Spotlight On (series)

Development

The Spotlight On series is one of five e-book only product series announced by Catalyst Game Labs on 24 Jul 2015. The other four series announced were

• Gladiator Gazette, close looks at individuals, equipment and locations associated with the various game worlds such as Solaris VII.
• Milestones, focusing on putting players on the front lines of key Inner Sphere events of the late Dark Age and beyond,
• OpFor, a publication series dedicated to detailed small, specialised units of lance, Star or Level I size with more character and less randomness than randomly-generated opponents, and
• Touring the Stars, a series dedicated to providing a detailed look at individual worlds within the BattleTech universe.

Overview

“	Spotlight On For every Kell Hounds or Wolf’s Dragoons, there are a hundred similar outfits that are just as talented—and just as deadly—that you have never heard of. Or worse, you have not heard enough. Sure, the glory hounds who make the evening tri-vid news are movers and shakers, and can change national borders whenever they want, but they’re not the only ones. For every Eridani Light Horse brigade, there is a mercenary crew with a storied battlefield history just as spectacular. These are the unit commands that have gone largely unnoticed in the long, bloody history of the Inner Sphere, their stories untold or nearly forgotten. Take a closer look at the battles and events that have shaped the human sphere, and you’ll find even two-bit troops like Wilson’s Hussars have made a difference.	”
	— Catalyst Game Labs, Upcoming Releases Announcement, 24 Jul 2015

Beginning with Spotlight On: Crescent Hawks, each Spotlight On publication has followed a similar format. Priced at $3.99-$4.99 each, a Spotlight On volume is in full colour, and features a unit history and description including details on the unit traditions, tactics, force composition and insignia; a selection of personalities from the unit, a roster for the unit covering one or more eras, a number of scenarios featuring the unit, details of the special command abilities of the unit - for both Total Warfare and Alpha Strike rulesets - and strategic BattleForce formation details. Some also contain record sheets. Each volume has averaged between 18 and 24 pages in total.

In common with other ebook-only releases, each Spotlight On volume lacks a table of contents.

Chronology

Spotlight On: Crescent Hawks - Published 17 October 2016. For every Kell Hounds or Wolf’s Dragoons, there are a hundred similar outfits that are just as talented—and just as deadly—that you have never heard of. Or worse, you have not heard enough. Sure, the glory hounds who make the evening tri-vid news are movers and shakers, and can change national borders whenever they want, but they’re not the only ones. For every Eridani Light Horse brigade, there is a mercenary crew with a storied battlefield history just as spectacular. These are the unit commands that have gone largely unnoticed in the long, bloody history of the Inner Sphere, their stories untold or nearly forgotten. Take a closer look at the battles and events that have shaped the human sphere, and you’ll find even two-bit troops like Wilson’s Hussars have made a difference.

Spotlight On: Stone's Trackers - Published 16 March 2016. Backstabbers. Assassins. Cowards. Dezgra.
To the elite headhunters of Stone’s Trackers, these labels mean nothing. The only true measure of a warrior is success, and the Trackers will go to any length to ensure that Devlin Stone’s vision does not falter.
Forged in the flames of the Jihad from a secret Clan Nova Cat unit and comprised of Inner Sphere and Clan veterans alike, the Trackers take on the missions too dirty for regular commands to touch. Masters of infiltration, ambush, and marksmanship, they are the ghosts at the edge of the firelight, the wraiths that even MechWarriors have learned to fear.
From the battlefields of Operation SCOUR to glory of the Capellan Crusades, Stone’s Trackers hold to a code of honor of their own making, one that demands victory at any cost.

Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors - Published 10 September 2018. In the fires of the Jihad, a handful of brave souls placed honor before duty, service before survival, and the people of their shattered nation before all others.
Considered traitors by some but heroes by those they watch over, the First Marik Protectors rose from the ashes of the Free Worlds League to protect worlds at the far-flung edge of their fallen nation. An elite cadre of warriors, the Protectors’ dedication to safeguarding the lives of their countrymen is nearly unmatched in the Inner Sphere.
The Marik Protectors exist to offer a single hope to the citizens of these outcast worlds: that when darkness closes in, there will be a light shining for them, a hammer and anvil to smite any who would disrupt their peace, a shield against all the ills the Periphery holds. Protectors, behind whom they may rest.