BrookM wrote:
Thanks for the heads up, just now spotted the Mercenaries force manual up for pre-order at my favourite place to get stuff from, mid to late August if all goes well, so put my order in.

Also saw the Kurita Ranger Lance, but that's delayed right? Also listed for mid to late August here.

 BrookM wrote:
I know none of those Mechs, but damn, would love if they did the support vehicles on their own or in a themed box together already.

 BrookM wrote:
I got the Second Star League set thinking I could use some of the Mechs for that era but nope, research error on my part there. At least I got the most expensive coolant truck now for future games. ?

Fat Guy wrote:The rulebook and primer are much longer than those in AGoAC, there are counters for Abominations, and the record sheets are full color laminated premiums.

Kagetora wrote:I'm not up to speed on a lot of current pricing for BT, but I've been aware of GW's ridiculousness for 30 years now.

How many Mechs do you get for 105 Euros again? Because it better be a lot. Like...40+.

Vulcan wrote:Official minis? There are no official minis for BT. Ral Partha used to make BT minis. Iron Wind makes BT minis. Back in the day FASA released some minis. There are a bunch of clickyTech minis running around. And then there are the new Catalyst minis, which may be the best, but are certainly not 'official' in any sort of exclusionary manner.

Lorcan Nagle wrote:Episode 54

10th June 2025



Guest: Big Red 40-Tech, BattleTech YouTuber

News:
-No Tuesday Newsday next week, Rem is on holiday
-Origins is next week, CDT events and a CGL booth will be there. Quincy from Quincy’s Tavern will be a CGL guest
-Randall will be filming series 2 of Mech7 next week, Big Red will be in-studio for this series.
-While there, they’ll be making an appearance at Torchlight Games and Hobbies in Burlington, Ontario the afternoon of the 14th. There’ll be a full schedule of events all day including BattleTech and Leviathans demos and BattleTech and Alpha Strike tournaments.

-Release Schedule
--Out now
---Lone Wolf and Fox by Bryan Young
--This week:
---Third Star League Strike Team
---Black Remnant Command Lance
---Inner Sphere Assault Lance
---Battlefield Support: Heavy battle and Sweep Lances
---BattleMat: Legendary Battles Twycross
---Shrapnel 21
--June 27th
---The Highlander Covenant by Michael Ciaravella
--Next month
---McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry Assault Lance
---BattleMat: Legendary Battles Thunder Rift/Misery
---Third Star League Battle Group
---Battlefield Support: Emplacements
-June Newsletter will be out this week. There’ll be details of the Shadowrun anarchy 2 Kickstarter. This will be run by Black Book, the French company who proposed the new edition.
-July Newsletter will have “something exciting for BattleTech”
-Big Red talked briefly about the upcoming TRO: 3025 commemorative edition. Ray was on his stream at the weekend and shared some images.

Discussion
-Red just released a four and a half hour video at the weekend, a what if scenario
-His videos are usually deep dives into the history of a mech or faction or event.
-Editing and production are very time-consuming. It takes Red a week to make about an hour of audio.
-Red got into Youtubing by being a community mod for Chapter Master Valrak. He was laid off and decided to try doing YouTube as he wasn’t enjoying his 9-5. He started off covering 40K and got fed up with GW’s business and creative decisions. He decided to make a couple of BattleTech videos as the game’s always been a passion of his, and they blew up.
-He set himself a six month deadline to go back to the corporate world if his channel didn’t take off, and it was clear by month four he could make a living.
-He plans very far ahead. Next videos are the BattleMaster and Vindicator, then Canopus and two more mechs that will be voted on by his fanbase, then the Lone Wolves, two more mechs and the Kell Hounds.
-While he’s kinda excited for Gothic, he’s more excited for Rockets and Rayguns and the Dieselpunk sets.
-Aside from BattleTech, he loves Warhammer Fantasy Battle/Old World, Cyberpunk 2020/Red/2077 and Shadowrun. He originally played Shadowrun 2nd edition with a friend, the only sourcebook they had was one of the weapon catalogues and he loved playing as the Street Samurai for heavy weapons.
-He’s a big Star Trek fan but he doubts he’d ever have a Trek YouTube channel
-He deliberately patterned his Mech7 character after Anton Chigurh from No country for Old Men, and called him a “lizard person”. He’s amazed that the fans latched onto the character and cheer for him. He’s not going to play the same character in series 2 so he can be more of a team player, he insists on playing in-character and his series 1 character would eventually kill everyone.

