Been away a bit, but more news, of a sort, on the HG front.

 

Taken from the Robetech Tactics Kickstarter

 

As many are aware, Robotech Tactics, the miniature game based on Robotech produced by Palladium and Ninja Games, has died a fairly ugly death by the looks of it. Worse, Palladium LOST it's Robotech license as a whole. It can't even produce the RPG anymore. Going by the reading of the post linked above by Kevin Simbeada himself, it seems the game didn't find a market.

Now I know the mix of angry posts by Robotech fans aside and some (undeserved) gloating by Battletech fans along with thoughts of "Cool, cheap unseen in the bargain bin for a while!" I wanted to take some time to give my own potential analysis of where this might go from here.

1. The Lawsuit: Harmony Gold already has a bunch of trouble in that they're fighting for a license they won't own in three years. They already don't own a number of the iconic likenesses already and the arbitration they won is, as I said before, probably going to bite them in the ass. The fact that they pulled Palladium's license, is to me a) telling that they do not want to be anywhere near exposed to the crapstorm that is about to come Palladium's way when enraged fans come after them for the Kickstarter awards they didn't get, and b) Harmony Gold realizes they can't subcontract out something they don't own, and are probably going to soon settle out of court. I would. You don't need to be a lawyer to know at this point that HG is going to be throwing good money after bad if they continue to fight this.

2. Palladium: Palladium Books is probably in deep trouble here. Even if they are financially solvent, I can see enraged fans entering a class-action suit over this. The fans were already pretty hot under the collar about this, but this may be the last straw, especially with the terms Palladium is setting to exchange Wave 2 funding for Wave 1 items.Yes, Kickstarter is always a speculative enterprise, and people know that going in, but this thing raised 1.4 Million without result. Yeah, someone's going to want to see someone in court over this. And nothing kills a game company faster than legal bills.

It's also not the first time Palladium's been in this kind of trouble due to some seeming mismanagement or malfeasance. First, there was the "Crisis of Treachery" as Mr. Siembada put it:

(Quoted here from Wikipedia)

Embezzlement case and financial difficulties[edit]

On April 19, 2006, Kevin Siembieda issued a statement that revealed Palladium Books' critical financial difficulties due to alleged embezzlement and theft resulting in losses from $850,000 to $1.3 million, coupled with a series of delays in negotiating license deals for their properties in other media (the Nokia N-Gage game, the Jerry Bruckheimer movie, a massively multiplayer online game license, and other potential deals).^[2] They raised money to continue operations by selling a signed and numbered – but not, strictly speaking, "limited edition" – art print by Kevin Siembieda, as well as by urging fans to buy directly from their online store if their financial situations would allow for it.

An April 26, 2006 article in the Kingsport Times-News revealed that Steve Sheiring, Palladium's former sales manager, had been sentenced in a plea bargain to a misdemeanor conviction, one year of probation, and ordered to pay $47,080 in restitution to Palladium Books in connection with these thefts. It also provided more information about the thefts, which took place from 2002 to 2004 and were only discovered when Palladium took inventory.^[4]

Responding to the controversy engendered by such a low settlement amount in relation to the large loss figure claimed in his earlier press release, Kevin Siembieda posted an open letter to the Palladium forum explaining the matter. Siembieda stated that he had not wanted to make public Sheiring's identity out of the fear that overzealous fans might get into trouble by committing acts of reprisal. He explained that the heaviest punishment Sheiring had been likely to receive even without the plea bargain was probation. Siembieda had a choice between getting any amount of settlement money at all to pay critical bills, or spending more time and money to attempt to get his "pound of flesh" from a man who was reportedly broke anyway. Given the urgency of Palladium's situation, Siembieda did not feel he had any real choice but to take what little he could get.^[5]

During the week of May 7, 2007, Palladium announced that revenue from increased sales of books, admissions to its first annual Open House, and purchases of the special art print had covered most of the short-term damages it had incurred. This period of financial instability became referred to by Siembieda as the "Crisis of Treachery" in keeping with his stance that the root cause of the difficulties was the embezzlement perpetrated by Sheiring.

Add this in to multiple complaints to the Better Business Bureau over Robotech Tactics and one can see how truly ugly this is about to get. Mr. Siembada is going to have to work very hard to get a lot of goodwill back, My thoughts to all the RRT backers is simple but stark. Weigh your options carefully. I would advise you to get legal advice personally, as well as carefully read over the Kickstarter terms. I would also advise you to not get too heated on the internet, these days that can bite you very easily.

