The internet has made communication a lot easier, faster, and in some ways, far more hilarious than we ever intended for it to be. I recently was able to snag the Catalyst Game Labs’ Battletech twitter account’s attention and asked them a fun question.
“When’s Combat Manual: Davion coming out?” I think this is the next book in the Combat manual line, and i’ve reviewed the first two entries in the series. I like the product line, and i want some resources and materials for the game and a new Combat Manual sounds just about right. Imagine my surprise when i got a response! The basic gist of the reply was “It’s coming out before the end of the year.”
Communication is indeed, a wonderful thing.
I dared a step further and asked “What other things have you guys got in the pipeline for a potential release in the next couple of months?”
Surprised again, i got another response!
“Touring the Stars, Turning Points, Spotlight Ons, Supplements for the BattleMech Manual and the Second Succession War.”
For those of you not necessarily acquainted with the Battletech Universe, i thought i’d dig into today’s mystery box to show off what these products are, and what they mean for the greater scope of Battletech.
Touring the Stars
The Touring the Stars series focuses on planets in the battletech universe and feature a historical breakdown, points of interest, and a planetary map of the world being featured. These are short e-pub documents that are reasonably cost effective if you’re interested in looking at various planets around the Inner Sphere (so far). The thing i really enjoy about these is that they give me ideas for campaigns and battlefields. I may not use the exact planet as it’s described, but i may borrow the planetary details for a game i’m working on. These are a lot of fun, and can give you something interesting to read.
Turning Points
Turning Points are scenario packs that focus on major historical events that occur in the Battletech Universe. Each one of these features a historical brief of the conflict, the major players involved, and all of the rules that you’ll need as a player to take control of one of the sides of the conflict. Will history repeat, or will things get blown all to hell? Pick up a turning point and see.
Spotlight On
Battletech is in many ways a historical game. The in-game history of the setting features dozens upon dozens of famous and legendary units. Some of these are the whitest of white hats. Others are the blackest of black hearts. Spotlight On digs into the specific history of a famous unit and features them throughout their lifetime in the Battletech Universe.
Each of these force briefs provides the historical basis and unit rosters for playing the unit in a variety of historical eras. Famous battles, complete breakdowns of units, and Alpha Strike cards are included in each one of these documents.
We’ve written a review of the first document in this series, Spotlight On: Crescent Hawks (http://zardozgames.blogspot.com/2016/10/crescent-hawks-shining-light.html).
Supplements for the BattleMech Manual
This is the one that i have the least information on, but am most intrigued by. The BattleMech Manual is a neat idea at condensing and clarifying the rules of Battletech for new players. It focuses entirely on the rules you’ll need to put ‘Mechs on the table and blow them to kingdom come. I am curious what supplements they would put out for this rules set, and eagerly look forward to the coming months to see what’s coming.
We reviewed the Beta version of this document, and you can find that here (http://zardozgames.blogspot.com/2017/02/battlemech-manual-book-review.html)
(The Cover Art for this isn’t final, so i am not adding a picture, yet)
The 2nd Succession War
Battletech is defined by the wars that dominate its historical period. The 2nd Succession War is one of the ugliest, most brutal conflicts that wracks the Inner Sphere. The scars from that war will degrade the way of life for centuries to come, and the level of technology will fall across the Inner Sphere. This book is a part of the Historicals series, and features a comprehensive breakdown of the history of the event, the major players, and rules for integrating the conflict in a myriad of ways to play Battletech.
The Cover art for this hasn’t been released yet, so i’m omitting the picture for now.)
If you’re interested in a similar book, check out the 1st Succession War (http://bg.battletech.com/test/historicals/the-first-succession-war/) to see where the War started.
I’m curious to see what else the fine folks at Catalyst Game Labs come up with, and it looks like it could be a fun year for Battletech.
Special Mention:
Battletech: The PC Game
Harebrained Schemes is releasing a new turn based Battletech PC game this year (tentatively May ish) featuring a myriad of fun game play features and options. With a campaign featuring a fantastic story set during the 3rd Succession War, and open ended options for Giant Robot Deathmatches, Battletech looks to be a runaway hit.
Let’s hope for a happy year of Battletech gaming, and enjoy the new, fun surprises that may come up between now and the end of the year.
Game On, Game Fans.
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