Hey Folks, some quick updates and some pictures from Pax Unplugged about the stuff we're getting from Battletech in probably the first 2 quarters of 2025. Some interesting things popped up, and we have some pictures from the show.
Now, as we primarily cover Battletech, that's where the focus will be, but, Catalyst showed off a host of cool things including a new rpg,a 2nd edition of Shadowrun Anarchy, and updates on several board games, and Leviathans continues to sail towards fulfilment.
let's start with Arguably the star of the Show, Battletech ACES
What is ACES?
ACES is a mechanism to play BattleTech against an automated response system. I'm not going to call it an AI, but several card components generate the expected behavior of your opponent while you operate your forces normally. This allows for both solo and Co-Op play, which are areas that Battletech struggles with.
We have images of the first ACES release, a campaign box called Scouring Sands. Synced up with the Tamar Rising sourcebook, and tangentially interacting with Hot Spots Hinterlands, it is a self contained campaign box focused on a desert Biome, which is just the bees knees.
Featuring a grab box of new minis, terrain, tokens and other resources, Scouring Sands is an impressive swing. It is a stiff price point, at $79.99. Expected release sounds like May 2025ish. Equally important, this is the first of four campaign Boxes for Aces.
I would love to attribute these pictures to the photographer, but they were pulled from the Catalyst Game Labs Discord server. If you took them, God Bless.
Battlefield Support: Emplacements
An impressive and unexpected release, Emplacements is a set of 16 plastic Miniatures, crew and Battlefield Support cards. Machine guns nests, light, medium, and heavy Emplacements fill this package. No idea on projected retail cost, but they're currently slotted for Q3 2025.
Note: you can see some of the Emplacements in the wide shot of ACES above
3rd Star League Strike Team
We've known this is in the works for quite a while, the renamed Striker Star comes with 5 mechs (a prepainted Lament, a Hammerhead, Jackalope, Kintaro, and a Havoc) and a J-27Ordnance Carrier Battlefield Support piece. MSRP looks like $44.99 and a release date in Q1 of 2025 (i think, could be wrong).
McCarron's Armored Cavalry Lance Pack
Barnes and Noble exclusive force Pack with a new Tian Zong, A jumping Starslayer, a reposed Black Knight, and an Awesome variant. Retail price from Barnes and Noble is $29.99 and these are in the web store now and hitting retail outlets as early as this week.
Black Remnant Command Lance Force Pack.
The other huge surprise of the Show, Black Remnant Command has a Blood Asp Variant, a Cyclops, a new Dragon Fire, and a Flashman. It's an eclectic group of Mechs, but it's tied to Penny Arcade's Black Remnant show, (which finished it's first Season at PaxU).
Quick beats.
Ilkhan's Eyes Only should release January 15th, and brings about the end of the cycle of sourcebooks started with Tamar Rising. Featuring the conflict between the Star League under Alaric Ward and the Capellan Confederation. It also features a Whistlestop tour of the rest of the Inner Sphere to bring the timeline to 3152.
Fox Patrol Merch!
Delightfully, Fox Patrol, (the scrappy mercenary unit made popular in the pages of Shrapnel before getting their own anthology Fox Tales by Bryan Young) has patches, Dice Pucks, and lapel pins. Currently these look to be convention exclusives for now, but here's hoping they get a full realease in the webstore.
You can see the Fox Patrol gear in the wide shot of the display up above.
Wednesday we'll have a fiction update, and Friday ought to be a fun surprise. if You made it to Pax, and got to see cool stuff, what was your favorite? Doesn't have to be Battletech related, but what did you see that struck a chord with you?
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