News — Dietrick

I’ve spoken on other forums about my feeling concerning the Battletech House supplements and how they might be the best historical fiction works I’ve ever read [Only the ‘Way’ books for L5R 1E could be better] Today I take a look at one of those incredible tomes of inner sphere knowledge, with House Liao and the Capellan Confederation.  When I played the game, House Liao was always my least favorite House as I was raised in the cornfields and Indiana and had almost nothing to reference China in my mind other than it seemed distant and old.  That was certainly...

Ok, just for anyone who doesn’t know, I love the art of Jeff Laubenstein, so any review I do with his artwork is going to be skewed in the direction of the positive.  Having established, of the pre-1990 FASA Battletech supplements, this has to be one of the finest out there. I once ran a full mercenary company in the game and this book was an incredibly valuable resource, having information so detailed that there is even a contract that can be copied and signed for each mission your crew intends to take on.  In fact, using this book, I...

In 1988 I was a junior in high school and if I could lay hands on a Dragon Magazine I was pretty happy about it.  In those days, well before the Internet, you had to get all you advertising info from a magazine, and in the gaming industry that primarily meant Dragon.  It was there that I first saw the cover of Game Designers Workshop’s Space: 1889.  I remember thinking, OMFG, that is one of the coolest things I’d ever seen.  I mean, just the tag line of ‘Science-Fiction Role Playing in a More Civilized Time’ was enough to sell...

Back in 1986 FASA produced the an incredibly cool supplement for its new Battletech line featuring nothing but advanced statistics and images for their mechs, aerospace fighters, vehicles, and dropships.  Thus, the line of Battletech Technical Readouts was born. I well remember purchasing this book and pouring over the pages as finally, in lovely tech drawing detail, I could see exactly what comprised the big machines I’d had so much fun playing on the tabletop.  Artist/Art Director Dana Knutson actually did a very impressive painting of my personal favorite mech, the Marauder, on the front cover.  I can honestly say...