It’s been a little while since we’ve seen new gameplay from Harebrained Schemes’ Kickstarter-funded strategy game based on the Battletech series, however they’ve over the holiday with some hot mech on mech action.

While the new fisting action isn’t currently fully implemented in the game, Harebrained have taken the lid off with the melee combat. “Once you’re close enough to punch someone, punching should usually be the right thing to do (or at the very least, it shouldn’t ever be the wrong thing to do),” design lead Kiva Maginn said in the update.

“There are a few reasons for this, mostly having to do with the speed and intensity of battles. When battles get in close, it’s not all that much fun to spin in circles around each other, trying to get a good back-shot but otherwise standing mostly in one place. I wanted the final stage of a battle, when ‘Mechs are in spitting distance of each other, to be brutal and decisive. Once you’re that close, the fight’s about to be over one way or another.”

Maginn went further into explaining the melee combat and its development, saying they’re working on balancing the complex attacks, the rate of head shots (which naturally cripple your opponents), and how it even looks from a visual perspective.

It’s worth pointing out that all mechs can melee in the game, and the damage will consistently be high. You can even perform a devastating melee attack from the air, which Harebrained appropriately dubs the “Death From Above” attacks.

Finally, Harebrained gave an update on the overall progress of the game, which they say is “tracking well towards our Kickstarter Backer Beta target.” The combat itself has reached an alpha state (while the multiplayer and story campaign aren’t there yet). The developer is “rapidly expanding from that foundation, with development of the Mercenary sim-game, story campaign, cinematics, and multiplayer.”