Adepticon Updates 2024

Lorcan Nagle transcribed all of this on the official forums, I'm just reposting it here so I can more easily reference in one spot later & that I can delete less important lines from.

Stuff from the intro session with Randall and Michael Ciaravella:

-Randall half-joked that he's been banned from posting to Instagram because he keeps posting things he shouldn't like the Urbie LAM
-Shipping has been even more nightmarish recently.  The Star League Command Lance, 40th Anniversary box sets and UrbanMech LAM took 8 weeks to get shipped and they basically missed being at Adepticon by about a week.  All Kickstarter products are apparently on the water right now and they're still tentatively good for June.
-On the Wars of Reaving and Celestials forcepacks, this is part of an attempt to have some support for eras outside the ilClan.  The Jihad specifically was cited as one they have little intention to return to outside of fiction, but they did want to do era-specific minis too
-The kickstarter dice have been printed in massive numbers and they're setup to reprint in short order, the intention is to keep them in print
-"Some stuff that you guys are going to love" is coming for the Aurigan Reach.
-Work is progressing on the Brush Wars books, Randall doesn't have all the details though.
-There will be an update for late backers getting digital rewards soon.

From the Bryan and John chat:
-Without Question will be the Battle of Sudeten from the Jade Falcons' perspective and then is "uncharted territory with the Falcons charting their own path and Jiyi holding on for dear life.  Alexis might be in over her head and not ready for the rigors of command" Slated for May 15th release
-Voidbreaker follows up on what happened to Tucker Harwell.  Where he went and how he got into the hands of everyone he ends up in the hands of.  A BattleTech take on a spy thriller/escapade.  The idea came out of the last writer's summit, Ray said to Bryan that they need to figure out a plot point and they spent some time staring at the map to do it and Bryan thought "this would be a great spy thriller".  Bryan likened it to a Sea Fox James Bond novel.  Currently due out Q1 2025
-There's another Ghost Dogs novella on the way. It'll be about them fighting the Marians in the Free Worlds League
-Bryan wrote a short story for Hot Spots: Hinterlands
-Spotlight on: Fox Patrol is in fact check right now.  Bryan wrote the biography sections and came up with the scenarios, which Josh Perian then worked into playable material.
-Bryan would love to write the Terran Falcons and their identity crisis.  This will at least be touched on in Mike Ciaravella's Alaric novel
-In the chat, Craig Reed said he's still working on In the Shadow of the Dragon
-John talked a bit about the upcoming Tales of the Bounty Hunter anthology, the last story will be in the ilClan era
-They are still addressing the Shrapnel slushpile backlog.  Phil and John will be discussing it at the con, they might just add more slush readers as they only have one right now.  John apologised for the delay.
-Phil Lee had finished his editing pass on Letter of the Law (the follow-up to Hunting Season), it's going to John for editing soon and they're looking at Q3 2024 for release.

From the chat with Ray, Brent, Bryn and Mike:
-When asked about the hurdles to making a new aerospace game, Ray said the first one is that they would not be relying on an existing system, they need a ground-up game that is fun and engaging.  After that is making it work within BattleTech as a setting.
-On balancing metrics for forcepacks, it's more gut choice, working around a shortlist of what will go into a box but it's always themed around the formation special rules. Logistics and the restrictions around what they can put in (like the repose, reprint, variant, new mini paradigm of the Merc forcepacks)
-Someone asked about the Hexpacks returning - no, the skyrocketing cost of cardboard made them too expensive.  Also, Ray feels using the old map art hurt them the same way using the old designs hurt the prior lance packs
-They're considering putting more counter sheets into the map packs
-Liao and Marik Combat Manuals are planned, but way down the list
-A big part of CGL using Kickstarter as a marketing tool is to try and figure out how big to make print runs. It also lets them do things that would never work as commercial products like the Precentor Martial version of Universe
-They will redo the Solaris maps. It'll be more than just a redo of the art, they want to do it justice.  It'd be a big project and they don't have a schedule for it yet.
-Why redo the vehicle rules but not ’Mech ones?  Because ’Mechs are the core of the setting and other elements would be out of balance or take too much focus away from ’Mechs
-The Remembrance book might not get a general print release but may get a PDF at some point
-they confirmed the premium mini is the Vulture Prime
-The Raven Alliance will probably just get a Combat Manual entry as part of the PDF update to the general Clan Combat Manual.  But there will be more material for them in upcoming sourcebooks and fiction.
-If you want to pitch a game to CGL, reach out to them before a con and they will make time to meet you.
-What makes it hard to do LAMs properly?  They're too fast on the tabletop and it makes them hard to keep balanced.  Ray said it feels like they're not really fitting how LAMs work in the fiction too.
-Interest in tournament formats is effecting product development and organised play is becoming more important.
-Why are the logos all over the place on the spine?  It was too hard to keep them lined up because of the vaguaries of printing so they stopped trying.
-Will the UrbanMech IIc be getting plastic soon?  No plans yet.  Will the Albatross be in a Marik pack?  It's one of Ray's favourites and it nearly made a pack recently but lost out at the end.
-Will the Clan Protectorate be in the FWL or Clan ilClan update for their respective Combat Manuals? This is being determined soon
-Does WotC still own the card game?  They own the rules.
-Will we see Clan Vehicle minis? Yes, they're on the schedule they put out.
-When asked if they'd do BattleTech in TableTop Sim, it's been discussed but it'd be a lot of effort when MegaMek is already out there as a competing product.
-Favourite Light Mech?  Bryn: Jenner.  Brent: Wulfen, Dola, Gunsmith, Rokurokubi, Ray: Locust
-Why not better coordinate the release of products like minis and books?  They've tried and it's very hard to get it to line up for various reasons.
-If you have 12 months to get a dream product out, what would it be?  Bryn: Get Leviathans done and then move on to the rest of the factions and consider a card game that was pitched.  Ray: Aerospace, then Solaris (or just take more time for the current products). Brent: Facilitate an explosion of merc-centric products to help facilitate new players.
-Is there anything in Total Warfare that should be streamlined?  Ray: Total Warfare should be the BattleMech Manual.  Bryn: Vehicles and Aerotech as per the BSP rules.  Brent: Evolving the record sheets, add colour, especially to the heat scale, an RPG element, layout tweaks
-They considered doing fiction where the Black Thorns explicitly die.
-There will be Combat Engineers options in an upcoming RPG product and the BSP rules
-There are plans to release pre-made campaigns, no further details.
-There's a 3025 map in the Universe book that shows the Aurigan Coalition


