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Shimmering-Sword β Battletech - Field Manual 3145
Published: 2013-10-01 01:25:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 74579; Favourites: 1404; Downloads: 1063
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Now that the last few book from the 3145 line have published I can show off my final pieces, the big print covers.This is the cover for Field Manual 3145, the first full print cover I've done officially for Battletech.
A Republic Malice stands over a downed Tundra Wolf, covering Simian Battle Armor is they help evacuate the crew of a disabled Winston Combat Vehicle. A massive Ares tripod and a Prefect cover the rear as a slow retreat to their dropships is made during an assault by Clan Wolf's Beta Galaxy.
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Comments: 109
Lovely stuff. Simian battle armor is new to me. Looks funky.
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It is pretty funky, probably one of my last choices for cool BA to put in a scene.
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Just because it's Dark Age doesn't mean you're forced to use tripods, in fact they're extremely rare.
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And just because it's Star Wars doesn't mean I have to pretend to like the Prequels, but they're still an ugly stain on the face of the planet.
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Not liking a whole movie because most of the movie is bad is understandable though.Β A few bad mechs among hundreds and you dislike an entire era of battletech?
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Wasn't just that. I had issues with the whole clicky-tech thing and the generally downward spiral of crap starting with how they handled the Jihad onwards. They had a golden opportunity to have the Jihad be the final establishing moment of the Second Star League, written it so that it was strengthened by the actions taken to squash the little WMD-chucking bastard Wobbies and thus give the setting a much needed central authority to enforce a peaceful period. Then they could have fast-forwarded 100 years or so, reset the tabletop game's somewhat over-clunky weapons tech to a more simpler and refined set of rules as well as taken the fluff and dumped a lot of characters that have either become annoying or controversial (how many people want to stomp on Victor Steiner-Davion now? Can Vlad Ward be more of a douche?) thanks to the time jump, given us a new set of a-holes wanting to murder each other for fun and profit, as well as let the few good characters that people liked have a damn happy ending for once instead of having them killed in a bomb blast or nuclear attack or stomped on by a 'mech or any one of a number of ways they've put old protagonists on a bus and sent them off with a depressing death that undermines and undoes everything they accomplished in their lives.
I know the whole point of the setting is "eternal war" and no one side can truly win because that ends the game and whatnot, but at least give the setting some time to recover. Give the characters time to have some peace and hope; otherwise it turns into Warhammer 40k Grimdark and Games Workshop already does that and does it better because Warhammer 40K is a gorram parody that too many people take seriously. Giving a period of peace then makes it seem all the more disheartening and serious when the wars inevitably start. Then you can start the new segment of storyline before everything goes to Hell, detail the increasing instability of the regime, and then the mass conflagration, and it feels more dire because hey guys our actual peace is about to go to crap. They took that approach with the FedCom Civil War and I kind of liked how they did that. At least it felt more organic than the Wobbies becoming space Nazis and pulling armies out of their asses and somehow being able to have everyone's secrets and undermining all the major players simultaneously and FREAKING CYBORGS.
And that brings me to all the new tech they've been throwing out, some of which... Look, I know that in real life a giant robot as a frontline military vehicle is one of the dumbest ideas ever, and Battletech does play loose with physics a bit. But then you start having 150 tonne super-mech tripod things and CYBORG ARMIES and super interdiction fields and suddenly it feels less like Battletech and more like Buck Rogers or Star Wars. Battletech has an appeal because despite its own soft approach, it still feels possible, or even plausible in some way because of how gritty it normally is.
Dark Age and its bevy of ugly-ass 'mechs (I hate the Legionnaire so much) are a kind of symbol of this failure of writing they've presented, as well as the BS they plied on for clicky-tech. (You can argue all you want about "Dark Age" being planned by FASA back in the day, but if you try to tell me those plans weren't changed around to fit the collectable miniatures game then you rare insulting my life experience with working in corporations and dealing with managers and marketing.)