3. Battletech/Alpha Strike: Battletech’s future, ironically, seems quite bright going forward. With the new box sets on the horizon and the HBS PC Game dropping in April, which was announced yesterday, I think Battletech is finding it’s way back. Now, that said, the paper and pencil game has some growth to do and some recovery to make of its own. I have some small suggestions along those lines:

·         Push the box sets hard, and do some more gaming in the older periods, perhaps linked to the computer game coming out. Methinks that would get some real buzz for the old girl!

·         Consider a time jump. A lot of things post-Jihad have not sat well with the diehard fans, and it’s time to throw them a bone. Put the last bits of the Jihad to bed, start over and have some fun with it. A very smart game writer once said to me, “When gaming out a cataclysm, better to have the cataclysm and then game out the aftermath, then to do the during, sacred cow may make great burgers, but nobody wants to watch it made.”

·         Alpha Strike, bring it back. It was the best idea that’s come out for Battletech in a very, very long time. People like it. It may not be granular, but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s meant to be operational level Battletech. You can put a battalion plus on either side of the field, and game it out to conclusion in 4 hours (Yes, I have done it). I get the Combat Manuals were a bit expensive. Ok, ask the fans for help. We’d do it for free. Yes, free. You see the amount of fan-based material out there? It’s gigundus. And while it’s been a lot of hit or miss, a lot of it is becoming hits lately, such as TRO 3028, and Kiro No Torii.

If Alpha Strike isn’t the direction Battletech is going, then let the fans take over. We’ll keep the flame.

Well, that’s enough from me. Love to hear your ideas as usual, and please, no gloating as to Robotech right now. I can imagine what those guys are going through, but we can be better than that. Who knows? Perhaps we can turn them into Battletech fans?

More on the Harmony Gold fracas..or "The Perils of IP trolling".

As Sarna.net has already reported, it seems an earlier arbitration has come back to bite Harmony Gold. It seems that Piranha Games, who own the IP to MechWarrior Online, have moved to dismiss the case.

To quote the article from Sarna.net, Piranha Games is going for dismissal on three separate grounds:

1. Harmony Gold does not own the copyrights for the Unseen ‘Mechs. Those copyrights are actually   owned by a Japanese company called Big West Co. Ltd., a company I have literally never heard of.
   
2. The Unseen copyrights were never licensed to Harmony Gold, and the licensing agreement actually excludes the copyrights they’re suing over. Which, by the way, they never owned in the first place since Harmony Gold licensed from Tatsunoko, not Big West.
3. And here’s the big deal, and should be the nail in Harmony Gold’s coffin. That arbitration that took place between Harmony Gold and Tatsunoko in US District Court found a judgment that shows Harmony Gold officially does not have the license to the copyrights they’re trying to sue over. 

Let's look at each of these in turn: First, while Sarna might not know who Big West is, anyone who's followed the Unseen has. It's a minor point really, but the fact remains, Big West has had rights to the images since 1985 when Robotech and Battletech first came into being. That is a big development, and makes a lot of us who have been following this mess go "hmm"...to say the least.

Point two, It seems Harmony Gold got taken for a ride back in 1985 when Tatsunoko misrepresented the fact that they owned the copyrights to said images, hence them suing Tatsunoko, but in a case of "winning the battle, but losing the war," it seems while that was a somewhat favorable arbitration, they a) exposed the fact they never had title to the images in the first place, and b) undermined their entire case against Piranha et al.

Which leads us into Point 3. The arbitration basically left Harmony Gold with ashes in their mouths. They have no standing, no title to the disputed images and at this rate, are wasting the court's time. What might be a fun nail in the coffin if I were IMR's attorneys? Compel Harmony Gold to produce a copy of the original 1995 FASA vs. Harmony Gold Settlement, then sue on the basis Harmony Gold misrepresented their standing, and then petition the judge to hand down a summary decision hanging Harmony Gold for the court costs of ALL the defendants involved in the case. That would fix Harmony Gold's wagon, but good.

