P6253945.jpgI need to level set with anyone – I’m a huge Battletech geek. I love nearly everything about this game – the fluff, the rules, the strategy, the art – you name it, I’m in love with it. So imagine my surprise when I found out that Catalyst Games Labs had released Strategic Operations at Origins! Now imagine my disappointment when I discovered that they had sold out by the time I got there… Regardless, I got a chance to look through the book and talk with the guys at Catalyst Games about the new release.

So what had me so excited about this new release? Easy:

  • Reworked aerotech (both outer space and in-atmosphere rules)
  • New campaign rules and options for extended operations, including salvaging, repairs and contracts
  • Battleforce!

Yeah, that’s right. Battleforce – the large scale version of Battletech that never quite became as popular as its big brother. Battleforce is essentially Battletech’s version of Epic (the large scale version of 40K with 15mm miniatures). There are a ton of rules for running large scale Battleforce games in this book. I mentioned that I was surprised to see so much love for some of the older elements of Battletech that hadn’t received this level of attention in decades and they told me that it was an easy decision for them – its a set of great ideas that they felt could be updated and brought to a new audience in a way that got people excited. When asked about smaller scale miniatures (the old Battleforce used wargame style chits), the CLG didn’t have any hard information, but they knew that Iron Wind Metals had been playing around with some ideas in this space (I’ll be the guy on his knees begging later today). Strategic Operations is a massive book (at least 400 pages) retailing for $50 US and will be available more broadly later this year.