Blacknova / Matt Alexander
CONTACT – Blacknova@ourbattletech.com
LIVES IN – Australia – Murwillumbah (north of Byron Bay)
I live in Murwillumbah, 30 min north of Byron Bay on Australia’s East Coast. When not immersed in trying to play god to my minions, I split my time between my business – a heritage and archaeological consultancy – and Rugby Union. Somewhere between Rugby and BattleTech I find time to bow to the whims of Magestrix Kyalla Centrella. Yes, it’s so very Canopian, the player who has the role of the Magestrix in bed with the GM. However, Andrea gets no special treatment. I have played BT for 20 years and Rugby for 28, meaning that at 33, I am a curious mix of super nerd and beer swilling, womanising rugby tool. Other then that, there is precious little time for much else with our wedding fast approaching. My game design experience is mainly from my own tinkering, BT being the main focus, but I have also made systems for the Cold War, Naval combat in several eras, Samurai Warfare and Ancient Greece and Rome. My writing started with a piece call Of Tribes and Trowels on the BT fan Fiction site and remains unfinished as one day the story of the Kapteyn Universe jumped into my head from start to finish. From that point on, I have been unable to stop it.
Knightmare / Joshua Perian
CONTACT – Knightmare@ourbattletech.com
LIVES IN – Tampa Bay, FL – USA
I moved to Tampa Bay from the east coast of Florida (Boca Raton if you’re familiar) for (censored) – Damn Wobbies – reasons. Somewhere between (formerly) owning a Craft Brewery, project managing, writing, and being a product developer for Catalyst Game Labs’s BattleTech, I find time to indulge my other bad habits – namely football (soccer), gardening, and hobbying. While I’m a life-long fan of the first Star League, I do enjoy Wobbie tendencies. Like Blacknove, I am a curious mix of super nerd and beer swilling, cigar-smoking football hooligan. When my nose isn’t in a book or in front of the screen, I’m probably up to no good. My game design methods draw mainly from canon sources, i.e. sourcebooks. I tend to approach BattleTech from a genuine “lets connect the dots here folks” perspective of an academic. My designs and story lines follow a natural, pre-existing order based on publish canonized facts. While I may not be the most fanciful of writers, I’m certainly one of the most thorough and easily believed. My experience in online community building is extensive. Besides OurBattleTech.com, I’ve built forums and blogging communities for universities and private companies. While I try to follow tried and true methods, sometimes my BattleTech sites become test beds for my creativity, (not always a good thing!) which I will try to curtail here.
Klinktastic / Eric Klink
CONTACT – Klinktastic@ourbattletech.com
LIVES IN – Schaumburg, IL, USA
I’m a 26 year old living in Schaumburg, IL. Grew up playing soccer, which I still play. Went to the University of Illinois Urbana – Champaign, were I received a Bachlor’s and Master’s in Accountancy. I’m a CPA and did a two year stint as a public accountant as an external auditor of financial statements. I just transitioned to private industry as an internal auditor for a Fortune 500 company. Gaming wise, I’m the triple threat of gaming, RPGs, Tabletop strategies, and videogames. RPG-wise I’ve played all forms of DnD, Shadowrun, and Vampire. Table top strategy games I’ve played Warhammer fantasy and 40k, Flames of War, and obviously Battletech. For videogames, I’m big into Modern Warfare, Total War Series, Mass Effect Series, and MMOs (currently playing Star Wars Galaxies until Star Wars the Old Republic comes out). I love strategy and strategy games and that’s why I want to bring my experiences to the web to be shared.
MechRat / Matt Stewart
CONTACT – Mechrat@ourbattletech.com
LIVES IN – Outside of Waterbury, CT, USA
I started playing BattleTech in 1984 while in High School with my friends. Being an avid player of D&D, Champions, Aftermath, and other RPGs, this was a big shift for me in playing style. It wasn’t very long before I was designing ‘Mechs with pencil and paper and purchasing miniatures – otherwise known in BT circles as “metal crack”. Over the years, especially after getting married and having kids, I stopped playing BattleTech. However I never gave up on the game itself, continuing to purchase sourcebooks and reading novels, hoping to keep up with the universe as it developed.
Then, lo and behold, six years ago I find the Internet and the wonderful sites that are found there. In a short time I signed up on several sites, one of which was Solaris7. There I happened to meet Knightmare who had favorably commented on my first posted ‘Mech design. It is because of him that I am here now and for that I owe him a tremendous amount of thanks. He led me to the original Star League Core and showed me other ways to enjoy the BattleTech universe without playing the game. My eyes were opened to a whole new world and it was not long thereafter that I became involved with the development of the Shattered Dawn AU. I had finally found a niche in which I could enjoy BattleTech and help it grow and attract new fans.
Other than my love for BattleTech, I now manage to play D&D every so often, cramming it somewhere in my hectic life with a lovely wife, four kids and work.