Catalyst Game Labs have announced a plan to bring back the classic BattleTech books to stores.

From their website:

Catalyst Game Labs announces the return of novels for Classic BattleTech, MechWarrior, and Shadowrun. The re-launch of these perennial lines will include an amazing selection of authors—including New York Times’ Bestselling Author Michael A. Stackpole.

“The triumphant return of three of the most seminal adventure gaming book lines heralds a great next step for all the brands,” David M. Stansel-Garner, Operations Manager for Catalyst Game Labs said. “We’re really excited to bring these novels back to thousands of eager fans who have been waiting patiently for their return.”

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Iron Wind Metals have sent along photos of the “Death From Above” Jade Hawk miniature that they will be selling as a convention exclusive this year.

Click to enlarge

From their announcement:

IWM is pleased to debut our 2008 Limited Edition Convention Special Mech at Origins 2008 – The “Death From Above” Jade Hawk. This special miniature, sculpted by Dave Summers, will only be available at IWM conventions thru August – Origins in June, Historicon in July, and Gencon in August.

Sale copies will be limited to around 600 units, with 200 being available at Origins. 50 will be sold each day of the show, one per day per customer.

The price for this fantastic Limited Edition Mech is $15.00.

RCW Enterprises have updated their three core HeavyMetal applications.

From their website:

While there’s nothing big, I’ve posted updates for HMPro, HMVee and HMAero. For the most part, they consist of BV2 changes for the Light ACs, revised crits for a couple Tactical Handbook weapons (based on an errata of which I was not aware), and a few other changes. As usual, you can view all the changes, and get the latest updates for all programs, at the Program Updates Page.

Iron Wind Metals will be unveiling their 2008 Convention Season Limited Edition mech at Origins 2008.

From their website:

IWM is pleased to debut our 2008 Limited Edition Convention Special Mech at Origins 2008 – The “Death From Above” Jade Hawk.

This special miniature, sculpted by Dave Summers, will only be available at IWM conventions thru August – Origins in June, Historicon in July, and Gencon in August. Sale copies will be limited to around 600 units, with 200 being available at Origins. 50 will be sold each day of the show, one per day per customer.

The price for this fantastic Limited Edition Mech is $18.00.

Iron Wind Metals have added the Corona Battle Armor to their online store. The 1:285th scale miniature is available for $0.85 US.

RCW Enterprises have posted an update for their HeavyMetal Map software.

From their website:

Not a big one, but sometimes the Print screen didn’t update properly, and when you entered Hex size in centimeters, it messed up the size. Those are fixed now, and you can download the latest update at the Program Updates Page.

Iron Wind Metals have added a Clan Battle Armor miniature to their online store. The 1:300 scale figure is available for $0.85 US.

Iron Wind Metals have added the Infiltrator Mk I Battle Armor to their online store.

From their announcement:

Available now on the Iron Wind Metals Webstore. #BT-129. 1/300 scale. $0.65 (US). (The MK II, BT-031, has been up for some time).

Iron Wind Metals have added the Hauberk Battle Armor to their online store.

From their announcement:

BT-130 Hauberk Battle Armor now up on IWM webstore. BattleTech scale (1/285-300). $0.85 US.

Iron Wind Metals have announced the releases of several new BattleTech miniatures. All prices are in US$ and these figures are available from their online store.

From their website:

BattleTech releases now available for June 2nd…

• 20-427 Main Gauche Lt. Support Tank (2) {30 ton} $9.95
• 20-428 Asshur Artillery Spotter (2) {20 ton} $9.50
• 20-429 Mantis Mech { Solaris VII – 30 Ton} $8.95
• 20-430 Silver Fox Mech { Solaris VII – 35 Ton} $8.95

These web only BattleTech releases are also “live” now…

• FT-025 Samurai (3) Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $8.00
• FT-026 Sabre (1) Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $7.50
• FT-027 Gotha Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $8.50
• FT-028 Sulla Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $7.50
• FT-029 Sai Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $7.50
• BT-151 Turk Mech Scale Fighter w/ base & wire $7.50

Iron Wind Metals have added new Gray Death Legion Battle Armor to their online store.

