BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Game Systems => General BattleTech Discussion => Topic started by: worktroll on 14 March 2017, 21:38:43
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(Romanes domum ite!)
Resume speculation!
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(Romanes domum ite!)
Stone: HOW MANY CLANNERS?
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First post!
After his!
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Checking in!
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As we descend deeper, I see AS carved on the wall
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Well, Stone's Trackers was supposed to be released Friday, but personal catastrophes and illnesses (across a few staff members) have delayed it. I'm told it will be posted some time tomorrow.
Sorry for the inconvenience. :-\
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Oooooooo tomorrow
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Yes! And before I ran out of disposable income!!
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I'm tapped for the next couple weeks or so, but I'll be getting this as soon as I can. O0
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POKE 53280,1
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POKE 53280,1
HEY. Excuse yourself, sir!
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a date? we get a timeframe?
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One ping, Vasili. One ping only.
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POKE 53280,1
Psst . . . your greybeardness is showing https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/POKE (https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/POKE)
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Well, Stone's Trackers was supposed to be released Friday, but personal catastrophes and illnesses (across a few staff members) have delayed it. I'm told it will be posted some time tomorrow.
Sorry for the inconvenience. :-\
Better late than never. Disposable income allocated.
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I'm here, and on to the new stuff.
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Can the next 'Spotlight On... 'be about Tracker's Stones?
Asking for a friend.
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Can the next 'Spotlight On... 'be about Tracker's Stones?
Asking for a friend.
tell your friend…call me.
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Resume speculation!
String! Or nothing!
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Hope the Staff feels better. Looking forward to the fruit of everyone's labors.
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Indeed. Hope all the team gets better soon!
I know I will be punished for this, but....I see April 1st is coming up in a couple weeks. Should we expect zany-ness, crazy-ness and absurdy-ness?
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Psst . . . your greybeardness is showing https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/POKE (https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/POKE)
I know...ELITE for C64 Baby!
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There has definitely been something nasty going around here. I have several co-workers out sick.
I didn't realize that it was bad enough to infect even fictional Universes.
Feel better, staff & writers!
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I know...ELITE for C64 Baby!
Real programmers use the Amstrad 464 ... me, I had the 6128! Z80 rocks, and also serves as a Clan Targetting Computer for ER micro lasers!
We return you to your normal speculation, regarding who exactly can be found in the middle of the ice plain.
W.
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tell your friend…call me.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
*excited arm-waving*
I mean... thanks... I'll let him know.
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There has definitely been something nasty going around here. I have several co-workers out sick.
It's spring, the scurve will be after us all with a vengeance. Here's hoping that damn flu shot works this time.
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Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
*excited arm-waving*
I mean... thanks... I'll let him know.
Can't wait for that feeling myself.
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Well, Stone's Trackers was supposed to be released Friday, but personal catastrophes and illnesses (across a few staff members) have delayed it. I'm told it will be posted some time tomorrow.
Sorry for the inconvenience. :-\
Well, as long is its back on...TRACK...now, then no problem.
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Well, as long is its back on...TRACK...now, then no problem.
(facepalm)
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I think my job is in jeopardy.
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Hurry up! I need to spend money.
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I think my job is in jeopardy.
Isn't it always?
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So, is there one person responsible for killing worlds/ships/units, or are those decisions a group effort?
It works via the author taking a fair crack as they write, then RlAdrian Gideon says, "Here's thousands of words, 500+ regiments and over 950 Warships: See if you make it make sense."
So I have a master sheet, based on Oysteins earlier research, which goes in 5 year steps from 2765 to 2865. Each unit has start and end stats for each war, and notes where it was at any particular time. We generate the back of book tables from that. I often map them all too in ArcGIS as I map the waves and campaigns for the book.
If a unit is killed in the book I kill it in the tables. Other deaths are generally up to me, though I do randomise a lot to save time. Others back stop me to make sure I don't get overzealous with my blood lust. A lot of conversations go on and we discuss and debste what works, emwhat does not and what feels right. Things like the Sword of Lighr can take a lot work and research. For irregularities in the text, I try and find a solution and advise the author or editor.
A usual conversation is me killing the entire Davion Guards Brigade, to which Welshman then goes and complains to Adrian Gideon that I'm being a prick. Adrian tells me to reinstate them, and I then go and sulk and conplain about the constant harrasment and victimisation of Lyran fans. Alex Knight then consoles me, and asks me to let the DG live so Welshman stops being angry and making AK do all the ACS conversions again I relent and reinstate the guards...then I go wipe out all the Avalon Hussars and it starts again >:D
Similar process is used for WarShip, especially for the 2nd War, 1st War was just too big, and for killing worlds.
All in all, I get to kill a lot of stuff and play with all the little toy soldiers, so its a lot of fun.
Took about a month of nights for 1st war, 2 weeks for 2nd war, as we had the base info ready the second time around.
Hope that answers your question.
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I think my job is in jeopardy.
What? You can't replace Alex Trebek.... ??? ::)
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A usual conversation is me killing the entire Davion Guards Brigade, to which Welshman then goes and complains to Adrian Gideon that I'm being a prick. Adrian tells me to reinstate them, and I then go and sulk and conplain about the constant harrasment and victimisation of Lyran fans. Alex Knight then consoles me, and asks me to let the DG live so Welshman stops being angry and making AK do all the ACS conversions again I relent and reinstate the guards...then I go wipe out all the Avalon Hussars and it starts again >:D
This is more accurate than many people might think. ;D
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<snip>
Add to this, that I actually lay out and produce the books, and as a loyal son of the Sons, everything gets fixed in the end.
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This is more accurate than many people might think. ;D
Imagine how it looks to someone like me, who is not directly involved, but sees maybe 35% of the total number of e-mails going by, and has to try to figure out what the great googly-moogly is going on over there...
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We find it best to keep you authors in the dark, you're to creative for your own own good.
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Add to this, that I actually lay out and produce the books, and as a loyal son of the Sons, everything gets fixed in the end.
So he claims...
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<words>
Yes, actually that was a fantastic explanation. So you pretty much knew where you started and where you were going to end. Seems kind of obvious now, but for whatever reason I didn't really think about that before. The details of where things fall off the spreadsheet is some combo of fitting in to existing story, and cool ideas you or the writers come up with.
I'm a Suns fan (although not exclusively), so seeing the guards go squish would have made me a little sad...but you can have the Avalon Hussars. Always letting the Crucis and Draconis march forces get beat to hell then riding in like they are some great white knights!
One last question though: Did it turn out to be tricky to kill off the last few warships? Seems like it would be easy enough while there are still fleets roaming around, but once you get down to only a few here and there I'm not sure how you arrange that without it seeming...forced. Regardless, I look forward to reading the details of how it all worked out.
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Given that we allready knew what happened to the last Draconis and Lyran Warships, that's 2/5th of the job done allready
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Considering nukes were never banned in space...I don't see any real problem about it. (Would actually make a cool scenario now that I think about it: sending in a few squadrons against overwhelming odds for a quick strike against one of your opponent's last remaining WarShips...)
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We find it best to keep you authors in the dark, you're too creative for your own own good.
FTFY, you're involved in producing BT books, slip ups like that cost sales
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::)
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So he claims...
I dunno, I mean we "fix" dogs and cats don't we?
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FTFY, you're involved in producing BT books, slip ups like that cost sales
Hence the brown and not yellow beemer.
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One last question though: Did it turn out to be tricky to kill off the last few warships? Seems like it would be easy enough while there are still fleets roaming around, but once you get down to only a few here and there I'm not sure how you arrange that without it seeming...forced. Regardless, I look forward to reading the details of how it all worked out.
The authors left notes for xxx ship, then we tracked down all canon and 1st war mentions, and made some judgement calls.
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Well, Stone's Trackers was supposed to be released Friday, but personal catastrophes and illnesses (across a few staff members) have delayed it. I'm told it will be posted some time tomorrow.
Sorry for the inconvenience. :-\
Well, Stones can be pretty painful to pass. Its no wonder it didn't come out when it was supposed to :P
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The authors left notes for xxx ship, then we tracked down all canon and 1st war mentions, and made some judgement calls.
Eh, just ram 'em into each other. Easy enough.
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Now that the Spotlights On is out what can we hype next?
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Eh, just ram 'em into each other. Easy enough.
(http://i.giphy.com/bhAGYhtPS5YPu.gif)
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Now that the Spotlights On is out what can we hype next?
Surely the ilClan? Where the big reveal in Homeworlds will be:
"All this time they weren't just Clan Stone Lion...they were Stone's Lions!" :o
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Shameless self-promotion!
Now available - Spotlight On: Stone's Trackers (http://bg.battletech.com/test/epubs/spotlight-on-stones-trackers/)
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(http://i.giphy.com/bhAGYhtPS5YPu.gif)
"God save the Prince!" *THWACK*
Bravo, perfect gif O0
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Shameless self-promotion!
Now available - Spotlight On: Stone's Trackers (http://bg.battletech.com/test/epubs/spotlight-on-stones-trackers/)
Thanks, Cubby!!!
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I'll be picking the new spotlight up when I get home tonight, so no spoilers please!
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The action butler did it.
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And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling writers
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(http://i.giphy.com/bhAGYhtPS5YPu.gif)
New defense against charge attacks!
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Stone's Trackers - Question. What happened to the Degraz version of the Wight? It mentions it in the book but missing
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It's in XTRO: Phantoms
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Stone's Trackers - Question. What happened to the Degraz version of the Wight? It mentions it in the book but missing
It's from Experimental Technical Readout: Phantoms.
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Ahmm...did you not see my post , YingJanshi? I posted the exact same thing half an hour earlier.
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It's from Experimental Technical Readout: Phantoms.
It's in XTRO: Phantoms
Wow, I completely forgot about that one. Cudos to Cubby for adding that Machine in there!
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Stone's Trackers - Question. What happened to the Degraz version of the Wight? It mentions it in the book but missing
XTRO Phantoms
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I jsut wanted to chime in andsay how awesome Stone's Trackers was. It was a great little product about a very unconventional unit, and it was actually rather fun to have one that was not BattleMech focused ofr once. Likewise, it was good to have something on a RAF unit; compared to the other big house millitaries, much of the RAF is still rather bare bonues.
I can't wait for the next one!
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Has anyone used Alpha Strike with Infantry? How do the Trackers compare? I've yet see infantry used in few AS game's Ive been in.
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Has anyone used Alpha Strike with Infantry? How do the Trackers compare? I've yet see infantry used in few AS game's Ive been in.
Infantry, especially infantry with anti-mech attacks, are Super Effective in Alpha Strike. A "free" crit even when armor isn't exhausted is a huge threat and commands being respected. (By being shot at and drawing fire off other units, or avoiding and ceding board control)
Even without AM attacks, cheap units that throw a point or two of damage are still hugely useful due to one of the differences from CBT: you know the effect of an attack before you declare the next. Save the infantry until you've shot with the big guns to plink targets that have been stripped of armor for cheap crits. Hole punching and crit seeking... same idea as in CBT but spread across units rather than across weapons in the same unit.
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Shameless self-promotion!
Now available - Spotlight On: Stone's Trackers (http://bg.battletech.com/test/epubs/spotlight-on-stones-trackers/)
Good stuff Cubby, I enjoyed it!
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Nice unit history a couple of interesting characters too I'd have liked it if they stuck a little closer to their routes as time went on but it was a good evolution of the unit
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So, the Wight record sheet should have been included. I've already submitted the correction, it'll take a while to be uploaded, but those of you who've already purchased it, should be able to re-download once that's available.
Today is the last day we're accepting merc names for the Second Succession War. :)
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Today is the last day we're accepting merc names for the Second Succession War. :)
Out of curiosity, if y'all do decide on using a name submitted from the peanut gallery, will that person be notified of "winning" or only find out via seeing it mentioned in the SB? :)
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Out of curiosity, if y'all do decide on using a name submitted from the peanut gallery, will that person be notified of "winning" or only find out via seeing it mentioned in the SB? :)
I'm not sure yet. It seems like a sleezy move to say "buy the book to find out!" But since we're looking at only a couple dozen slots, I may actually send out notifications. Haven't decided yet.
But c'mon, buy the book. ;)
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But c'mon, buy the book. ;)
I *would*, but it isn't done yet. :D
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I had this idea to submit the name of a tube artillery-focused group of very devout Christians named in honor of Adrian, but I don't think he'd let me get away with Gideon's Bible Thumpers.
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Where do we go to submit this again?
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Where do we go to submit this again?
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56665.msg1302457#msg1302457
To Ray's email.
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OK, I can't remember if this was in the Box Set thread or this one, but someone mentioned that RS volumes don't sell well, so I'd like to ask: Are TRO likely to come with RS bundled together in the future like in the XTRO line?
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I had this idea to submit the name of a tube artillery-focused group of very devout Christians named in honor of Adrian, but I don't think he'd let me get away with Gideon's Bible Thumpers.
Try it anyway. O0
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I've only had the chance to browse the new Spotlight, but it is really fun so far.
Great work, guys!
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I had this idea to submit the name of a tube artillery-focused group of very devout Christians named in honor of Adrian, but I don't think he'd let me get away with Gideon's Bible Thumpers.
Speaking as a seminary student, I second this so much--I have dibs on your XO if this ever happens somehow. O0
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More new stuff!!! Another Spotlight!
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Good book, really enjoy the format of the Spotlight on series.
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Hope the big books down the pipeline come by spring. Like these short books. I want something longer to read.
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A Q2 book release would be welcome.
here's what's currently listed in the coming releases
Second Succession War - best bet. it has a cover and the merc name contest make it sound mostly done (for varying values of "mostly")
ilClan - I'm in the camp that expects this around convention season for M A X I M U M H Y P E
TRO: IrregularTech - we got a list of included units a while back but who knows where this is in the development cycle
TRO: Golden Century - ???
CM: Davion - where you at?
CM: Steiner - hopefully we'll see it in 2017?
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A Q2 book release would be welcome.
here's what's currently listed in the coming releases
Second Succession War - best bet. it has a cover and the merc name contest make it sound mostly done (for varying values of "mostly"
I'm editing it now. Not sure I'd call it "mostly done"--there's still layout, etc.--but it's definitely in the immediate pipeline to be the next print product out.
ilClan - I'm in the camp that expects this around convention season for M A X I M U M H Y P E
Nothing I'm at liberty to share.
TRO: IrregularTech - we got a list of included units a while back but who knows where this is in the development cycle
TRO: Golden Century - ???
Outside my purview.
CM: Davion - where you at?
I'm under contract to edit, but have not been given the green light to start editing--or any indication that's it's on the immediate horizon. (Which, as always, could change with a single e-mail. I'm not in charge.)
CM: Steiner - hopefully we'll see it in 2017?
Unclear. Not sure what the status of writing/development is, and may be sales dependent as stated in previous upcoming/new release threads.
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A Q2 book release would be welcome.
here's what's currently listed in the coming releases
Second Succession War - best bet. it has a cover and the merc name contest make it sound mostly done (for varying values of "mostly")
ilClan - I'm in the camp that expects this around convention season for M A X I M U M H Y P E
TRO: IrregularTech - we got a list of included units a while back but who knows where this is in the development cycle
TRO: Golden Century - ???
CM: Davion - where you at?
CM: Steiner - hopefully we'll see it in 2017?
Nice list, hope to see all of it in 2017.
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Checking my revised schedule, looks like Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky is up next.
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I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting ilClan to move the story forward (I can't wait to find out what happens, either), but I really hope that the TtS series turns out to be a long-running success. I really love the new details that they are injecting into the BT Universe.
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I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting ilClan to move the story forward (I can't wait to find out what happens, either), but I really hope that the TtS series turns out to be a long-running success. I really love the new details that they are injecting into the BT Universe.
Agreed, they, along with the Spotlight On series, have been a joy to read, hopefully I can start catching up with them now.
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I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting ilClan to move the story forward (I can't wait to find out what happens, either), but I really hope that the TtS series turns out to be a long-running success. I really love the new details that they are injecting into the BT Universe.
The mini-PDFs are doing fine, I don't see them going away any time soon. In fact, right now I'm working on a compilation line for the Turning Points series, with a print on demand option, and if that turns out well, you can be sure that the Touring the Stars and Spotlight On will follow suit.
So if all goes well, be on the lookout for Turning Points: Capitals Punishment available soon in PDF and print on demand.
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The mini-PDFs are doing fine, I don't see them going away any time soon. In fact, right now I'm working on a compilation line for the Turning Points series, with a print on demand option, and if that turns out well, you can be sure that the Touring the Stars and Spotlight On will follow suit.
So if all goes well, be on the lookout for Turning Points: Capitals Punishment available soon in PDF and print on demand.
That's awesome. I'd love to see compilation of those series! :D Capital Punishment sounds like interesting twist in Turning point series, law enforcement theme? :o
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Sounds interesting
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That's awesome. I'd love to see compilation of those series! :D Capital Punishment sounds like interesting twist in Turning point series, law enforcement theme? :o
My best guess is it's a collection of all the Jihad Turning Points: <Capital Planet>.
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My best guess is it's a collection of all the Jihad Turning Points: <Capital Planet>.
hope not got them all
Maybe it's dead worlds Galax, Alarion, Galedon V, Highspire all those that paid the heaviest price
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Maybe it's dead worlds Galax, Alarion, Galedon V, Highspire all those that paid the heaviest price
These are compilations for print on demand, not brand new publications.
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I've read about 75% of them but have bought all the TtS and SpotLights so far. Can't wait for the next one!
Speaking of Old Kentucky is that one ready for release or still getting the final touches?
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Final touches, with more on the way...
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Just finished reading some of the Second Succession War book...
Holy ******.
My favorite Historical. EVER.
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Just finished reading some of the Second Succession War book...
Holy ******.
My favorite Historical. EVER.
No fair, you're teasing us too much.
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Well, I could tease up some of the upcoming SOs and TtSs. Would that work?
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I think you should be teasing up some of the new rules for ISW that might come out in 2SW ... provided the Curse of Pagecount doesn't intervene. Again. >:(
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Just finished reading some of the Second Succession War book...
Holy ******.
My favorite Historical. EVER.
Looking forward to this one! And IlClan....and more Spotlight On....and more Touring the Stars.....and more Combat Manuals. MOAR!!
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What happened to the milestones? I understand why one of them is waiting for IlClan come out, but what about the others?
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Well, I could tease up some of the upcoming SOs and TtSs. Would that work?
Yep, that works
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Well, I could tease up some of the upcoming SOs and TtSs. Would that work?
ANY new product info is welcome at ANY time
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Checking my revised schedule, looks like Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky is up next.
Is Old Kentucky the system with the cannibal carnivorous baboons and Maskirovka outpost in it?
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Is Old Kentucky the system with the cannibal carnivorous baboons and Maskirovka outpost in it?
And entire dropships full of bourbon.
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And entire dropships full of bourbon.
SOLD!!!
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Wow, I completely forgot about that one. Cudos to Cubby for adding that Machine in there!
So, a bit of a "liner note" here - that 'Mech really was the spark for this entire product.
I really liked the entry in XTRO: Phantoms, and was determined to do something with the 'Mech in question someday. I thought it might be a BattleCorps story, but otherwise had put it in the back of my mind. That is, until the solicitations for "Spotlight On" went out--I knew I wanted to do a post-Jihad unit, ideally a Republic one, and pairing the Stone's Trackers option with that 'Mech felt like a total chocolate-meets-peanut butter moment.
Building out the backstory for why that 'Mech exists, how it would be used, and how it would fit in with a unit called the "212th Nova Cat Headhunter Binary" really just formed a natural skeleton for the story.
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These are compilations for print on demand, not brand new publications.
Will there be any new Turning Points in the near future.
I REALLY like those but compilations of material I already own does not interest me at all.
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Managed to get some time to read through the Stones Trackers spotlight last night, and that was a fun one! Was a little sad it turned into infantry-only in the Republic era, but the explanation made sense. And that inclusion of the Wight variant was perfect. Kudos on that idea.
One question: Where in the heck did that JVN-10F come from in Alpha Star??? The rest of the mechs all make sense to me: the newer tech or more recent variants of mechs, the pulse weapons and targeting computers, even the Hollander makes sense to me (especially outside of Alpha Strike.) But who pissed off Santin West and got stuck in an intro-tech Javelin!?
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Will there be any new Turning Points in the near future.
There are a handful in various stages of development.
I REALLY like those but compilations of material I already own does not interest me at all.
Sure, but they've never been offered in print. #1 complaint for all our electronic publications, is that people want them in print, and that's the the purpose those compilations fulfill.
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I've never looked at print on demand before. Is it a function that'll be available in Europe, or does it tend to be US only? I love the pdf documents for searching
and reading discretely at work but there are times where I just want to be able to dig out a hard copy and leave it next to the computer to play with.
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So based on that if it does well we could see other products such as the Spotlight or Touring series get print on demand?
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Got me my new stuff
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But who pissed off Santin West and got stuck in an intro-tech Javelin!?
Someone who got a little too frisky with the Iron Wombs. :D
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Is Old Kentucky the system with the cannibal carnivorous baboons and Maskirovka outpost in it?
Aren't they one and the same?
Craig
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No, the baboons are more intelligent ;D
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But does it have sharks who's brains are made out of dynamite?
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But does it have sharks who's brains are made out of dynamite?
No but I'm pretty sure they have frikkin' laser beams in their frikkin' heads. (That stolen Manei Domini tech has to be good for something.)
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No but I'm pretty sure they have frikkin' laser beams in their frikkin' heads. (That stolen Manei Domini tech has to be good for something.)
And now I have this image of WOB remnants releasing cybernetically modified critters on multiple worlds in their latest terrorist campaign. That idea alone is worth a year of SyFy "Monster of the week" movies!
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Someone who got a little too frisky with the Iron Wombs. :D
"I would say this will limit your chances of contributing your genetics to the next generation of warriors, but it seems you have beaten us to the punch on that."
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But...how would you even...is there, like, a port?...I'm so confused right now!
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There are a handful in various stages of development.
Sure, but they've never been offered in print. #1 complaint for all our electronic publications, is that people want them in print, and that's the the purpose those compilations fulfill.
That's fine by me. I am fully aware that many folks on this forum prefere DTF products.
I just wanted to know if we can expect new TPs at all.
And as I have my official answer now I am satisfied. :)
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I had this idea to submit the name of a tube artillery-focused group of very devout Christians named in honor of Adrian, but I don't think he'd let me get away with Gideon's Bible Thumpers.
This unit must be made real. It's too cheesy for someone IC not to like it.
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All right. The latest discussion on raids, infantry composition, and meat grinder worlds is really making me pine for official macro-fiction that goes into 'what's normally expected' for these things. You go into interstellar travel in the Conducting a Raid in the Universe primer of the Boxed set, but you don't do anything about 'What you should expect when you get there, normally'.
I mean, I've personally been playing around with the idea that there are large enough air forces on any world that can scramble to intercept a ship that's finally been detected in orbit, and that there're enough offensive ships in the raid to shepherd the ground raiders to the surface and keep Top Gun off their backs.
But, maybe that's not the case? How much does Neo-Feudalism play into who gets to defend the target? Does the noble owning a potential target site get first dibs? If he doesn't feel up to it, can he call upstairs to the planetary guard? Would he have to hire out a rival's forces and put up with the public shame?
As far as I know, this aspect really hasn't been covered in a product yet. If I'm off, someone point me in the right direction.
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As far as I know, this aspect really hasn't been covered in a product yet. If I'm off, someone point me in the right direction.
It's actually been covered a few times. Problem is, under different regimes and the "master viewpoint" for the universe doesn't always stay constant over the many years BT has been published.
Some books to review some of the things you've been mentioning:
Mercenaries Handbook (there's been a series of these, I'm partial to the original. You'll not find a better source on info about raiding procedures)
Combat Operations (an update to the older Merc's HB, expanding particularly into massive campaigns as set in the Civil War era)
Strategic Operations (issued by the current regime of TPTB)
For issues about interplanetary travel, I'll never be convinced that anything trumps the seminal Dropships & Jumpships. (even though SO largely picks directly from this source on this subject)
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The original Objective Raids?
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It won't help you plunder Grand Union Battle Works.
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Combat Operations (an update to the older Merc's HB, expanding particularly into massive campaigns as set in the Civil War era)
Not to be confused with the advanced optional rules book? #P
Other than StratOps, a lot of those are very dated sources.
edit: And, I'd still prefer a newer, supported product that goes into a blurb about 'General Level of Preparedness'.
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Other than StratOps, a lot of those are very dated sources.
Old sources are the best sources, says the Grodnard!
But, despite being old, they're the bedrock of the corpus of canon. I like to think I prioritize those sources for that reason rather than just being an 80s grognard :D And in many cases, their information is outright reprinted in condensed or modified form. Info from DS&JS about transit from jump point to planet is reprinted almost word for word (certainly with the same illustration, at least) in SO & Inner Sphere at a Glance (both are "modern" CGL products). ISaaG also incorporates info from Mercs' HB when it discusses the prosecution of various missions.. just in condensed form.
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Yeah, I remember those being rehashed in the FM: Mercenaries, too. But, they don't go into 'what can you expect at the other end'. It's almost as if they expect you're familiar with all the other sources, and that's difficult to do, especially with a lot of sources out of print.
I was overjoyed at Combat Manual: Mercenaries, because I was expecting at least a small sentence or paragraph explaining each unit's origins. Sadly, there were still a handful that I had no idea how they got started. Lindon's Battalion seems to come to mind, but I'm not positive. They were few, I only recall feeling disappointed 5 times. But, I don't recall which all, because there are so many. (Aside: did the mystery of Wylie's Coyotes ever get solved?)
I don't have the old Merc Handbook. At some point, I suppose I can pick up the PDF, but I don't sit well in front of a computer screen for long hours reading. I prefer to recline when reading something in-depth.
Not only is it dating of the source material and equivalent access, but I seem to see a schizophrenia regarding force composition regarding Mechs and other stuff. They want to encourage players to feel they have control with whatever force they're playing with, but the opposition seems rather lacking. If the hinting at large numbers of forces is to be believed, and you're using the same force in a lot of games, or someone is willing to play opfor for a campaign for said force, then there seem to be a lot of Mechs and tanks and other things readily available.
Mechs being scarce makes for a boring universe, but if done right, that means your MechWarriors really are the King- and Queen-shits of any world they land on. Lots of enemies to shoot at makes something like interplanetary raids require a lot more support and prep for even something as small as a lone warrior to go bounty-hunting.
I know which way I would prefer, but I wish the guys in charge would pick one and run with it. I would gladly bow to that. Or, heck, set up competing BT realities. You can have the world where Mechs are scarce, and planets seeing a large war resort to massive local builds of vehicles and militiaMechs, which are always outperformed by even the most intro BattleMech. You could have a world where Mechs are actually dime a dozen due to constant output and surplus over a century or two of really low brushfire conflicts, and numerous merc bands can be found on any planet along side noble retinues and rebel idealists. And, you can even have a world where everything is scarce accept where things are hoarded at the capitals.
But, if you go the multiverse route, each would have to be supported in some fashion, if only with a blurb at the start of the Campaign Ops: Supplemental and some suggestions on how to style your campaigns off each different Universe.
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Did you ever check out the Objectives series of pdfs? Those had pretty good sections describing what kind of forces you could expect to find defending any given planet(in addition to any regular military units stationed there), scaling up or down based on a world's importance, and the presence of major manufacturing or training facilities.
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Did you ever check out the Objectives series of pdfs? Those had pretty good sections describing what kind of forces you could expect to find defending any given planet(in addition to any regular military units stationed there), scaling up or down based on a world's importance, and the presence of major manufacturing or training facilities.
I wish the Object books had been more successful. I personally would have liked to have seen a Objectives: 3132 or 3145 version of those PDFs. We need those books more in Dark Age time line than in Jihad era.
I think they lacked a lot details to make them more usable. I know there was limited budget for these books to be made.
A lot guys i know whom used those books wanted the crunchy details where stuff is made so they could raid them for those components never mind Mechs/vehicle etc.
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I think they lacked a lot details to make them more usable.
My understanding was that the "Objectives" series basically shattered the mind of the first writer or two because of the amount of detail involved. They pre-date my involvement as a contributor by a few years, but the story I've heard that's been passed down is that they were a fact-checking and canonicity horror show.
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That was my understanding as well. Even if the series was immensely profitable(i have no clue), had they done another run they likely would have run out of trusted writers willing to work on them long before they got all the factions done.
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So....don't do them by faction? Seriously, make them like Touring the Stars. For example, Objectives: Keystone would focus on just Keystone, illustrating Earthwerks-FWL's Rochester Mountain facility (the single largest 'Mech factory in the Free Worlds) and Exeter Organization's Medway tank factory. Discuss the size, layout, location, output, and defenses of those facilities.
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Still a lot of work combing through all the relevant data, and you might end up with a half-page of text. Maybe even a full single page, if it's an important world.
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I think he's saying to give them the Spotlight On treatment, except for manufacturing and production sites.
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The writing wasn't the problem area. It was the data collection and fact checking which would still need to happen if it is in another product/format.
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The whole "faction books don't sell" is something from the FASA days that no longer applies (like "TROs are huge moneymakers"), as it was all tied to how the line was produced, supported, ownership of the IP, size of the player base, and a myriad of other things. It could have been true (or not) 15 years ago, but continuously saying it during that time doesn't make it still true or that it will hold true in the future.
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I'd be happy have generic thing, that said. Laser Supplier, company etc, not necessary getting into ULTRA detail. I can understand why the insanity of Cthulhu-Type Detail would be nightmare you don't want to waste human-man power on try put into a product.
If the recent Objective series was that bad, i can understand sadly why. Frankly more generic one would be better if it were possible side they make certain style stuff verses where the components were made. Generic doesn't require detail, but it's pipe dream i guess.
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So....don't do them by faction? Seriously, make them like Touring the Stars. For example, Objectives: Keystone would focus on just Keystone, illustrating Earthwerks-FWL's Rochester Mountain facility (the single largest 'Mech factory in the Free Worlds) and Exeter Organization's Medway tank factory. Discuss the size, layout, location, output, and defenses of those facilities.
Right, but as cavingjan pointed out, the issue is that you're also adding to the canon and continuity that future fact-check then has to sift through if something comes anywhere near that world. It's the bane of any BT product, or any successful product line that's been around for as long as BT has.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but as one of the people who does have to do that editing/fact-check sifting, I'm a fan of plot development forward and backward, not intensive, minutiae-driven drilling downward.
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The whole "faction books don't sell" is something from the FASA days that no longer applies (like "TROs are huge moneymakers"), as it was all tied to how the line was produced, supported, ownership of the IP, size of the player base, and a myriad of other things. It could have been true (or not) 15 years ago, but continuously saying it during that time doesn't make it still true or that it will hold true in the future.
So are we starting on the 3150 House Books next? :D
Maybe I'm in the minority, but as one of the people who does have to do that editing/fact-check sifting, I'm a fan of plot development forward and backward, not intensive, minutiae-driven drilling downward.
Just not too far backward. Trying to get BT rules for the Vietnam War is beyond the scope of the game, IMO.
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So are we starting on the 3150 House Books next? :D
They have begun a new series of House-specific books with the Combat Manual series. Honestly I bought into the "House Books don't sell" rumors that circled the seemingly-reluctant release that finally happened with HB:HK. I don't know if Ray is just giving the spin doctoring you'd expect from a PTB voicepiece or if it's actually not true that "they don't sell" is an artifact relevant only to FASA's reign. That CGL has gone through the bother of establishing a new brand/line of faction-specific books and given indications they intend to carry it for two more factions is surprising to me, but I heartily encourage them.
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TDC, it's not too late! If you look up now, you might see the joke as it passes overhead. :)
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TDC, it's not too late! If you look up now, you might see the joke as it passes overhead. :)
Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too quick, I would grab it.
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So are we starting on the 3150 House Books next? :D
Joking aside: 3250 maybe, but not without a whole metric ton of groundwork first to make those products viable.
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Coming soon: Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky
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That's an awful lot of green.
Any werewolves? (Sorry. Just got done reading The Last Colony.)
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TDC, it's not too late! If you look up now, you might see the joke as it passes overhead. :)
(http://i.imgur.com/nvg4jFG.gif)
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Joking aside: 3250 maybe, but not without a whole metric ton of groundwork first to make those products viable.
Pff, what would make them viable is if we could pay artists like we do writers! [legal]
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So, just so I'm crystal clear:
Making fun of a community member is NOT a violation of Rule 1, or it's only not a violation of Rule 1 when a moderator or admin does it?
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If you think it's a violation you should use the little warning button to alert all the moderators.
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If you think it's a violation you should use the little warning button to alert all the moderators.
I have a feeling they'll see the comment anyway.
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I do know it's never a violation when a developer makes fun of me.
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I do know it's never a violation when a developer makes fun of me.
EVERYONE makes fun of you. ^-^
TDC, I don't think he meant it as 'making fun of you' so much as pointing out that it was a joke and not to be taken any other way.
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I was pointing out a joke I believed you had missed. If you took it another way I apologize. If you feel more action is warranted, then go ahead and report the post. If the other mods decide I done wrong, I won't contest it, and will accept any resulting warnings. Just like the other occasions where this has happened.
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I was pointing out a joke I believed you had missed. If you took it another way I apologize. If you feel more action is warranted, then go ahead and report the post. If the other mods decide I done wrong, I won't contest it, and will accept any resulting warnings. Just like the other occasions where this has happened.
And it does happen. Mods earn warnings just like anyone else, as do admins. (I myself have earned a couple over the years) We've even had members of both groups earn bans before (not often, but it has happened). We're subject to the same rules as anyone else- and if one steps out of line, the rest of his peers don't let it continue.
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Pff, what would make them viable is if we could pay artists like we do writers! [legal]
I know you are sorta/kinda joking, but is the cost of art a significant issue these days? By that I mean, does the amount of art that the devs would like to include in some projects become a roadblock to them getting a green light? The art is a significant part of the value of many BT products for me, and I'm almost always happy to see it included in the new products I purchase, so to me it is money well spent...but I really don't know how much it affects CGL's decisions about putting out products.
This is part of the reason I like the new Combat Manuals so much. Both the painted/computer generated art and the photos of miniatures add a lot to those books for me. I don't need every book to be a graphic novel, but I do greatly enjoy the new art that has been a part of several recent releases...and that cover for CM: Davion... [drool]
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I know you are sorta/kinda joking, but is the cost of art a significant issue these days? By that I mean, does the amount of art that the devs would like to include in some projects become a roadblock to them getting a green light? The art is a significant part of the value of many BT products for me, and I'm almost always happy to see it included in the new products I purchase, so to me it is money well spent...but I really don't know how much it affects CGL's decisions about putting out products.
This is part of the reason I like the new Combat Manuals so much. Both the painted/computer generated art and the photos of miniatures add a lot to those books for me. I don't need every book to be a graphic novel, but I do greatly enjoy the new art that has been a part of several recent releases...and that cover for CM: Davion... [drool]
I don't know if it's a roadblock but it is something that needs to be considered, one reason why XTROs have so much recycled art and other electronic publications have almost all their art repurposed. There's no shortage of serviceable writers available but artists are tough to find. I think if we swapped jobs on a product the writing would still be decent but the art would be a lot of stick figures!
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By that I mean, does the amount of art that the devs would like to include in some projects become a roadblock to them getting a green light?
It is the #1 issue, yeah.
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It is the #1 issue, yeah.
It's why I keep telling you guys to do the next sourcebook via interpretive dance.
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It's why I keep telling you guys to do the next sourcebook via interpretive dance.
...I'm listening...
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We tried that, remember? The original after at a 1st Succession War product fell flat when we couldn't find performers willing to stand on a stage and do nothing for three hours except flip each other off and throw live grenades around.
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We tried that, remember? The original after at a 1st Succession War product fell flat when we couldn't find performers willing to stand on a stage and do nothing for three hours except flip each other off and throw live grenades around.
We found plenty of performers.
We didn't have any RETURN performers. ;D
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Back to the Objective Raids series I have two comments to make.
1. Who cares about adding more to canon. As long as the product is in searchable PDF form the nightmare is a lot less. You can use Acrobat to search EVERY PDF in a given folder. If the main problem to this is the older sourcebooks are not searchable... well, I can work for peanuts (or store credit) to update them much like the original House books. Just need a copy of the offending scanned pdfs and a rented/leased(?) copy of Indesign (that's what is used correct?). Its either that or create a database for each world/faction but that is a far far more difficult and time consuming task but would be far more valuable as well as a fact checking source as it would have every tiny detail no matter how obscure. Would be nice to do something to makes things easier on the other writers in the future ;)
2. You could also handle by creating a generic Objective Raids book and just give generic templates for factory X produces actuators and has X potential security forces.
The idea comes from the old Hot Spots book that had the generic contracts and other related information. There could be a lot of useful generic information included. Though I would rather see an actual Objective Raids style book. I LOVED the original.
The lore for these type of factories though... I really only remember seeing mention of a Myomer factory somewhere in the FWL (I also had all the original House books) so it is possible that much of the information would be up to the writer in question to create new fluff about where the parts are manufactured.
On to artists... Meh... find someone in or fresh out of college with no work history and give them a shot on the cheap? Too much trouble perhaps...
Anyway, that's my 20 cents worth :o
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This is part of the reason I like the new Combat Manuals so much. Both the painted/computer generated art and the photos of miniatures add a lot to those books for me.
It's also the reason that the CMs are so resource-consuming to produce, and (as has been stated before) so dependent on ROI to continue to make. Same deal, as I understand it, with the Handbook series, which absolutely gobbled art resources.
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We found plenty of performers.
We didn't have any RETURN performers. ;D
They knew what they were signing up for. There were several medical and liability waivers.
Well, there were several medical and liability waivers AFTER the first dress rehersal.
As for the combat manuals (which I love), I understand how they end up so resource and time consuming. There is a ton of wonderful art and mini photos in there. Would it be easier, or more viable, to just make one big huge book for all of the Great Houses? Highlighting JUST the flagship regiments/commands of each of the factions? It would lose a lot of the granularity and the detail, which would be a bummer, but could it be more financially viable?
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Out of curiosity, why haven't CGL tried to make a Kickstarter project for Battletech books?
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(http://aztechbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/kickstarter-meme.jpg)
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Right, but as cavingjan pointed out, the issue is that you're also adding to the canon and continuity that future fact-check then has to sift through if something comes anywhere near that world. It's the bane of any BT product, or any successful product line that's been around for as long as BT has.
As a writer, the whole edifice of 30+ years of canon feels constricting, stangulating. You can't do X because Y reference in some corner of some little known manual or reference book.
Reboot, or do alternate universes? I think there was good reaction to the what-if one about the SLDF staying in the Sphere.
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Out of curiosity, why haven't CGL tried to make a Kickstarter project for Battletech books?
Sorry about that, I was driving home and only had the meme handy.
This has come up on the forums several times before, so a search should get you some results. But, to me, there's a couple reasons. More knowledgeable folks may be able to add (or subtract!) to these:
1. Sean Bean up there isn't wrong: doing a Kickstarter correctly really does require some know-how. It's not the kind of thing the company can (or at least, should) just throw out there and hope good things happen.
2. Also, many of the most in-demand products have a lot of moving components that may make it difficult to ensure a delivery date--or ensure that certain portions happen at all. For example: "Just Kickstart a new boxed set, with the Nu-seen redesigns." That product would require many different approvals, production agreements, shipping vagaries, etc. To your exact request, "books" would be a bit more chaos-proof, since it's something CGL is better at producing single-handedly, but setbacks are still very possible. Exhibit A: Interstellar Operations.
3. While CGL might not be putting up all of the money for a Kickstarted project, it would still be risking something: credibility. A Kickstarted BT project would *have* to work perfectly pretty much the first time out, or there wouldn't be a second. Take a stroll through the Robotech Tactics KS comments for more information
4. People like to point to the success of HBS' Kickstarter campaign for their BattleTech game as a sign that, "What is CGL doing, why aren't they doing this too??" But to me, their campaign underscores point no. 1 above--they had experience in doing Kickstarters and doing them right. Also, there's no guarantee that the amount of money they raised would translate to the tabletop game. It's a long-held assumption by many that the video game audience and the tabletop audience are not the same, and certainly not equivalent in size. If I ever get around to crunching the data from that BattleTech Survey from late January, I may be able to put some numbers to that statement.
5. Kickstarter campaigns represent one-time infusions of cash, which is not necessary what BattleTech needs at this point. Sustainable sources of income built using best business practices are a better model for growth than very swingy cash injections. Put more simply: it's hard to build a direction for the line if the existence of any given product is dependent on being Kickstarted.
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Sorry about that, I was driving home and only had the meme handy.
This has come up on the forums several times before, so a search should get you some results. But, to me, there's a couple reasons. More knowledgeable folks may be able to add (or subtract!) to these:
<snip>
[applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause]
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As a writer, the whole edifice of 30+ years of canon feels constricting, stangulating. You can't do X because Y reference in some corner of some little known manual or reference book.
Totally. There were certainly episodes in BattleTech history that were worthy of further exploration, and the well-intentioned "Historical: War of 3039" was the start of that.
But the more of the universe we caulk in, the less space there is to develop new ideas, and the more intimidating things become for contributors and players alike.
Reboot, or do alternate universes? I think there was good reaction to the what-if one about the SLDF staying in the Sphere.
I once heard this idea about a time jump ahead to a setting that would have been a fresh start for the canon, with simpler weapons lists, etc. Not sure what happened to that...
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Something else to consider with kickstarters: they require a fair amount of resources. Mostly employee time and marketing resources. If the amount that you raise is less than the value of those resources, you simply went backwards.
Also, if you note, most successful kickstarters tend to already have the funds lined up before the kickstarter begins and it is simply a marketing campaign. It can be very effective in that regard.
If I remember correctly, IWM specifically hired someone to run their kickstarter.
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It is the #1 issue, yeah.
I never would have guessed that. How very interesting!
So, I've got a question and I'm not quite sure how to put it. First, I like PDFs, and they have been my preferred format for most of the BT stuff I've bought in the past couple years. Does buying just the PDF in any way 'hurt' the perceived success of a product by CGL? Obviously, on the PDF-only stuff it doesn't matter, but for stuff like the combat manuals that have a physical option as well, does it matter at all which version I buy in terms of the chances of seeing more in the future?
I've just been wondering if a preference for electronic copy looks like damning by faint praise from the publishers side, or something like that.
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And now I have this image of WOB remnants releasing cybernetically modified critters on multiple worlds in their latest terrorist campaign. That idea alone is worth a year of SyFy "Monster of the week" movies!
This made me think of MD enhanced raccoons plundering grocery stores. And you do not want to think about the pigeons.
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I once heard this idea about a time jump ahead to a setting that would have been a fresh start for the canon, with simpler weapons lists, etc. Not sure what happened to that...
Pretty sure some people here what nuts over it.
Personally I have to wonder if it would help long term, whilst a cleaning up of things like that would help and designing the equipment list properly so that it's balanced and with expansion in mind, I think that unless some rules tweaks are made we'll end up right back here and probably a lot quicker then it took the first time.
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I hope art work issue isn't related to the fan projects....I love those but is it factor? Wait no, we can't talk about that.
I guess we got wait and hope the art dam will finally break so we can see these gems we've been waiting for so long to arrive.
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As a writer, the whole edifice of 30+ years of canon feels constricting, stangulating. You can't do X because Y reference in some corner of some little known manual or reference book.
Reboot, or do alternate universes? I think there was good reaction to the what-if one about the SLDF staying in the Sphere.
Totally. There were certainly episodes in BattleTech history that were worthy of further exploration, and the well-intentioned "Historical: War of 3039" was the start of that.
But the more of the universe we caulk in, the less space there is to develop new ideas, and the more intimidating things become for contributors and players alike.
While all those years of history can make fact-checking a pain and can hamper someone's great idea, it can also create lots of new threads to build from and expand upon. Taking one author's minor character or throwaway sentence and expanding upon it can be a starting point for those that feel nervous seeing a great wide open universe and aren't sure which direction to go.
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Pretty sure some people here what nuts over it.
Oh, I remember well...
While all those years of history can make fact-checking a pain and can hamper someone's great idea, it can also create lots of new threads to build from and expand upon. Taking one author's minor character or throwaway sentence and expanding upon it can be a starting point for those that feel nervous seeing a great wide open universe and aren't sure which direction to go.
That's true too. I did basically just that with Spotlight On: Stone's Trackers (now available! haha...). The unit was mentioned as a throwaway line in two books, and that was enough for the devs to add it to the list of possible entries.
Still, though, I think there's a difference between intentionally leaving some minor dangling plot threads, and something like the "Objectives" series, which risk setting too much in stone. Not that we shouldn't ever do the latter, but it's something to consider carefully.
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While all those years of history can make fact-checking a pain and can hamper someone's great idea, it can also create lots of new threads to build from and expand upon. Taking one author's minor character or throwaway sentence and expanding upon it can be a starting point for those that feel nervous seeing a great wide open universe and aren't sure which direction to go.
Exactly. This was a key factor in my writing of "Sorrow of Eden" and "Righteous Fury". Sourcebook blurbs that I felt warranted expansion into short stories.
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Reboot, or do alternate universes? I think there was good reaction to the what-if one about the SLDF staying in the Sphere.
No thanks. A reboot or alternate universe would be the quickest way to divide the fandom and run the Battletech line out of business in my opinion. Because as soon as you start your new timeline/universe you are going to get the following:
What do you mean this faction didn't win this war? This timeline/universe sucks.
Why did this faction still win this war? This timeline/universe sucks.
What do you mean this character isn't like this anymore? This timeline/universe sucks.
Why did you keep this character like this? This timeline/universe sucks.
What do you mean this faction doesn't exist? This timeline/universe sucks.
Why does this faction still exist? This timeline/universe sucks.
What do you mean this technology/rule doesn't exist? This timeline/universe sucks.
Why did you keep this technology/rule? This timeline/universe sucks.
What do you mean this story never happened? This timeline/universe sucks.
Why did this story still happen? This timeline/universe sucks.
Plus a whole lot more. We players gripe about decisions now in one story line. Do you want to see us gripe about two? LOL
As a writer, the whole edifice of 30+ years of canon feels constricting, stangulating. You can't do X because Y reference in some corner of some little known manual or reference book.
Now I understand this perfectly. This is why I am a supporter of the time jump to a new era. All you need is a plausible back story to say why these things happened between the last era and the new and you can take the universe in the direction you want with little to no restrictions. Add planets, add/change factions, add/remove tech, etc, etc, etc. Then, later on, you can do another time jump and repeat the process while keeping the old stories still there and occasionally even making connections to them. Best of both worlds :)
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Coming soon: Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky
Please tell me the planet has sharks. I have a pressing need for Old Kentucky Shark
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Are you tired of the Alliance fat cats deciding what's right for you and your family? Do you believe in individual rights and freedom for all colonial citizens? Do you long for traditional values of the 21st century? Join us on our next Touring the Stars stop, and help make our colony great again!
Old Kentucky
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I do enjoy it when releases are ready to drop after each other makes for fun reading
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Please tell me the planet has sharks. I have a pressing need for Old Kentucky Shark
Do you want Space Ghost? Because that's how you get Space Ghost!
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Are you tired of the Alliance fat cats deciding what's right for you and your family? Do you believe in individual rights and freedom for all colonial citizens? Do you long for traditional values of the 21st century? Join us on our next Touring the Stars stop, and help make our colony great again!
Old Kentucky
As someone who works and plays in Kentucky, my group is looking forward to this one :)
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I do know it's never a violation when a developer makes fun of me.
Is that considered part of developer the compensation package?
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Looking forward to it!
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is that a new-style classic phoenix hawk i see on the republication if Ideal War?
