10 replies to this topic

[Xelaxela333]

Hello MWO forums
I have been playing tabletop games and mechwarrior video games for a long time now. I feel like an ***** because it was only recently that I found out that my interests overlapped and battletech is a tabletop mini game. I looked it up and am definitely interested, but I am so confused.
I don't have the starter box, but I downloaded all of the free pdfs. on the site. I know some of the rules but have some questions.

1) Is the game fun? Will I be bored? the rules themselves seem rather vanilla. . . I only really have one person that will play it with me, and he might not have the patience for all the rules and little technical details. How does the system perform in terms of actual fun?

2) I am completely new to battletech. Which rulebooks do I need? there's so many that I don't even know where to start... theres so many, and then theres different versions of each one, different years and things, and I have no clue what any of it means. Can someone clear this up for me??

Thanks guys. Iappreciate your answers!

- Alex

[Wrayeth]

Xelaxela333, on 04 June 2012 - 02:44 AM, said:

1) Is the game fun? Will I be bored? the rules themselves seem rather vanilla. . . I only really have one person that will play it with me, and he might not have the patience for all the rules and little technical details. How does the system perform in terms of actual fun?

Personally, I find it extremely fun and not boring at all. It can get a bit crazy at times, even, especially with crit rolls for things like ammo explosions and the like. It does take a bit of time to play the average match, however, so be aware of that going in. Also, be aware that this is not Warhammer and you're not going to be fielding massive armies as a.) a match with 20 units per side will take a very long time, and b.) a mech is an army all by itself.

Quote

2) I am completely new to battletech. Which rulebooks do I need? there's so many that I don't even know where to start... theres so many, and then theres different versions of each one, different years and things, and I have no clue what any of it means. Can someone clear this up for me??

Let me preface this by stating there are four levels of technology in Battletech, each with increasingly complex rules. The first is introductory - this is your standard Succession Wars aka 3025 technology after the Successor States nearly bombed each other back to the Stone Age. The next level is "standard" or tournament legal tech. This is basically the level of technology you will find during the Clan Invasion and FedCom Civil War eras, as the Inner Sphere rediscovers much of the lost technology of the Star League. The next level is "advanced rules" - basically, standard tech with some additions such as artillery and warships thrown in. Finally, there's experimental tech, which pretty much describes itself.

Now, this may sound like a lot, but it's really not much of a hassle - most people don't use much in the way of advanced or experimental tech (with the exception of artillery, which is still uncommon in a quick pick-up game).

To start off, you'll need the Introductory Boxed Set - this covers introductory tech and rules, provides you with over 20 plastic miniatures (with record sheets for them), two double-sided cardboard mapsheets, and, in short, introduces you to the game. It contains everything you need to play Battletech in the Succession Wars/3025 era.

Technical Readout (aka TRO): 3039 has additional introductory tech units, variants of said units, and vehicles, and is a good companion to the boxed set. You can also get Record Sheets: 3039 for the mech and vehicle record sheets. (Basically, the TROs have the actual stats for the various units in Battletech. EDIT: You don't need them if you have the Record Sheets or a program like Solaris Skunkwerks, though they provide the fluff background for a given mech and generally enough information to write up your own record sheet.)

When (and if) you're ready to move into standard tech, pick up Total Warfare. Total Warfare contains the base rules for ALL of Battletech and additional supplements only build on it from there.

TRO: 3050 Upgrade has the standard tech upgrades for most of the mechs presented in 3039 as the Inner Sphere struggles to retool their arsenals with rediscovered tech to fight the Clans. TRO: 3050U also introduces the Clans for the first time and has the basic list of the most common front-line Clan Omnimechs. Record Sheets: 3050U has the record sheets for said units if you don't want to write out or print your own (more on this later).

Another TRO I'd like to mention really quick is 3058 Upgrade. If it turns out you like vehicles, this one has the upgrades for the vehicles from TRO: 3039. It also has a bunch of new mechs and the first Inner Sphere omnis.

