I love good, evocative text. I love good game mechanics, especially when it's not something I've really seen before and pushes me both as a player (to figure out how to win through a cool mechanic) and a designer (to figure out how they developed such a great, unusual mechanic). But of all of them, I may love art the most. 

1. It's the first thing you see. It draws you in or it repels you. Regardless of even my own arguments over the years that the cover is not 'that important,' how many books and games have you read/played that are awesome that didn't first pull you in through art? Sure, some...but not very many. Regardless of the subjective quality of the art, it has to speak to you somehow to get you to pick it up when there's a giant pile of other books and games to look at.

2. I can't draw to save my life. I've a very good understanding of what makes good art and I can tell you what I like and don't like...but I make stick figures look bad. So unlike evocative text and good game mechanics (both of which I can produce), the ability to generate jaw-dropping art is almost magically to me.

3. Shock of shocks, I'm still just a kid at heart. And one of my most cherished qualities is I've not lost the childhood sense of wonder. I can still walk outside at night, taking the garbage out, and find myself stopping and staring in aching wonder at a gibbous moon peaking between the row of pines at the end of the street, haloed in a ring of ice crystals. Taking that to art, while any art I like is awesome,  l especially love seeing text that I've generated (or helped to generate, or developed in any fashion, rally), turned into art. Pictures pulled from my imagination and made real. And usually in cool and new ways I never thought of. It's a special treat I still treasure after more than a decade of doing this work.

Why am I going on and on about this? Well, because art is flowing in fast and furious for Historical: Operation Klondike as we prepare to turn it over for layout. I've posted three art previews to the Historical: Operation Klondike page (thanks Patrick!) for you all to enjoy.

http://www.classicbattletech.com/index.php?action=products&mode=full&id=285

While the 'Mech scenes are awesome (old hand Doug Chaffee with a masterful Atlas rendition and a newbie artist with a wonderful combat scene), I'm also really excited by the quality of the personalities (over 25 such illustrations will be featured in the book). We've only had the names of the founding Khans of each Clan till now...to have great art to flesh this critical point in history out is awesome.

Enjoy!

Randall