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1540/0075/products/E-CAT36058_Ideal-War_1024x1024.jpg?v=1490133496)
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Yes, it is the one from CM Kurita. Although in a new suit. ;)
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....There's no shortage of serviceable writers available but artists are tough to find.
*raises hand* where would one submit a application again?
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*raises hand* where would one submit a application again?
PM Ray, I'm sure he can hook you up with Brent.
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Looks like some good stuff preview.
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No thanks. A reboot or alternate universe would be the quickest way to divide the fandom and run the Battletech line out of business in my opinion.
(Snip)
This is why I am a supporter of the time jump to a new era.
First, let me say thanks for the thoughtful response.
I have to admit I don't quite get the logic here, however. My experience has been changing the era can also be very divisive, for exactly the same reasons you listed. My own group, for example, thought the Fourth Succession War was far too silly and stopped at level 1/intro Tech.
The other issue with time jumps, as discussed in the intro box thread, is that it separates the intro box material from the current timeline, so you either have to revamp the box or risk losing players.
What if you did the AUs like the Era Digests? The game already accepts that some groups want to play in different eras. To me, that's not much different from playing in alternate universes.
In terms of future products I think this would open up new storytelling opportunities rather than recycling the same "Things get better but haha! No they don't" we have now.
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To avoid spamming the board, I will send you a private message Dubble_g :)
I hope we get Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky today! Also, what are the odds on getting a Touring the Stars: Kyeinnisan in the future? An independent world deep in the Free Worlds League known to be a gambling center of the Inner Sphere with a garrison force called the Holy Rollers? Sign me up!
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Old Kentucky
"They're not the most intelligent animal found by humans in the Inner Sphere, though they are close. They have a limited language able to convey location, threat identification, and numeracy that is adequate for dealing with pack socialization…"
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AG, I told you not to post that pic! >:(
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You could have at least put on a speedo....
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Well if the "Sexy Devs" Calendar was cancelled, they had to use it somewhere!
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Well if the "Sexy Devs" Calendar was cancelled, they had to use it somewhere!
Exactly.
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Old Kentucky
"They're not the most intelligent animal found by humans in the Inner Sphere, though they are close. They have a limited language able to convey location, threat identification, and numeracy that is adequate for dealing with pack socialization…"
So which one has been nicknamed Harry?
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No thanks. A reboot or alternate universe would be the quickest way to divide the fandom and run the Battletech line out of business in my opinion. Because as soon as you start your new timeline/universe you are going to get the following:
Empires Aflame and Dragonlance's Time of the Twins sourcebook are the best way to handle 'alternate timelines' You do one book and don't touch it again. IMHO.
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AG, I told you not to post that pic! >:(
Why? We don't have that many pictures of Randall to begin with!
Craig
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Doh! :-X
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Now I understand this perfectly. This is why I am a supporter of the time jump to a new era. All you need is a plausible back story to say why these things happened between the last era and the new and you can take the universe in the direction you want with little to no restrictions. Add planets, add/change factions, add/remove tech, etc, etc, etc. Then, later on, you can do another time jump and repeat the process while keeping the old stories still there and occasionally even making connections to them. Best of both worlds :)
But, you're going to run into people who want to see the gaps filled. I, for one, still really want to see the disparity between early space flight weapons and tech and what's available at the height of the Star League. After all, the ranges shrank and OSKs disappeared. ;) I'd like to know if the transition was gradual, or sudden.
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Please no.
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Please, yes!
And, we can go back and forth like that until our fingers are bloody stumps. #P
Some people don't want it and/or don't care. Some people do. That's the nature of an audience.
So, how can they compromise and please both of us?
At least establish some consistency, and maybe a passing blurb or two to tackle an idea.
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Yeah.. would rather see more units from early age of war (ie Support Tanks). We don't have enough yet for a proper war yet.
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Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
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Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
I'm with you on this. I can't wait for the timeline to start inching (leaping?) forward.
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Time warp might be nice provided they don't leap right off a cliff. Pushing on to the next era is a gamble, but one we need to see.
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I think that ilClan is going to be a bit like Jihad: Final Reckoning with all factions unable to wage anything more then bush wars for a while. I also wouldn't be surprised if CGL took to opportunity to re-balance (FWL factionalism and CC small size cause problems) and refresh (figure out exactly which 'Mechs are still around) the setting.
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Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
Kind of agree with you on this although i'd like the 3rd SW fleshed out and the 4th SW given a new print book, but then move it forwards.
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Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
I agree completely, but i think greater player demand is too strong to ignore. Not everyone unfortunately interested in 3150. I SURE AM. However, from grumbling my fellow players i hang out with in person, Third Succession War is a thing that would sell well.
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I agree completely, but i think greater player demand is too strong to ignore. Not everyone unfortunately interested in 3150. I SURE AM. However, from grumbling my fellow players i hang out with in person, Third Succession War is a thing that would sell well.
Here's the $500,000 question: is it even worth trying to cater to everyone?
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Here's the $500,000 question: is it even worth trying to cater to everyone?
More like, possible to cater to everyone. $500k would be a good start toward that goal. But with resources being what they are, there's absolutely no way CGL can afford to cater to a niche of a niche.
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Here's the $500,000 question: is it even worth trying to cater to everyone?
Simple answer, no.
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Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
I'm on board with this! For better or worse, I'm here for the giant stomps robots. Older timelines with nothing but conventional vehicles and fighters plus the occasional Mackie don't do anything for me.
Anywho, I'm pretty happy with the work CGL has been doing recently. I think the combat manuals are great, even though they are not 'new' in terms of timeline, but I've got a mighty need for elClan!
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Yeah.. would rather see more units from early age of war (ie Support Tanks). We don't have enough yet for a proper war yet.
I wouldn't mind seeing a little bit more of Age of War stuff. Not a lot -- not even a full-sized TRO's worth, more like a mini-TRO -- just enough to fill out the rosters a little.
Not me. After 2SW, I think they should stop filling in the past and move onto progressing the storyline past 3150.
Aside from my above commentary, this. A Third War book would be. . . boring, I think. That was the height of the setting's Mad Max-ish-ness, with few major battles. Most of the book would end up boiling down to "there was an escalating series of raids between all factions," plus they'd start entering re-hash territory because Anton's Revolt (previously illuminated in Brush Wars) occurs there near the tail-end of the War. And Fourth War? We've already gotten a two-book series on that in the form of the NAIS Atlas.
Now I'm aware that the formerly proposed time-jump and its resulting fallout can be a controversial and. . . sensitive. . . topic for some folks 'round these parts, but that occurred during one of my sabbaticals from the forums. I don't recall if I've talked about the subject before, but at this moment, I think I can say that a small time jump that constitutes a soft reboot of the universe would actually be a good thing. We can unify the tech bases (which streamlines almost everything about actual gameplay) and it would open the universe to a brand new TRO series which is of course why we all play these games: the big stompy robots. It'd be like the early days of the game all over again.
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I am looking forward to 2SW and the time jump to 3250.
Besides a 3SW book I am not sure there is much scope for major historical backfilling right now is there?
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Fourth Sucession War :)
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Fourth Sucession War :)
I think that subject has been handled ?) :D
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I agree completely, but i think greater player demand is too strong to ignore. Not everyone unfortunately interested in 3150. I SURE AM. However, from grumbling my fellow players i hang out with in person, Third Succession War is a thing that would sell well.
Argh! The horrible thing is I think you are absolutely right. Aside from agreements to want to see things move forward here I have the sinking suspicion the community would genuinely prefer retrospectives to moving anything forward. I don't like prequels! Story lines aren't as fun when you know how everything is going to end. I'm nostalgic for the good old days when we use to have novels and sourcebooks moving the plot along in lock step.
Ok, I'm going to backtrack a little and say I have been enjoying the retro-material and especially the Jihad plot materials but man would I love for things to start moving forward again. Ok, temper tantrum over ::)
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More like, possible to cater to everyone. $500k would be a good start toward that goal. But with resources being what they are, there's absolutely no way CGL can afford to cater to a niche of a niche.
Yeah, I didn't pull that number completely out of thin air. I've been informed by a very reliable source that the hobby gaming industry is much, much smaller than I knew. If you're not Hasbro, Paizo, or Games Workshop, then you're scrabbling for bare percentage points of the market, and each of those points isn't worth a whole lot.
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Yeah, I didn't pull that number completely out of thin air. I've been informed by a very reliable source that the hobby gaming industry is much, much smaller than I knew. If you're not Hasbro, Paizo, or Games Workshop, then you're scrabbling for bare percentage points of the market, and each of those points isn't worth a whole lot.
No question. As several people (probably Adrian Gideon among them) have pointed out in the past, Wizards and GW has hundreds of employees, Paizo and FFG have dozens/low hundred, and everyone else has 5-10.
Such is the industry. It just underscores the need for any new BT releases to be geared toward sales first, and scratching niche itches second or not at all.
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What Catalyst needs is its own Munchkin or Cards Against Humanity. Sneer all you like, but the casual game market is orders of magnitude larger than the hobby market. SJ Games can continue to support GURPS, if only as a "boutique" product, because its casual games bring in enough money to underwrite it.
BattleTech faces three main challenges in the market. First, CGL has no equivalent to Munchkin. Shadowrun is performing solidly, a Top Ten sales game year after year, but that merely makes it a very distant runner-up to D&D and Pathfinder. It can't carry BattleTech. Second, BattleTech must be presented with the very highest in production quality to even begin to compete with other games in its niche. Sure, we know it's nothing like Warhammer 40,000 or FFG's high-end, miniature-laden boardgames, but most folks do not, especially when comparing perceived value in a store. Third, BattleTech's huge variety in available units has resulted in an equally huge range of playing pieces. This creates a situation where, by the simple law of averages, a customer looking for a certain piece is unlikely to find it in stores, and the very act of choosing which pieces to buy can be overwhelming.
These are tough challenges to face. I am curious if CGL can figure out how to succeed in the market.
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What Catalyst needs is its own Munchkin or Cards Against Humanity. Sneer all you like, but the casual game market is orders of magnitude larger than the hobby market. SJ Games can continue to support GURPS, if only as a "boutique" product, because its casual games bring in enough money to underwrite it.
BattleTech faces three main challenges in the market. First, CGL has no equivalent to Munchkin. Shadowrun is performing solidly, a Top Ten sales game year after year, but that merely makes it a very distant runner-up to D&D and Pathfinder. It can't carry BattleTech. Second, BattleTech must be presented with the very highest in production quality to even begin to compete with other games in its niche. Sure, we know it's nothing like Warhammer 40,000 or FFG's high-end, miniature-laden boardgames, but most folks do not, especially when comparing perceived value in a store. Third, BattleTech's huge variety in available units has resulted in an equally huge range of playing pieces. This creates a situation where, by the simple law of averages, a customer looking for a certain piece is unlikely to find it in stores, and the very act of choosing which pieces to buy can be overwhelming.
These are tough challenges to face. I am curious if CGL can figure out how to succeed in the market.
"The Duke", "Balance of Power", "Wrath of Dragons", "Jarl", "Vikings"....and there are a few others that I'm probably forgetting...
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Seen any of those at Target?
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Seen any of those at Target?
Target sells games?
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I see tons of Magic the Gathering cards at walmart and target along with a few other highly popular cards games. They usually sell them in the same section as the baseball cards. I have never seen any of the Munchkin cards at either store, but I know my kids LOVE playing Munchkin Bites
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Target sells games?
It was the first place I ever saw Mechwarrior: Age of Destruction.
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Target sells games?
I keep struggling with the desire to purchase the X-wing miniature game every time I walk past it at target. (I wonder if I could get away with using micromachines as proxies...)
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Seen any of those at Target?
Exactly. I don't just mean "a casual game," I mean "a casual game that can be found in mass-market outlets." While it certainly helps to have a healthy dose of luck, you also need to do a LOT of work. Munchkin and Cards Against Humanity didn't just show up on Target shelves - and yes, I've seen both there - each took years of hard work behind the scenes. It's not just developing a fun game and listing products with GTS, Alliance, and ACD. You have to push hard at conventions, both public ones like GenCon and industry ones like GAMA, you have to continually take out ads and talk with distributors and retailers, you have to develop strong relationships with partner companies to pursue common goals, you need strong interaction with your fans and the greater gaming community, you need to nail down agreements with manufacturers, and eventually you need to show the "big boys" that you can provide them with the product they need for their hundreds of stores. All the while, you have to be running your business properly.
If you want to thrive, you have to break out into the mass market. There are just too many hobbies around today for any one to be very profitable. Then, once you're settled, you can do vanity projects.
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Seen any of those at Target?
Nope, Target packed up and buggered out of the country.
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What Catalyst needs is its own Munchkin or Cards Against Humanity. Sneer all you like, but the casual game market is orders of magnitude larger than the hobby market. SJ Games can continue to support GURPS, if only as a "boutique" product, because its casual games bring in enough money to underwrite it.
BattleTech-Shadowrun based card game with a does of something else. Some kind of random crisis crossover thing. Doubles as promotion for both...
Just a random thought. No idea how it would work. I don't play card games.
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BattleTech-Shadowrun based card game with a does of something else. Some kind of random crisis crossover thing. Doubles as promotion for both...
Just a random thought. No idea how it would work. I don't play card games.
I'd actually suggest "nothing related to BattleTech or Shadowrun at all." CGL also needs to plan for the day that those licenses go away.
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I'd actually suggest "nothing related to BattleTech or Shadowrun at all." CGL also needs to plan for the day that those licenses go away.
ShadowTech and Battlerun?
But seriously, i guess having something unique makes sense. Avoid placing all eggs in one basket, etc.
I would assume breaking into casual card game market would be difficult though. I mean, there are so many card games...
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Duke, Ergo, Wrath of Dragons, Encounters Bravest Warriors and shadowrun.
CGL has been moving that direction for a while.
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ShadowTech and Battlerun?
But seriously, i guess having something unique makes sense. Avoid placing all eggs in one basket, etc.
I would assume breaking into casual card game market would be difficult though. I mean, there are so many card games...
Yes and no. The key is to a) have a good product, and b) market the hell out of it. You need to keep the price point low; Munchkin has been $24.95 for nearly twenty years now. You don't really need unique mechanics. Cards Against Humanity is basically Mad Libs, and the Simon's Cat Card Game is Go Fish.
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Shadow Run is already a card game last time i heard last year.
I think Battletech as card game again wouldn't be so bad for sake of snagging players who only play card game.
I think challenging thing is, card games are living thing. You got keep up with demand for new a shiny things being added to it. That how the market is from my impression for the game. Good Core game(rules and commonsense but petty cool main set of cards), then work from there. The Wizards of Coast card game of Battletech was playable.
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You're confusing casual card games with CCGs. While you certainly can sell supplements to an existing game, it's often just as good to offer a broad range of products using the same basic mechanics, but targeted towards different demographics. USAopoly sells a mind-boggling range of Monopoly variants, so they have great market breadth - lots of people buy one game each. Cards Against Humanity works hard to keep a consistent "voice" through their game, so instead they sell expansions for great market depth - people buy lots of games each. Munchkin does both, with something like twenty different titles, most of which have one or more supplements. But you don't NEED to keep selling to the same people.
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I won't necessarily speak to diversity of games; I think getting one killer game is hard enough, and I do remember a time when BattleTech was that game. There was a time when I could get my TROs at Barns and Noble or Bourders (back when that was a thing) and BT had five or six different channels (board game, RPG, video games, card game, TV, novels...) and if I had the genie of scifi games come out of the lamp and give me a wish I might wish for a variation on that.
One of the things I do miss about BattleTech is the sense of the story moving and unfolding. I remember Twilight of the Clans, waiting on the next book to see how things would turn out, or the Civil War the same, waiting for the next Stackpole or Coleman book to see if Victor was going to get the girl or not (the hero we all love to hate, right?).
I think historicals are great products (I've bought many, and would that I had more money I'd have bought more) and the house books and the TROs and so on. But even in the Jihad era when there were no novels there was still a sense of movement, waiting to see how things unfolded. There was more excitement. Yes, I suspect that the Second Succession War book will be lovely, but there's no drama or excitement because we've known the broad outlines of it for thirty years and any characters we might be invested in we know what becomes of them. ilClan, by contrast, is awaited with such excitement because it will tell us the fait of characters that have a bit of resonance for many, and offer new information.
I'm not a gaming industry professional and I don't claim my advice is good, but I think a return to new stories would be for the best. Something historical appeals most to folks who already care a lot anyway. While the Dark Age set us was I think not as well executed as it could have been, I think the idea wasn't entirely misguided, to create something that would broaden the game's appeal and be something that could be jumped into. Don't bring back clickytech, but do do something that makes things exciting and new once more. That's my wish.
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Didn't we just have a thread about 'what should the future of the game look like', or something to that effect?
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Exactly. I don't just mean "a casual game," I mean "a casual game that can be found in mass-market outlets." While it certainly helps to have a healthy dose of luck, you also need to do a LOT of work. Munchkin and Cards Against Humanity didn't just show up on Target shelves - and yes, I've seen both there - each took years of hard work behind the scenes. It's not just developing a fun game and listing products with GTS, Alliance, and ACD. You have to push hard at conventions, both public ones like GenCon and industry ones like GAMA, you have to continually take out ads and talk with distributors and retailers, you have to develop strong relationships with partner companies to pursue common goals, you need strong interaction with your fans and the greater gaming community, you need to nail down agreements with manufacturers, and eventually you need to show the "big boys" that you can provide them with the product they need for their hundreds of stores. All the while, you have to be running your business properly.
If you want to thrive, you have to break out into the mass market. There are just too many hobbies around today for any one to be very profitable. Then, once you're settled, you can do vanity projects.
To be able to get to the big box stores like Walmart, Target and such, you have to have a very large production run. As in the tens of thousands of units.
While I'd love to see CGL products there, I think it's unrealistic to expect them to. At least for the moment.
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Didn't we just have a thread about 'what should the future of the game look like', or something to that effect?
After the franchise wars, all threads are Taco Bell future of the game.
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I'm just talking here. It's not serious advice for the game line or CGL as a whole. Even if it was, I don't expect the owners to do anything based on it.
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I think Alpha Strike was supposed to be a step in that direction, wasn't it? It certainly appeared from the outside to meet a lot of people's expectations.
Still, I've been starry-eyed thinking about a wide range of themed, casual BattleTech things. People always bring up Catan as a possible template for planet building. All hail High Lord of New Earth. You could also look at hard-stat resource management, or a tile placement game, or go the deck-building card game route, instead. If 'tweren't for who has the rights to electronic versus dead tree, I'd love to see a Facebook kingdom builder game with a BattleTech theme, and maybe a sort of story arc to follow. :D
I personally would love a Descent-style or even Vor-style dungeon crawl type game for the infantry.
Some people look a the template movement for X-Wing/Attack Wing and think that would be great for the Aerospace as a dog-fight system. What if we looked at Tsuro as a way to resolve dropships trying to make planet fall? ( :D )
I guess, a question to ask is, what is Shadowrun selling that's moving? Right now, I look at BattleTech, and I still get a 'Schizophrentic Reaction!'
The Core game is detailed enough that the RPG defaults to it when dealing with armored combat. It is effectively an RPG combat system in everything but name, and some people look askance at some of the 'abstractions' taken for all of the secondary units one can field.
Alpha Strike solidifies some of the maleabilities found in the core game, and shrinks down the stats so that you're not spending large fractions of a minute x-ing each armor or internal structure point. Some people feel this removes from the feel of the core game in certain ways, such as the fistful of death and other means of controlling your or your opponent's luck. To get that feel back needs the addition of a few things that cut back into time-saving mechanics. And, there's also the added complexities of abilities for formations and individual Mechs that bring back more math.
The Core Line of Rulebooks each have a respectively different game in them, something tacked on and is supposed to be scaleable to the core game. Games that, while neat, I guess can't be justified to be their own product, even as something casual.
What seems to be the biggest draw, for me, isn't the gaming material that I can go out and buy. That, right there, strikes me as the losing end. BattleTech is a communal game, and usually the rulebooks and boxed sets are shared for a long time until other people finally decide they want a copy and can afford it.
Miniatures, likewise. Someone usually has the majority of the minis to really play campaign games, with enough extras to proxy, and that leaves the rest of the group simply fishing for units in their vanity force(s).
And, eventually, some people develope an idea for 'how BattleTech relates to it's reality', and find that the current rules mash doesn't fit what they want out of the game, and they start making house rules to 'fix it'.
Finally, I read a lot of whining/pining about not being able to play the game because there's very little interest by local game groups/friends/family. (Hey. I'm with you. I have one dedicated group of three people - me and two friends - who like to come back and play BT, and it's usually bi-weekly, but there are hiatuses. But, we have an epic, ongoing campaign series and we're slowly building a story off it. All my other gaming friends stick with Magic, Catan, Carcassonne, and Cards Against Humanity which draws in even more casual players.)
So much for your core line of rules.
No, the big draw is the story. Books!
Everyone loves the rich background and story. The TRos are actually a part of that, because they help paint a picture of the armies that are used to wage war in this universe. (I wish that each sci-fi author who wrote a war story would put that kind of time into visualizing the units fielded on each side and put pictures in the back of the novels with their little Jane's entries. It helps me see what they're seeing, instead of having to make up something on my own, and then find out later I was way off.)
Personally, I want to see the story fleshed out going backwards and forwards. I don't mind the notion of see-sawing the process, either. I, for one, would love to see a little exploration on the Second Soviet Civil War - one of the things that has already set the BTu apart from ours. It'd be nice to have someone from a universe similar to ours make comparison notes. (Hello, misjump! Or some other form of hyperspatial accident that sends someone across dimensions?)
But, I'm like everyone else in that I want to see past the 3150 veil.
People say that BattleTech can and should be any and all of these. Ideally, I would agree. But, it looks like they're having a hard time making that happen, and they're going to have to specialize for a while.
So, which should it be? Games? Or Books?
Or Miniatures? If you do that route, please consider giving whatever units are going to be part of your core box set a facelift. Of the 39 plastic minis out of the current box and lance packs, only a few aren't ugly. (And, while facelifts sell TRos, I'd highly recommend that the core units of the "Forever Core" box set should probably have stats and upgrades or downgrades that allow them to be fielded in all eras of the game you might want to expand into. Not all of the units from the current one actually do.)
Speaking of novel wish-lists - as someone who has never, and most likely never will, play any of the old BT computer games, I would love to see novelizations for the Crescent Hawks games, and maybe even MechWarrior 1. Maybe even the other MechWarrior videogames. (I would also love to see a series of scenarios so one could run a campaign for each game on the tabletop.)
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X-wing/Attack Wing's movement system is proprietary, and must be licensed in order to be used in another game. This makes any kind of aero game using that system DOA, thanks to legal stuff.
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Exactly. I don't just mean "a casual game," I mean "a casual game that can be found in mass-market outlets." While it certainly helps to have a healthy dose of luck, you also need to do a LOT of work. Munchkin and Cards Against Humanity didn't just show up on Target shelves - and yes, I've seen both there - each took years of hard work behind the scenes. It's not just developing a fun game and listing products with GTS, Alliance, and ACD. You have to push hard at conventions, both public ones like GenCon and industry ones like GAMA, you have to continually take out ads and talk with distributors and retailers, you have to develop strong relationships with partner companies to pursue common goals, you need strong interaction with your fans and the greater gaming community, you need to nail down agreements with manufacturers, and eventually you need to show the "big boys" that you can provide them with the product they need for their hundreds of stores. All the while, you have to be running your business properly.
If you want to thrive, you have to break out into the mass market. There are just too many hobbies around today for any one to be very profitable. Then, once you're settled, you can do vanity projects.
And, you might have to make concessions to the mass-market stores as well. Lower margin, product exclusivity. Fun things like that.
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Alternatively, decide that being a niche game company making niche games is where you want to be. Not every game company has to become GW/FFG; not every company has to become Enron, in an attempt to become Microsoft ;)
Looking back, I get the feeling most of the 'big' game companies didn't make the jump from niche to big - they side-stepped in on the back of a pre-existing profitable business making physical things. For example:
- Avalon Hill (hi grognards!) originated as a side venture from a manufacturer of conventional boardgames like Monoploy, etc.
- Games Workshop originated as a manufacturer of conventional games like backgammon. It started importing D&D, went on to found Citadel miniatures, and then evolved games to promote sale of minatures
- FFG started off as an importer and distributor of European comics like Asterix, later moving to publishing comics in the US. The owner branched into the game area due to the market overlaps
I'm putting a question mark on Privateer Press, as I can't find out enough about their origins. But it looks fairly clear to me that game companies can only 'get big' when they control the means of production, have strong familiarity with the production cycle, and large enough cash flow to absorb the inevitable variances.
[thinks]Not entirely serious, but we're lucky IWM are too busy making superb minis for many other vendors, and suffering to love the BT line as well; if they'd ever tried to put the effort into seriously promoting their own game lines, we'd be in trouble. Mind you, Reaper are trying - but - and sorry, as much as I love Reaper's work - CAV SO doesn't count as being seriously promoted at this time, and I believe they may even be divesting themselves of it to Talon. If you know more, I'd love to know![/thinks]
That said, if Randall et al can feed their kids, afford a suitable level level of beard-care products, and put a little aside for their old age, there's no shame in that. In other business areas I've seen (and worked for) companies which have tried & failed to make the jump to the next level. There's something to be said for understading one's limitations.
W.
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Interesting bit on Catayst Game Lab's Tumblr.
CSO Trailer! (http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/)
I didn't know they made one. Is there something happening at the website?
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Alternatively, decide that being a niche game company making niche games is where you want to be. Not every game company has to become GW/FFG; not every company has to become Enron, in an attempt to become Microsoft ;)
Looking back, I get the feeling most of the 'big' game companies didn't make the jump from niche to big - they side-stepped in on the back of a pre-existing profitable business making physical things. For example:
- Avalon Hill (hi grognards!) originated as a side venture from a manufacturer of conventional boardgames like Monoploy, etc.
- Games Workshop originated as a manufacturer of conventional games like backgammon. It started importing D&D, went on to found Citadel miniatures, and then evolved games to promote sale of minatures
- FFG started off as an importer and distributor of European comics like Asterix, later moving to publishing comics in the US. The owner branched into the game area due to the market overlaps
I'm putting a question mark on Privateer Press, as I can't find out enough about their origins. But it looks fairly clear to me that game companies can only 'get big' when they control the means of production, have strong familiarity with the production cycle, and large enough cash flow to absorb the inevitable variances.
[thinks]Not entirely serious, but we're lucky IWM are too busy making superb minis for many other vendors, and suffering to love the BT line as well; if they'd ever tried to put the effort into seriously promoting their own game lines, we'd be in trouble. Mind you, Reaper are trying - but - and sorry, as much as I love Reaper's work - CAV SO doesn't count as being seriously promoted at this time, and I believe they may even be divesting themselves of it to Talon. If you know more, I'd love to know![/thinks]
That said, if Randall et al can feed their kids, afford a suitable level level of beard-care products, and put a little aside for their old age, there's no shame in that. In other business areas I've seen (and worked for) companies which have tried & failed to make the jump to the next level. There's something to be said for understading one's limitations.
W.
So what your saying is CGL is probably happy living in mediocrity? As somebody else said somewhere else, this is like watching the skit "lowered expectations" from madtv. It's the only way people can defend CGL at this point.
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Not saying that at all.
What I am saying is it's legitimate for them to do their best to achieve quality without - as per ColBosch's post discusses - trying to compete with getting boxes in Barnes & Nobles, or WalMart.
Heck, I work with CGL, and there are things I think could be done better. But then I don't have my livelyhood at stake, and I'm not risking my invested money. Randall, Loren, etc want to eat, they want to work out how do things as best they can. But I don't expect them to become the next GW overnight, I don't expect them to have the resources a FFG has now, and I don't think simply spending money would catapult them into that level.
Whatever they do, they need to - and I believe they are - considering the return on scarce creative time, and cashflow. Concentrating on larger niche audiences within the BT niche environment is entirely sensible, even if small-niche interests aren't getting what they want right-now-this-second. This seems to predicate (for example) any Levs revival at the moment. Would I like Levs relaunched? Oddly enough, yes. Would I like to see CGL end up having similar issues as the initial launch did? Ghu, no!
W.
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it's worth stressing that at its most popular in the early 90s, there were between six and eight DTF publications per year. We got five last year. Probably another four this year. Plus a pile of PDF-exclusive stuff. So I'm confused about what people are demanding as far as output. You're expecting CGL to exceed product production in excess of a time when the game was at its apogee? lol ok.
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I'm always confused how this thread always becomes so spiteful.
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There's spite and passion. Fact is that those who bother to come here are the ones who care deeply, who've got two or three decades in the game, and it would be more of a surprise if folks didn't let their emotion show.
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Not saying people don't have the right to be invested (I for one was way too emotional when the 25 Years of Art and Fiction book had to be edited) but insulting the guys making the game in the same breath as asking for new stuff sends allot of mix messages.
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it's worth stressing that at its most popular in the early 90s, there were between six and eight DTF publications per year. We got five last year. Probably another four this year. Plus a pile of PDF-exclusive stuff. So I'm confused about what people are demanding as far as output. You're expecting CGL to exceed product production in excess of a time when the game was at its apogee? lol ok.
There's a difference between the back fill books we've been getting recently and plot advancing ones from then, at least to many people.
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Id like to see historicals for the clans. The gb vs hellhorses on tokasha rounds 1- infiniti! But it would also be cool to get some of the lesser penned clans some limelight.
Im all for going back in time! You guys just keep going back to the wrong sandbox ;)
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I remember when I could find D&D and BattleTech books/boxes at the local bookstore/mall.
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There's a difference between the back fill books we've been getting recently and plot advancing ones from then, at least to many people.
You are 100% not wrong.
But...
Consider both of the following...
1) In 30 years, the BT timeline has already moved ahead from 3025 to 3150. Further, in the same amount of time, most of BT's competitors have moved their own timelines forward not at all.
2) I totally understand the people who want the timeline moved forward. I want the timeline moved forward. People have no idea how much gloating I will do when the Ghost Bears snatch Terra right out from under the Wolves and the ROTS (what? that's how it will go, right?). However, there is a metric ton of stuff that has never been covered in any more detail than a passing mention. It took us ages to get a Klondike book. Heck, the Jaguars, arguably one of the most important Clans in the invasion, still only show up in detail in one sourcebook. We have raced forward without filling in the bits that caused us to get to where we are.
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I remember when I could find D&D and BattleTech books/boxes at the local bookstore/mall.
I could also remember when there were multiple bookstores at the mall.
Those were the good days.
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However, there is a metric ton of stuff that has never been covered in any more detail than a passing mention. It took us ages to get a Klondike book. Heck, the Jaguars, arguably one of the most important Clans in the invasion, still only show up in detail in one sourcebook. We have raced forward without filling in the bits that caused us to get to where we are.
Indeed. There are multiple small wars, conflicts and border changes that have not yet been described let alone mentioned. You could do a whole new line of products called "Border Wars" and just describe fighting on one world between two factions in the era of your choice. That could keep you busy for years :)
Also, as far as the timeline situation, I think its more the mystery, suspense of the overarching story and "What happens next?!" that people miss. The majority of the old Fasa era novel and sourcebook line took place between 3050 and 3067. That's only 17 years in game time and 13 years in real time (i.e. Lethal Heritage released in 1989 and Endgame released in 2002). But, it was full of interesting characters, multiple competing factions, Heroes and Villains and the ramifications of one giant event aka The Clan Invasion.
Oh and I so hope the Ghost Bears become IlClan!!!
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Oh and I so hope the Ghost Bears become IlClan!!!
They come close but a viral outbreak hits them hard and they are forever infected, leaving them as the IllClan.
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They come close but a viral outbreak hits them hard and they are forever infected, leaving them as the IllClan.
An unbearable pun about them.
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There's a difference between the back fill books we've been getting recently and plot advancing ones from then, at least to many people.
From a production standpoint, there isn't. The difference is who is being catered to. That's a business decision, not an output issue.
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They come close but a viral outbreak hits them hard and they are forever infected, leaving them as the IllClan.
If you were within reach I'd give you a Gibbs Smack.
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So what I'm hearing is: just wait, because the historical right before ilClan will be Field Manual: Clan Mongoose, which explains how the one true Clan in fact survived in a way that the Burrocks and Wolverines couldn't even have imagined and will, at long, long last, become ilClan and true heir to Kereneky's vision.
I get the aspect that many of these business, not just fan boy decisions. They can't make FM:Mongoose because it won't be profitable, sure (I mean, they'd get my money, but who else's?) but I think the point of the new and upcoming releases thread is, at least superficially, to discuss which of said releases we're most excited about. Excitement over ilClan runs high, I think. Now, that said, excitement over the succession wars books is also high. Which generates more?
Perhaps the in conclusion here is that I'm grateful that getting that call right isn't what puts bread on my board.
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Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky is now available!
Catalyst Store (https://tinyurl.com/ltr8kx6)
DrivethruRPG (https://tinyurl.com/l7yn58e)
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Nice touch with the southern key location on Windshield Peaks. O0
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People have no idea how much gloating I will do when the Ghost Bears snatch Terra right out from under the Wolves and the ROTS (what? that's how it will go, right?).
First of all...Seyla
Second, one of BT's most interesting resources is it's fans. Have you seen the art that a fan paid for in the Delranes PDF (Was it Marauder who put that out)? It is fabulous, and has replaced the 3057 art in my personal headcanon. Not to mention the full-on fan TRO that is being worked. How about the paper counters Sartris put together? It's virtually every mech with art turned into easily printable sheets of counters. That was brilliant! What about Xotl's RAT's? Heck, how many of us were willing to pay money so that we could help edit the BMM!? I know the franchise has a long history of legal inconveniences, but there has been some staggeringly good work produced by the fan community, and I think it might be worth taking the leap to figure out how to make some of it 'official'.
Finally, I don't usually drink Whiskey, is there anything on Old Kentucky for me?
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Abrupt realization, going back over Wars of the Republic Era: Melissa Allard-Liao was never actually confirmed dead. I really (really) doubt that means anything, but it could mean something. :D
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Abrupt realization, going back over Wars of the Republic Era: Melissa Allard-Liao was never actually confirmed dead. I really (really) doubt that means anything, but it could mean something. :D
So it was a Liao behind the Blackout after all!!!
I'm not serious. Might be just something left open for future stories.
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They come close but a viral outbreak hits them hard and they are forever infected, leaving them as the IllClan.
"All right! which one of your idiots imported New Delphi Lizrats?"
Craig
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Love old Kentucky guys, thank you!
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They be ill'in? Are the Beasty Boys part of their genetic history?
An unbearable pun about them.
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So was it a two gigaton or two hundred gigaton warhead the League dropped on Old Kentucky? Because if it was the latter I think we'd be talking about the world in the past tense. ;D
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So was it a two gigaton or two hundred gigaton warhead the League dropped on Old Kentucky? Because if it was the latter I think we'd be talking about the world in the past tense. ;D
200 Gigaton isn't that much.
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Gigaton oh what fun, much better than that old megaton
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200 Gigaton isn't that much.
200 gigatons is 200,000 megatons. It's actually quite a lot. It's several times what is believed necessary to trigger an extinction level event on an earth like planet.
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200 Gigaton isn't that much.
Compared to major asteroid strikes, no, but compared to most non-relativistic manufactured weapons, it's kinda noticable.
(for the record, it's an inexact science converting asteroid impacts into mega/gigatonnage, but
- Chicxulub is estimated at 420 zettajoules (4.2x1023 joules)
- Tsar Bomba (50MT) is estimated at 210 petajoules (2.1x1017 joules).
So the Dino Killer is approximately 2 million Tsar Bombas, while a 200GT is only 4000 Tsar Bombas.
Only.
Heck, even Edward Teller only got as far as planning a 10GT device. Fortunately, though, he got distracted easily ;) (While I can't claim I met the man, I did meet some of his ... acolytes.)
W.
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200 gigatons is 200,000 megatons. It's actually quite a lot. It's several times what is believed necessary to trigger an extinction level event on an earth like planet.
That is only about 0.2 percent of the Chicxulub Impact (what killed off the dinosaurs).
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That comparison is only meaningful if said impact was the minimum required yield to trigger an extinction level event.
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Compared to major asteroid strikes, no, but compared to most non-relativistic manufactured weapons, it's kinda noticable.
Ok, but I find the yield of most BT warheads just so wimpy.
edit: corrected the [/ ]
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That comparison is only meaningful if said impact was the minimum required yield to trigger an extinction level event.
It's going to be close, since Chicxulub only killed a bunch of stuff because of where it struck. Even then, said extinction was purely due to weather changes, not brute force.
Paul
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Ok, but I find the yield of most BT warheads just so wimpy.
But damage only increases as per 2/3 power. Larger & larger devices produce less and less large effects; IIRC, three-four 1MT devices in loose proximity did more damage than a single 10MT against non-hardened targets. For "earth-shattering booms", that's where your relativistic kinetics shine.
Ah, we nerds - happy to ascribe faults in fictional economics to the existance of cat-girls, but arguing vociferously over the minutea of WMD O0
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Yeah nothing beats that good old telephone pole from space. What were they called in RL??
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"Rods from God"?
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Yeah nothing beats that good old telephone pole from space. What were they called in RL??
Kinetic spears (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment)? (In Warren Ellis' warped mind anyway.)
You know you've been on these forums too long when you remember the previous discussion about kinetic bombardment and how it "actually" wouldn't be destructive on a world-wide scale.
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It's going to be close, since Chicxulub only killed a bunch of stuff because of where it struck. Even then, said extinction was purely due to weather changes, not brute force.
Paul
You don't need to be that level to come close to having long term damaging effects. I recall it said that the Tsar Bomb did something to the rotation of the earth that was noticeable, and Stallin swore off another test of that magnitude ever again. So, we're still looking at something that is a couple magnitudes bigger. Unless the crustal composition is significantly different from Earth, a blast like that will have major ramifications in the region alone. It's possible there might be minor earthquakes and tsunamis all over the planet for years to come as new deep-crust fissures settle, and any unstable subterranean cavities collapse. Sinkholes, anyone?
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They come close but a viral outbreak hits them hard and they are forever infected, leaving them as the IllClan.
I their final days, their Khan and his Galaxy Commanders released a rap album as their "Great Work." As a result, they also are the IllestClan.
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But damage only increases as per 2/3 power. Larger & larger devices produce less and less large effects; IIRC, three-four 1MT devices in loose proximity did more damage than a single 10MT against non-hardened targets.
I've heard that called pancaking. It's also why the big nuclear powers don't see much use in high megaton nukes anymore. Even for hardened targets, they seem to prefer putting a nuclear warhead on a bunker busting bomb rather than old style high megaton jobs.
Ok, but I find the yield of most BT warheads just so wimpy.
Out of curiosity, why?
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I'm not going to pre-empt Maingunnery's reasons, but ...
I'm pretty sure it's "lack of ambition". BT doesn't (typically) rely on fission devices, or fission-initiated fusion devices. The magical efficiency of BT energy production, knowledge of fusion technology, and the existance of weapons-grade laser technology, allows you to go direct to fusion initiation without the dirty stuff beforehand. Remember, BT fusion doesn't need exotic deuterium, or expiring tritium - it's banging protium atoms together. (Amongst other efficiencies, this means your fusion weapons have almost infinite shelf life - energy storage of the 'battery' used to power the lasers is your limiting constraint. But with no moving parts & no exotic chemicals, that SL warhead just needs a couple of hours on mains power to be up & atom!)
We've got canon on nuclear handgrenades, for Ghu's sake! Makes the Davy Crockett look like a piker's choice, and the SADM a bad joke. And yet ...
And for very good reason. Because nuc war ain't tactical 'Mech combat, it's Ogre. They're both wonderful aesthetics, but different.
W.
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Out of curiosity, why?
Worktroll, got it mostly correct. Technologically it should not be a problem for BT to produce larger nukes, and I think that the need to 'destroy' planets and super-bunkers would provide plenty of motive.
Personally I would prefer to increase the yield of canon nukes, while keeping their BT damage the same.
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So is this a new weapon?
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Eh.. I guess RL was the wrong thing to post.. should have said Renegade Legion. And after looking the penetrators were launched from Thor Satellites
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My .02 on the "Where do we go from here..." debate...
While I'm enjoying the Historicals immensely, I'd also like to see the game history keep moving forward. While I was (and still am) very critical of the Jihad, CGL has done an excellent job of sorting out the DA/AoD mess and I've enjoyed those products overall as well. I am (tentatively) looking forward to ilClan.
If I'm willing to stick around after the Jihad, then I guess I'm willing to stick around for almost anything. I will go on record as drawing the line at sentient aliens though. ;)
Also, Alpha Strike is a great and fun game and is definitely the game for drawing people into the universe IMO. It's the "WarMaHordes" of BT for the folks who don't feel the need (or have the time in my case) for hordes of sheets and charts. The days when I could spare a weekend on a battalion vs. battalion game of "real" BT are in the past these days.
The real solution to so many of our problems is new novels and fiction, but I realize that I'm just preaching to the choir there.
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You don't need to be that level to come close to having long term damaging effects. I recall it said that the Tsar Bomb did something to the rotation of the earth that was noticeable,
Just because something is measurable doesn't mean it's meaningful. Each earthquake we get does something to the rotation of the Earth to, and I assure you those are immensely more energetic events than 50 MTon.
and Stallin swore off another test of that magnitude ever again.
Prob because it was a huge waste of time. Guy's not known for caring about his people's safety.
So, we're still looking at something that is a couple magnitudes bigger. Unless the crustal composition is significantly different from Earth, a blast like that will have major ramifications in the region alone. It's possible there might be minor earthquakes and tsunamis all over the planet for years to come as new deep-crust fissures settle, and any unstable subterranean cavities collapse. Sinkholes, anyone?
None of those effects are at all probable. It's a very common mistake: people don't understand how BIG a planet is, and how few craps it gives about what we do to it.
Paul
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The new stackpole novella is out. Now we can actually go back on topic! At least until somebody derails this thread again with nonsense that has nothing to do with battletech.
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Prob because it was a huge waste of time. Guy's not known for caring about his people's safety.
There's something to be said for the "where is the limit?" test, but yeah, not the best idea. I've heard that there may have been plans for a ground-burst 'second try' with the same design of weapon, this time at full power, but if that's true the idea died with Stalin. (Which I'm content with)
As for Old Kentucky, this was a really fun one- didn't get all the way through it this evening, but enjoying what's here for sure. Very unique world.
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Heck, even Edward Teller only got as far as planning a 10GT device. Fortunately, though, he got distracted easily ;) (While I can't claim I met the man, I did meet some of his ... acolytes.)
W.
Penn Gillette?
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The new stackpole novella is out. Now we can actually go back on topic! At least until somebody derails this thread again with nonsense that has nothing to do with battletech.
I keep asking this question. Are those Novellas canon? I like Stackpole a lot. However, when it comes stuff published outside of CGL. There bound to be issues. I want to be canon, but past experiences beings up some doubt.
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I keep asking this question. Are those Novellas canon? I like Stackpole a lot. However, when it comes stuff published outside of CGL. There bound to be issues. I want to be canon, but past experiences beings up some doubt.
I want it to be canon too. On that not though unlike the first one this one also makes mention of the Aurigan Coalition so that reduces the chances that it is to my mind. Thus far I want the Aurigan Coalition to be canon but that is not likely.
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It's going to be close, since Chicxulub only killed a bunch of stuff because of where it struck. Even then, said extinction was purely due to weather changes, not brute force.
Paul
To check my memory, Chicxulub is the one that created the Gulf of Mexico, right?
And I'm liking TTS: Old Kentucky, but I wish there was a little teeny bit more information about the Maskirovka's bases. Oh well. Something for me to fill in. ;)
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To check my memory, Chicxulub is the one that created the Gulf of Mexico, right?
And I'm liking TTS: Old Kentucky, but I wish there was a little teeny bit more information about the Maskirovka's bases. Oh well. Something for me to fill in. ;)
Landed IN the Gulf- not sure if it CREATED it per se. But yeah, that's the one. (It may very well have created it, for all I know- if it doesn't involve LRM-15s I really don't know a whole hell of a lot about anything.)
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The Chicxulub impact didn't create the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf has been around since the late Triassic when the supercontinent Pangea really started breaking apart. The Chicxulub impact occurred at the end of the Cretaceous, around 140 million years later.
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The Chicxulub impact didn't create the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf has been around since the late Triassic when the supercontinent Pangea really started breaking apart. The Chicxulub impact occurred at the end of the Cretaceous, around 140 million years later.
"Don't think of it as a gulf... think of it as Earth's Catcher's Mitt."
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"Don't think of it as a gulf... think of it as Earth's Catcher's Mitt."
(https://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/0/182/77017-19956-galactus.jpg)
"Hey batta batta batta SWING batta batta..."
Actually, legit question- with the Erinyes out there somewhere, do we have anything official that describes the amount of damage an asteroid would do? I mean, obviously we're not talking Battletech/Alpha Strike scale- just goodbye in that case- but in terms of strategic scale, like a planetary campaign, how would we determine what an impact like what happened on Taurus does? (There may not be a rules answer, but I figure the hive mind is the place to ask)
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I keep asking this question. Are those Novellas canon? I like Stackpole a lot. However, when it comes stuff published outside of CGL. There bound to be issues. I want to be canon, but past experiences beings up some doubt.
Where is it posted? I don't see it on his website/.
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Where is it posted? I don't see it on his website/.
It is part of the BattleTech computer game from HBS. The novellas are a kickstarter reward.
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Actually, legit question- with the Erinyes out there somewhere, do we have anything official that describes the amount of damage an asteroid would do? I mean, obviously we're not talking Battletech/Alpha Strike scale- just goodbye in that case- but in terms of strategic scale, like a planetary campaign, how would we determine what an impact like what happened on Taurus does? (There may not be a rules answer, but I figure the hive mind is the place to ask)
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=24460.0 :)
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So has anyone come out and officially said no product released on April 1st this year? Oh I know the days of free items on April 1st is long gone, but we usually get something interesting and silly for April Fools Day.
Unless we can get 2nd Succession War which would be fantastic!
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Is it April 1st yet? No? Can we at least keep the doom and gloom at bay until then, please?
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I want it to be canon too. On that not though unlike the first one this one also makes mention of the Aurigan Coalition so that reduces the chances that it is to my mind. Thus far I want the Aurigan Coalition to be canon but that is not likely.
I don't see why the Aurigan Coalition can't be canon. The intro text to the MechWarrior (1E) RPG book says there are sixty bandit kingdoms in the near Periphery as of 3000. The maps only show about 20 (40 if you get generous and add all the Chainlane factions and deep periphery states as well). That leaves plenty of wiggle room to fit the Aurigans into canon.
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Far Country is available in e pub now.....and the Catalyst Game Labs page mentioned Touring the Stars: Mizar forthcoming. Interesting :)
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I don't see why the Aurigan Coalition can't be canon. The intro text to the MechWarrior (1E) RPG book says there are sixty bandit kingdoms in the near Periphery as of 3000. The maps only show about 20 (40 if you get generous and add all the Chainlane factions and deep periphery states as well). That leaves plenty of wiggle room to fit the Aurigans into canon.
As long as it is in no way becoming bigger. Indeed i find the video game's story setup somewhat problematic due to its geopolitical effects. Maybe the game will explain stuff but... i don't think so. Plus, there's also issue that "canon foreigners" tend to be somewhat... idealized. Devs put more effort on their own creations but often they don't care if it fits existing canon well (happens with fanfiction as well, and arguably BattleTech is a form of sanctioned "fanfction").
Of course, if it gets canonized, will people then want the damn jumpdropship thing as canon as well? I'd rather not open the can of worms at all. Video game canon is video game canon, proper BT canon is proper BT canon, the end.