From the Directors' Q&A
-Favourite obscure characters: Brent's is Tara Bishop, Loren's is Agent Curatis, Randall had a few, mostly the stronger but not typical female characters.
-Products they wanted to do but couldn't - most products they wanted to do happened eventually, like the old Clan box set eventually became Clan Invasion, the Combat Manuals was another example of a thing who's time probably has come.
-Marik and Cappelan forcepacks will come eventually. Randall noted at this point that the planned forcepack list is subject to change if a cool idea comes up and bumps the line
-Aces is going to start moving full steam ahead, hurdles have been cleared but no further details for now.  Randall says maybe an update in two months
-European Shipping Hub is "further along than it's ever been".  The biggest roadblock right now is VAT
-the Locust/Wasp/Stinger box idea is still being worked out, as they have 2 mechs to a mold and there's no guarantee that the Locust and Wasp are on the same mold, for example.  So they need to figure out what to do with the other minis that would be coming out of the mold.  Likely there wouldn't be any scope for reposes or variants.
-There was a point last year where they thought the Kickstarter would be shipping around December, and Barnes and Noble ordered Encounters based on that idea.  So when Encounters came in they saw a B&N order on the system and didn't cross-check to see if the street date had changed and it's out there now.  But there's no real way to fix the problem and B&N acted in good faith so they have to live with it.
-The Celestials are the ’Mechs Randall wants out in plastic the most.  He also has a soft spot for the Blood Kite though he has no idea if it'll ever appear.
-They still owe Loren a plastic Solitaire, Randall says they have it lined up somewhere.
-People should be getting warnings to lock in their address for the Kickstarter and we should be getting shipping charges soon.
-Kickstarter swag will be hitting the CGL store, but there are logistical issues around storage and picking (it's an obscene number of SKUs) which are being worked through.
-They're working on reprints of older books. They had to destroy three copies of Shadowrun 1st edition in order to scan it in different ways to get the text and art properly.
-Someone suggested a farmland map pack, and they guys loved it and it became a whole discussion.
-Randall is hoping to hit the East Coast as part of his tour, Ray and Aaron may do some appearances in his stead.
-Den of Wolves is still in progress, it's about 2/3 done on both Loren and Stackpole's side and they're going to have a chat to coordinate the ending.
-Force Manual Kurita is at the Printers, hopefully releasing late 2nd quarter/3rd quarter.
-BattleTech: COMMAND development stalled for a while but it back on track now.  They'll be playing it on-stream over the weekend.
-Vehicles they would have added to the Kickstarter if they could?  Randall: the Fulcrum or more VTOLs; Loren was happy with what they got in; Ray: Striker.
-There will be a map-scale Leopard DropShip in the future
-An IndustrialMech forcepack has been discussed
-Loren cannot comment on a DropShip carry case
-Silly forcepacks they'd like to do. Randall: Does the LAM not count? Ray: Critter-Tek
-The JES Missile carriers are on the list to do in plastic at some point.
-Someone suggested a pack of scatter terrain like cars, they liked it
-Someone asked about doing a third ComStar forcepack with the rest of the 2750 mechs, and they liked that idea too.
-They're looking at doing a booth at PAX Australia
-Loren was asked what was the biggest thing he wasn't allowed to talk about, and he talked about the Commander's Case, a grab and go box with space for a company of ’Mechs, some books, dice, record sheets and the like.  Should be out for Gencon.  This is the case we saw in some photos and that one video from KerenskyKon.

Transcript of Friday's Lunchtime secrets with RayERROR and Mike CiaravellaERROR:

-A plastic Urbanmech IIc is possible, never say never.
-The larger support vehicles are the least likely things to see a plastic release
-Plastic Omega is possible depending on if they revisit the Jihad more and how well the Celestials do. 
-Jihad mechs that Ray would like the see the most - Lightray and Legacy (He said the one on the cover of TRO:3058, but it's clear what he meant)
-when asked about an official UrbieLAM recordsheet as it's been reverse-engineered from the Alpha Strike cards?  "We'll see"
-Where is Arthur Steiner-Davion?  In the Deep Periphery with the other Manei Domini
-Plastic Grand Crusader?  Not any time oon
-More Aerospace minis?  Depends on a number of factors but Ray would like that
-Celestial LAMs are lower on the list of the classic LAMs
-Plastic Periphery mechs like the Pentheselia?  Not soon but they'd like to do them
-They're hoping to repackage the Alpha Strike space rules, possibly as a PDF
-Next Kickstarter has no solid plans, maybe not minis-based like the last two but nothing is set in stone
-They don't have a place in the near future to publish art of the Rhino
-They still haven't nailed down who did Grey Monday
-Ray thinks plastic OmniMechs with swappable parts would be very cool
-When asked about getting full TO&Es, Ray said the biggest we'll get in the future are the company/battalion sized units in Spotlight On...
-Ray thinks the Maelstrom is on the list for a rework
-The Imp has come close to getting redone but was cut twice
-The Solaris Mechs are nowhere on the list at the moment but they'd like to do them.  Same with IndustrialMechs
-The Matador isn't on the list to redo soon
-Ray thinks the Grey Death Standard Battle Armour might be on the list though
-Favourite product for 2024?  Unreleased is Universe, released is RecGuide ilClan volume 2.
-Campaigns for AtoW/Destiny? Not soon but something's in the works
-Will there be a system that bridges BattleTech and Alpha Strike Like Death From Above has made?  "Can't say at this time really... No"
-Plastic minis of Mad Cat Family?  "We're working on it"
-Plastic Atlas III?  Not in the next couple of years
-Alpha Strike Commander's Edition?  Should be this year.
-Plans to update old mapsheets?  Yes, but not a straight reissue of the old map packs.  They're being redone in the map packs little by little, ususally with the same name but not always.
-Star League Command Lance is held up in shipping
-The limitations on making modular OmniMech minis is more production than artistic.  The swappable weapons parts in some of the Kickstarter sets are an experiment in this
-Plastic Jupiter?  Ray says he doesn't think so, but I'm sure it's in one of the planned sets
-Plastic Blood Spirit?  Randall really wants it but it's low priority.
-Will we see a Mech-scale DropShip?  Yes
-The MechCommander's handbook will be a callback to the old Merc's handbook, you can create a unit (of any time) and run a narrative campaign with the same core system and different added flavour, like contracts generating missions in the merc's book.
-Selling the Visigoth outside of the Kickstarter is likely.
-ProtoMechs are largely relegated to the late Clan Invasion - Jihad era
-The MW5/MWO/HBSBT original Mechs are unlikely to appear in the tabletop
-Would there ever be a forcepack with the contents selected by vote?  Internet polls and votes rarely reflect sales so if they did that it would be based on a pre-order system.
-Campaign books for the ilClan era are planned
-The Mechcommander's handbook will be era-agnostic with optional era-based info.
-Plastic Rakshasa? Ray would like to see it but not any time soon.
-Any chance for more solaris stuff?  Yeah
-Do the Wolf's Dragoons have a Kerensky Honorname?  No
-Updated Solaris box?  Not any time in the future.  They have lots of plans, lots of brainstorming but they're not just going to redo the old box/revamp the old duelling rules.
-Any chance of a non-forcepack pilot card deck?  It's possible, they've talked about it.
-RPG-scale minis or Heroforge options?  It's been discussed but they need to figure out how they make it happen
-the periphery factions will be seen and do more, but the focus will remain on the Inner Sphere
-No more Battleforce planned but they do try and support it where they can.
-House Arano is not a rights nightmare, they're in the universe book.
-More GDL novels?  Probably
-Any app updates? Ray has no information
-Biggest channel for Ray's job?  Not enough hours in the day.
-Ray's pie in the shy product? Sooner or later they all get made.  The next thing Ray would love to see but is nowhere near starting is AeroTech
-Official Misisons and codified organised play is being worked on.
-We will see more of the Scorpion Empire, but they are a Deep Periphery state
-the RecGuides served a specific purpose, any may return but likely they'll use a new format for future unit releases.
-Weather/Planetary condition decks?  Would be neat, but Ray doubts there would be much call for it.
-3D printed buildings/terrain? Not much movement, they're looking for someone to partner with that would produce and ship and sell them. They do want to make use of all the renders they're generating.
-What's Ray proud of adding or influencing in BattleTech? He has tried to not insert anything of his into the IP, he sees himself as a custodian.  More broadly he's really proud of keeping the storyline moving and shepherding people into the new era.
-Interstellar Players 4 is planned
-Where would Ray place himself in the universe and do?  He'd work in production or gaming, on one of the Golden Five in a safe timeframe like the late succession wars.
-Plans for the New Jaguars?  Yes
-Is there a job at CGL Ray would like to create? Yeah, but more in production or support capacities rather than creative.
-There is movement in the canon character database but nothing that can be discussed yet?
-any plans for an artbook? Yes
-Target has been happy with the Essentials box.
-New Bounty Hunter?  Soon.
-New Black Marauder?  Lance has three or four more stories in the cycle, they're being worked on
-Will Kitsune Kurita and Victor's other kids show up in ilClan?  It's Possible.
-Can people adjust their canon characters?  When a call goes out. Aaron said in chat to not message the campaign about it.
-Will there be plastic updates of the other Dragoons Mechs? "Not specifically"
-Will we find out the fate of the Aurigan Reach?  Yes, they might be mentioned in ilKhan's Eyes Only
-Minnesota Tribe Revival?  No.  Forcebox?  No.
-Can the RecGuide PDF product listings get an update to list their contents?  Probably not on the store, Ray recommends the Sarna listings.
-Shattered Fortress reprint?  Probably not, it's high on the PoD list though.
-any possiblity of a Lindon's Battalion return?  No.  It was discussed but they were wiped out over Mars
-What would Ray show someone in the Universe book to wow a new player?  Depends on the person, show them the thing that reflects what they like
-Will there be more World-wide events?  They hope so.
-Will Record Sheets be added to the MUL?  There are plans, but no timeline.

