The Basket Run: Part 7

Just a quick reminder: Part 8 is where the audio gets better.

17 to 01: The Devil in the Dark

"Devil in the Dark" feels a bit like "Man Trap," but it gives Spirk a big shot in the arm, gives us the opportunity to discuss the logarithmic scale of aging, and how hard it is for Horta to break into Hollywood.

Derek is still not sold on Shatner's acting.

17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 01:00 AM CT and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. We're also amazingly on Stitcher.

TRO: 3087 - Jenner

3087 is a Battletech alternate universe where The Jihad never happened. Instead, political fracturing continues in the wake of the technological and military upheavals of the 3050's. Its history is told through the pages and designs of TRO: 3087. With any luck this series will be the last anyone hears about 3087.

Believe it or not, there's actually quite a bit of padding for this; I just forgot to queue things up last week. 

Jenner JR8-12D

Overview

The initial few months of the Diamond Shark mission through the Federated Suns was only marginally successful. The Suns didn’t consider the traveling clanners successful and harbored resentment over their hoarding intelligence from their trip through the Capellan Confederation. The Diamond Sharks considered a significant deal with the Federated Suns as potentially injurious to their next stop; The Federated Hellfire Territories. 

A bar brawl with with a member of the Davion Guards resulted in a formal trial and the Spheroid’s valor in battle earned the respect of the Sharks.

A number of trade deals were formed, but none more important than a refit of the Jenner. Licensed as part of the peace deal from the fighting with the Draconis Combine two years earlier, it had been reviled by AFFS mechwarriors. The redesign had to make a ‘Mech already beloved in The Combine indispensable to the Federated Suns.

The Diamond Sharks provided advanced pulse lasers and some technical tweaks from the Jenner IIC, allowing field testing of the D12 just a few months later.

Wooing Stephen Fry

The Basket Run: Part 6

17 to 01: A Taste of Armageddon

One of the most iconic episodes. Derek and I spend so long talking about whether Kirk seduces Mea 3 or not. I'm still leaning towards not.

I was thinking Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Also, I want to note that as of today, 17 to 01 is available on iTunes. It updates Thursdays at 0100 hrs and Friday nights at 8:30 PM ET / 9:30 CT. It's starting at "The Cage," so it'll take a while to catch up.

Oh...

Uh, okay. Thanks, France.

Ash vs. Evil Dead: He says the things

We're all sad it's not S-Mart. We'll move on.

The Best Superpower

So Terry and I are currently planning more Mana, Commentary, and Carnage. So look forward to that on some wild Monday in August (September?).

I was thinking about this io9 article about the best superpower. Alright, it's the superpower that would make you basically unstoppable.

That's worth thinking about "basically unstoppable" could be the unyielding ability to produce North Face jackets and ugg boots. The Juggernaut's power is literally being unstoppable. Doom is unstoppable because of his iron will. The Purple Man can bend almost any person to his will. Wolverine and Deadpool are really, really hard to kill. I'm sure there are DC examples.

What one power could make a person as omni-potent as Doctor Doom? As influential as Zebediah Killgrave? As immortal as Deadpool?

The Basket Run: Part 5

17 to 01: Return of the Archons

We talk about another "white" villain and the opposition of order and freedom.

TRO: 3087 - Commando

3087 is a Battletech alternate universe where The Jihad never happened. Instead, political fracturing continues in the wake of the technological and military upheavals of the 3050's. Its history is told through the pages and designs of TRO: 3087. With any luck this series will be the last anyone hears about 3087. 

COM-3M Commando

Overview
Whenever Senate forces razed the Eagle factory on Paradise, the Free Worlds League Captain faction was suddenly facing a shortage of solid recon ‘Mechs. Rebuilding the factory was considered a priority, but a fall-off in Capellan trade made planners hesitate to resume Eagle production.

Fortunately, the Gibson raid of 3071 had yielded aborted plans for a Word of Blake Commando, a design once exclusive to the Lyran Commonwealth. After minor retooling with native technologies, the once-exclusively Lyran design became a FWLM mainstay.

The LCAF, hard-up for a reliable source of their own Commandos, have taken to buying the -2M with a refit kit. The sales have more than made up for the lost Capellan market.

Gravity Light 2

Gravity Light indiegogo page.

The Basket Run: Part 4

17 to 01: Space Seed

Kaaaaaaaaan?

TRO: 3087 - Phoebus

PO-11T Phoebus

Overview
The existence of the Phoebus, and much of the resultant war industry of The Federated Hellfire Territories, exists thanks to wunderkind John Smiths. Tired of the stuffy hierarchy at The New Avalon Institute of Science in the early sixties, Smiths left research and took his ideas to private corporations for application.

ComStar intercepted him attempting to contact The Word of Blake and their intercession won him a pet project at a struggling outback manufacturer. A year later and millions over budget, the first Phoebus walked off the factory line.

Smiths' research was vital to the discovery of advanced missile systems in the Federated Suns just a few years later. While the original Phoebus carried the same missile systems used in the Inner Sphere for centuries, it was built for easy conversion to the advanced systems. The Phoebus chassis itself was easily scaled to serve as a base for similar ‘Mechs like the Staff, Archangel, Seraph, and Oracle, which are considered mainstays of the FHTCA, AFFS, and FWLM today.

I'm Such a Nerd

These videos were made eight years ago and I'm still so blown away by them.

I don't even play Halo.

You were thinking, "Kris doesn't post audio/video content on Mondays"

Yes he does.

...approximately once a month.

...provided people like it.

...given we can get extras to do guest voices. I have exactly one Australian accent before that situation gets dire.

Attributions:
This program was recorded using a Blue Snowball microphone and edited using Audacity. It describes a game of Magic: the Gathering, which is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
Sounds were provided in exchange for attribution by freesound.com and are individually listed below:
awakening_mummy_1.wav by reinsamba 
Cartoon Laugh by JohnsonBrandE
werewolf attacck 1 by Bernuy
Angry Growl by Matvej
Deep Monster Roar.wav by MisterSegev
fire2.wav by tc630 (not recommended)
panic.wav by Erdie
Marching.wav by WebbFilmsUK
SoundScape Two_Thrill by FreddyFool
Eternity.wav by Keygenerator
None of the above endorse this podcast in any way.

The Basket Run: Part 3

My mic input was too high so I had to rebalance Derek  and Skryim nearly off the audio.

Future audio and editing are much, much better...starting at part ten.

17 to 01: Tomorrow is Yesterday

This is such a good episode, but it suffers for the fact that America has seen a lot of time travel stories since then.

Battletech Heaps: Future Technology

Whether it's for nostalgia or novelty, Wednesdays are the days that I put up old Battletech house rules I created nigh on 10 years ago. For those of you who aren't familiar with the (in)famous, addictive board game of armored combat, I'll add some context, but know that you should abandon all non-courier fonts, ye who enter here.

Nominees
Plasma Ball: A slow-moving ball of charged EM energy, it is actually drawn to strong EM signatures. It is a medium-sized weapon that does moderate damage(relative to its size and tech) and is innately difficult to hit with(because of its speed), but it can seek and home in on any 'mech with emitted electronics (ECM in use, BAP, Artemis IV, TAG in use, C3, Lasers in use).

Double-Lock Missiles: Much like the LRMs in Mechwarrior games, they gain a non-cumulative +1 bonus to hit a target on a turn after they've hit that target. Artemis IV and NARC compatible.