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Far Country is available in e pub now.....
That's cool. Its something that everyone is at least aware of, but I've always wondered how many have actually read it. I can say for myself that, at least up till the near future, I've never seen it.
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I've read it. I bought it back when I was 13 or 14. It was....odd.
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That's cool. Its something that everyone is at least aware of, but I've always wondered how many have actually read it. I can say for myself that, at least up till the near future, I've never seen it.
As a sci-fi book, it's pretty interesting. I've never understood the frothing hatred some folks have for it. It's not the best in the line, but it isn't Star Lord.
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You know, I know Star Lord wasn't the best work ever put out, but I never got all that hate for it either. I'd put it above Ideal War, for sure...
Which brings up the next point: Join the FWL! Then your fan fiction can easily be much better than all the relevant novels!*
*A few of the DA books deal with FWL remnants, and there is doubtless some good work on BattleCorps, so I'm only intending to make fun of the FASA era FWL books here. I don't hope anyone will be offended too badly by that.
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You know, I know Star Lord wasn't the best work ever put out, but I never got all that hate for it either. I'd put it above Ideal War, for sure...
Which brings up the next point: Join the FWL! Then your fan fiction can easily be much better than all the relevant novels!*
*A few of the DA books deal with FWL remnants, and there is doubtless some good work on BattleCorps, so I'm only intending to make fun of the FASA era FWL books here. I don't hope anyone will be offended too badly by that.
Oh man, yeah, that was another dud for sure. Great cover art, that's as far as I can go with that one. (Also, Masters' PHX? That is a dog and a half. What an awful 'upgrade'.)
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Oh man, yeah, that was another dud for sure. Great cover art, that's as far as I can go with that one. (Also, Masters' PHX? That is a dog and a half. What an awful 'upgrade'.)
Still not as good as the all time best cover art..nothing tops the cover for D.R.T.
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I think the cover may have been the best part of that book.
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I keep asking this question. Are those Novellas canon? I like Stackpole a lot. However, when it comes stuff published outside of CGL. There bound to be issues. I want to be canon, but past experiences beings up some doubt.
It wasn't done with any continuity coordination on our part, so I'm sorry but the best answer is "It's all canon except for the parts that turn out not to be canon."
So has anyone come out and officially said no product released on April 1st this year?
no April Fools product this year.
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Im pretty sure the stackpole novellas and the HBS game are considered canon. I cant remember where this was talked about but im positive it was. I think TPTB were getting sick of all this "is it canon or not" garbage regarding the computer games. If somebody could dig up where the hell they said it.......
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I literally just answered the question.
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Im pretty sure the stackpole novellas and the HBS game are considered canon. I cant remember where this was talked about but im positive it was. I think TPTB were getting sick of all this "is it canon or not" garbage regarding the computer games. If somebody could dig up where the hell they said it.......
http://community.battletechgame.com/forums/threads/1190
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::)
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"That was the intention" holds less weight than a developer saying "not necessarily" right here in this thread a few posts ago.
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I literally just answered the question.
You need to turn off the Chameleon LPS.
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::)
To be fair, I answered the question posed, and so close to your post that the "another post went up while you were typing" warning didn't show up.
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:)
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Thanks for answering the question, Adrian Gideon.
I understand this is a tricky question!
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So has anyone come out and officially said no product released on April 1st this year? Oh I know the days of free items on April 1st is long gone, but we usually get something interesting and silly for April Fools Day.
Someday I would like to see a hexmap of an academy ship, that will be 260 x 34 hex..... 8) with multiple levels... >:D
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As a sci-fi book, it's pretty interesting. I've never understood the frothing hatred some folks have for it. It's not the best in the line, but it isn't Star Lord.
Seconded. I've always said it was actually a pretty decent sci-fi book. Just not a very good BT book.
Star Lord still deserves to be ranked as the worst novel IMO.
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With all the love for Star Lord I think I might have to read that train wreck #P
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With all the love for Star Lord I think I might have to read that train wreck #P
Have you ever played in an RPG where the PCs all have such disparate backgrounds that the GM has to pull some BS to get them together to form a group? That's kind of how it starts out.
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Have you ever played in an RPG where the PCs all have such disparate backgrounds that the GM has to pull some BS to get them together to form a group? That's kind of how it starts out.
Indeed, one could describe Star Lord as not being subtle.
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Star Lord does kind of feel like someone's RPG campaign...not saying that's a bad thing mind you...
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Quite so. What I'd argue is a minority of the characters have at least quasi interesting stories, so if you follow those you like you can get some enjoyment. I'll not defend it as being genuinely not bad, but I don't know that its entirely meritless.
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My main beef with it is the nigh criminal underutilization of the settings.
They go to Kyeinnisan, the Gambler's World, home of the feared Holy Rollers security force, birthplace of Four Card Drax, brimming with neon, casinos, mobsters, showgirls, and assorted local color. And they spend their time running through a nondescript forest.
They go to Herotitus, legendary center of the New Hedon movement. Bacchanals, wine, willing partners, and song! Anything goes. And they land, comment that it's not much fun any more since the local Mennonites took over, and hang out at a nondescript hotel.
This keeps happening, over and over. There's such a wealth of story potential there, and it's just left on the table. You have a ComStar archivist who gets funding through the Free Worlds League to set up secret bases in the Periphery from which to launch false flag attacks on various factions to try to push them towards war, with the goal of capitalizing on the chaos by carving out a reborn empire from a bygone age. It sounds like a dry run for the Jihad.
But the connection is never made, and something as jaw dropping as a supposed Amaris descendant trying to re-form the Rim World's Republic/Amaris Empire never gets mentioned again, except in one sourcebook.
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I would love to see another April Fools joke book again. They wrote some really awesome stuff.
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Star Lord still deserves to be ranked as the worst novel IMO.
One of the worst, yes. It has my vote.
If the plot was anything other than "I shall take the name of the most hated man in history and become King of the Inner Sphere!" I wouldn't have a axe to grind. The bandit plot is good by itself, could have been up there with The Red Corsair but Stefan Amaris VII has to be one of the cheesiest villains you can think of.
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Just out of curiosity, how does licensing work with the novellas? I thought HBS only had the digital rights to BT, not print? Sorry if this has been discussed before--in that case just a link would be welcome.
On the subject of BT fiction, did we ever hear anything about the future of Battlecorps? Last I heard the subscription & renewal links were taken off the CGL store...
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Just out of curiosity, how does licensing work with the novellas? I thought HBS only had the digital rights to BT, not print? Sorry if this has been discussed before--in that case just a link would be welcome.
I believe the novellas were "rewards" as part of the video game, therefore why they can't sell the novellas on their own. HBS mentioned negotiations for merchandise rights, but I believe those came later.
Either way, basically it's between them and Topps (possibly CGL on Topp's behalf), and that's between them to figure out.
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Just out of curiosity, how does licensing work with the novellas? I thought HBS only had the digital rights to BT, not print? Sorry if this has been discussed before--in that case just a link would be welcome.
On the subject of BT fiction, did we ever hear anything about the future of Battlecorps? Last I heard the subscription & renewal links were taken off the CGL store...
Honestly I'd be happy if they concentrated on the novels right now. That's a big thing for people, TPTB included. We can ask about stuff all we want but we likely won't get an answer. The only person that seems to bother with us is Adrian. It's really hard to watch something your passionate about struggle, but there's nothing we can do about it. Just be distracted with something else. Find something else to do. Helps me pass the time waiting and you also don't get yelled at by the more sensitive folks on here. Anyway this post is a rambling mess carry on.
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It is New and Upcoming Releases, it's supposed to be a rambling mess around here O0
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Should I be relieved or disappointed that a certain era capstone supplement isn't being released on Saturday? Only time will tell.
I feel the need to defend Starlord. It's a crappy, shlocky Battletech actioner that embraces the b-level sci-fi of the middling Clan Invasion era. But I will graciously admit to enjoying the book more than several of the spine novels penned by a certain author. I also appreciate the portrayal of Galatea in Starlord, suffering economic depression due to the rise of Outreach in the industry. When in doubt, approach Starlord with the same degree of expectations as the Somerset Strikers cartoon, and you may be rewarded. As a bonus, Brett Andrews has a couple of walk-ons.
Too bad the Wars of Reaving novel pitch didn't get geenlit.
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My main beef with it is the nigh criminal underutilization of the settings.
They go to Kyeinnisan, the Gambler's World, home of the feared Holy Rollers security force, birthplace of Four Card Drax, brimming with neon, casinos, mobsters, showgirls, and assorted local color. And they spend their time running through a nondescript forest.
They go to Herotitus, legendary center of the New Hedon movement. Bacchanals, wine, willing partners, and song! Anything goes. And they land, comment that it's not much fun any more since the local Mennonites took over, and hang out at a nondescript hotel.
This keeps happening, over and over. There's such a wealth of story potential there, and it's just left on the table. You have a ComStar archivist who gets funding through the Free Worlds League to set up secret bases in the Periphery from which to launch false flag attacks on various factions to try to push them towards war, with the goal of capitalizing on the chaos by carving out a reborn empire from a bygone age. It sounds like a dry run for the Jihad.
But the connection is never made, and something as jaw dropping as a supposed Amaris descendant trying to re-form the Rim World's Republic/Amaris Empire never gets mentioned again, except in one sourcebook.
I managed to slog through it a couple of years ago, and I had the same beefs with it. You'd think the villain would at least pick a different surname ::) Unfortunately for Steel Viper fans, it's also the one novel that has a Viper character coming out on top.
Should I be relieved or disappointed that a certain era capstone supplement isn't being released on Saturday? Only time will tell.
I feel the need to defend Starlord. It's a crappy, shlocky Battletech actioner that embraces the b-level sci-fi of the middling Clan Invasion era. But I will graciously admit to enjoying the book more than several of the spine novels penned by a certain author. I also appreciate the portrayal of Galatea in Starlord, suffering economic depression due to the rise of Outreach in the industry. When in doubt, approach Starlord with the same degree of expectations as the Somerset Strikers cartoon, and you may be rewarded. As a bonus, Brett Andrews has a couple of walk-ons.
Too bad the Wars of Reaving novel pitch didn't get geenlit.
Ditto. I like to think of both as an in-universe 'dramatisation of real events'. And yeah, damn shame about that last as well. The Wars of Reaving would be very interesting to read about in fiction, particularly if you could thrown in revelations that wouldn't fit well in a sourcebook. That, after all, is one of the reasons Battletech fiction and sourcebooks work really well together.
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Ditto. I like to think of both as an in-universe 'dramatisation of real events'.
OMG. Star Lord is a movie of the week. It makes so much more sense now.
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OMG. Star Lord is a movie of the week. It makes so much more sense now.
as done by The Asylum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asylum).
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OMG. Star Lord is a movie of the week. It makes so much more sense now.
Better idea.
(http://splitsider.awlnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/mst3k.jpg)
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YES!!!
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Brief update: Touring the Stars Mizar was supposed to release today (I started to hype it earlier this week), but circumstances required my attention elsewhere. When you see me dropping some more blurbs from the book again you'll know it'll hit a couple days later.
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Brief update: Touring the Stars Mizar was supposed to release today (I started to hype it earlier this week), but circumstances required my attention elsewhere. When you see me dropping some more blurbs from the book again you'll know it'll hit a couple days later.
"I need to get Mizar uploaded at some point toda-"
"Now coming to the stage, Desiree!"
"...Mizar next week."
;D
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Her name is Sweet Candy and she is THICK, so shut yer pie hole.
But aside from that, there were some issues with Second Succession War that need my attention so that it can keep moving along smoothly, so Mizar has to hold a couple days.
And did I mention, THICK.
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Her name is Sweet Candy and she is THICK, so shut yer pie hole.
But aside from that, there were some issues with Second Succession War that need my attention so that it can keep moving along smoothly, so Mizar has to hold a couple days.
And did I mention, THICK.
(https://img.clipartfest.com/dce4b4307f6af8b4d21c0abb94762aa6_-for-cartoon-wolf-whistle-clipart-wolf-whistle_400-300.jpeg)
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Thick like my Cream of Wheat or thick like my head?
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Thick like a bowl of oatmeal, most like.
But aside from that, there were some issues with Second Succession War that need my attention
It's that intro fiction, aint it? Man, the guy who wrote that is a pointless hack. Stop giving him work!
Paul
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Hey adrian do you know why they shot down the wars of reaving novel pitch?
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It's that intro fiction, aint it? Man, the guy who wrote that is a pointless hack. Stop giving him work!
A hack? You wish you were Kevin Killiany.
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A hack? You wish you were Kevin Killiany.
Don't we all?
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Gentlemen, please. Nobody wishes they were Ken' Horner. (whisper, whisper) Wait, Kevin Killiany? Oh man, I love that guy!
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It's that intro fiction, aint it? Man, the guy who wrote that is a pointless hack. Stop giving him work!
Yeah...that's it...it was the fiction guy. Totally his fault. Completely. Certainly not mine. At all. Whatsoever.
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A hack? You wish you were Kevin Killiany.
Don't we all?
;D ;D
Oh, we DO.
Yeah...that's it...it was the fiction guy. Totally his fault. Completely. Certainly not mine. At all. Whatsoever.
Burn the witch!
Paul
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Brief update: Touring the Stars Mizar was supposed to release today (I started to hype it earlier this week), but circumstances required my attention elsewhere. When you see me dropping some more blurbs from the book again you'll know it'll hit a couple days later.
*Looks up world on Sarna, notes that capital*
I thought we weren't doing anymore crossover gags?
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Strange one to do since we seem to have a lot of info on it
The star system itself sounds cool and it's got plenty of switching hands in recent years I don't get the pull (ignore the pun I couldn't think of a way to phrase it - pull, the draw to it, attraction seriously how many gravity gags are there) ::)
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sounds like a real drag
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Mizar...the ruling family wouldn't happen to be Scrooges would they?
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Hey adrian do you know why they shot down the wars of reaving novel pitch?
Uhh...what?
Adrian...please, tell me there is such a thing & it's NOT cancelled!
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But aside from that, there were some issues with Second Succession War that need my attention so that it can keep moving along smoothly, so Mizar has to hold a couple days.
Oh yeah. Definitely prioritise 2SW :) Touring the Stars installments are nice, but 2SW and IlClan are what I'm starving myself for [drool]
Hey adrian do you know why they shot down the wars of reaving novel pitch?
Uhh...what?
Adrian...please, tell me there is such a thing & it's NOT cancelled!
Likewise!
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Just to give a little background Ben Rome told us he was pitching a WoR novel and then at some point after that he left Catalyst.
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I don't know, but it looks like you answered it yourself.
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Shame too, would have been an epic novel. Lets hope Ben will decide to give it a go anyway. Too many unknowns though.
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I don't know, but it looks like you answered it yourself.
Adrian...maybe it's my migraine, but I'm confused on your answer...so I'll break it down...
#1 - Was there a WoR novel proposed at some point?
#2 - If yes, was it cancelled due to the departure of Ben?
#3 - If yes, is there ANY way to get one (or a series of them...at least a trilogy) back on the table?
Lastly...in all seriousness, will there be any more information, like a centric product focused on...the Home World Clans at any point in the near future or before ilClan comes out (aside from TRO:Golden Century)?
I'm sure I speak for many others...I'd love more information / stories / write ups on the HW Clans.
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Dragon41673, sorry, you may have overlooked where I said "I don't know."
However the same poster who said such a novel was proposed and wondered its status, said it was proposed by Ben Rome, who's no longer working for CGL. So I suggested that he answered his own question.
That's all I got.
Sorry, I missed the parting question: no real post-Reaving news on the Home Clans in a long, long while.
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#1 - Was there a WoR novel proposed at some point?
#2 - If yes, was it cancelled due to the departure of Ben?
One should note that just because something is proposed doesn't mean it gets approved and put onto the schedule. And if it's not on the schedule, it technically can't be cancelled.
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Sorry, I missed the parting question: no real post-Reaving news on the Home Clans in a long, long while.
Such profound implications to that definitive statement, yet made on April 1st so maybe there aren't any afterall. Well played.
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Dragon41673, sorry, you may have overlooked where I said "I don't know."
However the same poster who said such a novel was proposed and wondered its status, said it was proposed by Ben Rome, who's no longer working for CGL. So I suggested that he answered his own question.
That's all I got.
Sorry, I missed the parting question: no real post-Reaving news on the Home Clans in a long, long while.
Got it...thanks bud!
One should note that just because something is proposed doesn't mean it gets approved and put onto the schedule. And if it's not on the schedule, it technically can't be cancelled.
Very true...just grasping for stars! LOL it's honestly my most favorite read...by a very long margin. More of the same is always a good thing!
Such profound implications to that definitive statement, yet made on April 1st so maybe there aren't any afterall. Well played.
LOL good point.
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Hey, Adrian, I know it's probably not something you guys are exactly prioritizing for obvious financial reasons, but are there any updates on the status of the 3150 NTNU record sheets? It's been almost two years since the TRO dropped and I'm dying to play with those units.
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Hey, Adrian, I know it's probably not something you guys are exactly prioritizing for obvious financial reasons, but are there any updates on the status of the 3150 NTNU record sheets? It's been almost two years since the TRO dropped and I'm dying to play with those units.
and the prototypes sheets... O:-)
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So how many people here kept checking back on this page on April 1st even though Adrian Gideon said that there wasn't going to be anything this year, like me?
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So how many people here kept checking back on this page on April 1st even though Adrian Gideon said that there wasn't going to be anything this year, like me?
o/ \o/ \o
Yes, this guy.
I might have also been hoping for Combat Manual: Clan Tin Sloths...
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I actually checked drivethrurpg. :D
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Me, but only because I saw it had new replies. I know Ray well enough that if he says something, I believe him.
Kit_deSummersville, on the other hand, could tell me the sky is blue and I'd double-check, then make sure he hadn't slipped tinted contacts into my eyes, then check to see if they even were my eyes, and I'm still not sure I'd believe him.
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I thought about pitching "BattleTech Touring the Bars" but I'm not a drinker.
The layout on The last few holiday books fell to me and I was pretty busy last month. I'm glad Blaine at least put something out. :)
Dak
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I thought about pitching "BattleTech Touring the Bars" but I'm not a drinker.
The layout on The last few holiday books fell to me and I was pretty busy last month. I'm glad Blaine at least put something out. :)
Dak
MechWarrior Adventures: Good to the Last Drop
A group of SAFE agents lead a strike team into the heart of the Timbiqui Brewery for the most important supply run of their lives...
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MechWarrior Adventures: Good to the Last Drop
A group of SAFE agents lead a strike team into the heart of the Timbiqui Brewery for the most important supply run of their lives...
Another vote for Touring the Stars: Timbiqui please.
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Another vote for Touring the Stars: Timbiqui please.
Hm...ya know what...?
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Dragon41673, sorry, you may have overlooked where I said "I don't know."
However the same poster who said such a novel was proposed and wondered its status, said it was proposed by Ben Rome, who's no longer working for CGL. So I suggested that he answered his own question.
That's all I got.
Sorry, I missed the parting question: no real post-Reaving news on the Home Clans in a long, long while.
So in other words it was never shot down. Gotcha. Could you get us some info on what the next novel will be? I'm assuming Shadows of Faith because some of that was written already and chronologically would come before the case white book? Maybe?
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So in other words it was never shot down. Gotcha.
That's not what he said.
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So in other words it was never shot down. Gotcha. Could you get us some info on what the next novel will be? I'm assuming Shadows of Faith because some of that was written already and chronologically would come before the case white book? Maybe?
I....what?
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Ugh terrible reading comprehension on my end. My apologies. He doesn't know got it.
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The author that pitched the book no longer works for the company. I'm not sure how you read anything else into that.
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The author that pitched the book no longer works for the company. I'm not sure how you read anything else into that.
When are you are you going to do your own adventure supplement? Like a BattleTech : Jadehellbringer Adventures? ;D
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When are you are you going to do your own adventure supplement? Like a BattleTech : Jadehellbringer Adventures? ;D
"Your Mech hit a spot of ice. To roll a '2' and fall down, flip to page 41. To roll something competent, flip to page 183."
*flips to page 183*
"Bullshit, we know who you are. Just for that take TWO pilot hits. Know your place."
*throws book out window*
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I want to give that book to someone
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The author that pitched the book no longer works for the company. I'm not sure how you read anything else into that.
Not sure either. The admins can drop the hostility towards me now. I apologized.
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Not sure either. The admins can drop the hostility towards me now. I apologized.
I think you might be taking it more personally than you should.
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I think you might be taking it more personally than you should.
(http://i.imgur.com/f7FdEdG.jpg)
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I think you might be taking it more personally than you should.
How so?
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At this point, the conversation isn't germane to upcoming products. If you want to continue along these lines, please take it to PM.
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Ok so getting back on track then! Adrian do you know WHAT the next novel will be?
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Sorry, I missed the parting question: no real post-Reaving news on the Home Clans in a long, long while.
:'(
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I got the impression the Wars of Reaving was the climax of the "writing the HW clans out of the plot" arc.
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I got the impression the Wars of Reaving was the climax of the "writing the HW clans out of the plot" arc.
I'd safely say (without being involved, by the way, so grain of salt here) that the plan looked more like 'put them aside for a while, return to that chaos some other time down the road when it fits our plans'. With the folks involved in those decisions no longer involved in Battletech (unfortunately), the future may look very different in that regard than it did under Beas/Rome. Equally safe to say that we're not likely to get much in the way of hints from the current administration beyond "Wait and see", "More to be revealed", "Shut the hell up Hellbie", and other such comments. ^-^
Really though- while the Home Clans aren't everyone's cup of tea, they're clearly popular around here with a lot of fans, and there's a lot of story to tell- particularly after Ben Rome put a bucket on their heads and beat it with a spoon for a while. Our last look in the Supplemental was fascinating, and sets up a very interesting future- it would be almost unthinkable for Catalyst to never go back there again.
-
Just a brief update to spill about the Turning Points currently in the pipeline (these are somewhere between development (past the pitch stage) and layout). They span from the Second Succession War/Golden Century through the early Republic eras.
Fronc Reaches
Vega 3039
Orbisonia
Tokasha
Lindsay (or possibly titled, Turning Points: Hansen's Vengeance)
I got the impression the Wars of Reaving was the climax of the "writing the HW clans out of the plot" arc.
Not necesarrily. But may as well considerate so, until it's revealed otherwise.
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Just a brief update to spill about the Turning Points currently in the pipeline (these are somewhere between development (past the pitch stage) and layout). They span from the Second Succession War/Golden Century through the early Republic eras.
Fronc Reaches
Vega 3039
Orbisonia
Tokasha
Lindsay (or possibly titled, Turning Points: Hansen's Vengeance)
Buddha's Buxom Barristas, **** YES. 8)
What is Orbisonia, and is it remotely as spacetacular as the name implies?
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I'd safely say (without being involved, by the way, so grain of salt here) that the plan looked more like 'put them aside for a while, return to that chaos some other time down the road when it fits our plans'. With the folks involved in those decisions no longer involved in Battletech (unfortunately), the future may look very different in that regard than it did under Beas/Rome. Equally safe to say that we're not likely to get much in the way of hints from the current administration beyond "Wait and see", "More to be revealed", "Shut the hell up Hellbie", and other such comments. ^-^
Really though- while the Home Clans aren't everyone's cup of tea, they're clearly popular around here with a lot of fans, and there's a lot of story to tell- particularly after Ben Rome put a bucket on their heads and beat it with a spoon for a while. Our last look in the Supplemental was fascinating, and sets up a very interesting future- it would be almost unthinkable for Catalyst to never go back there again.
I agree with you. There is much potential for TPTB giving them a new chance to re-enter the *game-of-thrones* after being so long hidden behind an interstellar wall (of silence) ;)
BTW I recognized that he said *post-WOR*. Seeing the TP:Tokasha it gives me hope that we will some more products about the Homeworlds and events there
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Just a brief update to spill about the Turning Points currently in the pipeline (these are somewhere between development (past the pitch stage) and layout). They span from the Second Succession War/Golden Century through the early Republic eras.
Tokasha
Tokasha? As in Hell's Horses vs Ghost Bears? That Tokasha?! Oh yeah...TOKASHA! *Ghost Bear roar*
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What is Orbisonia, and is it remotely as spacetacular as the name implies?
All depends I suppose, but I think so. We're doing something different there, instead of new RS (because honestly, this story is filled with designs that are as old as the game), we're including a closing piece of fiction. Read it last night and it was quite moving.
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All depends I suppose, but I think so. We're doing something different there, instead of new RS (because honestly, this story is filled with designs that are as old as the game), we're including a closing piece of fiction. Read it last night and it was quite moving.
Now THAT sounds intriguing. Looking forward to it!
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What is Orbisonia, and is it remotely as spacetacular as the name implies?
ooo! I may have misunderstood as you actually said spacetacular. No, I don't think there's much focus on AeroSpace combat in this one. :(
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Buddha's Buxom Barristas, **** YES. 8)
What is Orbisonia, and is it remotely as spacetacular as the name implies?
Handle me with care.
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Must mean something different to some of you. I was hoping it was named for Roy Orbison. (And if you're too young to know who that is, get thee to Youtube, you damned whippersnappers)
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All depends I suppose, but I think so. We're doing something different there, instead of new RS (because honestly, this story is filled with designs that are as old as the game), we're including a closing piece of fiction. Read it last night and it was quite moving.
The heroic last stand of Wilbury's Travellers? ;D
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we're including a closing piece of fiction.
Dang, if only that innovation had come a few years sooner. ;)
Good move though, makes total sense in this case.
Paul
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Wasn't IlClan supposed to contain a closing fiction as well?
I wonder if the concept is something that devs and writers have found enjoyable?
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I think the IlClan has closing of factions....
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Oh, i expect it to be. But i think Adrian Gideon mentioned it would have closing fiction too.
Maybe. I'm not sure i trust my brain and going through old threads will take time...
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Oh, i expect it to be. But i think Adrian Gideon mentioned it would have closing fiction too.
Maybe. I'm not sure i trust my brain and going through old threads will take time...
Yup, something Phil A. Lee and I argued for.
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Soooo...no news on the record sheets, I take it? :'(
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I'm sorry, I don't have any news, no.
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Tokasha? As in Hell's Horses vs Ghost Bears? That Tokasha?! Oh yeah...TOKASHA! *Ghost Bear roar*
Only Clanners would fight over a tsundere (And yes, I realize the spelling isn't quite right)
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I'm sorry, I don't have any news, no.
Well, I appreciate the response nonetheless, thank you.
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Only Clanners would fight over a tsundere (And yes, I realize the spelling isn't quite right)
Remember kids:
(http://i.imgur.com/oqVwBTp.gif)
Not
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4ge0pF1cK1qzd219o2_250.gif)
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I'd safely say (without being involved, by the way, so grain of salt here) that the plan looked more like 'put them aside for a while, return to that chaos some other time down the road when it fits our plans'. With the folks involved in those decisions no longer involved in Battletech (unfortunately), the future may look very different in that regard than it did under Beas/Rome. Equally safe to say that we're not likely to get much in the way of hints from the current administration beyond "Wait and see", "More to be revealed", "Shut the hell up Hellbie", and other such comments. ^-^
Really though- while the Home Clans aren't everyone's cup of tea, they're clearly popular around here with a lot of fans, and there's a lot of story to tell- particularly after Ben Rome put a bucket on their heads and beat it with a spoon for a while. Our last look in the Supplemental was fascinating, and sets up a very interesting future- it would be almost unthinkable for Catalyst to never go back there again.
yeah, my use of climax was intentional in that regard - the story isn't usually over afterward. From a purely pragmatic sense, completely removing the nostalgia, emotion, and attachment, winding down the homeworlds as 1) decimated beyond repair or 2) relatively stable political stasis makes a certain amount sense in a reality of limited resources. Not necessarily what should or will happen (especially due to the regime change you noted)... just my observation from the last ten years of products.
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picture of jiggly anime girl
I was going to ask why you had a picture of a bouncy anime girl readily available, but then I though: let he with a clean browsing history cast the first stone.
The list of turning points looks fun. Last one I recall reading was Epsilon Eridani, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The prospect of some sweet bear on horse action is something I can't wait to see...wait, that didn't come out right.
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I was going to ask why you had a picture of a bouncy anime girl readily available, but then I though hit: let he with a clean browsing history cast the first stone.
The list of turning points looks fun. Last one I recall reading was Epsilon Eridani, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The prospect of some sweet bear on horse action is something I can't wait to see...wait, that didn't come out right.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WiY1m3JAPBg/UReKTj3o_NI/AAAAAAAAJ4Q/GY360kL2z10/s1600/get-out.gif)
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I was going to ask why you had a picture of a bouncy anime girl readily available, but then I though hit: let he with a clean browsing history cast the first stone.
Wise words. And for reference, that's the precise anime girl SCC was referring to.
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Just a brief update to spill about the Turning Points currently in the pipeline (these are somewhere between development (past the pitch stage) and layout). They span from the Second Succession War/Golden Century through the early Republic eras.
Fronc Reaches
Vega 3039
Orbisonia
Tokasha
Lindsay (or possibly titled, Turning Points: Hansen's Vengeance)
Fronc Reaches,is this related to the recent HBS game? Are we going get some material for the Rimward Periphery during 2SW-3SW?
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Nope.
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I was going to ask why you had a picture of a bouncy anime girl readily available, but then I though hit: let he with a clean browsing history cast the first stone.
The character's family name is Tohsaka. She's actually fairly popular across the board, among anime fans.
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I was assuming that Fronc Reaches would be about the Capellans expanding Southward during the early Republic era.
Vega 3039 sounds like Teddy & the Legion v the Elsies from Heir to the Dragon.
To quote Sarna: "Orbisonia was attacked by a major Capellan assault in 2828, one of a number of actions that effectively marked the beginning of the Second Succession War."
Tokasha is obviously the Golden Century event being referred to. I note that it was Star Adder controlled at the beginning of the period and Ghost Bear / Hell's Horses / Goliath Scorpion / Jade Falcon later.
Hansen's Vengeance must be Roughriders v Concordat.
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The character's family name is Tohsaka. She's actually fairly popular across the board, among anime fans.
What anime is that from.. it looks vaguely familiar.
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Tokasha? As in Hell's Horses vs Ghost Bears? That Tokasha?! Oh yeah...TOKASHA! *Ghost Bear roar*
I am unreasonably excited for this to roll out.
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I am unreasonably excited for this to roll out.
I can only agree, Tokasha should contain some cool moments with the illest Clans around, the Scorpions and Falcons (oh, and maybe some Bears and Horses as well)...
Hmmm, didn't I make an update to the Tokasha page on Sarna a while back? Yes, there it is, lying around on C:/, maybe I should upload it some day... #P
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What anime is that from.. it looks vaguely familiar.
Pretty sure the gif is from Carnival Phantasm, but the character is from Fate/Stay Night
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Tokasha is obviously the Golden Century event being referred to. I note that it was Star Adder controlled at the beginning of the period and Ghost Bear / Hell's Horses / Goliath Scorpion / Jade Falcon later.
You mean...it's not the Bears/Horses?...
(https://a5wvxw.bn1302.livefilestore.com/y4mr5VSmupHjJ7NFau9gNF60IZCi7ScmRUHxhwGFO077pXL7qiiFCqZXHVmAcbWFhc6CMOefWBtt3U3c8Y0uPAu5_7lwCWP1fwXMia4d_J1GIhdcCPpB-zX-yNpEVKXEd2TTWJhvgemHTHiCxHjDI4A_CsoSXlShJRiSo4EyofHJn6LJaF6AezpokZM_MfJe-lqBrJjIpsW6M5Wy6TPyRc_lA?width=256&height=256&cropmode=none)
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Are there any plans to release an errataed version of Field Report 2765: Periphery? From Canopian regiments with Kuritan fluff, WarShips with confusing art, and a RWR fleet scheme that causes Clan Diamond Shark to make no sense, this product has long needed repairs.
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Not in the foreseeable future, no.
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Tired of the grimdark? Take a load off on our next Touring the Stars port of call, Mizar—proof that not every planet in the Inner Sphere is a desert wasteland.
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Long time BattleTech player and contributor Panzerfaust150 has a new Alpha Strike blog. Check it out!
http://alphastrikepfaust.blogspot.com/
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Tired of the grimdark? Take a load off on our next Touring the Stars port of call, Mizar—proof that not every planet in the Inner Sphere is a desert wasteland.
Fire Lizards all around!
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Not in the foreseeable future, no.
Disappointing, but ah well. I can keep waiting, as long as I'm sure we'll get it sometime before the actual launch of TAS Challenger. :)
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Tired of the grimdark? Take a load off on our next Touring the Stars port of call, Mizar—proof that not every planet in the Inner Sphere is a desert wasteland.
That flag is awesome. Is this another one that was hiding in Handbook: House Steiner, or was it created for the book?
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So was it a two gigaton or two hundred gigaton warhead the League dropped on Old Kentucky? Because if it was the latter I think we'd be talking about the world in the past tense. ;D
I meant it as two gigaton.
-
I meant it as two gigaton.
Quitter. ;P
Paul
-
I meant it as two gigaton.
Only two? :'(
-
A missed opportunity for a 1210 megaton detonation...
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That flag is awesome. Is this another one that was hiding in Handbook: House Steiner, or was it created for the book?
Created for this book.
-
Created for this book.
Then again: that flag is awesome.
-
Then again: that flag is awesome.
O0
I tried to go for that 'caught between many suns' look.
Dak
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A missed opportunity for a 1210 megaton detonation...
Pfft. Chixclub was something like 800,000MT (fission to kinetic comparisons are admittedly subject to a number of conceptual kluges), and we only lost megafauna. 200MT? The spectre of Edward Teller sneers at your lack of ambition ;)
W.
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Love the Mizar flag, i can't wait for the book to coming out!
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Pfft. Chixclub was something like 800,000MT (fission to kinetic comparisons are admittedly subject to a number of conceptual kluges), and we only lost megafauna. 200MT? The spectre of Edward Teller sneers at your lack of ambition ;)
W.
But I wanted to hear someone yell about one point twenty one jiggatons!
-
Dangerously close to jiggle physics there ... O:-)
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We addressed that last page, I think. :)
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Yup, something Phil A. Lee and I argued for.
I still prefer my original structure, with a novella in 5 parts - each part introducing the next year of hell, and then the closer. And all by the same author, with the same flow of primary characters.
Five years later, I'm just glad you two got at least 2 pieces inserted. ::)
I know the book won't look like what I envisioned and constructed, but at least with you two spearheading the final push I know it will at least still piss off some, elate others, and shock everyone. That was the whole goal, after all.... 8)
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I still prefer my original structure, with a novella in 5 parts - each part introducing the next year of hell, and then the closer. And all by the same author, with the same flow of primary characters.
5? So basically your original concept covered 5 years of warfare, which would logically work out to 3145 to 3150, or maybe 3146 to 3151?
If i interpreted that right (and ignoring any chances that may or may not have happened), i gotta say i'm surprised, i kinda expected IlClan to cover further to future. On the other hand, 3150 is nice number for finishing an era. (And when one considers maybe-abandoned plans for BT3250, 100 year gap is another nice even number.)
Well, however things will work out, i do hope " it will at least still piss off some, elate others, and shock everyone" will happen.
-
O0
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I meant it as two gigaton.
To be fair, I was wondering about that as well, given the reported damage of the Fist of Kenyon, which seemed WAY low for 200 GT. Even the Tsar Bomba at a puny 56 MT was shattering windows 500 miles away from the blast.
-
I like the shock everyone side of it it's hopefully going to be a nice breath of fresh air
-
I think I am finally emotionally ready to loose some of my favorite factions, so bring on whatever will come with ilClan....well, except the ghost bears, I don't want to loose them...or the FedSuns... or the Raven alliance. Actually, you know what, I'm not emotionally ready AT ALL!
But bring it on anyway. I'll get over it!
-
Speaking of upcoming books, surprised no one has talked about the 2nd SW teaser that was posted on Tumblr
(http://68.media.tumblr.com/ec17e7f5f18395e0478c6c89f4d2f8ed/tumblr_inline_oo020edISM1s9c9hj_500.jpg)
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OMG. Star Lord is a movie of the week. It makes so much more sense now.
as done by The Asylum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asylum).
Better idea.
(http://splitsider.awlnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/mst3k.jpg)
No, no. Troma! Home of the wonderful Toxic Avenger and Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD!
;)
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Speaking of upcoming books, surprised no one has talked about the 2nd SW teaser that was posted on Tumblr
(http://68.media.tumblr.com/ec17e7f5f18395e0478c6c89f4d2f8ed/tumblr_inline_oo020edISM1s9c9hj_500.jpg)
Oh, what a beautiful piece!
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(http://68.media.tumblr.com/ec17e7f5f18395e0478c6c89f4d2f8ed/tumblr_inline_oo020edISM1s9c9hj_500.jpg)
PLOGDOOOORR!!
PLOGDOOOORR!!
[rockon]
-
Really captures that 1980s feel.
-
PLOGDOOOORR!!
PLOGDOOOORR!!
[rockon]
Burninating the countryside!
-
Looking good on 2SW, and I've got my fingers crossed on IlClan.
-
Nice preview on the 2ndSW book.
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Is that a mech sized parachute :D Awesome O0
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Is that a mech sized parachute :D Awesome O0
For some strange reason, I now have a picture in my mind of a mech using an Awesome as a parachute.
Now that would be awesome! [rockon]
-
For some strange reason, I now have a picture in my mind of a mech using an Awesome as a parachute.
Now that would be awesome! [rockon]
Why not just drop Awesomes like this:
(http://i.imgur.com/AOBP8Jkm.jpg)
-
For some strange reason, I now have a picture in my mind of a mech using an Awesome as a parachute.
Now that would be awesome! [rockon]
Tech: "You want a what?"
Warrior: "You know, like a regular 'chute... but with particle cannons."
-
Tech: "You want a what?"
Warrior: "You know, like a regular 'chute... but with particle cannons."
Tech: "Why?"
Warrior: "So I can strafe the battlefield with my Awesome."
-
Tech: "Why?"
Warrior: "So I can strafe the battlefield with my Awesome."
Why do you think that this Mech is named AWESOME ;)
-
Why do you think that this Mech is named AWESOME ;)
Marketing, of course.
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“Regarding artistry and landscapes, Mizar was not merely inhabitable, it was beautiful. Among the thousands of worlds settled by humanity, one of them had to be the most beautiful, and arguably Mizar is that world.”
Touring the Stars: Mizar
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Is that a mech sized parachute :D Awesome O0
They come in 'Stealth Insertion' models too.
-
“Regarding artistry and landscapes, Mizar was not merely inhabitable, it was beautiful. Among the thousands of worlds settled by humanity, one of them had to be the most beautiful, and arguably Mizar is that world.”
Touring the Stars: Mizar
Thanks! great map!
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Touring the Stars: Mizar
RE: The Map - has anyone printed these out and folded them together to make a polihedral globe? I would love to see that.
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You know . . . a lot of these maps I see end up being island-looking. How does the one for Terra compare?
-
You know . . . a lot of these maps I see end up being island-looking. How does the one for Terra compare?
Continental
-
RE: The Map - has anyone printed these out and folded them together to make a polihedral globe? I would love to see that.
Not for any of these maps, but back in the Day I did it for my own D&D world.
But now, I just have this to remember it by :(
(http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr283/Darlorian/KirethMhar.gif)
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That's a great drawing update for the maps.
-
OK, a quick check of Sarna shows no planetary map for Wernke and the write up isn't that long, both of which suggest that the world is a candidate for getting a Spotlight On, but would such a product include maps for just Wernke or would it also include Talon?
-
Talon/Wernke great until the Capellans nuke them... but you're right double wammy right there. Niops could be fun too...
-
Personally I think there should be more moon fights, it fleshs out the universe more and given that there's no atmosphere (Generally) it plays to the 'Mechs strengths.
-
Touring the Stars: Mizar snuck onto the shop
-
Just got it. Kind of reminds me of Risa from Star Trek. Also, for those asking if anyone has glued together a planet map I present to you Tharkad 8).
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I present to you Tharkad
Cool!! Well done.
Paul
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Talon/Wernke great until the Capellans nuke them... but you're right double wammy right there. Niops could be fun too...
A Touring the Stars: Niops would be #1 on my buy list.
-
A Touring the Stars: Addhara or Pompey is my Buy List :D
-
Nice another one out.
-
Touring the Star: Mizar is pretty interesting read with couple good entries into RPG / Event for mercenaries / players to get act on world.
I especially like how early years of the Terran Hegemony's re-conquest of old world of the Alliance was noted how Konrad McKenna ran into a road block at world of Syrma, which telegraphic issues effect things on Mizar. I wasn't expecting early event from Age of War coming up. Really interesting stuff! I wonder if this will lead to TtS : Syrma will be added to the growing list of suppliments!
-
For the number of TtS PDFs released it looks like it is a fairly popular line that will hopefully continue for a long time to come. There are thousands of worlds with little to no information still out there and while most might not be very interesting just adding to the lore of the universe is enough to keep my wallet empty. Same could be said of the Spotlight series, though we only have two of those so far but I have enjoyed both. Still waiting for Wilson's Hussars though ;D
-
Y'know, I could see once you reach near completion, a compilation of these by general faction, and maybe a tertiary one that shows contested worlds which have changed hands often.
-
Completion? What's completion? All 2000 or whatever systems?
-
Yes, that would be the case. :D
-
Yes, that would be the case. :D
What, you're going to ignore the deep periphery?
-
Well, when you throw in the Turning Points series on top of the Touring the Stars materials you've got about 30 planetary maps done and another 1,970 to go >:D. In another half a century we could have an entirely mapped out Inner Sphere :D
Although, we do have a surprising number of worlds that we have data on. I worked it out once but I believe we have almost 400 with stated populations and economic data from all the sourcebook material from over three decades of publications. You can pretty much pick a planet at random and have a 20% chance of finding a write up on it. I honestly can't think of any fictional universe that is fleshing itself out in this kind of detail.
On a side note I would a Touring the Stars for one of the Clan Homeworlds like Huntress or Strana Mechty.
P.S. Just to see how fleshed out things are I took a trip on Sarna to Terra from Lost and using Tharkad as the half way point. In the Nine jumps it took to get from Lost to Tharkad 3 of planets had full write ups with populations and histories, from Tharkad to Terra 6 of the 12 planets had Full Write Ups with one having a less detailed write up from a novel. I could tell you the atmospheric compisition, technological progress, and population of almost half the worlds between Lost and Terra. That is a crazy amount of detail for a universe with 2,000 planets :o.
-
Over on Sarna we have 3,220 entries in the Planets category.
Good luck with completing that guys >:D
-
Well, when you throw in the Turning Points series on top of the Touring the Stars materials you've got about 30 planetary maps done and another 1,970 to go >:D. In another half a century we could have an entirely mapped out Inner Sphere :D
Although, we do have a surprising number of worlds that we have data on. I worked it out once but I believe we have almost 400 with stated populations and economic data from all the sourcebook material from over three decades of publications. You can pretty much pick a planet at random and have a 20% chance of finding a write up on it. I honestly can't think of any fictional universe that is fleshing itself out in this kind of detail.
On a side note I would a Touring the Stars for one of the Clan Homeworlds like Huntress or Strana Mechty.
P.S. Just to see how fleshed out things are I took a trip on Sarna to Terra from Lost and using Tharkad as the half way point. In the Nine jumps it took to get from Lost to Tharkad 3 of planets had full write ups with populations and histories, from Tharkad to Terra 6 of the 12 planets had Full Write Ups with one having a less detailed write up from a novel. I could tell you the atmospheric compisition, technological progress, and population of almost half the worlds between Lost and Terra. That is a crazy amount of detail for a universe with 2,000 planets :o.
Historical Operation Klondike has short writeups and half-page maps of the 5 Pentagon Worlds (Arcadia, Babylon, Circe, Dagda, & Eden) and Strana Mechty. They're the same style as the ones in the turning points & touring the stars, but without as many locations on them and no hexes. If you can find The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, it has those same 6 worlds and adds Homer, Marshall, New Kent, and Tokasha to the mix.
-
Ironhold or we riot! ;D
-
Ironhold or we riot! ;D
Yeah, but it'll be a Quiet Riot.
-
Ironhold and we riot! ;D
Fixed it. :) I swear, you can tell who's been to an Ironhold New Year's, and who's just pretending...
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Fixed it. :) I swear, you can tell who's been to an Ironhold New Year's, and who's just pretending...
And then let us hope they take the party to Bearclaw!
Seriously, any world in Clan space would be a bonus :)
-
I'm reading TtS Mizar and I'm laughing my ass off at the name of the Western Alliance JumpShip that suffered the fatal misjump.
-
There are six Starter Box Mechs that have not been put out in lance packs. I was wondering if we'll ever see them in such formats?
One makes some sense: The Assassin is described as rare and falling into disuse in TRo '39.
But, the Hunchback? And the Enforcer is a Davion staple next to the JagerMech.
So, anything on that front?
-
Nope.
-
To both questions? Interesting.
Well, considering I don't necessarily want to have to go out and buy another starter box, I'll have to be very careful with which of the 5/6 teams it goes into.
-
All of those miniatures are available from Iron Wind Metals.
-
The FLGS I go to is having real problems getting BT stuff.
IWM won't reply to the store requesting a retail account, the distributors only list a fraction of the models made by IWM(and are out of stock on most of those), and the lance packs that have been relied upon to provide a reliable means of getting some models are dropping like flies - hard to find them in stock in the last few months.
We're trying to keep a Solaris 7 tournament going to draw in new people but when people order stuff, most of it is out of stock. I heard TW was even difficult to get. We're all excited for something from CGL, be it the streamlined manual to replace the relatively clunky TW book, or boxed sets to provide reliable access to models.
-
Tell your FLGS to keep trying with IWM for the retail account, it took me over 6 months to get it organised.
-
My flag has to order directly from IWM because the distributors are either not carrying them or aren't reliable enough. They do somehow get CGL products so it's not all bad.
-
Thanks for the feedback - kicked the info upstairs, so hopefully that'll help the IWM situation. Any thoughts on the best distributor for CGL stuff? Not being able to get the main rulebook is a pretty big problem when we're in the middle of dragging a bunch of new guys in
-
Any thoughts on the best distributor for CGL stuff?
PSI.
pubservinc.com (http://pubservinc.com)
-
While I think it may be a little early to start dropping teasers for The Second Succession War, I did post this in another thread here.
One of ComStar's mysteries will be answered in The Second Succession War. A mystery fans were first introduced to in the 1992 ComStar sourcebook.
Just what happened in that room on the evening of May 15, 2819?
-
So that's when we find out that Blake and Toyama were really just a bunch of squirrels in human suits? :D
-
Toyama=Blake. They did a brain transfer operation.
-
So that's when we find out that Blake and Toyama were really just a bunch of squirrels in human suits? :D
Close down Battletech, folks. We have our winner. ;D
-
So that's when we find out that Blake and Toyama were really just a bunch of squirrels in human suits? :D
Crab people....
-
I haven't purchased any of the touring the stars products because I don't know how I'd use them in my games of Battletech. What sort of information is in them besides planetary history/fluff?
-
2 or three story hooks that could be of use on planet normally a native creature and planetary map
-
While I think it may be a little early to start dropping teasers for The Second Succession War, I did post this in another thread here.
Which thread?
-
Which thread?
The Unresolved mysteries thread.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=26410.msg1315480#msg1315480
-
Which thread?
There are Five Hidden ...
-
There are Five Hidden ...
Three are known.
Two will be revealed...
-
Three are known.
Two will be revealed...
Well they still need to find the Opera House.
-
Well they still need to find the Opera House.
It was in Sydney before it was blown up.
