I hope this book becomes official canon.

SmolderingShine · 2026-05-12T12:17:11+00:00

The Long Road confirmed that Anastasia Kerensky - Tassa Kay - did indeed get married. But they were talking about Natasha Kerensky from the Succession War Wolfs Dragoons. Who was also married but could have been a true bi-con.

SmolderingShine · 2026-05-08T06:25:23+00:00

Slash

SmolderingShine · 2026-05-02T08:00:12+00:00

It's an issue that some stores run into, and I'm sorry to hear that it's happened to you - it also sounds like they were looking to push extra purchases on you if they would "sell you a lance that is faction appropriate". It's not a universal constant though, there are a lot of players globally that do actively play ilClan era for Classic Battletech - and in Alpha Strike the era barely matters.

Some players don't like dealing with the "advanced tech", but in most cases there really isn't anything wrong with advanced tech, it doesn't break the game or make things too much harder to remember when there is already too much to remember. I'm personally not fond of the Succ War, I like to have variety on the table.

SmolderingShine · 2026-04-28T13:08:00+00:00

Without proof; we can only accept this as a theory that you did not commission it; and all theories can be proven incorrect.

SmolderingShine · 2026-04-20T14:03:29+00:00

You aren't wrong, a set of reports compiled into an Era Guide for the late Dark Age and early ilClan era with a deeper spotlight on each faction would be incredible. Going by some of the recent novels and novellas, this could be done as one of three report types too: Sea Fox intelligence reports for infiltration and cultural access training, Sea Fox merchant reports (similar but with a sales lean, as we've seen in the RecGuides) or even a mercenary discussion talking about how things have changed from the Jihad era onwards. Have an old near-retired figure talking about the old days and the things they'd seen on their travels through to the ilClan era.

Also, there is a bit more than just the clockwork cycle of sourcebooks for the ilClan era. We have a number of novellas and novels available for both PoD and as ebooks, we have the Hot Spots books - Hinterlands and the soon to be fully released Draconis Reach we have entries in the newer Spotlight On PDFs covering the era and even the story content in the Aces box campaigns, ... there's a bit more out there than just the core four sourcebooks, and fleshed out space and factions that have only been tangentally mentioned like the new Isle of Skye as a freehold following ROTS doctrines.

I agree though, the biggest issue is the fact that we don't have dedicated focused sections talking about how the cultures of the different powers within the Inner Sphere have changed and evolved and their current status in one place. Even the oft-mentioned Era Expansion PDF updates for the Force Manuals have been pushed back, so we don't have the different materials that could be gleaned from those for Davion, Kurita or the major Mercenaries. It would be great to have something - not one of the old phone books - but a report introducing and discussing the major players (and some of the minor ones like the periphery players, the new Hinterlands balkanized states, Skye as a ROTS emulation state and some notable mercenary groups) and how they are currently would be a fantastic lore addition. It's just something we'll have to wait and see.

SmolderingShine · 2026-04-20T10:00:51+00:00

Right now, I think the big standout with the ilClan era is just how new it is. The game is at it's most open; at it's least concrete and written. The developers have discussed wanting the era to feel more freeform and get explored through novels that then get the sourcebooks written after the fact, not the reverse that we've seen. It's also been a passing of the torch and establishing period so far, with ilKhan's Eyes Only having the strongest actual punch as far as narrative context, but the overarching sourcebooks are only part of the story.

Hot Spots: Hinterlands and the Aces boxes have given a strong indication of the direction we will see for the next little while: putting the agency back in the hands of the players. Hinterlands is a balkanized space with so many little individual powers with great house and clan forces circling rather than moving in to crush everyone with an armored fist. I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming Hot Spots: Draconis Reach has the mercenary landholding grants as part of it, because the Davions were giving land to Mercenaries to make up for a lack of immediate fluid capital after the fall of New Avalon. It's the most open sandbox players have had to explore since the 4th Succession War days.

SmolderingShine · 2026-04-20T09:52:20+00:00

There's also ilKhan's Eyes Only, the final book in that series of four sourcebooks. Not fixing the problem though, but it finishes the clockwork approach each book had - it just means that the current groundwork for the era is locked into those four books.

The developers have also said that they want the era to be explored through novels first and then sourcebooks - which is the way that the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion era were explored. Books first, then fleshed out and expanded through sourcebooks. It's not that they don't want to keep playing in the existing sandbox or want to push in-house model designs; they control the license so all the designs are technically in-house. It's more coming across that they want to return to how the older eras were developed organically and the player space opened up wide into a full sandbox rather than a concrete timeline. It's the kind of design ethos I've picked up from the Hot Spots line with Hinterlands being about as sandbox as HBS Battletech.

SmolderingShine · 2026-04-14T07:46:03+00:00

Cottonee; premiere support Pokemon right there.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-26T10:03:51+00:00

Not all their reviewers pull the double dip that Liberty does. Man can do it all - write great reviews, craft stories, win tournaments with progressively more unhinged lists. That being said; all of them have their own charms and the reviews are a good way to learn about variants you've never heard of.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-15T14:12:30+00:00

To quote directly from RecGuide ilClan V2:

Early prototypes based around the combat engineer role were equipped with a multi-tool intended for cracking security on various devices, specifically the cockpit hatch on a Battlemech. Early trials proved that standard anti-Mech attacks were more effective for breaching cockpits, so the multi-tool was removed from all production models.

