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Q&A
-What’s the status of the Gray Death Legion Forcepack: It’s out of stock. So it’s probably on the docket for a reprint or is already in production
I'm glad someone asked this, but I wish the answer had been more detailed. My impression is that it has never actually been available outside of Barnes and Noble, and may have gone straight into OOP after the exclusivity period.
Q&A
-What’s the status of the Gray Death Legion Forcepack: It’s out of stock. So it’s probably on the docket for a reprint or is already in production
I'm glad someone asked this, but I wish the answer had been more detailed. My impression is that it has never actually been available outside of Barnes and Noble, and may have gone straight into OOP after the exclusivity period.
It's listed as 'Unavailable' (i.e., out of stock) at Peachstate Hobby Distribution, so it has indeed been available outside of Barnes and Noble stores.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
Q&A
-What’s the status of the Gray Death Legion Forcepack: It’s out of stock. So it’s probably on the docket for a reprint or is already in production
I'm glad someone asked this, but I wish the answer had been more detailed. My impression is that it has never actually been available outside of Barnes and Noble, and may have gone straight into OOP after the exclusivity period.
You're thinking of the Eridani Light Horse pack. The GDL pack has been available at other retailers besides B&N (I should know; bought mine from a domestic retailer; Barnes & Noble don't exist in Sweden). It's (probably) just waiting for a reprint.
Local stores had no problem getting GDL and Eridani packs in stock (or at least no more than the other forcepacks anyway), I am shocked they're this scarce elsewhere.
It's an American thing. The exclusivity contracts only apply in the u.s. and maybe Canada (not sure about that one), so it can definitely be the case for both and we in the RoW just are lucky with these for once.
Has Catalyst still not communicated a timeline for MUL 2?
Playing mostly Necromunda and Battletech, Malifaux is awesome too!
Anybody knows what's the status on the new art for LAMs, since it was announced in March I haven't seen anything.
M.
Jenkins: You don't have jurisdiction here!
Smith Jamison: We aren't here, which means when we open up on you and shred your bodies with automatic fire then this will never have happened.
About the Clans: "Those brief outbursts of sense can't hold back the wave of sibko bred, over hormoned sociopaths that they crank out though."
Miguelsan wrote: Anybody knows what's the status on the new art for LAMs, since it was announced in March I haven't seen anything.
M.
No hard date for the TRO 3025 reprint yet AFAIK. As per the Adepticon transcript over on the BT forums:
The mentioned again that TRO: 3025 publishes 1,000 years in the future. So they’re going to reprint OG TRO 3025, errors and all with
new art including LAMs, and an afterword from 3125 or so that talks about why there are all these errors from an in-universe perspective.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/05/08 10:57:58
Catalyst Game Labs Acquires Iron Wind Metals
May 9, 2025
Catalyst Game Labs is pleased to announce it has acquired full ownership of Iron Wind Metals, located in the Greater Cincinnati area. While Iron Wind Metals (and its Ral Partha brand) is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Catalyst Game Labs, it will continue as its own division, specializing in metal miniatures manufacturing for a variety of companies, with a heavy focus on BattleTech.
“I purchased my first Ral Partha miniature–a Warhammer–in 1987, with no idea of where BattleTech would take me,” said Randall N. Bills, Creative Director at Catalyst Game Labs. “By 1996 I was working at FASA Corporation, and of course had a regiment of heavy metal by that time—including a swath of Earthdawn and various dragon miniatures from Ral Partha, which my wife Tara painted wonderfully.
“Soon thereafter I met Mike Noe for the first time and continued to work with him–and his great team–in a variety of capacities for the next thirty years, continuing through the transitions from FASA to WizKids to FanPro and to Catalyst, and Ral Partha to Iron Wind Metals. To me, Mike Noe is Iron Wind Metals. And Iron Wind Metals is BattleTech. While it’s been magnificent to launch millions of plastic miniatures onto gaming tables around the world, the metals will always have their crucial place, mortaring the seams of BattleTech.”
Catalyst is committed to this portion of the Ral Partha legacy begun fifty years ago, ensuring metal miniatures of all kinds continue to flow to the tens of thousands of hobbyists who enjoy the craftsmanship and passion in this all-important part of the hobby industry.