-What mech would you like to see more love in the fiction: Loren: SAGGITAIRE! Ray: UrbanMech (somewhat deadpan), Brent: Saggitaire, Randall: Celestials/the Jihad in general
-Why is Ray wearing a Kurita cap?  Did he lose a bet? It's secret code
-Loren's favourite CGL game?  The Duke
-Someone asked about getting a PoD of Trian under Fire, the Battlecorps serial Loren wrote that roughly adapts MechWarrior 3.  There was some confusion originally, he'll have to check with John if it's thick enough to do a physical edition
-Faction flags?  They've looked into them, materials have been considered
-Will Loren be at Essen? Unsure, he's planning to do one of the international shows, probably Essen or PAX Asutralia.
-Why are a lot of items and clothes sized out of stock? Initial orders tend to be guesswork as to what to stock, leading to sell-outs at different rates.  Randall also said the Leviathans kickstarter sucked a lot of energy that would be used to fix these issues, I assume he meant mercenaries.  Either way a big T-shirt order is on the way.
-Hour of the Wolf Audiobook ETA? That's a John question
-What are you most looking forward to do?  Randall: All the travelling and meeting fans this year
-Will we ever go back to the old partial cover rules? No
-Are the Battlefield Support rules in the Mercs box?  Yes
-Will there be more high quality prints?  Brent hopes so, hopefully they ones they had at Kerenskykon and Adepticon proved popular enough.
-Does CGL have any con traditions?  Try to not let Randall hurt himself too badly, he pulled out a little patch that read CAUTION: I CAUSE SECURITY BRIEFS
-When will the UrbieLAM find its way to the webstore?  2-3 months
-Will there be more Alien Worlds maps?  Yes
-How heavy is the Precentor Martial Universe box, for beating the lore into people?  It's very heavy, but Ray prefers you read it to them
-When will the Star League forcepack be in the webstore?  About a month
-Will the high-end prints be on the webstore?  No plans as yet, they're concerned about damage during shipping.
-Will they do BattleTech 3D terrain?  They'd love to, whether they do it themselves or license it is to be detremined, they were having meetings the next day to figure it out. Randall's positive it'll happen.
-Mad Cat MK II and III when? They think the Mad Cat Mk II is still in but the III got cut very late in the decision process.
-Why are products like mugs allowed to sell out before the big kappas get their freebies?  It's a side-effect of their unexpected popularity, in some cases they're not hitting the warehouse at all on top of ensuring the warehouse can ship them out safely.
-Ideas for new BFMs?  There's a volcanic map pack coming, Randall really hopes it'll be one. There's a snow/arctic map planned too
-How would a cartoon/tv show/movie effect CGL?  Only in a good way
-Would you do STLs for printing? Some of the terrain discussions they were going to have were around STLs
-Will some of the new maps be refurbished versions of old ones?  Yes, the maps in the Mercs box and the Savannah map pack are new art and redesigns of old maps like river/delta and large lake to make them more playable.
-Favourite moment of Adepticon? Ray: Talking to everybody, Brent: When Mike Stackpole and Bryan Young convinced Big Red to betray Brent in their game on-stream. Randall: The size of the con, like he managed to get over to the historical games section which has to be in another hotel, and a bunch of them were BattleTech fans who came over to get patches.  Loren:  Seeing old friends and the energy and chaos, it helped especially with his recent tragedy.
-They showed Loren the shirtless Alaric pic Big Red commissioned.  Loren laughed and asked "why?"
-Any movement on PoD? It's a lot of work to prepare old books for PoD, they're hoping to do a video or blogpost to show the process they went through for the Shadowrun 1st edition reprint which would illustrate it.
-Someone asked about getting the MechWarrior's guide to Solaris VII PDF on the webstore?  It's in the queue somewhere.
-Any movement on the promised TRO: VA PoD?  Might still happen, it's stalled in editing
-Any chance of an update Thorn?  They've been talking about doing another ComStar pack to finish off the 2750 mechs.
-any updates on the last bits from the Clan Invasion Kickstarter like the beard-off? They haven't been forgotten about (and then the conversation drifted away)
-How is the cookbook coming?  It's on a ship right now.
-Everyone was asked to name a mech to make a forcepack tomorrow?  Loren: Solitaire, Ray: Albatross, Brent: Mad Cat Mk. II, Randall: most of what he wanted has made it back in, he said the Scarabus was the most recent one and they got that into a pack.

