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 caught COVID this month. I’m going to keep my head down, mask up, and get the vaccine when it arrives sometime in September (fingers crossed).
August has also been defined by big BattleTech announcements! Gamescom, GenCon, and an upcoming Tex Talks are all just the tip of August’s iceberg. Let’s dive into all the BattleTech news from the past month.
Mercenaries Kickstarter Shipping Update
Let’s start with some shipping news. Quartermaster Logistics has provided some updates on the Mercenaries Kickstarter, with the latest totaling 6,000 parcels over 2,400 pledges getting set to ship (denoted as ‘segment #4’). Address verifications for segment #5 were sent out on August 16, which should have gotten another 2,900 backers ready for their deliveries. Segment #6 should receive their address verification emails sometime over the holiday weekend, which will be another few thousand backers. QML expects there to be seven segments based on regions and pledge types and has reported to CGL (as of an earlier Kickstarter update) that they’re about halfway done for US/Canada shipping.
Things are a little messier in the rest of the world. The EU, UK, and Aussie hubs have unfortunately noted they were short some items and haven’t been able to begin shipping individual packages yet. “These items are being sorted now into the needed shipments and we hope to begin international fulfillment in the near future,” wrote Catalyst in the latest Kickstarter update.
Finally, for those who should be receiving store credit (for various reasons) and haven’t yet, don’t hesitate to get in touch with tbuckner@catalystgamelabs.com. QML will fulfill those with defective/missing parts following the completion of full orders.
GenCon Previews Upcoming Minis And Other Catalyst Releases
Catalyst is showing off the proteges of the Davion Lance packs at Gencon
byu/Available_Mountain inbattletech
It wasn’t the biggest year in terms of new releases at GenCon, but we certainly got to see a bunch of upcoming products! We’ll start with the new premium versions of the BattleMaster and Nova Cat which can be posed based on how you glue their bits together. Next, we have the House Davion ForcePacks, with the first containing an Enforcer, Legionnaire, Hellspawn, and Gunsmith, and the second containing the Thunderbolt NAIS, Thanatos, Falconer, and Templar. Savage Coyote gave us an even better look at the new Templar sculpt over on his Instagram.
Next up is the Third Star League Striker ForcePack, featuring the Hammerhead, Jackalope, Havoc, Lament, and the new sculpt of the Kintaro. This is the box I’m most interested in. The Hammerhead is a medium that can brawl with assaults, while the Havoc and Jackalope could go in a Spirit Cat or Sea Fox force. I love the new model of the Kintaro, but it’s a bit of an odd choice for the Third Star League as most Kintaro variants are extinct by the ilClan era, with the only one still around being the KTO-K. One suspects that new variants will be announced in a Rec Guide fairly soon. The Lament is a great-looking ‘Mech, but I’ll never like Heavy PPCs when Clan ER PPCs are just so much better.
If you’re really digging the new Lament mini, Dapper Raccoon shared a few shots of the supersized version that Catalyst had on display at GenCon.
But when can we expect all these new minis? We still don’t have solid dates for them yet, but so far, the Davion ForcePacks are scheduled for Q1 2025, and the Third Star League ForcePack is scheduled for Q3 2024. Another Third Star League pack is also supposed to come out in Q4 2024, and that’s the one with the Wendigo.
Other stuff to come out of GenCon are the Overlord, Overlord C, and Union DropShip map-scale models, 40th Anniversary mugs and dice sets, and an official BattleTech carrying case. The Mercenaries Paint Set is also officially available after its GenCon debut.
Now we’re going to run through the latest Tuesday Newsday announcements for new products. Coming in September is Force Manual: Davion, the Mercs Paint Set, and the BattleTech Universe sourcebook. October should see the full release of the Mercenaries Box Set, alongside all the ForcePacks that were previously only part of the Mercenaries Kickstarter. McCarron’s Armored Cav’s ForcePack will be a Barnes & Noble exclusive in October. Mercs Salvage Boxes and Battlefield Salvage (containing two random vehicles) will be available in October as well, alongside the Savannah Map Pack.