“Last July marked my 42nd anniversary in the game industry, and I had no plans to quit any time soon,” said Mike Noe, President of Iron Wind Metals. “However, Melissa, my partner in life and in Iron Wind, has been battling health issues and now needs me with her as often as possible. So, after more than 40 years in the game industry and more than 20 with Iron Wind Metals, it was time for me to step back and take care of my family.
“Fortunately, Loren Coleman and Catalyst Game Labs stepped up, allowing me to gradually back away and stay home with Melissa while letting Iron Wind continue with business as usual, bringing metal BattleTech under their wing. I remain involved with IWM on a limited basis and will continue to do so for as long as my help and input is needed or wanted, but it brings me great joy to know, as I let go of the reins, that Iron Wind is in such experienced and capable hands.”
“I cannot thank Loren, Randall, and the rest of the Catalyst team enough. Nor can I sufficiently thank all our loyal customers and friends for all their help and support these many years. The last four decades have been an amazing run, but as they say all good things must come to an end. I leave with many happy memories, secure in the knowledge that the company I founded and the legacy from which it began will carry on stronger than ever under Catalyst’s able stewardship.
“I hope to see many of you at game cons in the years to come, but for now, farewell and good gaming…”
I remember watching a shop tour video of IWM some years ago and seeing a Confederate flag hanging in the workspace. I've basically soft-boycotted them since then (I wouldn't be buying metal miniatures in the 2020's outside of extreme cases, so it's not really a difficult, disciplined or coordinated effort).
I fully believe that individuals can change and improve their views or gaps in their knowledge, and I'm totally open to the reality that that flag might have been the property of one bad egg and nobody else in the shop wanted to cause friction at their workplace by addressing it, but the fact that IWM ownership either co-signed it or let it happen never sat right with me. So a change in ownership is exactly the kind of smokescreen that would get me to consider using their products lol ("smokescreen" because whoever was responsible for that foolishness could still be there, and there's no way or reason to know, at this point).
Just outside of Cincinnati in the village of Woodlawn to be exact. I used to play the occasional game of 40K with one of Ral Partha's sculptors (John Winter) back in the 90's.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/05/09 20:03:11
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
Ah, I guess thst makes a bit more sense. For all its contributions to the Union war effort, southern Ohio was a stronghold for the Copperheads and extremely anti-Lincoln.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
chaos0xomega wrote: Ah, I guess thst makes a bit more sense. For all its contributions to the Union war effort, southern Ohio was a stronghold for the Copperheads and extremely anti-Lincoln.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
"Portions of Southern Ohio followed the Peace Democrats and openly opposed President Abraham Lincoln's policies."
"Much of southern Ohio's economy depended upon trade with the South across the Ohio River, which had served for years as passage and a link with the slave states of Virginia and Kentucky. The culture of southern Ohio was closer to those states than it was to northern parts of the state, owing to many settlers coming from the South and being formerly territory of the state of Virginia as part of the Virginia Military District."
Its even alluded to in your own link:
"Cincinnati had mixed political views... The Cincinnati Daily Times, a Democratic newspaper, openly supported the South's right to secede."
"Cincinnati became the scene of numerous military courts-martial and trials of civilians accused of treason or aiding the Confederate cause. Among those convicted in these tribunals was Ohio Copperhead Clement Vallandigham."
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
Copperheads is a good name for a Heavy, or a Scout Lance.
I think the big question on everyone's mind is to ask if this was a "BUY" just to hamstring the minis, or if there is a genuine interest by Catalyst to produce more metal mechs.
I'd be happy for the metals, as the way that they blind boxed thier singles is a legitimate travesty.
All the while, I've been trying to get back in, I find my old metal mechs from forever and a day ago, and THIS news comes to the forefront. For those in the know- can I play with my OG FASA mechs, alongside these new and improved plastics, and do the Iron WInds minis scale up to the plastics?
I'm an old school Steiner Light Horse Company commander, so I'm a long way late to the party.
At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money.
