Big Battletech / Mechwarrior News!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Some Necessary Links: The Barnes and Noble Exclusive McCarron's Armoured Cavalry Pack: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/battletech-forcepack-mccarrons-armored-cavalry-catalyst-game-labs/1145411869?ean=0810123696338 CGL's KZbin Page, for when the Aces Announcements come next week: www.youtube.com/@catalyst-game-labs

[@Dracobyte]

Thanks!!

[@Thud-pq8rl]

Please do a review on the Hinterlands if you can. I really enjoy your takes on these books. Agree with your take or not it's always interesting.

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@Thud-pq8rl Just an issue with time. I can only get so many things like that done to a reasonably high level, while working on more complex videos.

[@RichyN25]

already sold out! Whattttt

[@CNC-ih8cc]

The nostalgia hit from that mechwarrior 4 menu music should be a class A drug.

[@robrib2682]

I never played it but hot damn, if this is what the music used to be then I understand why people hate MW5's music so much

[@nurgle333]

​@@robrib2682 just call up the install music. MW 4 and MW4 mercs

[@Mr._Anderpson]

I get a similar high when I hear the music from MechWarrior2. Its either nostalgia or dementia. At my age, its a tough call.

[@malcontender6319]

MW4 Menu music is repetitive and annoying. The looping of muted sound clips never worked for me.

[@RyeFields]

Finally, we get McCarron's McArmored McCavalry!

[@BigRed40TECH]

A proud McMercenary unit!

[@BryansVideoDump]

We have a guy at our locals who plays McCarron's. He is very happy lol

[@Dracobyte]

@@RyeFields and his Big Mac.

[@NutjobGTO]

Ya want fries with that?

[@warlok363]

I believe it when I got two of them in my hands

[@brandonclark435]

Dude, I'd love a 4x Empire building of Battletech with diplomacy and everything

[@tannerdowney2802]

Diplomacy is a funny way to spell war.

[@saladinbob]

The only problem is Battletech's greatest selling point is the Mechs and unless you're making a 4x game with the real time combat of Clans you're not really going to sell it on its own strengths. You'd be better off with that being a mod because no developer is going to make that game.

[@ErikTheAngry]

@@tannerdowney2802 "Tell you what, you nuke them instead of me, and I'll nuke them instead of you. Deal?" - "No deal, we've got enough nukes for both of you".

[@ErikTheAngry]

@@saladinbob Stellaris comes to mind. Various ships with various customizations, creates something of a rock paper scissors. I could see it working well, as long as the proper care was taken to implement the AI fighting properly.

[@pivNspace]

@@tannerdowney2802other way around, for war is just diplomacy by any other means

[@Somewhat-Evil]

Thanks for the heads-up on McCarron's Armored Cavalry Pack becoming available. Got my order in.

[@MechanicalFrog]

Thanks for the news update.

[@chrishotovec4163]

I am most excited for Aces and Hinterlands as I plan to play them together!

[@saladinbob]

What I want in a DLC is a story-based DLC that shows Operation Bulldog from Smoke Jaguar's perspective. It would round out the journey Mechwarrior's been on since MW3 and perhaps move the series on from the invasion era.

[@andrewbuhagiar2663]

Just got an alert that Hinterlands is up for sale at Aries Games. It's as if they were watching this.

[@jefferynelson]

thank you for the work you put into the channel Big Red, your audience appreciates you sir

[@BigRed40TECH]

Many thanks Jeff!

[@alyssinwilliams4570]

The Banshee

[@TroySeward]

Thanks for the Battletech update.

[@BigRed40TECH]

You're welcome :)

[@Chris_Sizemore]

The way I look at the novels, Ilkhan's Eyes Only is the end of the current chapter that was building towards the 3250 blurbs. I don't expect to see the story pivot away from that in this novel. It could happen that this is the book where the story starts to reflect the course correction that CGL has been alluding to finally starts to show, but I don't expect that. I think it will be in the novels that come after Ilkhan. We don't even know what the course correction will be. Honestly I'll be satisfied if there is no massive time skip and however the history is going to go its fed to us in 10 year or smaller chunks so we can see how things get to where CGL wants to go.

