17 replies to this topic

[TopHatCat]

Howdy folks!
I've always loved all things Mech.. And have known loosely about BattleTech and MechWarrior for years, but oddly enough never approached it.

As a total noobie I was wondering.
How exactly do you get into, all things BT/MW?

What do you need to start yourself on the Board Game? What do you need to get started with the TT RP system? What do most people play? Etc.
(e.g. What Ed books do you need, which rulebooks, etc.. (obviously you'd need minitures, don't have to say ). And where the best place to buy these things would be?

I've had a loose look before but all I ever found was the novels and such.

Thanks everyone!

Edited by TopHatCat, 07 February 2013 - 04:32 AM.

[Karl Streiger]

Do you want to play or collect?

You can start with MegaMek, but you should try to get a Starter Package, including your first 24 IS Mechs and 2 Clan Mechs.
The ClanMech Quality is acceptable, the other 24 mechs have less quality but you can still identify them.

with the box you got recordsheets, background material and some suggestion how to move on.

[TopHatCat]

Unfortunatly I don't have anyone to play with, so would just be more an interest in reading the books/rules/lore, along with collecting a nice array of minatures.

(p.s. I just googled MegaMek, what exactly is it? o.o)

Edited by TopHatCat, 07 February 2013 - 04:48 AM.

[Karl Streiger]

MegaMek is a open source java application reflecting the board game.

it just like playing the board game, but without miniatures and without beeing in the same region.
here is the link for getting a grip in the universe:
http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=23

also available - nice comunity within the forum, and free documents


When you have no problems with E-Books they a look into
http://rpg.drivethru...cturers_id=2216

or you use the battleshop
http://battlecorps.com/catalog/

I have used the battleshop first, but drivethroug has better options.

Edited by Karl Streiger, 07 February 2013 - 05:06 AM.

[TopHatCat]

Ahhhh awesome! Sounds fun!

As for E-Books I much prefer the real thing, as I like to take them around with me, can read 'em on the bus (or in the can lol).

What books do you need though? Is there a BattleTech rulebook? Which edition is the Mechwarrior TT RP upto, which book would you get, etc... All that jazz.


/Edit: Ooooh, just found the "Battletech 25th Anniv Intro Box Set" on Amazon, might be worth a look :3

Edited by TopHatCat, 07 February 2013 - 06:42 AM.

[Karl Streiger]

That are a lot of question:

when you get your hands on an old rule book 4th Edition or below, you get all the stuff you need - in one book.

when you want to have a new one.
you have to buy the Total Warefare Rulebook (orange, with the "battleszene")
but when you want to create your own mechs you need the Tech Manual too (those blue with the battlemaster)
(nice part for the new ones, you get some really good short novels too)

OLD RPG is MechWarrior3
New one is Time of War

And their are tons of Technical Readouts, Fieldmanuals and Historicals...

Edited by Karl Streiger, 07 February 2013 - 06:44 AM.

[TopHatCat]

I don't fully understand what you were saying sorry,
"Time of War" is the newest RP book? or 4th Edition? Or do I need to get Total Warfare Rulebook + Tech Manuals?
Do you know any good websites to get physical copies of the books? Thanks for helping man!

[Karl Streiger]

http://www.battlecor...ex.php?cPath=27

there you have most books as paper version

Hope somebody with better writing skill can help.

The "old" rule books reflecting the universe till ...3060 - 3067? was the 4th Edition.
http://www.amazon.de...s/dp/1555603521

with the jjihad and dark age zig zag and when Catalyst Game Labs got the rights from FASA they created the
TotalWarfare Rulebook
http://www.amazon.de...60249051&sr=1-1

Same rules and more (new Tech like Heavy PPCs, Hyper Assault Gauss, Multi Missile Launcher, eg.)
But when you want to create your own record sheets you now need a second book too:
http://www.amazon.de...d_sim_sbs_eb_14

The RPG book
well i don't know, i have a e-copy of Time of War and the German Mechwarrior 3 RPG RuleBook, but really have them just to have them:
http://www.amazon.de...60249250&sr=1-4

Technical Readouts - well for the beginning www.sarna.net should help
recordsheets can be made with open source software
http://www.solarisskunkwerks.com/

Well and as said there are still dozen of historical books, scenario books, fiel manuals (army lists) eg.

