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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
Monday Mar 02, 2026
Monday Mar 02, 2026
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/
Monday Feb 23, 2026
Monday Feb 23, 2026
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/
Monday Feb 16, 2026
Monday Feb 16, 2026
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/
Monday Feb 09, 2026
Monday Feb 09, 2026
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/
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Monday Feb 02, 2026
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/
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Monday Jan 26, 2026
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/
Sunday Jan 18, 2026
Sunday Jan 18, 2026
--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/
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Monday Jan 12, 2026
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/