 John reiterated that they are launching a Jihad-era fiction line. They're talking with Herb about being a consultant for the line
-What happened to the Kell bloodline when the Exiles rejoined the Wolves? That answer will remain a mystery a while longer
-Mike talked a bit about Trial of Birthright.  Picks up minutes after the death of Devlin Stone, what has been created and destroyed on Terra and what will come from this.  They finished an editing pass the night before.  It's pencilled in for a July release
-Internal discussions are ongoing around the unfinished Case White novel Victor Milán was working on.
-Why did nobody make a trueborn child of Joshua Wolf and Natasha Kerensky?  Good question, they might give an explanation somewhere down the line.
-What's going to happen to the story after ilKhan's Eyes Only?  Still in small chunks?  More a Ray question but they're working to 3-5 year plans.
-How do you balance filling in holes with moving forward? It depends on the plot, where it's centred and what they're focuing on. They want to leave some loose threads for players to fill in themselves too.
-Will the highlanders take employment with Liao again?  Discussing the Highlanders' next steps is a current thing, they'll reveal it in the fiction.
-There have been internal hiccups with audiobook production, but there will be more on the way
-CGL have been working with Pirhana Games on MW5's story.
-Will there be more fiction featuring McCarron's Armoured Cavalry?  Yes
-How does Gray Noton make a standard Rifleman do the things he does?  John says he's that good, Mike insists he had advanced tech.
-They've discussed Jim Long writing new fiction, possibly featuring the Black Thorns
-Will there be a Solaris-centred Shrapnel issue?  Yes, 17
-Any movement on reissuing Star Lord, Far Country and the other missing novels?  Not presently, they go back to the rights holders on occasion to see if they've changed their mind
-Will Shadows of Faith be completed?  That's a Loren question.
-Will other BattleCorps fiction be reprinted? They'd love to but there are capacity issues with Phil running Shrapnel and John running the novel line.
-Can we canonise the UrbieLAM?  John said it was a Ray question.  Ray immediately posted "No" in chat.
-I had suggested a Legacy II featuring a Warship earlier in the con, they liked the idea and discussion on the steam suggested LCS Invincible which went down well.
-Will there be a timelost Jumpship story again like Living Legends?  No plans, maybe a good idea for Shrapnel? Ray popped up in chat to say there is an upcoming story featuring a misjump.
-Is Pope Leo getting fiction? No.
-Are there going to be a lot of deep-cut characters in Legends II?  Yes, it's a good mix of new, old, and surprises.  John hasn't taken a close look at it but Mike wrote some of the profiles, he says there are definitely some deep cuts.
-CGL has managed to get scans of some of the old comics, they are working on reissuing them.  (John didn't go into detail on whether it was Malibu, Blackthorne, Spider and Wolf or what)
-How do authors come up with new Camospecs?  Do they visualise or write something and let an artist interpret it? Usually CamoSpecs is ahead of them for unit colours as they work with the game production side. If they need to create a new unit, they sometimes bring them to CamoSpecs but it's usually best or easiest to come up with some colour ideas and let them do their thing.
-Any plans to give more of a spotlight on Lyran leaders? That has come up recently in discussion.  Yes, but you might not like what happens.
-Will the Lyrans become a worthy superpower? They do need saving and desperate times call for desperate measures.
-What's the next step on the fiction journey?  That's being mapped out now. In the chat Ray said they'll be in the ilClan era for a long time but there are lots of interesting stories in the works.  They're in "Phase 1" now with plans out to "Phase 4"
-Raven Alliance novel?  Mike Ciaravella is working on one.
-Will they fill in the pre-3025 era?  Little by little, two pre-3025 German novels are in the process of translation and will go through fact-check to see if they can be considered canon
-Will there be a sequel to Damocles Sanction?  Maybe, Mike's plate is very full right now
-Any intelligence units/agents as protagonists in upcoming fiction?  Yes, particularly Voidbreaker
-When will Honour and Glory be wrapped up?  Soon, Jason Hansa's last piece is in editing, it might be split in two.
-As a new hopeful contributor, what should you do?  Established characters or find a corner?  John says find a corner and develop it, the bigger elements are very complicated and harder to get a handle on.
-What is Jason Schemetzer's next project?  They're working on that now, John would like it to be another Dragoons ilClan era book.
-is the Republic really gone, or will a remnant form?  Trial of Brithright will deal with this to some degree.
-Mike's favourite eras are Jihad and Dark Age.

From Talon's interview with Loren Coleman:
-Asked about the decision to include a pre-painted mini in the star league forcepacks: Loren really wanted to do it while Randall was reticent around whether it'd improve sales, which is the reversal of their usual dynamic.  Loren sold him over in part by suggesting they theme the packs around the Star League.
-Shadows of Faith crashed after 10-12 chapters and Loren only kinda realised what went wrong recently.
-Den of Wolves is about 20,000 words from being done, 10K each from Loren and Mike Stackpole.  Loren's writing was derailed by his family tragedy of course, but they're hoping to get it finished soon. The book is going to be more Jamie, Joshua and Natasha meeting and teaming up and will end around the decision to form the Dragoons.  They're hoping to do a sequel about the formation of the unit and then if they decide to make a third novel it'd be the arrival in the Inner Sphere and their first contract.
-Will they do another kickstarter?  Probably. What will be the theme?  Nobody knows.  It'll probably be era-agnostic but it will probably have fiction elements, of course.
-Have they considered making BattleTech model kits?  Yes, and they "might have something going on for that"
-Will ComStar return? Never say never
-Will there be more Destiny support?  If they have the right project.  It did OK, but there's no great drive to do more with it.
-The Star League Forcepacks pre-empted the FedSuns and Kurita ones, partially because Loren really wanted to do the pre-paint but didn't want anyone to think one of the factions was being shown preference.
-Any chance of other LAM packs?  They joked about Ray saying on-stream that they needed more LAMs (but probably no)
-Why are Savannah Masters two to a base?  Because they're small!
-Any chance of Infantry?  Probably not in plastic in true scale, but maybe if they find a good way to do it.
-Updates on visiting PAX Australia?  Unofficially they've been given a booth but they don't have confirmation yet.  As soon as they know they'll be telling us.


