Anyone keeping up with the battletech universe?

[PalladiumMan]

The civil war between Victor and Katrina ended with Victor winning back the throne and banishing Katrina to clan space. Chirst! Whatever happened to payback and public hangings?

 

[Henry]

The problem there is that Victor, as portrayed in the Battletech novels, is one of the few "genuinely good guys" in the whole Political arena. He has his faults, but it takes a heck of a lot (like, says, assassinating his mother) to commit coldblooded murder. Despite what Katherine has done, he would likely either

a) banish her, as you say, or

b) make her execution very quiet and not public, out of respect for the family, and the office.

Didn't say he was a saint, just a generally good guy.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

That is a pretty funny quote considering the same guy tht headed Fasa runs Whizkids.

I am a little like Gene Weigel when it comes to BattleTech.

Burn the apocrypha, I say! The only good Battletech was by FASA! This horrid cheaply produced Whizkids game has destroyed the game! Mage Knight Bonfires all 'round, I say!



Seriously, I was greatly turned off by the new look and feel of Battletech after the Dark Age time line. I still run games set in the 3050 timeline, or thereabouts. I grew up with the 3025-3050 era 'mechs, and it is by far my favorite.

 

[Voneth]

Suddenly, somebody wants to fight, but since they have no Battle Mechs, they have to use logger and agriculture mechs, with chain saws and welding torches.

You decide for yourself how ridiculous that sounds.

No crazier than standard Battlemech "Hatchet Mech" that was armed with ... a huge hatchet. Or a mech with a huge skull painted on it's bulbuous head.

I grew up on Robotech mechs before "Battle Droids" (The "Tech" came after the lawsuit by Lucas Films) came out, so anything beyond a gun or a "cannon arm" looks a little off to me -- but that is just personal taste.

The old mechs are making a comeback in the Dark Ages game as coveted units that are being pulled out of mothballs, sort of like a classic Thunderbird.

Do I like the "agromechs/mining mechs" nope. But my Koshi and Spider seem much more useful now than they did in Classic BT. Overall, I can't complain. I now have even more games with the BT label that I can play. From the in-depth detail of Classic, to the squad and mixed-unit play of Dark Age, to the "stick jock" of PC play.

In addition to that, we now have a lot more 15-year olds playing again so now we can ensure there will be BT players for the next generation.

 

[Voneth]

I just despise having to buy miniatures to play. I am poor.

What ever did happened to all the cardboard mechs that FASA offered up so poor people could play? Now that was classic Battletech! You pick up the game for $20, it had ALL the rules for the entire game and you could play it out of the box! (Boy, that sounds familar these days).

Oh I remember what happened! That fangled new suppliement called CityTech came out and it just got more complicated from there.

 

[uv23]

To put it bluntly, Battletech is now whacked. And not in a good way.

There are 2 universes. The old classic universe, which the latest novel called 'Endgame' details. I'd read it if you really want to know the latest in the old, good universe.

Then you have Mechwarrior Dark Age, or whatever. I didn't do this research myself due to have to slog through tons of crap, but my buddy who's a Mechwarrior 4 computer game fanatic filled me in on the details. It goes something like this: after years of fighting, the Houses are a peace and throw their mechs away. During this time the Clans do not invade and stay in their own area of the Inner Sphere. Suddenly, somebody wants to fight, but since they have no Battle Mechs, they have to use logger and agriculture mechs, with chain saws and welding torches.

You decide for yourself how ridiculous that sounds.

Wow that does sound really ridiculous!!! I guess I wouldn't be so sad if the battletech universe wasn't so great. Of all the settings I ever played in, I found it to be one of the richest, most intriguing places to adventure, and even though I stopped reading the novels, I took some comfort in the belief that the setting was continually moving forward. Oh well. I guess my pipe dream of a battletech movie trilogy coming out will remain just that....

Thanks for the info.

 

[Fenes 2]

Ugh... I already hated that apparently even after rediscovering LosTech they were unable to manufacture the kind of missiles we have today, not to mention the kind of cannons, and that they made tanks so much cannon fodder against all realism, but to "put mechs away"? It goes against all logic. What are the odds a bunch of chainsaw-wielding logger mechs are a match for even BT-style-Infantry? (Not to mention modern infantry carrying shaped charges and RPGs...)

 

[Urbanmech]

The WizKids Mechwarrior is just a different game set foreward in the time line. They are still following the established FASA timeline, they just decided to skip up faster than FASA would have. There are a few more details that people have glossed over in what happened between 3067 and 3133.

History update...

The FedCom Civil war ended in 3067, Prince Victor Steiner-Davions forces won but the armies of the Lyran Alliance and the Federated Suns are shattered. Victor exiles his sister Katherine, and his other brother and sister take the reins of the two nations.

A year or two later the Word of Blake strikes throughout the Inner Sphere using chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Most of the Inner Sphere is put under Blakeist rule. After a number of years a rebellion finally starts and after years of fighting the Word of Blake's control is finally stopped.

In response to the brutality of the years of fighting, part of the Inner Sphere is reorganized and people are offered land grants/other benefits if they turn in their Battlemechs. This ushers in a new era of prosperity.

But now wars are starting to flare back up, thus heralding a new Dark Age.

end history update...

I'm still a strong supporter of classic battletech but I don't have a problem with Mechwarrior. I think it is good for the game. It brings new blood into the game and at some point the older players can introduce the new to the classic game.

I love classic battletech but see the appeal of the new game. It is easier to learn, quicker to play and does a better job of supporting combined arms units. If there was one thing I didn't like about classic is that it takes half an hour to play out one turn with only a few mechs on the board. In the same amount of time you can be halfway through a game of Mechwarrior.

There will also be classic supplements that convert the click based mechs to record sheets. This should make for a good way to ease the transition for the Mechwarrior players into classic battletech.

I really think that any incresed interest in Battletech is good for the game. FanPro and WizKids are doing good stuff.

For those of you with computers who don't want to shell out lots of money to get into Classic Battletech check out Megamek. It is a java game that does a pretty good job of simulating the board game.
http://megamek.sourceforge.net/index.html