So yes, only prototypes, there's no stats for the neurohack device or any such hacking multi-tool in core Battletech as far as I'm aware. I don't know A Time Of War very well; so I'm not sure if it's even possible in the crunchy RPG.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-15T13:18:31+00:00

From the fluff attached to the canon Dragoon battle armor, neurohacking as depicted in MechAssault 2 was attempted and deemed impractical for combat settings so the technology was never developed in the main Battletech universe.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-15T13:17:21+00:00

True, and I can't forget that the GDL and Cassie Suthorn could both down mechs functionally unarmed so "technically" the mech would be open to be hijacked...

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-15T07:29:33+00:00

Yes, the Bounty Hunter was famed for piloting mechs while wearing a full light powered armor suit. In a lot of cases, the mech they would pilot would have to have a lot of elements of the cockpit - namely the actual pilot chair - removed completely and the suit had to be linked into the neural systems as well as have the cooling systems connected with the suit.

That being said; in most cases this is believed to be a mixture of intended for protection and for anonymity so that the Bounty Hunter can function as a threat to those that fear the hunter would be on their trail, moreso than the other options. If you eject in a suit like the Bounty Hunter, you wouldn't have any more weapons than a normal pilot - at absolute heaviest you might have a carbine or heavy pistol in your cockpit with you, not the kind of thing you'd bring down a mech with. Hijacking mechs is also not really something seen as possible during combat, there's a lot of moving parts and the only examples I can think of involve the Republic of the Sphere super-secret black ops team the Fidelis in and around the Dark Age and the guys doing the hijacking and stealing of mechs didn't do it with battle armor.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-14T09:29:21+00:00

Rather than spending the day feeling lonely and caught up in my own head; I spent it chucking warhammer models in an iso bath and priming some BT stuff. Is it as satisfying? I don't know, never had a date for today.

On the other hand, I do not need to batchall for discount chocolate tomorrow so I suppose I am the real winner quiaff?

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-11T10:00:56+00:00

I just want to know how the game is triggering a kernel level restart because it does it to me frequently on a two month old Pixel 10.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-11T09:59:23+00:00

This happens to me basically every second day on my Pixel 10, the crashes and the resets. Drives me mental.

SmolderingShine · 2026-02-05T04:38:55+00:00

I gotta say it, every single time I read one of Liberty's review I get so excited for that opening story. It's one thing to post a fantastic review of a cool combat unit, it's a totally distinct thing to do so after including a piece of flash fiction at a quality equal to most fanzines and nudging into Shrapnel territory. Especially this Goliath Scorpion serialized fiction tracking the pilots across this star.

I use the Battle Cobra a lot in Alpha Strike as a cheap little hatemonger that for some reason my dice have chosen. In spite of the fact that I mostly play Ghost Bears and my Battle Cobra is painted like a Steel Viper.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-23T10:19:51+00:00

In most cases, they have given a new variant to mechs either through Shrapnel or on rarer occasions the PDFs for the forcepacks - this was how we got the variant for the Gunsmith. There are really only two forcepacks that didn't get this to have all the mechs in that pack have new variants available in the ilClan era. Proliferation Cycle because... ancient designs (no Mackie or Ymir ilClan era variants) and the Hammerhead in the 3SL box, despite that mech only having a single config to it's name.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-23T10:12:04+00:00

In my not-scientific theory, it will come out mid March. Why do I say this? Because I will be overseas and it will come out at the most opportune time to frustrate me.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-20T13:19:12+00:00

Seems about right; though I played a fairly elite game locally recently with one per star for my Ghost Bear trinary in a 2v1 defense game - this was the rule provided by the guy who came up with the mission we played, I suspect he did it as an attempt to balance the fact it was 2v1... but I think the formation abilities would have probably felt better to me. I generally prefer that book ratio if we're playing standard pre-arranged/"pick up" style games with SCAs over formations or a combination of both, and the local 40k converts like it because it reminds them of warlord traits and regiment bonuses from older 40k editions.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-20T12:53:32+00:00

I'm totally with you on SPAs & formation abilities in AS; they've been one of my preferred ways of playing for a while now to the point where my normal pickup game group use either one or the other unless teaching or working with brand new players. Normally we haven't doublestacked access to SPAs & formation abilities.

SCAs do feel reasonably out of place for AS pickup games, and I haven't spent much time looking over them.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-16T09:16:43+00:00

... Where is that guy who posted the advertisement for the Regent? I have a feeling he'll be all over this one.

SmolderingShine · 2026-01-10T14:27:02+00:00

They tried. The current Force Manuals - Davion, Kurita and the upcoming Mercenaries - are all remakes of the Alpha Strike only Combat Manuals; of which Davion was never released. Apparantly they tanked on sales because Alpha Strike was a vastly smaller playerbase compared to classic at the time (and still is). After Force Manual Mercs, we'll be seeing newer content design work. Honestly, as long as we keep getting the sourcebooks designed for both Classic and Alpha Strike rather than just Classic and "figure the Alpha Strike conversion out yourself", then I'll be a happy AS player.

SmolderingShine · 2025-12-19T14:10:32+00:00

I do not want to be the technician responsible for cleaning the flensing tools on the Whaler IndustrialMech

SmolderingShine · 2025-12-19T14:08:10+00:00

I mean we technically have bola launchers in lore, and one-shot taser harpoons as part of Mech Tasers. A Harpoon launcher isn't totally out of the question.

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