In fiction, out now is A Skulk of Foxes by Jason Hansa. This one’s an interesting look at Clan Sea Fox and what they’re up to with their Inner Sphere-spanning network of informants. Turns out, they’re up to stuff with mercenaries, corporations, BattleMech factories, and luxury goods like custom motorcycles, perfumes, and fine art. If you like seeing a Tiburon in action, or if you have a fondness for King Crabs doing King Crab things, then you won’t want to miss this one!
We’ve also got a new novella from Bryan Young called Let Slip the Dogs of War. This one chronicles a Kell Hound splinter group fighting the Marian Hegemony in the Free World’s League. It’s always fun to root for the underdog, and it doesn’t get more David versus Goliath than a pink Wolfhound against a Marian Atlas.
Spirit Cat Nova Cats Go Pew Pew
I’ve made it clear in previous posts that I’m a big Spirit Cat fan. I currently have more than a Trinary and will probably wind up with a full Cluster by the time all my minis are painted. The Nova Cat isn’t my favorite heavy ‘Mech, but I can’t deny its Spirit Cat heritage, nor can I deny its efficacy.
Nor can I deny the beauty of this piece by Alan Blackwell via Big Red 40-Tech for an upcoming video. It’s pretty, it’s dynamic, and it shows just how much hurt this 70-tonner can dish out. It’s a beast, and you can really see that in this piece.
Gamescom Trailer Showcases More MechWarrior 5: Clans Gameplay
Gamescom has come and gone, and it brought some news for video games that I care about this time around. Chief among them was MechWarrior 5: Clans, which dropped a new trailer at Gamescom last week.
We first get a great look at the tweaked Summoner model from MechWarrior Online. Then the new Broadsword DropShip takeoff animation, followed by what I assume to be the mission select screen. This shows several prominent officers looking over a holo table of Santander, but also a top menu bar showing “Facilities,” “Barracks,” “Social,” and “Archives.” In the right corner is your current Kerensky currency total, as well as some blue star and another green star count (likely denoting research points for technicians and scientists). You’ve also got a level count, which will probably serve as the limit to the technologies you can research.
More combat means another look at the top-down Battlegrid screen where you can order your Starmates to perform specific functions, as well as the usual radial-wheel ordering for when you don’t want to go to the trouble of switching cameras. We got some new laser and missile effects, a fight against a Union DropShip, and flights of Shilone and Sokol aircraft.
But perhaps the most interesting section is the ‘Mech Lab where we see how we can customize our OmniMechs. It looks like players are given OmniPods for each of your ‘Mech’s components, with OnniPods providing missile, ballistic, or energy slots. Those slots can then be filled with their appropriate weapon types, while further customization of armor and heat sinks can be made to any open slot. Overall, OmniMech customization seems very similar to what you find in MechWarrior Online.
Unlike MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, it doesn’t look like Clan weapons have different grades—everything is top-notch as soon as you get it. Makes sense as no Clan tech would ever allow a sub-par armament onto a warrior’s ‘Mech.
The last big reveal of the Gamescom trailer is the return of Carole Ruggier as the voice of the ‘Mech computer. She was the original voice of “Betty” in MechWarrior 2, and it’s a lovely touch of nostalgia for MechWarrior 5: Clans (with thanks to Emil for the spot).
Before Gamescom, we got another character featurette of MechWarrior Liam, voiced by Alexander Peters. Liam seems to be the jokester of the crew, even going as far as throwing in contractions during casual conversation. It seems like he doesn’t really fit in with the usual Smoke Jaguar bloodthirstiness, which I suspect will make him the most sympathetic character for the player. I wonder if that might come back later in MW5: Clans‘ story, perhaps in a dramatic moment of life or death?
We’ll find out when MechWarrior 5: Clans releases on October 3.
IT’S HUNCHBACK TIME!