So, how does this end? Hard to say, court cases are unpredictable. But that said, it's a pretty good chance that as I reported earlier, that arbitration was pretty fatal to Harmony Gold's suit and has done little but put their own survival as a company in jeopardy. Furthermore, this, like a stone in a pond, is going to have far reaching effects, like the Robotech Tactics Kickstarter mess going on right now, if Harmony Gold doesn't have rights to the images, and the Japanese license holders don't like what's going on with said Kickstarter? Yeah you can do the math.

So, things look good for Battletech and it's champions overall, but till the gavel is swung, do not count on anything!

More News on the Harmony Gold Lawsuit

"Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts."

Londo Mollari, "Ceremonies of Light and Dark" Babylon 5

Yep, it seems as if Harmony Gold (hereafter referred to as HG) must have a ton of money for copyright attorneys, as they are suing someone else in a copyright infringement lawsuit. This time, they're suing Tatsunoko Productions, the guys that sold Harmony Gold the rights to the images for Macross that made Robotech possible. 

According the to the referenced article, it seems the rights to those images were not Tastunoko's to sell in the first place, but instead with another outfit, Studio Nue, and that HG's rights were distribution of the Robotech/Macross cartoons in North America. 

Court documents have been filed as of last week, and according to Sarna.net, it seems that this is more of an arbitration case, but there are no details as of yet. How this turns out, noone knows. Anything could happen at this point.

But, if I may give my three cents? It's pretty clear HG has gotten quite lawsuit happy, and is clearing the legal decks for something, the live action Robotech movie we hear so much about seems to be the leading possibility in my opinion, but it could be other projects? Whatever happens, the fact that the are willing to arbitrate rather than go before a jury suggests even HG knows that their case might be weaker, or that they are looking towards a long fight with the Piranha Games/IMR/HBS suit.

Either way, it does seem like it's pretty silly to pick two or three lawsuits at the same time. I suspect this may not play overly well with a jury, assuming the judge allows this into evidence.

So, to be continued folks.  

More news from GENCON!!!

Well, it seems that there is more news from CGL about the box sets, and what's in em. I will let the official Battletech FB group speak for itself:

You've seen the sneak peek photos from Gen Con below, now here are the details we can share so far about the two new box sets for BattleTech that are on their way in 2018.

The Beginner Box Set will include two miniatures, the Griffin and the Wolverine. The Game of Armored Combat box set will include eight miniatures: a Locust, Commando, Wolverine, Shadow Hawk, Catapult, Thunderbolt, Awesome, and BattleMaster. All minis will have entirely new sculpts!

(We're aware the Wolverine was misprinted. These are prototypes, and this is why--it will be fixed for full release. Those responsible have been invited to enjoy a stay at their local Word of Blake facility.)

The boxes are mock-ups only, and the details shown on them are *not* final. The contents list on the back of the box remains in development; as a result, the price point of each box has not been finalized.

The maps shown in the photos are likewise not final, and will receive further development. The rules presented are based on those in the recently-released BattleMech Manual in both form and function.

At the moment, the best release date we can offer is 2018--that's broad, but there's a lot of work going into these products, and we hope to share more of it soon!

Ok, so at least my wallet can take a breather for the rest of 2017!

The components at this stage look great, especially the 'Mechs. I so want to see these for sale in separate box sets like the current box sets. I think they would sell very well, perhaps with some Alpha Strike Cards???

Wide angle shot of Battletech Box Set, taken from Battletech Facebook site.

Thunderbolt and Batltemaster, taken from Battletech Facebook site

Locust, taken from Battletech Facebook site

Shadow Hawk and Griffin, taken from Battletech Facebook site

I like the looks of all the Newseen as they are being called. They are beefier than the Reseen, they have some "heft" to them, and they look like they move like the walking tanks they are. The Reseen looked a lot like scarecrows to me, and honestly, lost something in the translation (now the Clan IICs had that heft I was talking about, to be fair). But these models? Oh yeah, Papa likee.

While we are only getting 8 in a box, they are going to be a nice addition to anyone's collection of minis. Like I said, I really hope we get some lance sets for the miniatures as well as the box set. It's also nice to see the beginner set as well, we have needed an "intro" set for Battletech for some time, and the responses to my commentaries have often borne that out.

All in all, 2018 looks like it will be a good year for Battletech, now if we can just get the PTB to give us something more for Alpha Strike? I would be a happy, happy man. 

UPDATE: We have some news on the Combat Manuals among other things from the "What's Up With CGL" panel at GenCon, we also have a Youtube video!

