Last Ditch Effort

Hey all, I know it’s been quite some time since the last post, and I apologize. I’ve been hard at work with a great many things- not the least of which has been attempting to get Battletech: Combined Arms up and running....and failing miserably.

I first attempted to contact Topps, the current owners of the Battletech license, and was immediately shot down. Next, I reached out to Catalyst, who currently license Battletech from Topps and manage all of the publication for Battletech sourcebooks and game materiel. While I got further with them, their Game and Managing Developer Randall Bills was quick to shut down my pitch, and instead was quite insistent that we should all just pick up the latest copy of Alpha Strike and play that instead.

So needless to say, I’m at a loss. I don’t know enough about licensing or IP law to get hold of the IP myself or license it from Topps, nor is my reputation great enough to warrant working out a deal, apparently. So....yeah. That’s it for Battletech: Combined Arms, I guess. Unless any one of my followers can provide any info, then the game won’t be moving forward at all.

In that light, I’m posting up my written rules for the game in their current state, available for free as PDFs from this site.

In other news, I’ve finally built Tim’s amazing Dervish kit. This little 55-ton fire support ‘mech is an Inner Sphere icon, and Tim has captured it perfectly, creating a very modern rendition of the design with the most pose-ability i’ve ever seen on one of his kits!

I’ve posed mine in a very defensive, yet active posture, bringing its medium lasers and SRMs to bear against an enemy. The kit is surprisingly stable, allowing a pose like this while standing upright. I’m very impressed!

Alas, all good things must come to an end, I’m afraid. I love this hobby, and wanted to take it to the next step with the publication of Battletech: Combined Arms. I am going to try ONE last tactic for the new year, which I’m hoping will come through. If it fails though, I think I’ll be signing off on Battletech forever. I’ve put years worth of effort into developing this game concept and working on the models, and while it’s been fun...I really, truly thought I would be able to make it into something greater. But the lack of similar passion shown to me by Catalyst Game Labs has proven pretty heartbreaking, and I don’t think I have it in me to stay the course if I know there’s no way to make my dream game a reality.

Time will tell, I suppose.



Battletech: Combined Arms

Battletech: Combined Arms rules
Battletech: Combined Arms unit profiles