21 replies to this topic

[Anarcho]

Soooooo.... In my tenagerhood, I always flirted with the mechwarrior games, but never played then because I found the mech designs dumb and silly, so I jumped in games like Heavy Gear and Shattered Steel. Now with MWO being my first mechwarrior game I got really curious about the lore. But my time for it is very limited, and since I still a lot of mechs to grind, what you guys suggest as the best "road" to get into all the history? Just read the books? Sarna.net? Or I definetelly need to play the previous games?Is there any Battletech Lore for Dummies on amazon?

P.S: sorry the grammarpocalypse but engrish isnt my straung language and Im a bad phone typer too

Edited by Anarcho, 25 September 2014 - 07:22 AM.

[The Silent Protagonist]

If you're up for a marathon read, Sarna has a timeline of practically everything: http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Timeline

Jump to the bit about the clan invasions to get the basic knowledge for this game (year 3049)

Probably the most complete of the free ways to learn the lore. Don't know of any abridged versions though... sorry.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Sarna.net seems pretty good. It seems to be filled with a lot of good information.

There is the Battletech Cartoon. I love it, but it is not terribly accurate and it is a bit rough at times to watch LOL. Still, I found it fun though.


Novels are probably pretty good too. I only read one of them (came free with my Mechwarrior 2 strategy guide).

My first exposure to Battletech lore and a good cliffnotes source was actually the strategy guide for MechWarrior 2. It did a good job of describing the lore. It went from the early Star League days all the way up past Tukkyid.

It described the Clan's way of life before the IS invasion and their Hiearchy. It briefly touched on the houses and the Succession Wars. Even Comstar. It really was a cool read.

Edited by MeiSooHaityu, 25 September 2014 - 07:28 AM.

[BARBAR0SSA]

I find the best way to learn is reading up on the mechs as you buy them and as the hero's are released etc.

I used to be a clan wolf fan due to MW2 but then I read the Smoke Jaguar history on Sarna.....I will be slaughtering Ghost Bears left and right.

[Andross Deverow]

Anarcho, on 25 September 2014 - 07:20 AM, said:

Soooooo.... In my tenagerhood, I always flirted with the mechwarrior games, but never played then because I found the mech designs dumb and silly, so I jumped in games like Heavy Gear and Shattered Steel. Now with MWO being my first mechwarrior game I got really curious about the lore. But my time for it is very limited, and since I still a lot of mechs to grind, what you guys suggest as the best "road" to get into all the history? Just read the books? Sarna.net? Or I definetelly need to play the previous games?Is there any Battletech Lore for Dummies on amazon?

P.S: sorry the grammarpocalypse but engrish isnt my straung language and Im a bad phone typer too

Sadly the game is not what it should be at this time. Its fun mind you but needs work and theyre working on it. Sounds like they will soon be taking away the ability to choose what mode you prefer to play. Its a sad day in MWO

Regards

[Lefty Lucy]

Probably a good start would be all of the lore in Total Warfare.

[The Silent Protagonist]

shad0w4life, on 25 September 2014 - 07:27 AM, said:

... but then I read the Smoke Jaguar history on Sarna.....I will be slaughtering Ghost Bears left and right.

You... You haven't read into their future have you? If not, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

[MeiSooHaityu]

Lt XKalibur, on 25 September 2014 - 07:41 AM, said:

You... You haven't read into their future have you? If not, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.

LOL...and Shad0w4life, don't play Mech Commander. At all...It's a good game, but don't play it if you like Smoke Jaguars.

[Logan Hawke]

I am also in the same boat as OP. I've done a good bit of reading on sarna, but something less detached and impersonal would be nice. I've been eyeing the newish two player starter for battletech since I really enjoy the tabletop game (thank you megamek), but the models are so damn ugly I'm loathe to spend money on them and the rulebooks with all the good fluff.

[The Silent Protagonist]

Logan Hawke, on 25 September 2014 - 07:51 AM, said:

I am also in the same boat as OP. I've done a good bit of reading on sarna, but something less detached and impersonal would be nice. I've been eyeing the newish two player starter for battletech since I really enjoy the tabletop game (thank you megamek), but the models are so damn ugly I'm loathe to spend money on them and the rulebooks with all the good fluff.

I know exactly what you mean, Alex has ruined my perception of all tabletop figurines... except for based Warhammer:

*uncontrollable sobbing*

[Joseph Mallan]

Lt XKalibur, on 25 September 2014 - 07:57 AM, said:

I know exactly what you mean, Alex has ruined my perception of all tabletop figurines... except for based Warhammer:

*uncontrollable sobbing*

[KuroNyra]

http://mwomercs.com/...ersphere-names/

A MUST READ if you want to understand why some mech got differents name.