[@brycie35]

Bring on Aces! 🤟

[@timunderbakke8756]

I’m so happy that the Aces mode is Alpha Strike because it feels like Catalyst primarily focuses on classic, and I think Alpha Strike is going to be the way to get more new people in. I also really enjoy Alpha Strike because I want having company level battles that don’t take forever. The new non-KS force packs don’t excite me personally yet. The Kurita ones we heard about have my attention, and I may pick up the Third Star League boxes whenever they come around for some ilclan era mechs

[@madcat3525]

Great NewsBreak! Looking forward to more updates.

[@Dracobyte]

Thank for the news update!

[@Xydarc]

Appreciate the news update. I'm most looking forward to Hot Spots Hinterlands.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Same.

[@AlxParrish]

That 2nd Star League pack!!!!

[@gryphon3241]

i have been playing the BEJEZUZ out of the demo Aces deck that came out in one of the kickstarter updates partway through the year, it feels fantastic even in that limited form. I can't wait for full release

[@BigRed40TECH]

It's gonna be great.

[@bruenor316]

Hinterlands pre-order is in, and Big MAC is saved on B&N app for later (I used to work there, and I *KNOW* they got discount codes waiting lol) Enjoy the holiday if you're a fellow 'Murican, and if you're not - enjoy the circus from afar 🍻

[@BigRed40TECH]

I am a Canadian, but Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family :)

[@anonym1504]

You got me with the Mechwarrior 4 Merc music.

[@jeffreywilliams8018]

I’m excited to see the Tian-Zong finally come to (non-clix) plastic but wish they put more IlClan era Cappellan designs in the Big Mac force pack. The alternate sculpts are nice but with neither Liao or Marik even having any more force packs announced for the foreseeable future, more current era sculpts would have been great, especially with the better part of a century’s worth of faction-appropriate, not-in-plastic designs out there to choose from. As others have said, the Ace’s release is the big news I’m waiting for. Co-op game with my young son is a huge draw to him. Fortunately we have all winter to paint mini’s together until that comes out. ….and the demo, for that matter :)

[@WilliamBrothers]

Battletech Aces is what I'm looking forward to playing. My wife and I are thinking of starting a Mercenary coop campaign

[@BigRed40TECH]

Hell yea.

[@117Aster]

I got Hinterlands from my FLGS yesterday. Gonna play a campaig based there soon!

[@MrClassicor]

I already managed to get the Second Star League Assault Lance. 3 of them, in fact. I really like the box; the prepaint quality is quite decent, actually. And I have been waiting for the Argus for a while now (I am a sucker for all the MEchs from Mechwarrior 4; still hoping for the Chimera and the Uziel)

[@jparbiter1972]

I’ve been most intrigued by Battletech aces I think it will allow me to play with my younger son in a way that doesn’t feel like I am beating up on a small child because I would be beating up on a small child instead I’ll be able to act as his wing man McCarren is nice. I don’t expect I’ll get any more than one of that particular Lance pack just for the slight chassis variety.

[@timunderbakke8756]

As someone who also has a son, I like this a lot. What we have been doing so far is just playing with a significant point deficit on my part so I have to play harder to survive - think something like a clan star versus a comparable amount of inner sphere mechs of the invasion era. IS in that era normally has the numbers advantage, and I deny myself that to see how it goes. Our last game was close - he lost but I only had a single mech left on the field.

[@Mavairo]

There's so much to look forward to in battletech. Space Vegas is gonna love having that tian zong in the ranks.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Hell yea.

[@wikiwing348]

Best thing about hinterlands, no clan wolf bs

[@topcatcoast2coast579]

Ooo an Argus in the 2nd star league assault lance. I want them to add the Argus and the Chimera to MechWarrior Online sooooo bad.

