What’s up with Catalyst? at GenCon 2019

With GenCon 2019 behind us, I can share a few tidbits from the Catalyst Game Labs crew via their What’s up with Catalyst? session.

Present were John Helfers (fiction director), Bryn Bills (Leviathans line developer), Randall N. Bills (managing director), Loren L. Coleman (owner), Brent Evans (BattleTech line developer), and Jason Hardy (Shadowrun line developer).

Highlights:

• At the booth were prints of BattleTech: Tech Manual (with vintage cover), House Arano, TRO: Clan Invasion, and Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition (as well as AS cards for Clan Invasion and Succession Wars):
• The two boxed sets continue to be available for purchase:
  
• As well as 5 versions of the awesome neoprene BattleMats:
  
• The menacing, torso twisting (remote-controlled) ‘Mech from last year was now painted!  And protecting the awesome CamoSpecs diorama:
  
  

• The BattleTech: Clan Invastion Kickstarter is alive and going strong!  Over 1.4 million raised so far.  Ends August 17.
• BattleTech fiction:
  • Catalyst is focused on having new fiction drive the BattleTech line (instead of sourcebooks).
  • There was a lot of new fiction from the last year available in the booth, and BattleTech fiction has been selling faster than any other product in the line.  Recent releases include:
    • Kell Hounds Ascendant, by Michael A. Stackpole
    • Iron Dawn (Rogue Academy Trilogy #1), by Jennifer Brozek
    • Forever Faithful, by Blaine Lee Pardoe
    • A Splinter of Hope + The Anvil, by Philip A. Lee and Blaine Lee Pardoe
    • Kill Zone (BattleCorps Anthology Vol. 7)
• The BattleTech IlClan saga continues to make progress (but was delayed by work on the Clan Invasion Kickstarter and Shadowrun 6, also released at GenCon this year).  Expected in 2020.
• MechWarrior: Destiny, an update to the MechWarrior (RPG) system, is being worked on as well.
• Shadowrun 6th edition was released!
• DragonFire continues to do well (but had to be de-prioritized while the focus was on the Clan Invasion Kickstarter), but there are some new releases coming soon.
• Leviathans is coming back!  With a Kickstarter in 2020 titled The Great War.

Additional booth and product pics:

The session was recorded! Click below to watch on YouTube: