COMING RELEASES

Coming Releases

The following BattleTech books and game aids are on the upcoming schedule. If it is an e-book only release, it is noted in brackets. As covers become available, they’re added to this page.

When details concerning street dates and reviews are available, those will be posted to the front page. In no particular release order:

Interstellar Operations
Marshal your forces and prepare to conquer the Inner Sphere! Interstellar Operations is the long-awaited next rules installment to the series begun with Total Warfare and carried through the award-winning Tactical Operations and Strategic Operations. The former focuses on a whole new level of excitement directly on your gaming table while the later focuses on moving from a single scenario to a multi-part campaigns and how to take an entire solar system. Interstellar Operations zooms up to the final level, allowing players to assume the roles of House Lord or Clan Khans and dominate the galaxy.

Interstellar Operations contains rules for the running of an entire faction’s military as a player tries to conquer (or defend) numerous solar systems. More importantly, the system contains rules that allow players to stage any large-scale conflict back through the various rule sets, as they desire—from BattleForce or Alpha Strike as detailed in Strategic Operations, Alpha Strike and Alpha Strike Companion, all the way up to the simple, easy-to-use rules of conflict at the largest scale. Players have complete flexibility for any type of conflict in which they wish to engage.

NOTE: This book has just released as an open Beta playtest.

Embers of War, by Jason Schmetzer (Novel)
For Ezra Payne and the Stealthy Tiger mercenaries, professionalism is everything. Hired to assist in the bitter, bloody fighting on the planet Hall, they quickly earn a decisive victory for their employer. They settle afterward in for a needed period of rebuilding, and a few months’ peace before moving on to the next contract.

But their respite does not last. More mercenaries, hired by the Allied Mercenary Command itself, land on Hall. They believe the Tigers’ employer to be league with the Word of Blake, a shadowy interstellar organization that worships technology, and which has been building its own empire among the worlds around Terra.

The Tigers want nothing of this battle, but war rages across the Inner Sphere. The hard-fought cease-fire cannot last, even on Hall, and when every faction is embittered and fueled by fervor, peace has no chance at all.

As a new conflict erupts, will the Stealthy Tigers’ BattleMechs be enough to save them? Or will the looming threat of renewed war engulf them in its fiery embrace?

Experimental Technical Readout: Republic III (E-Publication)

The year is 3146. The Inner Sphere is embroiled in some of the most devastating warfare since the Word of Blake Jihad. Within its Fortress walls, the core of the Republic lies safe for now, yet poised in a state of uneasy readiness. Desperate to maintain its battlefield edge, new technologies—including volatile, experimental gear from the Republic’s Institute for Strategic Combat, and its equally revolutionary Rhodes Project—have been hastily pressed into service. But the Republic’s enemies have not been idle, and the reports of new Clan innovations have come as a rude surprise. The future of the Inner Sphere now hangs in a precarious balance; who will have the weapons to turn conflict’s tide to their own favor?

Experimental Technical Readout: Republic (Volume 3) samples production and custom machines that have appeared in the BattleTech universe by the early decades of the thirty-second century. Each unit featured in this book incorporates some of the new technologies that debuted in both Tactical Operations and Interstellar Operations—now employed by the armed forces of the Republic of the Sphere and its contemporaries. Statistics and Record Sheets are included for 13 new advanced and experimental BattleMechs, vehicles, and aerospace and battle armor units ready for play in BattleTech games up to the year 3146.

Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades (E-Publication)
In 3111 the problems between Devlin Stone’s Republic of the Sphere and Sun Tzu Liao’s Capellan Confederation exploded into open war. Incensed by the Republic’s annexation of Capellan worlds after the Word of Blake’s Jihad, Chancellor Sun Tzu Liao launched an invasion to reclaim his former territory and punish the Republic.

Using the Turning Points PDF-exclusive format, Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades lets players experience the events that claimed the lives of Kai Allard-Liao, Davion Burton and Sun Tzu Liao. Witness firsthand the events that shaped the modern Republic Armed Forces and created the circumstances for the Confederation’s stunning successes against the Republic during the Blackout.

This campaign series uses the Chaos Campaign rules and gives players the option of fighting individual Missions or Touchpoints, following a campaign arc, and inserting it into their own campaigns. This PDF exclusive includes detailed information on important worlds during the Capellan Crusades, a rundown of the forces involved in the conflict, an overview of the historical campaign, and several tools and tracks that players can use to run historical characters and battles from this time period.

Combat Manual: Mercenaries
Some soldiers fight for king and country, some for honor and glory, others for liberty or loved ones. We’ll fight for that too, whatever your cause, as long as the check clears.

For over forty centuries, mercenaries have plied their trade and been instrumental in toppling empires or holding the tides of war at bay. And as mankind expanded to the stars, soldiers of fortune rose to new heights of power. Business is booming, yet along with those riches comes a dangerous life and the scorn of many who see only filthy lucre-warriors. It’s a dangerous life, but as long as you keep your ’Mech intact and your bottom line balanced, the universe is yours!

BattleTech Combat Manual: Mercenaries contains information on the soldier-for-hire trade and their place in the Inner Sphere. This manual takes a look at some of the most renowned mercenaries of the 31^st century, detailing their histories, tactics, unit crests, paint schemes, and notable personnel. This Alpha Strike expansion includes special rules for unique character abilities, faction-specific rules, force-building, and a mini Technical Readout—everything you need to field your favorite mercenary command on the tabletop or create your own.

Shadows of Faith, by Loren L. Coleman (Novel)
Despite internal power struggles, the techno-disciples of the Word of Blake continue their relentless march to bring the worlds surrounding Terra under their control. Each planet that falls under their influence brings them one step closer to full dominion over the birthplace of the Inner Sphere.

Meanwhile, during the uneasy peace after the Second Civil War, Victor Davion and his allies struggle to bring another Star League conference together to confirm the next League. But with two Great Houses rebuilding after the fight, and a third nowhere to be found, his fears that the summit may fall apart seem to be coming true. This also dismays the Word of Blake representatives, who attempt to force the remaining leaders back to the table—and allow them to keep working in secret—by any means necessary.

And on Outreach, Wolf’s Dragoons, reeling from the loss of their founder, launch a blood-soaked mission of vengeance against the Blakists. But as they scream toward Mars to deliver retribution against those responsible for their leader’s death, the secretive and enigmatic “Master” of the Word of Blake executes the next phase of his own plan to bring the Inner Sphere under his control—culminating in a devastating strike at its very heart…

The First Succession War
In 2784, the departure of General Alexsandr Kerensky and the remnants of the SLDF from known space leaves the Inner Sphere balanced on a knife-edge. With no Star League to keep the House Lords in check, greed, ambition and old grudges come to the fore once more, propelling the five remaining Great Houses into a war that threatens human civilization itself: The First Succession War.

The First Succession War describes the most devastating conflict ever fought by mankind as the five Great Houses battle for supremacy in the ruins of the Star League. Covering the collapse of the Star League, the militarization of the Inner Sphere and the horrors that ensued, this volume provides a detailed look at the major actions of the war, the motivations of its participants, and the deadly consequences of their decisions.

Combat Manual: Kurita
For a warrior of the Draconis Combine, no force in the universe is more powerful or more dangerous than one’s honor. Though others might scheme and plot, the samurai of House Kurita crave an honest fight that will prove who is the better warrior.

For more than 700 years, the Draconis Combine has been a shining paragon of martial excellence and battlefield tenacity. Foe threaten the Combine on all sides, but could one of them might be the fabled Yellow Bird intent on crippling House Kurita. Will you take up the burden of duty in defense of the Combine? Will your own honor prevail in the face of your enemies?

BattleTech Combat Manual: Kurita contains information on House Kurita’s military arm, the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. This manual takes a look at some of the most renowned DCMS regiments, detailing their histories, tactics, unit crests, paint schemes, and notable personnel. This Alpha Strike expansion includes special rules for unique character abilities, faction-specific rules, force-building, and a mini Technical Readout—everything you need to field your favorite Kurita command on the tabletop.

Campaign Companion
Whether in the hiring halls of Outreach, the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy, or the War College of Goshen, it takes the right commander to shape a nascent force of wet-behind-the-ears graduates into a finely honed weapon for king and country. Will you take on the mantle of forging a new generation of warriors to protect and expand your empire, or fight for the bottom line? Whatever your poison, accept the challenge of leadership and build a command for the ages!

The Campaign Companion contains rules for generating and running any type of force within the BattleTech universe. From a single pirate BattleMech all the way to regimental combat teams, players can scale to their own taste. Additional rules cover running campaigns, from battlefield roles and force-building, to missions and the Chaos Campaign system. Expanded OpFor rules allow for the easy generation of large-scale forces that mesh with the deployments from the dozen Field Manuals published over the years. Finally, complete solar system construction rules allow players to tailor their campaigns even further with unique worlds to defend or conquer!

Combat Manual: Steiner
Among the interstellar realms of the Inner Sphere, the Lyran Commonwealth is the undisputed economic powerhouse. Though other nations may conquer in the name of glory, honor, or freedom, House Steiner wages war in the name of prosperity, delivered with the crushing might of a hammer blow.

The Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces rank among the best-equipped military in the Inner Sphere. Capable of forming a stalwart defense and bludgeoning offense, House Steiner fields the best BattleMechs money can buy. Are you up to the challenge of helping the Commonwealth prosper? Will you witness House Steiner wade into the black, or will the ledgers run red with blood?

BattleTech Combat Manual: Steiner contains information on the LCAF. This manual takes a look at some of the most renowned Lyran regiments, detailing their histories, tactics, unit crests, paint schemes, and notable personnel. This Alpha Strike expansion includes special rules for unique character abilities, faction-specific rules, force-building, and a mini Technical Readout—everything you need to field your favorite Steiner command on the tabletop.

Turning Points: Epsilon Eridani (E-Publication)
Blake’s Blessed Avenging Angels
In the wake of the Jihad and Devlin Stone’s creation of the Republic of the Sphere, the ancient Order of ComStar was transformed. Their once-proud Com Guards were disbanded, never to rise again. Gone were the robes, the religion, the chants­—and the Word of Blake. But deep within the shattered Order remained a secret outlasting the long decades of peace: the Com Guard reborn…and with it, hidden believers in the old ways of ComStar.

In 3135, the secret of the Com Guard and their Blessed Order got out. With the Inner Sphere torn apart by the HPG Blackout, the reformed Com Guard found itself in an epic battle against the Republic of the Sphere, their very survival at stake.

Turning Points: Epsilon Eridani uses Chaos Campaign rules and gives players the option of fighting individual battles, following a campaign arc, inserting it into their own campaigns and even creating their own scenarios with optional rules to give their games an “Epsilon flavor.” The PDF exclusive includes a detailed map of the world of Epsilon Eridani, a rundown of the forces involved in the conflict, and several tracks that players can use to run simple lance-on-lance battles or stage a planetary invasion. Only the players’ imaginations are the limits.

Experimental Technical Readout: Primitives V (E-Publication)
Ancient Wonders
Before there was even a Star League, the technologies taken for granted in the thirty-first century went through their awkward paces in a universe newly opened to humankind. In an age when the BattleMech was nearly unknown, when the DropShip was a new concept, and when tanks and fighters dominated the battle zones, the technology of the day was primitive by modern standards…and each new design with an experiment unto itself.

Experimental Tech Readout: Primitives, Volume V samples more of the early technology designs that dominated the universe of BattleTech during the pre-Star League Age of War period. Each design featured in this book demonstrates the primitive technology level of the first generation of BattleMechs, the last generation of Combat Vehicles (before the ’Mech supplanted them), and the low-tech aerospace units that flew above them. Although many were ultimately upgraded to “modern standards” and shown in Technical Readout: 3075, the units featured here reflect these designs as they were when first introduced to the universe they fought for. Statistics and Record Sheets are included for 13 Primitive BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units presented in this book, ready for play in advanced BattleTech games.

Case White, by Victor Milan (Novel)
In the early days of 3068, very little certainty exists in the Inner Sphere, and what little there is often comes in dread tidings. The Star League is dead—the great hope for peace after the Federated Commonwealth Civil War has failed. The cooperation among Houses that stopped the Clan Invasion is no more. And while that news alone would be enough to darken the new year, conflict has already broken out on a scale unseen for decades. Legends are falling. Worlds are being torn apart. And the whole of the Inner Sphere is poised on the edge of a conflict that may sunder it completely.

Sixteen years ago. the Com Guard stood against the might of the combined Clans on a quiet little world called Tukayyid. Today, their mighty armada returns to the cradle of mankind to reclaim their ancestral home from the Word of Blake, which captured it a decade earlier. Today, they will enact Case White: an overwhelming assault to free Terra itself. For the Com Guard, sixteen years of tolerating the Word of Blake’s zealotry has finally come to an end. With the Star League disbanded, it falls again to the Com Guard to bring peace to the Inner Sphere.

Secure in their powerful fleet, the Com Guard believes the battle will be brutal and swift, and that victory will be theirs. But the Word of Blake has prepared for years against such an invasion, and little do the Guards know that they are heading straight into a deadly trap…

Combat Manual: Davion
Amid a galaxy embroiled in war, House Davion upholds the ideals of liberty as a torch to light the way toward the future. Soldiers of the Federated Suns fight to maintain their own freedoms and to bring those freedoms to others at the point of a sword.

