Recently, Catalyst Games announced that their upcoming new boxed product for their popular miniature wargame franchise BattleTech: Mercenaries, broke the $4.7-million mark in crowdfunding. The news was announced via a Kickstarter post on March 27. In a short, but heart-felt message, Catalyst Games further announced that every single backer will receive a copy of “A Splinter of Hope” – a BattleTech audiobook novella.
Great Rewards, Great Content, Perhaps Buried Under Too Much Detail
However, some fans were quick to note the seemingly low posting frequency, and difficult-to-navigate Kickstarter campaign, among some other issues – no clear stretch goals path, “stingy rewards” and others. To seemingly address these criticisms, Catalyst Games made another post earlier today, containing a 23-question FAQ.
The FAQ itself, while certainly being a step in the right direction and appreciated by some fans, left much to be desired. Some answers were either too short or rather vague, focusing more on potential goals and future projects rather than something concrete, essentially saying to “stay tuned” for more. At the very least, it was confirmed that there will be more details of the contents of each Add-On and the inclusion of more stretch goals. We can only hope that they will be more clear-cut, polished, and frequent – something the fans have wanted since Kickstarter launched.
More FAQs on Their Way, Which Will Hopefully Bring Clarity
On a more positive note, it was announced that more FAQs are on the way, so we will be sure to be checking them out for more details. Catalyst Games certainly have some work to do in terms of polishing the Kickstarter campaign. We’ll see how they address the backer concerns in the future.
Despite their voiced concerns, fans are hyped for the latest edition to the original 40-year-old combat mech tabletop franchise. And who can blame them – it will include a ton of new awesome-looking tabletop figures, a revised set of rules, and the brand new BattleTech: Alpha mode, which will pin players against an AI opponent.
The AI will use special decks of cards, which are role-specific. As the mode is currently in testing, we will determine what those would be later down the line. After the testing phase is finished, backers will have access to all documents and feedback forms, which will help developers flesh out the mode to the players’ liking.
If what we covered above interests you, the Kickstarter campaign for BattleTech: Mercenaries is still very much active, and will be up and running through April 20th. After that, it will transition to Backerkit for late pledges and fulfilment. The fulfilment of the physical rewards is estimated to begin in June 2024.