21 replies to this topic

[theta123]

As i am doing my quest for finding Battletech books, so far it has not delivered much good. Exept for technical readouts and field manuals?

http://www.bol.com/n...00000001241071/
http://www.bol.com/n...00000001180680/
http://www.bol.com/n...00000010675876/

My question is= Are these about the tabletop game itself or about the universe?

Like are they books containing mech info, events and stuff?

[Nathan Foxbane]

They contain 'Mech, Protomech, Industrialmech, vehicle, power armor, infantry, mobile structure, aerospace fighter, conventional fighter, small craft, dropship, jumpship, and/or warship model stats and fluff along with artwork of the models of units covered by the record sheets used in table top play.

[Elyam]

http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=49

http://rpg.drivethru...term=Battletech

http://www.amazon.co...6341&sr=8-4-acs

Edited by Elyam, 03 July 2013 - 10:33 AM.

[Adridos]

A Technical Readout is simply an atlas of all the mechs, Battlearmor, vehicles and spacships that is available in X year.

[Ridersofdoom]

someone here needs to read the books and we would not have problems.

[Farix]

BattleCorps is one of the retailers for Catalyst Games. You can pretty much get any of the books that are in print there. They also sell many of the books in PDF format (if you don't mind your stuff being in electronic form). This works great for things such as record sheets, which you can then print off.

[Karl Streiger]

Or you take DriveThroughRPG... this has the advantage, that you can redownload your documents when ever you want to do that.
With BattleCorps you have only a limited time frame for downloading -
Maybe you can contact them to ask nicely for antother time frame for downloading - but I havn't tried yet - only documents missed were the vinjard collection of old rule books

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

Reference the books and a timeline, start here:
http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=1635

This is the 3050 to 3061 era with recommended reading and a list of major events that happened during that timeline.

For the other era's click on the selection on the right side.

Now if you what to read all the books for free, (e-books) online I also have a link for that. If you want physical copies of the books, be aware that some of them are now "out of print". You can Pm me for the e-books link.

This link is the standard Sarna site link, and it's history starts in the 15 century and goes to the 32th century.
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Timeline

This one by historical events:
http://www.sarna.net...Category:Events

Another timeline set from 2011 to 3052:
http://www.gamesnet....h_Timeline.html

This link is for all the battle-tech books printed with a very short description, and identifying the series books. (see below for grouped series.)

["Decision at Thunder Rift" William H. Keith Jr. Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 1
"Mercenary’s Star" William H. Keith Jr. Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 2
"The Price of Glory" William H. Keith Jr. Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 3


"Warrior: En Guarde" Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 1
"Warrior: Riposte" Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 2
"Warrior: Coupe" Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 3

"Lethal Heritage" Michael A. Stackpole The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 1
"Blood Legacy" Michael A. Stackpole The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 2
"Lost Destiny" Michael A. Stackpole The Blood of Kerensky -- Book 3

"Way of the Clans" Robert Thurston Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 1
"Bloodname" Robert Thurston Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 2
"Falcon Guard" Robert Thurston Jade Phoenix Trilogy -- Book 3]


["Exodus Road" Blaine L. Pardoe Twilight of the Clans -- Book 1
"Grave Conenant" Michael A. Stackpole Twilight of the Clans -- Book 2
"The Hunters" Thomas S. Gressman Twilight of the Clans -- Book 3
"FreeBirth" Robert Thurston Twilight of the Clans -- Book 4
"Sword and Fire" Thomas S. Gressman Twilight of the Clans -- Book 5
"Shadows of War" Thomoas S. Gressman Twilight of the Clans -- Book 6
"Prince of Havoc" Michael A. Stackpole Twilight of the Clans -- Book 7
"Falcon Rising" Robert Thurston Twilight of the Clans -- Book 8

"Threads of Ambition" Loren L. Coleman The Capellan Solution -- Book 1
"The Killing Fields" Loren L. Coleman The Capellan Solution -- Book 2]


http://www.sarna.net...ttleTech_novels

All for now, hope that helps some.
9erRed

[Cache]

theta123, on 03 July 2013 - 10:01 AM, said:

My question is= Are these about the tabletop game itself or about the universe?

Like are they books containing mech info, events and stuff?

There is a preview of Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade on this page. It should give you a good idea of what they're about. But to add, in order to get official record sheets for use in the TT game you need a Record Sheet book.

