TEX TALKS 1980s Battletech ART [TEX/MIKE/GEORGE LEDOUX]

[@theblackpantslegion]

soundcloud.com/user-92288051/tex-talks-1980s-battletech-art-wduncan-fisher-n-mike MP3 VERSION FOR STUFF

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Every one with a functional brain hates what Matt Ward was allowed to do to 40k...

[@pf6797]

BattleTex!

[@xedrickOG]

@@SonsOfLorgar i doubt ita your fault for the audio. Discord is a garbage voip. Ita good for memes though

[@adamofblastworks1517]

So when are we getting a Clan Snek Cobra set?

[@tristianscott2345]

You should do a video on your favorite successor state/house

[@emanueliratliff4263]

“They made Anastasius Focht look like a shady banker from the Caribbean/Seychelles.” Implying he’s not. This is ComStar, Tex.

[@razorburn645]

He's withe the shady telephone company.

[@RRVCrinale]

All these portraits make Battletech look like everything outside the giant robots is just Hotline Miami in space. Sheesh!

[@jamesperkins191]

A lot of Mills & Boon-type cover art!

[@liamhogan4369]

… outside of the Great House … well, you’re not wrong.

[@boxtank5288]

@@liamhogan4369 and you're saying that like it's a BAD thing?

[@liamhogan4369]

@@boxtank5288 Nope it’s dope.

[@boxtank5288]

@@liamhogan4369 damn straight

[@TheRageaholic]

The thing '80s Battletech art has over the current stuff? The 'mechs looked like they were produced in different places, at different times. And usually had some weathering to show the age. The current 'mechs (especially in MWO) all look brand new. And everything looks like it was built in the same factory. Also, no circles or rectangles allowed.

[@Scaevola9449]

One of the unfortunate constraints of having some underpaid, overcrunched polygon monkey model every last nubbin on the Annihilator's left asscheek instead of paying some guy a couple hundred bucks for a hundred artworks.

[@Colonel_Overkill]

to an extent I prefer the industrial look of many of the modern mechs. They look like they have weight to them and arent just bad anime knockoffs. I wholeheartedly agree though that there needs to be more variation. A dragon for example with the current model would be a great Steiner production mech while a more curved older style could be a Kurita built mech and so on. The old and new mechs both have some examples of cringe but even that is fine there just needs to be variety. Another example is say the King Crab, the new one looks like a proper assault mech and the old one looks like it will snap a leg at any time. You are on point however with the damage, some superficial damage or even scratched paint would go a long way.

[@MarkoLomovic]

@@Colonel_Overkill Yeah some are really good like BJ, centurion, jenner, Atlas but then we have stuff like Raven, catapult and whole slew of medium mechs that look like eachother and lack what makes them unique. Is it kintaro or maybe enforcer , dervish, treb ?

[@raycearcher5794]

And every mech looks like every other mech of the same model. These are vehicles anywhere from 1 to 500 years old, shot to pieces hundreds of times, rebuilt by tens of thousands of different technicians, using materials from a hundred factories and centuries of development. There should be TONS of subtle differences between each Atlas or Awesome or so on. Like, maybe one has an intact plate on the chest and another has a severed plate that's been welded, that kind of stuff.

[@TheGreenKnight500]

Oh man, the MWO version of the Awesome looks like a goddamn cardboard box. Thankfully the recent Catalyst Game Labs designs look really nice. They're a good compromise between older and newer aesthetics.

[@missjayspeechley9213]

I can just imagine a clan Snek Cobra Elemental walking around Space Walmart wearing daisy dukes and tank top, shopping trolley on her shoulder with an AC10 about to fall out, keg of beer in her hand, "Imma gunna rigged this here to mah battle armour" Star Captain: "The auto cannon, or the auto keg" Elemental: *burp* "Aff"

[@h.a.9880]

So, Clan Snek Cobra is confirmed to be Batteltech's version of the Orks?

[@razorburn645]

So they're the ones Nick Kerensky "accidentally" left behind?

[@Ozymandias2x]

I love that superheavy mechs exist, and that they're bad. Sometimes ideas for crazy experimental weapons don't work out, and having some of those failures actively exist is immersive.

[@Razgriz_01]

Reminds me of the Maus or the other various Wunderwaffe that Germany hoped would turn the tide at the end of WW2.

[@CaptainRufus]

Superheavies were a cool idea when I was 14 years old. That was like 1989. Now I think they are stupid.

[@CharlesUrban]

In addition to the ideas that didn't turn out, you have the stuff that never got past the prototype phase, but might have been awesome. The Rifleman 3 comes to mind.

