BattleTech MechWarrior cartoon Episode 1 Steiner scout lance

A colony has been established, House Steiner sends a scout lance to inspect the settlement.
Main cartoon music thanks to Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

[@charlescraft5582]

This guy knows BattleTech, the 180 degree rotation on the Rifleman’s autocannons was a nice touch.

[@mechwarrior13]

Gray Noton's Legend Killer!

[@Puschit1]

Well, it's kind of a clichee by now ...

[@dieseljester3466]

And the Urbie being slow as hell was a nice touch too.

[@iamme4552]

This guy does not know Battletech. No one in their right mind would deploy a bunch of Atlases on a stealth mission alone. They would be the heavy element for an entire company. On top of that mechs CAN NOT sneak up on one another. Even the light ones can be detected by seismic sensors (which all mechs use) before they get to point blank range. An Atlas, being the heaviest mech the Inner Sphere fields at over 100 tons, can be detected at long range just by walking. This video displays only a superficial knowledge of Battletech at best.

[@charlescraft5582]

@@iamme4552 Obviously you have never encountered the famous Steiner scout lance. Now that unit 3 has gotten the bees out of his cockpit they are at full strength. They destroyed the HPG uplink thus making them super stealthy. If you continue with your doubting ways than you are probably a godless Capellan and shall be scouted into the ground!!!

[@RiskoVinsheen]

Never have I seen something so janky but so perfect at the same time. It just fits old school Battletech so well.

[@MrTooncat]

It just about gets away with it.

[@RiskoVinsheen]

@@MrTooncat On several occasions in the animation I felt like I was seeing the old sourcebook covers come to life. It really works!

[@Sidblue1983]

@@RiskoVinsheen Yup, it reminds me of the time my big bro turns on the computer and changes my life forever. MW2 Ghost Bear...This was so good

[@Schregger]

Honestly, the jank is what really makes it work.

[@mikedawgx01]

My thoughts EXACTLY!

[@budavargas]

“A 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally... and janky. Very very janky” -Alexandr Kerensky

[@MrTooncat]

Yes, the final lost part of those instructions. "And make sure to reserve tonnage for jankiness".

[@fritzmierow8346]

A single tear rolled from my eye as the urbie was evicerated.... Sleep well my sweet prince......

[@matthewcaughey8898]

No we know the urbanmech does not die so easily. And no settlement worth its salt wouldn’t have a few heavy hitters of its own. Just in case someone sent a “ Scout” lance. Not to mention on sensors those Atlai would have been easy to spot

[@thecommenter9678]

The poor poor cheap Urbanmech... it's a great bang for the buck... in cities... But commanders keep fielding them in open fields! WHY! WHYYYY! Treat them better!

[@krel7160]

I once made an urbanmech that had two machine guns and 3 medium short burst lasers. It was the street cleaner variant, so it's weapons systems had longer range. I uh. Four hundred meter machine guns that do double damage are TERRIFYING, that's all I'm out here to say.

[@Siathuan]

@@thecommenter9678 I know! It's right there in the name! It's like insisting on bringing the Archer or Rifleman into close-range melee brawls, or putting a Charger or Hatchetman on fire support duty.

[@patrickkenyon2326]

That Firestarter is so accurate. " I'm behind you, eat fire." "Behind you again!" "Now I'm over here!" Annoying little nit.

[@baker90338]

You ain’t seen shit till you see one in a forest. You ain’t been pissed til you have a perfectly scenic battlefield be turned into a raging inferno by that California wildfire dispensary

[@asimplenobody7797]

I love that term

[@justinjohnson9627]

In HBS Battletech game, I *always* hit the Firestarter first, to the exclusion of all else.

[@timesthree5757]

Oooo that’s so annoying. Anything heavy+ you just sit there with eyes half closed just stay still ya little twit.

[@patrickkenyon2326]

@@timesthree5757 Ultra AC20 tracking, I will have you in a moment... Then your ammo explodes.

[@_Meriwether]

The fourth member of the lance was a King Crab, hanging back to act as a helicopter landing pad.

[@Vexillifer]

That urbie with the flashlight-firecracker combo cracked me up.

[@mq5731]

If only he had made it to the stone columns...Urban Mechs are terrifying when they are in close quarter environments with lots of verticality.

[@TheCalantyr]

I like how the Urbie is so slow it's barely outside the compound and the rest of its lance is already dead.

[@BeesechurgerProductions]

You gotta appreciate his dedication to trying, though. That MechWarrior had balls of steel.

[@tommydragon]

He fell off his leg.

[@juppc.9900]

Poor urbie, never had a chance...

