Mecha games?

[Tsyr]

My group wants to get into some mecha gaming, and I'm looking at whats out there... Here are my thoughts right now, and I'm looking for other's opinions too.

Battletech:

At first glance, this seems very complicated. Possibly a bit more than we are after. Also, the whole style of the mechs aren't really what my players (or I, really, truthfully) would probably enjoy... it seems far too slow. I'm not looking for EVA-like speed or nothing silly like that, but the mechs in BT just don't seem all that inspiring, beyond being big. I also thing the huge amounts of backstory and faction information is a bit daunting, coming in at this stage in the game. Perhaps if we had jumped on board a bit earlier, but.

On the other hand, I do LIKE the huge universe and story... very detailed, and I'm sure very enjoyable.

GURPS: Mecha

I know very little about what the book contains... it seems very generic, I mean, it is GURPS after all... but I'm not terribly fond of GURPS in general.

Gear Krieg:

Well... it's a mech game, sorta, but WWII mechs aren't really what we are after

Rift and Robotech:

Both of these have the same basic problem... the rule system. I don't like the palladium rules system, as much as I DO like Rifts, and it really really breaks when it comes to things like mech combat.

Heavy Gear:

I like the story, and I've heard nothing but good things about the company and their products. Also, most of my players have played the computer game, so they have at least a basic understanding of the setting and terminology and so forth.

On the minus side, I'm less sure about the rule system.

Jovian Chronicals:

I like this setting even better than the one in Heavy Gear, at least from what I've read of it, but none of my players would be at all familiar with it.

Again on the minus side, I don't know much about the rules system, since it uses the same system as HG and GK. It also seems very space-based, and I'd like to know (I cant find much on their website) about how much planetary action would be seen in the setting.

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Does anyone else have any recomendations, or opinions on the listed choices? As it stands, I'm leaning towards Jovian Chronicals, although Heavy Gear is still tempting...

 

[Ranger REG]

Played BattleTech ("Classic BattleTech" from FASA) for half of my life. It's a straight-up wargame. You move, you shoot. But you have to monitor your heat scale else you'll overheat your mech and it will shut down on you. It allows you design your own (up to 100-ton mech). BattleTech expands to armor and infantry units (BattleForce) and include air and space combats (Aerotech). The setting in which the game takes place is colorful and with various factions to choose from, or if you wish, become a mercenary unit for hire.

Can't tell you about the new BattleTech game, now called MechWarrior: Dark Age by WizKids, makers of fine collectable and clickable minis games. But I'll let you know. But if you're looking for Classic BattleTech, WizKids have granted a Germany-based company Fantasy Productions to publish new BT material.

To this day, I tend to compare other mecha games with BT.

 

[Vaxalon]

Big Eyes, Small Mouth

For my money, you can't beat BESM2. most of the other ones you have listed are too rules-heavy for my taste.

 

[LostSoul]

I messed around a bit with Robotech mecha using the d6 Star Wars system. It seemed to model the TV show really well. (The only difficulty being the fancy missiles and stuff.)

 

[hong]

Battletech is sorta like the granddaddy of mecha games. The rules are relatively simple, and designed for fast play. Yeah, the mechs themselves are more "lumbering behemoth" than "acrobatic stuntguy", but the game itself is pretty slick. It isn't particularly realistic either, but when you're talking about 50-foot-tall giant robots with multiple ray-guns, realism probably isn't a major concern of yours.

I've played HG a bit. The scale is very different to Btech; for a start, you're not piloting giant robots, but what are really oversized suits of powered armour. A gear is roughly the same size as the exoskeleton in Aliens, with layers of armour and a bunch of weapons added on. Also, gears aren't the kings of the battlefield like mechs are in BT; they're really not much more than powered infantry, and things like tanks and artillery can stomp all over them. And finally, it's more low-tech than BT: instead of fusion engines and lasers, you have internal combustion engines and autocannon. But hey, a gun is a gun, right?

Combats in HG are pretty fast and furious, much like BT; however, HG takes a bit more trouble to be realistic. BT uses a system of "hit points" by location, which isn't too different to D&D, and the result is the same: you can get into big slugfests without too much worry that a single shot will cripple you. With HG, a single shot could take out your leg, or your arm, or your engine, etc. (Mind you, this can also happen in BT, but the chances are less and depend on whether one side is heavily outmatched.) Whether you think this is a Good Thing or not depends on your taste. It's like the bloomin' hit point debate, transplanted into a new setting.

The HG setting is pretty original, and DP9 keep coming out with new supplements to fill in the blanks. You're not going to get the same amount of depth that BT has, but BT has several years' head start. All up, I think I prefer HG, but that's may be due to over-familiarity with BT more than anything. We played it to death when I was at uni, enough that I've gotten bored with it.

One other difference is that while BT started life as a pure mecha-wargaming ruleset, and later evolved a roleplaying add-on (MechWarrior), HG was designed from the ground up as a combined wargaming/roleplaying system (the Silhouette system). This may or may not be important to you. In my experience, any game featuring giant robots tends to end up focusing on the giant robots above all else, including the people inside them.

 

[Lord Ravinous]

I would suggest the Mechwarrior RPG, 2nd or 3rd edition, both are good in their own respective ways, 2nd being my favorite for ease of play, and its fairly cheap as its not in production anymore, and is completly compatible with Battletech, 3rd is more rules heavy but is better for small rules that make sense and the awsome character creation system.

 

[Pseudonym]

Is R. Talsorian's Mekton still in production? That was a decent giant robot game that allowed for character dirven plots as well as big robot slugfest. The system wasn't so bad either. It's been years since I played it, though, so it may not be in production still.

 

[Neo]

Mechwarrior/Battletech definitely.... it may seem hard but if you start with the basic battletech rules and then just integrate the additional rules from the other books and compendiums as you feel more capable to handle them, i swear you'll fall in love with the game and be playing it for years.

It is one of those games that people either love or they hate, if they hate it they never play it again, if they love it they play it forever.

As a system and setting it's pure magic..... i have no idea what Wizkids version is like though which is the post FASA incarnation of the game.


Robotech excellent anime, great art, fantastic idea.....god awful "P" system.....nuff said.

Heavy Gear, great setting again the RP books are excellent resource and inspiration when playing the game, but the system is quite low complexity which some folks like but others hate.

there is also Mekton which uses the old Cyberpunk system "Fuzion" i think it's called.....that is also good and very anime/gundam in style of play.

 

[JDragon]

Battletech all the Way

The first thing is to determine what you are looking for from your Mecha game, are you wanting a RPG or a Wargame. IF you want a RPG then You would go for Mechwarrior, and knowing some of the backstory will be helpful. If you just want a knock down drag out mini fight, then go with B-Tech. You can do campaigns with the same piolts over a period of time, collecting salvage/spoils from your defeated enimies, or just have everyone pick a mech from a time period and weight class and go at it.(this is what I usually do)

Good luck and have fun.

JDragon

 

[LostSoul]

You also have to decide if you want a rules heavy game or a rules lite one.