[@Mahrooby]

@@CharlesUrban don't forget all the LAMs

[@barrybend7189]

1 hour and 52 minutes of shitpost this is a treasure.

[@claytonhess5512]

One man's crap is another man's confection.

[@TheYemcl]

@@claytonhess5512 this is gold. Thank you.

[@BazztheBazz]

"You too can become a judgemental dragon!" If that ain't Kurita in a nutshell.... Also, I'm absolutely painting up a Clan Snek Cobra force now.

[@1975Paladin1]

If your Clan Snek Cobra force doesn't have a RAC-Rifleman, you're doing it wrong. Seriously, it's got ALL the Dakka.

[@bthsr7113]

@@1975Paladin1 If they can steal one, go for a Bane/Kraken. 10 * UAC-2 + 4* machine guns

[@mikegonzalez1821]

Whaa.Everyone hats Kurita. I fee-wait I'm team Ghost Bear.Frak them.

[@jamesperkins191]

Say what you want about the Draconis Combine, but they’re the only Successor State that has never had a civil war.

[@CharlesUrban]

@@jamesperkins191 That's because their heavily-armed asshats are their chief export.

[@danielpucher3367]

YES! 80's Art! Headbands, muscles, midriff shirts, and AR's EVERYWHERE!!!

[@danielpucher3367]

And Aviators! You may not like it, but this is BATTLETECH. Keep your waifus at home and keep a mirror and razor handy in your Grasshopper's cockpit! Fuck yeah!

[@barrybend7189]

Yet we need him to watch Genesis Climber Mospeada. LAM style mechs for days. Plus animation wise is really close to western 80's animation but better.

[@dwdarkwing1419]

Onward to the dangaaahhhh zone!

[@csmead209]

AR and Battles go together. Can't fight science on that.

[@spartanx9293]

I was born in the early 2000s so it all looks incredibly uncanny and weird to me I got no nostalgia for it

[@jingizu149]

Having been into BattleTech since back when it was Battledroids, it horrifies me how many of these images I immediately knew all the details for. Which book, what caption, what's "supposed" to be going on. Christ, I really am an old grognard. If you really want to scare yourself, think of how many of these are based off photo references. And this is what happened. I will say, in defense of the b/w art, not only was the art done on a shoestring budget with a deadline of like a day, but the printing tech of the time was rotogravure. So no shading, no subtlety of lines, and details often don't reproduce properly. It's like if you ever did linoleum intaglio in school when you were a kid. That said, I'm not defending the coke fueled 1980's goofy ass art choices, just the limitations of b/w printing technology, and there is no excuse for the teeth. Oh God the teeeeeth!

[@arthompson2]

I'm so glad it's not just me

[@PandorasFolly]

Coke is responsible for so much of the 80s. Thank god

[@Manglet762]

Can you tell us what the hell is happening in some of these pictures, especially 01:03:34?

[@jingizu149]

@@Manglet762 That would be from page 160 of the old House Davion Sourcebook, explaining the disaster of the New Avalon Theatre Group's first performance of Hamlet on the planet Benedict. They used a holographic ghost of Hamlet's father and caused a panicked riot. They found out later the people of Benedict had never heard of a hologram before. Yes, I know stupid shit. :)

[@nibblitman]

@@jingizu149 You can’t be serious.

[@RRVCrinale]

On a rewatch of this, I now realize how much I wanted a Battletech universe where Anastasius Focht talks like a mobtastic goombah and Katrina Steiner is unbelievably, horrifyingly shrill and grating.

[@RomanvonUngernSternbergnrmfvus]

Who would play her? Most of the good looking women I can think of are long past the point of being able to and I mean like gonna break a hip or dead

[@GregAtlas]

Clan Snek Co-bra got lost during the exodus "Shoulda taken a left at space Albuquerque." and somehow went beyond the Taurian space instead of up where the other clans went.

[@claytonhess5512]

And instead of munching carrots, they're lighting cigars.

[@TheStargateNerd]

Battletech art, not even once. It was wonderful to watch live!

[@GhostBear3067]

As someone with artistic hobbies who likes drawing Battletech fan art I find it encouraging that the official artwork already sets the bar so low.

[@kinagrill]

@@GhostBear3067 When you hit rockbottom you can only look upwards :P

[@jamesperkins191]

@@GhostBear3067 It's got better since the 80s.

[@GhostBear3067]

@@jamesperkins191 well no shit, it would be really hard for it to get worse 😆🤣😜

[@BazztheBazz]

I run a Battletech rpg campaign, and my party ran into both Tex and Duncan Fisher in the last session, so it's a pretty amazing coincidence to see y'all streaming together. Warms my sad grognard soul.