I imagine it was a strategic move to tariff-proof the business a bit (if plastics arent feasible for the next few years they can focus in the metals operation to see them through), standardize the product line around the newer designs, and to deconflict the licensing situation so that CGL isnt hamstrung in terms of the products it can offer.
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
This is also why I boycot IWM. I didn't know about the flag, but nobody of good moral character would ever release this crime against humanity. The signs were always there
In all seriousness, it sounds like Catalyst taking over IWM works out for everybody involved and keeps metal minis in production for the people that prefer metal. IWM still provides a ton of sculpts that are unlikely to ever make sense in plastic. I'm glad both will still be around, even if I haven't bought a metal mech since that atrocity I linked above (which remains unassembled 15 years later)
I think they're acquiring Iron Wind because the owners want to sell and they think it's a worthwhile addition to their operation now that they're a substantial miniature company in the market. And they're flush with cash.
Also they have other IPs, it opens the possibility of doing small batch metal miniature releases for any of them.
Kalamadea wrote: This is also why I boycot IWM. I didn't know about the flag, but nobody of good moral character would ever release this crime against humanity. The signs were always there
I take it you've never seen this BattleMech? It's not always the sculptor's fault.
Spoiler:
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
As long as they don't pull a GW on us, and reconfigure the molds to use a finecast analog...
M.
Jenkins: You don't have jurisdiction here!
Smith Jamison: We aren't here, which means when we open up on you and shred your bodies with automatic fire then this will never have happened.
About the Clans: "Those brief outbursts of sense can't hold back the wave of sibko bred, over hormoned sociopaths that they crank out though."
The simple fact that those two miniatures are $14 and $20 is an obscenity.
I have a box on a table downstairs with original metal mechs from the 90's. 2 Axemen, 2 Hatchetmen, 4 Wolfhounds, and some other stuff. I must be sitting on a fortune.
Loren Coleman wrote:In June, Catalyst Game Labs will be adjusting prices on products most affected by recent tariffs. Our popular Salvage Box products will see a $1 price adjustment. Forcepacks and Box Sets will go up $5. Sourcebooks, for the moment, will not be adjusted—but we may reassess them in the near future.
It may seem strange to announce price increases even as tariffs fall to a less-terrible level than they were only a week ago, so we want to walk our customers through the process for complete transparency.
The article Catalyst posted last month about the destructive nature of the recent tariff implementation stands as our overall response—yes, they are a tax on Americans, and why this means prices will rise—and we won’t be revisiting much of that here. We already laid out all the math.
Instead, we will underline two important points here:
CGL was taxed $240,000 in March for unexpected tariffs.¹
Today’s 30% tariffs create a 10% MSRP increase just to break even.²
Despite inflation driving up costs over the past several years, Catalyst has not instituted systemic price increases since Covid-driven adjustments in 2021. We work very hard to keep our prices as low as we can and safely remain in business. This is part of the reason, we believe, why BattleTech and Shadowrun have maintained a high level of customer engagement despite market disruptions (like Covid or tariffs).
At the moment, the future holds three possibilities:
* Tariffs go down (but will likely not disappear altogether).
* Tariffs remain stable at or around 30%.
* Tariffs go back up.
The Good: Tariffs Go Down The messaging on tariffs has been inconsistent at best. One day the word is that tariffs “should be 80%” and the next is that “Tariffs will possibly come down, but should remain at least at 10%.” This feels a lot like pinning our national economy to a board and throwing darts at it. Still, tariffs being reduced again is a possible—and we believe likely—outcome. Eventually.
If tariffs come down, the largest issue Catalyst has to deal with is the unexpected loss of $240,000 in March. We managed to absorb it, then, but that loss of cash flow will ripple downstream for years. Loss of jobs. Fewer products manufactured. Lower gross revenue.
Even if Catalyst was willing to absorb the cost of a 10% permanent tariff—and it’s likely we would—we will still require these price increases to slowly claw us back toward pre-tariff parity. Very slowly. Assuming only a slightly reduced sales velocity (due to the new pricing) it will still take an estimated two to three years to get back to even.
