Payn;s Ponderings@ Battletech General Discussions
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payn
Glory to Marik
So, I am a longtime Video game fan.
Mechwarrior; (PC and Super Nintendo!)
I never played the original and started with MW2. Moved onto MW3 and MW4. Grabbed MW5 at launch and have opinions. MW2 had a great soundtrack and was a blast to play. MW3 felt more modern with its campaign gameplay and mech models. MW4 seemed like the penultimate edition of this era of MW games. I certainly enjoyed all of them. but MW4 hung on for a very long time. Mostly due to there not being a new MW game for like 15-20 years. MW5 had the graphics update, fun gameplay, moddability, but man was the campaign weak sauce. It was just smothered in weakness. Your merc crew was so vanilla, your lancemates don't even have call signs, I could go on. Fun gameplay but felt like 2/3 an actual completed game.
Mechwarrior Online;
I was in Dungeons and Dragons Online for a bit. I had a guild buddy that also loved MW. So, we jumped into MWO at launch. It was fun, I loved the graphics and gameplay (although I was a total noob). Got bored of the grind and endless death match and eventually stopped playing, but really enjoyed my time collecting mechs and playing in the lab.
Mechcommander 1&2;
A new take of RTS in the mech-verse. The original was HARD! I loved the voice acting, storylines, and mech salvage and lab. Part 2 was a huge upgrade on part 1 and had an excellent campaign storyline. I would jump on another edition to this series! So much tactical fun.
Battletech HBS;
Fabulous, fabulous game. I loved every min of it. I bust it out at least once a year. Great mech lab, challenging gameplay. Serviceable campaign, could certainly have been better, but the game was clearly made to be a merc sim sandbox and not a campaign type game. Folks will complain that the rules are only like 80% accurate; but who cares? This game is killer fun and excellent for any mech head. I will be there with bells on if HBS puts out a sequel.
Mechwarrior; (PC and Super Nintendo!)
I never played the original and started with MW2. Moved onto MW3 and MW4. Grabbed MW5 at launch and have opinions. MW2 had a great soundtrack and was a blast to play. MW3 felt more modern with its campaign gameplay and mech models. MW4 seemed like the penultimate edition of this era of MW games. I certainly enjoyed all of them. but MW4 hung on for a very long time. Mostly due to there not being a new MW game for like 15-20 years. MW5 had the graphics update, fun gameplay, moddability, but man was the campaign weak sauce. It was just smothered in weakness. Your merc crew was so vanilla, your lancemates don't even have call signs, I could go on. Fun gameplay but felt like 2/3 an actual completed game.
Mechwarrior Online;
I was in Dungeons and Dragons Online for a bit. I had a guild buddy that also loved MW. So, we jumped into MWO at launch. It was fun, I loved the graphics and gameplay (although I was a total noob). Got bored of the grind and endless death match and eventually stopped playing, but really enjoyed my time collecting mechs and playing in the lab.
Mechcommander 1&2;
A new take of RTS in the mech-verse. The original was HARD! I loved the voice acting, storylines, and mech salvage and lab. Part 2 was a huge upgrade on part 1 and had an excellent campaign storyline. I would jump on another edition to this series! So much tactical fun.
Battletech HBS;
Fabulous, fabulous game. I loved every min of it. I bust it out at least once a year. Great mech lab, challenging gameplay. Serviceable campaign, could certainly have been better, but the game was clearly made to be a merc sim sandbox and not a campaign type game. Folks will complain that the rules are only like 80% accurate; but who cares? This game is killer fun and excellent for any mech head. I will be there with bells on if HBS puts out a sequel.
MGibster
Legend
Apparently there were some very odd licensing deals amongst several companies over the use of these mechs that just happened to include Harmony Gold, FASA, Hasbro, and others. In the 80s, you could find what was a Veritech fighter produced by some tiny toy company that was totally legit. It didn't have any Macross or Robotech logos on the packaging, but the toy was licensed from Japan by an American toy company. The G1 Transformers toy Jetfire was a Veritech fighter. Anyway, FASA licensed those mechs, but Harmony Gold sued them saying they had exclusive rights to them in the United States. FASA decides they're no longer going to use any mech design that didn't come from within their own house. Sad day for me.
TheHand
Hero
I got my first exposure to the BattleTech universe with an old PC game called Crescent Hawks Revenge. In many ways the game was a precursor to the real time strategy genre, which should then come as no surprise that the games' creators, Westwood Studios, would go on to create the Command and Conquer franchise years later.
Crescent Hawks was a great introduction to the setting, as it starts you off with just 1 Lance during the 3020's era, in a grudge match of Steiner vs. Kurita. But as the campaign progresses, decades pass and you and your old archenemy end up on the same side against those mysterious invaders known as the Clans. I was pretty much hooked and ran out and bought all the BattleTech books I could find at the FLGS.
In the mid 90's I ended up organizing some giant 20-30 player BattleTech convention games at a nearby Convention. We would split the game into 3 tables and provide all sheets and miniatures. I color coded the sheets, and used a flash-card system for initiative (so if your table GM held up a Yellow Card, all players with Yellow Mechs would go). I also liked tossing conventional vehicles into these games, which were the first time a lot of BattleTech players had seen them in real games.
