any Battletech players around these parts?

[FOTF]

Got back into table top war gaming and got hooked on Battletech.

 

Any other players in CA land?

 

(Note....talking about the table top game..NOT the PC games)

[Lt. James Cater]

Got back into table top war gaming and got hooked on Battletech.

 

Any other players in CA land?

 

(Note....talking about the table top game..NOT the PC games)

 

Wow, i haven't played Battletech since 1990! I actually found the RPG first and then the games. I had all the house books and readouts until i lost everything to a housefire.

 

What great times were had!

[Lexx_Luthor]

Lt::

...i lost everything to a housefire.

Fire is a relatively rare form of computer data loss. I'll just take this opportunity to poast its a good idea to keep some data backups off-site, maybe two locations beyond the home base. That alone ensures multiple independent backups -- you can have 20 backupts at home, but if you get one fire, one flood, one tornado, one hurricane, one mudslide, one earthquake, one volcano, one asteroid, or if you live near a Georgia swamp, one megaton (well, that's still debated) and if so (swamp life and asteroid life) keep some backups at least a state or two away.

 

ah...back OT...I never tried Battletech, but always thought it looked immersive.

[SopmodMikeFour]

Funny you mention that.Growing up in the 80's I started out on Squad Leader and Ambush!Love those games but also played Battletech.I still have the box game.I also have Battle Troops,Clan Troops,the Mechwarrior RPG book which can be integrated into the Battletech box game.Ahhh,if only Fasa would be resurrected from the grave.I loved Shadowrun and have the box game for that to.I have 3 shelves of bookcase wargames still.

[Lt. James Cater]

I had the Shadowrun stuff too!

 

However, my gaming group thought all the elves and stuff was pretty stupid so we just ignored all that and played it out more like William Gibson's works.

[Vampyre]

Ahh... I remember playing tabletop wargames with my brothers back on the late 80's to mid 90's. Our favorites were Harpoon, Tac-Air and Flight Leader. Good times! I'll have to dig through the boxes in the garage to see if I can find them still when I get home.

[FOTF]

Funny you mention that.Growing up in the 80's I started out on Squad Leader and Ambush!Love those games but also played Battletech.I still have the box game.I also have Battle Troops,Clan Troops,the Mechwarrior RPG book which can be integrated into the Battletech box game.Ahhh,if only Fasa would be resurrected from the grave.I loved Shadowrun and have the box game for that to.I have 3 shelves of bookcase wargames still.

 

No reason for FASA to be resurrected from the grave. A company called Catalyst Games took over the Battletech and Shadowrun lines.

[+Gocad]

Ah, the memories. Although I got to say that the series kinda went downhill after the Clans were introduced.

[FOTF]

They balanced the clans quite a bit now. Clan weapons are more powerful, but their mechs are typically less armored.

 

Any decent Inner Sphere player can wipe a clan player off the map with sound tactics.

[SopmodMikeFour]

No reason for FASA to be resurrected from the grave. A company called Catalyst Games took over the Battletech and Shadowrun lines.

 

From what I recall Fasa was bought out but the company that bought them let Battletech an Shadowrun sit in the dust pile and wouldn't do anything with it.Has someone now motivated Catalyst to re-market it?If so that's good because dedicated fans were pleading for years for a return.

Edited March 26, 2011 by Akwar

[FOTF]

From what I recall Fasa was bought out but the company that bought them let Battletech an Shadowrun sit in the dust pile and wouldn't do anything with it.Has someone now motivated Catalyst to re-market it?If so that's good because dedicated fans were pleading for years for a return.

 

 

Nope....there was never a stoppage of releases. The licenses were bought by a company called Wizkids and they continuted to release source books and also created the Dark Age/Age of Destruction miniature game. Then Catalyst bought the rights and have been putting out new stuff ever since. They are just releasing a new intro box set and word is they are bringing back LAMs

[SopmodMikeFour]

Well that's great.I am going to have to head over to a game store and check them out.I always did want to get a few of the other games in the battletech universe like BattleForce and Aerotech.

[FOTF]

There is no Aerotech anymore, it's all been integrated into one book. Check out Classic Battletech - Total Warfare....that will give you everything you need to play...mechs, infantry, aerospace, vehicles...the whole sha-bang.

 

Then look into Tactical Operations and Strategic Operations. TactOps gives you advanced rules like environmental and atmospheric conditions....stuff like wind, rain, low viz and gravity and stuff, advanced weaponry like retractable blades, etc. The StratOps gives you even more advanced rules for stuff like drop ships, and capital ships, mech salvaging and includes Battleforce rules.

 

They just recently released "A Time of War", which is the updated RPG....basically like Mechwarrior 4th Edition

[SopmodMikeFour]

Up to 4th edition now huh?I have the 2nd edition mechwarrior RPG book.Just checked out their site.Lots of stuff.

I was going through my old stuff and even found my RIFTs Robotech/Macross books.Memories....

Edited March 27, 2011 by Akwar

[FOTF]

Nice! Never played Rifts, but played the Robotech and TMNT RPGs quite a bit.

 

The big rage among game publishers is PDFs now. Many of the publishers offer their books in PDF format at a reduced price. I purchased Total Warfare in PDF form and used my printer at work to double side print and put it in a binder for easy reference during games. Saved more than half the cost of buying a hard copy of the book

[SopmodMikeFour]

PDFs effecting pen and paper RPGs now?Oh the horror. Didn't like when video games did it and surely do not like it with box games.I can't stand sitting and reading anything lengthy on a monitor.Makes the eyes go weird after a while.I prefer kicking back on a couch and reading paper.Nothing is better then a physical copy.

 

Having come over from war games I also like the thicker and more durable cardboard counters over the thin kind that Fasa used in a lot of their games to.Don't last near as long with prolonged use.I think Yaquinto made the best counters.Those things were thicker then the Avalon Hill variety.

Edited March 28, 2011 by Akwar

[FOTF]

I got something even better than that......

 

 

Miniatures!

[SopmodMikeFour]

Yup minatures are the best if you have the room and an HO type train layout table for them.I used to have a handful of mechs in white metal.A madcat and a few others.Now that I got the space maybe Ill start a collection and the tedious painting of several lances.

[FOTF]

Battletech uses "Z-scale"....about 1:285th. Pretty close to Micro Armor stuff. In fact, I use GHQ micro armor for tanks and infantry and stuff in our games. We have a 4 foot by 6 foot board that gets stacked against the wall when games aren't under way and we have held some pretty large scale battles on there and never run out of room.

 

BTW....I hear your gripes about PDF....they are a hassle. Luckily I have access to a decent printer that does double sided printing so it isn't a huge factor.

 

If you are interested in checking out Battletech again and want to play a few games but don't have the new books or players or whatever....check out Mega Mek. It's a cool Java based version of Battletech....has all the updated rules and most of the new mechs. The cool thing is you can create your own mechs in Solaris Skunk Works and import them in Mega Mek. Definitely worth a look