The Bad: Tariffs Remain Stable I’m not sure many companies have the margin to absorb a 30% tax increase on their Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and for those that do, I doubt they’ll be willing to be so self-sacrificing. A few months, maybe. Not for years. Even in the past few weeks I’ve read articles one day that promise “our prices will not go up” and then a week later “yeah, our prices are going up.” It’s not evil. It’s just business.
At 30%, Catalyst will likely absorb half of that in a three-year plan to hold prices as steady as we can. That still means lower net profit and fewer opportunities to take risks or attempt something innovative. The 15% tax we can not easily absorb (long term) requires a minimum MSRP increase of 5%. That reduces our ability to regain parity on our pre-tariff position, slowing us to a possible four-to-five year recoup, but at least we reduce the shock to our customers and the market in general.
The Ugly: Tariffs Go Back Up We are not putting in much effort to counter this possible threat, as there is simply too much uncertainty. How much will they go up? For how long? Also, anything higher than 50% is likely to cause so much disruption we expect to lose several (more) game companies, as well as a real percentage in local game stores.
If this were to happen, there would be nothing to do but hunker down and ride out the storm. Yes, this may result in a new round of price increases to remain in business. More likely, we will rely on product already in the warehouse and put a long-term hold on most new product development and manufacture.
It wouldn’t be fun, but we will survive the chaos.
How Can You Help?
Everyone at Catalyst Game Labs understands that these aren’t perfect solutions. Our top priority (after remaining in business) is to safeguard the market position and legacies of BattleTech and Shadowrun, as we introduce new games as well. This is how we do that.
But asking you to keep purchasing our product, regardless of price increases, is too easy of an answer. We trust you to engage with these seminal properties in whatever way works for you. In the meantime, don’t panic. Things may change, but the gaming industry will endure. BattleTech and Shadowrun will endure. If you can spare a kind word of support for your local game stores or your favorite publishers, then yeah, do that too! Nothing means as much to us as hearing kind, supportive words from our customers.
We appreciate it.
We appreciate you.
Notes: 1. “unexpected”: Files are delivered to the manufacturer at least three months in advance of being manufactured. In this case, we committed to this product in October(ish) well before tariffs were announced. And even though the product was scheduled to arrive before the tariff cutoff, thanks to several port issues (caused by tariff chaos) we were delayed in transit several weeks.
2. The math: A $40 product with $5 COGS and $4 net income. A 30% tariff/tax increases COGS to $6.50. Raising the price to $44 allows for a $17.60 Discounted Price. $17.60 - $7 (development) - $6.50 (COGS) = $4.10. Okay, we make an extra dime.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/05/20 17:49:38
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2025/05/21 13:06:13
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
Lorcan Nagle wrote:Transcript is a little late this week, I was on a stream promoting the CDT's UK Games Expo events when TND was going on.
Episode 51
20th May 2025
Guest: Bryn Bills, Leviathans lead developer, Runefire developer
News:
-A blogpost went up on the webstore and the main site blog about the upcoming price changes as a result of the tariffs. For now books will not be changing, Salvage packs by $1, Forcepacks and box sets by $5.
-Revised Release schedule:
--BattleTech:
----Lone Wolf and Fox, a Fox tales anthology is up for pre-order, out on the 23rd of May
----Objective Raid by Russell Zimmerman, this month’s free BattleTech fiction
----Apparent Catastrophe by Michal Stackpole is out
---May 14th:
----Inner Sphere Pursuit Lance
----Legendary MechWarriors III
---June:
----3rd Star league Strike Team
----Black Remnant Command Lance (General retail release)
----Inner Sphere Assault Lance
----Battlefield Support: Heavy Battle and Sweep Lances
----BattleMat Legendary Battles: Twycross
---July
----McCarrons’s Armoured Cavalry Assault Lance (general retail release)
----BattleMat Legendary Battles: Thunder Rift/Misery
----3rd Star League Battle Group
----Battlefield Support: Emplacements
---All other Battlemat releases are currently paused, awaiting the next manufacturer shipment
-Origins is next month and the Demo Team schedule has been released
--Alpha Strike Acadamey
--Melee challenge
--Grinder
--Drafted for War
--Bootcamp
--Missions
--Alpha Strike: Death to all Mercs
--Alpha Strike: Spaceport Scramble
--RPG: Reviving the Fallen
--RPG: The Enemy’s cure
--AS 350 doubles (Thursday)
--AS 350 singles (Saturday)
--Solaris Melee Challenge (Friday-Saturday)
CGL are at Astra next week for board games
A couple of people are at Vegas Licensing Expo and ACD this week
Next week’s guest is hopefully going to be Loren Coleman to talk about tariffs, price changes, the state of the industry and the articles he’s written.