[@mageleader3699]

That is the fastest turnaround I've ever seen an Atlas perform. The Steiner scouts have been trained well.

[@asimplenobody7797]

The tactics of the Steiner scout Lance were top notch. Ambushing to get around the enemy speed advantage, focusing down each enemy as a group, even the one Atlas backing up into a waterfall to help mitigate the time it spent shutdown. Absolute God tier Mechwarrior, this lot

[@YTDeepshock]

The enemy is surprised, and also on fire.

[@BLPortner]

This is Friedrich 3, God help me, there are bees in my cockpit

[@weldonwin]

I accidentally kicked an orphanage into the river. I do not feel bad about this, they were Cappellans...

[@Nacalal]

I just scouted an Elemental. It has ceased transmitting.

[@brevemclendon6579]

I have just scouted the capitol. It is now a crater.

[@michaelgreenwood3413]

@@brevemclendon6579 Excellent scouting!

[@BoisegangGaming]

The classic-style Atlases look so goofy when in motion. Something about how big their heads are compared to the more sunken and hunched version of the MWO and HBS iterations.

[@MrTooncat]

They do walk like an unstoppable undead horde in this episode. It's fitting for what happens in the cartoon as I tried to give each mech type its own walk, that gives each mech type a different character. They have to walk somehow and if they all just walk the same, might seem kind of meh.

[@Seras0]

@@MrTooncat I actually love the janky walk. They were created to be ugly and intimidating. So it actually makes sense. That walk is WAY more intimidating than some normal robotic movement. I don't really love the old style mech look, but this was beautiful.

[@PerfectDeath4]

Watching the BlackPantsLegion's Steiner scout lance videos has taught me what's going on here. =P

[@arsenalxa4421]

The only thing that would have made this perfect is gratuitous German and polka music.

[@bopaintsminis]

But no bees in the cockpit.

[@scottmacgregor3444]

Yes. They were scouting the location of the enemy commander. They successfully determined his location, at least until a mecha tech hoses his remains off the bottom of his Atlas' foot actuator.

[@bob_the_barbarian]

Those Steiner boys *scouted* the fu¢k out of that enemy base.

[@kabob0077]

@@bob_the_barbarian It was a very successful Reconnaissance Operation.

[@AndresRodriguez-uv6mx]

Props to that urbie, if i was that pilot and saw 3 atlases, i would have punched out immediately. But it stayed and fought

[@TurboWulfe]

It had too, it couldn't retreat fast enough, lol

[@Heydudeitsmeee]

im surprised the three atlas's didnt just walk past the urbie ignoring it as it rotated to face backwards keep shooting then eventually just walk away or get crushed i mean feels like that happened to me in game all the time i was almost always last to take fire lol, till i started putting ac20/rac on them

[@robertd686]

Doesn't the Urbanmech not have ejection seats?

[@AndresRodriguez-uv6mx]

@@robertd686 idk, but i know in hairbrained schemes' battletech you can eject, so im going based off that. Also that was my gateway into this universe so if im wrong, my bad lol

[@urbypilot2136]

@@robertd686 It does. We just don't use it.

[@vincentchaikchan4340]

Scout report: There "were" enemy lance and command building at this coordinate.

[@DefiantSix]

...Resistance has terminated.

[@evildave42a]

This has that MW2 90s cut scene feel and I love it.

[@MorrowindShorts]

You nailed the "Retro Futuristic" style that was Classic BattleTech Art. Bravo my friend! Hope to see more!

[@MrTooncat]

The next episode is around 3min long, it's getting there at a glacial pace, but it is getting there. Hopefully finished in June.

[@MorrowindShorts]

@@MrTooncat Looking forward to seeing it!

[@warhawk4494]

Urbiemech! Woot woot Press F in the chat for that urbie pilot. He tried you can say that at least.

[@urbypilot2136]

F

[@itshugh6750]

Got what he deserved. Would've ejected at the minute I saw an Atlas haha.

[@christopherkent2359]

Use of the audio bits from Mechwarrior 2 is an touch of time travel. Hearing it was the bit that drew me back twenty six years to the days of my youth. Youth hell! I am an older fart now of fifty, but I can still relive moments thanks to walking talents such as yourself. The cartoon is just really good.....no. It is not good it is wunderbar:-) It has many more facets than my limited vocabulary currently will permit me to utter at the moment. Thankyou for your efforts. They are much appreciated!

[@bassault]

"Sir we've scouted the area and we've discovered no MORE enemies or enemy bases in the vicinity..."

[@StormSpotter342]

Wow, this is bad animation done good. The movement of the mechs are just the right balance of believable realism and the jank of early CGI. The buildings crumbling into shards, rather than bricks and debris would look jarring in any other medium. But in this style it fit well.