[@theblackpantslegion]

oh? What happened in that session. I'm sure I 'm awful as an NPC

[@BazztheBazz]

@@theblackpantslegion one of the Mechwarriors is a Solaris jock, so they met up with Duncan as part of her developing a gimmick for the arena. Later, they were in a merc dive bar trying to scrounge up rumors, and when I was trying to think of an appropriately seedy character who knew the lore inside and out, the nondescript npc became Tex. He's now a contact for the group when they need Intel on the down-low. Admittedly, my Tex voice sounds a lot more like Doctor Teeth from the Muppets, but the players enjoyed it.

[@barrybend7189]

@@BazztheBazz just ask Tex to join in as the NPC through discord chat. It would be fun.

[@BazztheBazz]

@@barrybend7189 I imagine someone as knowledgeable in the BT lore would have an aneurysm at how badly I've butchered a lot of it for the sake of appeasing my players. If the real lore is A Song of Ice and Fire, my campaign is the last two seasons of GoT, where I'm just making shit up and throwing characters around regardless of whether they're in the right era. It's a fun campaign, but 'real' fans would lynch me on sight.

[@barrybend7189]

@@BazztheBazz just call it periphery none sense.

[@Starman_Dx]

I lost it at the I'm Katrina Steiner! Also, Snek Cobra's battlecry should be, "Muh Freedoms!"

[@BobMcBobJr]

Katrina Steiner : (manic screaming/laughter?) Olivia: (exasperated) You have angered the spirits with your ... noise.

[@Hengebobs]

11:00 most accurate Matt Ward writing summary *ever*

[@SeamusMudge]

the pic at 36:11 is from the first CITYTECH rulebook from the "Life in the Big City" short story. "Down my Wolverine's arms, it read 'SpamSpamSpamSpamSpamSpamSpamSpam'. Kilmer's Warhammer looked OK until you walked around it, and the whole rear torso, in big yellow letters, screamed 'LARD'. We were both laughing, but Williams took one look, grabbed Farbers' wrench and chased her until we grabbed him. Up and down both his 'Mechs legs and on its right torso, like a badge it read 'Processed Chicken'."

[@TertiusVarus]

Hail the Legion. Your impression of Matt Ward is spot on.

[@nickware1421]

So spot on it hurts my soul.

[@Deridus]

I miss my Pariahs...

[@rolkflameraven1483]

I used his voice all the damn time in NWN, that "Show them your steel" always made my day.

[@adamofblastworks1517]

Steel?

[@rolkflameraven1483]

@@adamofblastworks1517 yes

[@CharlesUrban]

@@adamofblastworks1517 "Show them your seal!" (Enraged walruses attack the enemy.)

[@jordanmorris69]

I love that Tex and George both occasionally slip into Grandpa Voice when they're mocking things 😆

[@rotwang2000]

That McKenna picture was by Tim Bradstreet, aka the dude who did the iconic artwork for Vampire the Masquerade. Guy could freehand like the worst of Deviantart or trace photos.

[@DirtyJoe3]

I haven't laughed this hard at stand-up comedy shows, this is the best thing I've seen in years. Thank you Tex, Mike, and George, you guys are awesome.

[@Taigia527]

I'm glad I watched this live but I'm happy I have it to watch when I need to smile. God, that 1980s influenced art.

[@zellway]

Going back and replaying some of your old videos as I paint because your videos are the best! I guess I missed it last time but I will forever say “some people drive Volvo’s” to anyone I don’t like or agree with. Thank you for that!

[@johndoe5432]

Battletech art is a special breed of beautiful.

[@Solon_The_Lich]

Yeah, It belongs to The Addams Family Gallery or something

[@thesteellegionnaire4570]

New from Hasbro! CLUE: The Amaris Civil War! Who killed Richard Cameron? Was it Stefan Amaris in the Throneroom with the Lazer pistol?

[@RRVCrinale]

The Steel Legionnaire It's almost as fun as the hidden identity board game: Secret Amaris! There's nothing in the box but one loaded handgun.

[@Bustermachine]

Kerensky Exodus Or Inner Sphere? RE : "Kerensky and then I'd regret it." All things considered, that's pretty much what I expected you to say. Though I gotta ask if that doesn't make the Clans a bit more of fandom gut punch for you seeing as it's basically Kerensky's legacy devolving into something the man probably would have hated.