Q&A
-Any ideas when restocks for Hot spots Hinterlands will be received? Rem has asked Talon for an update.
-Any updates on the MUL overhaul? They’re getting closer but no solid update. Rem has asked Josh for an update.
-How is the Aces release looking? Nothing they can share. They’re looking at the second half of this year, nothing more solid right now.
-When will the unabridged audiobook of Wolves on the Border be out? Rem has asked John for an update but Rem’s unsure if it’s on the docket for this year,
-How can I be a CGL distributor? Rem’s not sure if there’s a process for an indie distributor, but they’re working on direct wholesale to retailers via the webstore at the moment.
-Will there be reprints available of the BSP vehicle cards? Or will they be on the MUL? Rem doesn’t have an answer to hand. Bryn said that the plan is to have the cards on the MUL eventually.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2025/05/27 22:09:53
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
News
-UK Games Expo this weekend. Tickets available for Leviathans and some BattleTech events
-Origins is up in about a month
--There will be a booth
--Plenty of events
--BattleTech is nominated for an ENnie
--Quincy from Quincy’s Tavern will be there with CGL
-New releases
--BattleTech
---May
----Inner Sphere Pursuit lance
----Legendary Mechwarriors III
----Legendary MechWarriors II and III salvage box is still on the way
---June 11th
----3rd Star League Strike Team
----Black Remnant retail release
----Inner Sphere Assault Lance
----Battlefield Support: Heavy Battle and Sweep Lance
----Battlemat Legendary Battles: Twycross
---July
----McCarron’s Armoured Cav Assault Lance retail
----Battlemat Legendary Battles: Thunder Rift/Misery
----3rd Star League Battle Group
----Battlefield Support: Emplacements
-May free ebooks still available:
--BattleTech: Objective Raid
-Fiction out now
-Apparent Catastrophe by Mike Stackpole
-Lone Wolf and Fox by Bryan Young
-Shrapnel 21 out June 13th
Discussion
-Loren decided to write his posts about the tariffs because he’d seen a lot of interesting posts about it, but none of them went back to basics and explained it from the first step.
-Tariffs are usually a legitimate way to influence the economy, and are generally announced with plenty of notice and for a set time. Loren used the term capricious to describe them in one of the posts and he still feels that’s appropriate. When the first wave of tariffs were announced for the start of March, Loren felt confident the 8 containers they had on the sea would arrive in time. He suspects that other ships paid to skip the queue and he was suddenly being hit with port delays that lead to an unexpected $240,000 tax bill. About a third of this was the Leviathans Kickstarter material.
-They’ve slowed down production in China and were waiting until the 145% tariffs were relaxed. They’re now moving forward with some stuff.
-Loren noted that even though the rates were relaxed for 90 days, he notes that might change tomorrow
-Even with the price increases, it’ll take a couple of years to recoup the $240K loss. Loren mentioned he’s been chatting with another game publisher who often says that if his company had BattleTech, he’d be charging at least $10 more for a box set. Loren wants to keep the game as cheap as possible while still having a profit margin to try and get it into the hands of as many people as possible.
-CGL are still eating some of the tariffs, they’re not passing the entire cost onto the customer
-Books aren’t being hit as hard as other physical products, which is why there’s been no increase on them.
-There was no way around raising the prices on miniatures products.
-Loren has been learning on the go over the last four years about various tariff situations. He’s been taking a policy of waiting and analysing the situation before making a situation.