From John's Interview with Michael Ciaravella:
-John is intending to reissue the Capellan Solution books in a single volume
-They talk about about how the ilClan/Capellan story had to be split up because the scope was so big, and the Cappellan side was given to Tom Leveen.  Mike's 40,000 words over the limit on his current draft for Trial of Brithright.
-hardest things for John to edit?  The spine novels, there's so many moving parts, so many references, timeframes... it's a lot to keep straight.
-Will we see more of Zeta Battalion?  John hopes so

From the graphic novel roundtable:
-Mike Stackpole and Bryan Young will be writing the story, Eldon Cowgur will be artist.
-They're writing Full Script (which is where the writer gives a description of the page, number of panels and disposition on page, then what's in each panel and dialogue), this has been the standard comics script style since the 2000s
-Ray is going to work to ensure that the comics fit the tone and fit into the story in the universe
-There will be some established comics writers contributing to volume 1, but contracts have yet to be signed
-the stories will be mercenary themed
-volume 1 will be more of an anthology, 2-3 will be a single ongoing story.
-Each volume will be 88 pages long, expect them to come out over a span of years, not a monthly format
-Era is ilClan
-When asked about comics or creators that would have a similar vibe to the BattleTech comics, Bryan talked about Walt Simonson's adaptation of Alien and Jeff Smith's Bone in terms of economy of storytelling and techniques. Everyone agreed that the tone should be BattleTech as opposed to feeling like another SF comic.  Stackpole explicitly talked about how if there's a multi-page battle then damage should accumulate over time and performance should drop off and so on.
-Why not adapt the Warrior Trilogy?  John would be open to serialising comic adaptations of the big comics.  Stackpole pointed out that the pacing of comics is very different to prose, citing how you can get inside a character's skull, but in a comic that has to be expressed in body language.  You can have a page detailing a character's internal conflict before answering a question but in a comic that would be a couple of panels.  Bryan brought up how the scale of storytelling is different, there's a lot more material in a novel than in a movie or comic.  If you're adapting a novel to a comic or movie you have to cut stuff. He also cited screenwriter Graham Greene who was well-known for doing adaptations and apparently only had a good time when he was adapting a short story.
-will the character be wearing coolant vests and briefs or coolant suits? Depends on the story and character, it'll be used as a visual cue for the characters.
-Release format (Full retail or digital+PoD) has not been determined.  Kickstarter backers will get digital for sure, John would love to go full retail.
-Will there be variant covers? maybe
-Will PPCs be lighting bolts or balls of energy?  Byran said they come in a glass, it's grain alcohol cut with something.  More seriously it'll probably be an energy beam like the cover of Shrapnel 15

he Stackpole/Randall chat is a couple of friends shooting the shit, I think people would be better just listening to that as a conversation.  Though damn, the money at FASA was not good

During the Alpha Strike game, someone asked why make an UrbieLAM when there are so many other minis to make, and Brent talked about how the CGL crew love to prank each other and it was an April Fool's joke run amuck, and it's worth it to see the look on Ray's face whenever he sees one.

Livestream wrap-up transcript
-Next show with a booth is UK Games Expo (I'll be there too!), over the summer they'll be at Gamescon Canada, Chupacabracon, Origins, Gencon, DragonCon, PAX West, NOVA Open (those three the same weekend!), Essen, hopefully PAX Australia and PAX Unplugged.
-Will the Infiltrator Mk. II and Cavalier get a plastic release?  Maybe, they were on the list and got cut.  The original plan for BattleArmour was two packs of 4-5 stands per year but they changed to one pack of 8-10 stands of two types.  If they do well they might change back to two releases per year and expand the line.
-More stores will hopefully be added to Randall's tour itenerary, it depends on what stores are amenable to an event, where the demo team are available and think it'd work, where their distributors think there's an audience.  Ray and Aaron will hopefully be doing some touring as well.
-They've been considering doing San Diego Comicon as a booth but it's "probably off the table".  Randall is considering trying to make it this year and doing some panels and meeting people.
-When will Den of Wolves be out?  Loren hopes this year.
-Will we get a "partyback" Hunchback (Tex's nickname for the laser Hunchback/Swayback)? Randall would love to see some swayback minis.
-What is Randall's favourite thing about Adepticon?  The visuals.  He loves seeing the 3D tables and boards for minis games, the passion it represents from the fans and organisers. 
-Loren's favourite thing?  The friends and energy and they have the time to visit, talk, have lunch and make plans. They have time to be creative.
-Clear plastic stealth mechs? They wouldn't be surprised if they do it in the next few years
-More Inner Sphere at War HexMaps?  Probably not.  The BattleForce counters pack did well but maybe not well enough to expand the line
-Plans for BV3?  it's being discussed, but no solid plans.
-What does Randall think are the causes of the BattleTech Renaissance?  The plastic minis and redesigns are the fuel that burns in the heart of it. Randall remembers going through every single piece of Marauder art on a skype call with Ray and Anthony, nitpicking everything.
-Status of Aces?  A deal has been minted and they're moving forward strongly.  they shoudl know the plan in about 2 months.
-Will the Tactical Companion app get an upgrade or is it dead?  It got upgraded only a couple of months ago and more content is being added. 
-Any support for BattleForce/Strategic BattleForce planned?  Ptobably not much.  Randall has some ideas for an "evil BattleForce thing" but very far down the line?
-Any thoughts of maps for smart tables? Smart tables are all their own format and they're very niche so it's not a good place for CGL to spend a lot of time.
-New Succession Wars box set?  Reprint of the original box should be out later this year, Resurgent Empires will hopefully be up for playtesting on TTS by "the spring"
-Will Alpha Strike be added to the app?  Hopefully.
-When asked about the Blood Kite getting on the minis schedule, Randall talked about how he really wants a Blood Kite but the units that get onto the list are based on 5-6 criteria and the Blood Kite doesn't hit enough of them yet.
-Destiny support for virtual tabletops?  They're hoping to get that done
-Thoughts on a new German translator/localiser? They'd love to find a German partner, they're talking to some people but nothing they can announce yet.
-Randall wants BattleTech ties
-Randall gave out something like 400 patches to people at Adepticon, he expects to give out ten times that at GenCon
-Pretty much everything they have for sale should make it to UK Games Expo

Final Thoughts
-Randall: Is still in awe in what we as a community have built, this renaissance has had so many industry people in awe of it to.  He can't thank everyone who's helped lift up the game and universe we all love so much enough.
-Loren:  We have so much more room to grow and expand, and it's really exciting.
-Talon: Being able to see and experience new people expand their stories, seeing the start of the awesome stories that the new generation of veteran fans will be telling 20 years from now.