[@rylian21]

Alexandr rolls in his space coffin when Nicholas came out as a furry.

[@Bustermachine]

@@rylian21 Now now. Nicholas being a furry was not the problem. It was the fact that his fursona was Wolf Hitler.

[@patrickcoyle5469]

I like to think the Clanners experienced that gut punch themselves when the Eridani Light Horse showed the Smoke Jaguars what being descended from the SLDF was really about.

[@csmead209]

@@patrickcoyle5469 what? I know I've made jokes about Princess Celestia being the result of a Clan Hell Horses genetic experiment, but if an actual horse was involved with the end of Clan Smoke Jaguar then I'll eat my pants.

[@efffvss]

The Eridani Light Horse are a IS merc unit, descended from a SLDF RCT which didn't join the Exodus. They were heavily involved in Task Force Serpent, including their commander, General Winston taking over as overall CIC after Morgan Hasek-Davion died en route.

[@davecortie5579]

Tex + George = Made for each other. I am looking forward to more Battle tech collaborations.

[@unpotatoedsalmon]

There should be a Degree for battletech history

[@davidkinnison9157]

here here

[@claytonhess5512]

Problem: how do you expect to support yourself with that? Tex and Crit Rocket more or less hold all the good BT stuff we like.....

[@090giver090]

@@claytonhess5512 pfft. As if one can support itself with ANY history degree ))

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

My favorite riff out of the whole thing is "CHHT No Capellans!. CHHT"

[@ogrehaslayers605]

Haha that was a good one 😀

[@TK-rs9lq]

I'm dying here. The madness, it warms my derples so. Thank you, you blessed madmen. You three should be doing a permanent thing. Anything.

[@PerpetualGM]

For the "hair is LosTech" comment, I always point out to my players that standard cooking ovens must be LosTech as well. I mean, we have a device in our homes that can heat up to 400-500 degrees but is insulated enough that you can touch it without getting 3rd degree burns. They can't put this insulation in 'Mech cockpits? I mean, I know that BT fusion engines get much hotter than that, but the 'Mech isn't melting, so I'm assuming that there is some additional shielding between the engine and the cockpit. I mean, sure I still wander around my house shirtless in my underwear, but that's just a CHOICE, not an occupational necessity.

[@p_serdiuk]

Heat insulation is really bulky, though.

[@adamofblastworks1517]

That and just because the metal with a high melting point isn't melting yet, doesn't mean that it wouldn't be enough to cook a human being.

[@PerpetualGM]

@@adamofblastworks1517 It's mostly a joke. Although I have been known to label things like "Fire" and "sharp sticks" as LosTech in jest at my tables from time to time. :)

[@kereminde]

I... don't think it's that simple. See, I had a car - in Texas - with no AC and broken windows. As in, power windows where the motors died, and no money to get them fixed. I'm seeing it not as "people don't remember how to fix it" but "we do but we don't get the parts". (Had to watch my mother give up a Saturn she loved because parts just weren't out there for a reasonable price.) And if it's not the parts it's something else. Another time the water pump failed, and while a friend of the family was taking apart the engine to get to the thermostat, a bolt head snapped off flush to the hole. (That's your "2" on a repair roll, by the way.) This was a car which was made in '96. I really loved that car, until the minor problems got to be too much that being hit and having no means to afford repairing it felt like a blessing in disguise. This is what I think of now when I think of the Third Succession War and the 'ancestral 'Mechs' issue. It's not that the technology is lost, but the parts just aren't being made in enough quantities to get all the ones still out there repaired. So you get Cousin Daniel to roll up his sleeves and hot-rig a fix until you can get the part. And you gotta do it again the next time. And *again*. Until you do get to a licensed technician and they gape at the rat's nest which is your electrical system with notes scribbled on paper taped to the access panel saying "DON'T UNHOOK THE BLUE ONE".

[@Kingwolf_555]

@@kereminde Qualified Tech: THEY'RE ALL BLUE!!!

[@AndrewWhitethegm]

The " me and the boys" near the end really makes me think FASA would decide after the art was done before deciding if it was Battletech or Shadowrun

[@Xalerdane]

58:06 Ebenezer Scrooge with feathered 80s hair and shoulder pads, that’s a new one.

[@tetsatou2815]

The picture at 1:10:49 I think is supposed to be Hanse Davion, since everyone refers to him as "The Fox" in the novels. This is like, peak 70s/80s/90s RPG art though. I love this shit.

[@revolrz22]

Good Matt Ward impression. I didn't get it at first, though. I thought it was any given Battletech fan when describing Clan Wolf.