When you're comfortable with the standard rules, you may want to take a look at Tactical Operations. Tac Ops is an "everything and the kitchen sink" kind of rulebook, which covers a LOT of additional gameplay options such as environmental conditions (ever wanted to fight a battle in the midst of a howling blizzard or on deadly lava fields?), optional rules that expand upon or modify gameplay (floating crits are awesome, as is expanded backwards movement), and also experimental technologies.

Tech Manual is exactly that: mech and vehicle construction rules for standard tech if you want to design your own units.

Finally, as far as core rulebooks go, Strategic Operations has the rules for warships. It also has a streamlined version of the game called Battleforce to allow you to fight larger conflicts, rules for salvaging and customizing units, and also miniatures rules if you don't want to use hex maps.

To summarize:

For intro tech, get the Introductory Boxed Set and TRO: 3039.
For standard tech, add Total Warfare and TRO: 3050 Upgrade

Everything else is optional, and even the standard tech stuff isn't needed if you don't want to move beyond the introductory rules set.

One additional note: there are two sets of software out there that will help you print out record sheets and design and modify units.

The first is the official Heavy Metal software. If you buy the whole package, it will cover pretty much every unit in the game from battlemechs to warships. However, Heavy Metal is somewhat out of date and some of the newer tech doesn't work properly in it.

The second is Solaris Skunkwerks. This is an open source project from a third party and not an official program. It only works for battlemechs and does not cover vehicles at all. Many people prefer it since it is a.) up to date, b.) generally works properly for all types of tech, and c.) is free. (This is what I personally use.)

Hope this helps!

Edited by Wrayeth, 04 June 2012 - 07:30 AM.

[Xelaxela333]

What about models? I know Iron wind metals has models but looking at the record sheets and looking through the lists of mechs on megamek, There's about a billion different versions of each mech. Is this a wYSIWYG kind of game? Because I think if it is it'd be very difficult to match models to record sheets. Also, how would models work in terms of making your own mechs?

[Arctic Fox]

BattleTech is definitely not WYSIWYG. You can proxy miniatures with anything if you wish, including miniatures of other 'Mechs or even (unless you're using miniature rules) completely unrelated objects. Most people prefer to use minis of the same unit as much as possible, or at least as close to it as possible, but it's not necessary.

Besides that, to add to what Wrayeth said. Getting the TROs is not absolutely required to use the units in them. They're excellent for the art and fluff, but they don't usually contain gameplay rules, so as long as you have the record sheets (Either from the official PDFs or a program like SSW) and the rulebooks you will be able to use them.

Also, if you find the base game too slow, Strategic Operations has a game system called Quick-Strike which sort of combines BattleTech scale with the BattleForce game system. It's not nearly as detailed as the standard game, but it plays a lot faster.

Edited by Arctic Fox, 04 June 2012 - 06:19 AM.

[Wrayeth]

Xelaxela333, on 04 June 2012 - 06:07 AM, said:

What about models? I know Iron wind metals has models but looking at the record sheets and looking through the lists of mechs on megamek, There's about a billion different versions of each mech. Is this a wYSIWYG kind of game? Because I think if it is it'd be very difficult to match models to record sheets. Also, how would models work in terms of making your own mechs?

Iron Wind makes all of the minis for Battletech, so they're the place to go. While each base mech chassis has several variants, they're usually all represented by the same mini (i.e. the Atlas AS7-D and the Atlas AS7-S2 both use the same model). Some people will kit-bash their minis to match the exact appearance of the variant they're fielding, but it's not necessary. For that matter, as long as all of the players agree, you don't even need to bring the correct miniature for what you're fielding. You could bring a Commando and call it an Atlas if you wanted to field an Atlas but didn't have the mini.

As far as making your own mechs, you could either kit-bash something together from the parts of other minis or just designate one of your existing models as the specific custom mech during the game.

EDIT: Bah. Arctic Fox beat me to it. Also, good catch on not even needing the TROs unless you want them - I should have mentioned that in the original post. I've edited that in to make it clear.

Edited by Wrayeth, 04 June 2012 - 06:24 AM.