-Loren feels that some companies are using tariffs as an excuse to shut down or to get out of commitments they didn’t want to handle
-He went through a strategy to manage reasonable tariffs that you can do a minor price increase for the short term. He described the 145% tariffs as “a fake number”
-Rem asked if there’s more urgency on international warehousing. Loren said not necessarily, but they need to be more precise about shipping number to the US, they can’t afford to ship to the US and then internationally. So they need to be sure they can ship direct from China to the hubs. They have an agreement mostly ready with Let’s Play Games in Australia. They’re working with places in the UK and EU but they don’t want to name names yet.
-They’re waiting for the final mercenaries cleanup, and then are hoping that fulfillment for Leviathans will mark the start of the international nexuses (nexii)
-Gothic is now shipping to the US. It’s slated for an August release, With availability at GenCon
-Aces is in production. If it’s ready too close to the end of the 90-day tariff freeze they might delay shipping.
-They’re currently in full production, but it might slow down again depending on what happens. Loren doesn’t want BattleTech’s space in retail to end up being replaced with another game because of lack of production.
-They noted that they quadrupled the most recent Salvage Box order and they still sold out really fast.
-They put a few con appearances on hiatus this year. Cash flow has been affected by the tariffs and the Alliance bankruptcy issues. They’ve had to tighten their belt in a few other places.
-They’re probably going to have two fewer products this year, 5-6 fewer over the next couple of years.
-Essen and Pax Australia are still on for some level of appearance. They won’t do San Diego this year.
-To Loren’s knowledge, when the Alliance sale finalises, they’ll make good on their debts. They’re still shipping products right now and he’s confident they’ll get the money Alliance owes them in time.
Q&A
-Were any products scrapped due to Tariffs? Loren doesn’t think so. Stuff got delayed but not scrapped
-Has CGL looked into doing game products not covered by tariffs? There was an article about making sure that your products were labelled properly you won’t get tariffed, and that was full of incorrect info. Books were never tariffed to the point of other products, but games were never exempted to Loren’s knowledge
-How is Liya holding up? There are rumours of industries being gutted in China as a result. Liya are doing fine, good communications, they’ve been working hand in hand with CGL throughout. Nobody Loren is talking to has shut down, and he assumes that any who did shut down already had issues and the tariffs either exacerbated existing problems or gave them an excuse to shut down.
-How will Kickstarter products be handled? Anyone who’s backed a Kickstarter from before the tariffs will not get any additional charges. They won’t punish backers who are in good faith expecting their products. The retail prices will be increased though. Future campaigns might have a tariff statement to cover reasonable changes around prices changing. They will work very hard to make sure backers will not be penalised.
-Den of Wolves when? It’s working in fits and starts. Loren wrote 2 chapters a few weeks ago and then got dragged into admin and tariff stuff. He needs to write 3-4 more chapters and Stackpole 5-6 or so. He hopes to get another chapter done this weekend.
-Any news on whether the 3rd Star league Forcepacks will be B&N exclusive? They won’t be. They did consider it for B&N’s Autumn/Winter release, but it looks like they’ll be getting 21st Centauri Lancers, as originally planned.
-Any update on the restock of Hot Spots Hinterlands? There are 4,000 copies in the Warehouse, it needs to be added back to the webstore.
-Anything new from Iron Wind? There’s no new info beyond the sale announcement. Mike Noe is still coming in to consult but they have a new person in place as head of operations. They’ve spent the last few months cleaning up while not interfering with operations. They’re working on some new designs and ideas, and a bundle to send to retailers to get them back into selling metals.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2025/05/28 11:31:11
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
parakuribo wrote: Okay, I'll say it in regards to Iron Wind: the hell took Catalyst so long?
Probably the need for enough cash TO SPARE for the buyout. And Iron Wind had to be willing to sell for the prices Catalyst was willing to pay. The two are not always concurrent.
CHAOS! PANIC! DISORDER!
My job here is done.
2025/05/28 20:11:46
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
The reason Catalyst Game Labs purchased Iron Wind Metals is covered in this post:
“Last July marked my 42nd anniversary in the game industry, and I had no plans to quit any time soon,” said Mike Noe, President of Iron Wind Metals. “However, Melissa, my partner in life and in Iron Wind, has been battling health issues and now needs me with her as often as possible. So, after more than 40 years in the game industry and more than 20 with Iron Wind Metals, it was time for me to step back and take care of my family.