-
The right line is... "There must be some kind of way out of here. There's to much confusion. I can't get no relief." It's not an opera house on Terra we're concerned with ><
Back on topic ><
Guess we'll have to wait for IlClan for Dark Age/ AoW mysteries/ :(
-
Well they still need to find the Opera House.
The one where Hector and Vector were performing?
-
Searching for Hera
-
What was the last news concerning TRO Golden Century? "No news"?
I ask because i've been doing research. The TRO's potential for Battle Armor is especially interesting, thanks to stuff in TRO3058 and battle armor tech dates listed in Interstellar Operations.
I calculated there's potential for at least 8 suits based on existing information, though this number is unlikely since about half would be likely mere prototypes.
Also wonder if there's any chance we'll get a Clan conventional fighter. Amusingly, there's nothing forbidding a Clan CF but we have never gotten any. MUL lists Specter Surveillance Plane as a Clan CF but that only appeared in Jade Phoenix trilogy (Kael Pershaw observed the battle on Tukayyid from one). I was thinking perhaps we'll get stats for that thing...
-
It was in Sydney before it was blown up.
it's actually in DownTown Vancouver! ;)
http://www.battlestarlocations.com/locations-guide/category/kobol
-
it's actually in DownTown Vancouver! ;)
A distinction it shares with a significant portion of television locations. :P
-
A distinction it shares with a significant portion of television locations. :P
Sooooooo many.
Riverdale being on of the most recent.
-
Canada is everywhere, and everywhere is Canada.
;)
-
... kinda like how everything taste like Chicken?
-
or chicken tastes like everything... [drool]
-
Vancouver fits in with just about every city ....except Detroit
-
Vancouver fits in with just about every city ....except Detroit
Vancouver might just be the least convincing actor in "Rumble in the Bronx", although I must admit that it really brings the majestic Catskill Mountains into focus for you. ;)
-
The one where Hector and Vector were performing?
Turning Points: Paradeen
As a decimated world, it would fit right in ...
Do we know if the Milestones are still intended to come out ahead of ilClan? Or is that to be determined?
-
... kinda like how everything taste like Chicken?
I tell my students that Tyrannosaurs tasted like chicken too; Birds and T-Rexes had a common ancestor.
-
Vancouver might just be the least convincing actor in "Rumble in the Bronx", although I must admit that it really brings the majestic Catskill Mountains into focus for you. ;)
Haha...Yeah, nothing like blowing up on a UBC Endowment Lands Golf Course in a Hovercraft with the North Shore Mountains in the Back Ground :P
-
Do we know if the Milestones are still intended to come out ahead of ilClan? Or is that to be determined?
To be determined. The simple truth there is that the developer on that project is the only person who's both busier and has been hit harder by life at the moment than I have. And with the limited time he can currently commit, he's been moving the Touring the Stars and Spotlight Ons forward, and then when he's finally able to commit more, he's also the developer on TRO: Golden Century. If Milestones (we may end up changing the title) were any other line, I would seek another dev to move it forward, but the nature of it means that there's only one other person I know who would be able to develop it, and I'm pretty sure he's far to busy to take it on.
-
See I wish CGL had an unlimited pot for developers because it sounds like you need more :( but I know that it costs and complicates things adding extra bodies as a result I'm ready to wait for what comes out next
-
it's actually in DownTown Vancouver! ;)
A distinction it shares with a significant portion of television locations. :P
While I was planning on adding a anime reference to the above, I was mistaken and it was Edmonton instead (http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmonton/2016/03/23/famous-anime-series-models-city-on-edmonton.html)...
-
See I wish CGL had an unlimited pot for developers because it sounds like you need more :( but I know that it costs and complicates things adding extra bodies as a result I'm ready to wait for what comes out next
Unlimited pot for developers? ;) Well, the product flow might slow down considerably, but the contents will be mighty interesting...
-
See I wish CGL had an unlimited pot for developers because it sounds like you need more :( but I know that it costs and complicates things adding extra bodies as a result I'm ready to wait for what comes out next
But I don't want to move to Colorado! >:/!
Craig
-
CGL is headquartered in Washington which allows a certain degree of use as well...
-
Doctor: What are your symptoms?
CGL Staff: we have to appease nerds
Doctor: *scribbles furiously on prescription pad*
-
Doctor: What are your symptoms?
CGL Staff: we have to appease nerds
No. Instead:
Doctor: Do I look like a ****** magician? Get the ****** out of here before I shoot to wound.
Paul
-
I tell my students that Tyrannosaurs tasted like chicken too; Birds and T-Rexes had a common ancestor.
Way ahead of you
http://img10.deviantart.net/0541/i/2014/331/c/1/happy_t_rex_day_by_steel_raven-d87tq7n.jpg
-
... kinda like how everything taste like Chicken?
and kinda like how MIL-SPEC/MIL-STDs never die . . . https://www.strategypage.com/humor/articles/20010613.asp (https://www.strategypage.com/humor/articles/20010613.asp)
-
I tell my students that Tyrannosaurs tasted like chicken too; Birds and T-Rexes had a common ancestor.
My daughter asked me what was it like with dinosaurs before mobile phones :(
-
Did you respond with:
Much harder to warn people of the approaching large chicken flavoured lizard-thingy - we had to resort to semaphore flags . . . >:D
(http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/flags/semaphore/semaphore.gif)
-
So if someone runs at me while waving flags, it's a dinosaur attack? ??? Well, good to know. And since I always carry two bandanas, I could warn others...
Meow Liao
-
My daughter asked me what was it like with dinosaurs before mobile phones :(
I found myself having to describe the 90s to someone. After thinking for a few minutes, I played an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for her.
-
Has there been any word on new Record Sheets for 3150?
-
it seems stand-alone record sheet PDFs have fallen near the absolute bottom of the priority list
-
Well no, providing Paul with any dignity is lower than record sheets.
-
yes, I was careful to allow some wiggle room for important contingencies such as that
-
Well no, providing Paul with any dignity is lower than record sheets.
My nega-dignity will not be mocked by the man who put ammo in the legs of a MASC Mech!
(OK, I have done the same, but never in canon, and now am much jelly)
Paul
-
Wait, Kit is responsible for that terrible Targe variant?
-
My nega-dignity will not be mocked by the man who put ammo in the legs of a MASC Mech!
(OK, I have done the same, but never in canon, and now am much jelly)
Paul
Your attempt was full of fail. That should have been a 33% chance across the board to blow up at least once, and you made me waste ammunition killing you instead. I feel like you owe me an apology. #P
(Paul put two tons of MG ammo in each leg of his Mech, feeding a single rear-facing HD-mounted MG), then put on MASC. The idea was to detonate the ammo and cause his reactor to explode in my face. My Akuma kind of just... stared at him. It was actually kind of funny in that it was a noble attempt that just didn't work. I believe this pre-dated the booby trap's inclusion in the game, which obviously would have been more efficient, if less funny. In fact, now that I think of it, Paul's greatest failure in this wasn't the failed rolls- it was not building this as a quad.)
-
Wait, Kit is responsible for that terrible Targe variant?
That one and the MRM one. I've used the 2N, people freak out about MASC usage waaaay too much.
-
The MML one is the terrible one! :P
I don't mind MASC failure chance, or UAC or HVAC failure chance but ammo on legs on MASC-equipped 'Mech is that line i won't cross.
Though i will admit your joke about them being one-shot jump jets is funny.
-
Your attempt was full of fail.
I feel like you owe me an apology. #P
I do! I'm sorry!
In fact, now that I think of it, Paul's greatest failure in this wasn't the failed rolls- it was not building this as a quad.)
...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF--
Paul
-
...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF--
Paul
"Now his failure is complete." -- Darth Hellbie
-
Would a SuperHeavy Quad explode with more force?
-
No idea but...
Arrow IVs ammo explodes like normal ammo. So what happens if that Arrow IV slot is a Davy Crockett?
I was thinking, Arrow IV, MASC, Davy Crocketts in legs...
EDIT Bah, addressed in Davy Crockett rules, no nuclear explosion.
-
My nega-dignity will not be mocked by the man who put ammo in the legs of a MASC Mech!
(OK, I have done the same, but never in canon, and now am much jelly)
Paul
Who would put ammo in the leg of a Mech, much less a MASC equipped one?
-
Who would put ammo in the leg of a Mech, much less a MASC equipped one?
Pual and Kit have both done it, Pual to make a walking bomb/suicide 'Mech and Kit did it one the Targe, which is a well known joke 'Mech.
-
Well if the MASC don't work, that rocket booster might! O0
-
here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
-
CTRL... ALT... DEL...
-
"To register a complaint, please press ZORCH now."
-
Message for you, sir.
-
Comstar going to have some words for the League.
None of the good.
-
It's eerie how closely this old Bloom County strip aligns with what the FWL high command must have been thinking between the righteous destruction of the HPG station and the moment the implications of the blackout sink in.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a0/64/42/a06442cde50cd631f8d91f5442d7ea8c.jpg)
-
here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
"Sir, we've opened a communications channel to the local Comstar center." "Really? How so?" "NL-55 laser modem, sir."
-
yeah cuz that 35 baud NL modem just wasn't fast enough.
-
Would that make the NPPCs the broadband option? ??? ;D
-
I'm sorry, your call could not be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again.
-
here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
$!
Fixed it for you. Dollar Bang fits much better with the future from the 1980s and all...
-
"Rocks fall, everyone dies."
-
Damn wet behind the ears Midshipman, that should have been "Comstar, say again all last transmission" not "Comstar, repeat last"
>:D
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here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
Looks like someone forgot to pay their phone bill...
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Ernestine: A gracious hello. Here at ComStar, we handle eighty-four billion calls a year. Serving everyone from presidents and kings to the scum of the earths. So, we realize that, every so often, you can't get an operator, or for no apparent reason your phone goes out of order, or perhaps you get charged for a call you didn't make. We don't care!
Watch this... [ she hits buttons maniacally ] We just lost Oriente.
You see, this phone system consists of a multibillion-dollar matrix of space age technology that is so sophisticated -- [ she hits buttons with her elbows ] even we can't handle it. But that's your problem, isn't it? So, the next time you complain about your phone service, why don't you try using two Dixie cups with a string? We don't care. We don't have to. We're ComStar.
Meow Liao
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Damn wet behind the ears Midshipman, that should have been "Comstar, say again all last transmission" not "Comstar, repeat last"
>:D
O0
"Roger, repeating!" "Wait, who are you...WHERE DID ALL THIS FIRE COME FROM?"
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Now that's how you tell your phone company that you're switching to another carrier...
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That was actually from a true story. If you'll pardon the digression:
When I was still at Ft. Lewis, we'd go out in the field, by platoon or the entire company, quite often. One weekend, my platoon sergeant decided it was time we learned how to cross minefields in our vehicles. So we set up some minefield markers beside a path through a copse of trees and practiced pulling up, IDing the field, pulling back, calling in artillery, crossing one at a time, setting up overwatch on either side, all that fun. It was going well until Private Can't-Get-Right misheard a radio transmission, picked up his mic, and transmitted - and this is absolutely verbatim - "Repeat that last?" Before anyone could respond, an unfamiliar voice broke in, "ROGER! REPEATING LAST! ALL GUNS, FIRE FOR EFFECT!"
It turns out that HQ's mortar sergeant had happened on our radio freq and was eavesdropping, just waiting for us to make a dumb mistake. To my SFC's credit (and displaying a dark sense of humor I had no idea he had), he followed the mortarman's transmission with a good several minutes of screaming while the other guys in his HMMWV mimicked explosions. Yes, he'd been the one in the middle of crossing the "minefield" when PVT Gomer misused the proword.
The post screw-up smoking was so epic that it led to my current quirk of never saying the word "repeat" on any transmission device, not even a telephone - and I wasn't even one of the guys doing corrective PT.
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I was not even in the same hemisphere, I have been out for over 12 years and I still say "say again" when talking to the wife and kids (just to give you an idea of how hard that lesson gets drummed in training ;D )
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(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
This is what happens when the interior decorator calls the wrong contractor to add holes in the roof for your new skylights.
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here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
Charles Marik: "Can you hear me now?"
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I was not even in the same hemisphere, I have been out for over 12 years and I still say "say again" when talking to the wife and kids (just to give you an idea of how hard that lesson gets drummed in training ;D )
Heck, I was never in the forces, and I always use "say again?" (being partially deaf makes this depressingly useful). That, and "Do I turn left" gets "Correct", not "Right!"
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Some nice artwork there.
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Due to a friend's auto accident when I was in high school, whenever I'm checking oncoming traffic for someone about to make a turn (i.e. "Is it clear?"), my response is "It is not clear" or "Negative" rather than "No" which sounds way too much like "Go". :P
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Yep, my first cricket coach taught us to use the calls "Yes" and "Wait" when batting because "No" could always be confused with "Go". I still use the calls "Yes" and "Wait-ting" to this day.
When I am co-pilot/systems operator for my wife (who loves to drive), we use "Clear left/right" or "Incoming left/right".
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I sometimes still catch myself saying "action right" instead of "turn right." ;D But that's probably getting more into Odious Personal Habit territory.
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I was in a artillery unit FDC . . . and yeah, we waited for the FNGs to use repeat. I do remember clear left/right since I drove the track rather than sitting in the dark in the back.
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Think we might get a Touring the Stars or Spotlight On this week?
My first thought was "Cinco de Mayo is next week. Maybe we can get Touring the Stars: Timbiqui?" Sorry...misspent college years talking there ;)
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here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
"Can you hear me now?"
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"Can you hear me now?"
Be a funny demotionational poster
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Be a funny demotionational poster
Yeah, I guess that explains why none of the various nations had much motion going on during the Third War... ;D
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Think we might get a Touring the Stars or Spotlight On this week?
While we have several Touring the Stars and Spotlight Ons nearly ready to go, I have to keep on Second Succession War non-stop.
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While we have several Touring the Stars and Spotlight Ons nearly ready to go, I have to keep on Second Succession War non-stop.
"Any moron with a pack of matches can set a fire. Raining down sulphur is like an endurance trial, man. Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity one can engage in, next to soccer."
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While we have several Touring the Stars and Spotlight Ons nearly ready to go, I have to keep on Second Succession War non-stop.
I cant wait! Thanks for the update, Adrian.
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And after that, get right to work on Ilclan. GenCon is less than 4 months away! ;)
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And after that, get right to work on Ilclan. GenCon is less than 4 months away! ;)
That assumes IlClan isn't already in the print queue. They'll not be telling us either way. Too many times, product for GenCon launch gets delayed that critical week or so (like Levs) ... I blame a jealous Palladium ;)
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Next thing I actually want is another Combat Manual >:D
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I hope the 2SW book comes out soon. Maybe IlClan will be out before Gencon.
I hope also for another Combat Manual.
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While we have several Touring the Stars and Spotlight Ons nearly ready to go, I have to keep on Second Succession War non-stop.
No worries! Will gladly purchase Second Succession War over a Touring the Stars or Spotlight On!!!
Just let me stock up on rad pills and hazard suits first ;)
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I hope the 2SW book comes out soon. Maybe IlClan will be out before Gencon.
I hope also for another Combat Manual.
ilclan before gencon will probably require the intervention of at least a dozen saints, both houses of congress, and the expressed written consent of major league baseball.
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No worries! Will gladly purchase Second Succession War over a Touring the Stars or Spotlight On!!!
Just let me stock up on rad pills and hazard suits first ;)
I'd actually take the opposite Spotlights and Touring are mostly new SSW is a historical
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I thought about holding my breath and stomping my feet until I got CM:Davion...but then I realized I would just end up passing out and wake up with sore feet.
Instead, I have composed a song inspired by 2SW...
*Clears throat vigorously*
Davy, DAAAAAvy Crockett! King of the newk-yuh-ler bombs!
Born in a heavy water facility in Tenn-uh-seee
Favorite weapon of Atomic Annie!
Hope they don't use 'em on our H P Geeeeee!
Davy, DAAAAAvy Crocket! King of the newk-yuh-ler bombs!
*fin*
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ilclan before gencon will probably require the intervention of at least a dozen saints, both houses of congress, and the expressed written consent of major league baseball.
Nah, it's not that bad.
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I thought about holding my breath and stomping my feet until I got CM:Davion...
I actually did that... the doctor says the Lisfranc fracture is healing and I've started to walk with crutches again :P
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Nah, it's not that bad.
so... four saints, the senate, and the Arizona Diamondbacks?
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Lessee, we'd need no more'n ten divine interventions:
Content:
Adrian of Nicomedia (arms dealers, butchers, guards, soldiers)
Barbara (artillerymen, military engineers and firemen, Italian marines, servicemen of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces)
Joan of Arc (Soldiers)
Joseph of Arimathea (funeral directors)
Philip (Special Forces)
Quentin (bombardiers)
Production:
Francis de Sales (writers/authors)
Augustine of Hippo (printers)
Christopher (bookbinders)
Marketing:
Bernardine of Siena (advertisers)
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"Any moron with a pack of matches can set a fire. Raining down sulphur is like an endurance trial, man. Mass genocide is the most exhausting activity one can engage in, next to soccer."
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I thought about holding my breath and stomping my feet until I got CM:Davion...but then I realized I would just end up passing out and wake up with sore feet.
Instead, I have composed a song inspired by 2SW...
*Clears throat vigorously*
Davy, DAAAAAvy Crockett! King of the newk-yuh-ler bombs!
Born in a heavy water facility in Tenn-uh-seee
Favorite weapon of Atomic Annie!
Hope they don't use 'em on our H P Geeeeee!
Davy, DAAAAAvy Crocket! King of the newk-yuh-ler bombs!
*fin*
Please cancel all forthcoming BattleTech books, bury the property, and shut down the forums. Sadlerbw has shamed us all.
;)
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(https://a5wavq.bn1302.livefilestore.com/y4m9HvIM48XJ2zi2M6dU2FRXJkeQfJahh5jkY8z6iA8drV0kthU_mwLHXK_q32GeBSc-MMbiHSMspO3cKqaTeDOuNL7ttzE8HbEX6PafaRXOAj52e2SuF8C7d5G6Hjoz6ib-1pKbaeCcVjp0Ly0k_maDlhe4-TOKog2UxZi3CS0T86n-Hau4oK72yJcK7jC3FJE5QhChZt6IGbLmKqgzVrLHw?width=224&height=400&cropmode=none)
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Not exactly helping there. ;D
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Any news?
(Not used to this thread being so quiet... :D )
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Yes, but we were all told not to let you in on the secret :crazy2:
The secret is there is no news.
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At least no one's running around screaming "DOOM, DOOM IS UPON US!"
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At least no one's running around screaming "DOOM, DOOM IS UPON US!"
Soon!
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At least no one's running around screaming "DOOM, DOOM IS UPON US!"
They were the first target of the orbital bombardment
here's some new Second Succession War art for your eyeballs
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/34045ec47f6cc064af97308b9e72d602/tumblr_inline_oornjyUww71s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/159828844266/second-succession-war-art
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At least no one's running around screaming "DOOM, DOOM IS UPON US!"
Rule #4, no politics j/k
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According to the one webpage I just looked at, the average shipping time from China to the US is between two weeks and a month, plus another 30 to fourty days or so total for customs on each side. I don't know what production lead times are, but if those numbers are reasonably close it looks like they only have about a month to finish up and get into production any major release for GenCon...so yeah, I'd say they are probably a bit busy at the moment on things that will be out in about three months :)
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They could air freight a pallet of copies over. It'd be expensive, but fast.
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They could air freight a pallet of copies over. It'd be expensive, but fast.
Very true, but why plan to spend money on last-minute if you can avoid it? Anyway, I think Ray basically said everyone is hip-deep in bigger projects and trying to stay focused on them (he on 2SW) so the little releases are on hold at the moment. It's probably just the normal pre-con doldrums.
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I'm guessing print products this year will be 2SW, BMM, ILCLAN, and (hopefully) CM: Davion sneaks in for christmas
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Should they get all those made for this year, it will be one amazing year for sure.
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My own personal expectation is to see 2SW and BMM as physical products at GenCon. They might come out sooner, but I don't expect them to be any later than that. I do NOT expect to see ilClan by GenCon. It could happen, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure what is happening with poor CM: Davion, but it's pretty clear that priorities changed, as they often do, since GenCon last year. Given that publishing seems to be a lot like a real-life version of Agricola (it's a resource management game...and you never have enough resources!), I'm pretty sure 2SW swiped all the Clay before CM:Davion got to go, and now it can't build its fireplace. It went from being on-track for a 50-point farm to eating all the livestock just to keep the kids fed. Stupid Agricola. Damn game is too frustrating for its own good!
...wait, what were we talking about again?
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I don't actually expect to see any new books at GenCon. It just seems like too tight a deadline, but then I don't know the progress is behind the scenes.
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No. no no no no.
sadlerbw, that's actually backwards, and is usually the case. If you see a product back-burnered in favor of another one, it's not because the latter one is using too many resources, it's because there's an issue with the former so resources have to be moved to a different product so that resources aren't wasted.
I had to hear this for years with Interstellar Operations, and it was never the case.
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I understand. The might of the Federated Suns was too much and crushed the poor developer working on it with it's inherent rightness and majesty. I guess it should have been expected. I too wept tears of joy when I saw that cover image...well, I wept on the inside at least.
I still hate Agricola though.
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I too wept tears of joy when I saw that cover image...well, I wept on the inside at least.
I wept outwardly. Posted on facebook about it.
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Given that publishing seems to be a lot like a real-life version of Agricola (it's a resource management game...and you never have enough resources!), I'm pretty sure 2SW swiped all the Clay before CM:Davion got to go, and now it can't build its fireplace. It went from being on-track for a 50-point farm to eating all the livestock just to keep the kids fed. Stupid Agricola. Damn game is too frustrating for its own good!
Such a good game. Agricola, Alhambra, Catan, Carcassonne... so much goodness!
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I too wept tears of joy when I saw that cover image...well, I wept on the inside at least.
Which cover image?
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Which cover image?
(http://csha.roosterville.net/IMG_1583.JPG)
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the only anger i feel is that i didn't think of this first
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snip
Adam, try again. ;D
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the only anger i feel is that i didn't think of this first
Right? *punches a wall* Damn you, Roosterboy! ;D
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Adam, try again. ;D
Yes, I'm not sure crying on the inside (only) would have been an option in that case... :o
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Oooh, Dinky Red Thong. And here I thought it was either Freeborth or Twilight Of The Clans: Breaking Dawn...
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Hey its the creepy guy from Dune! Wait... hmm.. So he skipped the sandworms to hang out with giant stompy robots?!?!
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Adam, try again. ;D
It's been improved on.
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At least the art looks good, just not something you want to see....wish artist hadn't done the climax of the story as front cover....
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Well, yeah, it is Boris Vallejo. Painting hyper-muscular people is sort of his thing.
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Well, yeah, it is Boris Vallejo. Painting hyper-muscular people (wearing very little) is sort of his thing.
Accurized. Still, I gotta say I'm impressed at FASA getting him for that cover; he's certainly darn good at what he does and is quite famous among the fantasy crowd.
Now I just have to wonder who will win the Trial of Possession for Bondsman Bella, will it be the Mechwarrior Star Commander Edward, or Elemental Star Commander Jacob?
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Boris did a number of B-tech covers, DRT just seems to have allot of fans on this forum.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Category:Works_by_Boris_Vallejo.
Personal really like the cover for Ideal War though it obviously meant to be a cover for a GDL book. I like to know the story behind that one.
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So where do we stand with the Second Succession War book? The finish line is probably in sight, but was wondering how close we were as I am freshly stocked up on rad pills :)
I was at first hesitant, but I wouldn't mind seeing a Third Succession War book (it would probably be two or three honestly!) sometime in the future. We know the later years quite well, but the early years could use some more fleshing out.
Either way...just trying to be patient for IlClan! So want that book.
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In regard to a 3rd SSW book I think we might be best served by a couple of era reports, say;
*ER: 2875, as an over view as the start of the war and it's opening moves.
*ER: 2850, as roughly a mid way point in the war.
*ER: 3015, as to flesh out the later war but with scope to not spend to much time following the Dragoons and Kell Hounds around and actually look at what else is going on.
plus a couple of turning points books for the events like Operation Killing Stroke, The Great Lee Turkey Shoot and the Battle of Halstead Station.
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I'm with Dmon. The 3rd War was primarily raiding and while there were some large-scale battles, we do already have a lot of that detailed in prior publications. I'd certainly still buy a 3rd War book, but I don't feel it's deserved.
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I'm with Dmon. The 3rd War was primarily raiding and while there were some large-scale battles, we do already have a lot of that detailed in prior publications. I'd certainly still buy a 3rd War book, but I don't feel it's deserved.
I always thought the 3rd War was just a bunch of minor skirmishes that never really ended.
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I always thought the 3rd War was just a bunch of minor skirmishes that never really ended.
While mostly accurate, there were some major battles/campaigns that could be covered. The Davions retaking Robinson from the Combine, the Combine assault on Skye, the Marik "Operation Killing Stroke" aka campaign to take worlds from the Lyrans, The Great Lee Turkey Shoot (Davion vs Liao), the Lyran Deep Raid of 2987 on Marik, etc, etc, etc
These campaigns were much smaller, aiming at a few or only one world, or just one engagement but some went on for years as more units were fed into them. Would be nice to have them all in one place to review with a tad more detail :)
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I don't think some people will rest easy until something from the Third Succession War is published.
Raiding wars were literately the time frame of the original game setting of BattleTech. The playground for many of the older players who don't want try out the rest of the timeline (in some cases).
Don't get me wrong, I love BattleTech and all it's eras. Part of the charm of a living universe, is it keeps going and evolving with tweaks done as it changes while staying true what makes it great. Future history that fun read and play in. I want IlClan and what comes next badly, move on with our universe's story.
However, if the game to survive to some degree, it has to try get money where it can. If 3rd Succession War source book helps players along or Era Digests (name that year) then so be it.
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I always thought the 3rd War was just a bunch of minor skirmishes that never really ended.
While mostly accurate, there were some major battles/campaigns that could be covered. The Davions retaking Robinson from the Combine, the Combine assault on Skye, the Marik "Operation Killing Stroke" aka campaign to take worlds from the Lyrans, The Great Lee Turkey Shoot (Davion vs Liao), the Lyran Deep Raid of 2987 on Marik, etc, etc, etc
These campaigns were much smaller, aiming at a few or only one world, or just one engagement but some went on for years as more units were fed into them. Would be nice to have them all in one place to review with a tad more detail :)
Of course one of the first BattleTech sourcebooks ever was the Galtor Campaign, which (by the story) unexpectedly went from being a minor raid to a major planetary campaign. See also the Battle of Alexandria: raiders call for backup... defenders call for backup once the raiders get backup... raiders call for MORE backup, defenders call for MORE backup, and what was an Objective Raid blossoms into a major campaign that neither side planned for.
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While mostly accurate, there were some major battles/campaigns that could be covered. The Davions retaking Robinson from the Combine, the Combine assault on Skye, the Marik "Operation Killing Stroke" aka campaign to take worlds from the Lyrans, The Great Lee Turkey Shoot (Davion vs Liao), the Lyran Deep Raid of 2987 on Marik, etc, etc, etc
These campaigns were much smaller, aiming at a few or only one world, or just one engagement but some went on for years as more units were fed into them. Would be nice to have them all in one place to review with a tad more detail :)
Personally I'd rather not rehash the 3rd SW again. I understand opposing viewpoints, but if I wanted a universe that stayed the same I'd play a different game.
If TPTB do decide to rehash some of the older conflicts mentioned by CV above, I'd prefer to see them as Turning Points. I think there's a lot of room for that.
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Most of 3rd SW feels pretty unmapped. BT has concentrated on 31st part of the war really.
EDIT At least, outside faction books. And those tell only their parts.
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Rehash? Aside from the occasional scenario book focusing on single campaigns like Galtor(which is almost thirty years old at this point), when did we get a book covering the Third War? ???
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We could be talking about ilClan and all the fun the future of the franchise offers, and you are bothered with 3rd Succession Wars
Let the past be past
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Rehash? Aside from the occasional scenario book focusing on single campaigns like Galtor(which is almost thirty years old at this point), when did we get a book covering the Third War? ???
Granted we never got a book for 3rd SW, but all the scenario books and everything prior to Fourth SW atlases, as well as many of the video games, have covered the era pretty well IMHO.
I just don't want to lose steam moving forward past the dark age by looking backward at an era that is (again IMHO) covered pretty well. This is particularly true now that CGL doesn't have Herb and Ben. For the past few years we could relax* knowing that if Ben was covering the Clan Homeworlds for example, Herb was moving the other products along with assists from Randall, Adrian Gideon, etc. And as Herb focused on Jihad products, Ben was there to direct other efforts. Now that Herb and Ben are gone, we have Randall & Adrian who are good at what they do, but are still two bodies short. That can make a difference (I hope it won't).
Does that make sense?
*Not that we did.
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We could be talking about ilClan and all the fun the future of the franchise offers, and you are bothered with 3rd Succession Wars
Let the past be past
Some of us would rather the past be the future. Or, perhaps to split hairs, that the future be more like the past. In the opinions of some, that'd make BattleTech more fun than it currently is. Hell, the Dark Age is the first era I've liked since the Succession Wars precisely because it is so much like the Succession Wars all over again. (There's a quip based on political slogans about "being great again" that's begging to be made, but you know the mods would just get grouchy about it)
And some of the fanbase has nostalgia for where BattleTech began. Despite being the baseline, it's now an era that's lay fallow for longer than many current fans have even been alive. I'd agree that there's certainly room to rehash some old territory for new audiences, and absolutely agree that beyond that the 3rd SW is territory that's simply underexplored.
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You guys aren't really trying to steer this into another 'past era vs. current era' debate, are you?
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Hell no. I want get going to the future. We just have nothing to go with as far future products to talk about. :-\
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You guys aren't really trying to steer this into another 'past era vs. current era' debate, are you?
I miss the 80s. Arthur and Cleveland made it a great decade....
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I miss the 80s. Arthur and Cleveland made it a great decade....
Who could forget the Interstate Commerce Commission, after all?
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All this talk about the 3rd War...I wish I could find the original post...
But back when TPTB first announced the Succession War Historicals, they said that they were considering doing a PDF-only Era Digest for the 3rd War. (Like they did for the Age of War and Golden Century.) I seriously doubt that they would devote anything more than that to it.
So...@Adrian_Gideon: is that product still on the roadmap (for sometime in the future), or has it been indefinitely shelved?
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AG's under the pump to complete 2SW ... at this point, "next week" is probably functionally equivelant to "after the millenium" ;) But from what little I know, it seems a reasonable approach, assuming adequate return on 2SW.
I mean, I'm still waiting on XTRO: Ice Hellions* ... but not holding my breath :'(
W.
(Whaddya mean, no-one wants XTRO: Ice Hellions? All three of us Hellion fans will buy a copy, for sure!)
* Not an official product announcement.
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AG's under the pump to complete 2SW ... at this point, "next week" is probably functionally equivelant to "after the millenium" ;) But from what little I know, it seems a reasonable approach, assuming adequate return on 2SW.
I mean, I'm still waiting on XTRO: Ice Hellions* ... but not holding my breath :'(
W.
(Whaddya mean, no-one wants XTRO: Ice Hellions? All three of us Hellion fans will buy a copy, for sure!)
* Not an official product announcement.
Wait...there are now THREE of you? :o :o :o
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Wait...there are now THREE of you? :o :o :o
The Hellions are HILARIOUS.
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Wait...there are now THREE of you? :o :o :o
When a Daddy Hellion-fanboy loves a Mummy Hellion-fangirl very much then a new Hellion-fanbaby is created ^-^
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The Hellions are HILARIOUS.
and I'd buy that because of that reason: plus it would be fun to see how badly they've messed up over their years and their tantrums.
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XTRO: Home Clans be nice fit in the line up. Seeing mix hightech wonders and madmax style combat vehicle of displaced Clansman would be cool
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Hey, count me down for Clan (9) From Outer Space!
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You guys aren't really trying to steer this into another 'past era vs. current era' debate, are you?
Nope.
TRO: Golden Century and TRO: IrregularTech are the ones I'm really excited about. Plus ilClan but I guess I'm not supposed to use that name now?
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When a Daddy Hellion-fanboy loves a Mummy Hellion-fangirl very much then a new Hellion-fanbaby is created ^-^
Oh so THATS how it works...
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AG's under the pump to complete 2SW ... at this point, "next week" is probably functionally equivelant to "after the millenium" ;) But from what little I know, it seems a reasonable approach, assuming adequate return on 2SW.
I mean, I'm still waiting on XTRO: Ice Hellions* ... but not holding my breath :'(
W.
(Whaddya mean, no-one wants XTRO: Ice Hellions? All three of us Hellion fans will buy a copy, for sure!)
* Not an official product announcement.
You joke, but it makes for an interesting thought exercise. Might have to give that a shot at lunch or later tonight.
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Whoa! Seems I started a small brush fire unintentionally.
For the record, I want the IlClan book, an update on the Home World Clans and a jump to 3250 or whatever way before any 3rd Succession War product. Also, give me a Historical on the Adder and Blood Spirit war or Operation Guerrero or the Davion Civil War or the St. Ives vs CapCon war before you start a 3rd Succession War book.
I was merely commenting that while I was against the idea originally, after seeing the Reunification War, Field Manual: SLDF, Liberation of Terra I and II, First Succession War, Operation Klondike, the upcoming Second Succession War, and the Fourth Succession War Atlas parts I and II books on my shelf with my mind....perhaps the 3rd Succession War book wasn't a completely terrible idea.
But, its a very, very, very low priority in my view.
Please return to your normal bantering :)
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XTRO: Ice Hellion. Nothing moves slower than 5/8 (and even then has MASC), and the book ships with a free sampler pack of caffeine pills and methamphetamines (limit one per customer).
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I would like to see a IlClan book. If its wrote like the Wars of Reaving book, I can wait a couple months.....Gencon.....for a awesome book to come out.
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XTRO: Ice Hellion. Nothing moves slower than 5/8 (and even then has MASC), and the book ships with a free sampler pack of caffeine pills and methamphetamines (limit one per customer).
*imagines the fan response* Common, common, common! Release the next Hellion XTRO! I need my fix:D
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XTRO: Ice Hellion. Nothing moves slower than 5/8 (and even then has MASC), and the book ships with a free sampler pack of caffeine pills and methamphetamines (limit one per customer).
XTROs in print form confirmed! :D
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Rehash? Aside from the occasional scenario book focusing on single campaigns like Galtor(which is almost thirty years old at this point), when did we get a book covering the Third War? ???
I agree that the 30th century is largely uncovered, except for oblique references, and short timeline entries, but I feel my inner grognard well served with all the cool products covering the Age of War, Star League and early Succession Wars periods. (I can't wait for the 2nd SW book!!)
I'd love to see more, including 3rdSW coverage, but I also think we are due for some fresh future history in the timeline. Bring on the next story line, I say! (Then go back, and fill in more of the old bits for me. :D )
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XTRO: Ice Hellion. Nothing moves slower than 5/8 (and even then has MASC), and the book ships with a free sampler pack of caffeine pills and methamphetamines (limit one per customer).
Nah. To save money, CGL just hires an actor to hang out at their convention booths. When asked, he screams as loud as he can, and then throws an ice cube at your head.
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Nah. To save money, CGL just hires an actor to hang out at their convention booths. When asked, he screams as loud as he can, and then throws an ice cube at your head.
(http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/7/7c/Mr-freeze-evil-plan.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120430121640)
"Best Asa Taney cosplay EVER"
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I feel like the anthem of clan Ice Hellion should be the Benny Hill music. It just feels right.
Oh, and Hellbie, I've tried long and hard to repress all the memories of that god-awful movie, and you just HAD to bring it all back didn't you! I enjoy terrible SciFi movies...hell, I own RobotJox on Bucaroo Banzai for crying out loud, but even I have my limits. Please, for the children, let us NEVER speak of it again!
Now that I've got that off my chest, I'd honestly be kinda 'meh' about a 3SW book, mostly for two reasons: One, I don't need RAT's for that era. I already know what units pretty much everyone is using. Two, not much really changes. A couple worlds pop across borders, but really nothing much changes. Everyone just sort of pokes at each other from time to time without much result. Most of the other eras involved something happening. 3SW was marked mostly by the LACK of any big, sphere-altering changes. If 2SW sells well, it might still happen, but I'm just not sure what I would be all that excited to learn or read about in that book.
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With the new HBS Game, there is a potential to flesh out the 3SW setting and cross-promotion. An Era Digest like they did with Age of War and Golden Century would be fine.
The HBS Game introduced a new faction(The Aurigan Coalition), and I would welcome a RAT for them(and some AToW LifePaths).
I do think this should come AFTER IlClan and everything else announced, if it comes at all(and then maybe only as a PDF exclusive).
Battletech has never been about new versus old, since its the same Timeline.There is plenty of room to tell these stories and revisit previous eras.
The issue is, and always has been, who is available for these projects.
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With the new HBS Game, there is a potential to flesh out the 3SW setting and cross-promotion. An Era Digest like they did with Age of War and Golden Century would be fine.
The HBS Game introduced a new faction(The Aurigan Coalition), and I would welcome a RAT for them(and some AToW LifePaths).
In all honesty this seems like a bit of a marketing no brainer considering how big the response to the game has been.
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An XTRO: Wars of Reaving.
There had to be some new designs among the Homeclans. Let it be a small number of state-of-the-art due new researched technologies and / or new had-to-be-rapidly-developed-low-state-of-theart designs due to cut logistic and production lines.
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An XTRO: Wars of Reaving.
There had to be some new designs among the Homeclans. Let it be a small number of state-of-the-art due new researched technologies and / or new had-to-be-rapidly-developed-low-state-of-theart designs due to cut logistic and production lines.
I like that idea. A TRO:Could of Been would be neat. Ideas and designs that just didn't make it.
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I like that idea. A TRO:Could of Been would be neat. Ideas and designs that just didn't make it.
It already exists (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/110086/BattleTech-Experimental-Technical-Readout-Boondoggles?term=boondoggle&test_epoch=0)!
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So...@Adrian_Gideon: is that product still on the roadmap (for sometime in the future), or has it been indefinitely shelved?
It's very early in development, that is kicking around ideas with authors that are rearing to go. That said, whatever we see for the Third Succession War, we won't see ERs, FMs, or a historical on the entire war. It just doesn't fit any of those molds. That said, the Third War is a fantastic mix of wide open with interesting tidbits that could be explored. But, too early to talk about even the possibility of products. Just saying that the possibility is there and being explored.
That said:
With the new HBS Game, there is a potential to flesh out the 3SW setting and cross-promotion.
In all honesty this seems like a bit of a marketing no brainer considering how big the response to the game has been.
It's not 1990--the crossover potential is there, but I think many people massively overestimate what the depth of that potential is (and to some extent, the ability to capitalize on it). Between video games, novels, tabletop, minis...not to mention that it's not all under one umbrella. That's all I say on the subject.
And now, back to the Second War I go!
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With added WMD! Get your planets cleaner than clean with new neo-phosphoro-tabun lite - all the casualties, half the calories!
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There goes my home insurance. Doesn't cover thermo nuclear weapons damages or fall out. Man..
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It's very early in development, that is kicking around ideas with authors that are rearing to go. That said, whatever we see for the Third Succession War, we won't see ERs, FMs, or a historical on the entire war. It just doesn't fit any of those molds. That said, the Third War is a fantastic mix of wide open with interesting tidbits that could be explored. But, too early to talk about even the possibility of products. Just saying that the possibility is there and being explored.
That said:
It's not 1990--the crossover potential is there, but I think many people massively overestimate what the depth of that potential is (and to some extent, the ability to capitalize on it). Between video games, novels, tabletop, minis...not to mention that it's not all under one umbrella. That's all I say on the subject.
And now, back to the Second War I go!
The Jihad books would make a nice model for 3dSW, all those in-character reports, conflicting sources, and plot hooks.
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I'd be happy with a short Era Digest and a few Turning Points for any of few major battles...
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An XTRO: Wars of Reaving.
There had to be some new designs among the Homeclans. Let it be a small number of state-of-the-art due new researched technologies and / or new had-to-be-rapidly-developed-low-state-of-theart designs due to cut logistic and production lines.
I'd have said the Reaving Supplemental was a closest you'll get to a match to it
I'm pretty sure Aiden said there will be nothing from the Homeworlds for a while
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I'd have said the Reaving Supplemental was a closest you'll get to a match to it
IMHO not really. We got some new configs for existing designs and a few Society designs, but no true new tech from the Warrior`caste side. This is something I would like to see in future.
I'm pretty sure Aiden said there will be nothing from the Homeworlds for a while
If I correctly remember he said, that there are no news Post WoR for some time. An XTRO: WoR would not meet this regulation.
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At least no one's running around screaming "DOOM, DOOM IS UPON US!"
Awww, man. Now someone's gonna start it up again.
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IMHO not really. We got some new configs for existing designs and a few Society designs, but no true new tech from the Warrior`caste side. This is something I would like to see in future.
Ah, the scientific advancements of the Warrior caste. Fun stuff. We can include it in XTRO Boondoggles II.
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XTRO: Ice Hellion. Nothing moves slower than 5/8 (and even then has MASC), and the book ships with a free sampler pack of caffeine pills and methamphetamines (limit one per customer).
And it's delivered by Amazon Drone. A JET drone.
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And it's delivered by Amazon Drone. A JET drone.
An ARMED JET drone that either delivers your product or punishes delinquent payments
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... or punishes delinquent payments
Isn't that the Capellan Bullet Drone?
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Ah, the scientific advancements of the Warrior caste. Fun stuff. We can include it in XTRO Boondoggles II.
:D
I meant new designs done by scientists and technican loyal to the Warrior caste ....
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Well new designs put out by the Clans in response to the society uprising makes sense, the problem is that the Clans have already gotten new designs in the post-3067 era, so any new designs they developed to fight the Society we should have already seen.
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They didn't have any other 'special tech', otherwise it would have been in the Wars of Reaving and the supplement.
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Ah, the scientific advancements of the Warrior caste. Fun stuff. We can include it in XTRO Boondoggles II.
Still acceptable!!
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I meant new designs done by scientists and technican loyal to the Warrior caste ....
None.
Paul
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It's very early in development, that is kicking around ideas with authors that are rearing to go. That said, whatever we see for the Third Succession War, we won't see ERs, FMs, or a historical on the entire war. It just doesn't fit any of those molds. That said, the Third War is a fantastic mix of wide open with interesting tidbits that could be explored. But, too early to talk about even the possibility of products. Just saying that the possibility is there and being explored.
I think a 3SW would be nice. While a lot has been written about since the game started there has also been A LOT of new material, retcons, etc. over the 3SW period. Much of which is jumbled over a dozen books. Getting a clean updated look at the 3SW to go with what we have for the 1st and 2nd would make things a lot better.
Follow on that with a cleaned up 4th SW series (based on the older Atlas etc) and the only new material being an update for use with AS, BF2, ACS, and ISW. We have most of the material already for 3SW and a cleaned up 4SW so it should be enough to keep development costs down, especially for a 4SW product.
Yes I know the 4SW was covered in deep detail, but as you tweak the histories sometimes you just have to drag something back into the light and polish it up a little. As is I doubt the old PDFs for the Atlas and other 4SW books can even be searched unlike the modern PDFs released now.
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Yes I know the 4SW was covered in deep detail, but as you tweak the histories sometimes you just have to drag something back into the light and polish it up a little. As is I doubt the old PDFs for the Atlas and other 4SW books can even be searched unlike the modern PDFs released now.
The second volume definitely can be, because that's what I was doing this morning.
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And now, back to the Second War I go!
Indeed. Bring us the glow in the dark, stompy robot goodness of the Second War!
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None.
Paul
What do you mean with "None"? That nobody of the Technican and Scientist caste were loyal during the years of the WoR?
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What do you mean with "None"? That nobody of the Technican and Scientist caste were loyal during the years of the WoR?
What he means is that of the loyal non-warrior castes, None of them created any new designs, weapons, variants, etc. that weren't seen in WoR or in any other published product.
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I think a 3SW would be nice. While a lot has been written about since the game started there has also been A LOT of new material, retcons, etc. over the 3SW period. Much of which is jumbled over a dozen books. Getting a clean updated look at the 3SW to go with what we have for the 1st and 2nd would make things a lot better.
Follow on that with a cleaned up 4th SW series (based on the older Atlas etc) and the only new material being an update for use with AS, BF2, ACS, and ISW. We have most of the material already for 3SW and a cleaned up 4SW so it should be enough to keep development costs down, especially for a 4SW product.
Yes I know the 4SW was covered in deep detail, but as you tweak the histories sometimes you just have to drag something back into the light and polish it up a little. As is I doubt the old PDFs for the Atlas and other 4SW books can even be searched unlike the modern PDFs released now.
One thing I think that would be MUCH easier than releasing new books that refer to old content, is to just release edited versions of the old Sourcebooks(no reason to reinvent the wheel).
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What he means is that of the loyal non-warrior castes, None of them created any new designs, weapons, variants, etc. that weren't seen in WoR or in any other published product.
Exactly.
There were Warrior-Caste-loyal scientists, and not an irrelevant amount of them. Many were purged by the Warriors anyway, but even if they hadn't, they still wouldn't have been much help with coming up with new Tech. The Warriors had been morphing the Scientist Caste in to a geneticist Caste for more than a century at that point. And unlike the movies and most RPGs, "science" isn't a catchall skill that makes you good at *everything*. Biochemists aren't going to know anything about material science, energy or weaponry. They may be able to absorb existing materials, but that's a far cry from being able to innovate. That might be in reach for a handful of cutting-edge individuals, who are rare.
And must be found within the relatively small pool that is the Scientist Caste. A Caste which includes numerous individuals who are barely better than lab assistants and school teachers. Not fertile ground to find the creator of the next ER-Pulse-PPC-ATM.
Now, given enough time, perhaps something would've surfaced, but the WOR was relatively brief. And the Society portion of it was less still.
Paul
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What do you mean with "None"? That nobody of the Technican and Scientist caste were loyal during the years of the WoR?
You're forgetting TRO 3067 and 3075, and everything new that turned up there. Remember when the Reavings take place.
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Can I just say that I hope they don't do a 3rd SW book?
Think about it: the 3rd war was the original setting of the game and left open for players to explore. Some HTP products or similar would be great and more than welcome for pivotal, big battles that have been referenced in the fiction previously. Otherwise, I want it to stay open as much as possible.
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You can always ignore released material for your own games. Me, i'd prefer to have some data i can build upon.
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Can I just say that I hope they don't do a 3rd SW book?
Think about it: the 3rd war was the original setting of the game and left open for players to explore. Some HTP products or similar would be great and more than welcome for pivotal, big battles that have been referenced in the fiction previously. Otherwise, I want it to stay open as much as possible.
I've never gotten the argument that the various sourcebooks hem in players. I've always seen it as the more that is published for a given era, the more robust the framework the players can build off of. But that's just 2¢...
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I'll join "pro-3d-SW-prducts" camp. It's easier to build on a more fleshed-out era. And the main milestones are already known. And even a full historical on the 3d SW will leave a lot of space for improvisation, due to sheer length of the war.
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I look at it this way. "Battletech has a history. Tell it. We'll fill in the details with dice."
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I look at it this way. "Battletech has a history. Tell it. We'll fill in the details with dice."
O0 O0 O0
Best answer given so far.
Either stick with canon or use the books to make your own story. There is no way that new material could or should keep you from doing whatever you want unless you have an oak tree stuck up your rump.
