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catalystgamelabs.com/poo
BattleCorps
Posts: 1623
Are you monkey enough for this game?
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Now celebrating 25 years, Catalyst Game Labs has positioned BattleTech to be easier to jump into than ever before.
It all began in 1984, as the giant anime craze began to make its way to the American market, FASA Corporation published BattleDroids (which would become BattleTech in 1985); a stand alone box set game that immersed players into a brand new, epic science fiction universe, with a fun game to back it up.
The visceral feel of metal titans storming across alien worlds, combined with the in-depth crafting of the universe and the dynamic, realistic characters created an instant success that has gone on to become one of the best selling and most recognized names in the adventure gaming industry. It has also reached far beyond that core market, spawning over a hundred novels, over a dozen computer game and computer game expansions, numerous virtual world centers, toys, comic books, a cartoon series and more.
Now, as we head fully into this anniversary year it’s back to BattleTech. The appellation of “Classic” was attached to the BattleTech name in 2002 and we’re very excited to revert to the original name that dominated gaming for so many years.
25 Years of Art & Fiction
As part of the 25th year celebration, Catalyst Game Labs is publishing BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction. An over-sized, full-color deluxe book, filled with a huge retrospective of 25 years worth of art. Additionally, we’ve got something extra special planned. We’ve selected over a dozen “premier” illustrations that cover the gamut of style, subject matter, time period and artists. Authors are then generating in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand words of new, original fiction to mesh with those illustrations.
All the seminal BattleTech novelists are involved: Thurston, Charrette, Milan, Gressman, Coleman, Keith, Long, Pardoe, and Stackpole, as well as some new authors. A comprehensive universe timeline as well as detailed bibliography of all published material for BattleTech by FASA/FanPro/WizKids/Catalyst rounds out this fantastic product.
Novels
Appropriate for this anniversary year, Catalyst Game Labs will also be launching a full novel publishing program this fall, including brand new novels—such as A Bonfire of Worlds by Steven Mohan, Jr. and Shadows of Faith by Loren L. Coleman—as well as anniversary omnibus editions of some of the quintessential BattleTech novels, such as the Warrior Trilogy by Michael Stackpole.
BattleCorps.com—the official website for new, canon online fiction—has begun previewing A Bonfire of Worlds for free to BattleCorps members. A chapter will post every two weeks until the entire book is available.
Additionally, BattleCorps.com is further preparing the community for the return of print novels for BattleTech. The universe has a rich tradition of supporting novel publications, with over a hundred print novels produced across more than two decades. However, much of that rich history has been out of print for long years. BattleCorps.com is changing that in a big way! Just published is the novel Path of Glory by Randall N. Bills (originally published in 2000) in Electronic Advanced Reader Copy (EARC) format. While these EARC publications can be purchased through the BattleShop by anyone, they’re free to members.
BattleCorps.com will publish one new EARC each month to the future; an entire, original print BattleTech novel, now available once more. Furthermore, BattleCorps.com members will decide in what order those novels will be published. Sample chapters from five novels are available for preview by anyone: Wolf Pack by Robert Charrette, Illusions of Victory by Loren Coleman, Natural Selection by Michael Stackpole, Highlander’s Gambit by Blaine Pardoe and Double-Blind by Loren Coleman. A poll for members is now available and the results of that pole will be tallied to determine publication order of the next five EARC novels. Once that selection of five novels has been released, the next series of novel choices will be posted for membership voting.
And More...
A host of other anniversary books and supporting books are planned, including a 25th Anniversary Edition of the Introductory Box Set…more than just a reprint.
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Colonel
Posts: 24607
Master of the Etheric Sea
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DUDE.
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catalystgamelabs.com/poo
BattleCorps
Posts: 1623
Are you monkey enough for this game?
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Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 8684
Weapons online...
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Holy mother of... *looks at wallet then proceeds to burn it* Its just easier this way.  Edit: Path of Glory was my first book, this all seems full circle to me now  |
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Colonel
Posts: 24607
Master of the Etheric Sea
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My first was Wolf Pack.
Dave, you just got me back into the BattleCorps fold. Thank you!
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catalystgamelabs.com/poo
BattleCorps
Posts: 1623
Are you monkey enough for this game?
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http://www.battlecorps.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=5774Members can vote on the next Novel to come out at the above link. Also, there's the first few pages from each of the five novels attached to this post... Read and vote!
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Major
Posts: 4354
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NICE!
