43 replies to this topic

[Mech42Ace]

My favorite time period would be "dark age"... No not really. I prefer the clan era because it ads another layer to the franchise, and who could forget the awesome battles.

[Elyam]

Just prior to the 4th Succession War through the initial invasion, about 3022 to 3058. I lived, you could say, in real time through those eras in tabletop. Life pulled me away from it after that, so I have near zero exposure to latter events. But I lived and breathed it at the time.

[Targun Darklighter]

Tyrnea Smurf, on 28 March 2014 - 10:44 AM, said:

Depends on the scope of what your doing in Battletech.

If you want to play a set match isolated BattleValue TT game, the 3025 tech era is my era of choice. No custom construction rule frankenmechs, just stock mechs and loadouts. I think the original tech system gives the best rolling brawling knockdown dragout battles.

If you want to run a long running campaign (a multisession multi-planetary war) I like the Star League Civil War era. (2750 2784) You can run it with everything Battletech has to offer - land, sea, air and space battles. The Star League Civil War era is in my opinion the best if you want to run a "Risk/Axis & Allies" WWII scope total war campaign set in the BattleTech universe. It's the only era where both side run both the same exact tech base, and have access to the same type and all types of assets are in play (yes I'm looking at you capital warships) in fairly even terms.

For a more RPG player character role playing style game I like the options in the Clan invasion to Federated Commonwealth civil war era (3049 - 3068), as the dynamic nature allows for the widest choices in terms of RPG role playing possibilities.

Well said!!

[Lordred]

My favorite era has to be Star League, but when it comes to TT game play, I totally gotta go with 3015-3025, a lot of the advance tech is lost and it always comes down to drawn out brawl that way.

[Slapshot]

Civil war era.

I do like the clan invasion though because nearly all clans were still alive and kicking and it was so dramatic and entertaining. Things could have gone either way.

The Civil War era is my favorite though. I think it had the best variation of factions and allegiances and is the most balanced. Nearly all of the clans are alive and the IS was beginning to fight amongst themselves again.

I pretend everything from the Jihad on never happened. That isn't my Battletech.

Edited by Slapshot, 07 July 2014 - 11:01 PM.

[TakLocke]

I personally enjoy the dark age. Some new ideas, open story, plenty of conflict.

[Bespoke Cheese Cake]

I going to say fourth succession war through to the Fedcom civil war. A lot of complicated politics and the Clan Invasion forces the Inner Sphere to under go some what of a technological renascence.
I guess its probably due in part to the fact that the first mech game I played was MechWarrior3 followed by MechCommander, Hunting down those damn Smoke Jaguar Crazies...er... I mean go clan grey potato.

Edited by Bespoke Cheese Cake, 18 October 2014 - 03:55 AM.

[Raziberry]

Post Revival to Operation Serpent.

[/thread]

[GumbyC2C]

3rd Succession War. Scrounging for some duct tape to hold your stuff together was fun and challenging. It was this weird mix of high (often lost) tech and low tech. It was sort of like The Road Warrior meets Star Trek.

Edited by GumbyC2C, 27 November 2014 - 04:07 AM.

[SilentScreamer]

GumbyC2C, on 27 November 2014 - 04:06 AM, said:

3rd Succession War. Scrounging for some duct tape to hold your stuff together was fun and challenging. It was this weird mix of high (often lost) tech and low tech. It was sort of like The Road Warrior meets Star Trek.

Which salvage rules do you use Gumby? An old Mechwarrior RPG book or the newer Total Warfare? Or something else?

I still play with the old 3rd edition rulebook, so while it has mech construction rules there are no costs listed.

[Metus regem]

<---- See the Flag? Basicly 3025 - 3060 is my time line of choice.

[Joanna Conners]

Everything from the Clan Invasion to the Annihilation of Smoke Jaguar.

[Fusea]

Going to go with 3020 - first couple of years of clan invasion. In the 3020s you have all the worry of repairing your ride, scavenging parts and the worry of disposition. In the 4th Succession war you have the option to start sneaking in one or 2 pieces of advanced tech for your players to swipe and drool over. Watching your players get a first xl engine or making off with an endo-steel chassis they can rebuild, it changes their whole outlook (till they try to repair it anyway). Then when it starts to roll out in the clan invasion for general use, watching the players learn just what they can do with the new tech. And the politics make for great games as well. Every minor lord looking to get a leg up, every independent planet hoping to hang on to its freedom. All good stuff.

[Risen]

I'd say 3025-ish to 3039 for campaign play or stand alone matches.
Campaigns have great salvage play (I think we used the old merc handbook 3055 for rules) and maybe you could get your hands on one of those "new" shiny mechs like a raven or wolfhound if you manage to take a leg off instead of blowing the CT to bits.
Changing stuff in mechs was only done with tech roles, time and lots of c-bills and had some wonky side effects (laser x only works on 8+).
Ran the TT in combination with the RPG most of the time.

[Metus regem]

Risen, on 16 January 2015 - 05:47 AM, said:

I'd say 3025-ish to 3039 for campaign play or stand alone matches.
Campaigns have great salvage play (I think we used the old merc handbook 3055 for rules) and maybe you could get your hands on one of those "new" shiny mechs like a raven or wolfhound if you manage to take a leg off instead of blowing the CT to bits.
Changing stuff in mechs was only done with tech roles, time and lots of c-bills and had some wonky side effects (laser x only works on 8+).
Ran the TT in combination with the RPG most of the time.

Me too, I ran in combination of both most of the time. My last charcter in the last campaign started with a WHM-6R (we started in 3049), and I kept it for a good long while, almost 5 years of game time, till it finally fell to a Fire Moth, and he became a bondsmen....

Still as everyone else was upgrading to new and shinny things, my 6R, kept blowing the crap out of things!

[Dancing Joker 1]

3025 and the first Clan Mechs

[Risen]

Metus regem, on 16 January 2015 - 08:52 AM, said:

Me too, I ran in combination of both most of the time. My last charcter in the last campaign started with a WHM-6R (we started in 3049), and I kept it for a good long while, almost 5 years of game time, till it finally fell to a Fire Moth, and he became a bondsmen....

Still as everyone else was upgrading to new and shinny things, my 6R, kept blowing the crap out of things!

The moth must have legged you
The 6R is such a great mech, but those legs! Clan weapons made it so fragile...

[Metus regem]

Risen, on 19 January 2015 - 02:11 AM, said:

The moth must have legged you
The 6R is such a great mech, but those legs! Clan weapons made it so fragile...

Nope... through armour critical to the MG ammo....

I swear that stuff is the most powerful non-nuclear explosive in the game...

[GumbyC2C]

SilentScreamer, on 10 December 2014 - 06:26 PM, said:

Which salvage rules do you use Gumby? An old Mechwarrior RPG book or the newer Total Warfare? Or something else?

I still play with the old 3rd edition rulebook, so while it has mech construction rules there are no costs listed.

We used Mechwarrior 2nd Edition and Battletech Compendium rules. Good times and hiring a good tech was often worth more than buying a shiny (slightly) used battlemech.

[Slapshot]

Clan invasion era. I am a die hard clansmen but I love this time period mostly because of how heavy the tension was.

Honorable mentions for me would be the Civil War era because this seemed like the most open ended period in Battletech history where I felt like I could tell my own story without it affecting the universe at large. Third place would be the succession wars. Despite my bias towards the clans I like this era because I can play IS and not feel like I am betraying them.

Oh and anything after the Civil war era never occurred and I will be forced to execute anyone who says otherwise.

Edited by Slapshot, 23 January 2015 - 12:37 AM.