[Wrayeth]

To start out, I'd always recommend the Introductory Boxed Set. There have been several releases of this, but the current one is called the 25th Anniversary Boxed Set. It contains a bunch of plastic miniatures, two double-sided game board-quality map sheets, and the basic rules for the game. It also has some helpful guides on strategy and tactics and a conspectus on the Inner Sphere.

For the rest, there have been several editions of Battletech. The current edition's core rulebooks are listed below. Only Total Warfare is essential; the others are entirely optional, though I've found Tac Ops to be very, very useful.

• Total Warfare - The current rules set for tournament-legal play can be found in its entirety here. It includes rules for combat with mechs, vehicles, infantry, battle armor, aerospace fighters, and dropships.

• Tech Manual - This book has construction rules for all of these unit types.

• Tactical Operations - Tac Ops is the optional/advanced rulebook for Battletech. it has a number of optional rules and also info on how planetary conditions (ever wanted to duke it out during a snowstorm?) affect combat. Additionally, it has a section on experimental equipment and the construction rules for it.

• Strategic Operations - Strat Ops has information on battles on the strategic scale, from orbital drops, repair, salvage, and maintenance, to the BattleForce rules for large-scale combat. It also includes info on WarShip combat, advanced aerospace rules, and advanced aerospace construction.

Once you have Total Warfare, you may want to pick up some of the TRO's (technical readouts). They have the fluff and stats for the game's units. You don't really need them as long as you have the Record Sheets product for a given TRO (or just use the free Java program Solaris Skunkwerks or pay for Heavy Metal Pro to print out the record sheets), however.

For roleplaying, there have again been several editions. The old versions used to be called Mechwarrior, but the current edition is called A Time of War. The only books for it are AToW itself and AToW Companion.

[TopHatCat]

Oh... Total Warfare is the Board Game? o.o I didn't know it had that many rule books!!!

As for A Time of War, I'm very tempted to pick it up, is currently in my wishlist~, After making this thread I watched an unboxing review on youtube and ended up ordering myself a 25th Anniversary box and should be with me shortly

Fantastic feedback, Thank you both!

[Fiachdubh]

The 25th Anniversary box is fantastic, not just the necessities to play but also a quick start guide, guide to all the rulebooks available and plenty of extra fluff such as a universe background guide, painting and tactics guide and a large map of the IS. Also the 26 minis are all most of us will ever need (given the difficulty in finding people to play at all).

Despite only having played one game (not counting against myself) ordered a couple minis from Ral Partha to complete a Clan Snow Raven star (Marauder IIc, Stormcrow & Kit Fox) and to get a Raven. Can anyone tell me if you get record sheets or anything like that with the minis?

Edited by Fiachdubh, 08 February 2013 - 09:51 AM.

[Steinar Bergstol]

The 25th Anniversary Box is definitely worth the price. Granted, the IS mechs are made from inferior plastic and the quality of the sculpts is passable at best, but the two clanmechs (if you like that sort of thing) you get with the set are of excellent quality as far as Battletech miniatures go.

Sets of record sheets have been sold in the past and I believe CGL still sells record sheet sets. Alternately (and this is the better option in my opinion) you can buy Heavy Metal Pro (or get Skunkwerks for free, but I have never been able to get it to work myself) and just print out whatever sheet you need as someone else already mentioned.

Oh, and once you get hooked on miniatures there's no such thing as "enough mechs". After all you have to have enough to put together any combination of lances you'd want, which meens several mechs of the same type. And then you need to have enough to pain them up in different regimental colors. Hey, you need regiments for each house and clan, naturally, because you may fight a battle with forces from those factions one day, and battles should be fought with the right colors, right? And... and... and... And I think I may have a problem.

