State of the Game – May 2021

***Attention MechWarriors – Spoilers for Hour of the Wolf Ahead!***

Terra fell, and from the ashes of the Republic, an ilClan rose. The explosive events of Hour of the Wolf redefined the BattleTech universe, and set the stage for a whole new era of storytelling.

But one of the keys to this universe we all love is that events have effects, and the repercussions of an event as game-changing as the Battle for Terra will play out across the Inner Sphere. Our next few sourcebooks will each “zoom in” on a segment of the Inner Sphere, exploring the next couple of years of events in those realms.

This starts with the next sourcebook coming later this year, Tamar Rising. The entire Jade Falcon Touman went to Terra, and ninety-five out of one hundred of them died there; the rest now remain behind the Wall. The resulting vacuum in the former Falcon Occupation Zone gives rise to powerful outside ambitions, as the remaining Falcon castes struggle to forge a new future for themselves.

Tamar Rising is just the start of a comprehensive, carefully planned two-year calendar of products dealing with the fallout from Hour, all aimed at delivering our loyal fans, gamers, and readers fully into the ilClan era. In this bold new era, everything is up for grabs, and we want to make sure that these stories play out not just in fiction and sourcebooks but on your own game tables.

With the impending delivery of Wave 2 of the Clan Invasion Kickstarter, more ideas for terrific products and fiction than there are hours in the day, and an energized contributor team and fan base, I’ve never been higher on the future of BattleTech.

We want to share more, but the Sea Foxes have sent an emissary, one with some…interesting plans. Stay tuned, MechWarriors—we have so much more to show you.

Ray Arrastia, BattleTech Line Developer
Aaron Cahall, Assistant Line Developer
North America, Terra
5 May 2021

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Recognition Guide: ilClan
Third cycle, April – June 2021; Fourth cycle, August – November 2021

The third and fourth cycles of the popular Recognition Guide: ilClan series roll out through the spring, summer, and fall, offering the newest BattleMechs seen on the war-torn battlefields of Terra, along with cutting-edge variants of BattleTech’s most iconic ’Mechs.

Proliferation Cycle Omnibus
May 2021

All seven parts of the popular Proliferation Cycle series are collected in print for the first time in this print-on-demand omnibus volume.

Hunting Season
A novel by Philip A. Lee
May 2021

Thrust into leadership of House Marik after the death of her father and withdrawal of her mother, Nikol Marik must navigate a web of politics and intrigue while trying to discover the truth behind her father’s death.

Blood Will Tell
A novel by Jason Schmetzer
May 2021

You can’t choose your parents.

Outside the building where she’s just brokered peace–again–with Julian Davion, Danai Liao-Centrella wipes her hands of the sickness of her parents. Her life is her own. Her duty is to the state. And with the Republic making rumblings, the Clans digging deeper into former Republic space, her duty is clear: preserve the state.

At any cost.

Her father, Chancellor Daoshen Liao, is head of the state and its armies. Acclaimed, as all Capellan chancellors are, the ‘Celestial Wisdom’ of the Confederation, he alone decides policy. By giving up New Syrtis, Danai has broken with that policy. 

He will not be pleased.

She doesn’t care.

Her duty is to the state. And for the state to survive, the entire campaign against the Davion Federated Suns must be abandoned. There is a richer prize in sight. A greater threat.

The Republic of the Sphere is coming out from behind its wall.

The Capellan Confederation must be ready.

The ilClan
June 2021

In 2825, ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky, the founder of the Clans, gave his exiled, warrior-led people a dream: the first Clan to return to the Inner Sphere and claim Terra, the cradle of humanity, in honorable combat would claim the title of ilClan—ruler of all the Clans. The ilClan would reestablish the venerable Star League from the ashes of the old, and its Khan would become ilKhan, supreme ruler of all the Clans. Now, 326 years later, the Children of Kerensky have fought their way to Terra with the intent of fulfilling this dream. But will this dream become destiny or nightmare?

Experience the tumultuous Battle of Terra, which will shake the very foundations of the Inner Sphere. Then catch a glimpse of how the Great Houses and other major powers will face the outcome of this far-reaching conflict. Tactical maps, Chaos Campaign tracks, and new ’Mechs that debuted during the Battle of Terra all let you jump right into the cockpit and fight in the culmination of over three centuries of Clan history. Do you have what it takes to conquer the birthplace of humankind, or the courage to defend Terra from its enemies?

Rock and a Hard Place
A Gray Death Legion novel by William H. Keith, Jr.
July 2021

Bill Keith returns with his first BattleTech novel in more than twenty-fiveyears, a tale of the Gray Death Legion set in 3025. In the run-up to Operation Gotterdammerung, Grayson and the GDL take on a high-stakes mission to the space station of Wheel.

Tamar Rising
September 2021

Silence falls across the Jade Falcon border, and slowly, reports reach Lyran space: the Clan’s warriors, so long a threat to the Steiner realm, are gone. Powerful ambitions rush to fill the vacuum that follows.

Former Clan citizens both recently assimilated and long conquered grapple with a future no longer defined by the will of the Falcons. An Arcturan general dissatisfied with Tharkad’s ineffective rule forges her own destiny. A Clan denied the glory of Terra redefines itself through battle and conquest. And a mercenary unleashes her reborn command to claim vengeance for past calamities.

Tamar Rising is a BattleTech sourcebook providing full details of the events in the former Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone from 3151 to mid-3152. Included are a full historical summary of events in that region of space, personality and unit profiles of key players—many appearing here for the first time, and game information to bring it all to your BattleTech tabletop.