[@boxtank5288]

Eh yeah...Clan Wolf annoys me that way. Makes me want stuff to go wrong for them so they can actually JUSTIFY the prep and even then it should only barely get them through the bad patch. Clan Ghost Bear the whole way in terms of The Clans. Otherwise I'd be all for FWL.

[@gufbrindleback]

Also, Team Banzai was pretty directly lifted from the movie Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension. I believe Team Banzai and the Banzai Institute had to become Unseen from the BT universe, tragically.

[@CaptainRufus]

And the Fighting Uruk Hai.

[@Agilaz89]

I caught about half of this live, laughed so hard I could barely sleep afterwards. Thank you for putting it all out here.

[@ShadrachVS1]

I was with the first part live as well, until I dropped signal in West Texas. It was keeping me awake while driving back to Houston.

[@AdurianJ]

That capellan in game satire cartoon is inspired by the USSR. It was almost impossible to get hold of roofing nails in the USSR because they measured production of nails by weight. That wasn't the only thing measured by weight, Khrushchev famously complained about the extremely heavy chandeliers that where being produced and actually caused the ceilings to cave in killing high ranking party members.

[@LupusAries]

"But Comrade Khruschev, it's all working as intended..............err sorry as was intended during Comrade Stalin's reign, we will fix this immediately!" ;) :P

[@jrggrop]

Another good example was the fact that whales were counted as fish when calculating fishing quotas. Cue the Soviets depopulating significant whaling grounds for worthless whale meat that there was no market for, even domestically, just because the increased catch tonnage looked good on paper.

[@kredonystus7768]

George Ledoux's work on Majesty was my childhood. I have thousands of hours in that game and half of my NPCs in tabletop RPGs I just copy his voices.

[@steelshanks2802]

Love it. Love it all. Looking forward to the 3000's being space 1980's.

[@koeryn]

Gentlemen, I tried listening to this while I was at work. I couldn't do it. The weird gurgling noises as I tried to stifle my laughter were getting a lot of weird looks. Y'all are goddamn hilarious.

[@kaosfury]

Oh thank GOD I'm not the only one that thought those drawings were hilarious. Thank you for voicing many of the things that went through my head decades ago.

[@Rhino272]

Thank you TEX and MIKE for all you do for us Big Stompy Robot nerds!!!

[@theblackpantslegion]

welcome, fucko

[@thatguynameddan2136]

The best pre-work morale boost i can think of right here. Laughed my ass off at a lot of those pictures. Thank you.

[@DJTourniquet]

The Orion, in service for 600 years, for a good reason... That reason: it stomps the shit out of damn near anything stupid enough to come within range. Fighting the first one you come across in MW3 was a nightmare, even in the Ani.

[@ElecManEXE]

I don't think I ever fought that thing legit. My first playthrough I figured out you could abuse its patrol and shoot it from range without it coming to you, and I just long-range cheesed it every game from then on.

[@michaelkeha]

Well the Orion is 75 tons of anger, metal and grit that is easy to maintain and happy to turn you into scrap metal

[@funghazi]

Was that the one you run into in the underground facility? Certainly memorable.

[@xxcdubbsxx]

Funny thing with that Orion in MW3, you could cheese it into running itself into the tram bridge which was the same height as its cockpit. Instant kill with high opportunity to salvage.

[@veevoir]

If this is a good enough mech for gen. Kerensky to pilot - then as sure as hell it is good enough for me.

[@MadTimberwolf25]

But have they discussed how the two page artwork purportedly of Natasha Kerensky in the back of the 1990 expansion. "More Tales of the Black Widow" is a straight up, slightly more clothed duplication of a photograph of Marianne Gravatte, Playboy's 1984 Playmate of the Year? :)

[@randomfurrygirl548]

That's just straight up funny lol

[@patrickcoyle5469]

Whose voice would win in a fight, Tex's or George's? Honestly, I think it's pretty close.

[@donaldrussell432]

Sober or inebriated?

[@patrickcoyle5469]

Definitely inebriated. Then everybody wins.

[@dwdarkwing1419]

Definitely inebriated but the real question is who would beat Grandpa Tex?

[@joelaroche8103]

I think it would end in a deadlock for me i like both

[@todo9633]

One is great for the purpose of exposition. The other has a professional range.

[@rlskinner5261]

Probably the best 1 1/2 hours of time spent launghing my ass off. The worse thing about all of this, is that I had all of those books back in the 80s, and when they pop up each image, I can remember them back in those days, and I wondered 'what the hell' just as much then as I do now. Still wiping the tears from all the laughing.