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Eh, agree to disagree. I prefer the 3rd SW to be the sandbox that it has been. We already know that it was a long, low-intensity war. It ranges from 2866 to 3025. The Successor states couldn't even keep up a sustained, organized campaign without severe financial hardship. Even by the time of the 4th war, Operation Rat almost bankrupted the FedSuns. The whole nature of the 3rd war was small raiding actions, a seesawing of borders, a select number of short & grander actions, and a continuing degradation of technology.
I don't see the point or utility of resources being given to such a book. Even more so when some of the larger events such as the Anton Marik Civil War and Great Lee Turkey Shoot have already been described elsewhere. If given a choice between advancing the metaplot or another historical book, I choose the former.
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Instead of talking about products that don't exist, why don't we focus on what's coming up? 2nd SW and ilClan will be released soon. The only problem is that we don't know how soon is soon
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Instead of talking about products that don't exist, why don't we focus on what's coming up? 2nd SW and ilClan will be released soon. The only problem is that we don't know how soon is soon
And that's the whole discussion.
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Instead of talking about products that don't exist, why don't we focus on what's coming up? 2nd SW and ilClan will be released soon. The only problem is that we don't know how soon is soon
As Tai Dai, said, that's basically the extent of what we can talk about.
I mean, what is the point? What more can we talk about that we haven't in 25 pages? We have not had anything from ilClan in terms of preview material. 2nd SW has given us some art. If 2nd SW book can maintain the quality of the 1st SW, I'll be very happy... that's about all I can say.
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What they HAVEN'T told you is that they've actually COMBINED ilClan and 2nd Succession War. See, the Adder Collective was going to invade the Inner Sphere, but a Jumpship accident occurs, and then branching timelines, and thus we see-
*JKLantern gets thrown out of the thread.*
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Exactly.
There were Warrior-Caste-loyal scientists, and not an irrelevant amount of them. Many were purged by the Warriors anyway, but even if they hadn't, they still wouldn't have been much help with coming up with new Tech. The Warriors had been morphing the Scientist Caste in to a geneticist Caste for more than a century at that point. And unlike the movies and most RPGs, "science" isn't a catchall skill that makes you good at *everything*. Biochemists aren't going to know anything about material science, energy or weaponry. They may be able to absorb existing materials, but that's a far cry from being able to innovate. That might be in reach for a handful of cutting-edge individuals, who are rare.
And must be found within the relatively small pool that is the Scientist Caste. A Caste which includes numerous individuals who are barely better than lab assistants and school teachers. Not fertile ground to find the creator of the next ER-Pulse-PPC-ATM.
Now, given enough time, perhaps something would've surfaced, but the WOR was relatively brief. And the Society portion of it was less still.
Paul
Well I understand and I know the Homeclans are on a very low priority.
However, let me explain my reasons why I think that there could/should have been some new designs constructed in the WoR.
First, due new weapon tech, you are correct that you wrote about, however, there was somewhat of a new rush of development of new technologies before the WoR, but suddenly it ended. There could have been some more technologies and/nor new designs in development for some years, that is very likely that some of these would get workable, this is my educated guess.
Secondly the disruption of logistic and production chains.
Many planets were lost with their production facilities, so many of the used designs were lost or losses among could not be replaced or even repaired.
For example Clan X can not produce heavy Mechs anymore. Declaring a ToP against another Clan does not work because the forces are too weak. However they do have facilities and resources left. But no construction plans.
IMHO it would be reasonable and less expensive to construct a new design rather than trying to retro-construct an known. They do not have high-tech resources as to XL engines, Endo-Steel composite structure or ferro-fibrous armour but a steady production of material to construct a 70t Omnimech (3/5/0) with standard engine, standard internal structure and standard armour. It is not state of the art, but a good makeshift solution. A jury-rigged design, ugly as the night, but do not bother, it can fight.
Good engineers and technicians can do this.
Just look at the Balius Omnimech, constructed on-tour during the relocation of the Horses during the WoR, IMHO that no Homeclan did introduce a new design is very unbelievable. This is somewhat of a blight to the WoR storyline.
Thirdly, think of your are a loyal scientist, but due the crimes of rebel members of your caste you feel the increasing distrust. You know how erratic the warriors (hardly educated they are you know) can be, you fear for your life. Would you not be especially motivated to prove both you loyalty and worth to your Clan? How better could you do this in giving them new tools of war? If you not you are without use. And if you are not of value for your Clan ... you know what I mean.
Fourthly, especially till the culmination of the WoR the surviving Clans should have gotten samples of new technologies and at some new designs made of state-of-the-arts technologies could have been introduced into the toumans.
The WoR sourcebook gets less detailed to the end (due he sparse information the IS author got I have understand), so there is some potential left, I think. Especially the epic battles in the Viper Annihilation cry for some new.
Fifth, we are told about new WiGE Protomechs in the WoR, but no designs was presented to us, so here is potential left.
My five cents.
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I'm not sure what if anything the Third Succession War is likely to get, although I'd love to see an Era Report or Era Digest - but I think what I'd like most would be something like a version of Total Chaos set in the Third Succession War. I can't speak for anyone else, but I must've spent more time playing a mercenary unit during that war than just about anything else, and several different sets of linked scenarios for mercenaries (or their opponents) spanning the decades would be great fun.
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I'm not sure what if anything the Third Succession War is likely to get, although I'd love to see an Era Report or Era Digest - but I think what I'd like most would be something like a version of Total Chaos set in the Third Succession War. I can't speak for anyone else, but I must've spent more time playing a mercenary unit during that war than just about anything else, and several different sets of linked scenarios for mercenaries (or their opponents) spanning the decades would be great fun.
Totally this! O0
Total Chaos was IMHO one of the greatest books in BT history. I would love to get another one. Or someting similar.
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The one thing I'd say about the 3rd Succession War would be to do it very carefully (not that I don't think that's done for every product). The 1st Succession War or the Klondike Campaign and so on were always more rumor and legend, so if things have to be tweeked and refined, then so be it. The Star League the same, closer to Camelot than anything else. But the 3rd War (at least the end of it) has been the foundation of many player's understanding of the game. It really was the first thing we ever had, so any minor changes can really reverberate, and brush up against not just some dusty old books, but against 30 years of cherished memories.
If it was me (and it isn't) I think I'd probably leave the late 3rd Succession War alone, just out of that abundance of caution.
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I look at it this way. "Battletech has a history. Tell it. We'll fill in the details with dice."
Awesome 👏
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Any word on Case White, by Victor Milan? That was one of the novels slated to come out.
It doesn't have any ties with IlClan stuff, so it's past tense. I hope it comes out this year if not sooner.
It sounds like it will be a interesting read! Shadow of Faith i want to come out as well.
Mr. Pardoe is working on a new novel in Dark Age so i hope we see it next year!
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As a corollary to the Third Succession War discussion, is there any prospect of seeing additional products set in the Clan Homeworlds or Deep Periphery during this era?
The Clan Political Century might offer a few additional options; for example, it may be interesting to see the events surrounding the Dragoon Compromise detailed in a similar manner to how the REVIVAL Trials were handled. Or, perhaps, a file detailing a particularly notable Goliath Scorpion Seeker campaign, which could play up on the AToW elements involved.
Also, I would like to see more on the emergence of the Hanseatic League, and/or on the early Umayyad-Castilian conflicts. Indeed, if one wanted to "cross the streams", perhaps the later establishment of the Imperio may not have marked the first time a Goliath Scorpion presence could have been found in Nueva Castile?
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Mr. Pardoe is working on a new novel in Dark Age so i hope we see it next year!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT!?!?!?
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I'd like to see the novels released at a rate greater than one a year.
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Any word on Case White, by Victor Milan? That was one of the novels slated to come out.
I actually thought this was a compilation of the Case White shorts released on BattleCorps.
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I actually thought this was a compilation of the Case White shorts released on BattleCorps.
Nope. Brand new story.
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Hearing about a potential Case White story got me thinking about how FASA use to do the big story arcs in trilogies, like in the Warrior and Blood of Kerensky trilogies. Actually the FedCom Civil war even had a trilogy of sorts by Coleman: Patriots and Tyrants, Storms of Fate, and Endgame. It would be cool to have a Word of Blake Jihad storyline completed in the same way with a Trilogy following the main characters and covering the events of the Jihad in broad strokes.
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WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT!?!?!?
Progress on my new BattleTech novel...
https://blainepardoe.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/progress-on-my-new-battletech-novel/ (https://blainepardoe.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/progress-on-my-new-battletech-novel/)
Blaine "Buck" Pardoe
High hopes!
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As a corollary to the Third Succession War discussion, is there any prospect of seeing additional products set in the Clan Homeworlds or Deep Periphery during this era?
I would REALLY like to see more Deep Periphery books. I don't know what the post-ilClan plan is, but I really want to know what the Inner Sphere's rowdy neighbors are up to.
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I would REALLY like to see more Deep Periphery books. I don't know what the post-ilClan plan is, but I really want to know what the Inner Sphere's rowdy neighbors are up to.
The Niops nerds finished their Dyson Sphere and have turned the periphery into an Eden-eqsue utopia. That, combined with the Marians' togas and the Canopians'... party planning expertise, the periphery has entered a truly revolutionary age of weekend ragers.
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I would like to see more Deep Periphery books, maybe the other way from the Clan Homeworlds.
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I'm with Dmon. The 3rd War was primarily raiding and while there were some large-scale battles, we do already have a lot of that detailed in prior publications. I'd certainly still buy a 3rd War book, but I don't feel it's deserved.
Which publications? Are they out of print? If so, then we need a new book or so for the crowd that missed out. (raises hand to include himself in that crowd.)
edit: Something like this:
I think a 3SW would be nice. While a lot has been written about since the game started there has also been A LOT of new material, retcons, etc. over the 3SW period. Much of which is jumbled over a dozen books. Getting a clean updated look at the 3SW to go with what we have for the 1st and 2nd would make things a lot better.
Follow on that with a cleaned up 4th SW series (based on the older Atlas etc) and the only new material being an update for use with AS, BF2, ACS, and ISW. We have most of the material already for 3SW and a cleaned up 4SW so it should be enough to keep development costs down, especially for a 4SW product.
Yes I know the 4SW was covered in deep detail, but as you tweak the histories sometimes you just have to drag something back into the light and polish it up a little. As is I doubt the old PDFs for the Atlas and other 4SW books can even be searched unlike the modern PDFs released now.
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Eh, agree to disagree. I prefer the 3rd SW to be the sandbox that it has been. We already know that it was a long, low-intensity war. It ranges from 2866 to 3025. The Successor states couldn't even keep up a sustained, organized campaign without severe financial hardship. Even by the time of the 4th war, Operation Rat almost bankrupted the FedSuns. The whole nature of the 3rd war was small raiding actions, a seesawing of borders, a select number of short & grander actions, and a continuing degradation of technology.
So, do the house handbooks go into details as to why certain things like going bankrupt to conduct a campaign? Of the ones I read, they haven't. A book that can flesh out why things happened the way they did would be very welcome. Since it is the era of constant raids, they could even go into why raiding was as successful for the house units, let alone merc units, as it was, or wasn't, however they decide to run with it.
There are a lot of gaps in the nuts and bolts of the BT framework, applying setting to game and/or vice-versa. Even a small book can add lots of interesting extra tidbits that might make you rethink how things are done in the BTU and what the BattleTech Aesthetic is supposed to be.
Secondly, I'm not real keen on hunting down old FASA stuff, even in PDF form, and trying to piece things all together. There are plenty of new people that probably have the same disposition. Having a non-Fasa, non-Fanpro CGL book that puts all the little things together would be awesome for new players and players who came in late.
I missed out on all the 80s and 90s stuff. And, having found some of that stuff, I find a lot of the information in the various scenario books to be a little light on information. I was hoping for a little bit more.
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The Niops nerds finished their Dyson Sphere and have turned the periphery into an Eden-eqsue utopia. That, combined with the Marians' togas and the Canopians'... party planning expertise, the periphery has entered a truly revolutionary age of weekend ragers.
Hey, what happens on Niops IX stays on Niops IX.
More on topic, I wonder if the 3rd Succession War book might be a good opportunity to go into a bit more about Holy Shroud, if, of course, that's not already being done in 2nd Succession War.
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Which publications? Are they out of print? If so, then we need a new book or so for the crowd that missed out. (raises hand to include himself in that crowd.)
edit: Something like this:
I'd like this as well.
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I would like to see more Deep Periphery books, maybe the other way from the Clan Homeworlds.
Deep Periphery might make for some pretty cool TtS PDFs.
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Deep Periphery TtS is a must!
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Deep Periphery TtS is a must!
Pretty please!
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I'd prefer some kind of (X)TRO:Deep Periphery. TtS are fine too
I think, many want to know at this point what happens with there and with the Homeworld Clans. Still, advancing the timeline is what I would like the most.
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Didn't ISP3 and XTRO Peripheral pretty much cover that?
Covered the little worlds and realms while giving a little Tech in both
They've already said Homeworlds are quiet so nothing from there
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There was supposed to be a XTRO: Deep Periphery but it was cancelled. If i'm remembering that was the title of the cancelled XTRO that was mentioned either on the old forums or on the Battlechat.
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There was supposed to be a XTRO: Deep Periphery but it was cancelled. If i'm remembering that was the title of the cancelled XTRO that was mentioned either on the old forums or on the Battlechat.
Correct.
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The Explorer Corps book was one of my favorite Battletech books, would like to see a update of that again.
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The Explorer Corps book was one of my favorite Battletech books, would like to see a update of that again.
https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-interstellar-expeditions-isp3-pdf
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We need....we DEMAND more Deep Periphery products! ISP 3 was sadly, not enough. :D O0
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Given the "it is whatever you want it to be" nature of the Interstellar Player series, I think some of us would prefer something more canonical. For me, I found ISP 3 to be somewhat wanting and leaving me desiring something more.
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An update of ISP3 (3150) would be very interesting. What happened meanwhile to the systems and space regions reported ...
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An update of ISP3 (3150) would be very interesting. What happened meanwhile to the systems and space regions reported ...
I would be up for that. Especially since I have a pet theory regarding the Axumite Providence and the Word of Blake.
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An update of ISP3 (3150) would be very interesting. What happened meanwhile to the systems and space regions reported ...
All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
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Given the "it is whatever you want it to be" nature of the Interstellar Player series, I think some of us would prefer something more canonical. For me, I found ISP 3 to be somewhat wanting and leaving me desiring something more.
IIRC the Deep Periphery sections of ISP3 are regarded as being more reliable than the other books' "canon rumour" status.
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All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
So, the secret alien empires trying to contain humanity have struck!
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All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
So basically the Kobol Protocol.
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All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
[dramatic]Nooooooooooooooo!!!!![/dramatic]
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All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
The Sword. The Dragon. The Fist. The Eagle. The Other Sword.
All there is, all there will be, and all there ever was.
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The Sword. The Dragon. The Fist. The Eagle. The Other Sword.
All there is, all there will be, and all there ever was.
The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
At this rate, the wolves will be the only IS faction by 3150
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
I'm the complete opposite diversity is key to keeping it interesting having a lot of different people wanting different things is far more interesting than five families who want to rule it all.
You want five big factions play the Succession Wars or the Star League era but something that embraces diversity and conflict the modern storylines are far better. At the moment a fight could literally happen anywhere in the Inner Sphere from the heart of the Federated Suns to the furthest Clan border you could fight with BattleMech, Armour or Fighter the only real thing that's missing is the big black navy ships of the Star League era though Pocket WarShip games can be fun too.
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the clans are settling into a place in 3150 where I had thought they should have been a century before. i think they went overboard initially with seventeen clans surviving to the invasion. it would have been better imo if a few had been rendered annihilated during klondike and 8-10 others going the way of mongoose and widowmaker by the 31st century.
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Five core/important factions? Looks to me like that'll be the Combine, the Capellans, the Wolf Empire, the Wrasslehogs and the Falcons. I'm okay with this.
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the clans are settling into a place in 3150 where I had thought they should have been a century before. i think they went overboard initially with seventeen clans surviving to the invasion. it would have been better imo if a few had been rendered annihilated during klondike and 8-10 others going the way of mongoose and widowmaker by the 31st century.
I think the canon history is fine. The reduction of the number of Clans you suggested would be a bit too large. There would not be any space left for annihilation or absorption in post-invasion era. As of the year 3150, I'd rather not see any of the remaining Clan factions dying, neither Inner Sphere ones, nor Homeworld ones (including Scorpions). Because now each of them has a lot of its own flavor.
Even with the seemingly big number of Clan factions that still exist I can't point out any of them whose mindset I could entirely accept. Though, I can say it would be the problem for almost entire BTU history.
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At this rate, the wolves will be the only IS faction by 3150
Clan in the IS or faction in the IS, period?
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
I don't see that happening without a reboot of some flavor. The game can't keep adding new mechs and equipment in the name of progress but scrap all but four factions and the Ghost Bears.
An update of ISP3 (3150) would be very interesting. What happened meanwhile to the systems and space regions reported ...
I'd like to see this, too, though the rollout of Touring the Stars books have been good for my need for exploring imaginary planets.
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
That would be....very boring.
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Every time you remove a faction, is like taking away a spice from my rack. Leave my paprika alone!!!
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Well, we can always have the Sowrd and the Dragon under the rule of Victor's line. Though who knows, that may also need to include "other" possible children...
Frankly if we want more factions just take the earliest factions pre founding of the Houses from before the Age of War and set it in whatever era you prefer. That gives you dozens of factions and gives some a reason to make the clans disappear from all timelines entirely.
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I think the canon history is fine. The reduction of the number of Clans you suggested would be a bit too large. There would not be any space left for annihilation or absorption in post-invasion era.
exactly. the weak get eaten early and the remaining lack the ability to wipe out the others without being set upon by the others. the wars of reaving don't happen as written. maybe just the vipers get whacked. Same result, but with a culling much earlier. It would have led to this is the 90s instead of 2017:
As of the year 3150, I'd rather not see any of the remaining Clan factions dying, neither Inner Sphere ones, nor Homeworld ones (including Scorpions). Because now each of them has a lot of its own flavor.
Even with the seemingly big number of Clan factions that still exist I can't point out any of them whose mindset I could entirely accept. Though, I can say it would be the problem for almost entire BTU history.
faction bloat is faction bloat and i generally object to all of it - I was (and am) lukewarm about the NuFWL, too. the simple fact is that with limited resources, dilution leads to more generic factions. cutting down to five is a bridge too far for me, but when more choices mean the quality of all the choices suffers, I'd error on the side of fewer.
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Every time you remove a faction, is like taking away a spice from my rack. Leave my paprika alone!!!
True, but to torture your analogy, spices that sit on the shelf for too long loose their flavor! You have to at least replace them with a new jar now and again or they get stale.
All the great houses were never exactly homogeneous to start with, so while I don't know that they need to go away, maybe they need to get mixed up a bit. For instance, Andurien cozying up to the Confederation, and the Suns loosing the Draconis March to the Combine. I think those were both interesting moves, but still a little timid. Moving the Wolf EMpire to the other side of the Sphere, while contrived, was a much more bold choice and one I really like. The 'pie' of the inner sphere with the same folks fighting their same two neighbors all the time is due for a change. I mean, when was the last time the Confederation really got into a decent war with the Combine or the Lyrans? In fact, when has the confederation EVER had to fight off a clan? The superpower-of-the-month club centered on Terra is OK, but really you can't just keep doing that over and over with a new name for the faction. SOMETHING needs to happen with the map of the inner sphere so it isn't still the same pie chart it has been since the game began. The Clans did help with that, but even they really just compressed the other factions, while leaving them in generally the same place relative to each other.
I'm not sure it would be a real popular opinion, but I would like to see some of the sub-factions that make up the great houses mixed up a bit into new alliances. For example, I'd be OK with the FedSuns getting cut off from Terra so that the Combine and Confederation can finally learn to really hate each other. I'd let the wolves swallow up the whole border between the Lyrans and the Mariks, or maybe even let Marik space stay a mashup of independent factions. Let them actually be a balkanized region with a very weak ruling family that can't actually control them. Let the Bears cut off the Falcon's corridor to Terra, putting them in contact with the Lyrans, or the other way around with the Falcons getting at the Combine. Heck, get the SeaFoxes pissed at the Confederation, and have them start chewing on the Terran corridor of the Confederation.
Ok, so that got a little out of hand, but my point is really just that I would like to see an era where I can play the FedSuns, and not have to fight Liao and Kurita...again. Too often we just end up sliding back towards the 3025 Inner Sphere pie chart. Moving the Wolves and the Ravens was good. Growing the MoC and breaking up the FWL were also very interesting for me. I'd like to see more of that. I'm sure other folks will disagree, but I personally would like to see the map keep changing. I don't necessarily want MORE factions, I just want the ones we have to change enough to keep bringing new challenges and new conflicts to the table, not the same old feuds as we have always had.
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I agree with sadlerbtw that the map needs to change. The idea that Inner Sphere borders are so concrete is really difficult to accept. Fortunately, we've seen a lot of movement in that front lately.
I absolutely don't support the magical removal of the Clans, though. I think there were too many of them (realistically, I don't think we needed to start out with twenty. ESPECIALLY since mist of them died without making any significant contribution to the game or the fiction), but they have been a part of the game for much longer than they haven't been part of the game.
Getting rid of them now would be like getting rid of all of the mechs and tech from TRO 3055 and 3058 because there is too much stuff in the game. Mind you, there is too much stuff in the game, but getting rid of things without any believable plot device pointlessly damages the appeal of an already niche product. Why should the Clans be excised but House Liao stick around? Why should the FWL continunally fall apart and get stitched back together, and be allowed to stay, when the Ghost Bear/FRR union has been genuine plot development and character building?
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
Gotta say I disagree with this. I started playing BattleTech in the Clan Invasion Era and it wouldn't be the same without them. That said, if a couple more get bumped off/absorbed I won't cry. Fully expect the Scorpions to have been conquered by now and the Home Clans may have become something completely different by 3150. Besides, the Inner Sphere Clans are barely Clans anymore. The Bears, Ravens, SeaFoxes and Wolves have all become something different.
But, its not just the Clans now. You have the Canopians, Taurians and Marian nations that have added great flavor to the universe.
The era of the five great houses and only the five great houses has passed.
Personally, I would like the great houses to go through kinda what the FWL went through...a balkanization era before coming together again. Perhaps Steiner become a member of the FWL as they lose their capital before regaining it down the road, perhaps Kurita separates into multiple warring states, perhaps Liao line ends (temporarily) and its taken over by the Centrallas and if Davion loses New Avalon and goes a bit "dark" in response...well, that's some great potential story lines.
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The Clans have stuck around an awful, awful long time, but I do hope one day we're back to just the five important/core factions.
The PRC, French, USSR, UK, and USA?
Down with the Hegemony!
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Im ok as long as theres a reason for the faction going away other than "too many factions" i loved WoR because it gave story to clans that were being destroyed. Nations come and go, thats a fact, but i would rather my bears go native and become absorbed through the generations of cultural adaptation, than your clan so you gotta go.
So much room for good story telling that we shouldn't handicap the writers on choices and options of what yo write.
Heck one of my fav things is factiins don't really die, its almost comic book level how often dead factions remnents come back from the dead to haunt those still around. It also makes the game more fun, sure the nova cats were squished for the most part, doesn't mean i can't have fun playing as a rag tag group of survivors pulling a warriors on their way to a safety.
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Im ok as long as theres a reason for the faction going away other than "too many factions"....
I'm in about the same place. I think I've come to accept that, no matter who is in charge, the planets and general cultural regions will still be there (barring some sort of super-jihad.) I'll still have my Space Vikings, whether they wear bearskins or not. Panpour will keep pumping out Gunsmiths and Sparrowhawks...and keep getting ignored by the worlds closer to Terra. I've come to be more and more OK with the idea that I like some of the pieces that make up certain great houses and clans, and as long as those slices of space still exist and have some sort of identity, I don't think I will mind as much if they band together in different ways.
That said, I won't feel slighted or sad if all the clans disappear and we go back to the five great houses and nothing else...as long as it still produces a fun game and good stories. I'd put up with killing off all of my favorite factions if it was fun and made for some great story telling. I'm willing to take whatever direction things go, as long as it ends up being fun and interesting.
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I would love to see the HPG network staying down, forcing central governments into smaller roles and needing to rely more heavily on the more feudal-like constructs exemplified in the earlier renditions of BattleTech. The lack of central oversight could see a significant rise in smaller level and/or even intra-national conflicts - similar to what we see with areas of the FWL.
As far as the clans go, I'll be completely honest in saying without them, I wouldn't have gotten interested battletech. So, imo, they very much need to stay. With the above idea their small forces could more reasonably be considered threatening to nearby noble holdings - I do prescribe to the notion that the clans are generally more powerful than they really should be.
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The era of the five great houses and only the five great houses has passed.
Personally, I would like the great houses to go through kinda what the FWL went through...a balkanization era before coming together again. Perhaps Steiner become a member of the FWL as they lose their capital before regaining it down the road, perhaps Kurita separates into multiple warring states, perhaps Liao line ends (temporarily) and its taken over by the Centrallas and if Davion loses New Avalon and goes a bit "dark" in response...well, that's some great potential story lines.
I'd go with some of that. Changing the surname of the ruling family of one of the big successor states might provide a path to mixing things up in interesting ways. The big 5 dynasties have been surprisingly stable for a long time, with only house Marik really getting shaken up in the past couple of in-Universe centuries.
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more Second Succession War art.
(https://68.media.tumblr.com/d3f1de2419744acd63e2c55e618e6546/tumblr_inline_oq5mgt4K2l1s9c9hj_540.jpg)
http://catalystgamelabs.tumblr.com/post/160805211021/second-succession-war-art
"Bomb Sleds always have the right-of-way" -Comstar Universal Driver's Training Manual
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All dead. Gone. Ripped from space.
Nothing to see there, anymore.
So finally the rumored giant space hamsters are approaching.
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So, we'll finally get to see just how a WarShip would fare against Woolly Rupert?
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Something looks a bit funny with the Victor, like its torso slipped and fell off the front of it's hips. No big deal though. It looks like it is about to get a serious structural rearrangement in a couple seconds anyway!
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What they HAVEN'T told you is that they've actually COMBINED ilClan and 2nd Succession War. See, the Adder Collective was going to invade the Inner Sphere, but a Jumpship accident occurs, and then branching timelines, and thus we see-
*JKLantern gets thrown out of the thread.*
*logs in after 9 months* - I approve this message!
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The Sword. The Dragon. The Fist. The Eagle. The Other Sword.
Hoocha hoocha hoocha!
Lobster. 8)
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Something looks a bit funny with the Victor, like its torso slipped and fell off the front of it's hips. No big deal though. It looks like it is about to get a serious structural rearrangement in a couple seconds anyway!
The Victor has been one of my favorite mechs since forever, but there has always been something kind of funky about the design. I think its the shoulders. I never quite understood how they were supposed to work with the two tiers of angled armor.
That one definitely looks a bit off, though. Not as off as it is about to look in the next few seconds, of course...
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The center torso is stick out so you can't see the slant of the right torso from that angle, only the right shoulder.
Looks like it shares the same angles as the original art.
edit: the upper torso on Loose's art is flat plate while the Victor in the art upper right and left torso slants.
(http://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/2/2d/3025_Victor1.jpg?timestamp=20130421092721)
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IIRC the Deep Periphery sections of ISP3 are regarded as being more reliable than the other books' "canon rumour" status.
After all of that nonsense with the Jihad books, I have taken everything published in that format with a few pounds of salt. Not trying to be contrary, just definitely not my cup of tea.
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I'd go with some of that. Changing the surname of the ruling family of one of the big successor states might provide a path to mixing things up in interesting ways. The big 5 dynasties have been surprisingly stable for a long time, with only house Marik really getting shaken up in the past couple of in-Universe centuries.
I thought they had a great chance to do something like this after the 4th Succession War with the fall of House Liao and its replacement by a combination of Andurien, Camopus, and the Capellan remnants. I would have found that much more interesting than a retread House Liao like we got.
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Now that is an idea. From 3050 to 3150 the periphery states have been building up their armies and are now making claims to the old SL throne. This would be the 5th SW where the MPS actually take large swaths of territory away from the main houses. This in itself would give us at least 2 new major factions and would give the periphery states their day in the spotlight for a change ;)
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??? Have you been reading Star Lord again, Pheonix?
I would like to see more action from the Periphery myself, the MC has been major allies for the Cap Con for awhile now, the Raven Alliance is a military power and the Marian Hegemony has always been interesting (a easy villain the very least thanks to human trafficking)
At the very least, they now have the resources to expand outward like before the first Reunification War.
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Has that not already happened with the Clan Invasion? Periphery states (aka The Clans) have been building up their armies and are now making claims to the old SL throne. This would be the 5th SW (aka Clan Invasion) where the
MPS Clans actually take large swaths of territory away from the main houses. This in itself would give us at least 2 new major factions (The Wolf Empire and Clan Jade Falcon). ^-^
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Art work for the Second Success War looks good! Wish we could tell if that Mech was Victor or not. It looks wrong, like the gun arm does and scaling of the picture throws off what it's size is.
Why do i get impression that the 2nd Succession War is going to be other big book of the year? :-\
There been l.ittle talk about anything else aside from Touring the the Stars and Spotlights which is stuff keep us busy while we wait for the big books / game changing books to drop.
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Art work for the Second Success War looks good! Wish we could tell if that Mech was Victor or not. It looks wrong, like the gun arm does and scaling of the picture throws off what it's size is.
Why do i get impression that the 2nd Succession War is going to be other big book of the year? :-\
There been l.ittle talk about anything else aside from Touring the the Stars and Spotlights which is stuff keep us busy while we wait for the big books / game changing books to drop.
ilclan and 2sw along with, i expect, the BMM. CM: Davion seems like a real slim shot now.
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I'm not terribly excited by the BMM as much as the book is very good for new and old players.
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...CM: Davion seems like a real slim shot now.
(https://a5ybmq.bn1302.livefilestore.com/y4mDraSbzB33aw6I_TrY-f7ZGKtNvJnMkOnj_--JuKgt9-rQ5rgqFAroFondr0MMu1qjASmpQJ9O31xhwfM3v-PhjDAFzFTt4g8RJIj_OBOi6FjVueXwcCLXv4kulju7i-VOHlor88vL6YprxntH1wXKaRAoB8tDAEhx9kdvscr8zgkib3x7ed_DOa2wLCloXpUIE9vJ7FFoujwezOf6eLlAQ?width=267&height=291&cropmode=none)
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ilclan and 2sw along with, i expect, the BMM. CM: Davion seems like a real slim shot now.
Wow. There are still seven months in 2017. Don't get disappointed yet.
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Because now each of them has a lot of its own flavor.
And, what's the soup de jury?
Well, we have St. Patty's Turkey, Scorpion Psychedelic, our typical Wolf Stew with beef broth, and a new one -
Stone Lion Potato with sausage.
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Be funny if a Touring the Stars: Lee would come out to highlight Lee Turkey's Shoot on Thanksgiving. The battle was covered but i still think it be amusing and worth the money.
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(https://a5ybmq.bn1302.livefilestore.com/y4mDraSbzB33aw6I_TrY-f7ZGKtNvJnMkOnj_--JuKgt9-rQ5rgqFAroFondr0MMu1qjASmpQJ9O31xhwfM3v-PhjDAFzFTt4g8RJIj_OBOi6FjVueXwcCLXv4kulju7i-VOHlor88vL6YprxntH1wXKaRAoB8tDAEhx9kdvscr8zgkib3x7ed_DOa2wLCloXpUIE9vJ7FFoujwezOf6eLlAQ?width=267&height=291&cropmode=none)
Ah, the taste of sweet, sweet Davionista tears. How they'll flow when CM:CIH is announced! >:D
(not a real product announcement. Void where prohibited by current values of e.)
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Ah, the taste of sweet, sweet Davionista tears. How they'll flow when CM:CIH is announced! >:D
Isn't CM:Rim Collection and CM:Niops on the list before that one too?
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I just want a new Combat Manual...I don't Even Care if it is Combat Manuel: Barcelona
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I just want a new Combat Manual...I don't Even Care if it is Combat Manuel: Barcelona
Munich will get one before Barcelona...
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The Victor has been one of my favorite mechs since forever, but there has always been something kind of funky about the design. I think its the shoulders. I never quite understood how they were supposed to work with the two tiers of angled armor.
It's a favorite here too, and I have the same thought about the shoulders. Plus, the right arm from shoulder to cannon is a tough read in the original artwork. The mini handles the shoulders fairly well but gave it an elbow--there's no lower arm actuator with the AC/20.
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Isn't CM:Rim Collection and CM:Niops on the list before that one too?
I'd definitely pay good money for both of those.
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ilclan and 2sw along with, i expect, the BMM. CM: Davion seems like a real slim shot now.
As in a slim chance of ever being released ever or just this year?
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Wow. There are still seven months in 2017. Don't get disappointed yet.
Catalyst doesn't release print books in bunches. 2sw in May/June, ilclan late summer/ ealrh fall. BMM in there somewhere. I wouldn't hold my breath for CM:Davion by Christmas. I'm not really pessimistic about this. Just consider that we had no Q1 print release.But best-case for that scenario is probably four books.
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(https://a5ybmq.bn1302.livefilestore.com/y4mDraSbzB33aw6I_TrY-f7ZGKtNvJnMkOnj_--JuKgt9-rQ5rgqFAroFondr0MMu1qjASmpQJ9O31xhwfM3v-PhjDAFzFTt4g8RJIj_OBOi6FjVueXwcCLXv4kulju7i-VOHlor88vL6YprxntH1wXKaRAoB8tDAEhx9kdvscr8zgkib3x7ed_DOa2wLCloXpUIE9vJ7FFoujwezOf6eLlAQ?width=267&height=291&cropmode=none)
"Young prince Victor learns that the Tooth Fairy is a Capellan plot."
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It seems like a slow book year. But it could be just me.
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It seems like a slow book year. But it could be just me.
I mean you're not wrong. After getting five (it was five, right?) last year there was bound to be a lull. Just give us ilclan.
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I mean you're not wrong. After getting five (it was five, right?) last year there was bound to be a lull. Just give us ilclan.
Still Battletech even in its low produces more books on average then many other series.
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Well, the big question (I think) is how many big plot books do we actually need in a given calendar year.
Would ilClan be nice? Yes. Absolutely. I want to know what happens next.
But... First Succession War was no small addition to the library of plot-based sourcebooks. If Second Succession War comes out this year, too, that fills in another huge era of the existing game universe.
Personally, I would like to see ilClan, a couple more Touring the Stars', and a new Combat Manual. Though I would be happy to trade that list for a new box set/intro product.
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Irregular Tech is in the Calendar? Or Delay Launch
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Irregular Tech is in the Calendar? Or Delay Launch
Still in production. I think its art holding up some of the pipeline.
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I mean you're not wrong. After getting five (it was five, right?) last year there was bound to be a lull. Just give us ilclan.
Weren't there people lamenting how we never get anything last year too? I don't think Catalyst can possibly publish enough to satisfy the nay-sayers.
For sure there has been a lull, but 2016 was a banner year, in my book. I'll be happy as soon as I can get my grubby hands on a print copy of the 2SW book.
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Weren't there people lamenting how we never get anything last year too? I don't think Catalyst can possibly publish enough to satisfy the nay-sayers.
For sure there has been a lull, but 2016 was a banner year, in my book. I'll be happy as soon as I can get my grubby hands on a print copy of the 2SW book.
What do you mean they're only publishing a book per day? Why isn't it TWO?!
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Because no matter how much we get, we always want more.
That is a good sign for the game.
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Last year certainly was...abundant. So, here is a question out of left field:
Last year at GenCon, there were new boxes of Alpha Strike cards for sale. They were packaged like your agerage deck of playing cards, and like the Lance Pack cards, they were coated so you can use dry erase markers directly on the cards. I believe they were somehow tied to CM: mercs, but I don't have the box in front of me to double check (I did buy one.) At the time, I didn't hear anything about them being a Con exclusive, but I haven't heard anything more about them since. I found this especially odd because, other than a printing error that had the fronts and backs mixed up, they were done and seemed production-grade. There wasn't any additional work to be done that I could see, but they haven't showed up for sale again since GenCon that I am aware of.
I could speculate about why that is: Decided not to keep using the same printer as they screwed up the front-back combinations. Xotl had proposed his rather extensive PV review, and they wanted to wait for that to be completed. Not enough sold. However, I don't actually know. I liked the idea, and was planning to buy a re-printed set with the correct front-back combos when it came out, but I haven't ever seen them since then. So, what happened to them?
At the time, my only comment about the set, other than the front-back issue, was that I would have preferred rounded corners on the cards. The sharp, square corners on the decks at GenCon are pretty easy to damage...especially if you let your kids use them!
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Re: Alpha Strike cards. All of the Alpha Strike card packs have been con exclusive, with the exception of one that was available print on demand (and now outdated).
As for why con exclusive? The answer is a bit complicated, in that there is no clear cut answer. It's not that they won't ever be available outside of cons, but so far it hasn't worked out. Some if it is money, some is time, some is I don't know what.
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I only count 4 major releases last year, but the current perceived problem is not the actual number of releases but how they are spread throughout the year.
Interstellar Operations - released January 2016
First Succession War - released May 2016
Campaign Operations - released July 2016
Combat Manual: Kurita - released July 2016
If there hasn't been another major release I'm overlooking (and no, I'm not counting the BattleTech Manual, which technically hasn't been released yet), there hasn't been a major release in more than 11 months. People were really really happy about the release schedule last July, having had 3 major products over three months to talk about.
So that comes back to the problem, it's not necessarily the numbers that cause some level of frustration but the inconsistency of releases. If we could expect a release schedule of a major product roughly once every 4 or 6 months (3 or twice yearly), the complaints would likely be less - though missing a release would probably cause a massive uproar, even if its only delayed a week. Fill that in with things like the Spotlight On series and Touring the Stars series (and perhaps something the size of the XTROs) and people will have less to worry about, the line will seem stronger and people will, generally, know what to expect. The downside is, of course, keeping to that schedule, and possibly decreasing the quality of the product somewhat.
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Re: Alpha Strike cards. All of the Alpha Strike card packs have been con exclusive, with the exception of one that was available print on demand (and now outdated).
As for why con exclusive? The answer is a bit complicated, in that there is no clear cut answer. It's not that they won't ever be available outside of cons, but so far it hasn't worked out. Some if it is money, some is time, some is I don't know what.
Thanks! Makes more sense that I just missed them being a Con exclusive.
I'll just throw them in the bucket with T-Shirts, Pins, and some of the Dice, where they just aren't sold anywhere but at the Cons. I never really thought about it, but I guess I never saw that first double-box of AS cards outside of the COn's either.
So...um...will there be another box for Con season this year? O:-) O:-) O:-)
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snip
Agreed
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Why are some things con exclusive? Maths.
1) Distributors usually only take things which exceed certain volumes. They won't often take 100 pins, or 500 dice.
2) For every $10 you pay in the game store,
- CGL see something like $3
- distributors see something like $3
- the game store sees something like $4
So if CGL can afford to make 300 pins for $4 each, and send them to the distributor, they may not recover production costs. And if they make 3000 pins for $2 each, they may not be confident that all 3000 will sell.
But if they make 300, which they can afford, and take them with them to Origins and Gencon, they basically make money. Plus, there's a long and honorable tradition of 'fluffy' con exclusive things for just about every game company.
(this excludes the usual situation where the publisher promises to have "8th Succession War" a month before GenCon, fails, and CGL pay through the nose to have a few dozen flown in at great expense so they can actually show copies ;) )
Or something like that.
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I only count 4 major releases last year, but the current perceived problem is not the actual number of releases but how they are spread throughout the year.
Interstellar Operations - released January 2016
First Succession War - released May 2016
Campaign Operations - released July 2016
Combat Manual: Kurita - released July 2016
If there hasn't been another major release I'm overlooking (and no, I'm not counting the BattleTech Manual, which technically hasn't been released yet), there hasn't been a major release in more than 11 months. People were really really happy about the release schedule last July, having had 3 major products over three months to talk about.
So that comes back to the problem, it's not necessarily the numbers that cause some level of frustration but the inconsistency of releases. If we could expect a release schedule of a major product roughly once every 4 or 6 months (3 or twice yearly), the complaints would likely be less - though missing a release would probably cause a massive uproar, even if its only delayed a week. Fill that in with things like the Spotlight On series and Touring the Stars series (and perhaps something the size of the XTROs) and people will have less to worry about, the line will seem stronger and people will, generally, know what to expect. The downside is, of course, keeping to that schedule, and possibly decreasing the quality of the product somewhat.
There's probably the fact that IO (And thus CO) was a long time coming, and that CMK has something of a narrow focus.
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I just wish there was representation at the West Coast side. Unfortunantly, it seems the gamers here are more fickle than the norm, and the cons out here just not super big draws.
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Well what do you expect from all those weirdos in Cali :P
The same could be said though of the east coast. Dragon Con is pretty big round these parts but you never hear of a major CGL booth there. I know a year or so ago they did have a small presence though which was nice. Be nice to hear something about them being at the next Dragon Con.
Though equipment should seriously be outside the cost multiplier... can't add a small NCSS without making the price balloon horribly. Forum glitch. Bad forum. Bad bad forum!
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A friend of mine goes to Dragon Con, i'm told is more RPG thing. It would be nice venue to promote Battletech's other franchises like Shadowrun and A Time of War (despite it's flaws).
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I just wish there was representation at the West Coast side. Unfortunantly, it seems the gamers here are more fickle than the norm, and the cons out here just not super big draws.
Seattle's on the west coast....
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With MechCon starting up....maybe that would be good for a West Coast and the Battletech fans.
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Has there been any info on a date for this year's Mech Con?
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Has there been any info on a date for this year's Mech Con?
Why, Yes, Yes there is:
http://mwomercs.com/news/2017/05/1817-join-us-dec-9th-for-mechcon-2017
and
https://mechwarrior.com/mechcon
And
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/mech-con-2017-vancouver-bc-tickets-34484216219
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Well then, I'll see you there. :)
I'm bringing my wife this time: she wants to do a Natasha Kerensky cosplay.
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That it is. I was hoping more for California. I know expenses would be prohibitive though.
Seattle's on the west coast....
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I just wish there was representation at the West Coast side. Unfortunantly, it seems the gamers here are more fickle than the norm, and the cons out here just not super big draws.
Those of us outside America wish for some representation too...
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Those of us outside America wish for some representation too...
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/63/6327a399cfd6e3a620585ab05834d841be60d27e98ea78cb60680bc46584057c.jpg)
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Those of us outside America wish for some representation too...
And we have it!
https://mechwarrior.com/mechcon
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And we have it!
https://mechwarrior.com/mechcon
Because if you don't live in USA you sure live in Canada.
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::) Come on now. Karasu didn't mention a specific country, or even a continent.
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Clearly Randall should stop by every BattleTech player's house to make them all feel loved. It might have an impact on new product, however....
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New product will come when new products come. It's the wait that is inexorably agonizing.
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Clearly Randall should stop by every BattleTech player's house to make them all feel loved. It might have an impact on new product, however....
Please ask him to call first. This place is a mess.
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Because if you don't live in USA you sure live in Canada.
Well....most Canadians sure don't like being Called American, and we certainly don't refer to ourselves as American, or our Country as America ;) :P
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Well....most Canadians sure don't like being Called American, and we certainly don't refer to ourselves as American, or our Country as America ;) :P
Please, 90% of your population is within 100 miles of the US. You totally want to be Americans. :P O0
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How else do you defend the longest border in the world?
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Clearly Randall should stop by every BattleTech player's house to make them all feel loved. It might have an impact on new product, however....
Can I get Herb instead? He's more fun...
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No, CGL should pay for all BT fans to come to GenCon. Much more convenient ;)
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No, CGL should pay for all BT fans to come to GenCon. Much more convenient ;)
This is clearly a good idea. Surely, we'll all buy enough to offset the cost...
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Costs can be considered marketing. Gotta be a tax break somehow! O0
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No, CGL should pay for all BT fans to come to GenCon. Much more convenient ;)
First class airfare please, with a limo waiting for me. I'm special needs.
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Please, 90% of your population is within 100 miles of the US. You totally want to be Americans. :P O0
See, now you just want to pick a fight :P
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See, now you just want to pick a fight :P
We beat the US once before...we can do it again.
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First class airfare please, with a limo waiting for me. I'm special needs.
Flights over 7.5 hours should be business class, no?
And now we return you to our usual obsession with impending product.
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No, CGL should pay for all BT fans to come to GenCon. Much more convenient ;)
I could deal with a round trip train ticket or gas compensation. But then again, it wouldn't be just getting BT fandom there. They need to be housed there too...
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We beat the US once before...we can do it again.
Oh come on, let's join our forces to something worth fighting.
I mean you DID give us Justin Beiber, both sides should really just gang up on entertainers like him since we both suffered! ;D
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"Puck slapping maple sucker!"
"Shatner stealing Mexico toucher!"
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Well....most Canadians sure don't like being Called American, and we certainly don't refer to ourselves as American, or our Country as America ;) :P
Funny story...
I was in Spain last week and when I told people I was from America they would reply, "Which Country?" Apparently, some Europeans consider everyone from the Western Hemisphere to be Americans.
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Oh come on, let's join our forces to something worth fighting.
I mean you DID give us Justin Beiber, both sides should really just gang up on entertainers like him since we both suffered! ;D
Seyla!
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Woohoo! Boards are back up!
So what's the ETA for 2nd Succession War? It must be close!
By the way, what's the latest on the Gladiator Gazette? Has that series been shelved temporarily?
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Yaas, ees close.
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Sounds like someone is holding it hostage until Justin Bieber is taken care of according to Canadian American sources.
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Sounds like someone is holding it hostage until Justin Bieber is taken care of according to Canadian American sources.
If that is all it took to get new books....well, I think most of us would be in jail ;)
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Muah ha ha ha ha.
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If that is all it took to get new books....well, I think most of us would be in jail hailed as glorious revolutionary heroes ;)
Fixed for you O0
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Yaas, ees close.
See now I etc really excited and start wondering if I need to start checking battleship every five minutes or so.
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See now I etc really excited and start wondering if I need to start checking battleship every five minutes or so.
Relax, you're not the FWL navy, your battleships are safe ;)
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So the battleshop will get a lot of refresh screens this weekend.
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Relax, you're not the FWL navy, your battleships are safe ;)
Damn auto correct
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Funny story...
I was in Spain last week and when I told people I was from America they would reply, "Which Country?" Apparently, some Europeans consider everyone from the Western Hemisphere to be Americans.
Most people recognize the whole continent as "America".
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Funny story...
I was in Spain last week and when I told people I was from America they would reply, "Which Country?" Apparently, some Europeans consider everyone from the Western Hemisphere to be Americans.
not some Europeans, try "everyone that isn't from USA"
people born in the American continent are Americans and we get pissed when we are told we are not, but since this is a the new releases thread I'll not get further into the discussion and just hype 2SW and IlClan a little more
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Most people recognize the whole continent as "America".
Which one?
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MegaTokyo had one character say that Americans abroaded pretend to be Canadian *Looks at current events* I can buy that.
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Let's DEFINITELY not go there.
So are the odds better than 15-20% that we'll get 2SW rolled out this weekend? Asking for a friend. ^-^
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The odds are always 15-20%. Until they're 100%. I'm pretty sure that's how probability works.
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If CGL decides to release the PDF version first...maybe? If they want to put the physical book and PDF up at the same time, I'd go ahead and give your clicking finger a rest. Printers may be faster these days,but they aren't THAT fast!
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Unless something changed recently (or in this specific case), the PDF is put up around the time it's sent to the printers. The lag between the two can be weeks / months
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Hope something comes out today. I just hope i can afford it.