The Armed Forces of the Federated Suns boasts one of the largest and best-trained militaries in the Inner Sphere, and the constant research into innovative technologies gives them a critical edge on the battlefield. But training and technology will not be enough to stem the tide of oppression and injustice. Are you brave enough to take up the First Prince charge and lead men into battle against the darkness?

BattleTech Combat Manual: Davion contains information on the military of the Federated Suns. This manual takes a look at some of the most renowned AFFS regiments, detailing their histories, tactics, unit crests, paint schemes, and notable personnel. This Alpha Strike expansion includes special rules for unique character abilities, faction-specific rules, force-building, and a mini Technical Readout—everything you need to field your favorite Davion command on the tabletop.

Experimental Technical Readout: Succession Wars II (E-Publication)
After the fall of the first Star League and the exodus of the SLDF, the five Great Houses of the Inner Sphere unleashed their armies against one another with a vengeance, each claiming to be the rightful heirs to the Cameron legacy and the First Lordship of the Inner Sphere. Their scorched earth tactics left entire worlds barren, and destroyed many of the precious technologies taken for granted during the golden days of the Star League’s peak. As the years stretched into centuries, their great navies evaporated, and even their mighty BattleMech armies shrank and regressed as their advanced weapons and equipment failed and were forgotten.

Yet even as the Inner Sphere slid toward scavenger tech, the various powers of the Inner Sphere struggled to hone their edge with whatever remained, hoping to turn the tide of the endless Succession Wars with some new innovation their enemies might not have considered.

Record Sheets: Prototypes Unabridged (E-Publication)
You’ve grasped the tactics involved with the additional units and weapons from Tactical Operations to defeat your opponents. Now you own Technical Readout: Prototypes and want to deploy some of those ’Mechs, vehicles, and battle armor on your gaming table. Grab your dice and start rolling, because these sheets are for you!

Record Sheets: Prototypes Unabridged offers players the record sheets for all BattleMechs detailed in Technical Readout: Prototypes.

Experimental Tech Readout: Succession Wars, Volume II samples some of the desperate technological experiments that the war-ravaged powers of the Inner Sphere tinkered with during the post-Star League Succession Wars period. Each design featured in this book demonstrates the combination of regressing post-Star League technology levels on the BattleMechs, combat vehicles, and aerospace units that followed. Statistics and Record Sheets are included for 14 BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units presented in this book, ready for play in advanced BattleTech games.

Kell Hounds Ascendant: Three Short Novels by Michael A. Stackpole (Novel)
While there are hundreds of mercenary units throughout the Inner Sphere, only a handful have risen to galaxy-wide fame. The Gray Death Legion. Wolf’s Dragoons. The Northwind Highlanders. And the Kell Hounds.

Founded by brothers Morgan and Patrick Kell, the Hounds’ beginning was fraught with tension, intrigue, and danger, which they’ve found ever since. And now Michael A. Stackpole takes us back to the beginning of one of Battletech’s most storied mercenary units in three short novels that tell of the Hounds’ first days, including:

“Not the Way the Smart Money Bets”: Morgan and Patrick arrive on the mercenary staging world of Galatea to start building their unit. But getting caught between a local general and a criminal organizing gladiatorial games on-planet puts the brothers in a perilous situation, and Patrick is forced to face the local ’Mech hero in single combat—to the death.

“A Tiny Spot of Rebellion”: Fresh off their victory over local criminals, the brothers Kell are faced with a growing religious rebellion led by a local bishop with a lofty goal of ruling the entire planet, and using the populace to achieve his aims. They’re assigned to put down the uprising, but can they find a way to do that without having to battle the civilians pressed into service as holy soldiers?

“A Clever Bit of Fiction”: When Morgan is tasked with scouting locations for war games on the lush world of Zavijava, he figures he’ll mix business with pleasure. But when Prince Ian Davion tags along, the stakes are suddenly raised. And when unknown Dropships land a regiments of ’Mechs intent on looting the planet’s riches, Morgan must keep Ian alive long enough for them to be rescued. But Prince Davion has other plans—involving kicking the raiders straight off the planet…

The Second Succession War
By 2821, the “Great Succession War” has ground to a halt, the participants seeking desperate respite and to forge a new peace and hope for mankind. Yet not everyone shares this ideal and soon secret machinations undermine the peace efforts and propel the Inner Sphere into a new round of violence. Soon brother will be set against brother and madness will reign once more: The Second Succession War.