[Xelaxela333]

kitbashing a mech sounds fun. I will definitely check out the programs for making sheets. Would either of you help me get the hang of the game system with megamek?

[Arctic Fox]

Sure. I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I can try.

[Xelaxela333]

alright. PM'ed you about it. I think I'll like the system

[Neovenator]

Before you go out and buy anything, take the downloaded Quick Start Rules from the website and play through it. It gives you the basic rules, a small mapsheet, paper units (to fold and tape together) and simple record sheets. That way you can play for very low cost (just the printing of a few pages).

As mentioned previously, you don't need the metal minatures to play, altough very nice they are not required. Only in the newer release of the board game box set have they started giving away plastic miniatures, previously (and in my old boxed set) all we got were cardboard cutouts and platic stands for mechs, like this....



These are what I learned to play battletech with and they worked perfectly fine.

Also hunt around online, you should be able to find a program to design your ouwn mechs and produce record sheets for free (many have canon units already included) and there are a few websites where units are described in full as well.

Hope you try the TableTop game and enjoy it.

Edited by Neovenator, 05 June 2012 - 08:12 AM.

[Vermaxx]

The number one answer to both of your questions is: Friends make all the difference.

If you have a good crew of players, BTech is fun. If not, no game is fun. If you run it in a semi-roleplay scenario having a skilled GM is KEY. As people have said all you need is some printed hex maps (or a generic hex map superimposed onto any real world or drawn terrain, and assigned height values) and anything to use as a mech. Having a ton of minis is great, but you can use anything from the carboard stands, to Warhammer miniatures, to Mechs built out of LEGO. Getting a hex shaped base for whatever you use is a benefit (if you can) because sometimes facing gets mistaken.

As far as rules, get some cheat sheets printed out. There are a billion rules and most of them don't come up if you aren't going hardcore into the fluff or technical aspects. Learning to-hit rolls and modifiers is the most important thing. It can be tedious, especially once you see that low level pilots have a hard time moving AND hitting at the same time. However, the rules are very well done for simulating giant robot battles and stressing maneuvering and planning over bringing the best points value army to the table.

As Wrayeth said, this is a small unit game. With several players, each person is generally their own mech. I've never done one on one. If you'd like to play with more people and there is a hobby/miniatures game store in your area (HOBBY, not JUST Games Workshop) go down and see if they have a BTech day or players they can put you in touch with. I personally think the game is much better when players are either a small cohesive unit fighting another small cohesive unit, or fighting an NPC enemy controlled by one person. A bunch of people vs a bunch of people; or two people with a bunch of mechs seems less 'civilized' to me for some reason.

For just starting out I'd get some 3025 stuff. The tech is relatively simple, there are no horrendous overpowered clan weapons or tech, and generally the scarier the weapon, the more mech room it takes. I also recommend BattleMech Designer. It had options for every tech level, default mechs, and even let you modify existing designs or 'ground up' a mech. There is nothing wrong with taking stuff directly out of the books though, there are plenty of PDF sheets you can fill out and print, or just print and fill out. Taking right out of the book simplifies things considerably and doesn't require you to have a degree in 'mechology' just to play a few table games. However, BMD can print out stat sheets specifically (and correctly) tailored to your chosen mech. Once you've got a feel for the rules and gameplay you can move up to a different tech level, or start a roleplay-themed campaign with xp and rules for pilot advancement!

As an aside, I just tried running battlemech designer and it does not work in Win7. Anyone still have this thing and have a workaround? I remember using it in XP, I just don't think I still have a thumb drive with it installed.

Edited by Vermaxx, 05 June 2012 - 08:29 PM.

[Arctic Fox]

Vermaxx, on 05 June 2012 - 08:19 PM, said:

As an aside, I just tried running battlemech designer and it does not work in Win7. Anyone still have this thing and have a workaround? I remember using it in XP, I just don't think I still have a thumb drive with it installed.

Use Solaris Skunk Werks instead? It's much more up to date, and works just fine on Windows 7.