Best battletech books according to redditors
We found 40 Reddit comments discussing the best battletech books. We ranked the 19 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 40 Reddit comments discussing the best battletech books. We ranked the 19 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
Since the box set is out of print. I would get:
Or just want until the reprint happens. The boxes are better deals.
Handbook: Major Periphery States is your best bet for the most up to date info. Top left pic on the cover is the MoC.
https://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Major-Periphery-States-Piron-Gelman/dp/193485736X/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=handbook+major+periphery+states&qid=1572362972&sr=8-1-fkmr1
Here's my mini guide to the intellectual property.
Tabletop
For the Classic BattleTech miniature tabletop approach, ideally you want to buy miniatures (plastic lance packs or pewter at Iron Wind Metals), the main Total Warfare rulebook at Amazon or DriveThruRPG pdfs, and buy or print hex maps. There is also the option to buy the new BattleMech Manual instead of Total Warfare, which has reorganized the mech vs mech rules, and has everything you need to play a game with Mechs, only (Total Warfare also includes vehicles, airships, and infantry rules).
Alternatively, you could go 'tabletop lite' and get the aforementioned lance packs/IWM minis and the Alpha Strike rulebook (hard cover or pdf) for a slimmed down version of BattleTech that plays faster and uses open terrain boards like 40k, not hex maps. The Alpha Strike rules also include conversion for hex map play if you prefer it, and the Total Warfare rulebook includes Classic conversion for open board play rules as well.
There is also a way to "test" play for free or with minimal investment for both Classic and Alpha Strike:
Classic BattleTech:
Alpha Strike:
You can print the Alpha Strike stat cards for your mechs from the Master Unit List online. They also come with the Lance Packs if you bought them, and I believe are also in MekHQ (see below).
Note: BattleTech game products are supported by tons of lore literature, with different editions and publishers over the years. 90% of literature out there is fluff, not rules. Ask here and we'll help you navigate that world, it's deep and confusing. We'll help you understand which books are good next steps for rules, and good next steps for lore if you care about that.
Also, if you end up reading about other mechs in sourcebooks or novels or find
something on Sarna.net you like, you can find their stats on MechHQ, a free companion software from the makers of the free MegaMek. MechHQ can print record sheets for pretty much any mech, or you can copy stats from the program into blank record sheets, which you can get here. MechHQ is just generally useful.
If you go the Classic route you can also wait for the next release of the intro box due out in a few months. Note that Classic is the most versatile experience; there are rule books to turn your tabletop battles into campaigns, abstract from mech vs. mech to battalion vs. battalion, mix the RPG into the game to control a single MechWarrior that fights individual battles or commands entire planetary invasions, simulate space battles and even entire mercenary or great house campaigns that give you missions. Sky is the limit on the rulesets for this kind of play, but requires books. Lots of books.
This is mostly a 1v1 experience.
Pen and Paper RPG
This really is an extension of Classic BattleTech, fully integratable with the tabletop war game, but I'm putting it separate because some people prefer just an RPG.
The latest version of the RPG rules can be found in the book A Time of War, and you can buy any and all sourcebooks and novels for your history fix and setting-building. Others would be better than I to recommend where to start in the novels, but the 5 main house sourcebooks are the best historical overview. Almost all books can be found cheap on DriveThruRPG as pdfs, and some hardcopies are available at places like Amazon. This is mostly a 2+ group experience.
Keep in mind, the combat rules are very simple, character vs. character. If you want to play an RPG as a mech pilot (MechWarrior) and then fight in mechs, you'll have to convert into Classic BattleTech. The RPG really was designed as a supplemental game system for the Classic BattleTech world to satisfy RPGers, but it isn't really that well-regarded as a stand-alone RPG system like D&D and other deep RPGs.