As noted in the post, without Melissa Noe's illness (which has been public knowledge since at least 2022), there would have been no sale of Iron Wind Metals to Catalyst. IMHO, the reason it took until now for the sale is that Mike Noe wasn't ready to sell until now and nothing to do with the unspecified amount of the sale.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2025/06/04 14:51:51
Subject: Re:BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
News:
-New Releases
--BattleTech
---Out now:
----The Spectre of Winter by Craig Reed: This month’s free fiction
----Lone Wolf and Fox by Bryan Young
----Apparent Catastrophe by Mike Stackpole
---June 11th
----3rd Star League Strike Team
----Black Remnant Command Lance (retail release)
----Inner Sphere Assault Lance
----Battlefield Support: Heavy Battle and Sweep Lances
----Legendary Battles Battlemat: Twycross
---June 13th
----Shrapnel 21 (Pre-order now)
---July
----McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry Assault Lance (general retail release)
----Legendary Battles Battlemat: Thunder Rift and Misery
----3rd Star League Battle Group
----Battlefield Support: Emplacements
-Cons
-CGL will have a booth at Origins, Quincy from Quincy’s Tavern will be there. Bryn will be there at least. Events run by the Demo Team:
-Alpha Strike Academy
-Solaris Melee Challenge
-Drafted for War
-Grinder
-Boot Camp
-Missions
-Alpha Strike
-Total Warfare
-RPG
Discussion
-Marco doesn’t do a lot of tabletop gaming, he got into BattleTech via the books and art and setting. He has two older brothers who’s rooms were full of the coolest stuff when he was a kid. He remembered grabbing the TROs off of one brothers’ shelf and feeling like they could be real. He was constantly sketching them in school and imagining mechs fighting.
-His first professional work was on CthuluTech. He did a lot of interior art for it. From there he met Alex Iglesias, and some people who were working on video games.
-He worked on CCP’s World of Darkness MMO which never came out. He joked about how most of what he worked on has never materialised, he figures one game shipped in 17 years - being the HBS BattleTech DLC
-Around 2013, he was getting into MechWarrior Online, which made him really want to work on BattleTech again and he reached out to Brent who asked him to submit an interior piece of a Warhammer. Marco put a massive amount of work into it and clearly it paid off because they started giving him covers.
-He started freelancing with CGL in 2016, and it was very much a side gig, doing covers in his spare time while working on computer games as his day job. When HBS did their massive layoffs a few years ago he called Brent and said that he was out of work if there was more that CGL could send him, and Brent called it the best thing he ever heard, followed by a lot of exclamation points. He was basically working full-time on BattleTech from there.
-His first major work was Force Manual: Kurita, he did 14-18 pieces for it including the cover.
-Brent was prepping Marco for the art director role for about a year even before anyone knew he was leaving, Brent included. He basically did the art direction on ilkhan’s eyes only. Randall then reached out to him, saying “we’ve got a little side project without an art director, wanna do it?” Which turned out to be Gothic.
-Marco did most of the art in Gothic, he wasn’t sure how much work to delegate. Four other artists worked on the interior.
-Gothic was the first time he got to work on the 3D design team, he said he got to be Anthony for a few months.
-He’s doing more illustration than he thought he would as art director. There’s a lot of stuff where they need art quickly or something experimental and he finds it easier to get that done himself. Keeping the various artists interpretations in line with the creative vision is a challenge.
-He’d love to do portfolio reviews at cons, and will be at GenCon.
-If you can’t make it to a con, email marcomazzoni@catalystgamelabs.com. Keep the portfolio as centred on BattleTech or mechs in general as possible
-The art that grabbed him mainly was the technical stuff: The blueprints, the TROs, Duane Loose and Doug Chaffee especially. He references how Chaffee renders lighting and materials to this day.
-He’d love to get some more traditional art done. It’s a hard ask with the quick turnaround of art and it being much easier to edit and change things in digital though. He’d love to have hand-painted art for special covers sometime.
-He’d like to have some quieter moments in the internal art, establish scale between humans and Mechs, show Mechs being repaired or in-between battles.