 

Updated New Unit Design Philosophy

Here I am, Ostroc you like a hurricane

One of the key core concepts of the 357th and unit design is keeping some kind of logical fealty towards the faction that a unit is from, a unit works for, or a unit is to represent. And that philosophy still really holds true - you want your Cappie, Drac, or Feddie unit to feel "authentic." However, now there are a couple other wrinkles I'm throwing into every new force I'm building - era and Alpha Strike/Total Warfare. 

Basically, after multiple discussions in our last few game sessions, it's come up that some 'Mechs are -fantastic- in Alpha Strike, then garbage in TW. The Mackie is a huge example of this. By AS stats, this thing really rocks on the table top. I might actually prefer it, for the points, to a lot of contemporary IS 'Mechs. Then you switch over to TW and it's laughably easy to exterminate. 

Era is less of a concern but then also, matching up your Clan Invasion-era 4th Tau Ceti against someone else's Civil War/Jihad Davion force can be a bummer in Alpha Strike. I'd never consider such a huge BV difference in Total Warfare. Turns out though, that a CI Tau can win if the dice are in your favor.

But really, for my own personal edification, I'm looking at - Succession Wars (3025) era, Clan Invasion (3049-3052) era, Civil War/Jihad (3062-3075) era, Republic/Dark Age (3083-3151) era, and IlClan (3151+) at force composition. I assume those dates are pretty close to CGL's for era breakdown, depending on what they consider the start and there are some gaps in there, obv (SW tech works up until the Helm 3039 updates but you can roll those in CI era, and whilst lots of stuff came out between that and the FedCom Civil War, it's easier to just go the next era up).

A lot of canon changes occur in the transition between eras, or writers, as it were. So, the 4th Tau Ceti becomes a light force for some reason, but I think all iterations of it that I'll be running (barring SW) will be built along the lines of Cappie tactical doctrine with the augmented lances, as an example. I might run a 3L Raven in '49, but I'll for sure be running a 4L or better in '67. The Recognition Guide series brings new IlClan variants of older 'Mechs as well, so that'll inform my decision making process on current timeline stuff.

This isn't very important for pickup games, though even then we try to stick somewhat to cohesive unit choice buuuuut we're debating a "splintered timelines" approach to campaigning coming up. We're thinking a series of "what ifs" because any player campaign, by definition, is going to deviate from canon.

One campaign for sure is Nachtfalke, and that is going to be almost wholly using what we can, best versions of stuff to fit our play styles. Then, mayhaps, there's an alt 4th Succession War/3025 era/early Clan Invasion timeline depending, wherein we follow more old school MechForce stuff, tallying up wins and having leaders of each faction determine the direction of planetary conquest. Jihad era, we have a real humdinger of a situation laid out for our 5th Succession War that'll see some really interesting developments. And then there are so many mini campaigns, Tukkayid, Wars of Reaving, Hinterlands stuff coming up, Chaos Campaign framework, etc.

Flexibility in units is a must, even with how massive our collective resources are in miniatures.

Edit for clarity - I don't mean building/rebuilding/buying a thousand 'Mechs to have one battalion of 36 for each era, I mean using era-relevant variants or configurations with an existing force. I'll have to post my 4th Tau TO&E since that's what I'm using as an example here but essentially - for Succession War-era games going into Clan Invasion, I'd have a scout lance led by an RVN-1X Raven (a 3024 model, the prototypical test bed), but then for Clan Invasion, I'd switch the Raven model to the RVN-3L (a 3048 model using recovered technology) and switch again to the RVN-4L (a 3062 model with Stealth armor) going into the FedCom Civil War, as an anchor for Shadow Lances (lances of 4 'Mechs all equipped with Stealth armor). My battalion of 36 'Mechs would be shuffled on paper to fit these different eras & which 'Mechs thematically fit better in each lance, but overall, it's still the same 36 'Mechs. 

 Only exception to this, for me anyway, would be 'Mechs that don't exist in an earlier era. Like if I have Mad Cat Mk IV/Savage Wolves (a 3130 OmniMech) in a bunch of Clan Wolf forces, I'd probably want something to swap out for games set before the Republic/Dark Ages era. 

Waterly Memorial/Sixth of June 2023 Recap

It's a bad moon on the rise!

For this year, we slapped together about a dozen different Alpha Strike forces at 275ish points per and went with a "deserts of despair" theme on map sheets. The initial idea was just pairing off and running through essentially stars/reinforced lances.

However, as is becoming a bit too often an occurrence, even though we shifted the date around to accommodate more people, attendance was pretty disappointing. It was enough though, and not to take away from anyone that was able to make it out.

So, in what might have been a pretty giant strategic blunder on my part (lmao), I convinced the whole room to jump into a single game.

What we ended up with, was Sean (FedSuns), Kelsey (Ghost Bears), and Rachel (Jade Falcons) on the south side of the map line, with myself (Steel Vipers), Jack (his force), and Alex (Cloud Cobras) coming in from the north.

The biggest issue was that because I'd built AS275 forces, we hit the table with a LOT of pieces, with three brand new players. And I tend to forget that movement in AS is (generally) equal to walk movement in Total Warfare BattleTech so we had three mapsheets laid out lengthwise when two probably would have been fine for a training game, though a three by two would have been best for maneuvering the sheer scope of force.

33 'Mechs hit the field, and after a few turns of just getting them all up there, clashed centerline as these things do. We'd had some basic shot attempts earlier (even though we were all trying to avoid a straight kill alley) but once the battle was joined in full, armies clashed and 'Mechs died. Eventually. A LOT of missed attack rolls - we were doing standard 2d6 SAR instead of 1d12 MAR optional rules.


In the end, it got late, people were falling off 'cause even though AS in general is quick-ish, 33 pieces and new players nerfs that idea, so we decided to finish one last turn and call it on points. North side won by 12. 12 little points. Not even the full cost of -any- of the pieces on the field, and I think we decided we only won by even that small margin 'cause I managed to take down Rachel's Warhawk.

Jack's Locust lasted for far more turns that it should have given all of the firepower on the field and was a real, real good line blocker for our side.

All in all, win or lose, I love playing and I love getting other people to play but had I been planning to do a six player game, I most likely would have done AS200 forces, and gone with using 1d12s per point of potential damage to speed it up even further. Huge thanks to my people for humoring me and getting that game in. Really missed out on having some more of our experienced people tagging in but there's always next time.

Honestly, the biggest win for me was that my kiddo is finally at the age where he can hang out when my gaming people & has the interest in actually playing (Alpha Strike rules at least) BattleTech, even if we sort of made him in this case haha.

But from a higher level overview of things, the more active players we have, the better. Also, the more players that live with me, the better 'cause that means I have the opportunity to get in more games & put less burden on all my friends to learn it. And, of course, running campaigns is what I'm here for.

It sure was a field. 

A copy of our "brilliant" tactical plan. 