Video Games
For computer gaming, check out the free-to-play (with IAP) MechWarrior Online for the FPS, the old MechWarrior 2, 3, and 4 abandonware games for simulation style play, or the new tactical BattleTech game released by Hairbrained Schemes. You could also poke around with MechCommander Gold, an old RTS style game. Very dated, but being limped along by longtime fans as abandonware, free. There is also the fan-supported MechWarrior: Living Legends, an insanely extensive mod for Crysis Wars made by fans, and is free. And finally, you can wait for MechWarrior 5, the latest in the simulation franchise, when it gets released in a year or two. These are solo experiences outside multiplayer.
Hybrid Tabletop and Video Games
Mixing tabletop and video games, you can also download the fan-made MegaMek that is a 2d version of tabletop (warning, huge learning curve, it's open source, free). It can be combined with companion software MekHQ to run a campaign, and you could join the online campaign community at mekwars.org that run a global persistent campaign using MegaMek. They are quite newbie friendly. You can also attempt to play tabletop straight on Tabletop Simulator(TTS), the popular $20 Steam board game physics engine (note you can play tons of boardgames on TTS, not just BattleTech). These are mostly 1v1 experiences, but MegaMek does come with (shitty) bot play. You really should have the full tabletop rules before cracking MegaMek, because it does a lot behind the scenes, but you can get away with quickstart or more on TTS. Also TTS can be used to run campaigns with multiple players remotely.
I would say those are the primary ways to get into BattleTech.
I started off with a map pack, some random minis, and bought Total Warfare. From there, I downloaded blank record sheets and filled them out using MekHQ. That was my start for a few months of gaming.
After that, I bought the expanded rules compilation published by Catalyst over a few years (TechManual, Tactical Operations, Strategic Operations, Campaign Operations, Interstellar Operations, and finally A Time of War to complete the collection). They did a good job of taking all the disparate rules and spinoff products from the past and brought them into one consistent and updated book series. Some haven't been printed in a bit, but should be reprinted soon. All are available as pdfs on DriveThruRPG.
That's pretty much the core line of all rules most recently published for any conceivable scope, scale, and advanced rule you might ever be interested in. After that, I downloaded MegaMek and spent hours working out how it works, with help from here.
Then I started to buy up lore. I picked up PDFs of the main House Sourcebooks, and then Technical Readouts for a few of the eras that were interesting. I bought some old sourcebooks from garage sales and online because they looked cool and interesting. Grabbed a Historical (like a Sourcebook but for a particular event or period of history), and an eyeing getting into the novels soon. DriveThruRPG sells much of them in PDF.
I think that's a reasonable way into the franchise. There is a lot out there, but if you focus on the core rules for Classic BattleTech from Catalyst and realize most of the rest is either lore or expansion content, the rest is gravy.
Ok, that's great info thanks.
So, what's the difference, aside from being published 9 years apart, from the Classic Battletech Techmanul (2008) and the Battletech battlemech Manual (2017) ? In theory, could they work in conjunction with eachother?
Another question that I didn't ask in the OP, some printouts I'm seeing around just have a list of weapons with no range modifiers on them - is there a list of all weapons with damage and range modifiers?
I also couldn't find this in the Beginner's Box rules - regarding missiles there is a section on clustering damage but each LRM or SRM on the mechs only have a Qty of 1 - can you only shoot one missile at a time? Or can you just shoot multiple up to your ammo count? We also didn't play with heat yet, so I figure this could come into play...
A Time of War is the Battletech RPG and it has everything you are looking for.
I like having the RPG effect the Battletech games and visa verse. Like the rpg characters have to sneak in and try to disable an early warning defense system, if they succeed the support mechs come in 3 rounds late in the Battletech match.
The A Time of War Companion is a big help too.
Technical Readout: 3039 is the latest book to provide technical data for units before the recovery of LosTech and the technological renaissance that accompanied such events as the recovery of the Gray Death Memory Core and the Clan Invasion. This mammoth tome comes from the perspective of the 3070s looking back on the beginning of the War of 3039 and includes the Unseen, combat vehicles, aerospace fighters, conventional fighters, and Star League downgrades.