Although I have all of those books, I can't wait to read those books that I'm missing
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Lieutenant
Posts: 1508
Dante's 7th Armored Cav.
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Dave, you just got me back into the BattleCorps fold. Thank you!
Tempting for me..I'll have to see how the funds work out this month. |
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Warrant Officer
Posts: 677
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Will Heir to the Dragon be one of the reprints ('twas my first BT novel, and it's still one of my favorites...unfortunately, it suffered damage while moving)?
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El chico de los pollos
Site Maintenance
Posts: 19531
¿Quién es más plumoso?
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Will Heir to the Dragon be one of the reprints ('twas my first BT novel, and it's still one of my favorites...unfortunately, it suffered damage while moving)?
I would assume, given what Vairdic says above, that it will be coming at some point. Not in this first batch of five, but sometime in the future. |
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Warrant Officer
Posts: 712
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good news here, hopefully we'll see the license stay with CGL for a wood while!
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Warrant Officer
Posts: 677
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I would assume, given what Vairdic says above, that it will be coming at some point. Not in this first batch of five, but sometime in the future. A man can dream... |
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Lieutenant
Posts: 1045
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Reprinting BTech novels? Now that's a fantastic idea. I've only got up to Bred For War/Malicious Intent, nothing beyond that.
And not 'just' a reprint for the Boxed Set? My wallet hates you guys already.
But please release the 25th thing in PDF format! I want to be able to copy pictures into our homebrew scenario booklets without having to scan the thing in. I'll even pay for both versions (PDF and Dead Tree)!
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Writer
Posts: 1860
Member of the Legion of the Batshit Insane
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Oh no. No, no, no... Not this time! You will NOT fool me again. I *know* what date it is! Sorry, guys, not falling for it!  Oh damn - it's for real...  |
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Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 9310
Hunting for Adder skins
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Oh no. No, no, no... Not this time! You will NOT fool me again. I *know* what date it is! Sorry, guys, not falling for it! Oh damn - it's for real... Remember: the greatest trick the Devil ever did was making the world think he did not exist.. And, to make a pop culture reference: Our wallets are Ms. Jupiter to Catalyst's Comedian  |
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Lieutenant
Posts: 944
Who's driving? Oh my God, BEAR is driving.
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Oh no. No, no, no... Not this time! You will NOT fool me again. I *know* what date it is! Sorry, guys, not falling for it! Oh damn - it's for real... It's still March 31st on the West Coast... It's weird but I never read Path of Glory. I think I skipped a lot of the Civil War novels for some reason. |
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Sergeant
Posts: 127
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It would seem that I came back to the game at the right time! Now celebrating 25 years, Catalyst Game Labs has positioned BattleTech to be easier to jump into than ever before.
It all began in 1984, as the giant anime craze began to make its way to the American market, FASA Corporation published BattleDroids (which would become BattleTech in 1985); a stand alone box set game that immersed players into a brand new, epic science fiction universe, with a fun game to back it up.
The visceral feel of metal titans storming across alien worlds, combined with the in-depth crafting of the universe and the dynamic, realistic characters created an instant success that has gone on to become one of the best selling and most recognized names in the adventure gaming industry. It has also reached far beyond that core market, spawning over a hundred novels, over a dozen computer game and computer game expansions, numerous virtual world centers, toys, comic books, a cartoon series and more.
Now, as we head fully into this anniversary year it’s back to BattleTech. The appellation of “Classic” was attached to the BattleTech name in 2002 and we’re very excited to revert to the original name that dominated gaming for so many years.
25 Years of Art & Fiction
As part of the 25th year celebration, Catalyst Game Labs is publishing BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction. An over-sized, full-color deluxe book, filled with a huge retrospective of 25 years worth of art. Additionally, we’ve got something extra special planned. We’ve selected over a dozen “premier” illustrations that cover the gamut of style, subject matter, time period and artists. Authors are then generating in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand words of new, original fiction to mesh with those illustrations.
All the seminal BattleTech novelists are involved: Thurston, Charrette, Milan, Gressman, Coleman, Keith, Long, Pardoe, and Stackpole, as well as some new authors. A comprehensive universe timeline as well as detailed bibliography of all published material for BattleTech by FASA/FanPro/WizKids/Catalyst rounds out this fantastic product.