Slow Heavy Metal Music Playing
byu/1001WingedHussars inbattletech
I do love Hunchbacks—I suppose you probably could have guessed that given the sign-off thumbnail—which is why I had to share this heavy metal image by 1001WingedHussars. A Hunchback missing an arm somehow seems more threatening than one with both arms still attached.
Friendship Is Definitely Not Magic
It’s been a few years since the Brony craze, and yet its influence continues with BattleBronies. It’s sort of like the Adventures of Clan Spaniel, but worse. Here we see Stefan Amaris as a griffin killing the good (if quite naive) First Lord Richard Cameron, proving once and for all that friendship is not magic. Sometimes, it’s an easy way to get stabbed in the back. Or in this case, decapitated via laser pistol. Kudos to Bleptarts for enabling Big Red’s madness.
Two Leaping Legendary ‘Mechs Arrive In MechWarrior Online
More equipment has been added to MechWarrior Online in the form of Partial Wings! The two latest Legendary ‘Mechs, the Phoenix Hawk “Spectre” and the Champion “Apache,” both feature this jump-enhancing technology, allowing them to leap longer than any ‘Mech ever before!
Normal jump jets provide a strong initial thrust but quickly exhaust their fuel reserves, limiting the distance over which a ‘Mech can jump. With the new Partial Wing, the Spectre and Apache‘s normal jump jets have less initial thrust but burn for way longer. Like, a lot longer—a full minute of burn time. This gives each ‘Mech a sort of limited flight time, allowing them to achieve phenomenal distance and height.
The downside is that your initial forward velocity slowly decays, so the longer you fly, the slower you get. This means if you decide to fly in the open air, you’re likely to catch fire from everywhere on the battlefield. Whether the thrill of flight is worth the risk should be left up to the player. I personally think this interpretation of the Partial Wing would be excellent on light, fast ‘Mechs, but medium-speed ‘Mechs like the Phoenix Hawk and Champion are a bit too vulnerable.
On the plus side, both Legendary ‘Mechs have some pretty great armor quirks to improve their survivability as well as the -50% fall damage quirk. The Apache also comes with some wicked Rotary AC quirks, while the Spectre prefers machine guns and Pulse Lasers. Both have the requisite ECM.
I’ve been under the impression that PGI is using MechWarrior Online as a testing ground for new tech that could one day find its way into the mainline MechWarrior series. I don’t think we’ll see a Partial Wing in MechWarrior 5: Clans, but we might see it in potential future DLC, or perhaps in MechWarrior 6. It’d make more sense to see advanced tech like Partial Wings in a MechWarrior game set after the Clan Invasion, so perhaps MechWarrior 6 will be set in the Jihad, or maybe even the ilClan era.
In other news, the latest patch has brought a new quirk pass for the Commando and Raven, as well as a reduction in armor quirks for most Stone Rhino variants. The Adder W variant has also seen its full-set armor quirks removed, but it’s received increased machine gun range and reduced spread in return.
For more, check out the full patch notes here.
Twitching Catapult Toes
Battletech pixel art. Smoke cloud practice
byu/Twelvecheek inPixelArt
If you look closely at this animation by Dmitry Tsoy, aka Twelveofclubs, you’ll see the Catapult‘s toes twitch. Is that because the pilot’s brain is in its deathroes, or because the Catapult‘s engine is sending out energy surges to the ‘Mech’s remaining limbs? We may never know. Thanks for sharing, Dmitry.
MechWarrior 2 Playable On iOS Through DOS Emulator
Old MechWarrior DOS games now playable on iOS!
byu/NightMachines inbattletech
If you’ve never played a DOS game, you’re not missing much. But since it’s the operating system that gave me MechWarrior 2, I have to respect the legacy of DOS. And now you can do the same on iOS thanks to IDOS 3, available now on the Apple App Store.
IDOS 3 is basically a DOS emulator for your iOS operating system. It allows you to take old DOS games and install them on your iPhone or iPad. You’ll have to have some knowledge on how to rip installer files from your old CD-ROMs, and you’ll need to remember the DOS prompts to actually start your old game. But if that’s not a problem, there’s a wide world of retro games now playable on iOS.