Full Blog Updates

The 357th ID Blogspot goes all the way back to 2011, though the genesis of the group had its roots in the hallowed antiquity of 2006, after a decade of people coming & going and solely subsisting on pickup games with a limited pool of 'Mechs. I started this as a way for all of us to touch base and throw our units out to the wider world, to commemorate some of our gaming excursions (especially our later Waterly events), and in general to just muse over a universe that I've loved playing in since the first MechWarrior video game (and those a-hole Dark Wing Lance guys!).

A lot has changed in the past dozen years. Even more has changed since my first time hitting the tabletop in 1996. Official and unofficial membership in the group has ebbed and flowed. Many of us have "grown up" more, got married, had kids, picked up crazier job obligations etc. Some former members have made themselves so unwelcome in general as to become excommunicado (thanks, John Wick!) and others never had a chance to really get going with group activities to be considered as such despite the interest. There have been moves and breakups and shakeups and breakdowns. Life has been lived and whatnot.

So I thought it was a good time for 1) a general update about the updates and 2) going through & cleaning up the ol' Blogspot. My biggest goal with this is to get all the various units cleaned up with tables of organization & equipment (such as they are), and to take new pictures as all but a handful of existing units have had additions or primed pieces finally painted. And many have been "finished" in that I won't be adding anything new to that particular unit, though the faction itself may see growth.

In many cases, this has already happened. Clan Ghost Bear, for instance, has an entry with Tau Galaxy but thanks to the successful Clan Invasion Kickstarter and so much plastic available for a much, much lower price point than metal minis, I've also built a small Rasalhague Galaxy force. Clan Cloud Cobra now has a new Beta Galaxy unit in progress. House Liao, if we're looking at it as a Citizen's Honored type unit and not a straight mercenary force, as the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers looking towards a battalion by mid next year.

In other instances, under-represented houses like Steiner/Tamar Pact will be getting a unit added soon as will Davion sort of. And in doing this, it will push me to get my paint backlog cleaned up more. Since the CI Kickstarter, I've barely touched anything metal and I have so, so much work on that side to finish. I've been trying to keep units purely metal or purely plastic but also, since I have the ability to 3D print, there's going to be a lot more blending of units down the road.

And when I say "3D print," I mean for 'Mechs and stuff that don't have miniatures already. I fully support Catalyst and whilst I haven't purchased any Ironwind Metals products in probably 8 or 9 years, I still support them fully too. But I'm also not going to sit around and wait for the next six years to get a bevy of Iron Cheetahs and Mastodons for my forces anymore. Plus, and going back to the Clan Invasion Kickstarter (and the more recent Mercenaries Kickstarter), the Catalyst plastics are scaled with each other much better & their designs are more of a current aesthetic than most of the older IWM sculpts that were inherited from Ral Partha so when I do 3D print, I have the option of scaling to fit (even if it takes me a few tries to make it look right) so no more giant-sized light 'Mechs or tiny assaults (Blood Kite). |

Last, I want to go in and retool the history/backstory/large components thereof of my Kuroi Kaze force. I don't use it in many games these days but it is a huge part of my own BattleTech history and I love it dearly. So it deserves a clean up, a refresh, and some changes based on how much more I know about BattleTech in 2023 than I did in 1996, especially because I oft note how many unintentional similarities my history has with canon stuff in the early BattleTech fiction that I didn't read until the last few years (like, I just got the first two books of the Warrior Trilogy, 35 years after they were written...). Which is kind of a sad look for Mike Stackpole that my musings as a 16-20 year old sync up with his adult stuff buuuuut I'm sure people will just say I must have read -something- about these characters and copied ideas so whatever. It doesn't matter much to me either way, but I do have some newer ideas that I want to incorporate whilst leaving some core background untouched. Legacy history won't go away, I'll still hang onto what I had, but we'll consider this a giant retcon in another universe or some shizz like that.

But yeah. 2023. Post-pandemic edition. Looking at playing with people a lot more. Teaching more new players. Sticking with my "I'm willing to foot the bill for your first lance/star" is much easier when I can grab a lance or star pack for less than $30 these days, versus $50-80 depending on composition. And with a huge amount of tanks and general-use 'Mechs coming between now and next year, it's a great time to be a BattleTech player.

Why You Should Play BattleTech, Why With Us, and the Ethics Thereof

There are a myriad of reasons to want to play BattleTech. I could even enumerate them, if I were so inclined. But let's just say, you're a casual person, living their life and someone is like "yo, come over to my place, lemme teach you this game!" and you're like "I dunno, bruh, seems kinda sus," or whatever it is the kids say these days. And me, as that someone, would lay it out so you can play it out like so...

(Note: when I say "play BattleTech," I'm not differentiating between Total Warfare BTech and Alpha Strike BTech, unless noted below, because a prospective new player isn't going to know the difference and really, Alpha Strike is easiest to teach.)

1 - do you like mecha anime, especially stuff from 70s-00s? Robotech/Macross, Gundam, Crusher Joe, Dougram, etc? Does the "every machine matters" small scale conflict of things like Gundam 8th MS Team or the "one elite pilot is worth an enemy brigade" feel of Gundam Wing really appeal to you? Then you'd definitely enjoy leading a table top team of MechWarriors into victory over your foes. 8th MS Team is actually pretty spot on how a company of 'Mechs operating in a forward base during a planetary assault, broken down into lances of four, would work out. That whole supply chain thing, small unit esprit de corps, high stakes for the unit but not necessarily for the universe at large, etc.

2 - do you enjoy the political intrigue and house on house drama of Game of Thrones, but think it'd be a LOT cooler set in space and with maybe a little less sister-fucking? Houses fighting each other because they just can't wait to be king/God-Emperor? Does waiting 20 years for a new book in a series suck monkey nuts when you want to know what happens -right now-? Then hooo-boy, is this game right for you. Let's start with the political drama; you have five Great Houses that have been fighting with each other to some degree for hundreds of years. You have a score of Minor Houses/lesser powers looking to step up to the big dogs. You have non-alien external threats shaking up the status quo. Unifying "universal leader" assassination? Check. Galactic Civil Wars? Check. Lannister-style inbreeding? Uh.. I can't say check here but -reads notes on Alaric Ward-Steiner-Davion- also I can't not say check? A novel series that is entirely unnecessary to enjoy the game but that also is in and of itself enjoyable? 100+ times check. Characters having plot armor heavily in some cases but then also being killed when the narrative requires? Oh, definitely check. Forming alliances to defeat your friends and then back stabbing your allies when it suits you? CHECK AND MATE.