Q&A:
-What faction needs a novel in the ilClan era? The Lyran Commonwealth, they’re the only faction that’s been left behind, and Hansen’s Roughriders if we’re also
-Who did less wrong: Malvina, the Master, Lester Cameron-Jones or Etienne Balzac? Probably Lester Cameron-Jones. The most evil… between Etienne and The Master.
-Has the Stormcrow B/TC premium mini been fixed? Rem thinks so, she’ll check if non-fixed ones are still in stock and if they can be pulled
-Will the new TRO 3025 be BV2 or BV3? BV2, BV3 isn’t ready to go.
-What Old World Faction would Big Red pick to play? Beastmen
-Will CGL be at Nova open? No confirmation yet
-Can we get a list of what cons CGL will be at? It’s hard to commit due to financial upheaval from tariffs. They’re doing origins, Gencon, Gamehole Con, Pax west, probably Pax unplugged, Essen and Pax Australia.
-What are Red’s top five mechs to see in plastic that aren’t on a release schedule: Juliano, Eris, Quaismodo, Tenshi, Atlas III
-If Red could make a faction pack for any faction/era, what would it be? Dark Age Free Worlds League.
-Yori is Red’s favourite House Lord. Why and what arc would he like to see her take? She’s the most realistic lord right now. She has to fight for her position and be careful. She killed the best general in the Inner Sphere–Toranaga–in order to keep her position secure. She and Julian Davion are the only people who are playing real politics, and she’s ruthless, cunning and vicious enough to stay in power.
-What are the redeeming qualities of LAMs? They don’t have any.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
I'll probably get the gothic box, as I personally think they will make for crazy Word of Blake mechs, but you know what I want?

Easy access to printed rulebooks. Alpha Strike Commander's Edition, Battlemech Manual, and Total Warfare. All three were in stock this spring for about 11 seconds, and then gone, after waiting more than a year for them to come back in stock.

Barely-available rulebooks is one of the things that kept me out of Battletech for the 10 years preceding the resurgence following the Clan Invasion Kickstarter. My Alpha Strike book is three printings out of date, and I hate using PDF's, though I grabbed those from the latest Humble Bundle.

How many people picked up the original Technical Readout: 3025? ComStar's records speak to it being a historic piece of literature. It sold well enough that ComStar ended up publishing four editions, with WolfNet doing a revised edition later. Even with all of the factual inaccuracies, this tome decorated officers' shelves, family libraries, personal noteputers, and MechWarrior cadet training programs. Even with its flaws, Technical Readout: 3025 is still a celebrated piece of work to this day.

But eventually, even these seminal works must be reviewed and collected. The Republic Armed Forces - Department of Political Liaison has worked with ComStar's Historical Archives to put together an improved, fifth edition copy of this consequential work. We would like to present Technical Readout: 3025: Centennial Commemorative Edition.



This updated version features an appendix with new insights on the classic war machines that filled the original Technical Readout. This also cleans up some of the clear biases that were present in the earlier editions and recounts the true history for each unit as is available.



Each page follows the classic and iconic layout that would become a staple of the Technical Readout series, but offers updated depictions of the BattleMechs, aerospace fighters, and combat vehicles that better reflect modern manufacturing specifications. This includes a few variants that were not originally featured in 3025.



We have also made sure to include the editorial notes concerning these updates. Some cover the bias and even cover-ups of the then-secretive and powerful ComStar, others just add more context to a given entry or add further clarification on use-cases for a particular machine. It has been the Department of Political Liaison's goal to maintain an utmost level of transparency when reintroducing this work to the Inner Sphere as to act as a complimentary piece alongside your original copy of Technical Readout: 3025.