The key games for me would be MechWarrior 2, Ghost Bear’s Legacy, and MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (although, you’ll have to find the version of MW2: Mercs that doesn’t require some long-dead proprietary graphics hardware). According to NightMachines on Reddit, MechWarrior 2 works great on iPad, but you’ll need to attach a keyboard to control anything. Touch controls didn’t exist back in the DOS era.
If you’re looking to do something similar on Android, Magic DOSBOX comes recommended.
Tex Teases Twycross Triumph
I like a good Tex Talks as much as the next guy, but this one? This one gave me goosebumps. Tex’s throaty drawl reciting Alan Seager while a quality of music that could have come straight out of Dune plays in the background, all set to a dramatic diorama of Clanners getting stomped in a sandstorm. I don’t think anyone could come away from this two-minute teaser without getting chills.
I don’t have an exact time on when this new video will drop, other than it’ll be sometime soon. Keep your eyes peeled and remember to check on the Black Pants Legion every so often for more quality content.
MechWarrior Online Championship Series 2024 Announced
Year after year, MechWarrior Online provides us with competitive ‘Mech action not unlike the game world itself, but more team-oriented and without the connections to organized crime (at least, as far as I know). August saw the opening of MWO‘s competitive queue, providing teams the ability to compete starting on Thursdays and ending on Saturdays at 8:00 UTC.
The rules for this year see the top nine teams invited back to play at the Grand Finals in November (getting locked out of the event queue after qualifying on September 15). The remaining three teams will then have the opportunity to play without these top nine teams in the competitive queue to qualify before October 21. Then the 12 total teams will duke it out in the Grand Finals.
But even if you’re not good enough to reach the top 12, all players will get big rewards for participating in the 2024 competitive queue. Play 20 games and you’ll receive 6,000 ‘Mech Credits, 3 million C-bills, 273 GSP, five ‘Mech Bays, three paint colors, and a free Charger CGR-1A1 with a 30% C-bill booster and a unique camo. Every ten games after that provide an additional thousand ‘Mech Credits, 1 million C-Bills, 91 GSP, and a ‘Mech Bay. The top 25 teams get a special title, too.
For more details, check out the official announcement here.
Macaulay Culkin And Freddie Prinz Jr. Have Played BattleTech
I’m not too sure if this is the tabletop game or if People Magazine is correct in saying Freddie Prinze Jr. and Macaulay Culkin play the video game BATTLETECH by HBS. Either way, the publication confirmed via Prinze’s text messages that Macaulay Culkin is “a very good shit-talker.” Unsurprising, given his Home Alone upbringing.
This is mostly to point out that there’s still some BattleTech buzz going on in Hollywood and we’re all waiting with bated breath on when Prinze will start his BattleTech actual play broadcast. More deets on that in the July news blast.
A Very Hot Drop
There’s something a little magical about those old ink drawings in the original sourcebooks. Here we have Jared Blando paying tribute to those drawings in his piece created for Jeremy Thomspon’s “Outworlds Wastes” Classic campaign. It might not be with real ink, but it certainly gets the job done.
MRC Announces September MegaMek Tourney And October BattleTech Event In San Diego
NashCon has come and gone with another successful tournament, so it’s time for the MRC to get started on September and October. The September event will take place in everyone’s favorite virtual tabletop, MegaMek. We recently interviewed Hammer over at MegaMek to see where he thinks the program is going, so this official MRC tournament is just confirmation that MegaMek is thriving.
The MegaMek event will begin on September 29 with unit lists required to be submitted no later than September 27. The event will use a Swiss pairing system over four rounds, have a 10,000 BV limit, and take place in the ilClan era. More details are available from this Google Doc here.
