The next BattleTech Kickstarter launches in just a few days on Thursday, March 23rd!
The centerpiece for the new Kickstarter is the new Mercenaries box set. This box will include new miniatures as well as new rules to extend what is available in the existing Game of Armored Combat and Clan Invasion boxes. The rules will include a revamped set of Battlefield Support rules that include a streamlined option for including vehicles as well as air support, artillery, and mine fields. The box’s rules will also include a version of the Chaos Campaign rules which are a great option for running an ongoing narrative campaign.
In addition to the Mercenaries box, the campaign is also going to include at least a dozen new force packs. Seven of those will contain new ’Mechs, four will be packs of plastic vehicles, and one will add plastic Inner Sphere battle armor.
For official preview information, you can check out the following links. The Backerkit preview page has a bunch of information as well as providing access to a playtest version of the new Battlefield Support rules. The Kickstarter page is pretty sparse right now, but it’ll be the place to go on Thursday. Finally, the free preview pdfs each take a closer look at a pair of the new miniatures and the design process of updating them from their original artwork to their new sculpts.
Launch Celebration
Starting Thursday, there are going to be parties and a long weekend full of livestreaming to celebrate the launch of the Kickstarter. The livestream will be on the Six Sides of Gaming channels (YouTube, Twitch) and there is a schedule for planned streams here that includes interviews, streamed games, and check-ins on the regional launch parties. I’m lucky enough to have one of the regional parties at one of my local game stores, so I plan to spend some time there to celebrate and play games.
New Miniatures
Here is a list of the new miniatures expected in the Kickstarter. Only some of these have been officially confirmed in the preview pdfs, so the lists for each force pack are a best guess based on other previews. I’ll update the list once the Kickstarter launches if there are any differences.
Mercenaries Box Set
- Caesar
- Chameleon
- Devastator
- Firefly
- Flea
- Galleon × 2
- Maxim × 2
- Ostsol
- Quickdraw
- Starslayer
Battlefield Support: Assault & Cavalry
- Condor × 2
- Demolisher × 2
- Pegasus × 2
- Schrek × 2
Battlefield Support: Battle & Fire
- LRM Carrier × 2
- Manticore × 2
- SRM Carrier × 2
- Vedette × 2
Battlefield Support: Objectives
- MASH
- Mobile HQ
- Mobile Long Tom
Battlefield Support: Recon & Hunter
- Behemoth × 2
- Ontos × 2
- Skulker × 2
- Warrior × 2
Clan Cavalry Star
- Black Python
- Griffin IIC
- Jenner IIC
- Locust IIC
- Shadowhawk IIC
Clan Direct Fire Star
- Bane
- Grizzly
- Highlander IIC
- Phoenix Hawk IIC
- Rifleman IIC
Inner Sphere Assault Lance
- Goliath
- Hoplite
- Pillager
- Shogun
Inner Sphere Battle Armor Pack
- Inner Sphere Battle Armor × 4
Inner Sphere Heavy Recon Lance
- Assassin
- Charger
- Merlin
- Ostroc
Inner Sphere Pursuit Lance
- Cicada
- Clint
- Dervish
- Hermes II
Inner Sphere Recon Lance
- Firestarter
- Javelin
- Ostscout
- Spector
Inner Sphere Security Lance
- JagerMech
- Scorpion
- Vulcan
- Whitworth
Scott's Game Room 
2 replies on “BattleTech Mercenaries Kickstarter – This Week!”
It’s a darn shame that CGL has apparently decided that the Patton and Rommel tanks need to be Trotsky’d out of the game because a handful of people complained about naming a fictional tank after a National Socialist.
Whoever left you with that impression has been misleading you. While I don’t expect a miniature of them as part of the Mercenaries Kickstarter, they got a fresh redesign and a new ilClan-era variant of the Patton in Recognition Guide 27 just a couple of months ago. The BattleTech line developer did say that they’d be focusing on the Patton (and Axel) names for the chassis going forward, but the existing Rommel variants are still canon and the RG27 entry even mentioned them with an in-story reason why Defiance Industries was using just the Patton name now. I’m also not aware of any people who were complaining about the name before Ray mentioned that the Rommel naming wouldn’t be focused on. As far as I’m aware, it was an internal CGL decision. I do think it was a good decision on CGL’s part.