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I'm about to blow your minds, well... Probably notbif you're a BT fan already, but if you haven't been a fan for awhile what I'm about to say next may seem strange but... Here it goes...

I love IWM BattleTech minis!

How can you not? They are just too cool! I always thought Mechwarrior was this big tough guy type game where all the robots looked like Mad Cats and missiles and lasers and missiles... But then... Hatchetman? Wtf? Atlas? Oh my god!

My wife and I spent most of last night on the Iron Wind Metals site looking at minis and there was not one model that we didn't like. Some of them we laughed hysterically because they looked like 1950s retro throwbacks and some because well... Mad Cat! For the first time ever my wife was actually excited about miniatures and even showed interest in the game itself.

When we found out that we could play an RPG set in the BT Universe it practically sealed the deal. We have both always been interested in Sci-Fi but a lot of it is too serious for my wife, and for the most part myself included. 40k scratches that "serious gamer" itch for me and Warhammer the Game of Fantasy Battles is my go-to for fantasy. Mordheim has taken over a large portion of my wargaming interest though and I'm just fine with that. Yet there is this unfulfilled desire to re-enact scenes from Robot Jocks!

So anyways... I wanna play BattleTech! How do I get started, and where do I get the toys? There is a lot of confusion about scale and all this about rulebooks and TROs, it can be a little overwhelming for a new player. How do I sort through all this and get my wife and I into Battle Tech?

The best place to get started is The Battletech Introductory Boxed Set. Maps, rules, minis.

The minis aren't the greatest (to say the least) but they're better than the previous box set and they work okay with a bit of a paint job.

If you like the role-playing aspect, get reading some novels - just hunt down a timeline list and start with the Gray Death Legion Trilogy.

As far as BT not taking itself seriously, it does - it's just that it took itself seriously in the 1980s and hasn't really changed, so some of the designs/fluff definitely look a bit odd nowadays.

Still got a soft spot for it, though!

I think the seriousness only compounds the retro feel. I've read a bit about BT, thanks to all their free PDFs. The story Peace,War,Cherry Trees from the intro rules was spectacular. The juxtaposition of the writing and the images you see in your head and then the actual image of the Mech... It goes almost hand in hand. To put it bluntly its a perfect mix. Sure I can plunk down an Awesome and put on the serious game face, but at the end of the day I'm still imagining myself in my boxer shorts inside this clunky 1950s cereal toy. Just to be clear this isn't a diminishment in any way!

I was looking at the box sets but I'm wondering if I should just buy the rulebook and grab a few mechs? Some of the 4 packs have really great Mechs and I want to avoid any smaller scale stuff if possible .

I'd seriously just get the Introductory Boxed Set, for the grand sum of 45 GBP (no idea what that is in Canada), you get the following:

Box Contains
24 newly plastic moulded, unpainted ready to play BattleMechs
2 premium minatures
One 12 page full colour quick start rulebook
One 36 page book of pre generated BattleMech Record Sheets

One 80 page full colour rulebook
Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56 page full colour book containing universe background and BattleMech technical data
One 16 page full colour Painting and Tactics guide
Two heavy duty cards of compiled tables
Two 18" x 22" full colour gameboard quality mapsheets, with four different maps
Two 6 sided dice
One full colour posted sized map of the Inner Sphere circa 3067


The mechs range from 20-100 tons, so there's no problems there. Scale-wise, they fit in with the other models (as much as any do...).

You get all the rules that you need and those hex-maps aren't a fun accessory - you really, really need them. The included rules cover Level One stuff, which I think is where the fun is at; Level Two and Three will require a different rulebook, but whilst Level Two adds a lot more depth and options, Level Three is really gross and hardcore!

Robot Jox, eh? Used to love that film back in the day; watched a bit on Netflix a few weeks ago - big mistake!

Achilles! Achilles!

... I'm coming for you!

Hahaha sooo awesome.

Well boo-urns that's a lot of stuff! 40 pounds should be about 80-90$ can. That's really not a bad deal.

Thanks for selling me on that then! I'll go hunt one down.

You should check this out:

http://catalystdemos.com/

Find local Agents, ask them to run some demos for you, or just ask Questions. Or ask me questions. My call sign is the same over there (I'm an Agent, #43), and the email address there is still good for me.

The current box set is the best intro set that I have ever seen for any game.

 darkcloak wrote:
Achilles! Achilles!

Well boo-urns that's a lot of stuff! 40 pounds should be about 80-90$ can. That's really not a bad deal.

Thanks for selling me on that then! I'll go hunt one down.

I got mine for only $60. It is extremely cheap, even in Canada.

Pretty sure the base game rules are free on their website. Maybe start by looking at those.

Been playing in the Battletech universe since before it was "Classic". Quit and had been playing other TTG's for many years. Finally had enough with GW when they did the last update to 40k (Mordheim and Necromunda are still boss though). Went back to Battletech and brought some other disgruntled 40k players. I've been running them in a mercenary campaign for nearly a year now. Started in 3034 and its now January of 3040. Using some of the old rules from 1st edition "Mechwarrior", everything has been running in an alternate timeline to the traditional BT universe. Nothing major, just leaving it all up to the dice. Oddly enough, the war of 3039 seemed to happen all on its own. Last game saw the boys running a covert ops assassination mission behind the Draconis lines to take out a prototype ladden command lance of the 3rd Ghost on the planet Breed. In the ensuing battle the DC lance managed to split up and isolate the mercs and engage them 1v1. One of my buddies prize pilots wound up going toe to toe with his Warhammer versus a 'prototype' Kintaro. In turn 8 or 9 the Warhammer finally managed to double tap the kintaro's leg and dropped it to the ground. In the same turn the Kintaro hit the warhammer in the head with its large laser, and a single short range missile. This missile wound up critting the cockpit and killed the pilot. Overall, the mission was a success with the remaining merc elements managing to get out before DC reinforcements could show up. After the fight the guys were mortified and saddened at the loss of their pilot.

To me, no other table top game can impart the same levels of drama and suspense as Battletech. We aren't even roleplaying as such. All the pilots just start to have their own attitudes and develop into characters all on their own. That being said, yes, the intro box with the Atlas on the cover is the one you want. The plastics in there are 100% better than the previous box (which has a Warhammer on it). All the new plastics are pretty good. Wish we could get some more and more frequently out of Catalyst.