[Lorcan Nagle]

The CG Fa Shish debuted in IlKhan's Eyes Only

[Arkka_Heavyaxe]

Ah, I know the piece but had assumed the BA was just drawn in not over CG models.

[Lorcan Nagle]

I believe most, if not all the current colour art uses poseable Battlemech and vehicle renders which the artist then paints over for consistency.  There's been a few points where they've talked about commissioning renders of conventional units that they don't plan to make minis of for the foreseeable future but they wanted to have more variety in the art

[jimdigris]

On the next Tuesday Newsday, can we ask when and if the Madcat TC sold at Gencon will be sold on the CGL store?

[jimdigris]

don't call me Shirley

I'm calling a foul on an illegal use of that joke.  No one said "Surely,..."
 

[Ryoko]

You talking about lance packs or the PDF supplement for ForMan Mercs?

Sorry for the late reply, I war talking about books, or at least a Shrapnel dedicated to each group.

[Arkka_Heavyaxe]

Aren't there supposed to be ilclan supplementals for the FMs? I think I saw a leak from the kurita one a bit ago. Presumably FM Mercs will have one, that would have that info.

[Fat Guy]

Unfortunately Catalyst is having a bottleneck in layout, and the supplementals keep getting pushed back by higher priority products.

[Ryoko]

Forgot about the bottleneck, which is now smaller thanks to MHA.

I dread the day Crunchyroll points the fans to Tuesday Newsday once there's new info on the game...

[LadleOfWar]

Ray mentioned the Supplementals and the layout bottleneck at GenCon on his Day 3 Q&A. (https://youtu.be/THVgk3aIZBM?t=3983)
It sounded like they actually have some improvement on the layout bottleneck, and that there should be movement on the Supplementals very soon, and that Brush Wars Vol. 3, Ch 2 is also expected to be seeing movement as a pdf product as well.

[worktroll]

I'm calling a foul on an illegal use of that joke.  No one said "Surely,..."
 

We're all counting on you.

[Mostro Joe]

I'm calling a foul on an illegal use of that joke.  No one said "Surely,..."
 

    

[Lorcan Nagle]

Episode 97
18th August 2026
Guests: Steven Castleday, Community Manager for Morningstar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o7BB1neNkE



News:
-BattleTech
--New releases
---Bug Mech Company will be $69.99
---Out now
----Targets Up by John-David Karnitz (free fiction)
----Activity book 4
----These Violent Ends by Bryan Young (Dominion civil war 4)
----Starter Box
---MUL 2.0 is set to go live by the first week of September.  Josh Perian will be on TND soon to discuss
---A reprint of Alpha Strike Commander's Edition is in production
---Sarna posted a review of the starter box
---BattleTech RPG Humble bundle live now
Other
-The plan for episode 100 is a longer episode with as many of the CGL directors as possible.

Discussion:
-Project Morningstar is a dystopian future setting where greed has won, peoples' value is based on their credit score and if they have enough money to justify their position in the Hegemon of the Thousand Empires.
-Avarice, a TTRPG set in the universe is coming to Kickstarter soon, developed by Fat Goblin Games





Q&A:
-Is the new BattleTech RPG 2D20 or is it just Avarice?  Just Avarice, there's no news on the BattleTech RPG, it's currently on hold
-When is the core box hitting retail? Rem pinged Randall, no reply before stream ended
-Where is Bryn hiding?  He'll be at Nova open
-Any news about a location or timeframe for the next Kerneskykon?  Probably will be around Adepticon 2027
-Will Rem be at Dragoncon?  She wishes!  Her next thing is an event in Montreal with Japanime games, and hopefully Gameholecon
-Any official date of Snowblind? It came up in the directors' meeting and it doesn't have a solid date yet.  It'll be late this year if it is this year.
-When will Den of Wolves be finished?  Last time Rem asked she was told "pretty close"
-Will CGL be at Pax West?  Some people will be attending, but probably no booth, it's been less and less cost-effective recently
-Will the Shilone and Visigoth be in future aerospace forcepacks?  Yes
-Will the core box and book be at Dragoncon, or was all the stock sold at Gencon?  It's the goal but they have to be flown in, unsure if they'll make it.
-Will Kerenskykon 2027 coincide with a new kickstarter?  Not that Rem's aware of.
-When will we get new Aerospace?  Two forcepacks are at the printers now, out Q1, playtest continues on new AeroTech game separate from the BSP rules in the Core book

[I am Belch II]

Thanks for the update. I really hope Snowblind is a 2026 product.