[@MrTooncat]

I will try to have more destructible destruction in episode 2.

[@TheWebclaw]

Also just how some of the movement almost looks mocapped. Gives the atlases quite an intimidating feel to their movements weirdly enough.

[@rahulshah1408]

@@MrTooncat you did a fantastic job!

[@Evolution_Kills]

I'd disagree. I'm 99% sure they used human motion capture for the animation, and seeing a 100-ton Atlas speed walking exactly like a generic office worker would navigating some cubicles looks super weird and off-putting. At least with early kaiju movies, the actors in monster suits exagerated their movements and the film was played back slower to help with the illusion of size and weight. That's simply not the case here. Unless the intent was to make Yakety Sax the most apropos music track, it just looks really weird, especially with how rigid and unmoving the locked arms are compared to the fluid legs. The animation has no sense of mass or inertia. So they don't look like multi-story tall walking tanks, they look like people in mech costumes running around doing improv theater skits.

[@tekkaufman3111]

@@MrTooncat it’s honestly perfect you did a great job for what this art style is it’s beautiful fr.

[@Nilns]

The moment I saw the wide shot of the Urbie trailing behind was the moment you won me as a sub. Using the song from the cartoon is a nice touch. Kind of lets you know this is gonna be at least a little ridiculous. I also love how you recreated the classic Battletech art in the opening animations.

[@WornyTheHun]

When the fumes of the coolant fluid are leaking into your cockpit and you start tripping about a Steiner scouting mission.

[@WolfHreda]

The way your Atlases all look kinda hunched over like the Creeper from Scooby-Doo warms my heart.

[@MrTooncat]

If I make another BattleTech cartoon what would you like to see?

[@Borgron]

If? IF?!?! Your scaring me with that ‘if’. In all seriousness though I think a fight between assault mechs would be awesome. Keep up the good work this is amazing!

[@MrTooncat]

@@Borgron Yeah the episode really sets up this particular Steiner lance as being the bad guys. It would take an equally matched force to oppose them and stop it from just being a cakewalk for them.

[@oraclemiata845]

Omg, you HAVE to make more!

[@gregmichaud7314]

Continue the story!!!! What happens next swift retribution against those Steiner scum!!!

[@henryheavy8044]

i would like to see some clan stuffs

[@king0vitrial]

I love the way the mechs move in this. A lot closer to the old interpretations from the lore with vaguely more human like motion.

[@kagex6116]

Thats because of the animations he used were for humans, looks good though.

[@MrTooncat]

I'm thinking about having some voice overs for the next episode, just a few short lines. Open to anyone. Would need a Captain, maybe a couple of crew members just to tie this episode into the next one. Name credit at the end if you want.

[@thepiecrab1414]

I'd be interested. I haven't ever done this before, how can I contact you?

[@MrTooncat]

@@thepiecrab1414 [e-mail]

[@potatoradio]

I'm game [e-mail] www.imdb.com/name/nm0581331/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 did some radio but not really any voice work.

[@JeffTheBunnySlayer]

@@MrTooncat I might send in a clip or two as well

[@KuzdaleA]

I volunteer as a captain

[@PlanetX87]

Don't care what anyone says, this is art. And I love it.

[@MarkoDash]

i want an alternate ending where it turns out that was an Arrow-IV Urbie

[@crxtodd16]

I appreciate how the Rifleman and the Firestarter got totally wrecked before the Urbie could even make it 100 yards out of the base.

[@mikedawgx01]

I don't know if it's the color pallet, the contrast between the foreground & background, or the animations but this is actually giving me some heavy Ralph Bakshi rotoscopeing vibes.

[@Jaegerwolf]

Getting a serious Heavy Metal vibe from this, and I'm loving it! Fits the 80s history of Battletech so well!

[@Uacher]

I fell in love with the way the Atlases moved, there's a little swagger in their gait that I love. Also the mocapped movement of the Rifleman.

[@RoboticPope]

These Atlas walk like an old grandfather.

[@Paerigos]

In Lyran commonwealth the Atlas scouts you...

[@nowanmystiere4430]

My favourite part of this animation is when that Steiner Scout literally walked straight through that building with inhabitants in it.

[@philips.5563]

I appreciate the recreation of the classic Atlas art at 0:25.

[@williamcase426]

That was awesome. I really like the way the mechs are animated, that's pretty much how I imagine them moving in the novels, although maybe slightly smoother and faster.

