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The Second Circuit: A Casual BattleTech Hangout is a chill, low-intensity chat with folks from the Focht's Network Events Team about the world's greatest way do to math on charts that makes big stompy robots shoot at each other. Also sometimes planes.
Stay tuned for new episodes every Monday morning!
Episodes
5 days ago
5 days ago
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/
Monday Nov 10, 2025
Monday Nov 10, 2025
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/
Monday Nov 03, 2025
Monday Nov 03, 2025
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/
Monday Oct 27, 2025
Monday Oct 27, 2025
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/
Monday Oct 20, 2025
Monday Oct 20, 2025
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/
Monday Oct 13, 2025
Monday Oct 13, 2025
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/
Monday Oct 06, 2025
Monday Oct 06, 2025
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/
Monday Sep 29, 2025
Monday Sep 29, 2025
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/