If 2nd Succ comes out, i wonder a TtS will come out related to it.
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Which one?
America (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas)
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and just hype 2SW and IlClan a little more
I mean, has anything new at all even been said about ilClan? Doesn't seem like there's much to hype. Doesn't feel like it's even going to be a 2017 release from the hype deficit.
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I would love to see 2SW book more then IlClan
Just for the reason that I like the Clans and the IlClan is going to be very deadly for them.
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Any news on the 3150 ntnu record sheets?
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Any news on the 3150 ntnu record sheets?
I second this question, as well as ask about the unabridged RS for TRO: Prototypes...
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Any news on the 3150 ntnu record sheets?
Thirded.
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It would be nice to see with all the new tech in mechs.
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Well least we got confirmation IlClan is coming out this year and printed! (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56362.msg1327131#msg1327131) :D
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Well least we got confirmation IlClan is coming out this year and printed! (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56362.msg1327131#msg1327131) :D
Well that is good news....not lets see if its ready for Thrusday AM at Gencon
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IlClan will publish in 2017. That's the only print product planned for this year that advances the timeline.
Adrian: To the 3150 mark to bring things concurrent to the TRO, or a different year? If the latter, when?
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Well least we got confirmation IlClan is coming out this year and printed! (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56362.msg1327131#msg1327131) :D
Which means we have, at maximum, seven months before we find out what happens when the Fortress falls....muhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah! Soon.
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Does the Fortress fall? Or does it come down willingly? Is it kicked in? Or is it blasted outward from the inside. Was the Fortress ever really there? Or was it an elaborate hoax? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the upcoming publication "ilClan"
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Does the Fortress fall? Or does it come down willingly? Is it kicked in? Or is it blasted outward from the inside. Was the Fortress ever really there? Or was it an elaborate hoax? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the upcoming publication "ilClan"
The drawbridge is lowered, the archers loose a hail of arrows into unarmored infantry surrounding the walls, and a battalion of armored trolls come out swinging man-sized maces.
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You know, I'd totally get a BattleTech themed Castle Panic, where the monsters are Jade Falcons, Wolves and Capellans, and the castle defender cards are various Republic combat units.
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You know, I'd totally get a BattleTech themed Castle Panic, where the monsters are Jade Falcons, Wolves and Capellans, and the castle defender cards are various Republic combat units.
Why stop there? Use the BattleForce Tokens as the attackers/defenders and you can have any force face off.
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I've been kicking around the idea of using up my Munchkin blank cards to do up a custom BattleTech set. But anyway.
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Munchkin BT... Sounds fun!
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Munchkin BT... Sounds fun!
we already have the Hellstar
/rimshot
Does the Fortress fall? Or does it come down willingly? Is it kicked in? Or is it blasted outward from the inside. Was the Fortress ever really there? Or was it an elaborate hoax? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the upcoming publication "ilClan"
YOU'LL PAY FOR THE WHOLE SEAT BUT YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO USE THE EDGE
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Using Edge *rolls dice*
Fortress doesn't fall. Har har. ;D 8)
Can't wait till it's published.
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Munchkin BT... Sounds fun!
If you do, we all need this in our lives. O0
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Adrian: To the 3150 mark to bring things concurrent to the TRO, or a different year? If the latter, when?
3151.
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3151.
Awhile back you mentioned that the intro to second succession war would be set around that time. Will it be cryptic, set in the middle of ilclan action, or will it pretty clearly reveal part of the outcome of ilclan?
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Answering that would tell us which book might come out first O0
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"Celestial Wisdom, it is my great honour to present this book on the Second Succession War for your pleasure and study. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of it as you do from laughing at the heads of Julian Davion and Angela Hasek mounted side by side above the toilet in the Celestial Bathroom."
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Awhile back you mentioned that the intro to second succession war would be set around that time. Will it be cryptic, set in the middle of ilclan action, or will it pretty clearly reveal part of the outcome of ilclan?
No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
The time jump is actually coming after all
Good! I like new things and uncharted territories, can't wait for all the new goodies the new eras will bring
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
Well, in speechless.
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Hmm... guess I should crack open my 1SW PDF and see whats in the beginning...
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Hmm... guess I should crack open my 1SW PDF and see whats in the beginning...
I actually checked this morning before I asked. It is 3150 and the walls are still up.
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
So how soon til we g r the to read said paragraph?
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
Ooooo I like that
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Wait. What. 3250?
April Fools was two months ago...
Sure didn't see that coming. Now i'm super intrigued.
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
You have my interest.
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Wait. What. 3250?
April Fools was two months ago...
Sure didn't see that coming. Now i'm super intrigued.
Once upon a time, TPTB planned a little time jump to 3250. People lost their damn minds and the project was scrapped at least in part due to the feedback
until now
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
In a desire to head off DOOOOOOOOOOM and rampaging rumor-as-truth, I'm going to point something out - the Dune novels famously used introductory snippets from in-universe documents from the future, despite the story never reaching the timeframe those documents were written in, and never following up the snippets in story. That the intro bit is set in 3250 has precisely nothing to do with moving the timeline on its own.
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Once upon a time, TPTB planned a little time jump to 3250. People lost their damn minds and the project was scrapped at least in part due to the feedback
until now
I still think there were more people in favour of it than those that weren't (they just happened to be more vocal).
Personally, I'm all for it. Let's get the story moving forward again! IT'S TIME TO DO THE TIME JUMP AGAIN, IT'S TIME TO DO THE TIME JUMP AGAIN!
Ahem, sorry. Continue on....
(That said, I do find the current 3140s/50s to be the most exciting place to be in a very long time.)
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Once upon a time, TPTB planned a little time jump to 3250. People lost their damn minds and the project was scrapped at least in part due to the feedback
until now
I know the time jump was planned and scrapped or at least delayed. But seeing part of that in Second Succession War? Never expected that.
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Bring on 3250! Maybe it could become the new introductory rule set?
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Bring on 3250! Maybe it could become the new introductory rule set?
Cue can of worms being opened. :D :D
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Cue can of worms being opened. :D :D
Where else was this headed? :D
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I hope there is no time jump. There already was one and it took a while to get it all sorted out.
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With a time jump, please give us something akin to "The Road to 3250", giving us the broad strokes of the intervening time. I think (I hope) that would head off many of the complaints.
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If there were to be a "jump," CGL should tie in the upcoming BattleMech Manual and start the new timeline with a clean set of rules to go along with the cleaned up Inner Sphere ;)
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I don't think there will be a time jump. Not the one they had originally planned. i think were just going go small jumps like 20 years or something. IF they do that. We will find out, i just hope new products after ilClan don't take too long to come out.
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No, that brief bit is set in 3250, give or take. And while revealing, it may not make sense for a while.
(so, due to a paragraph, Second Succession War advances the timeline further than IlClan will)
And this single line has made me a very happy individual! Oh I know its not a complete confirmation and many things can still or still not happen....but it feels good to see 3250 being an official date :)
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In a desire to head off DOOOOOOOOOOM and rampaging rumor-as-truth, I'm going to point something out - the Dune novels famously used introductory snippets from in-universe documents from the future, despite the story never reaching the timeframe those documents were written in, and never following up the snippets in story. That the intro bit is set in 3250 has precisely nothing to do with moving the timeline on its own.
This right here. I loved those bits in the Dune books. The only thing the 2SW forward confirms is that the BTU exists in 3250, not that we're going there. at least not in the short term
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I hope there is no time jump. There already was one and it took a while to get it all sorted out.
The issue was that no one bothered to fill in the timeline back then for some reason.
Fortunately CGL has done good job afterwards filling the gaps. (There are still "gaps", a lot of the late Republic Era is untold but considering it was mostly time of peace, not much to tell, i think. But we have general timeline for that in any case.)
With a time jump, please give us something akin to "The Road to 3250", giving us the broad strokes of the intervening time. I think (I hope) that would head off many of the complaints.
And if there is time jump, i think this is what will happen. Something to fill stuff in.
Now, i'm too young to have been around when the Clans came but that was accompanied by a small time jump from (effectively) 3028 to 3049. But there was a book, "20-year update" (i think?) that filled in stuff. I'd expect something similar.
IF there is a time jump.
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Now, i'm too young to have been around when the Clans came but that was accompanied by a small time jump from (effectively) 3028 to 3049. But there was a book, "20-year update" (i think?) that filled in stuff. I'd expect something similar.
Yes, there was a book called 20 Year Update that carried us from 3030 (after 4th Succession War) to 3050 (just before the Clan Invasion).
Then later we got two Historicals, War of 3039 and Brush Wars, that described several major conflicts during those 20 years in detail.
So any jump would probably have something similar.
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Some news to share:
Catalyst Game Labs Announces New Leadership for BattleTech Line (http://bg.battletech.com/news/catalyst-game-labs-announces-new-leadership-for-battletech-line/)
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You're green.
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You're green.
Cost of doing business in the BattleTech News forum up above. I'm not the new leadership, but it's a name you'll recognize...
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Cost of doing business in the BattleTech News forum up above. I'm not the new leadership, but it's a name you'll recognize...
Ooooh, is it me?!? [drool]
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Some news to share:
Catalyst Game Labs Announces New Leadership for BattleTech Line (http://bg.battletech.com/news/catalyst-game-labs-announces-new-leadership-for-battletech-line/)
That cover [drool]
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Ooooh, is it me?!? [drool]
I knew there was an e-mail I meant to send before launching the announcement...
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So the Art Director is one of the guys who made that new picture happen, and his skill is now running the whole line. I'm fully aware that the two jobs are far from identical, but methinks this bodes well... :)
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Some news to share:
Catalyst Game Labs Announces New Leadership for BattleTech Line (http://bg.battletech.com/news/catalyst-game-labs-announces-new-leadership-for-battletech-line/)
Trial of possession between Stone and Alaric for Terra?
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Trial of possession between Stone and Alaric for Terra?
Yes. Adrian said months ago this is going to be ilClan cover
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I'm probably OK with it either way. Plenty of fun to be had right after the walls come down for sure, and I can't say I'd be disappointed at all to learn about that time.
However, a time jump could be a useful tool to address some of the less-fantastic elements of the game. That much time lets you hit the big, red history-erase-button on some elements if you want to. If you want to take advantage of that, we are looking at a significant production workload to update/replace all the books that would need updating. You could re-focus the weapon/tech lists, get rid of the crazy excesses of clan weapons, juggle the IS map around, kill-off/re-introduce warships. To do so would be a lot of work, and no matter how good the work was, it would be polarizing. However, if they are NOT planning to use a time jump to make those sorts of changes, what would be the point?
I think that would be about the only thing that WOULD be a disappointment to me: we get a time jump, but it isn't used to clean up some of the less-desirable stuff the system currently has to deal with.
EDIT: Gah! Should have read all those new posts before hitting 'Submit'! Congratulations to Brent, Ray, and Mary, and thanks to all of them for stepping up to the plate to help keep the franchise moving! Oh and that COVER...That is a circle of friggin' equals if ever I've seen one!
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Problem is, YOU think Clan weapons are excessive or less desirable while others do not . . . this is where a lot of the flap happened last time. Leave it alone . . .
A time jump can be important on its own as a way to adjust or just advance the narrative. Think back to your history classes . . . the periods of conflict were interesting, the lulls between not as much- after all this is BATTLEtech not PEACEtech. I do not expect we will be plunged into the next sphere wide war, but into the 5-10 years before as the powers maneuver to position themselves for their own goals or to defend from other's expected goals.
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Congradulations to Arrastia and Evens for their promotions!
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Problem is, YOU think Clan weapons are excessive or less desirable while others do not . . . this is where a lot of the flap happened last time. Leave it alone . . .
Thank you. I'm not a clan "defender." It doesn't need defending. I like what I like.
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Congradulations to Kaempen and Arrastia and Evens for their promotions!
Hear, hear!!
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Congratulations to Mr. Evans, Mr. Arrastia and Ms. Kaempen for the promotions! Hope for the best for the new products that will be coming. O0
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Problem is, YOU think Clan weapons are excessive or less desirable while others do not . . . this is where a lot of the flap happened last time. Leave it alone . . .
Oh, I know. Leaving that aside, really, how long do we expect people to keep building the exact same IS medium lasers? If I'm reading my intro dates correctly, they have been made with the same stats for about 850 years by the time 3150 rolls around. Do we really need to make it 950 years? Hasn't that been enough time for pretty much everyone to figure out how to make them just a wee bit better? Besides, I wasn't suggesting changing the stats on Clan weapons. I was suggesting abandoning all the Clan and IS weapons and simply having a new standard that everyone has moved to in 3250! That's WAAAAAY more drastic than what you were thinking!
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Oh, I know. Leaving that aside, really, how long do we expect people to keep building the exact same IS medium lasers? If I'm reading my intro dates correctly, they have been made with the same stats for about 850 years by the time 3150 rolls around. Do we really need to make it 950 years? Hasn't that been enough time for pretty much everyone to figure out how to make them just a wee bit better? Besides, I wasn't suggesting changing the stats on Clan weapons. I was suggesting abandoning all the Clan and IS weapons and simply having a new standard that everyone has moved to in 3250! That's WAAAAAY more drastic than what you were thinking!
I believe that was the tentative plan back when Herb first broached the subject of a time jump. And the response was, well...
Personally I like having a lot of weapons. Especially the quirky not-quite successful ones. It gives the game depth and it's realistic too, I mean, everyone would be looking at anything that would give them any sort of edge over their enemies, and not every idea will pan out.
That said, maybe it would be a good idea to pare down the number of weapons that are considered "Tournament Legal" and leave all the experimental stuff as "Advanced" rules.
Finally, whatever decisions TPTB make in regard to the time jump, I'm confident they'll do what's best for the game and the story.
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Thanks guys. As an FYI for those unaware, I'm Ray Arrastia, and Mary Kaempen goes by Orangwoman here.
Don't worry about 3250 folks. One thing at a time.
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Oh, I know. Leaving that aside, really, how long do we expect people to keep building the exact same IS medium lasers? If I'm reading my intro dates correctly, they have been made with the same stats for about 850 years by the time 3150 rolls around. Do we really need to make it 950 years? Hasn't that been enough time for pretty much everyone to figure out how to make them just a wee bit better? Besides, I wasn't suggesting changing the stats on Clan weapons. I was suggesting abandoning all the Clan and IS weapons and simply having a new standard that everyone has moved to in 3250! That's WAAAAAY more drastic than what you were thinking!
iirc the Third League Turning Points: Free Taiw St. Ives AFD product was hinting at what a flattened 3250 tech selection might look like and may or may not line up in some ways with what you're suggesting.
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You're green.
Cubby is my right-hand marketing/PR guy. If communications improves, you've him to thank. If they don't…my bad. :)
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Oh, I know. Leaving that aside, really, how long do we expect people to keep building the exact same IS medium lasers? If I'm reading my intro dates correctly, they have been made with the same stats for about 850 years by the time 3150 rolls around. Do we really need to make it 950 years? Hasn't that been enough time for pretty much everyone to figure out how to make them just a wee bit better? Besides, I wasn't suggesting changing the stats on Clan weapons. I was suggesting abandoning all the Clan and IS weapons and simply having a new standard that everyone has moved to in 3250! That's WAAAAAY more drastic than what you were thinking!
They did think how to make the Medium Laser better . . . its how we got IS/Clan ER Med Laser, IS/Clan Med Pulse Laser, X-Pulse Med Laser, VSP Med Laser, Heavy Medium Laser, RE Med Laser and Med Chem Lasers.
But just like I can take a .30-30 Winchester to the modern battlefield, it may not be the most effective thing (especially using vintage rounds) but it can still sort of due the job.
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Thanks guys. As an FYI for those unaware, I'm Ray Arrastia, and Mary Kaempen goes by Orangwoman here.
Don't worry about 3250 folks. One thing at a time.
Then congrats to you, and all the new PTBs. Looking forward to new stuff. O0
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Cubby is my right-hand marketing/PR guy. If communications improves, you've him to thank. If they don't…my bad. :)
So, if communications don't improve we have you to blame. Got it. ;D
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Don't worry about 3250 folks. One thing at a time.
*RAGE*
*PANIC*
*JUBILATION*
I think that should about cover it. 8)
[And congratulations to the new development leadership]
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*RAGE*
*PANIC*
*JUBILATION*
This forum's spirit animal is Kermit the Frog
(https://m.popkey.co/b07db7/DymEe.gif)
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Don't worry about 3250 folks. One thing at a time.
Agreed. Bring on IlClan, 2nd Succession War, the Tokasha Turning Points and a slew of Touring the Stars and Spotlight On items....there is much to celebrate!
Congrats to the new development team! My your reign be long and your enemies fall to your PPC fire!
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*RAGE*
*PANIC*
*JUBILATION*
I think that should about cover it. 8)
[And congratulations to the new development leadership]
You forgot:
*APATHY*
*GASSINESS*
*WELTSCHMERTZ*
*THAT FEELING YOU GET WHEN YOU'VE SEEN A CERTAIN ACTOR BEFORE BUT CAN'T PLACE WHERE*
*ELATION*
*NAUSEA*
*THE HEARTBREAK OF PSORIASIS*
*THE AGONY OF DEFEAT*
*THE AGONY OF DE FEET*
*THE AGONY OF DEE SNYDER*
If you experience any of these symptoms, please discontinue use and contact the Line Developer. Ask your FLGS if Time Skip is right for you. If you cannot afford Time Skip, AstraZeneca may be able to help. Ask if you qualify for the $5-per prescription plan.
:D
-- Oh, and a gigantic congratulations to the new Line Developer and Assistant Line Developer! O0
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Thanks guys. As an FYI for those unaware, I'm Ray Arrastia, and Mary Kaempen goes by Orangwoman here.
Don't worry about 3250 folks. One thing at a time.
So, about the next releases, ilClan and 2nd SW
Can you share any concrete news about them?
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So, about the next releases, ilClan and 2nd SW
Can you share any concrete news about them?
There's lots of Ferro-Concrete bunkers in both? ::)
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There's lots of Ferro-Concrete bunkers in both? ::)
Which will be flattened with thermonuclear warheads
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Which will be flattened with thermonuclear warheads
The great circle of Battletech life.
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The great circle of Battletech life.
*Disney music starts*
..The Circle of Liiiife..
(http://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/hydrogen.jpg)
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*Disney music starts*
..The Circle of Liiiife..
(http://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/hydrogen.jpg)
I don't normally chime in on a topic just to say that a particular post 'wins', but this post wins.
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Congrats and well done to all the upgraded Powers That Be O0
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I am curious to what the starter products are slated to arrive on shelves that will delight newbs and veterans alike.
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Fantastic news, both regarding "new" personell, ilClan coming during the year, the art in that announcement post, and...
..."Evans and Arrastia will also focus on bringing all-new introductory BattleTech products to store shelves which are guaranteed to excite both longtime fans and newcomers alike."
Well played! O0
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this is a good focus
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Some good news.
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Some news to share:
Catalyst Game Labs Announces New Leadership for BattleTech Line (http://bg.battletech.com/news/catalyst-game-labs-announces-new-leadership-for-battletech-line/)
I guess I'll be the first to say it: my condolences, good luck. :D O0
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Congratulations to the new development team!!!
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I guess I'll be the first to say it: my condolences, good luck. :D O0
Nope, the staff knew before you guys and condolences were plentiful ;)
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I'm excited to hear about the staffing changes. I'm looking forward to see what the new energy in these positions brings to the game. The releases the last few years have been great already. There's a lot of good momentum and there are great people in the driver's seat. Keep it up!
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Good luck, guys.
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As someone getting into the boardgame-side of Battletech, I'm excited to see what new products are coming out for us newbies!
Good luck guys!
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Congratulations on the promotions to all concerned.
Love the look of the upcoming products and think the time jump (if it happens) will be good for the line done correctly, which I'd expect it to be.
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AS Starter Box . . . ?
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AS Starter Box . . . ?
Not in development.
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Well, the tease of exciting new products for newbs & vets alike makes me think of Classic plastics . . . AS Starter Box would do that, I guess Classic Lance Packs would too.
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I'm trying to figure out how to ask this in a way that will let our new robot overlords answer without being so vague as to be pointless. Here goes...
As the line developers, are you reviewing/revising the current strategy of products and plot points, or are you more focused on getting current projects in the pipeline finished off? Also, how far out, in real-world-time, would you say it will be before any strategy decisions you are now able to make will show up in a product? Put a different way, when do you think we will see a release that is truly a product of Ray/Brent leadership? Is that the new introductory products?
I'm trying not to ask what products you are working on, but rather trying to get an idea of what the official change of developers means to the continuation of current plans as opposed to any changes in direction that Ray and Brent will be driving. What is it that these guys can now do 'their way' that they couldn't before? What decisions are they going to have to make now that Randall would have been making before?
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That's very, very difficult to answer.
But I can say, for what it's worth, I am reviewing the current status of the line and planning new strategies. What can we do that we haven't before? They main change is we have time to devote to the line that Randall couldn't. And while I've been working behind the scenes for years, this official recognition should get me more traction extenally, with staff, freelancers and the like.
But if you mean, do we have the ability to revive a product that was shelved—for example—then no, not without offering new solutions.
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I just have one question for the new leadership: Will we see an increase, or a decrease in catgirls?
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And while I've been working behind the scenes for years, this official recognition should get me more traction extenally, with staff, freelancers and the like.
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/aa/aaa9053346fd4b42154e88e29c55ad1b14c0fbf5420d3bdac530d41a1fc24a32.jpg)
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I just have one question for the new leadership: Will we see an increase, or a decrease in catgirls?
Its 2017. We should be looking forward to catwomen.
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Actually catfemales . . .
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I just have one question for the new leadership: Will we see an increase, or a decrease in catgirls?
To Canopus with you *shakes fist*!
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Can we please stop gendering catpeople?
And stop felining animalpeople from the Canopian region?
#notallFrobishers
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I have been playing this game since 1986, iirc, and have some questions, and yes this is the ramblings of an older man
1) There was a time when books came out often enough to keep the interest and while we have small PDFs every now and then, when will you start doing more coherent releases. I like crunch and fluff, but all I see are these tiny PDFs about worlds that mean nearly nothing to me, and I would suppose others. Can we get books that have more meaning more often?
2) Can we get a product like the cardboard pawns used by Pathfinder? I do love the miniatures, but find them expensive considering all my other hobbies and find it would be a quicker and way to get other people into the game also.
3) Don't do a reset in the game, too much invested into it for over 30 years and it wouldn't solve anything, IMO.
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I do not know if I should congratulate or question the sanity of Ray and Co. for taking on the responsibility, but good for them.
Now can celebrate with the release of 2nd War please.
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2) Can we get a product like the cardboard pawns used by Pathfinder? I do love the miniatures, but find them expensive considering all my other hobbies and find it would be a quicker and way to get other people into the game also.
While I disagree with points 1 and 3, this would just be... the best.
The.
Best.
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The 2nd war book is out now?
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I have been playing this game since 1986, iirc, and have some questions, and yes this is the ramblings of an older man
1) There was a time when books came out often enough to keep the interest and while we have small PDFs every now and then, when will you start doing more coherent releases. I like crunch and fluff, but all I see are these tiny PDFs about worlds that mean nearly nothing to me, and I would suppose others. Can we get books that have more meaning more often?
2) Can we get a product like the cardboard pawns used by Pathfinder? I do love the miniatures, but find them expensive considering all my other hobbies and find it would be a quicker and way to get other people into the game also.
3) Don't do a reset in the game, too much invested into it for over 30 years and it wouldn't solve anything, IMO.
Eh...personally I love the Touring the Stars and all the other little bits they release as PDF only, they're great little snacks. (Plus the TtS are just hilarious.) But I get how not everyone would find them so interesting.
Hopefully now that we again have a full time Line Dev (and Assistant Line Dev) we can look forward to everyone being more regular.
The 2nd war book is out now?
Say what? And where?
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My only complaint about the bite sized PDF products?
That I want more of them!!
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I don't see it on the catalyst store, so not likely for now I guess... anyone get something different??
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Hopefully now that we again have a full time Line Dev (and Assistant Line Dev) we can look forward to everyone being more regular.
Not sure how having full timers gets us more fiber unless everyone starts eating DTF products after they finish reading them.
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When I eat breakfast, I make sure to have a bowl of Interstellar Operations in the morning. Then I KNOW I will start the day off right.
But... for days I am feeling... not so fresh, I break out the Shadowrun handbook for that extra kick in the pants. That REALLY gets me a going by lunchtime. Go go rocket ***!
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The 2nd war book is out now?
Camospecs set this as their banner on their facebook page today
(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18815400_1907207362886989_2150720357862762912_o.jpg?oh=d83d73cd726aa4d35859cf0f67c11f98&oe=599E5921)
So I guess it's coming... soon™?
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soon™?
(http://download.gamezone.com/uploads/image/data/1187205/article_post_width_Space_BALLS.JPG)
Or?
(http://www.animal-space.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/soon-26114.jpg)
Paul
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With new book coming out, do you think they'll post new pictures of minis on CSO main page?
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No new minis on CSO due to a website issue. The site needs rewritten and is being worked on.
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Until CSO is back up & running...follow them on Facebook. They've just posted some recent pics by Psycho with the Quasimodo and others.
https://www.facebook.com/camospecs
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Not sure how having full timers gets us more fiber unless everyone starts eating DTF products after they finish reading them.
Just go Vegan. Let the developers focus on making books. Not repairing digestive tracts.
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Gogogadget Free Worlds Guards Thunderbolt!
I for one am not going to bug anyone about timelines or new products. I can't afford what I want at this point, so begging for me doesn't exactly do me any good anyway. And besides, now I've got a new target to dig up blackmail material on so as to get Brush Wars 2: Electric Boogaloo back into production...
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Thanks for the reply Ray. I was pretty sure the answer about when we would start seeing the influence from Brent and yourself was somewhere between, 'we already work here, so now,' and , 'we don't announce dates until a product is out.' Your actual answer was better than I expected. The answer about hdedicating time makes a huge amount of sense to me as well. Glad to hear we won't have to time share quite as much!
Oh, and I had a good one for the catgirls...if a bunch of cross-dressing catfolk formed a band, would it be the trans-canopian orchestra? Well, was thought it was good anyway.
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And besides, now I've got a new target to dig up blackmail material on so as to get Brush Wars 2: Electric Boogaloo back into production...
That was published, as Wars of the Republic Era. The name change was to make more clear what the product was about.
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That was published, as Wars of the Republic Era. The name change was to make more clear what the product was about.
No, there was to be another one, covering Guerrero, the Dominion/Combine War, and one other conflict (St. Ives?) IIRC.
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When were the "IlClan Cometh" pictures taken on the Facebook page? (I don't do Facebook, so i can't ask there.)
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No, there was to be another one, covering Guerrero, the Dominion/Combine War, and one other conflict (St. Ives?) IIRC.
That was published, as Wars of the Republic Era. The name change was to make more clear what the product was about.
Yeah, Wars of the Republic Era was basically Brush Wars 3 wasn't it? It's a shame we didn't get the other one, would have liked to see the stuff about Op: Guerrero.
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(http://download.gamezone.com/uploads/image/data/1187205/article_post_width_Space_BALLS.JPG)
Or?
(http://www.animal-space.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/soon-26114.jpg)
Paul
How Soon is Now? (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OztC_7nkAd8)
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No, there was to be another one, covering Guerrero, the Dominion/Combine War, and one other conflict (St. Ives?) IIRC.
Oh, duh. You're right. My apologies.
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When were the "IlClan Cometh" pictures taken on the Facebook page? (I don't do Facebook, so i can't ask there.)
Yesterday I think
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The book could come out 5 seconds from now and it still wouldn't be soon enough.
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No, there was to be another one, covering Guerrero, the Dominion/Combine War, and one other conflict (St. Ives?) IIRC.
(Deep, heavy sigh)
This is correct, and the third conflict was the St. Ives War, and I know this because I was contracted to write that section and have had the completed 17,000 words of it sitting on my DropBox for almost four years. (Let the record show I made my deadline of 31 August 2013 with time to spare, after a week's worth of 2 am nights and 5 Hour Energys.)
Last fall, I starting reaching out to experienced BT contributors to gauge the interest in finishing the book, and got as far as e-mailing Randall to see if I could resurrect the project, but never even got an answer.
There's a new developer team in town, so maybe it's time to resurrect the resurrection pitch...
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I'd love a book about the St. Ives War. Turning Points, part of a Bush Wars, works for me either way.
I think i've said this before.
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has anything meaningful on guerrero ever been published? I'd like to read about all three of those conflicts
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How Soon is Now? (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OztC_7nkAd8)
I'm glad that I wasn't the only one who thought of that.
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I'd love a book about the St. Ives War. Turning Points, part of a Bush Wars, works for me either way.
I think i've said this before.
You have, and you're not alone.
I'd point out though that I'm more interested in finding a way to do the original book. Converting what I've got into a Turning Points product would be almost as much work as writing it in the first place was. It's written along the lines of the original Brush Wars, or Wars of the Republic Era. Turning Points are very different products.
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I'd point out though that I'm more interested in finding a way to do the original book. Converting what I've got into a Turning Points product would be almost as much work as writing it in the first place was. It's written along the lines of the original Brush Wars, or Wars of the Republic Era. Turning Points are very different products.
Would be great to have it such format! I liked Brush Wars and Wars of the Republic Era.
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Congratulations to the new Developers and good luck.
I've been away fighting the reconquest. What's all this about the 3250 time jump?
P.S. Please for the love of god bring back the printed map packs.
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(Deep, heavy sigh)
This is correct, and the third conflict was the St. Ives War, and I know this because I was contracted to write that section and have had the completed 17,000 words of it sitting on my DropBox for almost four years. (Let the record show I made my deadline of 31 August 2013 with time to spare, after a week's worth of 2 am nights and 5 Hour Energys.)
Last fall, I starting reaching out to experienced BT contributors to gauge the interest in finishing the book, and got as far as e-mailing Randall to see if I could resurrect the project, but never even got an answer.
There's a new developer team in town, so maybe it's time to resurrect the resurrection pitch...
Please please please do...I've literally written several times in threads over the past decade about how much I would love to see a Historical: Brush Wars II covering exactly those three conflicts, so to find out that it's actually a possibility has me pretty elated.
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(Deep, heavy sigh)
This is correct, and the third conflict was the St. Ives War, and I know this because I was contracted to write that section and have had the completed 17,000 words of it sitting on my DropBox for almost four years. (Let the record show I made my deadline of 31 August 2013 with time to spare, after a week's worth of 2 am nights and 5 Hour Energys.)
Last fall, I starting reaching out to experienced BT contributors to gauge the interest in finishing the book, and got as far as e-mailing Randall to see if I could resurrect the project, but never even got an answer.
There's a new developer team in town, so maybe it's time to resurrect the resurrection pitch...
You can't hear it, but I'm breaking glass with my squee-ing right now. Reading about the Confederation-Compact war in the "Capellan Solution" duology is what cemented my fascination with the Confederation.
I would looooooooooooooove to have deeper info on that conflict.
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Originally, the Absorption War (Spirits/Adders/Burrocks) was supposed to be covered too. Don't get me wrong, I'd be super-stoked about getting more on GUERRERO-- Hell, I'd absolutely love to write about GUERRERO -- but enough of the information in FM:CC about the Absorption War is missing or contradictory that it's. . . kind of a mess.
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Note to self: Refreshing the Catalyst Store every five minutes will not make the IlClan or 2nd SW come any faster.
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Brush Wars was one of the best and most useful products outside of FedCom Civil War when looking for scenarios as far as I was concerned. I'd dearly love to see a Brush Wars II even if only as a PDF/POD item.
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(Deep, heavy sigh)
This is correct, and the third conflict was the St. Ives War, and I know this because I was contracted to write that section and have had the completed 17,000 words of it sitting on my DropBox for almost four years. (Let the record show I made my deadline of 31 August 2013 with time to spare, after a week's worth of 2 am nights and 5 Hour Energys.)
Last fall, I starting reaching out to experienced BT contributors to gauge the interest in finishing the book, and got as far as e-mailing Randall to see if I could resurrect the project, but never even got an answer.
There's a new developer team in town, so maybe it's time to resurrect the resurrection pitch...
I've been hoping for the resurrection of that book for a long time. I always felt sorry for the guy that got assigned Guerrero.
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Originally, the Absorption War (Spirits/Adders/Burrocks) was supposed to be covered too. Don't get me wrong, I'd be super-stoked about getting more on GUERRERO-- Hell, I'd absolutely love to write about GUERRERO -- but enough of the information in FM:CC about the Absorption War is missing or contradictory that it's. . . kind of a mess.
It's a book i'd really like to see, it'd be even better with the Absorption War in it as well as the other three conflicts.
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Put me down for also wanting to see Brush Wars II and more details about Operation Guerrero, The First Ghost Bear - Combine War and the St. Ives Conflict.
Then please make Brush Wars IV that tells us about the Absorption War, the Dragoons Civil War, the Falcon-Viper War and maybe some details on Ghost Bears taking worlds from Clan Wolf and Clan Hell's Horses....you could call it Clan Wars :)
That would give us coverage, in detail, of almost every major action during the Clan Invasion and Civil War eras.
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Well, if there's a Brush Wars: Clan Wars, I'd definitely like to see the Refusal War in there too.
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Well, if there's a Brush Wars: Clan Wars, I'd definitely like to see the Refusal War in there too.
The falcon and the wolf is probably the final word on that.
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Originally, the Absorption War (Spirits/Adders/Burrocks) was supposed to be covered too.
Only if it was part of initial discussions about the book. The original solicitation we saw was for Guerrero, Combine-GB 1, and St. Ives.
Please please please do...I've literally written several times in threads over the past decade about how much I would love to see a Historical: Brush Wars II covering exactly those three conflicts, so to find out that it's actually a possibility has me pretty elated.
Will do. With a heavy emphasis on possibility. It was a Herb project that went defunct after his departure, so I have no idea whether they or the previously-assigned writers have any interest in taking it up again. All I can do is ask.
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Only if it was part of initial discussions about the book. The original solicitation we saw was for Guerrero, Combine-GB 1, and St. Ives.
Will do. With a heavy emphasis on possibility. It was a Herb project that went defunct after his departure, so I have no idea whether they or the previously-assigned writers have any interest in taking it up again. All I can do is ask.
Seems like a product that could cross promote with MWO.
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Only if it was part of initial discussions about the book. The original solicitation we saw was for Guerrero, Combine-GB 1, and St. Ives.
Will do. With a heavy emphasis on possibility. It was a Herb project that went defunct after his departure, so I have no idea whether they or the previously-assigned writers have any interest in taking it up again. All I can do is ask.
If not, can we start a petition to at least get your portion out as a PDF then? ;D
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has anything meaningful on guerrero ever been published? I'd like to read about all three of those conflicts
Era report:3062 is probably the best source but the details there are very scant.
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has anything meaningful on guerrero ever been published? I'd like to read about all three of those conflicts
The best source I can find is the Shattered Sphere sourebook, it gives a couple paragraph summary of the invasion and shows what planets were hit with what.
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The best source I can find is the Shattered Sphere sourebook, it gives a couple paragraph summary of the invasion and shows what planets were hit with what.
That and FM:FWL, but there are a couple of inconsistencies between the two (and even internally!). I found that out when I started doing research for a fan-Historical on GUERRERO.
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The Field Manual: Free Worlds League and Capellan one have some details on the invasion. Not alot it's broken up between regiments etc .
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I'd love a book about the St. Ives War. Turning Points, part of a Bush Wars, works for me either way.
I think i've said this before.
You already got a St. Ives Turning Point! And it was a bargain! [madflame]
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You already got a St. Ives Turning Point! And it was a bargain! [madflame]
Why do you offer us only 15-20% ? ....
;)
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I have been playing this game since 1986, iirc, and have some questions, and yes this is the ramblings of an older man
OK. And now another older man who's been playing since 1986 will throw in his worthless two cents. Brace yourself :)
1) There was a time when books came out often enough to keep the interest and while we have small PDFs every now and then, when will you start doing more coherent releases. I like crunch and fluff, but all I see are these tiny PDFs about worlds that mean nearly nothing to me, and I would suppose others. Can we get books that have more meaning more often?
CGL doesn't announce release dates because if they miss them people freak out. They used to announce them, but they missed a few release dates because of things out of CGL's control, and there was mass panic about the line dying.
One response to the near constant doom and gloom and panic mongering was the release of the smaller PDF products to reassure us all that yes, things are still going along, and no, the line isn't dead yet. The bigger books are still on the schedule, these smaller PDFs are just appetizers until the entrees arrive.
2) Can we get a product like the cardboard pawns used by Pathfinder? I do love the miniatures, but find them expensive considering all my other hobbies and find it would be a quicker and way to get other people into the game also.
They're not official but I think Sartis and Pryde Rock Industries have some cardboard standups for the newer TROs. (I've never seen the pathfinder pawns so I don't know how these standups compare.) But there might be overlap between these pawns and Iron Wind Metals Minis or the plastic minis that CGL is selling. I mean maybe selling pawns would cannibalize sales from the minis, which may be a bad idea.
Since this is supposed to be about the new products, have you seen the First Succession War book? Freaking awesome. And I still can't wait to get TRO: IrregularTech. Seeing how a minor faction armed itself is going to give me all sorts of new ideas for equipping militia units.
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I'd be happy (TRO wise anyways) either book comes out. Irregular will add more units for 3132 and beyond till mech production ramps up. Plus if for those rare players who does roleplaying to enhance their campaign, this would the go-to book for that sort stuff! Golden Century also will be awesome book, i still still sad that NuClassics won't be included in the book (last time i check they weren't. Not complaining). There going be some interesting things in it. Including (i hope) last of the "Faction First" WarShips (this time for the Clans).
I think they should go back to putting record sheets in the books so there no lag time on them. I know they make their money keeping them separated but i know there issue with production of such. I thinking its best keep them all in one, it's worth the money. I know it's pain TRO:3145-Series PDFs was some, but i highly valued having the record sheets in those books to play right away.
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I have been playing this game since 1986, iirc, and have some questions, and yes this is the ramblings of an older man
OK. And now another older man who's been playing since 1986 will throw in his worthless two cents. Brace yourself :)
You know, it's kind of incendiary to characterize the opinions of someone who's played since the 1980s as "worthless".
Especially when the opinions of someone who's played for that long "clearly" have more gravitas than those of someone who only started 10 or even 20 years ago.
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They're not official but I think Sartis and Pryde Rock Industries have some cardboard standups for the newer TROs. (I've never seen the pathfinder pawns so I don't know how these standups compare.) But there might be overlap between these pawns and Iron Wind Metals Minis or the plastic minis that CGL is selling. I mean maybe selling pawns would cannibalize sales from the minis, which may be a bad idea.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=53689.0
I know they're not what bblaney was requesting in the order of Pathfinder Pawns (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uYz2teheIUM/Tqm0Mu16cSI/AAAAAAAAB64/9k1F66kPJ2I/s1600/Goblins%2521.JPG), but I've never been the "make things pretty with a computer" guy. We'd need a revival of the old BattleTech Reinforcements (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleTech_Reinforcements) product for that.
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I'm surprised to see the interest in pawns. I like them and I have boxes for battletech that have them (early aughts?).
But my gut reading of the forum is that people dismissed them. Is the hobby changing on this?
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Is there market for cardboard, I'd love them used so players could have mechs or other units. Cost of printing them should be less than minis. Maybe they should try doing 3D cardboard figures if their worried about 2D looking too boring.
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Is there market for cardboard, I'd love them used so players could have mechs or other units. Cost of printing them should be less than minis. Maybe they should try doing 3D cardboard figures if their worried about 2D looking too boring.
Who needs a market, the Cardboard Mechs are out there on the web as a GIF, JPG, PDF, just take it to kinkos, print and cut.
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My first Battletech boxed set was Citytech second edition. I got the plastic clan tech minis. I wasn't lucky enough to get a third edition battletech boxed set. I've got most everything battletech has ever printed. But I was super young at the time.
My first regular battletech boxed set was 4th edition and it came with the card board cut outs. I was really, really disappointed.
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You know, it's kind of incendiary to characterize the opinions of someone who's played since the 1980s as "worthless".
Especially when the opinions of someone who's played for that long "clearly" have more gravitas than those of someone who only started 10 or even 20 years ago.
I think he was referring to the remainder of his own post with that comment.
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I'm surprised to see the interest in pawns. I like them and I have boxes for battletech that have them (early aughts?).
But my gut reading of the forum is that people dismissed them. Is the hobby changing on this?
Is there a market for them in the hobby in general? Probably not. The hobby seems to expect high-quality plastic these days.
Is there a market for them in Battletech? Heck yes. The lance packs are difficult to find and represent a fraction of the available units and the IWM metal minis, while excellent, are more expensive and equally slow to come by.
Besides, Battletech has never *needed* 3D minis if played on hex maps.
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Why do you offer us only 15-20% ? ....
;)
It's my nature.
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You know, it's kind of incendiary to characterize the opinions of someone who's played since the 1980s as "worthless".
Especially when the opinions of someone who's played for that long "clearly" have more gravitas than those of someone who only started 10 or even 20 years ago.
Apologies. That wasn't my intention at all. I was trying to convey that I, as another old man who rambles, wanted to answer the questions.
If I came across as a condescending jerk, I apologize.
For the record, I don't think my posts have any more gravitas than anyone else's posts. In fact I'd say they have a lot less.
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Is there a market for them in the hobby in general? Probably not. The hobby seems to expect high-quality plastic these days.
Is there a market for them in Battletech? Heck yes. The lance packs are difficult to find and represent a fraction of the available units and the IWM metal minis, while excellent, are more expensive and equally slow to come by.
Besides, Battletech has never *needed* 3D minis if played on hex maps.
The Pathfinder pawns seem to be popular.
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It's my nature.
Note to self, do not accept river crossing offer from Kit.
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Note to self, do not accept river crossing offer from Kit.
Didn't know he was a Goliath Scorpion... :o
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I like using minis if I've got them, but honestly a good sheet of cardboard or even card stock with quality art that requires near-zero assembly and no painting has some appeal to it as well. The cost of minis is probably the biggest expense getting into BattleTech. Rulebooks and TRO's aren't cheap, but you can save some bones and buy the PDF versions, and really, you can just get the recordsheets and skip the TRO if you are on a budget.
The paper stand-up's that Sartris put together are, in my opinion, a fabulous idea and I think they should become an official resource. Sure players COULD use legos, or meeples, or carefully arranged dryer lint as proxies, but having actual art of the mech on a little paper tri-fold stand-up is, in my opinion, a more fun way to play on the cheap. Heck, the art for most units is out there for free thanks to the MUL, so it isn't like it would be giving something away that isn't out there already.
Also, it gives players a way to try a much wider variety of units at home while still providing some thematic feel. Maybe it's just me, but even though I actually like the minis this game has to offer and have spent considerable amounts of money on them, I don't always want to build and paint another mini just to be able to play with it. I'm perfectly fine with requiring official minis at tournaments and Con games, but for the folks interested in getting in to the game, or those who don't have the money to do the mini collecting side of things, I think having printable sheets of all the units with record sheets would be fantastic. I'm not sure about nicer quality cardboard pawns (I think there are too many units in the game to cover economically), but if released, I might buy some. I like high-quality minis as much as the next guy, but for the game system's benefit, having a cheap path for new or less dedicated players to use more of the huge variety of units we have available seems like a good thing to have.
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For the record, I don't think my posts have any more gravitas than anyone else's posts. In fact I'd say they have a lot less.
How does "Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out" sound as a custom title? ;)
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The Pathfinder pawns seem to be popular.
Superb point, thank you.
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How does "Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out" sound as a custom title? ;)
So says the man with so much Gravitas, a planet has formed around him....... :))
Craig
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Hey! I'm losing weight! Kerbal managed to get some pictures of my dark side last week ...
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How does "Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out" sound as a custom title? ;)
You are the wind beneath my wings.
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You are the wind beneath my wings.
I so wanted to make funny remark "I'm the Flak guns beneath your wings" but i'll be good. :)) ::) . o O (not fan of that song...)
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i want to give a congrats to MAry for being the new demo team person. Congrats to her for that job.
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How does "Stood Far Back When The Gravitas Was Handed Out" sound as a custom title? ;)
It sounds like a ship name from The Culture novels.
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I believe that's exactly what it is.
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Hey! I'm losing weight! Kerbal managed to get some pictures of my dark side last week ...
Just...ew. #P
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OK. And now another older man who's been playing since 1986 will throw in his worthless two cents. Brace yourself :)
So hoping you're making a joke.
Because I am not one of those 'older' players that is stuck in 3025.
I have been faithfully buying their products since I can remember, the only ones I have shied away from are the mini-pdf's.
BTech was one of the only games I still played while overseas in the military in the 90's.
I like the XTRO's, well mostly.
But smaller books don't truly interest me.
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http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=53689.0
I know they're not what bblaney was requesting in the order of Pathfinder Pawns (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uYz2teheIUM/Tqm0Mu16cSI/AAAAAAAAB64/9k1F66kPJ2I/s1600/Goblins%2521.JPG), but I've never been the "make things pretty with a computer" guy. We'd need a revival of the old BattleTech Reinforcements (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/BattleTech_Reinforcements) product for that.
Thanks
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I am a big fan of those Papertech counters. They are really well done. My own efforts to reduce the need for minis ended up repurposing MegaMek art for top-down counters, kind if like how the LOS diagrams work in the rulebooks.
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I am a big fan of those Papertech counters. They are really well done. My own efforts to reduce the need for minis ended up repurposing MegaMek art for top-down counters, kind if like how the LOS diagrams work in the rulebooks.
I was thinking of doing that and laminating them. If were cost effective and would sell, Papertech would solve some problems for "Ready-Made" products. Honestly, Lance Packs are fine when the new player knows they really like the game that they will throw couple hundred dollars getting sizeable core of miniatures to enjoy the game more.
Back to the what coming next them of this thread...Love that IlClan cover art they showed on promotion of the staff received.
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Ie. mbear was referring to himself, not anybody else, when he said "worthless two cents".
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So no big release on June 6th??
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So no big release on June 6th??
Word is that Myndo Waterly will have a rather large release, but you're a millennium early.
Otherwise I'm happy with how things are looking. A couple of major books, a change in developers, a chance of a tease from the 33rd Century....
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On a totally unrelated note, who can I thank for my new and unexpected title? I don't remember putting that there.
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On a totally unrelated note, who can I thank for my new and unexpected title? I don't remember putting that there.
This guy. (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56756.msg1328982#msg1328982)
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So no big release on June 6th??
A whole bunch of Errata!
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Good to read that Randall finally got the support he has needed.
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Hopefully now that we again have a full time Line Dev (and Assistant Line Dev) we can look forward to everyone being more regular.
Ray et al., do you have digestive problems? Did Randall before he finally bequeathed the position to you? Is he better now?
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Maybe it means they'll be putting out a lot of good **** over the next few years? :))
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The paper stand-up's that Sartris put together are, in my opinion, a fabulous idea and I think they should become an official resource.
You know what's also neat about cardboard cut-outs? You can actually print them scale to the map, instead of at the huge 1/285 wargaming scale the standard minis are at, or the 1/500 scale the BattleForce minis are at. Give people a proper impression of how big hexes are compared to the units. I did that myself before I had proper minis, and then, went to kitbashing something close to fix that scale itch that I personally have. (I don't believe it's contagious, but if you're concerned you'll catch it, you might want to keep your distance. ;) )
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Ray et al., do you have digestive problems? Did Randall before he finally bequeathed the position to you? Is he better now?
No. Randall and I both get migraines, I expect Brent does as well. Sleep is also an issue.
I carry around a bottle of ibuprofen and 5-hour energy drinks.
