CGL livestreaming from PAX West

[Lorcan Nagle]

So Catalyst are streaming all weekend again, and there doesn't seem to be much discussion of it on the boards. Or, to be fair much promotion of it on their social media as far as I can see.  They went for about 8 hours yesterday and seem to be planning the same all weekend.  And here's yesterday's streams timestamped.  It's mostly Shadowrun Takedown because the Kickstarter is closing out in 7 hours as of the time I'm typing this.

Intro and quick chat with Randall
Takedown prototype unboxing
Takedown playthrough with Dylan, Devon and Tommy from Lynnvander
Discussion between Randall, Tommy from Lynnvander and Jerry and Eric from Penny Arcade
Takedown development chat with Tommy and Dylan
Second Takedown playthrough with Dylan, Devon and Tommy from Lynnvander
Wrapup and chat with Randall

BattleTech stuff from Randall's chats:

There should be an Aces update in the next few weeks
Hour of the Wolf Audiobook is almost complete
No plans to move the GoAC mechs to Forcepacks at present. It'll only happen when and if new minis are swapped in for a new edition.
Ongoing global shipping issues mean Randall doesn't want to commit to any solid dates for Kickstarter fulfilment, but things are still looking good.
BattleTech COMMAND is still progressing through development.  It's designed by FASA veteran Jim Long, of Black Thorns fame.
Randall didn't want to say much about the 40th anniversary but he did reveal that they'll be issuing a reprint of The Succession Wars, like how they're reprinting Shadowrun 1st edition for the 35th anniversary.
The new grand strategy game is "about 85% done", needs 2-3 playtest cycles.
They're still working on getting con swag onto the store as a standard thing.
Kickstarter stuff should start hitting stores 2-3 months after backer fulfillment.
Force Manual: Draconis Combine is heading into layout, art review is just complete
Universe is finished now, Randall is very proud of it.
Discussions for Kickstarter 3 have begun, it'll probably be 2-3 years before we see it
The PoD program is still getting back on its feet, the guy they hired to do this got dragged into working on Universe
House Arano will probably get more products - an advantage of the Kickstarters is they can get a good look at what factions people love, and Arano are in the top 10.
Samples of a lot of material including the first 7 forcepacks and the 2 mercs boxes are on their way to Randall at the moment, he'll be taking photos as soon as he can.
John Helfers will hopefully be putting out a new fiction announcement in a few weeks, he's at Dragoncon this weekend.
No plans to return to the Homeworld Clans at present.  They're still waiting for the right story to come along.
Den of Wolves has only a couple of chapters left to complete.
There will hopefully be an update for the Clan Invasion Kickstarter digital products soon.
The Gencon mugs will hopefully be on the store in a month or so
They are continuing to have problems finding a partner for the EU store, they're in discussion with some new people now.  But when Kickstarter fulfillment ramps up it's going to take up most of the company's bandwidth for a few months.
Randall's been too busy to write recently but he's still working on his Nova Cat/Spirit Cat novel.

[Gladius-XC]

For the uninitiated (me), what is Battletech COMMAND?

[Lorcan Nagle]

A new game that was previewed at KerenskyCon (the mini-con for top-level Kickstarter backers) a while back.  It's similar to Memoir 44 in terms of gameplay and scope.

[MarauderD]

I thought they were starting with Force Manual: House Davion?  You can still find Mercs and Draconis Combine on the market, so that news is strange.

[Fire Scorpion IIC]

Any spoilers on how many factions will be covered in Universe book?

Are we getting the usual C* + 5 Houses + 4 Clans or we going wider?

Because it would be epic if they would cover stuff like Marians, Aranos and Scorpions

[Lorcan Nagle]

Apparently Randall will be opening and closing the stream each day, and they'll be live in about 90 minutes if you want to tune in and ask...

[nckestrel]

I thought they were starting with Force Manual: House Davion?  You can still find Mercs and Draconis Combine on the market, so that news is strange.

Davion is first.  but it's not the only one being worked on.  Davion is nearing the end of layout and art is complete.  Kurita is about to start layout and initial art is in (roughs to make sure the artist is heading the right direction before they get too far in to it).

