"Hey all, it's Knightmare, your friendly neighborhood producer of the Chatterweb. I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled podcast introduction to take a quick moment and apologize for the lateness of October's episode. For those of you who don't know, I, like many others living along the Gulf Coast and in North Carolina, lost their homes to Hurricane Helene. Thankfully, myself and my family are safe, but the damage sustained from Hurricanes Helene and Milton threw a mighty big wrench in our normal production schedule, but we're back!

So, without further ado or gilding the lily, Arbitration and the Chatterweb are bringing you the last word in BattleTech."

For the Chatterweb's October episode, Arbitration is talking about new fiction, new books, new Force Packs, and BattleTech Mercenaries Kickstarter Updates. (Quick disclaimer: If you dislike game spoilers, fast forward through our next segment and go move straight to our News Desk. You were warned.) After plowing through all the awesome BattleTech newness, we move on to our in-depth review of the highly anticipated and ridiculously awesome MechWarrior 5: Clans.

Closing out this episode with the Arbitration News Desk, JPArbiter tells his origin story in, "things I promised not to tell," followed by a brief rant about raccoon cults, and wife carrying Olympics.

On a sadder note, we were devastated to learn that the Battletech community has lost another stalwart with the passing of Steven Mohan Jr. on October 23rd. Steven was a beloved author, a talented writer, and a wonderful human. May his memory be a blessing.

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

GenCon 2024 is now and it's time for the Chatterweb's second GenCon episode!

Arbitration and the Chatterweb are bringing your last word in BattleTech. For Episode #2 of GenCon 2024 we're covering all the topics we completely forgot to cover in our first episode due to distractions, general fanboying, and the sheer number of awesome things to cover. Afterwards, Mrs Arbiter will drop a little GenCon and Dungeons & Dragons history for us.

We'll wrap up this episode by shifting to the Arbitration News Desk for some late Olympics coverage, Olympics discussion, Break Dancing, and any other Olympics stories that have JPArbiter the giggles.

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

GenCon 2024 is now and it's time for the Chatterweb's first GenCon episode!

Arbitration and the Chatterweb is bringing your last word in BattleTech. For Episode #1 of GenCon 2024 we're discussing the enormous catalog of BattleTech merchandise available at the Catalyst Games Labs's booth, as well as a number of other games that have tickled our fancy.

We'll wrap up this episode with an introduction to a new segment called: Things I Promised Note to Say. As you can imagine, it was a pretty lengthy list of things I said aloud.

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

That's right folks, with GenCon right around the corner it's time for the Chatterweb's pre-game episode, and do we have a show for you!

That's right. When MrsArbiter isn't creating new colors, we'll talk about the new digital content for the BattleTech Mercenaries Kickstarter, and the new metal BattleTech miniatures from our good friends at Ironwind Metals. We also take a look at the latest MechWarrior 5: The Clans promotional material. If you haven't seen their Broadsword redesign, you're missing out. Honestly, this expansion of MechWarrior 5 has me excited for the Smoke Jaguars!

Then we have a very special sit down with long-time BattleTech author Craig Reed to talk about his latest novel: In the Shadow of the Dragon. Just released in time for GenCon, the novel tells the story of a Great House in flux.

Yori Kurita, the Dragon, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, rules her nation with an even hand and is reveling in her victories over the hated Federated Suns. Though the Dragon’s troops occupy the Suns’ capital for the first time in history, her own reign rests on a shaky foundation. Due to her checkered ancestry, many detractors call her a puppet ruler, a pretender to House Kurita’s throne, and some will stop at nothing to end her rule and take back the Combine—including eliminating anyone who gets too close to the truth.

Russell Blaylock, a detective for the Civilian Guidance Corps, has seen plenty of murder cases throughout his distinguished career. When his investigation of a murder with ties to the Palace puts him in the crosshairs of the Internal Security Force and their shadowy war of brinksmanship with agents from the rival Order of the Five Pillars, he soon draws the attention of the Coordinator herself. In a quest for the truth, Yori reactivates a long-dormant bureau, the Office of Special Investigations, and tasks Blaylock and his team of investigators and security with solving this case before the conspirators’ deadly plans can be carried out.