Maybe it means they'll be putting out a lot of good **** over the next few years? :))
;D
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The maniacal laughter smiley does not instill confidence
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Perhaps I misread the context, but I read it as a response to the digestive problems. :)
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Perhaps I misread the context, but I read it as a response to the digestive problems. :)
Bit of both. I figure, sometimes you get a slow time, but it's okay. This too shall pass.
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Kanas, you forgot to put a Marauder in the background of your avatar ;)
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We've posted up the fan-suggested mercenary names (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57778.0) for Second Succession War.
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Saw this on Twitter. While none of my suggestions made it in, I congratulate those folks who got their unit names in.
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That's pretty cool.
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Congrats to the folks who's unit names made the list, there are some really good ones on it.
Mary’s Little LAMs
;D O0
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Those are some great unit names
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And they all were going to get killed.
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You'll ruin the surprise! ;D
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I'm so happy that one of my suggestions made the list. Brings a tear to the eye.
(By the way, is there a good place for us to post the "Behind the scenes" stories on our submissions? Some of them do have tales to tell)
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The background fluff on both those that made it to the list and those that did not would good.
In Deadborder's (aka Alex Fauth's) case, "I'm excited" ^-^
For the non-Aussie forumites who are scratching their heads - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McQuay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_McQuay)
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I'm so happy that one of my suggestions made the list. Brings a tear to the eye.
(By the way, is there a good place for us to post the "Behind the scenes" stories on our submissions? Some of them do have tales to tell)
DM me the info, or e-mail it to me at aaroncahall@gmail.com. Please keep all submissions to 350-400 words. I know that's not much, but if I'm going to combine all of these into anything manageable, I can't handle a 55,000 word short story.
However, no restrictions on format--send me a fiction snippet, an org chart, one notable battle, whatever--variety is good.
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SOme of those names are great. I hope to see some of them in a book.
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Wonder if the MWO player units that got in (recognise ACES, OOSK and ISEN) realise what fates they signed up for.
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Cyc, you will probably cringe when you hear the origin of the "Walker's Thunderbolts" name I suggested
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What do you mean the ground still glows at night? My mary/gary stu unit always survives!
Wonder if the MWO player units that got in (recognise ACES, OOSK and ISEN) realise what fates they signed up for.
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Cyc, you will probably cringe when you hear the origin of the "Walker's Thunderbolts" name I suggested
Have something to do with a special piece of equipment in the Lewis & Clark expedition? :)
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I'm so happy that one of my suggestions made the list. Brings a tear to the eye.
(By the way, is there a good place for us to post the "Behind the scenes" stories on our submissions? Some of them do have tales to tell)
Note, not a PTB here, but a word of caution from an old hand.
Anything that becomes canon has to be fact-checked, and - most importantly - reviewed for compatability. That means that the fluff not only has to comply with all existing canon fact, allowing for changes over time, but also for planned or in-progress product, and for (for want of a better word) excess munchiness.
We had this issue with the RS:UM submissions - there were many potentially good designs where the background fluff would make a Mary Stu blush in shame. For a hypothetical example, background where an overweight, elderly Compliance manager challenged a Clan Elemental to an unaugumented trial for a Galaxy of Dire Wolves, and wins by virtue of his knowledge of the works of E.C. Tubb, just ain't going to get off the ground. (Not that any of the RS:UM got quite that far; but there were ones that Herb and Randall just pushed back with the sort of "nuh-huh" I wasn't going to argue with ;) )
So, without preventing Cubby from doing something with it, you may prefer to think of it like the BattleCorps Legion stories that used to be available on BC.com - the Legion was canon, certain characters & events listed in canon products are canon (yes, by virtue of Welshman that's become Major Al-Hawad's Grand Titan 13M rocking it Sulu-style in JHS:Terra O0 ), but individual stories - like the infernos in Tiny Town arc - are fan stories until proven otherwise.
So all power to Cubby's elbow, and enjoy the glow O0
W.
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Note that the only thing canonized here are the names.
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We've posted up the fan-suggested mercenary names (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57778.0) for Second Succession War.
>2825
I don't recommend anyone to hire Damage Inc. They were good once, but their best Mechwarrior (an amazing Orion pilot!) died in a bizarre accident and their second best left to form his own merc unit. Today they are just a shadow of their former self, not adapted to the current needs of modern battlefields. And they complain too much about money!
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yes, by virtue of Welshman that's become Major Al-Hawad's Grand Titan 13M rocking it Sulu-style in JHS:Terra O0
Oh myyyyyyyyy
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So anything on the docket to be released today? I need my BattleTech fix :)
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Not today.
A week or sooner.
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Not today.
A week or sooner.
So about the time Origins starts? Excellent! I can wait...I will just be a bit twitchy until then ;)
Also gives me time to stock up on rad pills and extra shielding for when the 2nd Succession War comes.
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I have the perfect first trailer for Second Succession War -- This one... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60) :D
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Need a TRO that has Sea Fox and Snow Raven Omni fighters. or just fighters. using some pretty old frames these days.
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I have the perfect first trailer for Second Succession War -- This one... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60) :D
I remember being taught that when I lived in Chicago, a long long time ago. "Even a newspaper is some protection against the flash." And CD signs on the church hall.
Yeah, some things we can live without, thank you very much.
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Need a TRO that has Sea Fox and Snow Raven Omni fighters. or just fighters. using some pretty old frames these days.
Absolutely this.
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Absolutely this.
Always want more TROS
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Always want more TROS
O0 O0
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TROs are always nice, but gotta say I love the fluffy, lore books. Why I am chomping at the bit for 2nd Succession War and IlClan. I need some new fake history to learn LOL
Speaking of Aerospace Units, has the idea of Alpha Strike cards for dropships, jumpships and warships been shelved?
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TROs are always nice, but gotta say I love the fluffy, lore books. Why I am chomping at the bit for 2nd Succession War and IlClan. I need some new fake history to learn LOL
Speaking of Aerospace Units, has the idea of Alpha Strike cards for dropships, jumpships and warships been shelved?
I hope not. If we get Alpha Strike for black navy games, I'll buy the entire FWLN.
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SLN. Why buy a single meal when you can stock up a full pantry?
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I can see myself painting 40 warships -- I did it for Battlefleet Gothic, I can do it for BattleTech -- but several hundred? That'll take too long.
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Several hundred, bah. We've barely got more than a hundred canonized so far.
Besides, just think of it as your Great Work. :)
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You gents have a similar plan to my own. I plan on buying a huge fleet of dropships, jumpships and warships to escort the regiments of mechs, fighters, vehicles, etc I have been building.
Kurita...INNNNN SPAAAAAAACCCCCEEEEEEEEE!
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Speaking of Aerospace Units, has the idea of Alpha Strike cards for dropships, jumpships and warships been shelved?
From the discussions in the past few months in the AS part of the forums, I would say there have been a couple projects that have taken priority. There have been some pretty significant changes to Artillery, Point Value calculations, and even Aerospace movement. I'm fairly certain those changes have been eating up all available time from the folks who have been spending time working on AS projects. Luckily, all of those except the PV changes are out now with the most recent errata release. That should leave some room to start working on different things, but I have no idea if statting out black-navy assets for the MUL is something that might get picked up or not.
I think one of the big holdups, at least for Warships, is that I don't believe there is a published card format that works for capital-scale aerospace units. Furthermore, I don't think Warships would fit on a standard AS-sized card. Warships and Dropships have four arcs, and each arc can have up to four different attack types. You could TRY to fit that on the Large Unit card, but I don't think it would work very well. Also, some of the bigger dropships and almost all of the warships have so much armor and structure that you would run out of room to place the standard-sized dots on the template! Heck, the example used for Warship Structure is the Mjolnir, and it has 140 structure bubbles! Even small stuff isn't going to fit on the Large Unit stat card. A Fredasa has, if I've got my conversion right, 40 points of capital-scale AS armor and 40 points of capital-scale structure. The Large Unit card only has 32 bubbles for armor and 32 for structure. This presents a bit of a problem.
You almost need a Capital Aerospace card that is larger than normal. Something about the size of the player sheets in Shadowrun: Crossfire, or half of an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. That should be enough space to fit a couple hundred armor and structure bubbles, and to have a table for each arc with three columns (S/M/L) and four rows (Std./CAP/SCAP/MSL), plus a space for specials. Sort of like a super-sized Large Unit stat card.
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Speaking of Aerospace Units, has the idea of Alpha Strike cards for dropships, jumpships and warships been shelved?
Judging by some comments I've seen made in the PV reevaluation thread, I believe that Aerospace rules in general are being looked at for a possible overhaul. I'm not in a position to know whether that's actually the case or not, but it would make sense that even if there is a possibility of a shakeup it wouldn't make a lot of sense to invest resources in making cards for the current rules at this time.
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Yeah, if they are tweaking the rules, then it makes no sense to create the cards currently. Also, having half a page sized card for Capital Scale Alpha Strike is no deterrent to me. I was just curious as I hadn't heard anything in awhile.
*waits patiently to see what comes out at Origins*
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Need a TRO that has Sea Fox and Snow Raven Omni fighters. or just fighters. using some pretty old frames these days.
The Ravens build and use literally the youngest Clan OmniFighter in the game. Just saying. Sea Foxes are probably most due. Unfortunately there was too much other stuff that haf to be covered in the 3145 cycle. Meh. Mechwarriors.
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I would love to see more and more aerospace and updates for it.
PLEASE!!!!
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From the discussions in the past few months in the AS part of the forums, I would say there have been a couple projects that have taken priority. There have been some pretty significant changes to Artillery, Point Value calculations, and even Aerospace movement. I'm fairly certain those changes have been eating up all available time from the folks who have been spending time working on AS projects. Luckily, all of those except the PV changes are out now with the most recent errata release. That should leave some room to start working on different things, but I have no idea if statting out black-navy assets for the MUL is something that might get picked up or not.
I think one of the big holdups, at least for Warships, is that I don't believe there is a published card format that works for capital-scale aerospace units. Furthermore, I don't think Warships would fit on a standard AS-sized card. Warships and Dropships have four arcs, and each arc can have up to four different attack types. You could TRY to fit that on the Large Unit card, but I don't think it would work very well. Also, some of the bigger dropships and almost all of the warships have so much armor and structure that you would run out of room to place the standard-sized dots on the template! Heck, the example used for Warship Structure is the Mjolnir, and it has 140 structure bubbles! Even small stuff isn't going to fit on the Large Unit stat card. A Fredasa has, if I've got my conversion right, 40 points of capital-scale AS armor and 40 points of capital-scale structure. The Large Unit card only has 32 bubbles for armor and 32 for structure. This presents a bit of a problem.
You almost need a Capital Aerospace card that is larger than normal. Something about the size of the player sheets in Shadowrun: Crossfire, or half of an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper. That should be enough space to fit a couple hundred armor and structure bubbles, and to have a table for each arc with three columns (S/M/L) and four rows (Std./CAP/SCAP/MSL), plus a space for specials. Sort of like a super-sized Large Unit stat card.
Instead of armor and structure bubbles, I would put the starting number in numerals and a blank line next to it where the current armor is indicated.
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Instead of armor and structure bubbles, I would put the starting number in numerals and a blank line next to it where the current armor is indicated.
I converted a BattleSpace fleet battle scenario (2nd Star League vs Clan Smoke Jaguar) to Alpha Strike, and that's what I did for the WarShip and DropShip cards. Just gave a value in arabic numerals, and we tracked damage via hash marks.
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There is already a
canon official Warship AS card published.
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There non-canon one from Welcome to Nebula California.
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There non-canon one from Welcome to Nebula California.
They are canon, just a different canon? :)
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I remember being taught that when I lived in Chicago, a long long time ago. "Even a newspaper is some protection against the flash." And CD signs on the church hall.
Yeah, some things we can live without, thank you very much.
WT, you lived in Chicago? When?
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Longa longa go; late 50s to mid 60s, in Downers Grove. I've been able to make it to Libertyville & surrounds a few times in recent years, thanks to work.
I don't really remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I remember being told about my dad loading the station wagon with supplies. Which neatly segues back into 2nd SW. I wonder, did the Star League put any planning into Civil Defence, or did they not want the civilian population able to escape from ortillery?
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Longa longa go; late 50s to mid 60s, in Downers Grove. I've been able to make it to Libertyville & surrounds a few times in recent years, thanks to work.
I don't really remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I remember being told about my dad loading the station wagon with supplies. Which neatly segues back into 2nd SW. I wonder, did the Star League put any planning into Civil Defence, or did they not want the civilian population able to escape from ortillery?
I wouldn't be surprised if their attitude was "the SDS will protect you from our enemies, so if you have to hide you've clearly done something wrong."
Though actually I think there are references to Castles Brian also serving as civilian shelters.
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Longa longa go; late 50s to mid 60s, in Downers Grove. I've been able to make it to Libertyville & surrounds a few times in recent years, thanks to work.
I don't really remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I remember being told about my dad loading the station wagon with supplies. Which neatly segues back into 2nd SW. I wonder, did the Star League put any planning into Civil Defence, or did they not want the civilian population able to escape from ortillery?
"Civil defense? Son, this is the Terran Hegemony, who's going to ever attack US? Waste of time to even worry about something like that. The most powerful military ever assembled is guarding us, spearheaded by a battle fleet second to none. Who's going to make it to Terra to even fire a shot from orbit to begin with? Our enemies in the Periphery can't do more than make spears and throw rocks. Civil defense... someday you'll look back on that statement and laugh."
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Though actually I think there are references to Castles Brian also serving as civilian shelters.
That would not be a good option, under the Third Geneva Convention (with respect to prisoners of war), the Fourth Geneva Convention (with respect to protected civilians) and Additional Protocol I (with respect to civilians in general), “utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.
I was taught that this also applies to the planning/siting of military infrastructure which generally means that, where practicable, military infrastructure should be sited away from concentrations of civilians. Therefore, planning for civilian shelters within a Castle Brian (a military installation) could be considered an attempt to use the civilians as a "human shield" for the Castle Brian and contrary to the Geneva Conventions and by extension the Ares Convention (for the purposes of the Battletech universe).
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That would not be a good option, under the Third Geneva Convention (with respect to prisoners of war), the Fourth Geneva Convention (with respect to protected civilians) and Additional Protocol I (with respect to civilians in general), “utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.
I was taught that this also applies to the planning/siting of military infrastructure which generally means that, where practicable, military infrastructure should be sited away from concentrations of civilians. Therefore, planning for civilian shelters within a Castle Brian (a military installation) could be considered an attempt to use the civilians as a "human shield" for the Castle Brian and contrary to the Geneva Conventions and by extension the Ares Convention (for the purposes of the Battletech universe).
Considering the conduct of the Age of War that precipitated the ratification of the Ares Conventions, it's pretty sure that the Geneva Convention had fallen by the wayside. It's also worth noting that the Terran Hegemony (and by extension the SLDF) never abided by the Ares Conventions at all. (They only gained traction during the 3rd Succession War because the combatants were so exhausted it allowed them to continue fighting when they otherwise would have had to stop from shear lack of ability to continue on.)
On a completely different note, any news on the New Releases front? :D
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Longa longa go; late 50s to mid 60s, in Downers Grove. I've been able to make it to Libertyville & surrounds a few times in recent years, thanks to work.
I don't really remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, but I remember being told about my dad loading the station wagon with supplies. Which neatly segues back into 2nd SW. I wonder, did the Star League put any planning into Civil Defence, or did they not want the civilian population able to escape from ortillery?
The Star League had something called the Main Guardian defense system (MGDS) for individual cities. One component was the Mobile Long Tom. UrbanMechs were also noted as being the last defenders of the Star League's cities. Sounds to me like the League envisioned cities becoming fortified fallback positions and sanctuaries for suburban and rural refugees in the event of an armed conflict. Given the might of the Star League navy, they would have presumed orbital superiority.
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Considering the conduct of the Age of War that precipitated the ratification of the Ares Conventions, it's pretty sure that the Geneva Convention had fallen by the wayside. It's also worth noting that the Terran Hegemony (and by extension the SLDF) never abided by the Ares Conventions at all. (They only gained traction during the 3rd Succession War because the combatants were so exhausted it allowed them to continue fighting when they otherwise would have had to stop from shear lack of ability to continue on.)
On a completely different note, any news on the New Releases front? :D
Well, Origins is this week, which typically means things slow down while crew is at a convention. But since we've got a new crew in charge, who knows.
Back this past Friday Ray said something would release:
Not today.
A week or sooner.
Right now we're in the "sooner" part so Ray still has some wiggle room. And like always, dates can and will change if things pop up.
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The Star League had something called the Main Guardian defense system (MGDS) for individual cities. One component was the Mobile Long Tom. UrbanMechs were also noted as being the last defenders of the Star League's cities. Sounds to me like the League envisioned cities becoming fortified fallback positions and sanctuaries for suburban and rural refugees in the event of an armed conflict. Given the might of the Star League navy, they would have presumed orbital superiority.
Wait, why would they need to retreat to cities if they have orbital superiority? They could just pound the enemy to dust with the WarShips if their ground forces wouldn't be able to stop the enemy.
Or is this like "We got enough ships the enemy can't ground our cities to dust though we can't actually destroy the enemy either"?
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There is already a canon official Warship AS card published.
What does it look like? Is there a unit on the MUL with a card I can pull up to look at? I don't own the Nebula California product, and I didn't see it in the AS rulebook or the companion.
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What does it look like? Is there a unit on the MUL with a card I can pull up to look at? I don't own the Nebula California product, and I didn't see it in the AS rulebook or the companion.
It's pretty affordable (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/146982/BattleTech-Welcome-to-the-Nebula-California?term=nebula+cal&test_epoch=0).
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It can only be found in Nebula California, and is an AS card for This-Totally-Isn't-An-Imperial-Star-Destroyer.
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[SOON INTENSIFIES]
(http://68.media.tumblr.com/f7ad2f228034958197a5da767550bbc9/tumblr_orjm8hRpnq1siotmlo1_1280.jpg)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVUxbcAg1qG/
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How lovely. :)
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...
Wonder how long it will take for LGS to get print copies. Sigh. PDF would be faster to get but i don't like reading long texts from PDFs.
EDIT Not saying anything is available yet.
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I was really hoping for the Ilclan by Gencon. Oddly I don't know that the friends I play battle tech with like any of the normal 4 great houses. They really like the rasalhague republic.
That being said I am always excited. Also the Third Succession War should hopefully be coming up to the plate and that's the battle tech I think most people romanticize. Everybody fighting with what little they still understand.
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Wait, why would they need to retreat to cities if they have orbital superiority? They could just pound the enemy to dust with the WarShips if their ground forces wouldn't be able to stop the enemy.
Or is this like "We got enough ships the enemy can't ground our cities to dust though we can't actually destroy the enemy either"?
The MGDS would probably come into play in the event of an insurgency breaking out - loyalist civilians could fort up behind the MGDS while the SLCOMMNET sent for a rescue fleet. I'd presume MGDS assets included Mobile Long Toms (rail and tracked), UrbanMechs, Wyverns, Mackies, and other militia-grade urban equipment, and possibly a Rattler or two, depending on how important the city was.
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Well...it would make sense that 2nd Succession Wars drops at convention time, since 1st did the same.
While I'm ALL for ilClan, "RIGHT NOW" I honestly don't think we will see it within the convention season. This product made more sense from the get go.
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[SOON INTENSIFIES]
Man I'm going to wait even harder now! :D
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[SOON INTENSIFIES]
I approve of this post. It shows you have DETERMINATION.
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[SOON INTENSIFIES]
Needs less soon.
More NOWWWWWWWWWWWW
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I was really hoping for the Ilclan by Gencon. Oddly I don't know that the friends I play battle tech with like any of the normal 4 great houses. They really like the rasalhague republic.
That being said I am always excited. Also the Third Succession War should hopefully be coming up to the plate and that's the battle tech I think most people romanticize. Everybody fighting with what little they still understand.
Your friends have good taste.
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yay!!
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Needs less soon.
More NOWWWWWWWWWWWW
(http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/bf/bfdf26d5cc6f9584a4faa7d1021d6c1cec66c586009c6cc38b11483b222d3b7d.jpg)
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Tune into the official Classic BattleTech Facebook page tomorrow at 11am for a special announcement live from Origins!
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[modnoly]If it's those pics of the Commandos going commando, I'm taking the rest of the day off for nausea leave ...[/modonly]
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*eyes the page suspiciously*
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11am
11am for whom? EST for Columbus, OH time?
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11am for whom? EST for Columbus, OH time?
EST according to their facebook post.
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[modnoly]If it's those pics of the Commandos going commando, I'm taking the rest of the day off for nausea leave ...[/modonly]
I think your opening tag needs work
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Facebook only? No other options?
And what timezone is that 11am anyway?
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Tune into the official Classic BattleTech Facebook page tomorrow at 11am for a special announcement live from Origins!
Nice! Can you guys post the Facebook link? The only Battletech page I'm finding is CamoSpecs
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Nice! Can you guys post the Facebook link? The only Battletech page I'm finding is CamoSpecs
Here's the BT page on FB: https://www.facebook.com/battletechgame/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf
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Apparently there going to be a special announcement at 11 AM Eastern (https://www.facebook.com/battletechgame/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf) according to the Facebook page.
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Hopefully some good news.
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Free space marshmallows for everyone!
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Facebook only? No other options?
And what timezone is that 11am anyway?
We're going to follow up the announcement here and on the website, you won't miss it. But I wanted to try something different for the initial announcement.
And yes, 11am EST.
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I think your opening tag needs work
(http://www.babalublog.com/wpr/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Foghorn-Leghorn-Thats-a-joke-son-You-missed-it-Flew-right-by-ya.jpg)
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I hope it is the "classic" plastic box set! A pipe dream I know but that is what I hope for!
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>What I want
Surprise ilClan release at Origins and pdf available at the same time
>What I think it will be
2nd Succession Wars pdf and/or new introductory products announcement
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>What I want
Surprise ilClan release at Origins and pdf available at the same time
>What I think it will be
2nd Succession Wars pdf and/or new introductory products announcement
I will be driving at that hour so I will be here after. If 2sw goes up, can we get a 3250 spoiler post?
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>What I want
Surprise ilClan release at Origins and pdf available at the same time
>What I think it will be
2nd Succession Wars pdf and/or new introductory products announcement
2SW has already been spoiled as being there for sale. And given that it was posted above in this thread too I'm hoping for IlClan or new box sets both which would be bigger announcements IMO.
EDIT: Ray has confirmed 2SW is at Origins already so the announcement likely isnt that.
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Facebook only? No other options?
And what timezone is that 11am anyway?
If i am not mistaken, its GMT -4 for us not in the USA.
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If i am not mistaken, its GMT -4 for us not in the USA.
Its in about 40mins to be exact :P
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The Facebook page also confirmed is not ilClan :(
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The Facebook page also confirmed is not ilClan :(
new intro box still on the table?
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My guess would be a reboot of the universe
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My guess would be a reboot of the universe
Why would they do that? The Davionista is already getting the boot... :D
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Why would they do that? The Davionista is already getting the boot... :D
So they could avoid any "imperial entanglements"
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So they could avoid any "imperial entanglements"
Okay, you have me there...
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Why would they do that? The Davionista is already getting the boot... :D
By the last page of the Unfinished Book we will hit the 'Reset' button to prevent New Avalon from falling!!
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My prediction, in at the last minute, we discover that 3250 will be the year the Terran Supremacy crosses realities to invade the inner sphere and establish the First Transdimensional Empire.
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It's almost time for the announcement. I have their FB page open as I type this.
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It's a Worldwide Battletech/Alpha Strike Event called Scorched Earth. And it has nothing to do with the DA timeline. It's the invasion of New Oslo during the Clan Invasion. It would be much cooler if it were something mor current in the timeline. I am a bit disappointed.
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I don't have an FB account, but I've got their page up. Hopefully it still lets me see whatever is going on.
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It's a Worldwide Alpha Strike Event called Scorched Earth.
Battletech AND Alpha Strike event.
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Battletech AND Alpha Strike event.
And A Time of War.
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Clans vs FRR on New Oslo. 3050?
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Yep. Clan Invasion and not the Dark Age era, which would have made a bit happier.
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Being able to effect a future canon event would have been cool
I don't mean Terra or New Avalon but you pick somewhere conflicted say Kentarus it's a world with history but probably not going to make headlines in the future (although Focht War College is there if memory serves) but being able to turn the tide or seal the fate of one worlds future would be cool especially since it's our worldwide playing that would do it
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It used to happen . . . but I am happy to just get it back, let them ease into universe affecting events.
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So does anyone in the world pronounce it Rasalhaag like the guy in the video? I've literally never heard anyone say it that way before. Haig! HAIG!
Pedantry aside, I'm interested in CGL trying to do global events (again). Love to see more of them, and to see what comes of this one. A future Turning Points New Oslo incorporating the results but without overturning the canonical history? A leaderboard for people to brag about? Nothing at all but a marketing push to get BattleTech out there in all its incarnations? "Hey everybody, even though you thought BattleTech died 10-15 years ago, it totally didn't!"
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So does anyone in the world pronounce it Rasalhaag like the guy in the video?
O0 The only way I've ever said it. Mind you, I've deliberately called it "Wrassle-hog" at least as often ...
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I save my snickering for when i hear people try yo pronounce Kurita.
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It's a Worldwide Battletech/Alpha Strike Event called Scorched Earth. And it has nothing to do with the DA timeline. It's the invasion of New Oslo during the Clan Invasion. It would be much cooler if it were something more current in the timeline. I am a bit disappointed.
Ugh. Well at least their doing a world event. I guess their saving the more important thing for GenCon.
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So, my two questions with 2SW at Origins are:
- DrivethruRPG/ Catalyst Shop PDF when?
- FLGS when?
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O0 The only way I've ever said it. Mind you, I've deliberately called it "Wrassle-hog" at least as often ...
Same here. Hell, only way I ever heard it pronounced even talking to people at Gen Con and the like!
Never even considered it any other way.
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There nothing in the store at the moment. Hope we get 2nd Succession War release soon! [drool]
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O0 The only way I've ever said it. Mind you, I've deliberately called it "Wrassle-hog" at least as often ...
I've always pronounced Roz-al-haig
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I've always pronounced Roz-al-haig
That's because you pronounce it correctly :)
I suppose it's another one to add to the list. Gawse/Goss or Eri-dah-nee/Erid-inee
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I've always pronounced Roz-al-haig
"Bear Food"
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Has anyone seen the 2 SW book yet and if so what mechs are in it?
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Has anyone seen the 2 SW book yet and if so what mechs are in it?
Dead ones!
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There's what appears to be a Classic Thunderbolt on the cover ...
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I guess I didn't phrase my question correctly, I mean in the mini TRO in the back of the book? I don't mean to sound flippy but I am working in a warehouse that doesn't have AC in June GA weather!
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That's because you pronounce it correctly :)
I suppose it's another one to add to the list. Gawse/Goss or Eri-dah-nee/Erid-inee
There is a correct way to pronounce eridani....and it is the dumb Sounding way.
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There is a correct way to pronounce eridani....and it is the dumb Sounding way.
That was my point. There's a right way, and apparently in the case of Rasalhague there's another way entirely that many fans use.
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I pronounce it "Rasalhague"
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I pronounce it "Belgium". :)
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I pronounce it "Belgium". :)
there's no need for that sort of language
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*accepts his warning for Rule 2 with all the grace and dignity of a three year old coming down from a sugar high*
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I expected no fewer
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My best attempt to figure out how Rasalhague is prononuced would have it be Russel-hauge
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I guess I didn't phrase my question correctly, I mean in the mini TRO in the back of the book? I don't mean to sound flippy but I am working in a warehouse that doesn't have AC in June GA weather!
No answer to my question yet?
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Just remember that Rasalhague is Arabic (like many real-life star systems) for "the Head of the Serpent Collector" in real life. Google translate pronounces it "Raz al leek".
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Just remember that Rasalhague is Arabic (like many real-life star systems) for "the Head of the Serpent Collector" in real life. Google translate pronounces it "Raz al leek".
It did originate as an Arabic name (like many, many other stars' names) but that's not how astronomers pronounce it (http://www.davidrivesministries.org/pronunciation/stars/Rasalhague.mp3).
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Edit: I apologize for the below sentiments. I did not fully understand the nature of this announcement, and jumped to the wrong conclusion rather than think things over. I won't delete or modify it, because it triggered some solid responses.
An announcement so awesome that, after about five posts, people have moved on to arguing pronunciation. And I cannot say I blame them; that's about as anticlimactic a "grand reveal" as I've ever seen.
Who, exactly, is this event catering to? What's its purpose? Why would you run a big event not tied to any forthcoming or recent publications? But here's the kicker: what are you going to sell to the new players this is supposed to attract? There is no in-print starter set for BattleTech, so is CGL just trying to run through their existing stock of Total Warfare, A Time of War, and Alpha Strike products?
Gentlemen, I'm sure a lot of work has gone into this behind the scenes, but to us on the other side of the curtain, this is pretty lame. It's so lame that nothing might've been preferable!
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Why does it have to be tied to a big release? Where is it stated that they're not allowed to set up a WWE for its own sake, or to refresh their communications and advertising skills so they'll be on their A-game when a big release does happen?
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I understand the sentiment. I could even agree with it. But simply because any one—or multiple—facets of Catalyst and BattleTech may be in a holding pattern, doesn't mean every other one has to sit on its hands. The new demo team leadership is taking initiative to do something, and I support and applaud them.
I can tell you from my vantage point, that is so much better than nothing.
If anything, it should have been made plain upfront that the announcement that was coming was about a world wide event, or something of the sort. I understand the disappointment. But this is definitely a step forward and I'm really pleased by it.
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But this is definitely a step forward and I'm really pleased by it.
Agreed, on both accounts.
The "hype" was one Facebook post the night before, right? While I admit I was expecting a product announcement, they didn't do anything wrong. Perhaps mention that it's a CDT announcement next time.
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Happy with it being a step forward in the right direction O0 Not sure I can contribute or get involved at this stage due to family and work commitments :'(
Is it as earth shattering an announcement as "CGL has bought the licence for the Battletech alternative universe (aka Robotech) and will be intergrating all the mecha designs from it back into the prime universe"? No ^-^ but a positive step forward is one more step away from the abyss. Well done CDT and CGL O0
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Who, exactly, is this event catering to? What's its purpose? Why would you run a big event not tied to any forthcoming or recent publications? But here's the kicker: what are you going to sell to the new players this is supposed to attract? There is no in-print starter set for BattleTech, so is CGL just trying to run through their existing stock of Total Warfare, A Time of War, and Alpha Strike products?
I get what you are saying, but don't share your perspective on it being potentially worse than nothing. First off, the fact that I, as a player, do NOT have to buy anything new to participate isn't a negative as far as I'm concerned. I can use all the books and minis I've got to play in this event without having to buy some random new stuff to be competitive. That isn't a bad thing from where I sit. The fact that there is no intro box to buy and no new product for this to push is really more of a negative for CGL than it is for us the players. Besides, new players can still get TW, AToW, and AS rulebooks right now if they want to get into the game more on their own. Or, they can just play in these events and not really need to invest anything on their own to give the game a try.
As to who this caters to and what the purpose is, I'd say this caters more towards existing fans of the game rather than new players, and the purpose is to do something fun as a big community as opposed to small, individual gaming groups. If, as Adrian mentioned, this is being driven by the Demo Team, then the goal is probably just to give people a reason to come out and play, but given that it is being announced on all the platforms that current fans might already go to when looking for news, I'd say it is targeting more towards us folks who already know and like BT, but for various reasons don't come out to play that much.
YOU might be underwhelmed, but I am interested. I can't commit to playing BT a couple times a month with a steady group thanks to other responsibilities in my life, but I MIGHT be able to get away for two or three weekends over the course of the year to join in a few of these event battles. Heck, one of my favorite things about BT is the stories it tells, and this seems like a way that I can be a tiny part of one of those stories. That appeals to me. I don't know how much I'll be able to participate, but I can at least tell you that I WANT to participate.
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Actually, I would say it would link to the recently released Combat Manuals and Mech Manual. It just depends on the details we get and the way they lay out more details as we get more info on it.
I also think what Adrian said about the new demo team working on projects is great. Its been how long since a world wide event? Are the same people in charge now the same people in charge then? This allows them to get up to speed about setting up a event so that when they do set up a WWE with product tie-ins it will be properly executed.
I LOVE world wide events, and I know I did a annual post for about 3 or 4 years after the last Martial Olympiad asking about the next one, until it was announced they were not going to be run any more at that point.
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While I probably won't be able to participate, I do agree that the Demo Team is doing something is a huge deal. And should be applauded and supported by everyone (whether they participate in the game or not): these are the people that are the most visible when it comes to getting the game out there and marketed after all.
On another tack...when do we get the PDF for 2SW? [drool] [drool] [drool] [drool]
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I understand the sentiment. I could even agree with it. But simply because any one—or multiple—facets of Catalyst and BattleTech may be in a holding pattern, doesn't mean every other one has to sit on its hands. The new demo team leadership is taking initiative to do something, and I support and applaud them.
I can tell you from my vantage point, that is so much better than nothing.
If anything, it should have been made plain upfront that the announcement that was coming was about a world wide event, or something of the sort. I understand the disappointment. But this is definitely a step forward and I'm really pleased by it.
It was a nice announcement, but not teased in the right way. Please do more teases! They are a way to get people talking about your game.
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I pronounce it "Belgium". :)
Space Belgium
"Bear Food"
The best answer so far.
I would have also accepted Samurai Space Vikings.
As for the WW Event, I get that it isn't what eveyone wanted, but, in this butler's humble opinion, it is what Battletech needs. Would ilClan, a new box set, new rules, more Combat Manuals, and nine new TROs be nice? Heck yeah. If we're the only people buying all of that, though, this game is always going to be in the brink of financial doom.
We need more players, more visibility. We need a reason for people to play. Also, Samurai Space Vikings. Seriously, when has the FRR ever been one of the main players in anything? They were added to the game for the express purpose of being Bear bait.
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Yes, if it had been made clear that this was a Demo Team announcement, not a general one from Catalyst, that would've helped my (admittedly poor) attitude. Once I re-watched the video, I grokked. I apologize for being a jerk about it, and I do hope everyone has fun.
I may even take a Saturday off from work to come participate in a Chicagoland installment, where I will be happy to do my penance to GreyWolfActual and OrangeWoman in person.
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One of the unique challenges that battletech faces is the length of their timeline. That happened just the other day where they were like, "Second Succession War Book!" and I said, "But where are the Sea Foxes at though?!?"
and I'm not sure how they fix it. Or if I've seen anyone else with the same problem. The fact that some people never leave the late third succession war has always been noted. But some people never leave the Clan Invasion.
and ironically it's only a discussion fans can talk about because if the devs comment on it then we're dealing with people hyperventilating... Because the answer was "The Dark Age" but clickytech failed. You just reboot. You just Episode 7. So I guess this has happened to people before...
ignore this stream of consciousness.
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I may even take a Saturday off from work to come participate in a Chicagoland installment, where I will be happy to do my penance surkai to GreyWolfActual and OrangeWoman in person.
Fixed for you Boschie O0
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One of the unique challenges that battletech faces is the length of their timeline. That happened just the other day where they were like, "Second Succession War Book!" and I said, "But where are the Sea Foxes at though?!?"
Probably chief amongst my reasons I'm not a fan of the leap-backfill-leap-backfill-leap approach to the plot.
New Oslo, during REVIVAL
While I (even as a Wolf fan) can't see what the appeal is, I am at the very least glad it isn't a canon-steering battle. as difficult/impossible as BT is to balance, I can think of few notions less wise than letting public battles decide the course of the setting.
2SW has already been spoiled as being there for sale. And given that it was posted above in this thread too I'm hoping for IlClan or new box sets both which would be bigger announcements IMO.
EDIT: Ray has confirmed 2SW is at Origins already so the announcement likely isnt that.
I would love to know where this is confirmed, and what the foreward says. (and by that, I mean, does it confirm a Wolf ilClan or reveal some other facet of what we're due for in ilClan). Really wish PDF sales would be available concurrent with convention sales.
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To clarify 2nd Succession War book was spoiled and confirmed as for sale there prior to the announcement. (Not ilClan)
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To clarify 2nd Succession War book was spoiled and confirmed as for sale there prior to the announcement. (Not ilClan)
A picture of a print copy of 2SW was shown either on the BT facebook page or the CGL Twitter account (I can't remember where I saw it) and it was later confirmed to be on sale there.
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Now that I'm back in my hotel room after a long day on the con floor, a few thoughts.
If anything, it should have been made plain upfront that the announcement that was coming was about a world wide event, or something of the sort. I understand the disappointment. But this is definitely a step forward and I'm really pleased by it.
So, my role in this goes back only a week or so, when GreyWolfActual looped me in on the CDT plans to do a worldwide event for the first time in five years, and asked if I could help promote it. Since he was looking to launch it at Origins, and I was coincidentally planning to be AT Origins for the first time, I thought it might be interesting to try a FB Live announcement for it, rather than just throw it out on social media and on these forums and hope people noticed/cared.
I intentionally chose not to provide the specifics AG and others suggest about what the announcement would be, simply because the launch of a worldwide event was so unexpected. Much of what's in the immediate BattleTech pipeline is already so well known--many details about project status have already been wrung out of those in the know. Creating a big gong show just to say "2SW is...here!" would have felt anticlimactic. Instead, I wanted to see how a truly out of left field announcement would play.
Yes, if it had been made clear that this was a Demo Team announcement, not a general one from Catalyst, that would've helped my (admittedly poor) attitude.
This distinction is totally arbitrary. I'm not going to treat the announcement of worldwide events for a CGL product line, run by the company's official outreach team, as if they only happen on CDT Island.
Maybe the specific content of the announcement interested you, maybe it didn't. And there are quality aspects of the video that were definitely a learning experience for me. But after checking out the reach and engagement stats for the announcement post, I'm very pleased with this effort.
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People on the forums:
"Nothing ever happens, and it sucks! You are all bad people!"
*something happens*
"It failed to meet my expectations, so you should feel bad for doing something!"
meanwhile:
I'm not going to treat the announcement of worldwide events for a CGL product line, run by the company's official outreach team as if they only happen on CDT Island.
That, times 1,000.
Don't like negativity in the BT community? Start with yourself.
Paul
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*nods* Again, I am very sorry for what I posted. It was rude and out of line.
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I understand the sentiment. I could even agree with it. But simply because any one—or multiple—facets of Catalyst and BattleTech may be in a holding pattern, doesn't mean every other one has to sit on its hands. The new demo team leadership is taking initiative to do something, and I support and applaud them.
I can tell you from my vantage point, that is so much better than nothing.
If anything, it should have been made plain upfront that the announcement that was coming was about a world wide event, or something of the sort. I understand the disappointment. But this is definitely a step forward and I'm really pleased by it.
There are many times that I disagree with AG, but when I agree with him, I REALLY agree with him. [applause]
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How does
Don't like negativity in the BT community? Start with yourself.
jive with
I understand the sentiment. I could even agree with it.
If anything, it should have been made plain upfront that the announcement that was coming was about a world wide event, or something of the sort. I understand the disappointment.
I don't think that's a fair shake at all. He voiced concerns that are echoed on multiple other sites I visit. He wasn't rude, mean, or condescending, and he even acknowledged that no small amount of work went into an event like this. For the Demo Team and anyone who can attend the event, as well as any new fans that get sucked in, this is great - and I'm very happy for them. But that's not me and his reaction was the same exact one I (and apparently many others) had.
It's great that a big event is going on to bring in new people. But only a small fraction of current players can and/or will go to such an event. I wish I could, but it's highly unlikely. Meanwhile, the things that hardcore fans are clamoring for are still MIA with vague responses - nuseen mini's, ilClan, a boxed set, etc. And before anyone wants to say anything, I'm absolutely sure there has been a ton of work done behind the scenes that we obviously aren't privy to, and all sorts of headaches and issues that refuse to play nicely. Logistics is ... ugh.
But it's hard to hear "big news tomorrow for Battletech", which made me *squee* like a little school girl and had me watching the clock all day, only to be followed by the realization that in no way will this be relevant to me. I can't support Catalyst with it by throwing money at the screen, I can't show my friends something new, I can't read it for 3 million times ... what am I supposed to do? I own 95% of the books and novels, I'm acquiring as many mini's as I can (not that CGL directly benefits but still), etc. I'm happy for the people who can benefit from this, but how is it "negative" to feel left out of what's going on?
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Count me in as someone else who was disappointed by the announcement (I was expecting something about a new intro box or some kind of initiative to get people into the game). This is fine news for people who have demo agents in their area, but what about people who are in a state where BT is basically dead? I live in Florida, and I can count on one hand the number of people who still play in the Orlando area. It would be nice to be able to go to a demo event, but as far as I know the scene here is dead and I feel like I can't start it myself because of how complicated the rules might be, even for AS, for a new player, and I don't feel confident enough to go to an LGS like Cool Stuff Inc or what have you and try to convince people to play it. People in the PNW have it good compared to here. :(
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... you lost me a complicated and Alpha Strike.
Took me awhile to find a game in my area (you be surprised how many BT fans avoid this forum) Allot of TT players play from the comfort of their home while FLGS cater to the most popular game in the area (Magic at my haunt, 40K popularity died real quick in my area) all you can do is be friendly with fellow and casually ask if they want to play a game.
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Well it could be worse . . . I just picked up Daughter No 2 from school. A parent at the pickup was saying that she could not go out to the mall tonight to meet up with the other parent she was talking to because her husband was going to be out till after midnight at the FLGS awaiting release of the new Warhammer book/ruleset that he has pre-ordered (I am not a Warhammer player so not privy to the details). She indicated that meant her weekend was pretty much shot, I though that it also meant that her family budget would probably be shot too for the next number of months while her husband builds new armies to suit the new Warhammer book/ruleset.
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... you lost me a complicated and Alpha Strike.
Took me awhile to find a game in my area (you be surprised how many BT fans avoid this forum) Allot of TT players play from the comfort of their home while FLGS cater to the most popular game in the area (Magic at my haunt, 40K popularity died real quick in my area) all you can do is be friendly with fellow and casually ask if they want to play a game.
Yeah, but with what materials? I don't want to bother with those printouts and AS still requires finding a hex map, good luck trying to find them now...
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Alpha Strike doesn't require Hex Maps, only a tap measure or a decent ruler (the speed on the stat cards indicates inches, not hexes)
You also get a set of Alpha Strike Stat Cards along with counters with the Alpha Strike Quick Start rules PDF available for free on the Download section of the front page.
If you prefer real minis, each Lance Pack comes with a set of Alpha Strike cards as well
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I'm mashing refresh until the PDF of Second Succession War shows up.
What can I say? I'm excited!
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I'm mashing refresh until the PDF of Second Succession War shows up.
What can I say? I'm excited!
For heaven's sake man have some self respect! Wait one second... *refreshes Catalyst page a few more times* Like I was saying it will come when it will come and constantly checking the Catalyst store won't make it come any sooner. Now if you will excuse me I need to go check on some... err.... business...
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Yeah, but with what materials? I don't want to bother with those printouts and AS still requires finding a hex map, good luck trying to find them now...
As SteelRaven pointed out, AS does not require a hex map. That was the whole point, as I understand it. Strictly speaking, Classic Battletech doesnt require them, either. At being said, I do agree with the sentiment of hex maps being way too difficult to find. I honestly don"t know how people play CBT these days without having a collection of maps that they bought 15 years ago. I guess DriveThruRPG and a printer is an option.
As for other materials, if I'm being completely honest, there isnt really a lot of room to complain about AS. Record sheets are free. If you don't have a printer, they are also really small, so you can jot the whole thing down on a few lines of notebook paper.
Likewise, no version of Battletech, AS or CBT, has ever REQUIRED minis. The lande packs are great, and IWM is one of the best companies that I have ever worked with, but you do not need miniatures. Print our some hex counters or make your own.
Really, I know it is frustrating, and I'm not trying to diminish your concerns, but if you have the rule book, or even the free downloadable rules, and your FLGS has some terrian tables, Alpha Strike can be an INCREDIBLY cheap game to play.
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For along time I have been hoping for a world wide event. I came in when the world events were I dare i say, winding down? The couple olympiads happened, the Law eventand of course and of course Ghost Bears vs Nova Cat's trial possession for the (then future) Leviathan Class Heavy Battleship, the Rasalhague . The Jihad event didn't seem to register with folks from what i experienced in the region i live.
I think when i saw the announcement that world event is going to be Clan Invasion event, i was bit disappointed. I wanted to be in current event one, but having event when Battletech is sort at a moment of "Pause" timeline-wise is good thing too. I kinda wanted the event that the potential for players to be able to their mark or dent in the universe.
Anyways, I hope there will product announcement if there anything being still made or new things coming up we can keep the thread on subject.
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I'm mashing refresh until the PDF of Second Succession War shows up.
What can I say? I'm excited!
Ok, take it easy Big Kev, would not want to give yourself a heartattack >:D
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I will say this; I know GreyWolfActual had been advocating and pushing to get a World Wide Event going for a while and this is a great first step into getting them going again. Is it absolutely earthshaking world-moving thing? No, but it is a step on a journey to building things back up and getting further engagement going. And even though there were some struggles with the FB Live thing, that too is a nice step to see being taken.
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It's a widespread event, but for a small scale thing in universe. This way you can focus on making it happen, and not worry about outcomes or anything. A good shake-the-rust-off sort of thing. I've got a demo team in Phoenix...maybe when it's not 120 degrees out (no really) I'll go join in.
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Sorry folks find the need to travel to a Agent's location discouraging . . . but a couple of things.
First, the last several years at con season folks have complained about the official events being limited only to a few people that can travel to attend Origins & GenCon. Well, they have expanded official events again as much as they can- to the Agents scattered across the world. Its a improvement, and like I & others have said up thread it lets them knock the rust off of how to run these sort of things so perhaps next year we can get one tied in with the plot moving along.
Second, traveling a few hours on game day is easier than going to GenCon. I lived in the sticks out west when the WWE were first run years ago, I had to drive an hour & half one way to attend. But I could do that since no kids and easier to adjust my work schedule.
Third, think outside the box . . . one of the agents where I live will travel an hour or so to another large town that has a game store and player group to either participate or let the agent there have a break and run the game. Want to get a group going in your area? This is a great way to get it started- find a agent that might be able to travel and spread the word.
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It appears that the frustration that Zeether is trying to express is the fact that we are not getting new blood into the game. We do have the 2nd SW book coming out and later the Ikclan book but do these 2 products increase new players? If money was not an object, and I was in charge instead of the lance packs I would have made made 6 to 10 battalion/cluster box sets which would have been released with the corresponding combat manual. The basic quick start Alpha Strike and Classic Battletech rules would be able to download for free. A new player could download the rules, come into the store purchase a combat manual and a battalion box set and be ready to play that day with no assembly required. If a customer needed more of a certain mech then you make that up with IWMs. This model would benefit the customer, the retailer, and would help grow the fanbase. The starter box set was fine for the day, but the new meta in gaming is free basic rules and great looking product. Right now we do not have that.
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If money was not an object
The story of everyone's life....
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One of the unique challenges that battletech faces is the length of their timeline. That happened just the other day where they were like, "Second Succession War Book!" and I said, "But where are the Sea Foxes at though?!?"
and I'm not sure how they fix it. Or if I've seen anyone else with the same problem. The fact that some people never leave the late third succession war has always been noted. But some people never leave the Clan Invasion.
and ironically it's only a discussion fans can talk about because if the devs comment on it then we're dealing with people hyperventilating... Because the answer was "The Dark Age" but clickytech failed. You just reboot. You just Episode 7. So I guess this has happened to people before...
ignore this stream of consciousness.
