Blaine Lee Pardoe

Blaine Lee Pardoe
Occupation	Author
BattleTech forum handle	bpardoe870
Homepage	Official website Official Blog

Overview

Blaine Lee Pardoe is an author who has contributed to many BattleTech sourcebooks. In addition, he has penned several BattleTech novels in the original BattleTech series, the MechWarrior companions, and the newer MechWarrior: Dark Age series. He has also contributed several short stories to BattleCorps.

Beyond BattleTech and roleplaying/wargaming in general, he has penned books in other fields such as military history and true crime.

Pardoe was born in Newport News, Virginia, was raised in Battle Creek, Michigan, and lives in Amissville, Virginia. He graduated with a bachelor's in business administration from Central Michigan University in 1985, after which he worked for various automobile corporations in Michigan. During this time he contributed to sourcebooks, most notably those set in Star Trek and BattleTech, for FASA and others. After he moved back to Virginia to work for Ernst & Young LLP is when he began writing novels and, later, nonfiction works.

Pardoe married Cyndi while he lived in Michigan, and the couple had two children, Victoria and Alexander.

BattleTech

One of BattleTech's longest-serving sourcebook authors, Pardoe wrote parts of the original 1986 Technical Readout: 3025 including the first writeups with background details for many iconic BattleMech designs. As one of FASA's go-to authors he wrote, co-wrote or otherwise contributed to many of the early sourcebooks, scenario packs and adventure modules that fleshed out the BattleTech universe. In 1995 he joined the ranks of BattleTech novelists with the publication of his first BattleTech novel, Highlander Gambit. He also contributed several stories to BattleCorps.

Notable characters and units that he contributed to the setting include Cranston Snord and Snord's Irregulars, Archer Christifori and Archer's Avengers, Trent, Paul Moon and the Fidelis, and Raul Tinker; he was also the main author covering the mysterious story of Clan Wolverine.

Controversy

In his non-BattleTech endeavors Pardoe voiced conservative viewpoints, some of which were controversial with parts of the BattleTech fanbase. One particularly vocal person confronting him online identified as "Faith McClosky". In a July 8, 2021 blog post Pardoe stated that Faith McClosky was a false identity under which a certain person stalked, threatened and bad-mouthed him in an attempt to have him "canceled".

On July 30, 2022 Catalyst Game Labs released a statement saying that they had suspended publishing new works by Pardoe due primarily to his "online activities which do not align with Catalyst’s publishing vision."

Pardoe subsequently claimed a connection between this severance and the "Faith McClosky" situation, complaining that he had been "canceled" and that his publisher had sided with an "activist who threatened [his] life."

Novels

BattleTech

• 1995
  • Highlander Gambit (reprinted on BattleCorps in 2010)
• 1996
  • Impetus of War
• 1997
  • Exodus Road
• 2000
  • Measure of a Hero
• 2001
  • Call of Duty
• 2002
  • Operation Audacity
• 2016
  • Betrayal of Ideals
• 2018
  • The Anvil (novella)
• 2019
  • Forever Faithful
• 2020
  • Divided We Fall (novella)
  • Rock of the Republic (novella)
  • Children of Kerensky
• 2021
  • Hour of the Wolf
  • No Substitute for Victory

MechWarrior: Dark Age

• 2005
  • Target of Opportunity
• 2006
  • Surrender Your Dreams
• 2007
  • Fire at Will

MechWarrior

• 1999
  • Roar of Honor
  • By Blood Betrayed (with Mel Odom)

Short Stories

BattleCorps

• 2004
  • "The Longest Road"
• 2005
  • "Great Gaffa's Ghost"
  • "The Heart of Dixie"
  • "Chapter 15"
• 2006-2007
  • Betrayal of Ideals (four part serial)
• 2008
  • "Old Pus Eye"
  • "Abandonment"
  • "Desertion"
• 2009
  • "Son of Blake"
• 2010
  • "The Loyal Son"

Shrapnel

• 2020
  • The Flames of Idlewind
  • Waylon's War
• 2021
  • One Door Closes

Sourcebooks

BattleTech

• 1987
  • Sorenson's Sabres (FASA)
  • Technical Readout: 3025
• 1989
  • NAIS The Fourth Succession War Military Atlas Volume 2
  • Fourth Succession War Scenario Pack
  • Technical Readout: 2750
• 1991
  • BattleTech Compendium
  • ClanTroops
  • Rhonda's Irregulars
  • Solaris: The Reaches
  • Unbound
  • Wolf Clan Sourcebook
• 1992
  • Bloodright
  • ComStar
  • Technical Readout: 3055
• 1993
  • Mercenary's Handbook 3055
• 1994
  • BattleTech Compendium: The Rules of Warfare
• 1995
  • MechWarrior Companion
  • Technical Readout: 3058
• 1996
  • Living Legends
  • Technical Readout: 3025 Revised (reprinted information from TRO:3025)
  • Technical Readout: 3050 Revised (reprinted information from TRO:2750)
  • Technical Readout: 3055 Revised (reprinted information from TRO:3055)

Renegade Legion

• 1988
  • Centurion - Harbingers of Death (FASA)
  • Fighter Briefing: Commonwealth
  • Fighter Recognition Manual
• 1991
  • Legionnaire the Roleplaying Game
  • Shannedam County

Star Trek

• 1986
  • Star Trek IV Sourcebook Update
• 1987
  • Star Trek Roleplaying Game
  • The Strider Incident
• 1989
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation First Year Sourcebook

Domination

• 1989
  • Domination RPG (StarChilde Publications)
  • Domination: Sabot & Laser

Nonfiction

• 1997
  • Cubicle Warfare: Self-Defense Tactics for Today's Hypercompetitive Workplace (Prima Lifestyles)
• 2005
  • The Cruise of the Sea Eagle: The Amazing True Story of Imperial Germany's Gentleman Pirate (The Lyons Press)