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Hi Guys,

So I was playing MWO and, perhaps inevitably, the thought of playing some real Battletech came up...

Is the beginner set a good jumping on point? I like that there is only 2'Mechs and that it appears to have all the stuff to play included, but the price makes me think there must be some kind of trick! After all £24 doesnt even buy you a squad of 10 boyz...

This is a couple of years old now, but still valid:

Ah OK, so no point buying the beginners box? Shame as I'm certainly not going to buy the "Game of Armored Combat" box with 27 flippin 'Mechs!

 Kroem wrote:
Ah OK, so no point buying the beginners box? Shame as I'm certainly not going to buy the "Game of Armored Combat" box with 27 flippin 'Mechs!

You might want to double-check the listing you're looking at for "A Game of Armoured Combat", as I believe it has eight mechs, not 27.

The beginner box has a simplified rules system which doesn't include heat management for example. You could still get it and one of the hardcover rulebooks (MechManual or Total Warfare) and could start playing with the full rules. The cost difference to the Armored Combat box wouldn't be that big anymore and it only has 8 mechs not 27. This would give you the usual amount of mechs for two players.

Ah nice, yea maybe I was looking at the wrong listing. 8 'Mechs sounds a lot more manageable!

I'll let you know if I end up getting it.

The updated one has just been posted:

Now if Essentials became available outside of the US, that would be great!

This is canon and I love it:



A Ghost Bear MechWarrior is assigned a salvaged Inner Sphere mech, which has been modified by its previous owner, including blasting sound effects whenever a weapon is fired, filling the cockpit with perfume every time the Mech is booted up and a digital assistant talking to him in an UWU voice. He is not amused.

From the short story "Great Work" found in issue #14

...and this is why some people shouldn't be allowed to submit fiction.

OOF. No fun allowed I see. 😬

 Dysartes wrote:
...and this is why some people shouldn't be allowed to submit fiction.

To be fair, considering the situation and pure numbers available, I can see it happening. However, I wouldn't want to be the Tech in charge of that machine after the Warrior found out about it.

 Dysartes wrote:
...and this is why some people shouldn't be allowed to submit fiction.

What, do you think there's no anime in the 31st century? House Kurita still has bushido, samurai, ninja, and all the other 'ancient' Japanese traditions. From 3050, the late 20th century is EVERY BIT as ancient.

And given the game itself originated from a couple guys trying to make a game about anime mech fighting, I'd say it's 100% appropriate for its anime origins to return to the game, if only in the fluff.

It's a fun short story that made me like the clans just a little bit more, which is quite a feat as no matter how many stories I read, I find it hard to root for them and their horrible way of doing things. And it's funny that the tech is mentioned, this takes place during the Jihad and the pilot is pretty much told to figure it out himself by his commanding officer, as they got 99 problems and a pilot who can't run basic maintenance on his own mech probably shouldn't be a pilot in the first place.

In better news, got a copy of Essentials coming in today, a small amount of stock made it across the pond and it was sold out in just a few hours. Quite chuffed to have it in my collection and wahey, not just another Rifleman but also a Centurion, Yen-Lo-Wang, at that, for the lances. Also, the arena map will make for a fun alternative IntroTech map to play on.

Got the Somerset Strikers incoming as well, the store I bought it from backed the KS, so that's why they got this stuff on sale right now. Now if the core Mercenaries set would arrive already, want to do stupid stuff with my Hetzers.

If you have Total Warfare, you can already do stupid things with Hetzers.

The Merc box only gives rules for doing stupid things with bad Hetzers (and the Rifle & Command Support Box gives the BSP cards for those Hetzers).

Ah, the big scary, wordy book that handles everything? The one that has a hobby section still using GW paints from two decades ago? I have it! I am mostly sticking to the slimmer A Game of Armoured Combat rules for the time being as we're still at the IntroTech stage in terms of mechs. And if I'm being really honest, CGL has a way of writing rules sometimes that makes it feel like they're using a hundred words when twenty would've sufficed.

I do hope CGL puts out the record sheets for the new stuff soon, the end should be in sight by now. Locally the Mercenaries street date has been changed to sometime this week instead of mid-February now, so hopefully that'll happen this week as well. 🤞🏻

Also, were there ever any good Hetzers? I have the cards, but I'll be damned if I know how to read those hehe! Did pick up a few of the boxes as they came in; heavy battle & sweep lance, battle & fire lance and the rifle & command lance, do want me some tanks and SRM carriers for future stuff.