My thoughts on this is why can't battletech be the game that covers it's long timeline?
I like Pathfinder. But it doesn't really have a setting beyond the "present." For fun, I got a list of eras in human history and year (bronze, iron, etc), used the ancient osirion timeline to identify a year to correspond to ancient Egypt, took a specific year in the Renaissance to identify an earth year similar to Pathfinder, and created a function to determine what era any given golarian year is in.
Clearly, my personality is custom built for the style of classic battletech. For somebody, what others see as problem X is feature X.
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Well look at Games Workshop 40k they can span 10000 years, you can play in the 30k universe which is the start of it all or play all the way up to 1 min to midnight. And this weekend with their 8th edition release they are set to be around for another 30 years.
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Well look at Games Workshop 40k they can span 10000 years, you can play in the 30k universe which is the start of it all or play all the way up to 1 min to midnight. And this weekend with their 8th edition release they are set to be around for another 30 years.
Are there any rules that make the units function different by year?
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Yes forge world has the 30k rules and the basic 40k rules cover the rest.
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Yes forge world has the 30k rules and the basic 40k rules cover the rest.
That looks like a development in the last few years? Interesting move on their part. I wonder what was the creative force behind that.
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Well believe it our not they hired a marketing dept a few ago and in fact you can now download the base rules for free starting tomorrow
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I'm not a Demo Agent but I'll be talking about the event with my friends. If we don't have a Demo Agent in our area already hosting the event, we have enough mini's between the three of us to host a Bootleg demo at our FLGS ;D (other words: a normal game, only with more advertising)
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Well believe it our not they hired a marketing dept a few ago and in fact you can now download the base rules for free starting tomorrow
I doubt anyone was forced to write against their will by a tyrannical marketing department directing all creative decisions. I imagine a creative somewhere wanted to do it. I wonder what their story was.
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My prediction, in at the last minute, we discover that 3250 will be the year the Terran Supremacy crosses realities to invade the inner sphere and establish the First Transdimensional Empire.
That would be epic.
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I save my snickering for when i hear people try yo pronounce Kurita.
I admit being guilty of commonly saying Cure-Reeta.
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I doubt anyone was forced to write against their will by a tyrannical marketing department directing all creative decisions. I imagine a creative somewhere wanted to do it. I wonder what their story was.
Well there is more to the story to be sure, one of the biggest decisions that they did was to remove the old CEO and replace him with someone that loved the game and the customer base. Sometimes when a person has been at a company to long a fresh perspective is needed.
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Well there is more to the story to be sure, one of the biggest decisions that they did was to remove the old CEO and replace him with someone that loved the game and the customer base. Sometimes when a person has been at a company to long a fresh perspective is needed.
"The people have spoken, Mr. Hefner, get out of the office and go back to the mansion please." ;D
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"The people have spoken, Mr. Hefner, get out of the office and go back to the mansion please." ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D The mansion is on my bucket list!
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Well there is more to the story to be sure, one of the biggest decisions that they did was to remove the old CEO and replace him with someone that loved the game and the customer base. Sometimes when a person has been at a company to long a fresh perspective is needed.
I was going to make a bunch of grimdark jokes. Not worth it.
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as far as the backlash, all I can say is "Did you really expect starving dogs not to bite, when teased with the hopes of a steak?"
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Backlash was yesterday. Next.
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as far as the backlash, all I can say is "Did you really expect starving dogs not to bite, when teased with the hopes of a steak?"
I don't think we were teased steak.
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Backlash was yesterday. Next.
ETA on when the pdf of 2nd Succession War will be available? :)
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Third, think outside the box . . . one of the agents where I live will travel an hour or so to another large town that has a game store and player group to either participate or let the agent there have a break and run the game. Want to get a group going in your area? This is a great way to get it started- find a agent that might be able to travel and spread the word.
Or (start ominous music) become an agent yourself! [AAAH]
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Or (start ominous music) become an agent yourself! [AAAH]
I put in the paperwork this morning ;)
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Reading up on Sarna, does this mean it is mostly clan non Omni mechs?
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Is there anything new for sale at Origins besides Second Succession War?
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Backlash was yesterday. Next.
Are we getting 2nd war PDF today?
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bob, the Wolves took Rasalhague with frontline clusters . . . so it going to be Gargoyles, Timberwolves, Ice Ferrets, Adders and Elementals- Oh My!
Also Dire Wolves, Warhawks, Kingfishers, Naga, Summoners, Mad Dog, Stormcrows, Novas, Vipers, Kit Foxes, and Mist Lynx . . .
Maybe some Hellbringers, Fire Moths, Linebackers, Night Gyr, Cauldron Born, Black Lanner, Crossbow, Battle Cobra or Fire Falcon.
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bob, the Wolves took Rasalhague with frontline clusters . . . so it going to be Gargoyles, Timberwolves, Ice Ferrets, Adders and Elementals- Oh My!
Also Dire Wolves, Warhawks, Kingfishers, Naga, Summoners, Mad Dog, Stormcrows, Novas, Vipers, Kit Foxes, and Mist Lynx . . .
Maybe some Hellbringers, Fire Moths, Linebackers, Night Gyr, Cauldron Born, Black Lanner, Crossbow, Battle Cobra or Fire Falcon.
I thought I heard new Oslo
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/New_Oslo#Clan_Invasion
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Okay . . . thought I read Rasalhague . . .
In that case, yeah you can get some funky stuff from WCSB though it should be taken with a grain of salt- should also include more Omnis though seen after the pause like the Phantom and Pouncer. You will get some Omnis, likely with the Keshik but also some sprinkled in with the Star Captains or Star Colonels- particularly the Bloodnamed. Might also see a Orion IIC though I doubt it. But it should be a collection of IICs, other Golden Age designs and maybe some Star League era left overs. Hunchback IIC for the lolz!
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Backlash was yesterday. Next.
Ladies and gentlemen, the backlash discussion is over, per the direct instructions of the Assistant Line Developer. Do not attempt to make comments to another poster or get another word in edgewise about it.
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Okay . . . thought I read Rasalhague . . .
In that case, yeah you can get some funky stuff from WCSB though it should be taken with a grain of salt- should also include more Omnis though seen after the pause like the Phantom and Pouncer. You will get some Omnis, likely with the Keshik but also some sprinkled in with the Star Captains or Star Colonels- particularly the Bloodnamed. Might also see a Orion IIC though I doubt it. But it should be a collection of IICs, other Golden Age designs and maybe some Star League era left overs. Hunchback IIC for the lolz!
Because I try to play opfor, I always gravitate to "bad". My first thought was a Naga. But of course it has to be the hunchback iic.
For FRR? Charger
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Going against 3025 the Hunchback IIC will be fine . . . against Retcon 3039? A bit dicey IMO.
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The FRR had the ARC-5R Archer and the Panther in production. Luckily for IS players, the MUL shows the PNT-10K with an intro date of the following year.
In case anyone was interested in becoming a demo agent...
https://www.facebook.com/CatalystDemoTeam/posts/1464546760231814 (https://www.facebook.com/CatalystDemoTeam/posts/1464546760231814)
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Going against 3025 the Hunchback IIC will be fine . . . against Retcon 3039? A bit dicey IMO.
Did 3039 actually retcon any SL tech being deployed against the clans? I know some of them were being produced in the 40s, but?
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I love the free rasalhague republic myself.
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Did 3039 actually retcon any SL tech being deployed against the clans? I know some of them were being produced in the 40s, but?
Era Report: 3052 has a significant number of the TRO: 3050 IS refits and 2750 SL variants in the RATs for 3048-3052. The acquisition tables make those units very rare in '48 to very common in '52
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in fact you can now download the base rules for free starting tomorrow
Wow... It only took 'em 20 years to realize if you want people to play, actually make the damn entry costs low enough ::) I played 40k off and on but got fed up with their policy of "Ohai, we just changed the rules again, please commence shelling out another $60-$80 for the newest edition of the rulebook if you still want to play". So this is a titanic shift for them to actually release the core rules of their cash-cow franchise for free.
Then again, this is Game$ Work$hop we're talking about, so I'm going to keep taking it with a grain of salt till tomorrow and see exactly what they're releasing.
But then again, THIS is the Battletech forums, so to stop the derailment, are we likely to see the Second Succession War any time today?
Also, is there any quick locator for Demo groups in the US? I'd be interested in taking my merc unit out for a spin on New Oslo in an AS game :)
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A quick glance at the Wolf Clan sourcebook indicates that the Wolves took New Oslo almost exclusively with Star League designs, though the TO&E was post-Tukayyid. It also noted that it had yet to fully re-form. They had equal numbers of mech, elemental, and fighter stars. This came out to about 25 mechs and 125 elementals. Fighters were probably bid out. Deploying the elementals must've been laborious without the omnis.
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Era Report: 3052 has a significant number of the TRO: 3050 IS refits and 2750 SL variants in the RATs for 3048-3052. The acquisition tables make those units very rare in '48 to very common in '52
Looks like I got a bunch of number crunching to do.
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A quick glance at the Wolf Clan sourcebook indicates that the Wolves took New Oslo almost exclusively with Star League designs, though the TO&E was post-Tukayyid. It also noted that it had yet to fully re-form. They had equal numbers of mech, elemental, and fighter stars. This came out to about 25 mechs and 125 elementals. Fighters were probably bid out. Deploying the elementals must've been laborious without the omnis.
In my head canon that has always been just a product of lack of published designs. I would probably reference the clan vs SL numbers in field manual updates
(I also consider original Star trek Klingons looking the same as TNG Klingons, and ignore any plot explanations).
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Era Report: 3052 has a significant number of the TRO: 3050 IS refits and 2750 SL variants in the RATs for 3048-3052. The acquisition tables make those units very rare in '48 to very common in '52
I thought the only retcon was how widespread the various prototype SL era equipment was during the '30s & '40s. Was it more than that?
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I thought the only retcon was how widespread the various prototype SL era equipment was during the '30s & '40s. Was it more than that?
I guess if you thought the distribution of SL tech I. 3050 was zero (like I did), then by extension, greater distribution in the 40s would retcon 3050.
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TechManual and IO have revival dates for most SL tech from the mid 3030s to late 3040s. How much of it made it into frontline units is up to interpretation, but some items had been in production for ten to fifteen years by the time the clans showed up.
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Now that I think about it, I don't even have a number for how widespread it was for the SCAMS in 3039.
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In my head canon that has always been just a product of lack of published designs. I would probably reference the clan vs SL numbers in field manual updates
That's the best way to handle it, I think. Use the Clan Wolf Sourcebook to determine what units were there, but use whatever designs work best for your game.
(I also consider original Star trek Klingons looking the same as TNG Klingons, and ignore any plot explanations).
Up until Enterprise, that was the canon. Yet another reason to dislike that show.
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I guess if you thought the distribution of SL tech I. 3050 was zero (like I did), then by extension, greater distribution in the 40s would retcon 3050.
I meant more like...Starterbook: Sword and Dragon had all these "prototype" equipment for the late 3030s, early 3040s. Showing how the Houses were trying to refigure out SL tech after the Helm core.
(So basically before that book it was just assumed that the Houses began producing SL level tech straight from the Helm core, but Sb:S&D added an intermediate step so to speak. And IO cements the change.)
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Also the book about minor wars puts lostech out in the world early.
My cat passed away today so I'm not actually able to think.
It had the Ronin Wars and the Andurien fight in it. Brush Wars?
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Up until Enterprise, that was the canon. Yet another reason to dislike that show.
DS9, Trials and Tribble-ations.
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Also the book about minor wars puts lostech out in the world early.
My cat passed away today so I'm not actually able to think.
It had the Ronin Wars and the Andurien fight in it. Brush Wars?
Also the book about minor wars puts lostech out in the world early.
My cat passed away today so I'm not actually able to think.
It had the Ronin Wars and the Andurien fight in it. Brush Wars?
Yeah, Brush Wars was it.
And I'm so sorry. :-[
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DS9, Trials and Tribble-ations.
We do not discuss it with outsiders.
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We do not discuss it with outsiders.
The forum took so long to save my reply, you Roosterboy'd me. :D
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The forum took so long to save my reply, you Roosterboy'd me. :D
I had the same slowdown and I was worried I wouldn't get it in time.
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Sadly, I don't think there's a single Catalyst agent in all Sydney. Or even Australia. Pity, as I think this would be a fun event
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My cat passed away today so I'm not actually able to think.
I am very, VERY sorry.
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Has anyone seen the 2 SW book yet and if so what mechs are in it?
GRF-1S Griffin
TDR-5L/5LS Thunderbolt
BLR-1D BattleMaster
Is there anything new for sale at Origins besides Second Succession War?
For BattleTech? Not really. There are some Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy Phys Ed department T-shirts, some lapel pins, and faction dice, but the rest is titles that have already been out in hardcopy for a while. Interstellar Ops, Combat Manuals, First Succession War.
Though they do have a bunch of the Lance Packs for sale for $10, so if you need some minis you can really score.
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New variants for the
BattleMaster? I means Thunderbolt. Cool.
EDIT: I must be tired. Sorry guys.
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TDR-5L/5LS Thunderbolt
All new Thunderbolts? I'd be sold if I wasn't already.
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Yes so now when do the rest of us get to see it? Adrian said a week or sooner but it looks like that is not going to hold true so. My guess is not til end of next week after the Con and they get back to work.
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Come On! We need more -M model Mechs...
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Hrrm.... Is it OK to use the LCT-1M for inspiration? ;)
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the LCT-1M's armor is a built-in reminder to stay at range.
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LCT-1M's armor...built-in
I am not sure those words mean what you think they mean.
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"WE NEED ROOM FOR THESE REALLY POWERFUL MISSILE LAUNCHERS GET YOUR STUPID ARMOR OUT OF HERE" -LCCC Commandant of Acquisitions, probably
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I am very, VERY sorry.
I've made it through a whole day now. I've actually never felt grief like this. Not looking forwaRd to tonight when I have to sleep again. I've been avoiding my home. Phantom memories on every corner.
I appreciate it very much.
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I meant more like...Starterbook: Sword and Dragon had all these "prototype" equipment for the late 3030s, early 3040s. Showing how the Houses were trying to refigure out SL tech after the Helm core.
(So basically before that book it was just assumed that the Houses began producing SL level tech straight from the Helm core, but Sb:S&D added an intermediate step so to speak. And IO cements the change.)
even in the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, there are parts that suggest the Inner Sphere had Star League weapons in production earlier than is usually assumed by fans. In the third book, Kai tells Deirdre Lear of a UFO conspiracy on New Avalon in the 3040s after a testbed Hammerhead fighter crashed during a flight. Some debris ended up in the hands of the public, and a materials scientist went on TV saying that the recovered material - being ferro fibrous armour - could not be made by modern human technology, therefore aliens.
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So, just a quick clarification of my earlier statement. The LCT-1M is technically an "-M model 'Mech." However, it is an -M model that is not available to the Free Worlds League. I was trying to point out that the FWLM has relatively few variants of the original TRO:3025 compared to most every other Successor State; in fact, there's only three I can think of off the top of my head (WVR-6M, MAD-3M, and BNC-3M). Call me selfish, but I just want more new toys to paint purple.
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Sadly, I don't think there's a single Catalyst agent in all Sydney. Or even Australia. Pity, as I think this would be a fun event
Same with Argentina. I would love to be one, only if i had the time/will/skill to paint more minis. :P
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So, just a quick clarification of my earlier statement. The LCT-1M is technically an "-M model 'Mech." However, it is an -M model that is not available to the Free Worlds League. I was trying to point out that the FWLM has relatively few variants of the original TRO:3025 compared to most every other Successor State; in fact, there's only three I can think of off the top of my head (WVR-6M, MAD-3M, and BNC-3M). Call me selfish, but I just want more new toys to paint purple.
Come to think of it, the LCT-1M's greatest use as a weapon is tricking others to field it instead of you
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Come to think of it, the LCT-1M's greatest use as a weapon is tricking others to field it instead of you
Eh. I actually don't mind using it, though you have to very careful with it. Best to stay out of sight and rely on other recon 'Mechs to spot indirect for it. In later eras, the Hammer fills the same role and, while slower, is tougher.
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Eh. I actually don't mind using it, though you have to very careful with it. Best to stay out of sight and rely on other recon 'Mechs to spot indirect for it. In later eras, the Hammer fills the same role and, while slower, is tougher.
You have a good point. In era of the old Succession Wars where Mechs are expensive and MechWarriors are cheap.
You could take cover behind a building and use indirect to bombard, being a high-speed fire support unit where unless you have some stolen or left over Valkyrie BattleMechs laying around there aren't many missile-based fire support units.
Does the new 2nd Succession Wars book include like adjustment for the cost of things since factories are suddenly going up in a nuclear "Puff!"?
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Does the new 2nd Succession Wars book include like adjustment for the cost of things since factories are suddenly going up in a nuclear "Puff!"?
No.
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Eh. I actually don't mind using it, though you have to very careful with it. Best to stay out of sight and rely on other recon 'Mechs to spot indirect for it. In later eras, the Hammer fills the same role and, while slower, is tougher.
Two-week-old steak is tougher than the LCT-1M. I have corns that are tougher than the LCT-1M. A wet paper bag is tougher than the LCT-1M. It has speed and enough LRMs to be an annoyance --- but will go down if someone stares at it harshly.....
Craig
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Two-week-old steak is tougher than the LCT-1M. I have corns that are tougher than the LCT-1M. A wet paper bag is tougher than the LCT-1M. It has speed and enough LRMs to be an annoyance --- but will go down if someone stares at it harshly.....
Craig
this is the quality technical analysis i come to this site to see.
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Two-week-old steak is tougher than the LCT-1M. I have corns that are tougher than the LCT-1M. A wet paper bag is tougher than the LCT-1M.
Coming in 2018
TRO: Very, Very Irregular Tech
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Two-week-old steak is tougher than the LCT-1M. I have corns that are tougher than the LCT-1M. A wet paper bag is tougher than the LCT-1M. It has speed and enough LRMs to be an annoyance --- but will go down if someone stares at it harshly.....
Craig
Or if the pilot sneezes.
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Now that the convention is over can I refresh the catalyst store page like crazy?
On other news, it seems ilClan will be released after the 10th thread being created :o
Almost 4 years and 500 pages of anxious fans
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Pretend I've been gone for several months due to job and overtime college enrollment (like, multiple advisors tried to talk me out of my course-load and I had to specifically convince the provost to allow it; that's how busy I've been)... have I missed much?
Last thing I was aware of was that the TRO 3150 Upgrades record sheets (for things like the Orion C, Tempest C, TMP-4M, etc.) were on hold for some reason. Is this still the case?
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Or if the pilot sneezes.
In that case, the 'Mech immediately Stackpoles, taking out everything within sixty meters of it.....
Craig
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Continues to mash cntrl-F5
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Continues to mash cntrl-F5
Hold off on that a bit, still waiting to hear what they're going to go about the store issue.
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Hitting the refresh button a lot today I think.
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Hold off on that a bit, still waiting to hear what they're going to go about the store issue.
*Hands Adrian Gideon a baseball bat.*
Will this help? >:/!
Craig
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That's because you pronounce it correctly :)
I suppose it's another one to add to the list. Gawse/Goss or Eri-dah-nee/Erid-inee
???
I pronounce "Gauss" like the name of the famous mathematician. (I also pronounce "Rasalhague" as "Rass-all-haig", with the emphasis on the first syllable.) Language is tricky, and this discussion involves several.
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???
I pronounce "Gauss" like the name of the famous mathematician.
As it should be. Anything with Gauss is named after the mathematician.
Wikipedia has the proper pronunciation for the name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss
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Pretend I've been gone for several months due to job and overtime college enrollment (like, multiple advisors tried to talk me out of my course-load and I had to specifically convince the provost to allow it; that's how busy I've been)... have I missed much?
Last thing I was aware of was that the TRO 3150 Upgrades record sheets (for things like the Orion C, Tempest C, TMP-4M, etc.) were on hold for some reason. Is this still the case?
Ok, the short-short version:
- Second Succession War just came out, but isn't up as a PDF or on the e-store yet.
- The Demo Team and the BattleTech line both have new leadership.
- ilClan is still on track to be out this year, and a teaser was put up of the cover art. It looks like an Atlas II and Savage Wolf fighting in a circle of equals made up of Wolf and Republic mechs. Beyond that, no dates or details
- Depending on how far back you are talking, there may also be new Touring The Stars releases that you missed.
Those would be the recent highlights that I can recall.
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Last thing I was aware of was that the TRO 3150 Upgrades record sheets (for things like the Orion C, Tempest C, TMP-4M, etc.) were on hold for some reason. Is this still the case?
record sheets? i haven't heard that name in years...
hopefully, we'll get rs: prototypes soonish
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Sounds like quite the list. Thank you for the heads-up.
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Where is the Ilclan cover teaser at?
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Where is the Ilclan cover teaser at?
http://bg.battletech.com/news/catalyst-game-labs-announces-new-leadership-for-battletech-line/
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Was the site down yesterday? Or was that just me?
(Figured it was everyone overloading it with F5-mashing... :D)
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We were LARPing Holy Shroud, and things got a little out of hand ... O:-)
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The monthly two-day crash.
Not sure if monthly and always two-days but there is a long downtime every now and then on these forums.
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Current BT website status? (http://www.moongiant.com/phase/today/)
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Man I know we have been bugging everyone for 2ND war but did they have to ban the entire forum for two days ;D
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Man I know we have been bugging everyone for 2ND war but did they have to ban the entire forum for two days ;D
If that were the case, I think it more likely TPTB would go full Gibson on the forums rather than just a couple days outage... ;D
Current BT website status? (http://www.moongiant.com/phase/today/)
(https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder778/500x/37682778.jpg)
(Sorry, couldn't resist...)
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Little known fact*: the forum server runs over a prepaid WiFi hotspot, ant they keep forgetting to buy more refill cards.
* this is not actually a fact.
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The monthly two-day crash.
Not sure if monthly and always two-days but there is a long downtime every now and then on these forums.
It's like when my grandpa took the phone off the hook when he wanted to be left alone
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No, every month or so they have to replace the hamster(s) or the wheel.
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Here i thought we forgot to pay our ComStar bill and we ended up getting interdicted.
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Unless they cut me, again, 2SW has rules for that! O0
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Man I know we have been bugging everyone for 2ND war but did they have to ban the entire forum for two days ;D
I stand by the decision.
EXAMPLES MUST BE MADE!!!
*shakes fist*
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No, every month or so they have to replace the hamster(s) or the wheel.
Rumor is they want to upgrade to Guinea pigs, but they have a better union than the hamsters do.....
Craig
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Unless they cut me, again, 2SW has rules for that! O0
Hey, I gave them something else to cut, so you should be good.
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So that's why the site has been down all day.
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I stand by the decision.
EXAMPLES MUST BE MADE!!!
*shakes fist*
And stay off ActionButler's lawn!
Meddling kids.
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So if we start asking when 2nd war is getting released please don't shut down the forum, just really want this book O0
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So if we start asking when 2nd war is getting released please don't shut down the forum, just really want this book O0
(http://puu.sh/wrzVD/f3bbba1cd6.png)
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Well, I went to check on the CGL Store and......it's not up.
Was the address changed or was it not restored when the forums were restored?
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https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/
That's the current store.
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So nothing new. That sucks. But Im sure its coming soon.
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https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/
That's the current store.
That's the one i'm currently trying to connect to. I get Problem loading page issue on it. I hope it's just the place i'm connecting from.
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I wouldn't use it anyway. DriveThruRPG is more stable, more user-friendly, and allows infinite downloads.
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That's the one i'm currently trying to connect to. I get Problem loading page issue on it. I hope it's just the place i'm connecting from.
It came up fine for me just now.
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I wouldn't use it anyway. DriveThruRPG is more stable, more user-friendly, and allows infinite downloads.
We really need a like button could not agree more, i use to use only the battleshop but since switching to Drive thur so much better.
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I wouldn't use it anyway. DriveThruRPG is more stable, more user-friendly, and allows infinite downloads.
The new store has a purchases library that allows unlimited downloads now.
As for the missing pile of products and all of my purchases from 1/16 to 10/16...
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It came up fine for me just now.
It looks like it was the place I was connecting to. Thanks guys.
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The new store has a purchases library that allows unlimited downloads now.
As for the missing pile of products and all of my purchases from 1/16 to 10/16...
Have you raised undelivered orders with the new LD, Brent Evans? He's asked anyone with issues to contact him directly. brent.evans@catalystgamelabs.com - quote order numbers & your details, please.
W.
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Have you raised undelivered orders with the new LD, Brent Evans? He's asked anyone with issues to contact him directly. brent.evans@catalystgamelabs.com - quote order numbers & your details, please.
W.
I missed that, thanks
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Others have gotten good responses from Brent, but let me know if you don't hear anything for a few days.
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I am waiting patiently for them to add the short stories to the Catalyst Store myself. There are about 150+ that I don't have ;)
So after we get the 2nd Succession War book, what was next in line? Combat Manual: Davion? IlClan? Turning Points: Tokasha?
IMO, I bet they are waiting for the BattleMech Manual to be released when the Harebrained Schemes game comes out. Perhaps with the box set. Maybe even a novel. "Do you like the computer game? Then here! Buy this book, this box, this novel for more BattleTech goodness!"
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I am just hoping they have fixed the problem with the store so they can upload 2nd war. Then maybe a new TRO would be nice especially Golden Century but not holding my breath at this point.
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I think the BattleMech manual was pretty close to being done, so I would imagine it ought to be out next. As much as I want to see ilClan, I don't think there has been enough hype to suggest it is coming up next.
We don't know where CM: Davion is at the moment. I believe the last thing Ray mentioned was that it was waiting on some particular task to get finished up that wasn't ready when expected. So, it wasn't so much a case of, 'We decided to delay CM: Davion,' as it was, 'CM: Davion has managed to delay its self!'
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Ilclan is one of the two print products coming out this year and has a cover, the writing has been done for awhile to my knowledge.
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I think the BattleMech manual was pretty close to being done, so I would imagine it ought to be out next. As much as I want to see ilClan, I don't think there has been enough hype to suggest it is coming up next.
IlClan is confirmed to be released this year, though
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IlClan is confirmed to be released this year, though
It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
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It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
So...it gets here, when it gets here... ;D
Can you give us any update on any of the various new series of PDF only products? I know the person writing the Milestones has had what could only be termed a hell year, but are any of the others close to a tentative release?
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So...it gets here, when it gets here...
... the proverbial hill down ...
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It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
Thanks for letting us know
Do you have any updates regarding the 2nd SS pdf or other products?
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It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
:'( I know it's gonna be great whenever it does hit but we'll keep our fingers crossed for sooner rather than later.
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Thanks for letting us know
Do you have any updates regarding the 2nd SS pdf or other products?
I was told Friday at the latest. I'll ping again.
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I was told Friday at the latest. I'll ping again.
(https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder283/400x/55206283.jpg)
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It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
Is it a shipping issue or something else?
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I was told Friday at the latest. I'll ping again.
*Cntrl+F5 mashing continues*
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I was told Friday at the latest. I'll ping again.
Sure, but which friday?
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Sure, but which friday?
good point. :-[
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good point. :-[
That does not inspire confidence that we are getting this book today or any time soon.
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CGL's past misuse of the mathematician's answer to questions doesn't inspire confidence either
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That does not inspire confidence that we are getting this book today or any time soon.
I don't think it should inspire anything. The answer seems to be that Adrian doesn't have the information you want.
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good point. :-[
Would it be possible to place it first on drivethrurpg?
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It's not up to me.
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(https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder283/400x/55206283.jpg)
Two pings now. :)
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It's not up to me.
Who is it up too?
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It was and I still hope that's the case, but it is no longer definite.
I wish that I could say I was surprised. Are you able to shed any light on what is holding it up, why it is now in doubt?
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Administrative snafus.
Bandwidth is slightly limited at the moment, but as soon as a O0 is given, the product will ship.
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However. Postponed is better than cancelled.
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Administrative snafus.
Bandwidth is slightly limited at the moment, but as soon as a O0 is given, the product will ship.
Is this regarding the potential for ilClan not to ship in 2017 as previously hoped, or on when 2nd Succession War's PDF will be available?
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Is this regarding the potential for ilClan not to ship in 2017 as previously hoped, or on when 2nd Succession War's PDF will be available?
2nd succession war.
I'd imagine that Ilclan being slowed down would be more of a change in line developers. The writing was done awhile ago I thought. So that means it would mostly be an art/layout sort of thing.
But if they want to take the future somewhere slightly different then the writing isn't done.
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That's correct. All counts.
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That's correct. All counts.
So will you ever tell us how much different it is than the story Herb and Ben wrote, or it that plot line now relegated to the ash heap of history? I mean, if it's gone, why not tell us / let them tell us what WOULD have happened.....
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IlClan wasn't written by Herb or Ben. It was written chiefly by Phil Lee, with other authors (none of which are Herb or Ben) contributing small sections.
But otherwise, there's no real way to answer your question. There aren't any changes yet. Don't know if there will be or not. Don't know if they'd be worth detailing or if I'd want or be allowed to share them if there are any.
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Since we don't even know what's in there in the first place, the notion that it might be changed is actually pretty meaningless beyond how it impacts the release date.
Unless one is preemptively looking for an excuse to complain about the current administration. I desperately hope nobody's doing that.
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I would trial of grievance them like a straight up battletech nerd. Adrian is the best. I choose the back alley they choose the weapons. The whole thing will be terribly cliché.
Anyways. To be honest my comments aren't always conducive to a positive discussion. Over the last few years I've started to think more critically about everything and sometimes trying to think things through that way gives people an opportunity to complain or makes them notice something they wouldn't have otherwise.
Like, I said about the second succession war book that it leaves out my Rasalhague friends, then mention it's got to be tough for the franchise because the player base is pretty fragmented between era's and factions. I'm just making an observation about challenges which I usually follow up with a question about how to fix it. But it just gives other people a chance to jump in and complain about something. Which isn't the intent. But is often the outcome.
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So will you ever tell us how much different it is than the story Herb and Ben wrote, or it that plot line now relegated to the ash heap of history? I mean, if it's gone, why not tell us / let them tell us what WOULD have happened.....
If you head over to Ben Rome's blog you'll get what you're looking for.
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So...what's the chance we'll get new product before we get a new "Coming Releases" thread? ;D
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If you head over to Ben Rome's blog you'll get what you're looking for.
Agreed.
I think some time after ilClan was published Ben Rome might write "What if ilClan story would be his".
However it is quite interesting, IIRC Ben wrote that he wrote the main story of ilClan once.
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So...what's the chance we'll get new product before we get a new "Coming Releases" thread? ;D
I've already been made a liar on the subject a few times, so I won't say… :)
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Seems kinda rudder-less in the Battletech universe. I hope something gets released....but then again I want DTF of a book at Gencon.
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Seems kinda rudder-less in the Battletech universe. I hope something gets released....but then again I want DTF of a book at Gencon.
I'll be fair here: the new line developer has had his job for under a month now. It's less "no rudder" and more "going through a shift change."
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I've already been made a liar on the subject a few times, so I won't say… :)
Come on. You are hardly a liar, these are real life issues ... :)
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I'll be fair here: the new line developer has had his job for under a month now. It's less "no rudder" and more "going through a shift change."
Pretty much this. Even I'm laying off of them on my major complaints for the time being. For all I know, he might very well be planning to address the issues on my mind or might come across them and go "...Huh. Why DIDN'T we take care of issue X? Seems like something we could do, I'mma look into this."
Hoping for the best.
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Seems kinda rudder-less in the Battletech universe. I hope something gets released....but then again I want DTF of a book at Gencon.
Yeah. I finally have a summer off from studying medical stuff. So I had noticed peripherally that there hadn't been alot of products. So when I swung in I noticed things seemed to be crawling.
But I didn't notice until yesterday that Ben Rome left in october.
I don't know if you follow Randall Bills on twitter or anything but that guy always seems on the verge of over work collapse.
We should all pitch in and get the guy an anti-anxiety dog or something.
Anyways. Things should be better now with the new device team.
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Also Dragonfire. They've got a winning system anyways. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love Shadowrun crossfire. But that's just one they have to get right. Dungeons and Dragons has been normalized. It's mainstream now. They have the mass market appeal. So landing that right is what pushes catalyst towards being fantasy flight some day if they play their cards right. (I never pun. :o oh no!)
So it makes sense to shove resources towards that project. Hopefully they will reproduce crossfire to take advantage of people who like Dragonfire and want more.
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I understand that there is some restructure pains going on right now in the Battletech world.
Im sure it will all be fixed and things will be moving on forward.
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I understand that there is some restructure pains going on right now in the Battletech world.
Im sure it will all be fixed and things will be moving on forward.
It's probably the best time for it instead or starting something then having to halt to fix internal issues
I've got no real complaints really I love the PDF lines at the moment XTRO, Touring the Stars, Spotlight on
I'd love to see more Operational Turning Points too
Big books I can wait for everything to be settled I get PDFs pretty much exclusively now unless something special like Reaving happens again so no rush
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Without transparency there no way know what's wrong. Its frustrating.
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The thing I wonder about is if Brent will have more of a presence on the forums than Randall did. Not expecting the Adrian level chattering like a teenage girl, but a post a month to answer questions or brag about some new project that will be released soon would be a nice change of pace O0 ;D
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As a gamer and customer, I don't really need to know unless this was a kick-starter I already put money into.
This forum freaks out at the smallest bit of negative news so I don't blame CGL for keeping things close to the vest regarding new stuff.
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As a gamer and customer, I don't really need to know unless this was a kick-starter I already put money into.
This forum freaks out at the smallest bit of negative news so I don't blame CGL for keeping things close to the vest regarding new stuff.
Fans freak out. Period. I hope that the new LD understand that and don't keep the fans in the dark. Like we were in the last few years. After all, bad news are better than the speculation of no news at all
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As a gamer and customer, I don't really need to know unless this was a kick-starter I already put money into.
This forum freaks out at the smallest bit of negative news so I don't blame CGL for keeping things close to the vest regarding new stuff.
I can't think of many pieces of news worse to receive than further delays to plot continuation at this point, but I think the reaction to the potential delay of ilClan has been rather mild, don't you? I don't see a single torch or pitchfork out yet. Which really rather speaks volumes towards my theory that being informed when there's a delay is a balm against panic, and it's silence that's toxic.
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Without transparency there no way know what's wrong. Its frustrating.
Which really rather speaks volumes towards my theory that being informed when there's a delay is a balm against panic, and it's silence that's toxic.
I think I've been transparent and have been fairly decent in relaying timelines and delays as best I can. And I agree, I haven't seen much in the way of torches and pitchforks in some time. All I see is the understandable frustrations of wanting more , wanting it soon, and of course the frustrations of products coming out that aren't what one particularly wants. I get that.
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This isn't towards you in a negative way at all., Adrian Gideon.
We know you don't have much power over the situation.
Thank you for your reassurance you given us.
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Sorry my Dungeons and Dragons group doesn't meet until Monday's so I can't buy torches and pitchforks until tomorrow at discount prices because of my super high Charisma stat....
But then I do work at a home improvement store..... perhaps I can start selling them to the masses and making a profit.......
But seriously now: Am I disappointed that IlClans delayed : of course. Am I disappointed that 2SW is delayed in print and PDF: of course
Yet I realize that we're humans and delays happen and yelling at people doesn't make time move faster: Deloreans and Phone Booths do!!!
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The thing I wonder about is if Brent will have more of a presence on the forums than Randall did. Not expecting the Adrian level chattering like a teenage girl, but a post a month to answer questions or brag about some new project that will be released soon would be a nice change of pace O0 ;D
I'm not sure that is a great idea. On one hand it makes sense for him to communicate with fans but on the other it didn't work out so great for Herb.
Ray has a unique skill set where he can function as a community manager and de-escalate really well... and is good at art and layouts.
He asks the right questions. He knows why people are upset. Like... SteveRestless brings it hard on the forums sometimes. But it's just because he wants more battletech stuff.
It's like working retail when a customer comes to return something. They just want to know that they won't lose their money. Anger is just a symptom of that fear.
Just from observing the company reaction to the 3250 stuff it doesn't seem worth it for the line developer to pop in. If community backlash can have drastic repurcussions why risk it?
But let's talk about some new releases.
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Been lurking for a while. Any news on when Combat Manual Davion is supposd to come out? Or why it's delayed? Wasn't te art showed at GenCon last year? Ir was that for some other book?
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When did this place become so Adult like....
Was it during the 2nd SSW that the old battle wagon Bismark came riding to the rescue of Defiance on Hesperus II? I can't wait tell I read about that battle it has always been one of the most epic moments in Battletech form me .
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When did this place become so Adult like....
Was it during the 2nd SSW that the old battle wagon Bismark came riding to the rescue of Defiance on Hesperus II? I can't wait tell I read about that battle it has always been one of the most epic moments in Battletech form me .
You mean Invincible. Hopefully we'll be able to read about it soon. We get glimmers of it in TRO: 3057 Revised and other source books but hopefully 2nd SW will fill in those gaps in full.
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I think I've been transparent and have been fairly decent in relaying timelines and delays as best I can. And I agree, I haven't seen much in the way of torches and pitchforks in some time. All I see is the understandable frustrations of wanting more , wanting it soon, and of course the frustrations of products coming out that aren't what one particularly wants. I get that.
Maybe I misread, but I fear I may be being misinterpreted here. While I'm quite upset that the release is thrown into potential jeopardy, I'm happy that we had a projected timeframe, and something happened, and we've been updated that it's uncertain now. I just couldn't resist pointing out that in a time of great unrest, the reaction has been rather sedate, and how it vindicates what I've been saying. I'm happy enough to at least be informed that I've managed not to voice some of my thoughts on the nature of the delay.
Please, keep up the good work, Adrian. I hope you're allowed to give us more to calibrate our expectations by in the near future.
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Maybe I misread, but I fear I may be being misinterpreted here.
I don't think so. I was agreeing with you--unless I misread something.
Point being: I believe transparency is a good thing—I think I've been as up-front as I can, and do believe it's been appreciated.
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Ah, I did misread then. Carry on.
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You mean Invincible. Hopefully we'll be able to read about it soon. We get glimmers of it in TRO: 3057 Revised and other source books but hopefully 2nd SW will fill in those gaps in full.
It does show up in the appropriate section of 2SW. It jumps into the system at the last minute, looks at the Kurita fleet and does its best Crocodile Dundee impression yelling, "That's not a Warship...THIS is a Warship!" And then House Kurita ceases to have a fleet.
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Completely appreciated Adrian
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It does show up in the appropriate section of 2SW. It jumps into the system at the last minute, looks at the Kurita fleet and does its best Crocodile Dundee impression yelling, "That's not a Warship...THIS is a Warship!" And then House Kurita ceases to have a fleet.
Considering the Kuritans (sadly) have never had a ship bigger than a Aegis Heavy Cruiser, that would put little more shock in their socks to to speak.
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Is it possible that the Second Succession War books at Origins were just a limited run to have them for that con, and that TPTB are waiting for the full print run to come out before releasng the PDF for general sale? If so, maybe GenCon is when we'll be able to buy it? Just curious/hoping. :)
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Is it possible that the Second Succession War books at Origins were just a limited run to have them for that con, and that TPTB are waiting for the full print run to come out before releasng the PDF for general sale? If so, maybe GenCon is when we'll be able to buy it? Just curious/hoping. :)
No, CGL is literally out of people to put the book in the store. That's what they told us weeks ago
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Is ilClan still coming out this year? I saw a post a couple pages back which seemed to shed some doubt.
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I think it is earlier in this thread but from what I remember the IlClan has been postponed due to the shift in direction with the changing of the guard. My impression is that they are saying that maybe we will get it this year but it is unlikely.
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I think it is earlier in this thread but from what I remember the IlClan has been postponed due to the shift in direction with the changing of the guard. My impression is that they are saying that maybe we will get it this year but it is unlikely.
***ugh***
I hope your wrong about it. These guys are killing us with this sort thing going on.
I should be grateful there IS a Second Succession Wars book at all.
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I should be grateful there IS a Second Succession Wars book at all.
Is there though? It could all be an elaborate conspiracy between TPTB and people who went to origins just to gaslight us all for their amusement ;) all we can REALLY, verifiably, say exists is some cover art.
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If I remember stuff came out less then a month prior to a big con like Gencon. I'm sure with the problems with the website and CGL has delayed that a bit.
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Is it possible that the Second Succession War books at Origins were just a limited run to have them for that con, and that TPTB are waiting for the full print run to come out before releasng the PDF for general sale? If so, maybe GenCon is when we'll be able to buy it? Just curious/hoping. :)
There's no way it's a limited run. There might have been a small amount shipped air to make it to Origins but no separate print runs.
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So I just discovered that this thread had also talked about the WWE announcement. I just want to mention that if anyone has any questions they want to ask about it, if you post them in this (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57845.0) thread I'll be more than happy to answer them there and with as much detail as I can provide.
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One for @Adrian Gideon
Speaking of Second Succession war, any word since the Interdiction on a PDF release date/window/timeline?
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Speaking of Second Succession war, any word since the Interdiction on a PDF release date/window/timeline?
I have an answer to the question of when, one which I think we'll all be pleased by, and I want to post it. But if I do...
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2c/ce/78/2cce787bb9e7a3c83aa4b9e91ee680d8--charlie-brown-football-charlie-brown-snoopy.jpg)
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Good enough for me ;D
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Any news on the Turning Points that were discussed a while ago? Or are those subject to the same PDF-for-sale issues as 2SW? :)
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there has been a steady stream of official 2SW tweets so... Soon™?
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2SW Facebook posts, too.
Hopefully that's a good sign.
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2SW Facebook posts, too.
Hopefully that's a good sign.
Hope is the last thing you lose...
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2SW Facebook posts, too.
Hopefully that's a good sign.
Noticed that also. I hope that is a teaser for what comes soon....in PDF at least.
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Hope is the last thing you lose...
Your car keys, of course, are first.
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Twitter/Facebook posts are being repeated on this site's front page.
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Your car keys, of course, are first.
I thought the first was my already tenuous grip on reality.
As for the 2SW, and Battletech products in general, how many people are planning on purchasing a physical copy of the book?
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I thought the first was my already tenuous grip on reality.
That one comes after your lens (wich are in your forehead, but you did not notice). ;D
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I thought the first was my already tenuous grip on reality.
As for the 2SW, and Battletech products in general, how many people are planning on purchasing a physical copy of the book?
Me. I always buy physical books. Look better on the bookshelf and I don't worry about battery life!
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For "narrative" books, physical. Bought FSW as PDF at first, read 20-some pages and decided reading from display wasn't fun. So i bought a physical book once it was available.
TROs and Combat Manuals and rulebooks and other such where i read just entry here or there work just fine as PDFs.
Unfortunately this will suck for IlClan. Even if the PDF and physical book were released at the same time in the US, it will take time for physical books to appear here in Finland... meaning i need to go to blackout to avoid spoilers and stuff.
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Definitely physical. I won't bother with PDF unless, through some miracle, CGL offers me work again.
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I have to be honest, pretty much everything I read is digital these days. Aside from being cheaper the convenience of having my library just a couple clicks away anywhere I go has brought to the digital side. That and the memories of carting backbreaking mountains of books to and from the library during my graduate school days :(
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As for the 2SW, and Battletech products in general, how many people are planning on purchasing a physical copy of the book?
Exclusively PDF. I like being able to carry entire libraries worth of books in a device that weighs less than one book. Given how disorganized many of the Modern Battletech books are, I would not be interested in buying most of them without the ability to ctrl+f for things I'm actually researching.
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Aside from being cheaper the convenience of having my library just a couple clicks away anywhere I go has brought to the digital side.
I like being able to carry entire libraries worth of books in a device that weighs less than one book.
Agree with these.
For "narrative" books, physical. Bought FSW as PDF at first, read 20-some pages and decided reading from display wasn't fun. So i bought a physical book once it was available.
TROs and Combat Manuals and rulebooks and other such where i read just entry here or there work just fine as PDFs.
Intrigued by this since I tend to go the opposite direction. I prefer digital for the narrative books, but physical for rulebooks and TROS. I feel a little better toting around a physical book for gametime than an expensive device.
There was no hidden objective to the question, by the way, I was just curious about how people prefer to consume their gaming materials.
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I always buy both on books that I want. PDF and DTF. I used to buy both at the same time but problems with the shipping on the book. I just get the PDF and hopefully a FLGS will get a copy or order thru a 3rd party.
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Intrigued by this since I tend to go the opposite direction. I prefer digital for the narrative books, but physical for rulebooks and TROS. I feel a little better toting around a physical book for gametime than an expensive device. .
I don't like reading from screen really, not if i do it for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time. I'll make exceptions for "really hard to find unless as ebook" but not happily (and admittedly it is handy while traveling).
The only book i need on table is the rulebook(s), and phone or tablet-PC takes less space. Plus checking errata is faster that way without needing to print everything.
I will make an exception for BattleMech Manual though. Since it will include errata'd rules and more or less everything i need in one package, it will be practical as a physical rulebook.
I just hope it won't be needing errata really...
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I don't like reading from screen really, not if i do it for longer than 5-10 minutes at a time. I'll make exceptions for "really hard to find unless as ebook" but not happily (and admittedly it is handy while traveling).
Cool, I definitely understand that complaint. I used to be the same way, in fact. Don't know what happened to change it. I guess I just got used to reading from a Kindle.
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PDF all the way. Actually planning on putting my considerable physical collection of BT books up for adoption at some point as I don't use them any more.
.. Oh and i page 50;d the threat... Time for a new one!
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*sniff*
New and Upcoming Releases threads grow up so quickly these days.
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I guess the Ninth Circle is squared now.
On to new thread, and new product finally coming out. Huzzah! :D
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For "narrative" books, physical. Bought FSW as PDF at first, read 20-some pages and decided reading from display wasn't fun. So i bought a physical book once it was available.
Adobe Acrobat Reader offers the ability to change the colors used in a document, you can use one of 4 high contrast pre-sets or make your own selection. Unfortunately because CGL use background art you can't change the page color and they do something to the page text meaning that only every second page gets changed for some reason.
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Adobe Acrobat Reader offers the ability to change the colors used in a document, you can use one of 4 high contrast pre-sets or make your own selection. Unfortunately because CGL use background art you can't change the page color and they do something to the page text meaning that only every second page gets changed for some reason.
Not a matter of color. Doesn't matter if on phone or PC display either. I just find reading from screen... Boring? I don't know. Just wrong, either way.
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Not a matter of color. Doesn't matter if on phone or PC display either. I just find reading from screen... Boring? I don't know. Just wrong, either way.
I can understand that. Would prefer to keep all DTF, but just don't have the space to keep them. Plus PDFs are generally cheaper too.
One weird thing about reading PDFs or ebooks...I don't remember them as well as if reading DTF... :/
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One weird thing about reading PDFs or ebooks...I don't remember them as well as if reading DTF... :/
That too.
But i don't think it is weird. While holding a book, the physical action may help in forming memory.
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That too.
But i don't think it is weird. While holding a book, the physical action may help in forming memory.
Idem here. I usually remember better if i read it in DTF, and later use the pdfs to hunt for references when doing research.
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Well?
What are you all waiting for?
Go buy the pdf! ;D
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Well?
What are you all waiting for?
Go buy the pdf! ;D
w00tz!
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Clearly I woke up from my nap and fixed the router just in the nick of time.
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It's 4am and I ran upstairs to grab my money and throw it at the computer.... I might have a problem....
EDIT: Question: because it's 430 and I already want to scream questions to the computer: when can we start using spoiler tags to ask questions: immediately or is their a time period?
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Annnnnnnnd we're done.
Please form an orderly queue and head to the new thread:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=58071