[@AlphaAurora]

Oh good! Hinterlands! A great way to weaken the whole area and drench it in Chaos, so the wonderful ilClan can do a clean sweep when they are done!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Long live Alaric! XD

[@AlphaAurora]

@@BigRed40TECH Hail Alaric! Half Steiner, Half Davion, Half Ward, All incest! Oh BigRed, we all know your true feelings for the LARPing Woof! I'm just waiting for Daoshen Liao to try and kick the ilClan's tail!

[@scottlemiere2024]

Now watch there be something absolutely massive hit on the first of December.

[@KillerOrca]

Anything with more Falcons is welcome to me!

[@ironsaint8782]

Saw my beloved Warhammer on the thumbnail and clicked.

[@gryph3657]

Thanks for the heads up! I had the B&N page bookmarked for newest Battletech releases. Nothing listed for the MAC forcepack, figures. I hit your link & stabbed that order button ASAP lol 👇😁

[@BigRed40TECH]

:)

[@RenegadeVile]

Any recent books focusing on Clan Sea Fox yet?

[@BigRed40TECH]

Skulk of Foxes by Jason Hansa.

[@RenegadeVile]

@@BigRed40TECH Oooh, thanks for the recommend! It's tough to find stuff featuring the clan.

[@tannerdowney2802]

How did we not get a short on that prime video game show?

[@BigRed40TECH]

Thats for studios way bigger than PGI sadly.

[@BigRed40TECH]

And the rights are tied up in another company for movies / TV.

[@ShadowfireReality]

Its wild how the dlc for clans advertises the new omni-pod sets like whole new mechs when 1. They aren't and 2. They didn't even give every chassis in the game a new set. (I mean most, but not all). If they had made the game modes more fleshed out or something new like the Ebon Jaguar maybe worth it, but in the form the things they're offering were added it just feels like things they cut out of the base release to sell later.

[@voicetest6019]

Looks at how Larian is doing patches and updates for BG3... Looks at how Prihana Games is doing patches and updates for MW5/MW5Clans. huh.

[@Arnuld15Governator]

I just want clan battlemechs. Not really interested in purchasing the game until they add some IIC classics such as the RFL IIC, WHM IIC and MAD IIC.

[@Rook525]

​@Arnuld15Governator forgive me if I'm wrong, but don't the IIC mechs pop up after the events of Clans? More towards the Jihad era?

[@alpha434]

@@Rook525 No.They're usually older than omnimechs. Adaptations of the models that Kerensky took with him to the pentagon worlds.

[@Rook525]

@@alpha434 thank you, I don't know what I'm thinking of then. I've only been into battletech for a year or two and still get mixed up.

[@kurita82]

Is there a new novells coming out?

[@BigRed40TECH]

I suspect they'll announce some stuff during Pax Unplugged.

[@energyfitness5116]

Gib Aces!!!!

[@androssthered1157]

The MW5 DLC was... it should have launched with the game or been a free update. It's not worth the cost.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I think if there had been a Mech chassis or 2 in it, it might've been. I don't think the modes being behind a paywall is good or bad, it's just not enough to really make me... care.

[@androssthered1157]

@BigRed40TECH after watching videos of the modes they don't add enough to the game. Just flat out it looks bare minimum.

[@TheMock5000]

​@@androssthered1157yeah....horde mode is literally just the battlefield contract..... But even that rewards you with more and more money for holding out.

[@bayruun]

One of the benefits of living in China, I got my mac box a month ago. I had no idea it was supposed to be exclusive.

[@captaingeneralconch]

10/10 masterpiece Red you have outdone yourself with this one .... and so soon after the Nova cat

[@BigRed40TECH]

PFT. It's a News video lmao.

[@androssthered1157]

10 out of 10 wrong first comment.

[@DocDelray]

Hmmm, I really would like to have that Awesome, damn, guess I'm buying another mech pack!