[Lefty Lucy]

Logan Hawke, on 25 September 2014 - 07:51 AM, said:

I am also in the same boat as OP. I've done a good bit of reading on sarna, but something less detached and impersonal would be nice. I've been eyeing the newish two player starter for battletech since I really enjoy the tabletop game (thank you megamek), but the models are so damn ugly I'm loathe to spend money on them and the rulebooks with all the good fluff.

Yep. The crap sculpts on the original minis is something that lots of long-time BT fans are really, really attached to, however.

[stjobe]

I would recommend two books; Total Warfare and Tech Manual. Between those two you get not only the complete TT rules, you also get a metric crap-ton of lore - and they only cost about as much as a Hero 'Mech each

If you're up for it, there's over a hundred novels published to date, I'd recommend starting with the three big series:

Saga of the Gray Death Legion
* Decision at Thunder Rift
* Mercenary's Star
* The Price of Glory

The Warrior Trilogy
* Warrior: En Garde
* Warrior: Riposte
* Warrior:Coupé

Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
* Lethal Heritage
* Blood Legacy
* Lost Destiny

As others have pointed out (and as you might guess from the links above), sarna.net is a great resource for all things BattleTech. Catalyst games pages (and forum) are also good.

Edited by stjobe, 25 September 2014 - 08:49 AM.

[Metus regem]

shad0w4life, on 25 September 2014 - 07:27 AM, said:

I find the best way to learn is reading up on the mechs as you buy them and as the hero's are released etc.

I used to be a clan wolf fan due to MW2 but then I read the Smoke Jaguar history on Sarna.....I will be slaughtering Ghost Bears left and right.

heh... and he has a Dragon flag.... that's almost funny, considering what the Kentucky Fried Smoked Jaguars did the Drac's...

And if I remember correctly the Bears (Clan Ghost Bear) got a marginal victory on the cursed world, integrated better than the other clans with the IS, and in the end, became the one place people just didn't **** with, after what they did to the Word Of Blake....

[Greenjulius]

Anarcho, on 25 September 2014 - 07:20 AM, said:

Soooooo.... In my tenagerhood, I always flirted with the mechwarrior games, but never played then because I found the mech designs dumb and silly, so I jumped in games like Heavy Gear and Shattered Steel. Now with MWO being my first mechwarrior game I got really curious about the lore. But my time for it is very limited, and since I still a lot of mechs to grind, what you guys suggest as the best "road" to get into all the history? Just read the books? Sarna.net? Or I definetelly need to play the previous games?Is there any Battletech Lore for Dummies on amazon?

P.S: sorry the grammarpocalypse but engrish isnt my straung language and Im a bad phone typer too

Let me say this first... Welcome! Always great to see new players! My first foray into Battletech was MechWarrior 2. I remember downloading the demo from a bulletin board when I was 9 years old, and playing it probably 200 times. The mechs, the sounds, the combat... It was amazing. I remember I got my parents to promise me to buy the game if I brought my grades up to straight A's. The next quarter in school, I worked harder than ever and got it. So MechWarrior made me a better student!
I never got into Heavy Gear, but loved Shattered Steel. That was a great game.

I also loved Mechwarrior 4, mercs and the Mech Commander games. I think they stand up reasonably well, but I haven't played MechWarrior 3 in a long time, so it may have aged poorly.

I'd recommend what the other guys are saying; Sarna has a lot of great articles. I'm personally going to go back and play MW2 and 3, and probably beat 4 again. I need to play the original Mech Commander too because I've heard great things about it.

Edited by Greenjulius, 25 September 2014 - 09:05 AM.

[Anarcho]

Thanks for the tips guys. I download this app on my phone too, Mech Factory. It is pretty cool, lots of info.

[Athalus]

About the battletech novels, they just might be available as e-reader (epub) files for free somewhere in the great internet

Not posting any links, thats illegal.

[SaltBeef]

Mech Commander Gold came with A Mission editor and Map maker You could design your own missions and campaigns and if good enough insert your own vids. So the Smoke Jaguar can still recreate his future in Fantasy.

[CMDR Sunset Shimmer]

Avoid Stackpole novels.

I know a TON of people will decry that, but when Stackpole goes out of his way to TELL you the motivations of characters instead of showing you their motivations... I just can't read through his garbage anymore [and any books that he wrote in long running series where there were other writers, you can get the gist of what happened in those other novels anyway.]

That being said, Saga of the Grey Death legion is a great start into the world of Battletech, I also recommend reading "Wolves on the Border." And I'm rather partial currently the the Camancho's Cabellero's novels lately. But there's TONS of fiction out there, and it is rather difficult to breach into Battletech's lore. I'd start with Saga of the Grey Death, and move from there. Sarna.net is a great resource to figure out orders and the like, and if you're more interested in the technical aspect of mechs and the like, the Technical Readout series is always wonderful.