[@ThorsDecree]

The mw2 voice just took me back to like 1995 :) Hadn't realized how ingrained in my memory the computer voice was. "Critical hit heatsink critical hit heatsink destroyed critical hit weapon destroyed weapon destroyed weapon destroyed" is the stuff of nightmares :D

[@todesbauer1343]

The retrofuturism is overwhelming

[@chrissegee]

That firestarter is like ha ha ha you can’t catch me until he runs into the big fist.

[@MrHorncity]

The enemy was scouted very nice Ya. No witnesses. Ultimate stealth. Prep the beer unt pretzels.

[@peensteen]

Those Atlases walk like they're trying not to shit themselves.

[@eaglegaming2301]

can we all just take a look at how goddamn terrifying the atlas's eyes make them look. especially when they play cat and mouse with the enemy.

[@olliski2802]

Ain’t a Steiner scout lance unless you can see it coming from a mile away.

[@mwhyte1979]

Very subtle those Steiner Scout Lances. You would never suspect they're in the area would ya.

[@DMKleinArts]

Besides some aforementioned jank, this is super enjoyable! This is a little how I picture Battlemechs actually moving, like the mech was mo-capped because of the neurohelmet link. The stompy tank style we see in MW games is like a neurohelmet free budget mech trim, where we have more physical controls than mental control.

[@Scudboy17]

I just love that title "Steiner Scout Lance" and showing three Atlases in the thumbnail.

[@oldeskul]

The Urbie was all like, "Oh boy! Imma go do something!" :dead:

[@JeffTheBunnySlayer]

RIP the bravest Urbie pilot

[@connormclernon26]

Outside their element, no other urbies for support, with 3 atlases in front of them, still went down fighting.

[@lordtomlluckrahthegreat9014]

Beautiful. Just beautiful. The walking animations for the mechs are amazing

[@nonyabeeznuss304]

I wish to approach life with the same optimism and tenacity as an urban mech pilot engaging 3 atlases.

[@bigsarge2085]

Those incorrigible Lyrans, you can't trust 'em!

[@rogueeric]

This is the pinnacle of modern animation.

[@z3r0_35]

This really does look like something that could've been on TV in the 90s, how it alternates between early CGI jank and looking like guys in rubber suits. It's...charming like that.

[@madaxe606]

This is great! The Bitching Betty from MW2 is awesome.

[@bobpaxe1291]

THis has the exact energy of old school battletech and its perfect thank you for making this

[@chrissegee]

I don’t understand why someone dosent put a big budget into developing this universe for the small or big screen. It literally had tens of millions of built in fans begging for it

[@MrTooncat]

I would love to see a well made actual movie on BattleTech, or series of movies for each sector of the Inner Sphere and beyond.

[@icomxwing42]

They scouted the heck out of that base.

[@CDMJDMHHC]

Good job on animation, no Capellans to kill, needs bees and Octoberfest music

[@Deridus]

DAS WAR KEIN OKTOBERFEST!

[@Hassan_2030]

It's the Steiner scout lance run for your lives!!!!😂

[@TheRay21420]

those Altas walking motion actually make it unnerving, guess that's the "Intimidating" perk

[@zakpodo]

Haha brilliant, nice touch with the atlas taking a bath.

[@siraethelwulf8914]

It looks like cinematics you'd see in a mid 90s videogame, but modernized with better equipment. And I mean this as a compliment. Good job.

[@DevWo3]

The Atlas design is very scary

[@tacky4237]

Interesting mix between almost 1980s cartoon and CGI

[@TurboWulfe]

Ya the "Recon" squad harassed by a light scout and fire team would be a Coolio scenario

[@madcat789]

That music man, oh! I love it.

[@potatoradio]

kinda what I thought cyberpunk 2077 was going to sound like. (at least in parts)

[@AngelGMiranda]

@1:57 The Firestarter JJs to avoid the small boulder. Amazing. I loved every second of this video. o7

[@MrTooncat]

Cool, be sure to check out episode 2. And I've just started working on ideas for episode 3.

[@xxxlonewolf49]

You have been SCOUTED!

[@therealbahamut]

"Wait, so all you've got left for me is...an urbanmech?" "Yup." "Like...one. 'AN' urbanmech. Singular." "Mm-hm." "Not like...thirty of the bastards?" "Nope." "Why? they're dirt cheap." "Had to pay you, didn't we?" "...I cannot argue with that."

[@smastian9576]

Significantly underwatched video.

[@Lieutenant_Dude]

The way you got their movement was perfect. The Atlases reminded me of the 1984 Terminator endo skeleton stop motion. Unstoppable, twitchy, and huge.

