(Part 2) Top products from r/battletech

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.

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.

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

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.

checks old invoice

sizes and prices

... wait, that can't be right... I must have gotten a discount because in my records those 5 cost me $370, as well as having an e-mail showing $370 as the final price...

Ah, there we go, went to the website and checked, I got them on sale, so there was a 50% discount at the time.

I was in the middle of getting the basement finished, so I kind of rolled the expense of these into the total price of the room.

I went and found some old D&D art books, then used a flatbed scanner and scanned the images at a high DPI to get some high res images. These are the two books I got the D&D stuff from (can't remember if they both came from one or the other):

One

Two

The two on the far right are from Wayne Reynolds, a lot more current.

Three

And the 2nd one is some Doomtrooper art from Paul Bonner, from this book:

Four

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.

I'll gladly order one.

Is this the right one?

It was barely even a Battletech novel. I can't even remember if the unit involved was a known unit or invented for the story. Essentially they get lost in space and completely removed from the Battletech scene. There were primitive bird aliens of some sort. It was clearly an idea the author had mostly formed before selling it to FASA to be part of Battletech (common in SciFi series actually). The patch job to make it a "Battletech" novel was half-assed at best and never felt genuine. I don't remember much more about it other than such a deep loathing that I still carry a tinge of resentment what has to be nearly 20 years later.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0451452917

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).

http://www.amazon.com/Robotech-Tactics-Starter-Board-Game/dp/1574572156

or

https://palladium-store.com/1001/product/55100-Robotech-RPG-Tactics-Box-Set.html

The Glaug/Marauder and Regult/Ostscout are in a different pack.

Sword and Dagger by Ardath Mayhar was the very first book, but it's gotten a bit pricey. It is the lead up to the Warrior Trilogy and gives background to the overall reason for the 4th Succession War.

I think I made it through two chapters of Dark Age, just couldn't do it.

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

This answer comes in two flavors:

Infantry was added to the Battletech rules set as means of expanding the tactical possibilities and increasing the replay value of the game.

Crunch wise, the rules were tacked on and will take hundreds of men to reliably threaten a mech on a game field. In the absence of situational objectives or scenarios, they simply do not function at the level the rulset was intended to play at.

Fluff wise, units of soldiers represent some of the background 'noise' against which the story of stompy robots is told. Books such as Mercenary's Star by William Keith and Close Quarters by Victor Milan, show a much more personal interaction between foot soldiers and mechs, and will answer your question in a very entertaining fashion. But ultimately the focal points of Battletech are the mechs, not the infantry, and the stories generally bear this out.

In modern land warfare, infantry IS the battle, everything else exists to help him do his job: Make the other guy die for his faction..

• Recon vehicles to find enemy.
  
• Artillery to blow up the enemy before he gets there.
  
• Trucks, APCs, and helicopters to carry him to the battle.
  
• AFVs, IFVs, and gunships to carry the weapons into battle that he cant.
  
• Tanks to reduce the strong-points and to kill the vehicles he cant.
  
• Air support to do the same when there are no tanks around that can.
  
• Anti-aircraft systems to shoot down the enemy air support that is trying to same to him.
  
  in reference to your other thread: What part of this ballet do you think a battlemech will dance in?
  ****
  Bonus question time-
  
  In Battletech, a battle armor unit is a better representation* of the threat infantry represents to an armored unit on a battle field.
  
  In reality, the physics of the Battletech universe is incompatible with our own, so without accounting for that, a comparison is essentially meaningless. (It would be bloody cool to have battle armor kicking around in real life though)