Another amusing "tournament" we threw together at the Convention was the "Junkyard". 2 on 2 duels, but the winners only got to repair their mechs based on the salvage from the losers. By the final rounds, everyone's beautiful machines had become cobbled together Frankenmechs.
Back at home we played a ton of the Mechwarrior RPG, usually doing freelancer Merc type campaigns.
After FASA folded my interest in the game also faded. I picked up some of the Catalyst Labs books, but the games had stopped. It really felt like the "Total War" era had too much weapons bloat that I couldn't get excited about.
Then HBS came out with the BattleTech PC game and my old interest was piqued. I ended up dusting off the BattleTech books and ran a Virtual TT campaign for some interested new players (actually based off of the story of Crescent Hawks Revenge!). It was going to be a one-shot but we ended up playing it for almost a year. I also enjoyed played Mechwarrior 5, though I wouldn't call it a perfect game.
I still fire up the HBS game when I get the urge to blast Mechs. The humongous "RogueTech" mod gives it a lot of re-playability.
I also recently picked up the MechWarrior Destiny rpg, but I haven't had a chance to play it, but it looks pretty solid for the rpg side of things.
Crescent Hawks was a great introduction to the setting, as it starts you off with just 1 Lance during the 3020's era, in a grudge match of Steiner vs. Kurita. But as the campaign progresses, decades pass and you and your old archenemy end up on the same side against those mysterious invaders known as the Clans. I was pretty much hooked and ran out and bought all the BattleTech books I could find at the FLGS.
In the mid 90's I ended up organizing some giant 20-30 player BattleTech convention games at a nearby Convention. We would split the game into 3 tables and provide all sheets and miniatures. I color coded the sheets, and used a flash-card system for initiative (so if your table GM held up a Yellow Card, all players with Yellow Mechs would go). I also liked tossing conventional vehicles into these games, which were the first time a lot of BattleTech players had seen them in real games.
Another amusing "tournament" we threw together at the Convention was the "Junkyard". 2 on 2 duels, but the winners only got to repair their mechs based on the salvage from the losers. By the final rounds, everyone's beautiful machines had become cobbled together Frankenmechs.
Back at home we played a ton of the Mechwarrior RPG, usually doing freelancer Merc type campaigns.
After FASA folded my interest in the game also faded. I picked up some of the Catalyst Labs books, but the games had stopped. It really felt like the "Total War" era had too much weapons bloat that I couldn't get excited about.
Then HBS came out with the BattleTech PC game and my old interest was piqued. I ended up dusting off the BattleTech books and ran a Virtual TT campaign for some interested new players (actually based off of the story of Crescent Hawks Revenge!). It was going to be a one-shot but we ended up playing it for almost a year. I also enjoyed played Mechwarrior 5, though I wouldn't call it a perfect game.
I still fire up the HBS game when I get the urge to blast Mechs. The humongous "RogueTech" mod gives it a lot of re-playability.
I also recently picked up the MechWarrior Destiny rpg, but I haven't had a chance to play it, but it looks pretty solid for the rpg side of things.
I bought some of those, just for the minis.
I had that for the Mac. I was getting pretty good at it when an in-event pissed me off enough that I temporarily quit. Which became permanent when my upgraded replacement computer wouldn’t run the game because of the system change.
I was doing one of the advancement challenges, the one where you’re fighting a Heavy (100 ton) mech with a light (20 ton) one. I used my speed and mobility to avoid being hit while concentrating my fire on a single leg. I took the leg out, defeating the big SOB.
…which then fell on my mech, destroying it and causing me to lose the challenge.
Since the challenges were one time only events, my character was level capped.
Now, that wasn’t the sole reason the game frustrated me to the point of quitting, but it was the last straw. There was an airport defense scenario that my buddy had conqured with relative ease, but I was struggling with, time and time again. Just couldn’t get past it. I’m sure I would have figured it out eventually, but after the challenge event fiasco, I was just deflated.
I also tried out the Battletech arcade center here in D/FW a few times. My call sign was MAD. I racked up a HUGE number of kills each time I played. I also got killed at a higher rate than most. I guess I lived up to my callsign.
Playing that game in those immersive cockpits was a blast, no question. But it was just a bit too expensive to really grab me.
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MGibster
Legend
Me too! I went there once, around 1999, and had a blast! I don't remember my callsign though.I also tried out the Battletech arcade center here in D/FW a few times. My call sign was MAD. I racked up a HUGE number of kills each time I played. I also got killed at a higher rate than most. I guess I lived up to my callsign.
aramis erak
Legend
I skipped the bundle; Destiny itself was on discount on DTRPG. It is interesting, but it got a double skim, not quite a full read. It's very boardgameable, as well, but they don't endorse that element, despite putting the needed tables for that.
I've never played any of the computer games for the Battletech setting.
payn
Glory to Marik
WHAT!? Battletech by Hairbrained schemes is amazing. MW5 is not bad if you like FPS mech sim.
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