Watch and enjoy folks!

GENCON, What's coming down the pipe!

 There is a lot of releases coming to the fore for Classic Battletech coming as a part of Gen Con, and we are going to take a look at all of them.

  First, there's the release of the books mentioned in a previous blog post, the books are out in hardcopy, at least on a limited basis.

  Here are some images of the actual books:

Taken from bg.battletech.com

Taken from bg.battletech.com

Taken from bg.battletech.com

 The Legacy anthology looks interesting, and the description sounds quite compelling, to say the least. I am a bit excited by the idea, and I will probably pick it up as a PDF or a Kindle book when I get the chance.

  As for miniatures, there is quite a bit being released by Iron Wind Metals. Here are some pictures for everyone to have a look at:

 

New Anubis Sculpt, taken from IWM website

Avalanche Sculpt, taken from IWM website

New Cuirass sculpt, taken from IWM website.

New Uziel sculpt, taken from IWM website.

I am pleased to see the new sculpt quality, and the Uziel looks particularly good, but a lot of the sculpts, naturally, are more for 3250 era games, which I must confess, isn't much for me. But hey, different strokes for different folks.

But the big news is this:

Taken from bg.battletech.com

I am pretty excited about this news most of all, as there is not going to just be a new box set, but a new introductory box set. Both will come with miniatures, but word is that both will have less than previous box sets. One can hope this will lead to more plastic box sets as well, as these have been a boon to miniature players.

There hasn't been much in the way of news for anything specific to Alpha Strike, but one hopes CGL has some surprises for us.

Anyhow, that's it for now, but we'll stay tuned as the trickle of news comes from Gen Con.

News and Commentary

There has been a lot, and I mean a lot of news for Classic Battletech in the last 72 hours, I was waiting for all of it to shake out a little before I posted this, but then Sunday's bombshell required I get to a computer and write.

So, first the good news. 2nd Succession War is out in PDF! The word is that limited copies will hit the street for Gencon, but hey, I can wait...that is assuming the other news I will talk about in a bit doesn't screw everything up.

I have been waiting for this for a while. I like fluff, fluff gives me ideas to write about, to write scenarios for, and to inspire painted units. I can take a throw away sentence or two in a given sourcebook and turn it into a 12 turn scenario, and I have done it many, many times.

Naturally, I already have a copy, (author's credits for Red Star, White Lights have been doing well of late) and on first blush, I liked what I saw. I cannot wait for the dead tree version, but it looks as if we are going to have another quality product on our hands to reenact some great CBT history.

The *meh* is the PDF releases of the Battletech Manual and the Technical Readout: Succession Wars. This is not to knock the effort that went into the former product, which was a lot, but honestly? This was a product that should have been released a long, long time ago in my opinion. The fact that it was not, seems a bit of a silly decision. Battletech, for all of the talk about combined arms (and such an idea is important, make no mistake) is primarily about the 'Mechs. It's why people play. It's what attracted me to the game in the 1980s. So, yeah, a 'Mech oriented rule book should have been one of the first projects to hit the street in the 2000s back when they were doing the Total Warfare series.

As for the latter product. It's the TRO version of a clip show. I hate clip shows. Yes, I know, it's got the reseen artwork. Cool. But I am not going to plunk down money for a product that I already have most, if not all the information for. If this is different, please let me know, as I am a person who is not above eating humble pie when required.

Now, the ugly. As we all know, Harmony Gold, the creators of Robotech (which is partly responsible for me *being* a Battletech player) alleges that the images created for the upcoming computer game by Harebrained Schemes and the images being used by Piranha Games for Mechwarrior Online are a threats to the Robotech copyright as those images resemble images in Robotech, or at least that's what their recently filed legal action says. They also named In Media Res Productions, the parent company of Catalyst Games Labs in the suit.

Now, I am not a legal scholar. but, my understanding is that if an image differs more than 15% from the original, than it is not an infringement on said copyright. Now, Harmony Gold has been kind enough to show their images, versus the images of the reseen and how they allege the similarities are actionable. Personally, I do not see it, but, hey, I will let you the reader decide. And if there are any IP experts or legal scholars out there, I welcome their comments on the case, and would love for them to set us straight.