[TopHatCat]

Haha! Oh there can never be enough~... Unless you run out of shelves and boxes.


So Hey guys another question.
Whats the difference between the plastic, paintable Hex based models... and the HeroClix style, turnable circle disk base pre-painted models?
I'm guessing this is a seperate game mode all together? How is it?

[Steinar Bergstol]

The HeroClix style minis are for a different game altogether. Mechwarrior Dark Age. It was an attempt, more or less, for Battletech/mechwarrior to tap into those sweet, sweet profits of collectible minis games where you bought booster packs without knowing what you'd get in them. Sure, WizKids/Topps may _claim_ it was an attempt to modernize battletech and make it more accessible, but I'm pretty sure it was a purely profits-based motivation.

The game was not a big hit.

[TopHatCat]

Thats a real big shame as they look kinda fun! LOTS of Mini's!

[FerretGR]

TopHatCat, on 07 February 2013 - 04:30 AM, said:

What do you need to start yourself on the Board Game? What do you need to get started with the TT RP system? What do most people play? Etc.
(e.g. What Ed books do you need, which rulebooks, etc.. (obviously you'd need minitures, don't have to say ). And where the best place to buy these things would be?

To get into the TT/RPG, you can essentially follow two routes:

1. for purely TT, or TT with a bit of RPG flavour, pick up the Classic Battletech Introductory Box Set. It's got what you need for the TT side of things, which is mechs fighting. From there, if you want to expand your game and your repertoire, move on to Total Warfare, and then to the other books, ie. Tactical/Strategic Operations.

2. for RPG, pick up A Time Of War, which you could technically play without any mech battles, but you'd be missing out on the fun a bit. You could move on from there to include the Total Warfare rules, and perhaps an Introductory Box Set would be a good thing to have.

[FerretGR]

Steinar Bergstol, on 12 February 2013 - 01:55 AM, said:

Sets of record sheets have been sold in the past and I believe CGL still sells record sheet sets. Alternately (and this is the better option in my opinion) you can buy Heavy Metal Pro (or get Skunkwerks for free, but I have never been able to get it to work myself) and just print out whatever sheet you need as someone else already mentioned.

Just a FYI, the introductory box sheets are available from bg.battletech.com as a free download

[Pht]

TopHatCat, on 07 February 2013 - 04:30 AM, said:

Howdy folks!
I've always loved all things Mech.. And have known loosely about BattleTech and MechWarrior for years, but oddly enough never approached it.

As a total noobie I was wondering.
How exactly do you get into, all things BT/MW?

What do you need to start yourself on the Board Game? What do you need to get started with the TT RP system? What do most people play? Etc.
(e.g. What Ed books do you need, which rulebooks, etc.. (obviously you'd need minitures, don't have to say ). And where the best place to buy these things would be?

I've had a loose look before but all I ever found was the novels and such.

Thanks everyone!

...

Slowly... that's how.

If you try and absorb everything quickly your head will explode.


Here's a link for some information that could be very useful for you if you decide to RP that's darn near impossible to come across in a concise form:

http://mwomercs.com/...y-an-education/


Others have mentioned SSW and megamek. Those are good Projects.

The sarna battletech wiki is a good place as well.

Best first bet after MM playtime is to find a copy of the boxset and get used to the way the game plays with dice. LEARN the tricks to shorten gameplay time (like movement dice and the like).

Than you might want to consider getting, in this order: Total warfare, TechManual, Tactical Operations.

You might consider getting strategic operations; but until you're well into playing the game you might not use that stuff. It does, however, make for some interesting reading.

When you start looking for the older and out of print stuff, you can use:

This link: http://www.sarna.net...leTech_products

To get an ISBN number to use...

At this link: http://www.bookfinder.com/

To find stuff at a decent price.

When you start looking for game aides and stuff for the computer: http://www.pryderockindustries.com/

Edited by Pht, 14 February 2013 - 09:19 PM.