From their announcement:

Available on the website. These are personal battle armor suits in scale with BattleTech ‘mechs (1/285-300). Product number BT-134. $0.75 US

The Classic BattleTech BattleBlog has details of the upcoming Technical Readout: 3075.

From their website:

Yet the more I thought about it, the more I got excited. As did everyone involved. Not just about brand new designs (the first seen since 2002 in TRO: 3067), but the concept of fusing of an “Age of War” TRO with a “Jihad” TRO. Not only would we be able to explore new Jihad designs, but we’d be able to travel back to the very beginning and explore an area of the game hardly touched beyond short passages in various House and Handbook sourcebooks…certainly never explored to the degree that we’ve been able to do in Technical Readout: 3075.

Check out the blog post for more details.

Iron Wind Metals have released the 2750 era Bugeye Spyship spacecraft model.

From their announcement:’

This is the 2750 version of the Bugeye. The mini is about 22mm long. Product #BT-139. $5.00 US. Comes with base and stem as do all the ships from IWM.

Iron Wind Metals have announced the release of the 2750 era Essex Capital Ship.

The figure is 44mm long and is available for $9.00 US.

The ClassicBattleTech website’s BattleBlog has a new entry discussing the upcoming Tactical Operations book and also listing the contents of the Strategic Operations rulebook as well. Lots on information about these two titles for BattleTech fans in this latest blog entry.

Catalyst Game Labs have announced the upcoming release of Classic BattleTech: Strategic Operations.

From their announcement:

Catalyst Game Labs is pleased to announce the latest title in the Core Rule book series for Classic BattleTech: Strategic Operations.

Randall Bills, Managing Developer for Catalyst Games Labs said, “This newest title will bring a level of detail and depth of play the fan base has been demanding for ages. In fact, when we originally scheduled Classic BattleTech Tactical Operations, we had envisioned it being a single book. As we began to compile the information and rules, we quickly realized that we had written enough for two volumes! With Strategic Operations, players will now have the ability to create on-going campaigns using the rules for combat across an entire solar system, link-scenarios and repair, maintenance, salvage, and customization of individual ’Mechs and other units. Heck, that barely just scratches the surface of everything that is in this beefy new rules book! For even more added value, we’ve included a series of rules that will allow you to use the miniatures you already have to represent large-scale actions such as planetary invasions, in the same amount of time as you would play a regular game! We’ve really pulled out all the stops on this one.”

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Iron Wind Metals have announced the release of the 2750 version of the Aegis Capital Ship. The figure is about 58mm long and retails for $12.00 US.

Iron Wind Metals have announced the release of the 2750 era BattleTech Cameron Capital Ship.

From their announcement:

This is the 2750 version of the Cameron. The mini measures 63mm end to end. Supplied with base and stem. Product #BT-174. $12.00 (US).

InMediaRes has announced that they have extended their BattleTech and Shadowrun agreements with WizKids for two more years.

From their website:

InMediaRes Productions, under its Catalyst Game Labs imprint finalized a contract for the full rights to publish Classic BattleTech and Shadowrun gaming products for an additional two years today. “We are absolutely ecstatic,” said Owner Loren Coleman. “By securing these rights for the next several years, it allows Catalyst the chance we have been waiting for, to grow and foster the Classic BattleTech and Shadowrun brand in the way they have deserved all along.

Check out their website for the full text of their announcement.

Iron Wind Metals have announced the release of a BattleTech Prowler Tank.

From their announcement:

Iron Wind Metals has added the Prowler Tank to its BattleTech line on the webstore. As with all the CBT stuff this 55 ton tank is represented in approx. 1/285-1/300 scale. $6.50 US.

RCW Enterprises have updated their HeavyMetal Pro on Vista page with additional details on how to get their HeavyMetal Pro software to run correctly under Windows Vista.