[Ghaz]

Thanks for the update. I really hope Snowblind is a 2026 product.

With the holidays and property taxes due at the end of the year, I'm okay with it being pushed until 2027 (February or Mach at the latest )

[Teejay75]

With the holidays and property taxes due at the end of the year, I'm okay with it being pushed until 2027 (February or Mach at the latest )

I'll second that. It's not like they're not making it. The box is already in production, if not packed into a shipping container. Between the two ASF boxes and the reworked Union, I'll have plenty to keep me occupied until spring.

[Lorcan Nagle]

Episode 98
25th August 2026
Guests: Loren Coleman, CGL CEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE0na8R1rGw


News:
-New releases
--Out now
---Targets up by John-David Kamitz (free fiction)
---Activity Book 4
---DRT audiobook
---Starter box
---Sarna has put out an article about the starter box
---BattleTech Humble Bundle ends on Thursday

-No episode on the 8th, the 15th will be the 100th episode special with all the directors

Discussion:
-The Clan Battle Star is about to go into Barnes and Noble for a six month exclusive period
-Items shipping from China presently, all probably Q1 2027 releases. Loren noted shipping is very slow at the moment:
--Snowblind
--Map-Scale Union and Leopard
--C-Scale BattleMaster
--Steiner and Wolf aerospace forcepacks
--Bug company
-Probably Q4 2026 releases
--Illican Lancers Forcepack
--Core Rulebook
--Core box
-Fire and Ice battlemats are in the warehouse, being released one per month for six months
-Restocks of older battlemats are underway
-New BattleTech RPG has been worked on but Loren's not sure of current status.  More of a 2027 idea, as is BattleTech: Atomic.
-The Free fiction program is continuing
-Shrapnel is still doing very well
-The second BattleTech romance novel is going to be out soon.  Loren pitched the story outline and it was given to Marie Bilodau to write
-She's had to finish one thing at the end of the story before publication
-It's set in a down and out military academy that's not been explored before and is practically a character itself in the novel
-Loren is guest-editing an issue of Shrapnel (29 or 30) and he's planning to have Marie write a story set in that academy in his issue
-Loren thinks the third romance novel, and he thinks it's being written by Phaedra Weldon
-Either way Phaedra is writing a novel, might be that or might be something else he can't talk about
-They're looking at two or three different terrain solutions for BattleTech, with Lorescape being the official partner for hex-based terrain.  Lorescape is working on tiles that match the colours and styles of official mapsheets.
-Catalyst are not doing PAX West.  It's not been a good show for them in recent years,  sadly.
-They are doing DragonCon and Nova Open next week, Gamehole Con, and then PAX Unplugged in December.  -Internationally they're doing Essen and PAX Australia.
-Ray, Mike Stackpole and Bryan young will be doing a pregame panel the Thursday before Dragoncon.
-They're considering UK Games Expo for next year.