So yeah, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder because I hate seeing a franchise I care a lot about being mishandled. That tripod thingy is just an outward expression of the deeper-rooted problems, hence my dislike of what it represents.
Don't even get me started on "Devlin Stone". He's more Victor than Victor ever was.
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That is a really amazing scene.
It would be SO loud!
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Yes, quite loud
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Not gonna lie; I think this is one of the best BT covers ever
Awesome stuff
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Good to hear. This is one of my favorites from the 3145 work I did.
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Nuuu, you're not allowed to like things!
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Noooooooooooo....! (DarthVader-ish)
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I love all the little details in this, the blood on the cockpit over the tundra wolf, the laser just pinging off the battle armor, and the fact that you can see the displays in the Malice 
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The little things help sell the whole
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Definately sold me. Has me tempted to pick up the 3145 books just to see it up close XD
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It looks fantastic!
I had no problem recognizing every mech, even though they are partially obstructed.
Even the Simian battle armor was obvious. They look stupid, i think... i wonder what the original creator was thinking...
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The original mini is pretty bad, I made them a little better, then Matt Plog changed them a lot in the TRO though I think they still look pretty meh.
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So much work, more or less for nothing...
They have so much better looking battle armor.
Chris Daranouvongs Wiphos suit, for example, to name a newr one. Or Matts own Longinus design! The bible reference is a funny extra to it.
I also like the Infiltrator Mk.II and the Kage, two of the first real IS battle armor.
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Can't wait for the TRO for the Republic to be released.
I want to see the new goodies they have! ^_^
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The final TRO that includes all the Republic stuff is already out in print, no PDF yet though.
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Ho. Ly. Shit. This is awesome. Great work as always man 
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Another awesome scene! It is a fierce battle, so real!
Nice work ! ur drawing a lots!
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Uau... I dont even like 31st period and im dumbstruck. Nicelly done.
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A lot of people have an aversion to change in Battletech, but I don't see what the hate is about going from the Succession Wars "we fight because we hate eachother" to the Jihad "giant cultist terrorΒ plot to destabilize the universe ignites a massive war" and the Dark Age "huge communications blackout causes chaos where factions fall and other massive power shifts". The new Eras are a lot more interesting in my opinion.
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I dont "hate" it per se, i just dont identify myself with it, i prefer the sucession wars and clan wars mostly because it has good memories, those periods where the ones i started BT with and certain moments in your life stay forever when you are a boy. The Jihad and Dark Age have interesting mechs and tech but simply didnt appealed to me.
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I really like the feudal political scene during the Succession Wars (feels a bit game of thrones which is never bad), but I also really like the WWII esque "forces of good versus forces of evil" Jihad era. Dark Age, i like the idea of having to scrounge for tech, it makes for a very firefly-esque feel in my head (where the old world still very much is around, but everything is kind of broken down and/or mish-mash of tech to make a working product)
There is a LOT of room for little fish in a big ocean storytelling in Dark Ages to an extent that there is reached in no era before (thanks to the blackout), and I think that is somewhat intriguing.
A man could potentially live his entire life on one planet, and never leave or know of events on any other planet in that era.
very 'old west'.
Also, the refitting of non-combat mechs into battlemechs would make seeing an ACTUAL battlemech a thing of wonder and awe. In my mind, it is somewhat akin to how a Gundam must look to the pilot of a standard front line mobile suit haha. that kind of "yup, ive gotta get my brown pants so nobody sees that i pooped myself in shock" feeling haha
as for the picture itself: never been a fan of the Ares, but your rendition is really epic. I am unfamiliar with the other mechs, but I've gotta say, they look AWESOME. the lead mech reminds of the Mac II Monster. I don't see it. its too tall, not squat, and the Monster has way more visible cannons, doesnt it? eh, I dont see it haha
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I don't think there's any way I can not favourite this...
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Appreciate it
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Not to be misunderstood, it is a great cover. Battle damage on the machines is amazing, and the poses look good.
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