Ok, let's take a look at the video tape, so to speak:

Found here is the comparison taken from the legal filings of the Warhammer and Archer (left) and the Destroid Spartan and Destroid Tomahawk (right). Image taken from Case 2:17-cv-00327

Found here is the comparison taken from the legal filings of the Atlas and Shadow Hawk (left) and the Armored Valkyrie and Destroid Spartan (right), note lack of captioning on the left. Image taken from Case 2:17-cv-00327

Found here is the comparison taken from the legal filings of the Marauder (left) and the Officer's Pod Glaug (right), again, note lack of captioning on the left. Image taken from  Case 2:17-cv-00327

Found here is the comparison taken from the legal filings of the Marauder/Marauder IIC and Phoenix Hawk (left) and the Officer's Pod Glaug and Super Valkyrie on the right. Image taken from  Case 2:17-cv-00327

Found here is the comparison taken from the legal filings of the Rifleman (left) and the Destroid Defender (right). Image taken from  Case 2:17-cv-00327

I am not at all convinced that Harmony Gold has much of a leg to stand on. The Atlas has similarities to the Armored Valkyrie? You have got to be kidding. I'd get it if they were up in arms if the Crusader was being reissued, which I have not seen a reseen for it yet. Could be wrong, and the Shadow Hawk? Who in their right mind says it looks like a Spartan? Sorry, but this smells to high heaven to me. And I might have good reason to think so, as Sony Pictures has announced they are going forward with a Robotech movie.

Now, that said, the suit was filed in March of this year, and the directorial announcement was made last week..but one might think all sorts of uncharitable things about Harmony Gold and seeking to destroy any potential competitors to any marketing of oh, say, toys and games ahead of a movie release? No, we wouldn't think that, would we?

Lets ignore the fact that Harmony Gold has done little with the IP in the last ten years. Yes, they released Shadow Chronicles (poorly received), and Love, Live, Alive (which was little more than a clip show!). Not to mention the remasters of the original episodes which while the sound and picture clarity was good, some of the questionable fan service was not (endless scenes of Dana showering in the Robotech Masters series, for example).

I won't even bring up the fiasco of the Robotech Miniatures Game and how kickstarter participants STILL have not gotten all they paid for. In fact, things got so bad there, one of the designers was almost driven to suicide. Where was Harmony Gold there? Filing dubious lawsuits it seems.

In short, this smacks of what is called "IP trolling" and while legally. Harmony Gold might be in the right, they are alienating a lot of fans...and those fans aren't probably going to take this lying down. I have already heard rumors of letter writing campaigns and defense funds. I would not be surprised if both go forward.

I will let you, dear reader, decide what you think of it all, but I am pretty convinced this is little more than "lawfare" and I hope it doesn't bleed dry some really good attempts to bring the game back from the brink. But, considering the nature of what the players are, I will quote Han Solo, "I have a bad feeling about this."

New Leadership for Battletech Line, and what we'd like to see!

As some are aware, Classic Battletech has some new people at the helm. This is good as the game has been, for better or worse, stalled creatively for some time. There has been few new releases (The first two books of the Combat Manual series, and Campaign Operations, as well as 1st Succession War come to mind), it has been dribs and drabs when it comes to new printed product.

Then there is the issue of certain newseen sculpts being pulled from the marketplace for reasons unknown. This is, of course, leading to rumors of everything from "HG's lawyers are suing" to "Someone at CGL Legal thought they needed to have further work done to make sure we don't get sued."

All of this has combined to leave a big communication gap between us the players, and CGL. Yes, there are the forums, and the facebook pages, but when I can't get a simple email about getting a replacement part for a Uziel filled from Iron Wind Metals filled in a timely fashion (Going on two weeks guys, and no response.), then there is a humongous problem.

So what would we like to see out of the new leadership?

• We'd like the new products to get some forward motion, or at least, if there is forward motion, tell us that? Us Alpha Strike players are especially keen as we have seen the plastic lance box sets cut from $20 to $10  and then raised to $15? We'd like some honest talk about the future of Alpha Strike. And, some honest talk about the future of CBT in general.

• We'd love to see this wishlist filled?
• A introductory set with plastic Newseens, or Clan 'Mechs?
• An Alpha Strike boxset?
• A new design suite, perhaps app compatible and able to do conversions across all levels of CBT (Alpha Strike, Classic Battletech, Battleforce, ISIF, etc.)?