[@ShadrachVS1]

Working as a technician driving all over the US... we grow too much damned corn. You see it in any state that can grow it.

[@csmead209]

That's because we subsidize corn too much. If we subsidized broccoli, avacado, and garbonzo more and corn less, we wouldn't begetting fat from high fructose corn syrup.

[@ShadrachVS1]

@@csmead209 might want to look into the controls on Sugar Cane, as the HFCS is more related to that. Subsidies are across all farm goods and increased when the push for ethanol began.

[@csmead209]

@@ShadrachVS1 HFCS comes from corn, not sugar cane. I don't know if HFCS has been banned in Europe, or if they just choose not to use it, but among the subsidizations most taken advantage of, I would guess that corn is probably near the top of the list. Would you mind finding the data for us? I can't really remember reading anything in the news about a subsidiary for Artichoke lately, and cannot seem to find one on the internet.

[@ShadrachVS1]

@@csmead209 sugar cane is controlled by a relative few, with Government protections and controls; high fructose corn syrup is a cheap alternative sweetener. Kind of a clear reason for it to be so prevalent, sugar [cane] is several times the cost, so companies switched to the more readily available and low cost alternative. We should not be subsidizing much, if any product... let the market work. Too many controls already messing things up.

[@csmead209]

@@ShadrachVS1 my opinions are that we need to subsidize a more broad variety of produce. There is more than just corn and soybeans, and I would like my kumquats and rutabagas to be affordable. You also forgot beets can be juiced for sugar.

[@vojtechpribyl7386]

Guys, you forget that FASA did three franchises back then Earthdawn (fantasy), Shadowrun (cyberpunk) and Battletech. Those pictures were likely multipurpose to be used in any of them that needed some filler :D

[@Zoshnell]

God... this... this is a work of goddamn art. Thank you gentlemen. Truly, this is too beautiful for this world.

[@arthen00]

It is true, when they say that Tex can make boring stuff funny, I remmember: This mech has 2x LRM 20s and 2x SRM 4s. Tex: "2x LRM 20s to become KING OF MISSILE TOWN! And 2x SRM 4s because if you wan't to die by ammuninion explosion you may want to be SEEN FROM ORBIT!" I really like those kind of videos, specially the ones about mechs.

[@BoredInLewiston]

That is the most glorious and accurate impression of the Hated Wardling that has ever been made. He is the sole reason I have grown to loathe so many of the 40k fluffwriters... Sure, AdMech are getting weird in that Weird Science way that makes them fun, but... eew. You're also the reason I'm finally getting back into the wider BT universe at large after a twenty year ALL THE 40K LORE gap. Damn you for giving me another money sink to chase, you glorious bastard.

[@theblackpantslegion]

gotta spend money to have . . . something

[@SBMM425]

Fun as hell. Great to just kick back and relax, listen. Wish there was a part 3. Maybe someday. You guys make a great group to listen to

[@piwobrody4188]

Again Mr. Tex the voice....what an amazing voice sir. Please keep being awesome!

[@jeffbrownridge]

Everything about this was awesome. Thanks so much for this gents!

[@theblackpantslegion]

welcome

[@andgodsaiduntoabraham]

26:55 The "Hello boys! I'm BAAAAACK!" guy from Independence Day, but replaced with Freddy Mercury

[@charlesorr2620]

Thank you for posting the after show. It's almost as good as the episode that preceeded it.

[@dond4375]

I should know better than starting a Black Pants video with anyone nearby. I almost spit my drink out on someone a few times. Always a good time. Keep it up Tex and crew. Glad George sounded like he had a blast as well.

[@theblackpantslegion]

We all had a great time.

[@GeorgeLedoux]

It was the most fun I've had since Mech Con!

[@davecortie5579]

Tex, more than anything, you bring joy back to those things of us that feel that some corporations (Activision/Microsoft/Piranha) have/has excreted from us. Continue to fan the flames of our geekness.

[@KageRyuu6]

42:00 That's an Elemental and an Aerospce Pilot phenotype, they aren't special enough to get a fancy name. Clan Snek Cobra from New Detroit, best clan.

[@GhostBear3067]

Clan Snek Cobra, absorbed by Clan Cloud Cobra during the Golden Century. They do not like talking about it.

[@RRVCrinale]

GhostBear3067 Who, Cloud Cobra or Snek Cobra?

[@GhostBear3067]

@@RRVCrinale yes.

[@paulchaisson8301]

Clan Hobo from Detroit makes more sense. Or really anywhere. Florida Man of Hobo Clan. Dear god...

