The Milestone of #25

Twenty-five issues of Shrapnel… Wow. Where does the time go?

Back when I proposed a publication that eventually became Shrapnel, the Official BattleTech Magazine, I had no idea it would catch on quite like it did among the BattleTech community. My admittedly pessimistic side kept saying “It’ll only last a handful of issues,” but goodness, was I happy to be proven wrong! If you read my introductions for each Shrapnel issue, you might recall that my one personal hope for Shrapnel was that it might someday become the longest-running BattleTech magazine, and not only is Shrapnel now a few issues beyond the twenty-one-issue highwater mark set by the venerable BattleTechnology magazine, but there fortunately seems to be no stopping the Shrapnel juggernaut!

If you’ve read any issue, then you know pretty much what to expect: stories of triumph and tragedy, might and mercy, betrothal and betrayal, politics and pathos—all of the hallmarks of solid BattleTech storytelling, written by veteran authors who have been with this line since the deep magic was written, such as the redoubtable New York Times-bestseller Michael A. Stackpole, but also by new authors whose story you read might be their very first professional publication, and Shrapnel allowed them to showcase their voice and talent. And even beyond the stories, there’s articles and transcripts and treatises that flesh out the BattleTech setting, showcasing the rich, lived-in world of the Inner Sphere and beyond; playable scenarios so you can put battles both new and historical onto your own tabletop; and much more. With our twenty-fifth issue, we’ve taken all of those wonderful goodies from a normal Shrapnel issue and doubled them.

If you like stories from veteran, fan-favorite authors, then look no further than Jason Schmetzer’s “Raider Strike,” about Payne’s Raiders, a mercenary units tasked with destroying a target that could completely shift the balance of power along the Davion–Kurita border; or Russell Zimmerman’s “A Good Death,” where rival Draconis Combine officers find themselves on opposite sides of a bitter internal conflict; or Bryan Young’s next story about the beloved Fox Patrol mercenaries, “A Cache-Strapped Fox,” followed by the aforementioned Mr. Stackpole’s next Death Kangaroos story, “A Night with a Friend.” And let’s not forget the return of the popular “Tales from the Cracked Canopy” series, with “The Warrior Stands,” by Craig A. Reed, Jr., about the dangerous reunion tour of the rock band Ded Mek! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as you’ll also find stories from other long-time BattleTech authors and contributors such as James Bixby, Giles Gammage, Chris Hussey, Daniel Isberner, Wunji Lau, and Tom Leveen, and a novella by James Kirtley and Part One of a new serial novel, The Lone Marshal, by Geoff Swift.

In celebration of this twenty-fifth-issue milestone, a lot of the articles and game features in Shrapnel #25 also celebrate various anniversaries of note in BattleTech history. For example, you’ll dive into retrospectives on the centennials for the wedding of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner, the War of 3039, the Battle of Tukayyid, the divisive-but-popular animated series known as The Somerset Strikers, the original publication of Technical Readout: 3025, and more. In fact, several systems in the Inner Sphere, particularly those near Terra, are even on the brink of their millennial festivities, but why are some folks on those planets not too keen on celebrating…? And that’s not all, because there’s more technical readouts, unit/planet digests, RPG adventures, playable tabletop scenarios, and other fun surprises in this issue than you can shake a swagger stick at!

No matter whether you’ve been here since issue #1, or if issue #25 is your very first, we’re glad to have you aboard this DropShip as we head out together for battlefields both familiar and unknown. And we hope you’ll continue the fight as we march onward to the next twenty-five issues of Shrapnel!

- Philip A. Lee, Managing Editor

You can pre-order your copy of the double-sized, milestone issue of Shrapnel #25 here!