[@nemamiah7832]

Honestly, I'm generally find myself not very interested in the Catalyst style of making campaign rules based on "Chaos Campaign" and I wish they would throw me a bone with FASA style scenario packs (like Twycross book). Sure, those may not be very "balanced", but I generally enjoy the narrative plays and getting to experience various events from the history of BT. Give me force lists with named pilots. Or even better - give me full readouts on what forces belligerents in a conflict had! We don't get much of that lately. I still have a lot of FASA stuff to play through, but it would be really fun to have something for latest eras.

[@Versudan]

If you're too busy to play MW5 anymore, then how would the addition of a new chassis suddenly give you free time to play?

[@BigRed40TECH]

I could kinda justify streaming it again with new chassis's. Which means I can blend my time together more readily. XD The new modes, I don't find as justifiable tbh. I don't think its interesting enough.

[@Versudan]

@@BigRed40TECH Ah right, that makes sense. Fingers crossed for the next DLC then?

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@Versudan Fingers crossed lol

[@unforseenconsequense]

You're right, time for HBS Battletech 2

[@BigRed40TECH]

Almost 0% chance of that happening sadly. Even if HBS made it, most of the team's turned over, meaning it'd not be anywhere near the same.

[@esrikskilling4226]

I'm oddly excited for drop ships!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Tis not odd!

[@roguerifter9724]

Hopefully the Ilkhan's Eyes only book reveals a Wolf Empire Warship development program. I'm still annoyed the Golden Century Tech readouts gave us several new Clan Warships but stopped shy of giving us any Clan native Frigates with only new Corvettes and Destroyers included. (If I were paranoid I would wonder if that cutoff point in what types of new Warships got added was picked specifically to annoy me)

[@BigRed40TECH]

Warships in general are pretty bad for the setting imo. There is no counter to them, and they just run everything over. The more they are involved, the less Battletech takes place.

[@roguerifter9724]

@@BigRed40TECH That's like claiming Mechs are bad for the setting because they generally bowl over powered armor units. and infantry unless facing a major numbers disadvantage. Also Dropships and Aerofighter can damage Warships so they are far from unstoppable even without another Warship. And there is no solid evidence that Warships would somehow prevent ground combat. Even the battle where I feel the presence of Warships made the most difference, namely Alshain Avenger assault on Alshain, still involved fighting on the ground despite the planned attack force being significantly reduced before it reached the target system. Edit: I had forgotten about Case White but even that involved significant fighting on Terra despite the fleet getting ambushed, sabotaged, and smashed. So another point in the Warships do not in fact prevent ground combat column. So what is your evidence that Warships of Aerotech/Battlespace prevent the ground combat Battletech is known for?

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@roguerifter9724 Battlemechs are the main part of the setting. Major things that make them not able to be used, narratively or gameplay wise, are typically detractors to the story. Warships are basically deus ex machina in Battletech anytime you just need a win. And the only thing that stops a warship, is another warship. Whoever has warships at the end of a fight, wins the campaign. It's very, very lame.

[@roguerifter9724]

@@BigRed40TECH 1: There are several cases of Warships being damaged or destroyed by non-Warships thus disproving your only Warships can stop Warships claim. Its rare but it does happen and Warships aren't exactly common in the main eras of the setting. 2: Space Warships in Battletech do not prevent Mech battles any more then RL Naval Warships or Combat Aircraft prevent ground battles. I don't know where you got the idea they do. And you ignored my examples contradicting that claim. Even in the periods where Warships were at their most common Mech battles still occurred regularly during armed conflicts except for the conflicts before Battlemechs became common. 3: By your logic Dropships should be unarmed and Aerofighters shouldn't exist because Battlemechs aren't a major factor in orbital battles.