• I know that the policy is "we don't do release schedules" because it is hard to meet them in the industry, but some idea as to when we can expect a product, approximately, at least in PDF would be awesome?

• Better customer service from both Iron Wind (which I am aware is an independent company) and the CGL web store. I have personally heard too many horror stories first hand about waiting for product, waiting for response to emails, etc.

I don't think my ideas are too wacked out, and I'd like to hear from you, the audience? What would you like to see from our new overlords? Let's see what the fanbase needs, wants, and desires?

UPDATE: Brent Evans got back to the fans on the Customer Service front:

Hello everyone - I've been able to get a handle on all the cases from my original announcement, so I'm expanding my call out to everyone to make sure no one falls through the cracks.  

As the new Line Developer for BattleTech I'm taking the lead on helping anyone with outstanding Customer Service issues in need of getting their orders fulfilled through the Catalyst web store.  This includes any outstanding orders placed through the old web store as well.  I don't want anyone left behind.  

It was no secret that our old webstore was faltering pretty hard by the time we were able to get the new one built from the ground up, and despite the web-team's best efforts - we've been correcting gremlins every since it went live in November.  We've got a massive product list so there were bound to be glitches, but we are committed to making sure no one falls through the cracks.

And I'm willing to put products where my mouth is to prove it.

So if you have an old issue or product that you ordered, paid for, and for some reason are still waiting for delivery after 60 days or more - please email me directly so I can get it resolved for you.  If you placed an order for a PDF product that never arrived, the link didn't work, or it downloaded the wrong product - please email me directly.  If you've been emailing to the Customer Service address for months and not getting a resolution - just email me directly.  I will send a PDF product of your choice free of charge for every order like these that you send me.  

Thank you for helping us make sure every fan gets their gaming needs fulfilled.  I appreciate your collective assistance.

A Discussion of Electronic Resources for Alpha Strike, and What We Need Out There!

Hi all,
 This is another article to take a break from unending company writups (as much as I enjoy doing them, they aren't all this website it about!) . Today, I wanted to do a writeup of all the electronic aids such as spreadsheets, programs and websites that can help the new, or experienced Alpha Strike player out.

  Some of them are well-known in the community, such as the Master Unit List, while some, well, let's discuss them, shall we?

  Master Unit List

Photo and IP by Catalyst Game Labs

  The Master Unit List is something that grew out of a fairly unwieldy sheet you had to print out back in the stone age, to the high powered thing it is today. All it needs now in my opinion, is an Android/iPhone app. It really is the one stop shop for many of your Alpha Strike needs, from the AS Builder, to the multiple search options one can use in force building. I have yet to discover a way to add unit and pilot SPAs to the cards, but I suspect it's a feature I just don't know how to use.

  It's all seamless, well maintained, and the Custom Card Builder is an awesome touch that adds just that "bit of class" to the whole thing, and with the cut and paste of a link to a bit of artwork, you can put just about any pic into an Alpha Strike card. I did it for my custom Alpha Strike card pages. 

  If I could add anything to the wish list, other than an iPhone/Android app? I'd want the random skill builder to port over better to the Alpha Strike side. But that said, it's still a solid tool and essential to anyone who plays Alpha Strike. I'd also like the ability to group the cards into lances, and maybe even have the benefits of the type of lance added to each card if applied?

   But all in all, it's a good tool indeed, one that is really essential to play Alpha Strike.

Battletech to Alpha Strike Excel Sheet

 This simple sheet takes a lot of the guesswork out of doing design conversions, and gives you an output that you can plug into the Custom Card Builder on the Master Unit List website. The interface is simple, solid and if you have used Excel in the past (who hasn't?), then this should be a no-brainer.

  I guess my only disappointment here is a small one. I wish it calculated point values for you. It's a little frustrating to try to do it by hand out of the book, and my own Excel-fu is not strong enough to add that as a feature myself to this program. 

  All in all, beggars can't be choosers, and this excel sheet really does fit the bill nicely.

Army Builder Roster Software

Picture and IP are by Lone Wolf Productions

  Army Builder is to, put it simply, a very powerful tool. It has a bit of a learning curve, but it's not steep and once you do get the hang of it, you will be putting together rosters in minutes. I love this tool because the rosters are very customizable, and they have all the rules for all the special characteristics ON THE ROSTER. No more having to go through the rulebook to figure out how to use the MHQ ability, for example. This alone makes the program worth it for folks who are serious Alpha Strike players.