And in October, the MRC will be present at the SoCal Open taking place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds just outside of San Diego. The event runs from October 19 to 20, and just like the MegaMek event, lists are limited to 10,000 BV in the ilClan era. There will also be a concurrent Alpha Strike event with a 350-point limit. More details on the event are available in this Google Doc, and tickets are available now from these links.
As always, those with questions are encouraged to reach out to moderators in the MRC Discord.
MechWarrior: Living Legends Got A Cool Trailer For Its Latest Update
We already talked about MechWarrior: Living Legends‘ 0.17.0 update last month, which is available to download now. The update adds the Hellion, Lobo, and Enfield to the game’s incredibly vast roster. What we didn’t have last month was a really cool video showcasing each ‘Mech. Now, however, we have a cool new trailer showcasing each ‘Mech inside and out, with tons of action shots too. Remember to download MechWarrior: Living Legends at their website here.
Summoners Are Really Getting The Business This Month
We’re getting into previews for the Twycross episode of Tex Talks BattleTech. Here we have a battle scene of a Falcon Summoner being disarmed by accurate PPC fire from a Marauder. Wild-Cat144 once again delivers.
BattleTech: Delta Horizon Fanmade Game Offers Operational Level Engagements
BattleTech: Delta Horizon, a New 1mm Scale Operational Level BattleTech System
byu/EMD_2 inbattletech
When it comes to individual games, BattleTech has typically tried to emphasize smaller-level engagements. That’s mostly because getting anything more than a lance vs. lance game done in a single afternoon is pretty much impossible under Classic rules. It’s doable in Alpha Strike, which is my preferred tabletop game, but anything larger than a company and even Alpha Strike games can get stretched beyond a player’s available recreation time.
But what if you wanted to recreate the massive, continent-spanning conflicts of Terra or Tukayyid, where entire regiments fought Galaxies to mutual annihilation? For that, you’d need something like BattleTech: Delta Horizon, a fan-made game that uses rules from Alpha Strike, Total Warfare, and Interstellar Operations to convert BattleTech‘s typical tabletop scale to something much larger. Instead of a single hex representing 30 meters, BattleTech: Delta Horizon turns a single hex into 200 meters, allowing for lance-on-lance combat over a much-reduced tabletop area.
Since Delta Horizon uses rules from several existing BattleTech products, you’ll need to have Alpha Strike, Total Warfare, and Interstellar Operations to play Delta Horizons. The rulebook for this fan-made conversion is available here from EMD_2’s Reddit post.
Little Lionman Loves The Lesser Nova
It may be 5 tons heavier then the Nova, but man I love my Blackhawk-Ku :3
byu/DustyTheLion inBattletechgame
I know I’m breaking my one furry post-per-month rule, but I’m going to beg off on a technicality: Bronies aren’t furries. You may argue this point.
You may also argue that the Black Hawk-KU is the lesser Nova for having generally less firepower than its Clan counterpart. It’s still an OmniMech, at least, although I personally think the standard Black Hawk is a gas. Why bother with OmniPods when you’ll never need more than two ER Large Lasers and a bunch of Streak SRMs? Credit goes to OkataArt and DustyTheLion for sharing. By the way, the Black Hawk-KU is ten tons heavier, not five.
Don’t Mess With Space Vikings
We’ll end the month on a super cool digital diorama from Space Viking Enterprises. Titled “Blood Eagle – Frihet Realized,” it depicts the battle between resistance fighters and the 25th Rasalhague Regulars on Trondheim III in 3034. Even though there isn’t any movement, the music and dynamism of the ‘Mechs are really more than sufficient to depict the carnage unleashed during this surprise attack.
That’s all for August! Join us next month for more BattleTech news and a special interview with a special guy.
And as always, MechWarriors: Stay Syrupy.
“The Lament is a great-looking ‘Mech, but I’ll never like Heavy PPCs when Clan ER PPCs are just so much better.”