Edited by Cache, 04 July 2013 - 11:02 AM.

[Stormwolf]

You can get official recordsheets for free through either Megamek or Solaris Skunkwerks.

Megamek is a computer based version of the TT and contains most designs.
Solaris Skunkwerks is a mechlab that allows you to design mechs, it primarily helps as a recordsheet tool.

http://megamek.info/
http://www.solarissk...s.com/downloads

Both are allowed by Catalyst, Megamek even has its own section at the BT boards.

[ice trey]

Technical Readouts are like Bathroom readers about Mechs. Sure, they can contain Aerospace fighters, Tanks, Battle Armor and the like, but most folks buy them for the 'mechs.

They contain the basics regarding what a 'mech contains, but it's mainly there for artwork and fluff. Bringing a TRO to a tabletop game wouldn't do you any good. What it does do is give you an idea of how a mech looks, who uses it, What it has, and what it was intended to be used for. It does not go in-depth enough to tell you which criticals go where. For that you need Record Sheets.

Example:
http://d15yciz5bluc8...039_Preview.pdf


Field Manuals are likewise mostly about fluff. They don't contain much in terms of the storyline. Maybe a handful, but what they're really there for is to describe the various regiments you'd find in the storyline at that given point in time, how they fight, how well equipped they are. The older Field Manual books used to be specifically for each faction, and went into further detail about each regiment. Newer ones tend to act like updates of the older books, giving you a general idea of what each regiment has been doing, along with tables showing what percentage of their regiment is equipped with upgraded (3050+ Tech) mechs versus older succession wars tech.

Example:
http://d15yciz5bluc8...085_Preview.pdf


If you want primer on the universe fluff, there are a few books that do this well. Especially try to find the Historicals books (See: Historical War of 3039, Historical Brush Wars, Reunification War, Liberation of Terra, Operation Klondike), Jihad Hot Spots series, and more recently, the Era Report series. Historicals tend to be more of a direct retelling of the past, Jihad Hot Spots try to recreate the chaotic nature of the Jihad era by starting out very broken and difficult to understand, slowly becoming more coherent as the inner sphere starts being able to make sense out of the situation. Era reports focus a little less on the story, and more on the setting itself, showing many of the major players and points of notes for a given period of time.

Examples:
Historicals:
http://d15yciz5bluc8...War_Preview.pdf

Jihad Hot Spots
http://d15yciz5bluc8...076_Preview.pdf

Era Reports
http://d15yciz5bluc8...062_Preview.pdf

Now, if you mean books as in novels the bad news is that there haven't been any real Battletech books printed since 2002. TPTB decided that they would lose more money than they would gain in making full-length novels, so they stopped being produced years ago. They were previously taking old novels and converting them into E-pub, but they've had to stop for legal reasons or something. If you want Battletech Novels, I suggest looking for them on various online-auction sites or in second-hand bookstores.

My suggestions to look for are the Warrior Trilogy, Decision at Thunder Rift, Wolves on the Border, the Jade Phoenix Trilogy, and the Blood of Kerensky trilogy.

A word of warning, though, many of the people I've run into on this site have complained that there was "Too much politics" in the novels. Battletech is a universe that is equal parts battlemech warfare and scheming politicians. Understand that when you get into the books. It's not all-action-all-the-time.

That's not to say that Battletech has no new fiction, but all the fiction in recent years has been turned into Short Stories. Battlecorps.com has been a service where you can download a wealth of Battletech fiction, but they also release some of their best short stories in printed collections. There are three Battlecorps Anthology books so far, "The Corps", "First Strike" and "Weapons Free". Of the three, I think that the third one is easiest for someone new to the series to absorb. The first two have a bit more "Wow factor" when you are well versed in the story (For example, you read through the length of a story, and then it tells you at the very end that one of the characters is Alexander Kerensky. That name is unlikely to mean squat to anyone that doesn't know about the universe, but to those well versed in the franchise, it makes them take a step back)

http://bg.battletech...thologies-vol-3

Edited by ice trey, 05 July 2013 - 03:20 PM.

[Bartholomew bartholomew]

Amazon i also a good place to find the books as well, Especially the out of print stuff. Recently got me a copy of the 86' TR3025 for a good price.

[Throat Punch]

I picked up TRO 3075 & 3085 at a used book store for $20 total, so if you have any of those close by they are good places to look too.