 BrookM wrote:
Ah, the big scary, wordy book that handles everything? The one that has a hobby section still using GW paints from two decades ago? I have it! I am mostly sticking to the slimmer A Game of Armoured Combat rules for the time being as we're still at the IntroTech stage in terms of mechs. And if I'm being really honest, CGL has a way of writing rules sometimes that makes it feel like they're using a hundred words when twenty would've sufficed.

Pretty much, but Total Warfare is the only source of rules for using Combat Vehicles with Record Sheets until a Vehicle Manual or Combined Arms Manual is produced. Keep in mind that Vehicles can be Introtech, too. What defines that is what equipment they are built with. The "Hetzer Wheeled Assault Gun" is one such Combat Vehicle.

And yeah, Total Warfare is a bit of a mess. It's coming up on it's 20th Anniversary, so hopefully CGL will either replace it or announce the release of the Manual series so we can drop it all together.

 BrookM wrote:
I do hope CGL puts out the record sheets for the new stuff soon, the end should be in sight by now. Locally the Mercenaries street date has been changed to sometime this week instead of mid-February now, so hopefully that'll happen this week as well. 🤞🏻

The Record Sheets exist, and have for quite some time, particularly most of the Introtech. There are several ways to obtain them before CGL releases ForcePack PDFs.

First is to buy a Record Sheet pack from CGL. However, this can get expensive, particularly if you want all the variants.

Second is to use a Battletech Design Program or Site. Solaris SkunkWerks has one, but I prefer MegaMekLab, as it can add Reference Tables to the side (which include which terrain a Vehicle cannot enter). Unfortunately, they both require Java on a PC to work, but that's not too bad to set up (if you're not using an Apple OS).

MechFactory is an Android App, but they also have a website where you can download PDFs of specific units. So a good back up option.

Of course, the final method is to copy/print the Record Sheet from the back of the Tech Manual and fill it out like "ye olde days" using stats found in a TRO or Resource book (oh, that method takes me back).

 BrookM wrote:
Also, were there ever any good Hetzers? I have the cards, but I'll be damned if I know how to read those hehe! Did pick up a few of the boxes as they came in; heavy battle & sweep lance, battle & fire lance and the rifle & command lance, do want me some tanks and SRM carriers for future stuff.

As bad as you think Record Sheet Hetzers are, the BSP Assets are much worse. About the only advantage a BSP Hetzer has over a Record Sheet Hetzer is being able to keep a maximized TMM no matter how they move. Being forced to move in a pre-Movement Phase really hurts ambush units that aren't hidden. Nothing is easier to avoid than a unit that has already moved, and a BSP Hetzer will ALWAYS move before your opponents 'Mechs, even if you win Initiative.

The BSP Asset cards aren't too hard to read. The basics only take about 3 pages of the Merc Manual, with another 3-4 pages regarding Specials. Even then, some of those Specials are pretty obvious, like "No Turret".

For Movement, they follow their type, just like a regular Record Sheet Vehicle, so no parking those Hetzers in Woods. However, they cannot Flank (Vehicle equivalent of Running), so as fast as the Move is, that's all you're getting out of them. They always keep their TMM, though, even if they only moved a couple of hexes. Kind of like Alpha Strike in that sense.

For Attacking, you use the Skill for both the "G" and "A" in GATOR. The only time you consider a BSP Assets Movement for calculating To-Hit is for Spotting, at which they are all (except for Infantry and Emplacements) "Running". They will do a number of Hits based on the second number, and the Damage is based on the first. So a Hetzer will have a Damage of "20x1" for its lone AC/20. Easy to figure out.

For receiving Damage, each Asset has a Threshold number. That's how much Damage it can take before you see if it can been destroyed. I don't have the Rifle & Command set yet (I had 2 more Vehicle sets I wanted first), but going by the Vehicles I do have, I'd estimate the Hetzer to have a Threshold of 5 or 6. For sake of example, I'll go 6. If your opponent manages to hit your Hetzer with a standard Medium Laser for 5 Damage, it didn't meet the Threshold, so no Destroy Check is to be performed. However, if they hit it with a standard Large Laser for 8 Damage, a basic Destroy Check will be performed at the End Phase.

For the first Destroy Check, your opponent then rolls 2D6 and see if it meets or exceeds that Destroy Number. I'm going to assume 8 for the Hetzer for now to keep with the explanation, as it is a common value. For that Medium Laser, no Check. For that Large Laser, they need to roll 8+ to take it out. If successful, the unit is removed as Destroyed.

However, there is an addition to that. If the amount of Damage received is higher than 10 (i.e. 11+), you can add 1 to your Destroy Check. So if an AC/20 hits that Hetzer, the Destroy Roll would be on a 7+. For every additional 10 from there you add an additional 1 to that roll. So if an AC/20 and a Medium Laser hits that Hetzer, it would be on a 6+, and so on.

