14 replies to this topic

[Cho Arrim]

Hello

First, I didnt quite know where I should put this post so I will try here

Anywho I have never in my 30 year old life tried a mechwarrior game, didnt event know it existed, and then I watched as Total Biscuit was playing this game on his channel and I must have watched that 3-4times. This game looked incredible and I just had to try it out.

Long story short; I bought some premium time and are running around in my shiny cataphract and having a SUCH a good time with this game! I mean the smoke effects on the down mechs, the cockpit rocking like cray when you are struck with missiles, the flow of the game is just incredible.

I just have to give you, the devs, a huge hug for making this awsome game and I really hope this game will continue to grow. Great work!

Now to a little question; I would like to learn more about the mechwarrior universe and I was wondering if you can give me some tips on where to start reading about it? would prefer if the text is written in a book

[ShockATC]

Actually, there are a LOT of books But i know those books only with there german title...
There was also a Cartoon series. Oh and dont forget about the TableTop Game.

Edit: i found a list of those books, enjoy: http://www.sarna.net...ttleTech_novels

Edited by ShockATC, 03 September 2013 - 10:25 PM.

[Rengakun]

Well... http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page

MechWarrior is part of the BattleTech Universe. BattleTech is a Table-Top RPG made by FASA Corporation in the 80's.

I can't really think of anything more to say, so here are some links:

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Star_League

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Inner_Sphere

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Clans

[Kukulza]

Well, there are tons of books to start, but if you're impatient, there's always http://www.sarna.net.

Looks like I got beat to the Sarna punch. Meh.

Edited by Kukulza, 03 September 2013 - 10:29 PM.

[Dalziel Hasek Davion]

BattleTech started life as a tabletop wargame in the 1980s (now referred to by the two-letter epithet "TT" and by the name "Classic Battletech"). The game is still available - the last edition was the 25th anniversary edition (2011), but there are four editions before that. Most of the boxed sets come with an introduction to the BattleTech universe.

Backgrounds on the 'Mechs themselves are contained in the Technical Readouts which are sorted by year/era. Search for "Battletech technical readout 3025", for example. Pictures of 'Mechs, stock loadout, some info on variants. The 3025 book has the standard designs for inner sphere 'Mechs at the end of the 3rd succession war. The 3050 book has the basic clan 'Mechs. These two are probabably the most important.

The wargame spawned a number of associated products. The novels are very common and there are hundreds of them - it's difficult to know where to start. There was a collection of short stories and artwork called "Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere" that might be a nice introduction to the art and stories if you can track it down. I got a copy cheap from a games convention recently.

The Mechwarrior role-playing game has been around for decades, through a number of editions, and there are dozens of books for that, too. Because it's a role-playing setting, it had to flesh out much more of the background material - although it was less focused on 'Mechs. "A Time of War" is the latest and the 4th edition of the rules.

The cream of the crop for detailed background (Inner sphere prior to the 4th succession war) are the old "House" books; House Davion, House Kurita, House Liao, House Marik and House Steiner. They are rare now - but for the serious Battletech buff - it's a "must collect". You would need to augment these with the "20 year update" which takes the game from 3030 to 3050, the cusp of the Clan Invasion. Then "The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky" which details the Clans, their history, culture and background.

It's a richly documented universe. I hope these are some ideas of where to start.

[Johnny Marek Summers]

Well the TL,DR version is humans discover FTL, spread across the universe as one huge space empire, single space empire breaks apart into five smaller space empires, centuries of fighting... and that's where we are about now.

[Redshift2k5]

Welcome aboard! I'm glad to see that the total biscuit stream brought in so many new players!

MWO is a complicated game, if you have any questions please feel free to ask!

[Koniving]

Cho Arrim, on 03 September 2013 - 10:07 PM, said:

Hello

First, I didnt quite know where I should put this post so I will try here

Anywho I have never in my 30 year old life tried a mechwarrior game, didnt event know it existed, and then I watched as Total Biscuit was playing this game on his channel and I must have watched that 3-4times. This game looked incredible and I just had to try it out.

Long story short; I bought some premium time and are running around in my shiny cataphract and having a SUCH a good time with this game! I mean the smoke effects on the down mechs, the cockpit rocking like cray when you are struck with missiles, the flow of the game is just incredible.

I just have to give you, the devs, a huge hug for making this awsome game and I really hope this game will continue to grow. Great work!

Now to a little question; I would like to learn more about the mechwarrior universe and I was wondering if you can give me some tips on where to start reading about it? would prefer if the text is written in a book

You'd have loved it more in closed beta, with the DX11 and higher fidelity. Hopefully that comes back.

If you want a brief overview of what's going on, there's this post and the one shortly down below it with videos that give you the history.
http://mwomercs.com/...ior-battletech/
With some thought, one can dream about the upcoming community warfare.

[Sadistic Savior]

Cho Arrim, on 03 September 2013 - 10:07 PM, said:

Now to a little question; I would like to learn more about the mechwarrior universe and I was wondering if you can give me some tips on where to start reading about it? would prefer if the text is written in a book

If you are ADHD: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page
An excellent wiki with great overviews on the history and technology of the MW universe. For book summaries I would go to Amazon instead, but for specific subjects, this is a great site. It composites information from all the table-top game sourcebooks as well as the novels.