[The Lost Boy]

All the tro are on ebay. Even the unseen 3025 is there often. [redacted] Knowing the history and politics is very important. It explains the reasons why Kurita is hated by other houses for example, who started what war, for what reason, pivotal battles , famous units, mechwarriors, the star league, comm starr, the Helm memory core, who Wolfs Dragoons are, and who they really work for. Its a VERY rich timeline with lots of options for battles with different tech levels and equipment. Its so much more than giant robot things running around a canyon blasting at each other. During most battles there would rarely be an Assault mech let alone several a side. They are rare, valuable, assets used only when absolutely needed. You wouldnt fight to the death, youd get out of there to save your mech in most cases. Real mech battles, wouldnt last as long as they do in MWO, and would involve men, vehicles, fighters, and missions. Much of that flavor is missing from MWO, and would improve the game greatly.

By all means do some reading and find out for yourself. There is 25 years of material to read.

Edited by Egomane, 15 October 2013 - 01:05 AM.
CoC violation

[Steinar Bergstol]

I'd also like to state that, in my opinion, the original Unseen edition of the 3025 Technical Readout is the finest Battletech product ever produced. Fluffwise almost no other product gave me a better feel for the setting than that book did along with its successor, the 3026 TRO which focussed on vehicles (tracked, wheeled and hover), dropships, aerospace fighters, conventional aircraft, helicopters and surface naval vessels. I still believe those two TROs are essential reading if you want to understand the BT setting, and in particular the 3025 era.

[theta123]

I got the 3050 Technical readout ordered!!!!!

[Jakob Knight]

As an addition to what has been put out here, the Technical Readouts also served a function back when there were official events and tournaments involving the TT game. While the ability to customize or completely build new mechs has always been part of Battletech from about the earliest books, the Tech Readouts provided information and background that players could use to determine what actual mechs they could use in any 'canon' or tournament setting, so having a new Technical Readout come out was always a bit exciting to see what kind of new units we were going to see fielded.

Also, the Technical Readouts provided individual unit descriptions that helped detail a combat unit beyond its stats. What mission it was designed to do, who fielded it, what notable strengths and faults were present, and if the unit was in current production or a prototype/discontinued design. These helped people who had to design scenerios and who were involved in the role-playing companion games, as well as strategic games.

Unfortunately, most if not all of this is irrelevant in MWO...part of the fustration alot of veteran BT players feel when they look at the original plans for MWO from the early days. They can still be used if you want to find a mech in MWO and tinker with it using the construction rules outside the game, but otherwise they are only secondary sources of info to the players here.

[Burke IV]

Mercenarys Handbook is worth a look aswell if i remember. Altho im thinking of the very first edition. It gives all the infor you need to run a merc outfit right down to hand held weaponary i beleive.

It seems Wilsons Hussars have had an upturn in fortune sinse i last looked I remember them described as a unit barely holding together on teh point of killing each other and cheating each other at cards.



Edit: Perhaps some verteran frustration comes from the fact that "mech warrior" was a RPG. All the mech games i know of had at least tanks. I can remember the happy screams of trampling infantry in MW3, hell MW4 had a ship! Where is all this in "mechwarrior" online?

Edited by Burke IV, 16 October 2013 - 08:44 AM.

[Sadistic Savior]

theta123, on 03 July 2013 - 10:01 AM, said:

As i am doing my quest for finding Battletech books, so far it has not delivered much good. Exept for technical readouts and field manuals?

http://www.bol.com/n...00000001241071/
http://www.bol.com/n...00000001180680/
http://www.bol.com/n...00000010675876/

My question is= Are these about the tabletop game itself or about the universe?

Yes.

Technically, they were intended for the Tabletop game. But the descriptions of each mech have a great deal of lore in them as well. That being said, all the lore is probably already available on SARNA.NET anyway...so I am not sure if there is a point in buying them nowadays.

I had several of them, and actually used them in the tabletop game...the 3050 one is in tatters I have read through it so much.

[Sadistic Savior]

Lemming of the BDA, on 15 October 2013 - 12:19 AM, said:

Its a VERY rich timeline with lots of options for battles with different tech levels and equipment.

Yeah, it has always amazed me how detailed the Battletech universe really is. Especially amazing considering that it has always been far from mainstream, even in the nerd community. They really put a lot of time and effort into making it seem real and consistent.