Sarna News: Bad 'Mechs - Icestorm

Difference between revisions of "Stardate"

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*Three-Legged Mechs
 
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*''Hedgehog'' HdG-2B BattleMech
 
*''Hedgehog'' HdG-2B BattleMech
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*''[[Pillager]]''. This issue from 1987 featured the first BattleMech with dual AC/20's, the ''[[Pillager]]'' PLG-1N. A variant called the ''Matchmaker'' featuring Flamers is also presented.
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*''[[Pillager]]''. This issue from 1987 featured the first BattleMech with dual AC/20's, the ''[[Pillager]]'' PLG-1N. A variant called the ''Matchmaker'' MTM-4B featuring Flamers is also presented.
  
 
Pillager Discussion:
 
Pillager Discussion:

Revision as of 13:22, 18 April 2016

StardateLogo.jpg
Stardate
Product information
Type Magazine
Primary writing Various contributors
Pages varies
Cover Artwork Various artists
Interior Artwork Various artists
Illustrations Various artists
Publication information
Publisher Various (see article):
First published 1984-1987;
1988 (StarDrive)
MSRP US$ 4.00
US$ 3.50 (Vol. 3, StarDrive)
Content
Era Succession Wars era

The STARDATE magazine (always spelled in capital letters within the magazine) was a magazine initially published by FASA as a house magazine to support their Star Trek line of games. It later expanded its scope to cover other games as well, notably BattleTech.

The first issue was published for November 1984. FASA published altogether five volumes of the magazine, two of them numbered as double issues (3/4 in February 1985 and 5/6 in April 1985) for a total numbering of 7 "issues".

Beginning with issue #8 (October 1985), Associates International took over as a publisher and although the issue numbering continued, issues 9-11 are listed as "Volume 2".
Ten months after issue #11 had been published in April 1986, the magazine resurfaced for a "Volume 3" run with new numbering, now published by Reluctant Publishing Ltd., in February 1987, billing itself as "The Science Fiction Gaming Resource".
For its last issue (February 1988) the magazine was renamed "StarDrive", explicitly described as "Formerly the StarDate magazine" on the cover. Despite featuring content heavily geared towards FASA products (namely Star Trek and BattleTech), the editorial writing in StarDrive was notably critical of FASA. Reluctant Publishing Ltd. went out of business after this issue. (FASA had been publishing their own official BattleTech magazine, BattleTechnology, through Pacific Rim Publishing since 1987.)

This article is focused on the magazine's BattleTech-related content. Issues not featuring BattleTech at all are not covered here, and content relating to other game systems is omitted.

Canonicity

Stardate is not counted among the sources contributing canon to the BattleTech universe at this time.

Even during its time as a FASA house magazine, the imprint contained a disclaimer stating that the magazine's content was the author's opinion and no official rulings by FASA for their games, unless otherwise noted. Later issues were not official FASA publications anymore, but licensed third-party content (even though Vol. 3 Number 2 is announced as an "official BattleTech issue" on the cover).

As an official publication with a valid license at the time, its content can be regarded as apocryphal.

Issue 3/4

Stardate, Issue 3/4

Issue #4 featured "Before the Succession Wars", a BattleTech article by Patrick Larkin and Jordan Weisman concerning the early (in-universe) history of the BattleTech universe. It was reprinted in MechWarrior: The BattleTech Role Playing Game on pp. 3-8 under the header "A History of Human Space, 2001-3025".

Issue 3/5

  • Three-Legged Mechs
  • Hedgehog HdG-2B BattleMech
  • Pillager. This issue from 1987 featured the first BattleMech with dual AC/20's, the Pillager PLG-1N. A variant called the Matchmaker MTM-4B featuring Flamers is also presented.

Pillager Discussion:

Issue 5/6

Stardate, Issue 5/6


Volume 3 Number 1

Published February 1987. 52 Pages.

Stardate, Vol. 3 Number 1

Volume 3 Number 2

Published March 1987. 68 pages numbered 54 through 119 (plus advertisment pages without page number), continuing the page numbering from Vol. 3 Number 1.

Stardate, Vol. 3 Number 2

Volume 3 Number 3

Published May 1987.

Stardate, Vol. 3 Number 3

StarDrive

Published February 1988. 52 pages.

StarDrive

Notes

  • Since 1997, a nonfictional astronomical magazine is published under the title "StarDate" that has no connections with FASA, BattleTech, or gaming.

References

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