But what you should really do is read the novels. They will give a much better feel for the universe. You will not want to read ALL of them...I would start with the Clan era and stick to Clan books, then go back and read the rest later if you want. (I have read all the pre-Clan books, so I believe I can say this...pre-Clan was not all that interesting for the most part IMO).

Start with these:

- Wolves on the border
This is more of a prelude to the Clan era than anything else. It documents the appearance of Wolf's Dragoons and how they freaked everyone out showing up with pristine mechs with advanced technology. At the time this was published, no one knew anything about the Clans, so they were a mystery.

Blood of Kerensky Trilogy:
- Lethal Heritage
- Blood Legacy
- Lost destiny
These books document the first contact with the Clans, when the Inner Sphere thought they were so weird that they might actually be aliens. The writing is a bit sloppy IMO (The Clan characters occasionally use contractions), but Stackpole is one of the better writers in the series, and his stories are complex and engaging. many of the characters are pre-Clan, like Natasha Kerensky, probably the most famous character in the franchise, who we now find out was Clan all along.

Legend of the Jade Phoenix:
- Way of the Clans
- Bloodname
- Falcon Guard
This trilogy is probably the best Battletech books written so far. They give lots of details on the life and customs of the Clans. They introduce one of the best characters in the entire franchise (mechwarrior Joanna). This is probably the best writing I have seen so far in the Battletech universe.

Then follow with:
- Wolf Pack
- Bred for War
- I am Jade Falcon
- Star Lord
- Malicious Intent
- Impetus of war

Then the Twilight of the Clans series.
- Exodus Road
- Grave Covenant
- The Hunters
- Freebirth
- Sword and Fire
- Shadows of War (documents the annihilation of Clan Smoke Jaguar)
- Prince of Havoc
- Falcon Rising

Then these:
- Flashpoint
- Measure of a Hero
- Path of Glory
- Test of Vengeance
- Patriots and Tyrants
- Call of Duty
- Initiation to War
- The Dying Time
- Storms of Fate
- Imminent Crisis
- Operation Audacity
- Endgame
Most of these novels include the Clans as a part of the Inner sphere, so they are all basically Clan books even when not focused on the Clans.



After this, the "good" era of Battletech comes to an end. The stories continue with the Dark Age books, which I particularly don't care for. If you want a complete list in Chronological order, go here: http://www.stargazer..._novel_list.htm

Wikipedia has pretty good summaries of all the novels as well - http://en.wikipedia....ttleTech_novels

Edited by Sadistic Savior, 04 September 2013 - 08:37 AM.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Sadistic Savior, on 04 September 2013 - 08:11 AM, said:

After this, the "good" era of Battletech comes to an end. The stories continue with the Dark Age books, which I particularly don't care for. If you want a complete list in Chronological order, go here: http://www.stargazer..._novel_list.htm

Ghost War wasn't to bad, but it was written by Stackpole so YMMV

[Cho Arrim]

Thank you so much for all your tips! Nice to see that the community is so helpfull!
Really looking forward to my next game

[qki]

and of course no one links the actual game...


bg.battletech.com

home of the battletech boardgame, that is responsible for creating the frenchise. Good choice with the 'phract, that's a solid mech.

[Hammerhai]

Saga of the Gray Death Legion I personally quite enjoyed. It involves the discovery of an enormous hoard of Lost Tech.
The books about Aidan Pryde Legend of the Jade Phoenix Trilogy.

[qki]

mixing things up, I like the Dark Age book, Patriot's Stand. Set on the planet Alkalurops, though it should really be called planet Akirakurosawa

[Caviel]

I recommend the Grey Death Legion books first, as they are a great primer into how the mechanics of the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe works. The Death's Hand Brigade is actually patterned after the GDL since we can't actually be the GDL, many of us already have a soft spot for these novels:

Decision at Thunder Rift
Mercenary's Star
The Price of Glory

I would recommend the "Warrior" trilogy of books next, as they are a backdrop to the technological advances, political climate, and inner workings leading up to the timeframe of this game from the Davion point of view:

Warrior: En Guarde
Warrior: Riposte
Warrior: Coupe

These are "Stackpole" novels, via the author's name. Good novels, although overly dramatic/fluffy with the combat descriptions and the science side of things (Lasers vaporizing armor, engines going supernova which fusion engines wouldn't do, etc).

The era of this game is just before the invasion of the Clans, self-exiles from the Inner Sphere's past with a warrior-first mindset and the ultimate goal of conquest of the Inner Sphere and re-unification under the genetically engineered/caste system of the Clans for the "good of all." A good primer into the Clan way of doing things is the Jade Phoenix trilogy:

Way of the Clans
Bloodname
Falcon Guard

One of the things you'll find is that there are no "good" and "bad" sides in the BattleTech universe, just a whole lot of differing viewpoints. Sarna.net is the big wiki resource for technical and information details, although much is omitted due to content restrictions in lieu of the actual printed BattleTech rule/lore books and novels.

There's a lot to the BattleTech universe, and this doesn't even include the giant stompy robot aspect!