132 replies to this topic

[Phelan Kerensky]

I agree with what has already been stated. Blood of Kerensky Trilogy is likely the very best place to start reading into the BT/MW Lore again...

[CoffiNail]

I would honestly say start with Warrior Trilogy, I love the Clans and all but with us stating in 3049 and clans coming in sometime marchish next year, gives you a lot of time to read both warrior to get a idea of the IS at the current time frame before the Clans.

[Adridos]

Can I ask something about the later Clan books? Is it true lot of popular clans got destroyed?

[Mason Grimm]

http://www.stargazer..._novel_list.htm

This is the link I used when starting my collection

[Dihm]

Adridos, on 11 January 2012 - 09:03 AM, said:

Can I ask something about the later Clan books? Is it true lot of popular clans got destroyed?

I know Jaguar is essentially destroyed. Diamond Shark renames itself to Sea Fox, Snow Raven merges with the Outworlds Alliance, Ghost Bear with their Rasalhague territory, Nova Cat is absorbed by Kurita. That's all I got off the top of my head.

[FireNova]

Dihm, on 11 January 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

I know there are Jaguar survivors out there somewhere.

Fixed.

[Cold Macaroni]

A few years ago I left MMOs and eventually PC gaming behind. I moved on to consoles and a generally less video-game oriented day-to-day. I remember thinking that the one thing that might pull me back in would be a mechwarrior MMO; and now, like most of you, I sit here crapping my pants and quivering in anticipation of just that.

I won't waste page space and describe my romance with the series (since you could probably copy/paste the same story from dozens of other threads), I'll just say that I wasn't a TT player or familiar with the lore beyond what I learned in the games... I lwas into the gameplay and concept.

I really really want to give myself every opportunity to LIKE this game. It's up to the developers to create a world and gameplay that is in fact enjoyable, but I can outfit myself to take advantage of all the detail they may or may not put in.

MWO looks like it's going to be far more story and world driven than previous games from the series. I know precious little about that side of things, and I would really like to be in a position to enjoy how it gets incorporated into the game world. So, to my point... finally. Can anyone suggest a good starting place within the canon fiction for a newb to get started? I have plenty of time to suck down a bunch of MW fiction between now and the release.

[Dlardrageth]

Not sure if you would call it really canon fiction, but the House books or FieldManuals might be a good starting point. The latter being more focused on military matters, the former giving more of a (somewhat outdated though) general outlook. And some are as thrilling a read as your average BT novel. The hours I spent over that ComStar Field Manual back in the day... sheesh...

[UnseenFury]

once console peasant - forever console peasant.

[Elizander]

Most of the lore I know are from the game books. I've bought a couple of novels (like the Grey Death Legion ones) but probably not more than a three or four.

The ones I read were quite nice though so if you can still find them I'd recommend giving it a try.

[HellsBlackAces]

The Universe PDF is a good place to start. It gives you a nice overview to start from and figure out where you want to start drilling down.

I'd have to echo what the others are saying and recommend reading the origonal House Books. At this point they're about 25 real and in game years out of date, but they're free to read and tell you alot about a faction.

If you want to know more about the Inner Sphere the two 3050 products I would recomend are the new Era Report: 3052 and the old 20 Year Update that gives you an overview of all the changes that happened imediatly before the current game setting.

If your partial to a perticular war or want to know more about the Invading Clans there are sourcebooks for those too. Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf each got their own invasion era sourcebook and then there was one for the other 5 invading clans.
I'm interested in the Andurian Wars of the 3030s for example, a war involving the Free Worlds League vs Andurian and Andurian and the Magestry of Canopus vs the Capellan Confederation, so I had to get Historical: Brush Wars that covers that war and a few others.

As to fiction to get you up to speed you can't go wrong with Wolves on the Border (pre-Fourth Succession War) and Heir to the Dragon (War of 3039). A lot of people like the Warrior Trilogy (Fourth Succession War), but I found it much weaker than those two books. Still the Fourth Succession War is hugely important. The Gray Death Leagion Trilogy and the Sword and the Dagger arn't really as important plot wise.

Edited by HellsBlackAces, 12 January 2012 - 05:37 AM.

[Dihm]

Dihm, on 11 January 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

I know there are Jaguar survivors out there somewhere who have had a mental break with the reality that according to the Clan Council, the Smoke Jaguar Clan is no more. Much like the legend of the Japanese soldiers hidden away on Pacific islands who didn't know the war ended.

Double fixed.

[Cold Macaroni]

Excellent, thanks guys. That should definitely get me started.

Paran01ac, on 12 January 2012 - 04:40 AM, said:

once console peasant - forever console peasant.

Eh, perhaps. It definitely didnt have the level of gameplay that I enjoyed on the PC, but it fit my budget and lifestyle a lot better for a few years. Right now, I'm not playing anything at all.

[CoffiNail]

http://www.lski.org/...Universe%20.pdf this can get you started if you like.

My best suggestion as others pointed out the old House books are the best bet as well, why? Becuase you can download them for free and print out the history section. I have all 5 house history parts printed, and i also printed a torrent of Star League, because that book is like 60 dollars + for a shabby copy

The pdf i linked is written just after FASA closed its doors and the Battletech IP was picked up by wizkids, but it gives pretty decent information on the history and factions.

[MilitantMonk]

The Grey Death Legion saga of novels completely hooked me for good on the series. If you can only read one book read Desicion at Thunder Rift. I'm sure others with echo that statement. The original Technical Readout 3025 is a solid read and it hints at all the little side stories that happen everyday in the Inner Sphere. One of the best books I've read recently was Operation: Klondike. If you want to know more about the clans and their origins or even just more history on the fall of the Star League it's pretty amazing.

[Kaemon]

Cold Macaroni, on 12 January 2012 - 04:32 AM, said:

and now, like most of you, I sit here crapping my pants and quivering in anticipation of just that.

excellent thread btw!

ummm...can I request to remove myself from the crapping pants table and just sit at the 'eager to start playing' table?

I have 2 largish dogs, a 3rd year old UAV (spy for the wife arty) and a 2 month old, I get all the 'crapping pants' I need from them.

/wishing for one crapless day

Edited by Kaemon, 12 January 2012 - 08:25 AM.

[Canned_Dman]

I have all the novels starting with The Sword and the Dagger going through all the Dark Age and I think they are a really good read.
That's a lot of books. Start at the beginning though since that's where we are on the story line here.

[Rockhound085]

Elizander, on 12 January 2012 - 05:02 AM, said:

Most of the lore I know are from the game books. I've bought a couple of novels (like the Grey Death Legion ones) but probably not more than a three or four.

The ones I read were quite nice though so if you can still find them I'd recommend giving it a try.

Sheesh I have most every book they published, I love diving head first into the battle tech universe, I read every last tidbit of info I could get my hands on.

[Kdogg788]

It might not be endorsed by all, but there is an absolute killer battletech torrent up on Pirate Bay right now that will fill you in on everything you need to know. Over 4 gigs of stuff there, and enough to keep you busy reading for a lifetime.

-k

[Kaemon]

I probably know more about Thomas the Tank Engine than BT at this point (since it's been about 20 years).

ugh...back to adding books back into MEM.

Cold Macaroni, I think you're lucky call signs are chosen by the pilot, not given by his peers.

Edited by Kaemon, 12 January 2012 - 01:38 PM.