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So apparently when everyone started upgrading pledges with Crowdox. They just stopped updating the email list. So it's looking likely a ton of the late backers, and upgraders just aren't going to be getting their canon characters.

I just recently learned that they put out the first issue of that magazine as well apparently.

Have they confirmed that they wouldn't be sending out the canon character form stuff then?

Check the KS updates, there was one from April that was all about the canon character survey. The TL DR is that the're overwhelmed by the literally THOUSANDS of characters that need to be made, so they're processing the completed survey forms, comissioning artwork, and making pilot cards. They will re-open the character surveys again once they get a handle on things.

The completed surveys that have been processed get uploaded to https://characters.battletech.com/, (and indeed, my character is already listed), but it will take years to get all the characters into a printed product. One of the other updates mentioned they were focusing first on the characters that also got artwork, and then they'll prioritize characters by associated faction as it makes sense to add them to books

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/450703636/battletech-clan-invasion/posts/2786716

BattleTech: State of the Game, June 2020:

Of course, an essential part of this journey is the delivery of last year’s wildly successful BattleTech: Clan Invasion Kickstarter campaign. To say that our original delivery estimates were overtaken by events is an understatement. But the Wave 1 products are nearing production now, and we’ve made substantial progress on the Wave 2 miniature designs and other products. For more details, keep an eye out for upcoming updates through the Kickstarter platform.

There's also a few other interesting product coming soon not related to the Kickstarter, including:

Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 1 through 22
Release Date: Friday, June 19 (vol. 1), continuing every two weeks through Aug. 28 (vol. 6); resuming in early Fall 2020.

The march of technology across BattleTech’s eras is relentless—but some BattleMech designs never die. Each installment of this PDF-only series not only includes a brand new BattleMech or OmniMech, but also details Classic ‘Mech designs from both the Inner Sphere and the Clans, now fully rebuilt with Dark Age technology (3085 and beyond). Allowing beloved units redesigned for the BattleTech: Clan Invasion Kickstarter to be competitive on “modern” battlefields, this series also includes in-universe development notes, battle histories, notable pilots, and record sheets for each ‘Mech. Released as a series of 22 PDF-only documents through the end of 2020 and early 2021, many ’Mechs featured in this series will be collected as a single print volume upon its completion.

And make sure to keep an eye out for updates from Iron Wind Metals, as we’re working closely with them on producing miniatures for the ’Mechs debuting in the RecGuide.

 Ghaz wrote:
I've considered doing a lance for the 2nd St. Ives Lancers and this cinches it for me...

Spoiler:

Nice I'm doing a St. Ives compact company myself

They have announced a serious amount of new products for the remainder of this year. The IlClan stuff sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing the updates on existing designs.

There's also something coming up called the "MechCommander's Handbook", which has nothing to do with the computer game (boo!). It does sound intriguing thing.

So much good stuff in the pipe for Battletech.

The Robotech/Dougram mechs were what attracted me to this game, but I was always rubbish at it, with the exception of Mechwarrior: Dark Age. Still want the models so badly though (especially the new Warhammer).

Where exactly are they in the timeline? I had thought they had ditched the Dark Age stuff - have they moved even further and what new technology/changes will these PDFs cover?

As someone new to the game, I have to say that its clear as mud what the printed materials for this game are and what the value add is. Whats the difference between a Technical Readouts book, a Record Collection book, and a Recognition Guide, and a Technical Blueprints volume? Are there any overlap between these books? What about Spotlight Ons, Operational Turning Points, Touring the Stars, and Brush Wars?? HIstoricals? Field Manuals? Era Digests? Era Reports? Field Reports?? Handbooks? What are the differences in these products, what do I expect to find in them, why are there so many of them, why are they so similarly named, and why is this so confusing?

If you are new the basic place to start is either the BattleTech Manual (the main rules for 'Mechs only) or Total Warfare (main rules for all combined arms).

The Technical Readout series goes all the way back to when FASA started the IP and contains designs commonly used or developed around the time of the publication. You do not really "need" them anymore but they remain a popular series. Each featured 'Mech will include art, its game rules/stats and in-universe information concerning the design. While there are lots of ways to get that information they are pretty foundation to the BattleTech experience, if you will.