If a Destroy Check is made, but is not successful (blasted snake-eyes), the Destroy Check degrades. This will be by 1, except for Infantry facing off against AI weapons like Machine Guns. So that Hetzer could be hit by 2 AC/20s, but if your opponent rolled snake-eyes to destroy it, it survives, but with a Destroy Check Target of 7+ on the next Turn (that's what the blank spot next to the 8/ is for).

Everything else either deals with specific motive types and the Specials.

 Charistoph wrote:
The Record Sheets exist, and have for quite some time, particularly most of the Introtech. There are several ways to obtain them before CGL releases ForcePack PDFs.

First is to buy a Record Sheet pack from CGL. However, this can get expensive, particularly if you want all the variants.

Second is to use a Battletech Design Program or Site. Solaris SkunkWerks has one, but I prefer MegaMekLab, as it can add Reference Tables to the side (which include which terrain a Vehicle cannot enter). Unfortunately, they both require Java on a PC to work, but that's not too bad to set up (if you're not using an Apple OS).

MechFactory is an Android App, but they also have a website where you can download PDFs of specific units. So a good back up option.

Of course, the final method is to copy/print the Record Sheet from the back of the Tech Manual and fill it out like "ye olde days" using stats found in a TRO or Resource book (oh, that method takes me back).

From Tuesday Newsday Episode #39 (14 January 2025)

-Josh Perian is also working on MUL 2.0. Work has restarted on it and they’re close to getting an early release, Josh is hoping for Q1 2025.
--It will have record sheets
--It will be able to combine Alpha Strike cards and record sheets for force building
--The search filter has been rebuilt from the ground up
--The look and feel will be updated.
--They’ll be able to show more detail closer to release and talk about features that are planned but further out.
--They’ll have advanced aerospace cards as an option instead of the PDF on the CGL shop

 Ghaz wrote:
From Tuesday Newsday Episode #39 (14 January 2025)

-Josh Perian is also working on MUL 2.0. Work has restarted on it and they’re close to getting an early release, Josh is hoping for Q1 2025.
--It will have record sheets
--It will be able to combine Alpha Strike cards and record sheets for force building
--The search filter has been rebuilt from the ground up
--The look and feel will be updated.
--They’ll be able to show more detail closer to release and talk about features that are planned but further out.
--They’ll have advanced aerospace cards as an option instead of the PDF on the CGL shop

Still not here yet, though.

It's still worth mentioning as it is in development with a possible release date in the near future.

Would be cool, as I do want me some record sheets in one place, but gonna assume that it'll miss the release date by a long shot.

 BrookM wrote:
Would be cool, as I do want me some record sheets in one place, but gonna assume that it'll miss the release date by a long shot.

There's no slow boat from China to get it to the US, nor is there any way it can get held up in customs.

Someone at CGL has just requested that his hoppy beverage is supported by a bystander…

 Ghaz wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Would be cool, as I do want me some record sheets in one place, but gonna assume that it'll miss the release date by a long shot.

There's no slow boat from China to get it to the US, nor is there any way it can get held up in customs.

I think basic software/website development can do as much, if not more, than a slow boat from China.

Mercs is officially in stock around here, so should be having my box in hand tomorrow or Thursday. 🤘🏻

Mercenaries has arrived and almost everything of the new release wave, bar a few support boxes, has already sold out in hours around here, damn!

Had a chance to sit down and read through the new rules, I can see what people now mean by support assets being weaker and being very much lite rules, but for a newbie like me, it does look accessible enough.

Also really looking forward to putting the campaign rules in action, we'll be going with early Succession War era mechs for our budding companies. On my end, my beloved Archer and Rifleman versus her dreaded combo of the Wolverine and Hunchback. We're very much going with rule of cool with this one. 😅

Beauty shot.

Have not done this in a while.....actually forgot to put out my wasp but i did a beauty shot of all my Kurita forces, a company level force of second swords of light, and just about 2 lances worth of second deiron regulars.



Putting out my 10th lyran guard will be a chore

Are the new support rules optional or do they wholesale replace the old ones used in... say the BattleMech Manual? (Which is my favorite book).

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Are the new support rules optional or do they wholesale replace the old ones used in... say the BattleMech Manual? (Which is my favorite book).

They are to replace the old ones in the BMM and Battle for Tukayyid book.

Most of that is just pricing however, the actual process of using them, aside from the Vehicle Assets, hasn't really changed.

Finished painting up the 3rd ForcePack of Legendary Warriors:


I also repainted my extra plastic Dragonfly and the Ironwind Metals Kit Fox in to my Horses Colors.