At Gencon this year Catalyst revealed the new Introductory and Starter boxes for BattleTech coming to retail in the next month or so, as of this writing (as detailed in the first post in this series), along with a new printing of Total Warfare featuring a classic art piece for the cover that is much better than the previous cover art (as I said before, while I think Catalyst's products are top notch, their covers in the past tended to leave a lot to be desired artistically)
This may be one of my favourite BattleTech covers overall. Simple and effective. I love the Atlas, and the way this image evokes its imposing presence. This may be the work of Catalyst's new art director, Anthony Scroggins, appointed on March 29th of this year. If so, big kudos to Scroggins and I hope this is indicative of what we can expect from him in the future.
Also on the horizon, but with no set release date as of yet, is another product I'm eagerly anticipating, BattleTech: Alpha Strike Commanders Edition.
Also on the horizon, but with no set release date as of yet, is another product I'm eagerly anticipating, BattleTech: Alpha Strike Commanders Edition.
I'll have a lot more to say about Alpha Strike coming up. For now, lets talk about what Catalyst's been up to the last 8 years, since their "Crisis of Treachery"...
er, no, sorry, that was Palladium
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_Books#Embezzlement_case_and_financial_difficulties)
...the company that published the Robotech RPG!
er, no, sorry, that was Palladium
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_Books#Embezzlement_case_and_financial_difficulties)
...the company that published the Robotech RPG!
Anyways, the previous boxed set released by Catalyst was the 25th Anniversary Edition in 2011....
This was very similar to the previous boxed set by Catalyst, containing:
- A 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook
- 36-page book of pre-generated BattleMech Record Sheets
- 80-page full-color rulebook
- Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe background and BattleMech technical data
- 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide
- A heavy-duty card of compiled tables
- and 2 18″ x 24″ game-board quality reversible hex maps
- along with 24 plastic miniatures
- as well as 2 "premium-quality plastic BattleMech minis"
From what I understand, the 2 "premium quality" minis were cast in resin, and done in 10mm (as opposed to the standard 6mm) scale. In other words, more collector's pieces than intended for play.
Interestingly, this scale means they are roughly the equivalent size of the TCI model kits included in the Battledroids boxed set...
The 25th Anniversary boxed set retailed for $49.99 usd, though it has sadly been out of print since 2012, and complete copies fetch prices upwards of $300 on the secondary market. Looking at first, the amount of miniatures included, and second, the price point, one might be inclined to less enthusiasm regarding the new boxed set slated for 2018 release. Only 8 miniatures, at ten dollars more. But the 25th Anniversary was a loss-leading product, meaning that each copy sold at a loss to Catalyst, in the hopes that it would attract new players to the game and make up the costs in the sale of supplementary products. This is why it was allowed to go out of print so quickly.
The new boxed set was specifically intended to be financially sustainable, so that it can remain in print as a gateway product for new players.
Additionally, it should be noted that the 25th Anniversary set was plagued by quality control issues. "Catalyst Game Labs has started a broken model replacement program for box sets with damaged or missing contents, particularly the plastic miniatures which are often damaged, miscast, or incomplete."
(http://www.sarna.net/wiki/25th_Anniversary_Introductory_Box_Set)
From reviews of the new boxed sets from those lucky enough to acquire early copies at Gencon, the miniatures are of much higher quality and beautiful new sculpts.
The new boxed set was specifically intended to be financially sustainable, so that it can remain in print as a gateway product for new players.
Additionally, it should be noted that the 25th Anniversary set was plagued by quality control issues. "Catalyst Game Labs has started a broken model replacement program for box sets with damaged or missing contents, particularly the plastic miniatures which are often damaged, miscast, or incomplete."
(http://www.sarna.net/wiki/25th_Anniversary_Introductory_Box_Set)
From reviews of the new boxed sets from those lucky enough to acquire early copies at Gencon, the miniatures are of much higher quality and beautiful new sculpts.
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Catalyst has , numerous times, attempted to broker a deal with Harmony Gold so that The Unseen can be "Seen Again." They at one point finally seemed to have achieved some sort of accord, and when the BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction commemorative book was released in 2009, the preliminary pdf copies contained the first images of The Unseen in an official publication since '96.
Unfortunately, whatever deal had been made fell through at the last moment, and print copies of the book had the Unseen artwork removed. Perhaps out of exasperation, Catalyst finally decided upon a bold move. In 2015 Catalyst unveiled the "Reseen", redesigned artwork and designs for Unseen mechs that differed sufficiently from their original depictions that they could be used without violating the legal settlement with Harmony Gold.
This was an incredibly controversial decision for several reasons. Most notably, this was one of the only examples of a retcon in BattleTech's continuity. One of the unique aspects of BattleTech is that the lore has remained substantially unchanged since the second edition boxed set. Unlike, for example, Warhammer 40K, where multiple revisions to setting and history are common with every edition, with such a vast cumulative alteration to the setting over the years that the universe of Rogue Trader is nearly unrecognizable in comparison to the current (eighth edition) of 40K (Games Workshop has even gone back and edited old Warhammer novels and short stories before re-releasing them). Contrast this with BattleTech, where a sourccebook or novel released in the late 80s is just as viable and a reliable source of information as one released in the last year. They'll go back and clarify and expand, but for the most part BattleTech has a consistent history, and even the few contradictions that occasionally pop up over 30 odd years between hundreds of authors, are easily explained as the natural occurring conflicting information and misinformation from frist person perspectives of characters in the fictional history (the vast majority of BattleTech sourcebooks are presented as in-universe accounts and historical documents).
This is one of the reasons BattleTech has sustained a devoted core audience for years. And brings us to the second primary reason the Reseen are controversial - many players still own the original products featuring The Unseen, and regardless of the copyright void they've existed in for years, they remain a core part of the BattleTech experience for many. Moreover, and though this is largely opinion, the Reseen designs simply aren't on par with the originals. But I'll let readers judge for themselves on this:
This was an incredibly controversial decision for several reasons. Most notably, this was one of the only examples of a retcon in BattleTech's continuity. One of the unique aspects of BattleTech is that the lore has remained substantially unchanged since the second edition boxed set. Unlike, for example, Warhammer 40K, where multiple revisions to setting and history are common with every edition, with such a vast cumulative alteration to the setting over the years that the universe of Rogue Trader is nearly unrecognizable in comparison to the current (eighth edition) of 40K (Games Workshop has even gone back and edited old Warhammer novels and short stories before re-releasing them). Contrast this with BattleTech, where a sourccebook or novel released in the late 80s is just as viable and a reliable source of information as one released in the last year. They'll go back and clarify and expand, but for the most part BattleTech has a consistent history, and even the few contradictions that occasionally pop up over 30 odd years between hundreds of authors, are easily explained as the natural occurring conflicting information and misinformation from frist person perspectives of characters in the fictional history (the vast majority of BattleTech sourcebooks are presented as in-universe accounts and historical documents).
This is one of the reasons BattleTech has sustained a devoted core audience for years. And brings us to the second primary reason the Reseen are controversial - many players still own the original products featuring The Unseen, and regardless of the copyright void they've existed in for years, they remain a core part of the BattleTech experience for many. Moreover, and though this is largely opinion, the Reseen designs simply aren't on par with the originals. But I'll let readers judge for themselves on this:
Coming up next...BattleTech: History! By that I mean, this time I'll be going through the fictional history of the BattleTech universe.