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STORMING
TABLETOP BATTLEFIELDS
The Mercenaries Kickstarter launches on March 23, 2023,
live from AdeptiCon!
This Kickstarter will bring a slew of much-demanded units to our plastics ForcePack line.
More than three dozen ’Mechs will be included, alongside numerous vehicles for crafting
combined-arms games.
We found during the Clan Invasion Kickstarter that the community loved behind-
the-scenes looks at how we re-imagined fan-favorite
BattleMechs into fresh, modern miniatures. And we
want to offer that again. This time, we’re offering a
look at the new miniatures well before the Mercenaries
Kickstarter launches, as we are so much further along
on the project!
Each of the PDFs in this series walks you
through that re-imagining process. It starts,
of course, with Duane Loose’s amazing original
illustrations. We’ll show you our early, re-imagined
sketches, followed by the 3D renders of each unit, the final plastic
samples, and lastly the miniature, gloriously painted by the Camo
Specs team.
We hope you love this journey as much as we have, and we look
forward to joining you on launch day!
Team Catalyst
[Link]
The Quickdraw will appear
in the Mercenaries box
set, while the Assassin
will be found in the Inner
Sphere Heavy Recon Lance.
These are the first Quickdraw and
Assassin ’Mech illustrations. They
were originally drawn in 1985 by
Duane Loose, and published in 1986
in Technical Readout: 3025.
Our BattleTech team often talks about
how our entire ability to re-imagine
these wonderful designs into modern
plastics is predicated on the brilliant
foundation and legacy built by Duane.
In every case, we work to retain the
aesthetic spirit of the original design,
while meshing them to modern
sensibilities. All while remembering
they must be molded into plastics that
come ready-to-play out of the package.
Some ‘Mechs go through one sketch
before we can immediately start
building the model. But most require
two or more sketches to zero in on all
elements.
Very rarely are the backs of
the ’Mechs sketched. Instead,
those details will arise during
the computer rendering
process.
Seeing a final render is always a
brilliant moment, as you realize
another file is ready to send to the
manufacturer.
The team sometimes then generates
a few different glory shots.
From pilot cards to illustrations
within our books, digitally-painted
renders look fantastic, and can be
used in a host of ways.
Fifth Amphigean Light Assault Group
First Tamar Jagers
Digital painting by Mark Hayden
Reaching the line art stage is another amazing milestone. You can almost feel the
pages of a Technical Readout in your hands.
Illustration by Harri Kallio
Illustration by Benjamin Myers
Samples arriving from the
manufacturer are one of the
greatest moments for any
publisher. And when they are
plastic ’Mechs, after you’ve
worked so hard to live up to a
nearly four-decade-legacy, it’s
all the sweeter.
BattleTech doesn’t require
painted miniatures for play.
But having a spread of painted
miniatures across the tabletop
is a magnificent gaming
experience.
Painted by Ryan “B1B Flyer” Peterson
Painted by Ross “Savage Coyote” Hines
The Kell Hounds
Striker Lance
will reach stores
during the 1st
Quarter of 2023.
In the meantime, click here
to enjoy some great
Kell Hounds fiction!