[@GhostBear3067]

@@paulchaisson8301 the Florida Men are one of the more... "niche" mercenary groups out there. They get the job done, but it is best for everyone's peace of mind that you do not inquire as to how.

[@mcnaughe]

"Should I tell Kurita-sama that his smile is weird?" "The last 4 photographers we hired said as much." "...do I need to ask what happened to them?" "Actually, you do. It's Combine law."

[@HeyYoChicoJr]

This is the video that introduced me to the BPL. KZbin's algorithm did something nice for once and demanded I watch it. It's a go to in times of despair and darkness. Thank you.

[@TheSquic]

Well that was... genuinely fantastic! Not sure what I expected when I clicked on this, but that was (nearly) two hours well spent. It sounds like everyone involved was having a good time, and that really adds to it. Something between lego-talk and general faffing about with friends.

[@Nightfall2021]

The Wolf was a Fox The picture was Hanse "The Fox" Davion.

[@theblackpantslegion]

Well aware. Making jokes takes precedent over serious business.

[@CharlesUrban]

Hanse Davion is my favorite Animorph.

[@murgmaggleramaxis8535]

Melissa Steiner is a furry.

[@razorburn645]

@@CharlesUrban New headcanon, Battletech is set in the future of the animorphs universe.

[@_BirdOfGoodOmen]

I'd never really played the tabletop game aside a round or 2 in megamek, dabbled in MW4 a few years back in college and didn't really take to the setting. The new HBS game finally gave me the Battletech bug and I've been really enjoying these lore videos. With all the backstory out there I'm really surprised there's hardly any vids but there's millions upon millions of lore vids for 40k. Anyway, really enjoying these vids and enjoying learning about the lore. They're how I stumbled on the channel and I really like the channel content in general. Funnily enough at the time I didn't like the 80s art. But now I'm in my mid-20s and dig the 80s a e s t h e t i c - as long as the art quality isnt junk, which is very variable with those old sourcebooks 😂 I guess it's more the idea of the 80s style that I like more than the art itself

[@42Mrgreenman]

35:00 When someone in chat said Lou Al Banno I lost it looking a the thin guy next to him and couldn't help thinking....Swing your arms from side to side...

[@therakshasan8547]

The legs of the Archer in the back ground at the bar is armored with Cargo container metal . That still has the adverts on it.OMG you found a BT picture of Betty White.

[@brianhenry152]

Yeah, it's hard to be intimidating when your mech has "processed chicken" written all over it. Lol

[@Stealthfox16]

58:37 Man, the years have been pretty hard on the Goblin King.

[@Jebbis]

For the bald guy @31:56 there is a blurb somewhere that the Lyran made neuro helments are of a higher technology level than most of the IS but it requires direct skin contact. This has since brought back into fashion the old Norman knight haircut of 1066.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I don't know why "No Capellans!" gets me going so much.

[@Eric-ch6gq]

Becaise Capellans.

[@logandaley1544]

My god this was a joy. I’m so glad I found this channel when getting started in Battletech.

[@christopherwall2121]

QuadMechs I get the feeling only really get played because everyone remembers how cool the Battle of Hoth was, and don't really care that there's not really a feasible equivalent to the AT-AT in Battletech afaik

[@jamesperkins191]

25:05 I'm guessing what happened was that a dragon-parade was really a Capellan hit-mission

[@CharlesUrban]

"Happy Chinese New Year, assholes!"

[@davidkinnison9157]

I love your 80s and older reference, Tang and Muensters and the Shadow

[@GriffinKneesock]

The two b’s insignia on the boys art in the end, as well as “Team Bonzai” are references to the movie Buckaroo Bonzai

[@JustinJTime]

95% of this video is just Tex, Mike and George laughing at cheesy 80s Battletech art and it is glorious!

[@alanprihoda7772]

Omg, anyone that enjoys battletech has to be a fan of the theater of the mind. Listening to you guys describe these "Art" pieces without actually looking at them is beyond priceless! It's better than actually seeing the pieces... Too much!

[@paralykeet-]

Tex: "To me, the setting ends in 3067" Ah! A man of culture. No nuclear rearmament after sending the totem pole children packing a second time. No chemical attack on Atreus. Thomas Marik hasn't quite become a sentient scrotum yet.

[@rylian21]

So... Interesting note on Dune: Frank Herbert lived in a little town called Chimacum, WA which is very near to the strange, artsy hippy-town I live in: Port Townsend, WA. He fell very ill in the late 80's. Some other local authors ghost-wrote his last few novels for him in order to cover his medical bills.