I mean that’s what ya get when one weapon is broke AF.. and the other is actualyl balanced enough you could port them into 3025 and not unbalance anything. (Less so the L-PPC which instantly invalidates any point in taking an AC5)
Sticking to “less efficient” IS tech is probably WHY I love the Lament so much. It is severely flawed, yet still a brawler, and looks cool as hell.
It’s hard to validate the AC/5 even in Clan Invasion times unless you have a lot of special ammo. I like all versions of the Lament, and it’s fits the lessons the ROTSiesearned about PPCs from the Word of Blake: It doesn’t have to be Clan Tech to kill you.
Jared Blando’s work is amazing and perfectly caught the vibe we were looking for. There are 2 more pieces of art from Blando and 2 from Matt Plog in our downloadable rules if folks are interested:
https://jeremyluket.itch.io/battletech-outworlds-wastes
Also, bleptarts, who did all that awesome Cutsytech art, did our logo and I think they did an awesome job!
Heh, saw some of that one furry artists work floating around. Pretty good work, although the lack of a neuro-helment is kinda ‘ehh’. Of course I guess that might be tricky to get right.
Still, it ain’t bad looking.
If Big Red did commission the ponyfied “How Amaris gets ahead in the world” piece…they missed the obvious reference to Lyra. As in Lyra’s cutie mark is close to the original insignia of the Lyran Commonwealth (and I’d argue she’s Melissa II Steiner to a tee with the only divergence is that the Comstar investment would be making contact with humans with a restored HPG). XD
On the other hand…I can imagine grown-up Kevin McAlister would be a Capellan player given his history of cartoon-levels of insane booby traps from both Home Alone and Richie Rich. Pretty sure Home Alone is also the guidebook for Capellan home defense.
“Friendship Is Definitely Not Magic”
Hippogryph, not Gryphon. You can tell by the hooves & tail.
Not exactly THAT important, but a sucker for BT, MLP and mythology, so thought I’d mention it.
Great pic, though! Glad to see it making rounds!
Nice to see Lance packs with 100% new (or almost completely new) ‘Mechs. I love what we’ve got so far, but how many variants of some of the core ‘Mechs can one person really get (and I say this as someone who owns like 9 Catapults!).
I cannot wait for Tex’s next video. That trailer was fantastic. As is the Hunchback. What a great ‘Mech! :-D
“heteronormative event”
Jesus who talks like this?
I liked my life better back when I hadn’t seen that bronytech cringe.
I mostly mourn for how a children’s toy infomercial got weaponized for the use of cyberbullying.
I similarly dread the threat of, they’ll probably call it undertech.
Declaring “cheating when they’re losing” a stroke of brilliant genius, and fighting back against their attack making you the real villain.
I’m sure we’ll know propaganda when we see it.
I shot a Champion “Apache” out of the sky in MWO when they came out… Couldn’t stop laughing for a good while. Legendary Mechs suck.
That being said, the Commando buffs are nice, I have two such, and they’ve been working out nicely.
I don’t understand “Brony?” stuff at all… So…
Twycross by Tex will be a special one I think, the Preview is amazing…
No Marik Lances huh CGL? That’s fine… None of the Mechs I own are CGL sculpts anyway…
Glory to Marik!!
-End Communication- … … … … … … …
Bronies are a vocal part of older guys who like My Little Pony, sometimes too much. They’ve been around for a while
Yeah, I know… It makes absolutely no sense too Me at all… None.
Funny thing is that the Brony Fandom was started by that hellhole of a site called 4chan when they were using MLP images to troll people. Some people liked it and took a genuine liking to it and it went from there.
As for what you said, about not getting it, I was in the same boat as you. But there is a reason why some people become bronies and this can be applied to any fandom, no matter how cool or bizarre it is. Any piece of media that you have, whether it’s based on a TV Show, Movie, Video Game or Comic book, you will always have certain people who either like the messages, characters, stories, music or the setting. Some people will get attached to that and do things like make fanart or cosplay as that character. And even though you have casual people who love the source material, on the other side of the coin, you’ll also have the bad people and those who will make an adult side to any large fandom that will come it and taint it.