RCW Enterprises have updated their Weapon Battle Value calculator used to create BVs for weapons in BattleTech.

From their website:

The Weapon BV Calculator has always been very useful, but now it’s been updated to cover even more. All of the possible missile/cluster hits from Total Warfare have been included (like17 and 29), maximum range has been increased to 40, and most important, you can enter separate damage values for Short, Medium and Long Range (for those Heavy Gauss Rifle lookalikes)! The expanded range table shows all the values as before, and you can check calculations the whole way through. Best of all, you can simply save this page to your computer’s hard drive, and calculate weapon BV even when you’re not connected to the Internet.

Iron Wind Metals have announced several new “web only” releases that have been added to their online store.

From their website:

Our newest web-only Battletech and Aerotech mechs and ships are available. There are four new Aerotech ships: the Aegis, Bugeye, Cameron, and Essex. There are also three new mechs: Argus, a Thunderbolt variant, and a Jade Hawk. A Prowler tank rounds out the offering.

Catalyst Game Labs have posted two PDF previews from the upcoming Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3075.

Iron Wind Metals have announced the release of the Shiva ‘Mech Scale Fighter.

From their announcement:

Iron Wind Metals releases the Shiva ‘Mech Scale Fighter (FT-024) on their webstore as part of their popular FanTech line. Price $9.00 US.

Catalyst Game Labs have sent along word that the Classic Battletech website is unavailable while the server it resides on undergoes an upgrade.

Catalyst Game Labs have posted details of their latest worldwide campaign event Operation: Kabutomushi.

From their website:

Join your fellow BattleTech players around the world as two new mercenary units forged in the flames of the Word’s Jihad strike this once-peaceful planet of secrets and lies in an extended campaign, facing old and new foes alike.

In this next installment of the Vengeance campaign arc, Classic BattleTech players can help decide the fate of the Odessan campaign before it even begins; the results of the climactic battle will set the stage for the planetary assault on Odessa by Uncle Chandy’s forces, which will be played out at the Origins Game Faire and GenCon this summer.

Each officially-run campaign will utilize the rules from Total Warfare and will also include a sneak peek from Tactical Operations and TRO:3075. Will you side with the Ronin or the Ghosts of the Black Watch, or stick with the system’s defenders: the Odessan Planetary Guard or the newly-hired Burr’s Black Cobras?

Sign up with the Catalyst Demo Team leader near you at http://www.catalystdemos.com/. Follow the action on the Classic BattleTech and Battlecorps forums. Beginning April 4, 2008, pave the way for the biggest crusade of the Jihad.

RCW Enterprises have announced an update to two of their HeavyMetal BattleTech design programs.

From their website:

Various small, but significant, changes were made during additional BV2 playtesting, and the compiling of BV2 values for publication, and these have all been rolled into this release of HMPro and HMVee. You can view all the changes, and update to one or both programs, at the Program Updates Page.

Catalyst Game Labs have announced a Notable Pilots painting contest.

From their announcement:

In order to commemorate Catalyst Game Labs’ release of Technical Readout: 3039, CamoSpecs is pleased to present you with a sampling of the Notable Pilots listed in the book. They will be running updates every weekday until March 10, 2008.

After March 10, the Classic BattleTech Community will be asked to come over to the CamoSpecs Forum and vote for the miniature that best depicts their corresponding entry in TRO:3039. Remember updates daily until March 10th so keep checking back.

Catalyst Game Labs have announced the upcoming release of Technical Readout: 3075 for BattleTech.

From their website:

Catalyst Game Labs is pleased to announce the second-quarter 2008 publication of the first all-new technical readout in six years, Technical Readout: 3075. Fully embracing the current universe-shaking Jihad storyline, Technical Readout: 3075 includes all the latest BattleMechs, vehicles, and battle armor appearing on the battlefields of the Classic BattleTech universe. Also included is a section detailing many of the numerous battlefield units previously mentioned in the fictional context of the Classic BattleTech universe but never before presented in a technical readout.