Stardate
Sarna News
 | Apocryphal Product Although the subject of this article is an official BattleTech product, it does not meet the current criteria for Canon. Its content may or may not be canonical for the BattleTech universe, and for the purpose of the Sarna.net BattleTechWiki is considered apocryphal. |
| 280px | |
| Stardate | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Magazine |
| Primary writing | Various contributors |
| Pages | varies |
| Cover Artwork | Various artists |
| Illustrations | Various artists |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | FASA (1-7) Associates International (8-11, "Vol. 2") Reluctant Publishing Ltd. (Vol. 3, 1-6; StarDrive) |
| First published | 1984-1987; 1988 (StarDrive) |
| Content | |
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, now 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). FASA, meanwhile, has begun publishing their own official BattleTech magazine, BattleTechnology, through Pacific Rim Publishing since 1987. 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.
This article is focused on the magazine's BattleTech-related content. Issues not featuring BattleTech at all are not covered, and content relating to other game systems is omitted here.
Issue 5/6
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Volume 3 Number 1
- BattleMech Tech: The Flea (writeup and game stats for the FLE-15 Flea)
- Inventive Ordnance: Krupps Invicta LSW MKII 'Slayer' (grenade launcher description and MechWarrior (RPG) stats)
- Technical Readout: 3025 presentation
StarDrive
- BattleMech Tech: A Muster of Mini-'Mechs - Six Ultralight BattleMech Designs
- Inventive Ordnance: Mine Warfare
- Technical Readout: 3026 & House Kurita (The Draconis Combine) presentation
- House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth) & BattleTech Manual: The Rules of Warfare review/presentation
Canonicity
Stardate is not counted among the sources contributing canon to the BattleTech universe at this time.
During its time as a FASA house magazine, Stardate touched upon what was to become BattleTech only once (in issue #5/6). Even then, 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 no official FASA publication 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.
Credited Contributors
- (only regarding BattleTech-related content)
Notes
- Since 1997, a nonfictional astronomical magazine is published under the title "StarDate" that has no connections with FASA, BattleTech, or gaming.
References