[@lovecraftcat]

I see Atlas in its natural light scout role, I press like

[@CybershamanX]

I still have a soft spot for the Mechwarrior 2 "bitchin' betty" voice. :)

[@salamiskeleton8704]

This is raw passion. and I love it.

[@hellsonion514]

Me when I tiptoe to the fridge at 3am: 0:10

[@garettcastle2335]

That Steiner Scout Lance can use a coat of black non shiny paint. Poor Urbie, he stood his ground.

[@Lunarice98]

Oh you fixed the awkward madcat turning from the old intro. It looks much cleaner now. Good job.

[@haligaz9119]

This feels like a fever dream. I love it.

[@silverhawk7324]

If a live action Mechwarrior came out in the late 80s, early 90s....

[@ericweis9771]

It is 31st century and mankind is still at war.

[@Valya74]

That Urbie was a god damn hero!

[@Nacalal]

God that poor little urban mech trying his heart out with that tiny little laser. *Just to get Alpha'd by 3 atlases.*

[@chriscubbernuss3288]

Love how after all of the action and fighting, the Urbanmech had barely cleared the gates.

[@DarkExcalibur42]

Wait, what? White Bat did the music in this video? That's cool as hell lol. I love their stuff.

[@jakeapplegate6642]

I love how the urban mech barely makes it out of the base because he so slow lol

[@dieseljester3466]

Not gonna lie: I was expecting polka music when the lance deployed. ;D LOL

[@krisvires]

You had me at the Macho Man Mad Cat... Oh YEaH!!! :)

[@fredlandry6170]

My God! There are bees in my cockpit! 🤣🤣🤣

[@mwhyte1979]

Oh those sneaky Steiners!

[@darkmoone9984]

Enemy scout lance: Commander we being engaged by the Steiner scout lance. Commander: So eliminate them. You out gun any light mechs. Enemy scout lance: We can’t they are all Atlases. Say again Atlases. Commander: Oh no.

[@retrosquadchannel2.050]

Speaking about ambush on Tukayyid, it would interest you to create landing of Smoke Jaguars. Their forces landed in foggy sector, so Com Guard was able to unleash hit-and-run with natural smokescreen. After Jaguars were engaged in battle, star of Goliath Scorpion mechs entered the fight. No one knows of their demise. They were MIA, missing in action. Or last battle of Aidan Pryde. He was in Timber Wolf. At first star of mechs were to recon target city, but it was an ComGuard ambush. It failed. Although star of mechs was slaughtered, remaining forces of Pryde's Pride (Falcon Guard) trashed those idiots. But falcons were ordered to retreat to dropships as clan supple depots were destroyed. Aidan's mechs were on the last to fall back. Near dropship Masakari of Diana Pryde was shot, and so Aidan remained to cover her extraction. Elemental retrieved Diana, but Aidan stayed on battlefield, until dropships lifted off. One against ComGuard he fought so hard, that every shot nailed a mech. Then his Timber Wolf's leg was damaged and he slaughtered some ComGuards.

[@justinjohnson9627]

As I recall, his Timberwolf had a persistent electronics issue, and that was what finally got him, a minor breakdown at a very bad moment.

[@retrosquadchannel2.050]

@@justinjohnson9627 that issue just forewarned of his future demise. It was Com Guard who got him. In one of those idiotic books about Black Thorns (or whatever they called themselves) Jeremy Rose mentioned, that one particular falcon Timber Wolf, who stayed behind after clan's retreat, slaughtered lots of mechs, until he was finally shot.

[@Rodrigodrt]

Chad urbie taking on 3 atlas. RIP. Will always remember.

[@Victor-056]

2:26 Nice way of showing a Trick from MWO. You can actually hide from Enemy Sensors this way by turning off your mech systems and standing in an area that hides your mech from view. This is best done on maps where there are a lot of blindspots and dark areas to hide your mech.

[@willtijerina5149]

Excellent. Enjoyed this immensely. I look forward to any and all future Battletech endeavors. Thank you for all the work done.

[@MrTooncat]

Thank you very much, I have already made the first minute of the second episode which will follow on from this one. I'm taking a break for a while but it will probably be finished by June/July.

[@xJumper97x]

This is how EVERY Mission in Mechwarrior 5 looks like 😂

[@WhiskyJax]

Colony: Scouted.

[@thurin84]

they scouted the shit out of that planet. even missing a lance member.

[@voxthesergal]

The OG Mechwarrior 2 sounds from the playstation game really is key here.

[@asyanimasi3d184]

We need more... This is so good

[@Icelord877]

its alot better then the crappy mechwarrior cartoons i grew up with. I'm pretty sure they are the reason im near sighted

[@kevinr6930]

Well done, just the right touch of weird in there.