  They even have an app where you can view rosters for free, which allows you to take your rosters on the go. Pretty useful in my opinion. I have been reliably informed that the program even prints the Alpha Strike cards, but I have not tried that feature yet. If someone could inform me as to how that works out, I'd appreciate it.

  My only complaint is that I wish the interface was a bit smoother, and that more skills were covered, but the later is a moving target, and as such, is difficult to keep current.

  What else is out there? And what do we need?

  In conclusion, there is more out there, I am sure..I tried to download and test Battletech Engineer's custom card maker, but all of his links on his blog are dead. If someone could let me know why that is, I would appreciate it.

  I am also sure I have missed tools out there, so if you know of any, reply below in the comments section with a link to the tool and I will go check it out and add it here.

 As for what do we need, a dedicated points tabulation system for custom designs would be very welcome, MUL does a great job for established designs when you assign skills, but something that did that for customs? That would be a war-winner, so to speak.

 Are there ideas for electronic aids you would like to see, or know of one out there we haven't covered? Chime in in the comments section!

  

Introduction, and why this blog?

Picture taken from Boardgame Geek, IP is Catalyst Game Productions

A lot of Battletech (hereafter referred to as CBT) blogs out there seem to cater, rightly or wrongly, to the classic Battletech game. And there is nothing wrong with that. I personally rather play Alpha Strike for a variety of reasons:

• I don't have the time to play that I used to, and I am sick and tired of leaving CBT games unresolved.
• I like skirmish games (which is what CBT is supposed to be), but I also like the sweep of Alpha Strike's  larger scale operational (company to battalion level) potential. One of my interests in military history is "how do armies see how to fight a war", there are quite a few differences throughout history, and it's constantly evolving.
• Integrating combined arms is actually easier than CBT, and you see the effects far more readily in Alpha Strike, than you do in CBT, in my opinion.

Image taken from Classic Battletech Page, IP is Catalyst Games

Another good reason is the Alpha Strike Compendium, you can add new units from CBT, including customs, you can make new companies, you can do it all, without the weighty tomes of the Total Warfare series.

So for all of those reasons, I can handle being called a "Battletech heretic". 

But yeah, Alpha Strike also has a lot going for it because the new faction books that are out detail a part of battletech history that actually didn't get much information from the Inner Sphere side, and that is a detailed look at the various Inner Sphere militaries on the eve of the Clan invasion. We knew the OOBs (Orders of Battle) and locations, but we didn't know much about the units at the time, especially the units that died under the guns of the Clans.

Two such books are out now, Combat Manual: Mercenaries, and Combat Manual: Kurita, with more slated to come.

Image taken from Catalyst Tumbler Page, IP is Catalyst Games

Image taken from DrivetrhuRPG, IP is Catalyst Games

The truth is, I can do a lot more with Alpha Strike than I ever could with CBT, and I haven’t even used most of the special rules for pilots and units and all that. Will I? Depends on if it slows down the game appreciably. If so, then no way in hell. I like my precious speed, and I will be ruthless in maintaining it.

I am also happy to see the lance packs that are out now, they are a really cheap and easy way to build one’s Battletech army up right quick. And, they are a hoot to paint up. I have a ton of lead figures anyhow, but what the heck right?

And considering I already painted up a number of companies for CBT already (They’re Civil War era, but how hard is it to paint up some substitutes and slot them in for an “earlier time”?), it benefits my style of painting quite well. And, the best part is? It’s got me painting more companies. I finished a Robinson Ranger company ca. 3054 a few months ago, and it’s already faced a Clan Wolf Light Supernova, most of the company died, but they gave a very good account of themselves.

In short, this blog will be a mix of AARs, game pics, custom CBT designs converted to Alpha Strike, units posted (with pictures), and discussion of various aspects of the game.

Now one could argue, “Why not do this on the forums?” I have my reasons. No, I haven’t been banned, but sometimes, I want to discuss things like military doctrines from a real-world perspective and how they relate to Alpha Strike. (Yes, I know the 3^rd rule of CBT, the real world doesn’t apply). Hey, I wrote a numbering scheme article for CBT once that used several real-world schemes that inspired folks, so why the hell not write some other stuff? There is a lot of inspiration in the real world, why the hell not use it?

So in short? Buckle up, I intent to make this an interesting ride and well worth your time.