[@Athrun82]

The thing is though that the lore doesn't actually allow Warship development. The Titan Yards need a serious overhaul, the Ravens stretched their entire economy to the limit to even get their remaining 10 Warships back into order and other naval yards are busy producing Jumpships (if they even have the know how to build new ones. The Bears allegedly have a new Leviathan in the works but that is a multi million ton battleship). I think pocket warships will be there for a long time. AQlso, as shown with the last Avalon class cruiser or one of the Feng Yuan cruisers Warships aren't omnipotent (especially if you have an idiot as commander). And if all else fails slam some fighters or dropships into it and it breaks

[@Teachermook]

Quick question: several kids I babysit have found my models and want to try the game. Is there a version of the game that is perfect for kids? I'd love to get some kids into this game.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Maybe Alpha strike? I don't have kids, so I'm not the right person to answer this one unfortunately.

[@Spartaner251]

i want aces really bad so i can figure something out to play with my friend

[@bigsadpanda5913]

I wish the playwr base to mwo was bigger

[@Nanolis]

Shame there's been absolutely no noteworthy news on the video game front lately... the Star League Assault Lance looks pretty cool, I'm a sucker for the Argus so might get it.

[@thedocklighter]

Looks like going the roundabout way to get McCarron's Armoured Cavalry... 2025 will break the bank. 😕

[@BigRed40TECH]

Uh oh XD

[@stitchreloaded9044]

IllKhan, not here. Waiting on the Thanatos Mech!

[@BigRed40TECH]

Thanatos should be coming with the Davion packs. :)

[@karmadyllic]

Should probs give a tip of the hat to Jean Michel there. Js.

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

Big Mac

[@BigRed40TECH]

Hell yea!

[@Versudan]

Australians are still EXTREMELY annoyed that you guys are getting the retail release of the Mercenaries pack shortly. We still haven't even been given our Kickstarter copies yet and they keep delaying it with unbelievable excuses and straight up lies.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Aussieland's just totally screwed in general when it comes to wargames. I'm not sure what causes most of the issues, but they're always behind everyone else, by a lot. It sucks.

[@Versudan]

@@BigRed40TECH From what we can piece together, Catalyst keeps going back to a distributor that they KNOW is problematic and unreliable rather than looking for alternatives. I think the Australians are most annoyed by the fact that CGL will say one thing "Don't worry, your boxes are already in your country awaiting distribution and mailing" while the distributor says "Huh? No they're not. Our NA branch hasn't even received them yet."

[@BigRed40TECH]

​@@Versudan Ehhhh. I see this all the time with other wargames, including GW, who literally control their own distribution. So I'm not entirely sure on that personally. Unless every other miniatures company is using the same distributor.

[@Versudan]

@@BigRed40TECH We can only go off the statements both CGL and their chosen distributor Aetherworks, who frequently contradict each other. Other wargame creators do not charge $260 shipping plus the product price to deliver a single standard book to Australia either. I'm happy to get behind CGL when they do well, but in this case? They absolutely raw dog us and deserve no niceties.

[@BigRed40TECH]

@@Versudan All I'm doing is pointing out that most places tend to be pretty bad at delivering at the same time as other releases for Australia. We weren't talking about the shipping costs.

[@vixbrabec]

oh ya. hey maybe you do a Outworlds alliance video?

[@BigRed40TECH]

If the periphery gets another video, Canopus would have to be next.

[@piedpiper1172]

As someone who discovered BT like a month before Clans came out by playing MW5M, I gotta say, I’m still playing Mercs and I just don’t think I’ll ever buy clans. I’ll probably just watch a story “movie” cut, but with so few mechs on such linear maps and pretty poor dlc value, I don’t see why I’d give up all of Mercs’ mod library to buy Clans.

[@Drewbyy]

I bought clans and played it for 10 hours. Then went back to mercs after playing it for 500 plus hours. Modded mercs is just too far ahead of what pgi can make.

[@EfuRe]

Still waiting on my mercenary box from kickstarter.

[@BigRed40TECH]

If your in North America, there is a pretty good chance you'll have yours very soon.