The Second Succession War covers the aftermath of the titanic First Succession War and the Great Houses efforts to survive before the machinations of Conrad Toyama propel them into a new round of blood-letting. Detailing the efforts to build a peace while preparing for a new war, this volume showcases the causes and consequences of the Second Succession War, as well as the politics and stresses between and within the Great Houses.

Technical Readout: Golden Century (E-Publication)

While the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere gorged each other over the shattered remains of the Star League and slid into the technological dark age of the Succession Wars, the Clans of Kerensky entered into a golden era of prosperity. Bereft of Nicholas Kerensky’s leadership, the Clans pushed their technological capabilities to their limits, developing devastating new weapons and equipment, flooding the battlefields of the Pentagon and Kerensky Cluster with powerful war machines as they Trialed each other for supremacy.

Technical Readout: IrregularTech (E-Publication)

Fall of 3132. After decades of peace and prosperity, interstellar communications break down and rumor of war sweep through the Republic of the Sphere. As ancient hatreds and rivalries rear their ugly heads, people who have only known war through history books are suddenly thrust into the dark maelstrom of combat. Splinter factions arise, aligning themselves with fealties long thought forgotten, and stalk each other on Republic worlds like jackals. Often lacking military-grade equipment, these groups and defending militias would deploy SecurityMechs, Support Vehicles, or even modify civilian machinery in their desperate struggle to prevail.

Technical Readout: Irregular Tech unveils the weapons deployed during the chaos after Gray Monday when paramilitaries warred in the Republic’s outer Prefectures. Technical Readout: Irregular Tech debuts the production and custom machines used by the the splinter faction in 3132 and the following years. Statistics and Record Sheets are included for 25 new IndustrialMech MODs, Security- and MilitiaMechs, support vehicles, and battle armor units ready for play. In addition, an “Armed and Dangerous” section following Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex Revised’s footsteps showcases modifications of established IndustrialMechs and Support Vehicles.

ilClan
The ilClan is a campaign-driven overview of the universe-spanning conflict that will see the fall of The Republic of the Sphere and the final conclusion of the Dark Age era. The founding of the ilClan heralds the start of a new age for the BattleTech universe—one that will forever transform the Inner Sphere and Clans alike!

New E-Publication Series Coming Soon!

Milestones
Go beyond the battlefield and experience the events from the point of view of the heroes behind the banners. BattleTech Milestones will present players with riveting, story-driven events and the warriors and machines that fought their way through them. Experience the battles you’ve only seen briefly described in history books like never before!

Part adventure and part serial fiction, Milestones will put players on the front lines of key events in the Inner Sphere of the late Dark Age and beyond, allowing players to participate with Total Warfare, Alpha Strike, A Time of War or any combination—or simply enjoy the unfolding stories.

OpFor
Need a specialty lance, Star, or Level I in a pinch, but want something with less randomness and more character? Introduce your players to the opposing force (OpFor) of your choice—small teams whose ’Mechs, pilots, and abilities set them apart from the rank and file. Perfect for adding depth to your pick-up games, or adding a recurring, character-driven team to your ongoing Total Warfare or Alpha Strike campaign!

Spotlight On
Take a closer look at some of the universe’s most unique and battle-tested forces. Spotlights will provide players with histories, logos, colors, force compositions and in-game rules for some of the Inner Sphere’s most storied battlefield commands, from the most daring pirates and mercenaries, to the elite companies and Trinaries that fight for House and Clan. For use with Total Warfare, Alpha Strike and Interstellar Operations.

Touring the Stars
It’s a whistle-stop tour of the universe! Every system and planet where mankind treads in the BattleTech universe has a story, for those with the drive to explore it. Take a tour of the stars humanity now calls home, experience awesome new worlds, immerse yourself in the local civilization, and prepare to do battle in exotic locales. From the peripheral Butte Hold to the game world Noisiel, to lost worlds like Jardine—join us on the tour!

Gladiator Gazette
Game Worlds like Solaris VII and Noisiel remind us that life is fleeting, but glory is forever! Each Gladiator’s Gazette gives players a peek at some of the best warriors, gear, and fields of honor in the Inner Sphere. Embrace the celebrity, heroism, and decadence that can only come when pageantry and prowess unite and compete for the hearts, minds, and money that only millions of adoring fans can provide!