Sarna link - Amazon link
Hey, you'll buy the CBT rulebook and use that to facilitate battles with vehicles and mechs:
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Battletech-Total-Warfare-FPR35101/dp/1932564772
An easier/more cost-effective method could be to buy the CBT Introductory box set:
http://www.amazon.com/Battletech-25th-Anniversary-Introductory-Box/dp/1934857599/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345122682&sr=1-1&keywords=battletech+box
This way you'll get everything you need to run a game, including 26 'mechs of varying weights. Should be fine if playing from an IS perspective (Only 2 Clan omnis in the box).
Iron Wind Metals sells other minis, if you want more. I personally bought a truckload of old MWDA minis and am using those with the miniatures rules (no hexes).
I would highly recommend looking into the Battletech system. The new book resolves a lot of the issues from the old system and would place your players in a relatively easy to understand pre-made galaxy. Plus, if any of your players have played the PC Mechwarrior games, they'd have some fun with the mechs probably.
Cool, FM 3085 is only $190
https://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Field-Manual-3085-Unnumbered/dp/1936876035
My wife is already asking me every day why I backed the game Battletech, and why I've pledged another $90 to the Clan Invasion kickstarter, and why I have a big plastic tub full of Battletech stuff. I think buying this may push her over the edge of divorcing me.
We have actually been playing a campaign at our FLGS for a couple years now. We used Starter Book: Sword and Dragon first http://bg.battletech.com/test/getting-started/starterbook-sword-and-dragon/ which introduces you to the warchest system: an abstract campaign management system. I think it's a good middle ground between tracking each c-bill and actuator, but still keeping you accountable for your damage. It also uses what is called Touchpoints. Basically what this means is that there are a bunch of generic missions you can do (like scouting, raiding supply lines, or participating in a frontal assault) against randomly generated OpFor, but when you choose (and have completed the pre-requisite mission) you can start a Touchpoint. It's a tough, usually high-risk-high-reward "story mission". Then you switch, your opponent picks a mission, you generate the OpFor and play until he/she completes a touchpoint mission. The final Touchpoint in Sword and Dragon pits your two now very experienced (or ragged and battered) companies against each-other. It made for one hell of a game.
From there we jumped off into Total Chaos https://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Total-Chaos-Unnumbered/dp/1936876434 which expanded on the Warchest system adding rules to buy infantry, battle armor, aero fighters, anything. It is set in the Jihad era, and covers multiple Touchpoints(and background missions you can choose to fill out each one) each year for the years 3067-3085ish.
Lastly, the newest book, Campaign Operations has rules for randomly generating mercenary, pirate, or house forces of any size from a single lance to a houses entire armed forces. It also contains rules for operating your unit: paying pilots, hiring people, buying supplies, defection, etc. As well as generating contracts, pay, level of operational intensity, negotiating salvage rights, you name it. It lets you roll a few dice and then just play battletech, or it lets you get nitty-gritty and randomly generate the weather and gravity conditions on the randomly generated planet for your randomly generated guerilla warfare contract.
http://bg.battletech.com/test/core-rulebooks/campaign-operations/
Sorry for the wall. If y'all have any more questions, please feel free to pm me or ask here. I'm not a catalyst rep, but I'll do my best. :)
https://www.amazon.com/BattleTech-Battlemech-Manual-Catalyst-Game/dp/194158232X
This one.
https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Battletech-Field-Manual-Updates/dp/3890649769/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491789219&sr=8-1&keywords=field+manual+updates
That link shows me the first result priced at $29.33
This should be a link to the tech manual -> https://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Techmanual-Classic-Catalyst-Game/dp/0979204720/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=F1QF7PS0G5809A6BJHRM
Anyway, tech manual is the least important of the core rulebooks. Most of the work contained in it should instead be conducted using a computer program such as SSW, as Building units by hand is tedious and should be avoided. The most important point in the book is the construction of capital ships and dropships, for which a good program does not exist (yet?), but campaigns rarely concern themselves with this content.