Q&A:
-How is the CGL/Gail Simone courtship progressing, she'll been posting some nice pictures?  Loren has no idea, but the team is very excited that she's posted some stuff and they want to keep working with her
-Den of Wolves?  Loren wrote another chapter this week, but he and Stackpole still need to get on the same schedule to catch up and coordinate
-Will the new premium Mad Cat TC be sold on the webstore?  Yes.  there's nothing at Gencon that shouldn't make the CGL store, even if it doesn't make retail
-Any update on getting back into kickstarter to post updates?  Loren will make a note to follow up
-Any update on the graphic novel? Stackpole is working on the script of book 3.  Loren's seen some art for book 1, he hopes it'll go to print soon.
-Randall was saying they're going to try and have Liao forcepacks out at the same time as Wrath and Reprisal, is that still on the cards? Loren says yes, but he's not sure what Wrath and Reprisal is.
-Will the restocks include Somerset Strikers and ComStar Forcepacks?  The Battle Level II is in stock, the command Level II has been retired and the minis will be reused elsewhere
-The other retired forcepacks are Clan Support Star, Ad Hoc Star, Fire Lance, One other Inner Sphere
-Will the Karnov be in a forcepack soon?  Loren imagines it will, but can't promise 2027
-Can we get a map-scale Leopard CV mini?  Loren can neither confirm nor deny.  There will be more DropShip
-Wouldn't the Celestials be a great Aces set?  Loren thinks they'd make a great forcepack
-Can Loren share any more details on BattleTech: Atomic?  It's formerly titled Rockets and Rayguns, BattleTech as if it's coming out of 50s and 60s golden-age SF. Robots more like Robbie or Gort.  There will be aliens! The Battlemaster will be in the set.
-What are the chances of seeing minis of the redesigned LAMs?  Very good.
-Any word on MUL 2? Loren thinks it's going live at the weekend.  There's another website waiting to launch next month...
-Any word on outstanding orders on the Mercs kickstarter?  It's being worked on, customer service is working on shipments that were missed.  They're working on a more robust order tracking system as well. Talk to customer service and keep waving your hands at them!
-Anything Loren can say about Tim Zahn doing more BattleTech fiction? He wants to do more writing about BattleTech.  No contracts yet but hopefully they'll announce something soon.
-When will the audiobook of Hungry Like the Wolf read by Big Red be out?  Loren won't do that to Big Red but he does want to do an audio version
-Can we get another BattleTech or Shadowrun Humble Bundle?  It's a John question but Loren will ask him.
-Will there be a vendor at PAX West with CGL product?  Not specifically, Loren recommends checking out Zulus.
-What's the vision for Iron Wind going forward? They're going to continue supporting them to work as a foundry and as a separate company with CGL.  They're going to talk about what they can do to support the main BattleTech line but no long-term plans yet.

[cmerwin]

Thanks as always, Lorcan! Hope to see Battletech folk at Dragon Con. I've got my cosplay ready!

[Weirdo]

Sad about the delay on the aero stuff, but it's not like I can afford any of it right now anyway, so I guess no skin off my back.

[Mostro Joe]

Playtest about the new Aerotech is going on. It could be the central piece of the 2027 GenCon. I hope so.

[Death_from_above]

Good to finally have a hard confirmation of the retired ForcePacks.

Regarding this :

the command Level II has been retired and the minis will be reused elsewhere

We've already seen the Black Knight and Highlander show up (MAC and Northwind Highlanders ForcePacks respectively).


Wondering if the others might be combined with some new sculpts (Champion, Wyvern, etc.) into a new Com* ForcePack.


Also :

Loren says yes, but he's not sure what Wrath and Reprisal is.

Facepalm

[Shin_Fenris]

Loren says yes, but he's not sure what Wrath and Reprisal is.

Facepalm

Very classic Loren response.

[CapeMonkey]

-The other retired forcepacks are Clan Support Star, Ad Hoc Star, Fire Lance, One other Inner Sphere

For anyone who didn't listen to Tuesday Newsday, technically Loren said "Inner Sphere Ad Hoc" and "Clan Fire Lance." ("One other Inner Sphere" is an accurate paraphrase - Loren didn't remember which one it was.)

I'd assume Ad Hoc is the Clan Ad Hoc Star because that's the only Ad Hoc. Clan Fire Lance is probably the Clan Fire Star, because the Inner Sphere Fire Lance is still easy to get.

[MarauderCH IIC]

Also :

Loren says yes, but he's not sure what Wrath and Reprisal is.

Facepalm

Loren will say yes to anything you ask him

[glitterboy2098]

Wouldn't the Celestials be a great Aces set?  Loren thinks they'd make a great forcepack

they'd probably do great either way. that said the force pack is probably easier to do since it can just be presented as 'historical pack' much like the three star league force packs are. though i would hope that a celestial forcepack would also be released alongside of non-manei domini WoB mechs. which could be done via another WoB pack for stuff like the Toyama and Legacy, as well as a "Scorpion Empire" pack with the Star Crusader (aka Grand Crusader) and Star Python (aka Nexus).

though i'd love a Aces set with the an enemy using WoB units. if set during the ilclan era it could easily be pirates like the Green Ghosts as the opfor, or just a remnant WoB cell.

[Kommando]

Nice, might get along to PAX Aus this year.