Novels
Appropriate for this anniversary year, Catalyst Game Labs will also be launching a full novel publishing program this fall, including brand new novels—such as A Bonfire of Worlds by Steven Mohan, Jr. and Shadows of Faith by Loren L. Coleman—as well as anniversary omnibus editions of some of the quintessential BattleTech novels, such as the Warrior Trilogy by Michael Stackpole.
BattleCorps.com—the official website for new, canon online fiction—has begun previewing A Bonfire of Worlds for free to BattleCorps members. A chapter will post every two weeks until the entire book is available.
Additionally, BattleCorps.com is further preparing the community for the return of print novels for BattleTech. The universe has a rich tradition of supporting novel publications, with over a hundred print novels produced across more than two decades. However, much of that rich history has been out of print for long years. BattleCorps.com is changing that in a big way! Just published is the novel Path of Glory by Randall N. Bills (originally published in 2000) in Electronic Advanced Reader Copy (EARC) format. While these EARC publications can be purchased through the BattleShop by anyone, they’re free to members.
BattleCorps.com will publish one new EARC each month to the future; an entire, original print BattleTech novel, now available once more. Furthermore, BattleCorps.com members will decide in what order those novels will be published. Sample chapters from five novels are available for preview by anyone: Wolf Pack by Robert Charrette, Illusions of Victory by Loren Coleman, Natural Selection by Michael Stackpole, Highlander’s Gambit by Blaine Pardoe and Double-Blind by Loren Coleman. A poll for members is now available and the results of that pole will be tallied to determine publication order of the next five EARC novels. Once that selection of five novels has been released, the next series of novel choices will be posted for membership voting.
And More...
A host of other anniversary books and supporting books are planned, including a 25th Anniversary Edition of the Introductory Box Set…more than just a reprint.
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Lieutenant
Posts: 859
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April Fools! |
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Captain
Posts: 2569
Founding Member - Gaithersburg Turkish Prison Crew
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April Fools! Not quite. Take a look at BattleCorps.com, they released the Path of Glory pdf, and they posted a poll for the next book. I doubt this is their big April Fools joke. |
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Colonel
Posts: 24607
Master of the Etheric Sea
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I don't think there is an April Fool's joke this year.
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Lord of Reaving
Writer
Posts: 4890
Fiat is a figment of your imagination.
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I don't think there is an April Fool's joke this year.
Well, there was, but we thought telling everyone that the entire Jihad and DA line was being retconned into an Alternate Era was a bit much. |
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Colonel
Posts: 24607
Master of the Etheric Sea
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Well, there was, but we thought telling everyone that the entire Jihad and DA line was being retconned into an Alternate Era was a bit much.
...yeah, that would've caused some issues. |
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Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 8688
Dead guy extraordinaire.
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YIPPEY! Now I can get some of the novels I don't have. Like this one. |
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Warrant Officer
Posts: 760
I've chosen to immigrate. Goodbye, Davion scum.
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Bah. I own all of them or used the local library to read them. Although I will admit, getting the last 3 would finish my collection...
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Lieutenant
Posts: 859
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Not quite. Take a look at BattleCorps.com, they released the Path of Glory pdf, and they posted a poll for the next book. I doubt this is their big April Fools joke.
I know, I'm just hoping that some people don't  |
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Writer
Posts: 1860
Member of the Legion of the Batshit Insane
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I bet the 25th Anniversary edition of the Intro Box is the real hoax... I fell for too many of your jokes - not this year!
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Manei Catalyst
Moderator
Posts: 13721
We are the finders of your secrets
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I bet the 25th Anniversary edition of the Intro Box is the real hoax... I fell for too many of your jokes - not this year!
Schedules Keiren for a Writer's indoctrination course. "Clearly he still has to much free thought." |
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Captain
Posts: 2569
Founding Member - Gaithersburg Turkish Prison Crew
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I don't think there is an April Fool's joke this year.
They're crafty folks. And they've still got plenty of hours to whip something up. |
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Writer
Posts: 1860
Member of the Legion of the Batshit Insane
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Look what I just found... Nice pic, don't you think? http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14649.html |
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Major
Posts: 5844
Clan Nova Cat - Welcoming the year of the Taiga
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...Dammit! I was just about to post about that.  |
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Colonel
Posts: 24607
Master of the Etheric Sea
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That's exactly how I envisioned the new period logos looking. Awesome!
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Major
Posts: 5434
Here's My Bid, Malthus.
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Well, there was, but we thought telling everyone that the entire Jihad and DA line was being retconned into an Alternate Era was a bit much.
I almost gave you a great big hug there for a moment. |
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