[Lorcan Nagle]

Stream is up now but nobody's on yet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AXcFg7UUXQ

or

https://www.twitch.tv/sixsidesofgaming

[Lorcan Nagle]

Any spoilers on how many factions will be covered in Universe book?

Are we getting the usual C* + 5 Houses + 4 Clans or we going wider?

Because it would be epic if they would cover stuff like Marians, Aranos and Scorpions

I asked Randall, he said "the 5 houses, 5 or 6 clans, and 7 or so mercenary units, as well as the broader timeline"

[I am Belch II]

Is that 7 new force packs??? Or the 7 form the kickstarter??

[Lorcan Nagle]

No, it's faction write-ups in the Universe book

[Fire Scorpion IIC]

I asked Randall, he said "the 5 houses, 5 or 6 clans, and 7 or so mercenary units, as well as the broader timeline"

Thanks!!

[Tyrant]

Is Den of Wolves a novel?

[Lorcan Nagle]

Yes, it's the Mike Stackpole/Loren Coleman origin of Wolf's Dragoons collaboration that was a Clan Invasion Kickstarter stretch goal

[Tyrant]

Yes, it's the Mike Stackpole/Loren Coleman origin of Wolf's Dragoons collaboration that was a Clan Invasion Kickstarter stretch goal

Thanks. I either completely forgot that or overlooked it back during the KS.

[I am Belch II]

No, it's faction write-ups in the Universe book

Thanks. I was hoping.

[Pat Payne]

Force Manual: Draconis Combine is heading into layout, art review is just complete

Woohoo!  The reports of the demise of the Combat Manuals was greatly exaggerated! One question, if it's something that can be publicly stated at this time: will the new Force Manuals be hardcover like the newest universe books (IlClan, Tamar Rising, Empire Alone, etc.) or will they be softcover like the OG Combat Manuals?

Discussions for Kickstarter 3 have begun, it'll probably be 2-3 years before we see it

That's not surprising. You guys hit not just back-to-back home runs, but pretty much two consecutive "Babe Ruth pointing at a spot in the stands" homers with the two Kickstarters. Sometimes you gotta recover from success even more than from failure 

House Arano will probably get more products - an advantage of the Kickstarters is they can get a good look at what factions people love, and Arano are in the top 10.

Cool! Welcome completely to the big, happy, screwed-up family that is the Inner Sphere, House Arano! Will there be some elaboration on what happened to them post-3SW, as even new map info seems to show they just disappeared, and not in a "absorbed by the Taurians" sort of way.

[Atlas3060]

"Discussions for Kickstarter 3 have begun, it'll probably be 2-3 years before we see it"

My wallet is sitting here in relief, mumbling something about "Finally, rest" the wimp.

[Ghaz]

Looking forward to Kickstarter 4 then (by that time my house will be paid off ).

[Lorcan Nagle]

"Discussions for Kickstarter 3 have begun, it'll probably be 2-3 years before we see it"

My wallet is sitting here in relief, mumbling something about "Finally, rest" the wimp.

If they can hold off on anything I'll feel the urge to throw hundreds of local monies at for like 8 months, I'll be happy.  I wanna do UK Games Expo next year, and maybe Worldcon too!

[Maingunnery]

"Discussions for Kickstarter 3 have begun, it'll probably be 2-3 years before we see it"

My wallet is sitting here in relief, mumbling something about "Finally, rest" the wimp.

Hopefully I will have painted the KS2 minis before KS3 starts.