[@Scorchluck]

I don't know, man. MW5:Clans isn't a bad universe game if you consider it as a console shooter from the 2000s. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it, but after MW5: Mercenaries, I still want more freedom, open world and mods implementation, but on a more serious level. Wake me up when DLC about Wolf Dragoons or Battletech 2 comes out, but with a level of detail at least similar to Roguetech, but without such brutal performance dips. Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity to play tabletop, so I have to remain a fan of only PC incarnation of the universe.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I like Mechwarrior 5: Clans. I'm just not into this particular DLC.

[@deleonfrancis60]

I still don’t have my kick starter

[@BigRed40TECH]

:(

[@RenegadeVile]

EU is finally shipping.

[@chrskelsey74]

The problem with the Clans DLC is that it reads as things that should have been in the base game and weren't. Combine that with the price and it feels like disrespect, not adding anything to the game.

[@BigRed40TECH]

It's just not adding much that I'm interested in, even if I had the time for it.

[@McMackster]

Uziel video when?

[@BigRed40TECH]

It won't be in 2025, that much I can promise. lol I'd love to cover it otherwise. But I'm booked pretty solid through 2025.

[@McMackster]

@BigRed40TECH darnnit, I've been dying for you cover that one DX Ah well, patience is a virtue.

[@sachad964]

is that a new battletech computer game that you said could have an announcement on Dec 6th

[@BigRed40TECH]

No. It's another type of boardgame. If your looking for a sequel to HBS Battletech (the video game) I'd not expect anything.

[@tinymanthebeast]

Robot jox's anyone?

[@stiltskino4009]

More Dlcs!!!!!!!! 1 per week only 20 bucks a pop

[@BigRed40TECH]

If there were mechs I'd probably buy them! lol

[@_bravo_8581]

The "DLC" cost for MW5C is a joke for what is included. The DLC itself is a joke IMO.

[@BigRed40TECH]

I dunno if I'd call it a joke, but its not what I was hoping for personally.

[@michaelschneider1365]

Mechwarrior clans and ar6 is better and clans just got dlc.

[@BigRed40TECH]

Huh?

[@tranvinhnhat1289]

Off topic, i lose interest Warhammer 40K over time. Because it’s become obnoxious, blindsided meaning one sided story, convoluted and inconsistent. When come to Battletech, i become more invested and love the universe of Battletech thank to your introduction.

[@BigRed40TECH]

That's high praise. Sincerely, thank you.

[@tranvinhnhat1289]

@@BigRed40TECHit is for good reason. In Battletech, you can see reality is grey and almost all factions have their hypocrites and reason without blindsided like Warhammer 40K factions.

[@Kepora1]

Neat. But CGL still holds the license, BPD hasn't been rehired or even apologized to, Bounty Harvest is still for sale and it's author hasn't been fired, and Rev is still there. So the 3d printer will continue to go brrr.

[@timunderbakke8756]

Blaine has very publicly said he doesn’t want to come back. Even if someone else picked up the license and asked I imagine he’d say no. He’s being very successful with his other book series, and I wish him the best. I love his Hour of the Wolf novel. I may branch into his other settings. But he’s not coming back to Battletech.

[@Filthyanimal9]

Aces - you mentioned the co-op aspect, but the solo option, to me, is huge

[@BigRed40TECH]

Oh yea, you can play it solo too of course! But in my mind its really the co-op that sells it.

[@Perqqq]

POV: Europe - absolute nothing burger. Still waiting for kickstarter fulfilment, good to hear they plan to make them available to everyone soon. Lol.

[@Tymelost]

Need timestamps for PC game vs all else.. personally i don't give a crap about little story books/and kids toys.. as for the clans dlc it is pure filth.. fake pvp modes with a max of 5 people /yawn.. it will be review bombed on steam FTW.. it should have been basegame and NOT dlc.. DLC needs to be IS beating back the clan dogs and make them cower like them trash they are.. at least a dlc that adds invasion to my beloved mercs.. 2k hours with mods so far dominating every house

[@colinmerritt7645]

😢