The RAF-DPL appreciates your reading of this communique and would like to also inform you that the Technical Readout: 3025: Centennial Commemorative Edition will be made available in August at the revived Gen Con 3125, held in the historic Indianapolis District of the North American continent on Terra. The publication will be made available through your preferred means in September of the same year.

- Captain Nathaniel Machen, Republic Armed Forces - Department of Political Liaison, 13 June, 3125

(Get your copy of Technical Readout: 3025: Centennial Commemorative Edition at Gen Con 2025 from July 31st to August 3rd in Indianapolis, Indiana at booth #1611! It will also be available through the Catalyst Game Labs web store in September 2025!)

chaos0xomega wrote:

 Miguelsan wrote:
LAMs are back, baby! (Though we knew that already)

M.

Did we?

Ray or whatever the guys name was was pretty adamant that he wouldnt touch LAMs and thought they aere the worst thing about battletech and only did the urbieLAM because he was given no alternative by ownership but they agreed it was just a one off joke, etc.

Episode 55



15th July, 2025
Guest: Michael J. Ciaravella. Catalyst Demo Team head

News:
New releases
-The Audiobook of Land of Dreams has been submitted to Amazon, should be out as soon as they approve it
-At Gencon
--3rd Star League Battle Group
--Battlefield Support: Emplacements
--Gothic
--TRO: 3025 Commemorative Edition
--Maybe some little surprises
-Gencon stuff
--CGL will be live-streaming, they’re going to have a stage set up in a hallway at the con centre.
--CGL will have their biggest footprint ever at Gencon, they have five main areas: The core booth, Wishes, and board games in the main hall, demo areas for BattleTech including the VWE pods, and an RPG room.
--author signings
--Portfolio reviews
--Collaborations with partners
--Paint and takes/painting classes. The teachers will include CSO painters
--Other events may be added to the schedule
--MechWarrior Destiny
--A Time of War
--Masters and Minions on Saturday night, where players get to play BattleTech with people who work on the game. You can chat about the industry and the process of creating the game and universe as you play
---This year they’ll do BattleTech and Alpha Strike
--Grinder
--BattleTech Open
--Grand Melee
--Trial of Bloodright
--Gothic Demos
--Maybe Aces demos
--Aces won’t be for sale
-Grinder kits are getting sent out to agents soon
-The Demo Team has about 5,000 agents, covering nearly every continent and country
-They’ve been working hard to bring back the big events and prize support
-They’ve been working with new partners for logistical support, like at Origins they used XP Network for computerised event management
-They’ve taken down the secure demo team website in order to put up a new, modern site that properly protects agent privacy for the modern age.
-Staff agents are being recruited right now to assist with managing the team
-Mike mentioned what he calls “the LaMancha division”, agents who’ve become freelancers, mentioned how being a demo agent is a good way to get deeper into working with CGL
-The World Wide Events are coming back. Two are ready to go, no set date for launch yet. The upcoming events are being worked on with the BattleTech developers and will be canon events. The next event was written by the Hot Spots Hinterlands team
-BattleTech Contracts, a living game similar to Shadowrun Missions is almost ready to go, the first game will debut at Gencon
-Prize Support and the Firebase system is returning.
-The Demo Team will be launching an affiliate program to recognise notable non-CDT fan groups that do a lot for the community, especially where the groups are made at least partially of Demo Agents. WolfNet and Focht’s Network were called out by name.
Alpha Strike 350 will become an official tournament format

