era book had on many players can still be felt today. Even with much of the book devoted to non-BattleMech units and information, TRO: 2750 introduced iconic additions to battlefields everywhere. Let’s look at some of […]
Read More →Every time I take a look back at the original 3025 Technical Readout, I am reminded of the high quality of the BattleMechs that were created. They are fleshed out, have great stories, and are a lot of fun to read. I love going back to the first printing of it, before the unseen were […]
Read More →This week in product reviews, we take a look at Technical Readout: 3145 Free Worlds League, the fifth in Catalyst Game Labs Technical Readout: 3145 faction series. First, though, a disclaimer: Everyone has had their own experiences playing BattleTech, and everyone develops different tastes, preferences and opinions regarding what kinds of ‘Mechs, weapons, equipment, etc. […]
Read More →Finally getting to my next review; we get the Davion entry for the TRO: 3145 series. I really wanted to like Technical Readout: 3145 Federated Suns. Like many long-time Classic BattleTech fans, I always regarded old House Davion as the “good guys” among the major factions in the early years. This, of course, was how […]
Read More →CGL’s Technical Readout: 3145 Draconis Combine, is the third in a series of faction-specific Technical Readouts of the 3145 Dark Age era. As in my last review, on TRO: 3145 Capellan Confederation, I was incredibly pleased by the selection of units offered. Simply put, most of them are the kinds of equipment you’ll want to […]
Read More →This week, I review CGL’s Technical Readout: 3145 Capellan Confederation, the second in a series of faction-specific TROs of the Dark Age era. The ‘Mechs and equipment of House Liao were quickly gaining in popularity with many BattleTech fans in the years leading up to (and encompassing) the Jihad, with a long series of strong […]
Read More →In my second review for Sarna.net BattleTech News Blog, I report on CGL’s latest release of this writing, Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries. Describing the equipment here – a promising mix of ‘Mechs, battle armor, tanks, VTOLs and other units – as “mercenary” is something of a misnomer. One of the delightful peculiarities of this ‘Dark […]
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