3 - do you need a new hobby that is fun to do with others but also allows you the creative freedom to do what you wanna do? BattleTech features an extensive amount of factions to choose from to suit your tastes, from the samurai of the Draconis Combine, to the noble Azami brotherhood, to the "God Save the Queen!" Davionistas, to the Knights of the Inner Sphere, to the mystics of Clan Nova Cat, to the catgirl loving Canopians, etc. Like a faction but none of their regimental paint schemes really appeal to you? Make a new regiment! Make a new mercenary force! Paint your 'Mechs hot pink and call it "Bubblegum Crisis 3040"! It's your time to shiiiine.

But why should you play with us?

4 - do you wanna play but are unsure of where to start/what products to buy/what kind of units to get, etc? Let our team of experts share their knowledge with you! Library of novels, sourcebooks, product awareness, pros and cons assessment of the various factions with all their flavorful goodness? We -absolutely- got you covered there. Do you want to build a highly mobile and flexible long range sniper type force that rains long range missiles indirectly behind hill coverage and just really need pointers on how to get there? I'll lay out a list of my top ten missile boats with their spotter pairings for your perusal. No joke when I say there are decades of experience at your fingertips with us. 

5 - do you wanna play but don't know if you want to/are able to dump large sums of cash into a new game/hobby? Not a problem at all! No matter what faction you think you might like, we probably have a unit available for your use. 20+ campaign ready (company sized or larger) units are currently on hand, with more being added all of the time. Clan or Inner Sphere, mercenary or House regulars, Periphery or pirate scum, we got a wide, wide variety of flavors. Now, I generally don't have a "you can take this unit home to practice with" policy but I'm kind of working on that for the future too... Plus, I do have a habit of buying people a lance or two & with the new lance/star packs out there being way more affordable than metal minis have ever been...

Finally, gaming communities are full of gatekeepers and grognards, which is weird because DnD is more accessible now than it has ever been and BattleTech is really following suit with the array of starter products out there, and streamlined rule sets like Alpha Strike. It may not seem like it given the vocal minority on the internet, but per my previous blogs on the subject, BattleTech (and gaming in general) should be an open and welcoming environment. And, honestly, our particular group, my home specifically, tends to be an environment where you can come and have fun, roll some dice, leave the mess of the real world behind for a few hours at a time. I really prefer that discussions on real world politics and religion and hot button social topics be taken outside of the gaming area. I'm not saying that anyone who plays with us is a "snowflake" that needs a "safe space" because they can't handle "the real world" - I'm saying anyone that plays with us or even just comes to hang when we play, deserves to have the full respect due to any human being. I'm rabidly outspoken on my beliefs with social media but I don't feel the need to repeat it when we're playing. If you're pro-Capellan, or anti-Marik, or a fursona-having Sea Fox fan, bring your A-game smack talk to the table. Don't bring your real world hangups to the table because we don't need it there. I love all my peoples, and we want to make sure everyone that comes to play feels like they're definitely wanted at the table.

If you game with us, even if you're just spectating, I want you to feel like you belong there and I strive to ensure that carries over in everything I do in regards to gaming.

So come on, come out, let's throw dice, it'll be a good time.

Waterly Memorial/Sixth of June 2022 Recap

"Just when you thought it was over, the sky turned black and we all fell to earth..."

In the darkest of timelines, COVID hit and gaming together became a thing few wanted to do. *Few smart people wanted to do. But we kept on keeping on and eventually, the blackness (kind of) passed so that gathering together became a (somewhat) safer gamble.

And, for the first time in years, going back even before the pandemic hit, we congregated to pay tribute to the Sainted Myndo Waterly, for our (going to return to doing it) annual Sixth of June event. It was a bit of a bittersweet occasion - returning to an event we haven't held since 2018 or 2019 was pretty great but we were also missing a lot of the core crew due to scheduling conflicts or illnesses or disinterest or divorce so...

We powered on, however! And we had nongamer guests over just to help us drink & eat the foods per previous events, which was nice. You don't get to interact the same way when you're gaming but it's just really nice to have the homies around.

Matching up, we had me teaching three newcomers Alpha Strike in a stripped down format. The rules, not the players. This time. I originally had thought about doing a team game with a Binary of Clan 'Mechs to a side for the benefit of the new players, but it looked like it would work better for speed purposes if we split up into two 1v1s with a Star per. And yes, I know, Waterly Memorial w/o Word of Blake 'Mechs is kinda weird, but the SO was entertaining guests more than being interested directly in rolling dice, so I just stuck w/what I had easily on hand, and in plastic (for the most part).

I had six prebuilt Stars to use, with the option of pulling more from my "warchest" quickly and easily. Two of the six were designed to be lighter scout elements (for team games) and the other four were evenly matched 275pts, so those are what we used - a Star each of Clan Ghost Bear Rasalhague Galaxy, Clan Smoke Jaguar Delta Galaxy, Clan Steel Viper Alpha Galaxy, and Clan Jade Falcon Turkina Keshik.

A bit of time has passed since then and I drank a lot later that night, so what I do remember is that Brian lost to me, Poppy & Kilcoin mostly had a draw as he had to leave for a work function before coming back, and it was just a really fun time all around. Can't wait to bring the team back together to dive into more advanced rules and unit building, as well as to encourage these fine folks to pick up some box sets and sourcebooks lmao.

THE STAAAAARS

Operation: Nachtfalke Even More Advanced Rules

Actually, less of an advanced rules and more of a hybridization. Alpha Strike is tough w/the current way Nacht is set up to implement. And normal Total Warfare BTech is tough for large scale games.

So, for vehicles/tanks and battle armor formations, which are weird in BTech either way, I think using the Alpha Strike card might work. Units would be subject to the standard AS rules for range - 1 to 3 hexes for short, 4 to 12 for medium, 13 to 24 for long, with their damage inflicted pursuant to the range bracket. Instead of 2d6 against the target's TN, it'll be 1d12 per point of damage possible (like we currently do in AS games) and any hit will be like a 10pt damage attack, hit location rolled for normal.This means that battle armor is potentially way overpowered and something like a Carnivore, if the dice gods are good, could smash out 70 pts of damage in one turn, but it's an acceptable alternative to combined arms issues that arise in Total Warfare.

On the flip side, any hit against an AS unit will do base damage/10, rounded up w/a minimum of 1. So a 'Mech with a ton of medium lasers is potentially the biggest nightmare to an AS unit since one with 4ER PPCs could still only do a maximum of 8pts of damage versus 20 medium lasers which could do 20pts total. Dice gods willing. TN would work mostly the same - TMM basically translates straight across for move distance, with the caveat that a unit would have to move more than half max distance for full TMM or half TMM (round down) for less than half move. Otherwise hovercraft would be nuts to hit. 

Most other rules work as written with just the adjustment made for terminology. Obviously no driving or piloting SPAs will matter and skill improvement costs work with just the one number since they're an aggregate anyway. I'll have to playtest this some though. That'll be my plan for the week.