But the Combine’s capital brims with visitors for the celebration of the Coordinator’s anniversary, Yori’s well-equipped, well-prepared enemies could be anyone, anywhere, and they could strike when least expected. Can Blaylock and his team hunt them down before they eliminate the Coordinator and bring the Combine to its knees?

We want to thank Craig Reed for coming onto the show, and be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

Before we dive into this month's show contents, we'd like to apologize for not recording an April Podcast. Mea culpa loyal listeners. We slept for four weeks, but feel recharged, renewed, and ready to bring one hell of a May show as recompense.

This month we dive into the heavily awaited, anticipated, on the verge of landing, BattleTech Mercenaries Kickstarter, including the nothing burger fiasco of the oft derided cost of shipping. Then we're off to the magic land of video games, and the new MechWarrior 5: The Clans gameplay trailer recently dropped by Piranha Games. Switching gears we're previewing "Chandresaker Kurita's, The Art of Food," a BattleTech cookbook before jumping into Without Question, the latest BattleTech novel from the talented Bryan Young. Full disclosure, this novel made us like Clan Jade Falcon in a way we'll never forgive. All this and more in the Chatterweb's May episode. (A quick shoutout to Big Red on YouTube for the Without Question review cover art! Check out his stuff, he's a great supporter of BattleTech!)

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

A message from the man, the myth the legend: "Greetings 'Mech Fans, Duncan Fisher here, and I find myself on Terra in a place called Kansas City, where I am supposed to be interviewed by your last word in BattleTech talk. My agent assures me there will be plenty to drink, and plenty of women to keep me company." That's right, we have the incredible George Ledoux on the show.

As if Mr. Ledoux wasn't enough, BattleTech was a smashing success at Adepticon and KerenskyCon, and we were there for every second of it! This episode is chock full of news from both conventions, including the "premature" release of the highly anticipated BattleTech Encounters game, the release of the mysterious UrbanMech LAM (which will never be canonized, but is still awesome), and a slew of newly announced BattleTech fiction coming our way.

Leaving BattleTech for a second, our news desk hits on a fan favorite segment: Animals on the loose! This time it's black bears getting into places they shouldn't and kangaroos (or 'roos as they're called down under) out for a swim!

If you have some time to kill and you're up for some laughs, check out JPArbiter and XenoArbiter play MechWarrior 5.

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

"Fuzzy Bunnies Forever!"

Catalyst Game Labs is getting ready for Adepticon, one of the largest gaming conventions in North America, but that doesn't mean we're lacking in BattleTech news! This month we saw three (3) brand new pieces of BattleTech fiction released, a new DLC for MechWarrior 5 is coming (re: Smoke Jaguars), and Big Red's Epic is truly stunning in scope.

As great as this month's releases have been, we have some sad news for the BattleTech Community: a longtime community member, Kelly Bonilla, lost his battle with cancer. A MechWarrior through in through, we want to take the opportunity to reflect on WizKid's MechWarrior Dark Age & Age of Destruction. Thanks to that game this show exists. We salute you Bonilla, always be the Bunny!

We end this episode with the Arbitration News Desk, where we have a tale of Angry Raccoon Shenanigans, smelly flower bonanzas, and hot dog hullabaloos! It's all a doozy. And be sure to check out our interview with Rem Alternis Productions on Twitch. Rem is the new Marketer at CGL and she has the inside track on what's happening.

If you have some time to kill and you're up for some laughs, check out JPArbiter and XenoArbiter play MechWarrior 5.

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!

Can you believe it? We're going to hit this month's release on target. It must be a New Year! We're kicking off 2024 with a great episode brought to you by chud rage and online antics. On January 24th Catalyst Game Labs released what is arguably the most vanilla and least offensive community standards post in the history of online community moderation. Unfortunately, some really sad, angry, and very hurt folks couldn't finish the post's preamble before crying "Woke" and thumping their fists with impotent rage. We thought it might be a good idea to read the community standards in their entirety, break'em down for the listening public, and unpack the incredibly stupid drama behind the nonsense.

Oh yeah, we might also talk a little actual BattleTech while we're at it. There's some incredibly kick ass stuff slated for release in 2024, including Lance Packs, ilClan era sourcebooks and novels, the Universe book and more!

Be sure to check out our other stuff on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.

Coming at you from the Chatterweb: The Last Word in BattleTech Talk!