Record Sheets are used for gameplay. As a product this is somewhat obsolete since you can get a program like Solaris Skunk Works and print your own but some players continue to enjoy having the official product from CGL.

The CGL store page gives you a description for the other products. The different names delineate what series/type of product it is (like "Codex" in 40k). To use some examples, Spotlight On contains information/history/scenarios for specific mercenary commands of note, Turning Points have information about specific battles and campaigns, Historicals have an in-depth focus on specific moments in BattleTech history, etc.

chaos0xomega wrote:
As someone new to the game, I have to say that its clear as mud what the printed materials for this game are and what the value add is. Whats the difference between a Technical Readouts book, a Record Collection book, and a Recognition Guide, and a Technical Blueprints volume? Are there any overlap between these books? What about Spotlight Ons, Operational Turning Points, Touring the Stars, and Brush Wars?? HIstoricals? Field Manuals? Era Digests? Era Reports? Field Reports?? Handbooks? What are the differences in these products, what do I expect to find in them, why are there so many of them, why are they so similarly named, and why is this so confusing?

Check out the You bought the box set and are ready to expand your BT experience. Now what? post on the BattleTech forums.

Their website covers that. Lists the most common core products to get started.

I've been through those links before - they are significantly less helpful than you realize as they seem to assume you already have a certain level of basic knowledge of the product line (probably because the people that put it together are themselves veterans of the game), as well as not actually providing any level of detail or specificity as to the contents.

Its easy enough to figure out that I needed the "core" books (BattleMech Manual, Total Warfare, Tactical Operations, and TechManual), after that its a wordsoup of terminology that means nothing to me.

Era Reports and digests - sounds like aside from chaos campaign missions theres no rules content to be found in them, yet googling them it looks like they also contain command abilities, unit assignment tables (whatever that means), upgrades, mechs, RPG releated rules, etc.

Historicals sound like they are 100% pure fluff, yet some googling implies that they contain rules for special weapons and equipment, mechs, prototype systems, special abilities, more unit assignment tables, etc.

Field Manuals - Same deal. Sounds like its another fluffbook, googling/sarna lookups imply that they contain stats and rules.

Record Sheets - The only one that feels self-explanatory, I buy these and I get mech stats, at a minimum? Do I also get vehicles, infantry, aircraft, etc. rules?

Spotlight On - back to useless, apparently these sometimes (always?) contain rules too.

Technical Readouts - The only one of those descriptions that approaches actually being detailed enough to be helpful. Apparently don't contain any rules directly but include the construction data, whatever that means, for the Mechs. My educated guess is that I buy the TRO and use it with the TechManual to create the stats for the mechs I am using? OR I can buy the Record Sheets instead which have them prebuilt? Am I getting that right?

etc. etc. etc.

This doesn't even cover some of the categories (whats a Technical Blueprint Volume? Recognition Guide?)

40k is easy. I know I need a core rulebook, I know what contents to expect in a codex, and GW makes it really easy to understand the contents of the "but also" books like the Vigilus duology and the Psychic Awakening series. I know at a minimum to expect some new strategems, relics, special rules, etc. and possibly new or updated datasheets. The nature of the Battletech books feels significantly more opaque and the naming conventions used, with the exception of TROs and Record Sheets, seems to reflect more the scope of the fluff than the type of rules content you can expect from the book. Googling through a bunch of the Era Reports and Historicals, for example, makes it seem like the rules content runs the gamut from just a few pages of command abilities to a range of new mechs, special equipment/weapons, etc., but while you might get all of the above in one Era Report, another might only give you a a couple command abilities and nothing else.

Maybe this is the difference between a game that emphasizes gameplay (40k) vs a game that emphasizes fluff (Battletech), but as someone who is more interested in just playing a game than deep-diving into the lore, the Battletech model is decidedly un-helpful in accesssing and organizing rules.

As an aside, another point of confusion is the editioning. Are the Strategic, Interstellar, and Campaign Operations books on the Catalyst webstore (which seem to only be available in pdf form) up to date? Should I be waiting for these to be reprinted similar to the other core books?

Are all the various Technical Field Era Historical Report Digest Spotlight Exploration Tours on that site up-to-date? Are they being updated and revised like 40k codexes are every time theres a new edition or do they keep living on as-is in perpetuity?