-There’s a lot of art in ilKhan’s eyes only that he was very happy with and would highlight to the fans. Especially the aerospace art.
-They’re just finishing up the art on Hot Spots: Draconis Reach. It’s going to have a lot of two-page spreads and give the artists lots of space to work. Sometimes art calls can come out to make a massive battle in an 8x10 space and it can even be a challenge to compose it.
-There’s about 200 unique pieces of art in Gothic, including stuff like logos and the mech renders. Working out the details was a fun challenge, deciding what to keep in, what to remove. A lot of new people worked on the art because of the nature of the project. The Rifleman is his favourite redesign with the wrought-iron gate over the cockpit and helps it feel like at a distance you’ll say it’s a Rifleman, but as you get close you realise it’s something different. He loves the Scorpion but at the same time it’s still very recognisable as a Scorpion
-His favourite Gothic art is all in the Primer, the shot of the MechWarrior standing on the Rifleman.
-Marco is very excited for the TRO 3025 commemorative edition. The original was his first BattleTech book and it’s dog-eared and wrecked. It became an all-hands-on-deck project to get it ready for GenCon. Anthony’s team spent about a month and a half redoing the art. Some units got the full 3D treatment but others, where they’re not necessarily going to get a mini or otherwise need a render, went from sketch to final art. Marco is very excited for people to see the LAMs, he did the Wasp LAM and it was fun to draw.
Q&A
-Any update on when the second and subsequent BFMs will be released? Rem isn’t sure, they were on the release schedule but anything that’s not on the boat is in flux
-Any MUL updates? It’s so close they’re drafting the marketing plan. No release date yet but it’s very very close
-My copy of Hinterlands finally arrived from CGL! Yaaaaay!
-Which is Marco’s favourite BattleTech alternate universe? Gothic, when he’s not drawing mechs he’s drawing monsters. They’re developing anime and rockets & rayguns now and they’ll probably stretch the aesthetic more than they did with Gothic. He’s working on anime now
-Any update on the ilKhan era Force Manual PDFs? Rem and Marco were unsure. Marco noted they’re working on the art for Steiner now.
-Who did the cover on The Spectre of Winter? It was a ready-to-go piece so Marco wasn’t sure off the top of his head.
-Is there a mech Marco wishes was in Gothic but got cut? He wasn’t part of the process to pick what got in, but he would have loved to see a melee mech like the Hatchetman, something like the Black Knight would fit well, or the Warhammer because it’s one of his favourites.
-Have you finished posting the interview from GenCon 2024? Yes
-Will they do interviews again this year? No, viewership of the Gencon streams and the interviews weren’t good. Pax is most popular, and Adepticon is OK.
-Are the Kurita forcepacks on the boat yet? They’re still slated for this year (current estimates are October and December), they’ve just entered production.
-Will there be more Gothic minis beyond what’s in the box set? They might do Abomination minis. Beyond that, no plans. If Gothic does incredibly well they might revisit the plans.
-Did the Tariff mess affect development on future Aces or alternate universe boxes? Development remains on-track, production is the problem. Anything in development that’s affected is way down the line.
-Any news on a battle of Luthien sourcebook? Nothing Rem or Marco has heard about.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
2025/06/04 15:37:28
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
Bummer that the Kurita forcepack will be delayed from previous estimates. I wonder if next year we'll get a Marik one.
M.
Jenkins: You don't have jurisdiction here!
Smith Jamison: We aren't here, which means when we open up on you and shred your bodies with automatic fire then this will never have happened.
About the Clans: "Those brief outbursts of sense can't hold back the wave of sibko bred, over hormoned sociopaths that they crank out though."
2025/06/04 16:20:40
Subject: BattleTech 'Mercenaries' Kickstarter - AUS WAVE 3 IS COMPLETING! (UPDATE #131)
Miguelsan wrote: Bummer that the Kurita forcepack will be delayed from previous estimates. I wonder if next year we'll get a Marik one.
M.
They confirmed at AdeptiCon that we'd see one, but IMHO it would most likely be released with Force Manual: Marik. Next up is Force Manual: Mercenaries, with Reddit saying the next planned Force Manuals being Invading Clans, Steiner and then either Marik or Liao
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