[@csmead209]

That's actually kind and a bit heartwarming.

[@CaseyHancocki3luefire]

But, what is the connection between Matt Ward and Dune? Please forgive my ignorance.

[@jamesperkins191]

@@CaseyHancocki3luefire I haven't actually watched to that bit yet, but I'm guessing that the analogy is that Dune was ruined by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson the same way Ward ruined 40k (or Disney ruined Star Wars).

[@jamesperkins191]

Do you know if one of them was Willis McNelly, who did The Dune Encyclopaedia?

[@lc7581]

George is awesome. Tex and Crowind always are, but I love how sincere he is.

[@BrooklynRedLeg]

I think a lot of it is repurposed Shadowrun 1E artwork, since it was published in '89. They had probably been working on the setting since '87 (or thereabouts). This is especially evident (I think) the piece at 1:42:20, since the middle character looks like an Elf and the goober in back (with the bowl on his head) looks like an Ork. The fellow on the far left of the image has what looks to be a Lone Star Security Services patch on his shoulder (at least it looks an awful lot like one). And the dwarf with the bow & arrows...well...that's Shadowrun for you....

[@theblackpantslegion]

That does make a lot of goddamn sense!

[@NatePeriat]

OMG.. I havent laughed so hard ever! You have successfully taken the beloved artwork of my childhood and forever tainted it with the reality of how terrible it really is.. Fantastic!

[@imglidinhere]

Never known someone so humble as Tex.

[@honeyspringshomestead1411]

Going to be a good day at work today, I have this to listen to while I'm here. Only thing missing is a good drink and couch.

[@voicetest6019]

Having played a metric ton of Mw4 back in the day. This is gold. Needed the laughs; thanks for all of the work.

[@trentonarney6066]

Doesn't look like they solved all the problems with the L85. The magazine has decided to remove itself from the fight while firing. :)

[@darchalus]

A lot of the old Battletech art really looks like ShadowRun art that they just repurposed and put some notional battletech stuff into, like a mech silhouette or a house symbol

[@oldmangimp2468]

I've noticed something this time through (my second time watching, 'cause I really needed a laugh, and you guys deliver... ....just like the brave pilots in the Stellaris Arena!); I have seen some of this art before, without ever opening a Battletech book. I do have Shadowrun books, though. IIRC, both Battletech and Shadowrun were both owned, at one time, by FASA. So, was this a case of FASA being cheap, being frugal with the art budget for both games, or just thinking "they're both set in the future, and nobody's gonna notice anyway."?

[@logandeathrage6945]

Many of the same artists where used so there may be similarities but there were no cross over pictures that I remember.

[@themocaw]

Would explain the trolls and such.

[@sempermilites87]

Thanks Black Pants Legion. I needed that hour long laughing excersise for my abs. Lol

[@theblackpantslegion]

Thank you kindly

[@vp21ct]

33:31 "Ian from forgotten weapons?"

[@theblackpantslegion]

More of a doc holiday.

[@LupusAries]

@@theblackpantslegion I think he mean's gun-jesus! ;) although Mre-Jesus fits as well. ;) One is awesome with guns and the other has a stomach built like an Atlas! ;)

[@GhostBear3067]

49:30- I know where they are coming from, but that guy's lower lip/chin is nowhere near Hapsburg levels. His family tree probably still actually forks in different directions.

[@Vessekx]

Ok, now I actually *want* a Battletech Tarot deck… Flip your card, it’s a Steiner Scout Lance. Oh. Death.

[@pantherace1000]

My favorite Battletech Era has to be 3060ish. Inner Sphere gets some neat toys to fight the Clans (I think the Hollander is pretty cool), and the whole universe hasn't gone to shit because of weirdos in robes.

[@mattmilsop4003]

You guys should do a Mystery Science Theater style series of the Battletech TV show.

[@theblackpantslegion]

We'd get sued

[@csmead209]

@@theblackpantslegion who would still own a copyright to sue you for?

[@mattmilsop4003]

You're probably right, You would. But I thought something like this would be considered parody?

[@screenmonkey]

@@theblackpantslegion what about approaching it as from fair use allows

[@Doctor_Jekyll]

I was wondering why it got pulled off... Thanks for putting it back up. I loved it live.

[@Ihasanart]

YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Keep being awesome to all involved!

[@Nxtl68]

So I went and looked up the stuka and getting straffed by 4 large lasers and an LRM20 would SUCK.

[@mkang8782]

Team Banzai, inspired by the group in the fantastic movie, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension". The primary reason they were destroyed (in canon) was due to copyright issues.