The Second Circuit

Jesse and Jo are getting in depth with a brush! How do I paint missile launchers?? Sometimes there are missiles and sometimes there are not. Jo says it's a question of scale. Some mistakes can be interpreted as battle damage. Art versus 'realistic'. Context specific is important for the art. Make different parts different colours. Yell-oh-no! This applies to bases as well - Jesse can't do basing because of the risk that a desert base goes on a snow map. Jo would love to hypothetically take it a bit further. Painting is subjective in the end. Jesse is moving on to continuing to kitbash an all RAC unit. Jo hates kitbashing with missile launchers.  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Game Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Scott are exchanging memory cores about their homebrew gear!  - Loitering Missile Ammunition (It's a floating long-range minefield!) - Plasma Sword (Tsushima/Yotei fans get hyped!) - Magnetic Grapple (Lasso up a Fire Moth!) - Torvold Drone Targeting System (Behold the Hammer of Dawn!) - Rotary Micro Pulse Laser (Cutting down on attack rolls!) - Scott Pod (It's a BattleMech briefcase!) - Continuous Beam Laser (The GTVA Colossus had a ton of these) - Scott Gun Thing (Targeting Governor - Streak PPCs!?) - Neuro Myomer (Skilled pilots should be skilled pilots!) - CVIS (Component Void Integration System - Make Vaccuum Playable Again!) Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Game Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Scott, and Jo are talking Warships! Jesse likes sc-fi because of big machines that shoot lasers. BattleTech scales well, so let's see what happens at the biggest scale. The Hunters has a cool space battle! Naval assets - using a lot of ECM? Some of the secrets are buried in many old books. The wargaming table could be like a holotank! Please don't mess with electronics if you are untrained, and please don't sue us if you do. Do we lose something not being in 3D? 2D does save a lot of mental load. There is nothing in space. Relatively. Or is there? BattleTech with no terrain sucks. Six-thousand squares!?!?!? The space battle in IKEO wasn't so great. Just one Star Destroyer; is that the golden ratio? Are the Ravens building more warships in the periphery? Is a warship fleet the ultimate weapon? Not if you're looking to actually conquer anything. Clan names, great bands, we'll have to get back to that.  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Game Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Jo, and Scott are talking the new Core Rule Changes! Don't take WolfNet's howl. Half ammo means less bombs. Moving into water - viable but still risky. We have invented ramps! Melee is now a thing again. Gird yourself for girders. Is there such thing as too much melee? Ammo is less dangerous, but is that less fun? Ammo explosions don't matter if you don't get shot. Autocannons - too strong? Did ATMs need a buff? C3 versus ECM, where's the balance?  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse is talking with Paul Clarkson and Josh Derksen about Adepticon! The stuff that was announced and the stuff that is yet to come! Unreleased and barely released products. Paul making enemies - violence scheduled for GenCon! Meeting the team and the Network. A New Challenger Appears - Cru joins the team! Overall impressions and hopes. Some spoilers for the third Aces box, Wrath & Reprisal. The public now knows two of the 'Mechs coming in that one!  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Jo, and Avalyn are talking Map-scale versus Mech-scale! Caliburns edge. Small vs Big. Artillery. Turret the weapons? If it's close, are we overtuning it? Different decks can do different things and mixing and matching can have really cool results. Capellans live to die. The laser colours! The Fortress DropShip - "Just one more thing." 3D terrain, is it turning people off? New rules, huh, yeah, what are THEY good for? Well a lot, but it'll trip you up for a bit. The old partial cover rule is a bad rule. Hardcopy books versus PDFs. Too Fast, Too Warfare. Why not just do it right the first time? When should a new 'edition' come out? Tactical Options. IS there a Firestarter protagonist? Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Avalyn are talking With Sean of Sarna.net! The face of the ultimate Memory Core for all of BattleTech gives us the overview of his Blake-like duties and tying it into the greater community at large. And then we dive into the real interesting stuff - objectively correct BattleTech preferences. PPCs. IS XL Engines. Hunchback Orthodoxy. Adorable Dark Age designs. Lousy Dark Age designs. Keeping up with Catalyst. Aces formations (all ENE?!?!?). Metal versus plastic. Getting old. Check out the Sarna Discord here: https://discord.gg/CPjUMCbk36     And of course your BattleTech home base is https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Jo, and Avalyn are talking character-level fiction. People care about their MechWarriors! How do we get them to do that in game? Avalyn's RPG games are maybe a great thing to reference here. Start with giving them a name. Reward a name, and maybe stack the reward. There need to be stakes. Lineages! Points to a lineage across the ages. But don't tie gameplay rewards to writing. Battle reports, huh, yeah, What are they good for? Hinterlands campaign at Sir-Games-a-Lot, versus walk-up OpFor. A Becker campaign? Water Hazard campaign. Catalyst doesn't seem to prioritize RPGs, they've got bigger fish to fry. Are we (or just Jesse) overthinking things?  Check out Avalyn's RPGs, including the hit Beam Saber, here: https://austin-ramsay.itch.io/ Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Jo, and Scott welcome special guest Big Red 40TECH to the show! The Mariks. It's so hard to be a Marik fan. In a way, they're the Empire. When they aren't just Arthurian Davions. Thomas Marik who is actually Halas - don't forgive him for what he did! Davions, no Omnis, more bullet. Phoenix Hawk IIC, great video, how did it come together?  What's making long form content like? Why not a fancy new video for the classic Phoenix Hawk? The Merlin OVER the Phoenix Hawk Jo???? The bankruptcy of the Lyrans is rough on Steiner fans but also the most interesting thing to happen to them. The Last Charge, best Marik book? Nikol Marik fan club. What the hell Andurien!? The Fronc Reaches, the wild west of BattleTech! Nothing is ever pronounced correctly. Not even Hoplite! NATO reporting names.  Check out all of Red's cool stuff at his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BigRed40TECH Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Jo are talking Project Phoenix - it was a band-aid, but was it good? Jo's too new to remember the backlash. Would it be better if they were whole new units as opposed to 'replacements' for our childhood. Mirrored helmets? Come on! Guys in suits, versus tanks with legs, versus refrigerators. The quality of the art though, versus what it represents. When was the last time your cracked open TRO 3055? The opportunity for new minis, and modular minis. Sign us up! Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fochtsnetwork.bsky.social Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Avalyn, and Jo are talking BattleMech aerial combat! Hottest Drop! Ease off on jumping TMM? PSRs? Is counting elevation as distance a good mechanic? Cloud templates? Wind direction indicator - a wind vane! Drop the shooting penalty? DFAs - are they just stupid? Jump kicks! Should there be more Mortal Kombat and less WWE? Can DFA become second nature if we just do it more? The math becomes your enemy here. PSA - level your piloting! Is Jesse sometimes a little bit of a jerk? What art do we prefer.  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Avalyn, and Jo are talking weird new tech and weird old cards! TSEMP! Why does it suck? Does it suck less or more in Alpha Strike? Depending on the size of the game maybe it doesn't. If you ban one thing, do you start having to ban all kinds of other things. Is managing the game to balance things just playing the wrong game? 'Mechs in a vacuum! What was happening in real life when certain rules were written. Does anyone use the pilot cards? Pilot card match up - the birth of a new format? Alternate ammo, better than TSEMP but still a little crazy?  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Avalyn are joined by special guests Bryan Young and Russel Zimmerman, accomplished sci-fi authors and major drivers of modern-day BattleTech fiction! We asked what it's like to write BattleTech for Catalyst where you have to coordinate with such a large and involved universe - and the answer is, predictably, "it's complicated!" Check out Bryan's stuff at https://www.swankmotron.com/ and be sure to read his first fully-fleshed Fox Patrol novel, Outfoxed: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-outfoxed-by-bryan-young?_pos=1&_sid=33fd61866&_ss=r Check out Russ' prolific catalogue: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7192843.Russell_Zimmerman and be sure to catch the conclusion to Violent Inception, the Mountain Wolf BattleMechs serial in Shrapnel # 20: https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-shrapnel-issue-20-the-official-battletech-magazine?