New re-design sketches are up, including the Turkina:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/450703636/battletech-clan-invasion/posts/2844302

If your only interest is playing the game, you really just need the BattleTech Manual (for just 'Mechs) or Total Warfare (combined arms) to get started. Most BattleTech universe-developing products are heavy on the lore with optional/advanced rules specific to the part of the universe they are developing.

The Record Sheets and tabletop accessories (like maps) are the only pure gaming products. Each Record Sheets product in the CGL store has a description of what it contains. Generally the year-specific products have everything (i.e. including vehicles) while the compilation products (i.e. Clan Invasion) are 'Mech-specific. But realistically you can replace the Record Sheets products with 'Mech design programs like SSW that usually come with a library of canon designs.

Alright, alright, alright.

Don't panic. Almost every rule gets printed out in triplicate, making the rules for mechs that appear in most Field Manuals and scenario books unnecessary.

Field manuals mostly contain fluff, though they do provide some minor rules for playing as units from the various houses (though these are entirely optional, and often very minor). There may also be one or two mechs presented at the back of the book. These mechs will then be collected into a TRO later on.

Sarna.net tends to provide the most current place to find information about the mech at the bottom of their articles, in the References section.

For example, the Toyama is a lovely mech that I bought 'The Fall of Terra' a scenario book, to get the stats of way back when it was cutting edge tech. It is now far more readily available in Technical Readout 3060 or Record Sheets 3060, or Technical Readout Jihad.

And I'm plummeting down the rabbit hole. If you're just out to play the game, get the record sheets Succesion Wars.

https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-record-sheets-succession-wars

It won't contain any tech more advanced than the boxed set, and will give you 290 mechs and variants to play with. By the time you need anything else, you will be a Battletech veteran, with an unnatural hatred for some designs and extreme love for others.

Sarna.net is the best resource for analyzing a book before you purchase it- it will tell you what mechs are in which source, and almost everything a tech manual tells you about each mech. And please, ask specific questions here, or on the Battletech forums- Battletech fans love talking about it and explaining things.

Most of the various expansions are just that - expansions.

There's a very limited amount of core products, and I wouldn't even include TROs and Record sheets among them (TROs are for fluff, and Record sheets are unnecessary given the amount of free 'Mech builder programs out there).

Some days I feel like Kickstarters should include a Life of Brian-style fake beard as a stretch goal.

The Clan Heavy Striker Star is up, with some final molds. The comments are interesting:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/450703636/battletech-clan-invasion/posts/2870406

The Hellbringer looks like its been daydrinking.

It's not super surprising given the art, but look! The Urban Mech!

Ohhh thats a gorgeous little mech. I'm only getting 2 but I want more now.

He's adorable.

It's one of the trashiest of trash units. Never understood why anyone ever wanted one. Ever.

At first I thought the Gargoyle was a Nova cat. Also Loki needs a little hat for sure.

Bob Lorgar wrote:
It's one of the trashiest of trash units. Never understood why anyone ever wanted one. Ever.

You've never played with the UM-AIV UrbanMech variant then

Bob Lorgar wrote:
It's one of the trashiest of trash units. Never understood why anyone ever wanted one. Ever.

Because trundling around with the biggest (for its time) gun in the entire damn game, and cutting mechs two to three times its size in half with a walking trash can is always a good time.

Alright. You take an urbanmech, I'll take a spider. If you think you'll be hitting on anything less than a 12, while I'm hitting on 8's or less, you're nuts. In fact, have two urbanmechs. Won't help you.

So two UM-AIV UrbanMechs with the Davy Crockett-M ammunition. Only one shot each but at 100 points of damage at ground zero, degrading 5 points per hex it should easily be able to kill a single Spider.

Bob Lorgar wrote:
Alright. You take an urbanmech, I'll take a spider. If you think you'll be hitting on anything less than a 12, while I'm hitting on 8's or less, you're nuts. In fact, have two urbanmechs. Won't help you.

In what? An open field? Of course not.

Come into a mid-sized city - y'know, the places where the UrbanMech was designed for - and see what happens. The Spider cannot repel firepower of that magnitude.

Deleted.