[Xotl]

Thanks, this is very helpful.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Day 2:

Intro and chat with Randall
Shadowrun Takedown with Randall, Dylan, Tommy and Devon
Centurion playthrough with Randall and Bryn
Shadowrun adventure with Devon, Tommy and I think Ryan from Lynnvander
Shadowrun Edgezone playthrough with Talon and I think his name was Kasai Boller, a friend of Talon's
Wrapup and chat with Randall

Additional info from today's chats (there was a lot of joking around and repeat questions):
ilKhan's eyes only will be out next year at this stage
CGL are 99.9% locked in to do UK Games Expo, pending a meeting at Essen
Aces development will be "full bore" after the Kickstarter fulfills
Randall would love to do more variant mech minis, the Hunchback 4P was specifically mentioned
Alpha Strike Commander's Edition reprint is on a boat, hopefully be available before the end of September
The Universe book will hold a hint on the new financial normal for the ilClan era
Half the Clan Invasion forcepacks have gone back for a 4th printing.
When the Mercs Kickstarter fulfils, CGL will have shipped 10 million plastic minis in the last 5 years.
No definite plans to do anything pre-Amaris civil war at present, but they want to write more in every era.
Tamar Rising is probably Randall's favourite of the new campaign books because of how fresh and new it makes the universe feel.  He's very proud of the big map as well, he talked about the campaign he's running in Zulus and how he pulled the map out, laid it down and said "you guys are here, where would you like to go?" Randall plotted the course on the map and one of the players said it felt like he was in the HBS game at that point.
There are plans for Forcepacks next year outside of the Kickstarter, Randall was unwilling to give any more details at this time.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Live for Day 3!  There's gonna be some BattleTech, Cthulu Wars, and Shadowrun Anarchy today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCjk0aP4yls

[MarauderCH IIC]

Grey Death Legion was the number one swag seller from the kickstarter.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Day 3 timestamped:

Intro and chat with Randall
BattleTech game with Randall vs Bryn
Cthulu Wars with Randall, Bryn and Kenyon Bills
Shadowrun anarchy with Ryan and Devon from Lynnvander plus two people who are just interested in the game
Wrapup and chat with Randall and Tara Bills

Gotta go into the office today so I don't have time to trawl through the chats for other info.  Will do Sunday and Monday's chats in a single post tomorrow.

[shivanwurm]

Grey Death Legion was the number one swag seller from the kickstarter.

Neat.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Timestamps for today's bits.  There wasn't a lot on!

Intro and Chat with Randall
Alpha Strike with Randall, Bryn and Jared who painted the minis
Aces with Tommy and Josh from Lynnvander, Jerry and Eric from Penny Arcade and Jared what painted the minis again
Goodbye from Randall


Notes from yesterday and today's chats

CGL are intending to sell the buildings that were seen at Adepticon and other streams (including PAX) which were based on the renders made for the new city maps and Randall printed out for the con.  They haven't worked out the way this will happen, but hopefully it'll be announced late this year/early next year.
Randall fought hard to get unseen art into the Remembrance book that's part of the Precentor Martial edition of the Universe book.  He didn't want to get further into the nuances of the decision. 
New swag will be in part based on how items sell in the Kickstarter.  For example they see the Star League is selling very well and they didn't do a Star League dice tray, so they're now intending to do ones for when the trays hit the store.
The inflatable UrbanMech is called Ralph, Randall wants to make a kill stamp and put a mark on Ralph every time they tell a Kickstarter fulfillment company how many SKUs the Kickstarter has and they're taken back.
The top 10 factions by swag choices in the Kickstarter: Gray Death, Star League and Wolf's Dragoons are the top 3 in that order, the rest of the top 10 in no particular order are are ELH, Kell Hounds, Northwind Highlanders, Rasalhague Dominion, Sea Foxes, House Arano and Taurians.  Randall assumes this is because loads of people got the Clans and Great Houses in the last Kickstarter
Vesper Marches is the lowest selling swag.
There are more Spotlight on... books in the pipeline
The main product Randall wants to get out there which hasn't happened yet is a grand strategy/4X one, and it's a big part of why he and Bryn are still working away on one.  Their current version is "halfway between Risk and 4X games"
When asked about WoB's return, he said "don't hold your breath"
The last con they'll be streaming from this year is probably gonna be PAX Unplugged.
They hope to do more RPG support in the future

[I am Belch II]

Thanks for all the updates, Lorcan.

[Lorcan Nagle]

I will say, it's probably worth watching the Randall chats at the very least because a lot of it is just smack talk and stories and fun