Q&A
-What books are Mike working on and when will the Snow Raven novel be out? The latest draft was meant to going to John this week, but because it’s almost Gencon it’s been pushed back so he’s planning to hand it in after they get set up at the con. He’s hoping for a December release.
-What’s the best source to learn more about upcoming Demo Team events? They’re trying to work more with CGL’s social media and Tuesday Newsday. They’re hoping to have the new dedicated website up in a few months
-Are we doing TND live from the Gencon floor? Rem would like to, but she needs to figure out if their on-site tech will be free, will there be mods, can Rem just do it form her phone… TBD
-What is the plan for fixes and refunds for the Mercs Kickstater? A backer update went out earlier today, if you have a missing or damaged item and haven’t reported it mail store@catalystgamelabs.com, they’re going to be working through the shortage list very soon.
-Any word on the outstanding Kickstarter fiction? Loren is apparently very close to done for his share of Den of Wolves. Mike has read the first few chapters so he can attest it does exist. Rem will follow up on Tales of the Bounty Hunter. Mike says all stories are in and it’s being edited.
-Are there plans for map-scale Leopard/Leopard CV DropShips? Mike says he thinks Ray has it on the docket, but he’s not sure where.
-Do we have an estimated release date for Aces: Scouring Sands? Hoping for November/December, pending shipping issues, tariffs etc
-Any word on the Wars of Reaving novels? Mike thinks they’re in editing, possibly for late 2025/2026 release
-Any word on the Brush Wars PDFs? Mike says Ray was talking about it a while back, but no update recently.
-Retailers report delays in getting things recently, and chance of an update? The state of the world has caused major issues. Products they planned to have in production early in the year haven’t been able to happen because of the shipping and tariff issues, also the Diamond/Alliance issues are causing a lot of uncertainty. They’re still working on launching a direct to retail program this year though.
-Any word on the comic? Script is complete, Eldon will be starting work on the art soon.
-When will BattleTech patches and pins be available on the webstore? There was a warehousing change and the new one doesn’t have capacity for them yet. No timeline right now.
-What about the parts of the Demo Team Op Guide that says agents can’t make money from their activities? How does that work with the new affiliates? The Affiliates aren’t getting paid for any official activities. Similarly freelancers and employees who are also demo agents aren’t getting paid for demo team activities even if they get paid for other duties.
-Will there be a guide for Agents to run their own Wolfnet events? Yes, there’ll be a CDT-branded rules pack up soon, if it’s not up
-When will Star Colonel Raus show up again and what mech does he pilot? Not sure when he’ll be back, and Mike says if you ask him at a con, he might tell you what was on the piece of paper.
-Is CGL’s direct to retail program live? Any ETA? No, Rem thinks they can get it done before the end of the year.
-Is MechCommander’s handbook on the way soon? That’s a Ray question
-When will the Kurita Forcepacks be out? They’ve been delayed, no longer a summer release
-Will Gothic be released on August 15th as retailers are announcing? That’s the current street date, pending no delays with ship arrival and so on
-Will Europe be included in the new Prize support program? They already have a European partner in place, the affiliate program is part of this, it’s the first step to getting Grinder kits out, supporting game stores and cons outside the US.

chaos0xomega wrote:
I really dig the leopard redesign. It reminds me of a cross between the space shuttle and a Gau from Mobile Suit Gundam

 Vulcan wrote:
I always find it hilarious. There is such a vast mismatch between the center of mass and the center of aerodynamic lift, it would NEED vertical jets under the main body to keep it from tumbling out of control.

Aerodyne DropShips are shaped roughly similar to conventional aircraft, using their aerodynamic hull shape to generate lift within an atmosphere. This makes these DropShips ideally suited for atmospheric operations, at the expense of being more expensive and harder to produce than spheroid ships and with more restrictive size requirements. Many aerodynes also require runways to land and take off, limiting where they can operate. To facilitate atmospheric and deep space travel, most aerodynes are equipped with two sets of exhaust nozzles, one on the bottom and one on the rear. Aerodynes will use their bottom thrusters and transit drive during space operations, then switch over to after thrusters and maneuver drive when in an atmosphere. While taking up additional space, this alleviates the issue of internal orientation by allowing the vessel's nose and rear to remain "forward" and "aft" at all times.

nekooni wrote:
I've heard that its "an issue with the webshop" and you're supposed to email them and they'll manually fix the shipping costs for you.

It's been an issue for years, they're not going to fix the shop apparently.

 Miguelsan wrote:
The dice are getting out of control. o.O

M.