Amazon for the low, low price of $300
Uh, I got my Total Warfare book from Amazon here in Germany. And it was in English (though they had the German version in stock too, mine had "language: English: in the product description), with free Prime shipping. What country are you in?
Edit: here you go, and dirt cheap! http://www.amazon.de/Total-Warfare-Classic-Battletech-Randall/dp/1932564772/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1462197035&sr=8-3&keywords=battletech+total+warfare
None of the Battletech novels are Asimov-esque, but a number are surprisingly well-written, with interesting characters, and even more so, a truly interesting, engaging, and believable universe. Even twenty years after I first read them, I still find them genuinely 'good reads', especially if you're a fan of pseudo-medieval politicking and warfare; only a very few Battletech books are what anyone would call eye-roll worthy.
I'd recommend the Blood of Kerensky trilogy for Clan-IS perspective, as it's a mix of both from the pivotal time when the Clan invasion first happened. There are other good series set from a Clan perspective, but really, starting 'where it all began' is likely the best bet.
If you're looking for more IS-based literature down the road, be sure to read the Warrior trilogy; very well-written, and some great cloak-and-dagger stuff. Reading Field and Tech manuals can also be fun for universe-based context; something like this would be a fun read - there's one for every major House faction and one for most Clans as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Field-Manual-SLDF-Catalyst/dp/1936876477/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370529301&sr=8-1&keywords=SLDF
http://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Historical-Liberation-Terr-Catalyst/dp/1936876361/ref=pd_sim_b_6
http://www.amazon.com/BT-Historical-Liberation-Terra-Vol/dp/1936876647/ref=sr_1_61?ie=UTF8&qid=1370529377&sr=8-61&keywords=Battletech
Are all books I'd suggest if you are running a campaign in that time and looking for crunchy information like troop movements, battle results and the like.
http://www.amazon.com/BattleTech-Report-2750-Catalyst-Game/dp/1936876353/ref=pd_sim_b_7
This book is good for a more general feel, with descriptions of the house leaders and how they were viewed by others and the like.
I was actually trying to recommend Total Chaos - A Jihad campaign sourcebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Battletech-Total-Chaos-Unnumbered/dp/1936876434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465911926&sr=8-1&keywords=total+chaos+battletech
> I don't know anybody else who plays it, and I don't know the game and its hundreds of rulebooks well enough to teach it to my gaming buddies.
> Now what?
Battletech Manual: Most current rulebook focusing on mech only combat, with rules streamlined and cleaned up (not changed though) from the Total Warfare rules.
So, one book that was designed specifically to help make the rules easier to understand from the previous edition, not hundreds. I would think if you really wanted to it wouldn't be hard to learn the rules and teach them to your friends, especially considering my friends and I were playing the game back around the age of 11.
That's assuming you don't want to get it in PDF form, or get the Total Warfare rules, which are the same except not quite as cleaned up and also including rules for vehicles, infantry, aircraft and whatever else besides just mech combat.
There are also map packs available if you need them, and you could either use generic markers for mechs or buy some models from Ironwind Metals or eBay if you needed those. That's assuming the Catalyst box sets don't come out soon. I see the starter box set slated for this year up on various sites for pre-order, although no date is set beyond '2018' yet.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0979204712/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467243851&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=battletech+total+warfare&dpPl=1&dpID=61t-CFsf1JL&ref=plSrch
Literally the first search option on amazon (unless you aren't in the us) 29.95 with free shipping with prime.
For manuals I'd look at the Mechwarrior 2nd edition (main book) and the Mechwarrior Companion. Those two will have the bulk of the rules for the RPG side.
I want some kind of air support system and a hanger of aerospace fighters to manage/maintain.
https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Battletech-Aerotech-2-Revised/dp/1932564187
I'll gladly order one.
Is this the right one?