_pos=9&_sid=1bee9a8a9&_ss=r And check them out both working with Michael A Stackpole at The Chain Story: https://www.chainstorycore.com/ Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Avalyn hypothesize everything they would need for the ultimate BattleTech event. Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss would be required. Simplifying rules in exchange for fielding more units. Cool events run at places like Torchlight Hobbies and Games in Burlington Ontario. Hexes versus measuring tape? Putting the game in the narrative rather than the other way around. What to eat? 3D terrain. The BattleTech Great House of Leaves. Painting yellow. Lyran C3 networks. Avalyn's C3 Lyran / Merc list is: Berserker BRZ-C3 BattleMech Blackjack BJ2-OB BattleMech Gunslinger GUN-2ERD BattleMech Locust LCT-5W2 BattleMech Mongoose II MON-268 BattleMech Ostsol OTL-9R BattleMech Wolverine WVR-8C BattleMech Marauder MAD-7C BattleMech Cavalier Battle Armor [Laser] (Sqd4) Infantry DI Multipurpose Light VTOL Combat Vehicle Schrek PPC Carrier (C3M) Combat Vehicle 11 Units, 393 points  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse and Jo have a fireside chat about Aces Legacy, the new Aces-focused event coming to BattleTech convention spaces. Aces Legacy! How and what. Hobby stuff - new swords? Well, hatchets. Big Tukayyid battle coming to Monday Knights in Barrie! Recreating historical events and the dice fighting you. Playing with hero characters and making them fit in to the game. Is it weird when they can't die? Clue the movie - and Jesse is an absurdly old man. All of these are things that will slot in neatly with Aces Legacy and you should come play it with us at Adepticon!  Adepticon will hopefully have tickets for sale for Aces Legacy shortly! https://www.adepticon.org/ Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, and is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

--EXPLICIT LANGUAGE WARNING ON THIS ONE, FOLKS-- Jesse and Scott are joined by Mr. Tex of Tex Talks BattleTech from the Black Pants Legion to talk Mech7 memories, BattleTech, community, and cautionary tales regarding kitchen appliances. What exactly is the BPL? What is making fan film like? Gambling on Star Heroes. Community and creators. What made Randolph P. Checkers the way he is? The Black Knight (and the Charger!) and the real world lessons within. The logistics of space war. What the Davions are really like. Machine guns and origami - and putting butter in your iron.  Check out and support the Black Pants Legion at: https://theblackpantslegion.com/ & https://www.youtube.com/@theblackpantslegion Dan Bruins of Star Heroes fame: https://www.artstation.com/sirdubdub Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

Jesse, Scott, and Avalyn talk the holidays and how they spent them, BattleTech-wise. Scott upgraded his 3D ice-river battleground. How many minis is too many, and how should we paint them? What about decals? Where would a VTOL crash, and should those rules even matter if it's fun? Why doesn't everyone love the Somerset Strikers as much as Jesse? And why isn't more BattleTech happening in full motion video? Also has anyone tried this colour-shifting paint? Oh and oops, what about The Black Knight Video? Guess we'll have to talk about that more in next week's episode with our special guest! Photos of Avalyn's colour-shifting Falcons are available on our Discord and Facebook page!   Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Avalyn, and Jo talk Mercenaries contracts and The Hinterlands. What is the Peacekeeper for? We each have a slightly different way of looking at our ideal BattleTech gaming experience. Hinterlands and Mercenaries rules combine to make Jo's ideal BattleTech long-term engagement. How a long-term campaign differs from quick encounters. How the contracts work. How they generate stories. Love is the most important thing. And why fight at all when you can play off both sides and make the big bucks? This is our last episode for the season but we'll be back in the New Year! Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Scott, and Avalyn talk video game tie-ins and units you've never heard of. What's up with Tigress? Where does the influence come from? It's a little too army-porn for Star Wars. Some thoughts on Wolves of Tukayyid. Why make 'Mech games when you aren't in a 'Mech? What about an Elemental game? Kidnapping Chris Lowery. Think of the cool unique units and how they could be bosses. Discovering the Large Portal (Mobile Structure) - that's a very heavily armed door! BattleTech community, we have a challenge for you! Also Tripods would be pretty cool in a video game. The Roving WarDoor, as discussed: https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Large_Portal_(Mobile_Structure) Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Scott, and Paul recount the excellent adventure that was PAX Unplugged, and the North American launch of BattleTech Aces Scouring Sands! We have a road-trip adventure! Friendships with Catalyst crew are renewed before we all plunge into the fire of the con floor. We all feel proud watching those shelves empty themselves of Aces boxes. Scott becomes the man in the chair as he masters the streaming booth and Jesse all but completely solos the demo games, and people have a blast at both! Aaron, Ben, and Dan from DFA Wargaming come by to say hey in-between a bevvy of curious new players. Jesse gets to meet Jerry Holkins, delighting his inner early-20s ager. Paul seduces some security guards while Jesse and Scott do all the manual labour. On the way home, we launch a coordinated military assault on multiple Barnes & Noble stores!  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse and Scott welcome to the show Josh Derksen, Dylan Birtolo and Russell Zimmerman, the creative minds behind BattleTech Aces! While the Automated Opponent through the Aces cards is the cover model for the box for sure, these three worked hard to bring us an incredible Choose Your Own Adventure-esque campaign book that is, as Josh puts it, the party that the the Tuxedo of the cards are attending. We talk about how it came to be, what the process was like, wins that the creators are particularly proud of, and some thoughts about upcoming Aces boxes. Also, what the hell is up with Mountain Wolf BattleMechs, anyway? Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, foolishly allowed to be left to his own devices, ruminates hard on a hypothetical ultimate MechWarrior experience. We'll be back to the regular crew next week!   Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Henny, and Jo talk scenarios and scenario design! Jesse is pleased to complete his Focht's Network Pokedex by getting all of Focht's on the show. Henny is a big Mercenaries guy, but with maybe a bit of a lean towards the Northwind Highlanders. The best of scenarios tend to have multiple objectives and be super heavily themed based on stuff in the lore. Henny is responsible for writing a lot of those but an editor like Jo is a big help. Sometimes that stuff is gritty and serious, sometimes...less so. Scenario design is also affected by campaign design, and some cool stories can happen naturally as a result of playing them!  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Austin, and Scott consider how their Halloween special event scenario went. Abominations made a big splash, and do they offer interesting possibilities for classic play? Thanks to @counterpixel on Instagram for the great paint job! We also recently had the Anime North Halloween party where we ran Henny Henderson's Visitor's Pass event - guest starring Tex of the Black Pants Legion! We discuss narrative play versus more traditional, and how much it adds to the otherwise doldrums of standard fare. Some talk about the newest playtest packages. Did Autocannons get TOO buff? What's with C3 and ECM? How are feeling about the Aerotech assets? And finally, those retractable blade rules, I mean that's gotta be for Celestials, right? Are Brian Caches going to be phased out in favour of Blakist Caches? Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, it's Jesse, Austin, and Scott, and Scott is playing like a lot! What does the CV in Leopard CV stand for? BattleTech Gothic! The universe probably won't be a home for us, but Jesse and Scott like the minis. Austin a little less. It seems perfectly reasonable that they could make it, but Jesse misses the Celestials he could have had. They should have put the Abominations in! We do some hypothesizing about Rockets and Rayguns and Anime Tech - do you have to shout "PPC!" to make them fire? Use an ultrasonic cleaner and some chemical stripper to easily clean a bad paint job off of your minis! Jesse learns that Branth Riders are actually really real. The Black Marauder is great, and there are some other little horror things too. Emplacements can be fun, but not if they're too powerful. Check out mekbay.com! Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, we are joined by Focht's Network veteran and Periphery Frankenstein (the doctor, not the monster) Jo Becker from Focht's Monday Knights game at Sir Games-A-Lot in Barrie Ontario! Jo got into BattleTech the way all good hobbyists want it to happen, he walked up to a table and was intrigued! Then discovered his spirit animal in 'Mech form and was locked in for life. The Barrie game is one of a few games being held at their store that is a major centerpiece for the 'Lakeward Periphery' area. Is the Outworlds Alliance the most normal nation in the setting? What's with their pilots? Where is the video game for that, FreeSpace or Star Fox, or Ace Combat? Jo hacks up minis to make them better, sometimes just to improve poses and sometimes for cool variants. Don't use plastic cement, and green stuff is optional!  Check out some photos of Jo's kitbashing work on the Focht Hyperpulse Discord and the Focht's Network Facebook page, links below!  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse, Austin, and Scott are getting in to some of the specifics of what's happening at our tables. We are cautiously optimistic about the rule changes in the playtests so far! Scott learned to love being able to shelter a side and target it besides. Jesse is concerned about what it means for focusing on the sides instead of the back. Austin is bringing some Long Tom Cannons to Alpha Strike! That means bad things for a DropShip, but DropShips are weird on the table anyway. And what's the deal with those Samurai Pizza 'Mechs coming out? Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse and Austin welcome Paul Clarkson the founder and director of the Focht's Network Events Team to the show! For obvious reasons this one is a little Focht's coded as we talk about how Focht's got started and what it's all on about. But we also touch on some of Paul's favourites including the Waco Rangers, combined arms, the Mechnificent 7, and of course: Land-Air 'Mechs.  Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, Jesse and Scott have a lot to say that's for the birds. Scott is a Taurian because the Concordat reminds him of Canada. No one else thinks much about the Periphery. The Magistracy didn't start great but it is getting better. Airplanes are a thing in BattleTech too, they have their own game but it's rough. Exterior mounted weapons add a lot of risk/reward to the game, could they also work for BattleMechs? Say what you will about Gothic but we love those minis. And we got to play with them on streaming and live on stage at GenCon! Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, we have a few things to say about the factions we like, and the ones we don't.  Austin is a Lyran, but only because that's her earliest access to melee weapons. Jesse is a FedRat because he has a boy-like wonder for chivalry in space - but also he likes rotary autocannons. Dracs are weebs, but start getting their own swords which could throw off Austin's game. Cappies have stealth armour and are space North Korea. Mariks have money, OmniMechs, and are otherwise pretty quiet? The Clans are nuts. Jade Falcons have too many bird 'mechs, Wolves have too many Wolves, Horses have tanks and also a 'Mech that is a horse which is hilarious, but come on guys. Oh and the Scorpions are out there getting high! Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/

On this episode of The Second Circuit, we introduce ourselves as hosts so that our listeners can determine whether or not we have actually “got game.” We talk about BattleTech, how we got into it, and what we’re doing with it now as promoters and event hosts, and why it's just so ding-dong great! Some shade is thrown in the direction of James Workshop, but in a loving and understanding way. Scott went to a barber shop that was also a friendly local game store? Jesse outs himself as the author of the stupidest scenarios. Austin doesn’t like MechWarrior 5 very much. Focht's Network is affiliated with the Catalyst Demo Team and associated with Catalyst Gaming Labs, is the Events Team for Six Sides of Gaming and powered by MSI. However all opinions expressed on this show belong solely to the people expressing them and do not reflect those of any of those entities unless otherwise stated. Come find us and all the other cool things we're doing! Focht Hyperpulse Discord: https://discord.gg/8uNkRGM5Nu Focht's Network Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fochtsnetwork Six Sides of Gaming YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sixsidesofgaming Theme song 'Spacesynth' by Liborio Conti: https://www.no-copyright-music.com/