Introduction

Hi!

I've found myself investigating Battletech for the first time in about twenty years and have decided that I'm going to have a bash at running a blog based on my experiences.

My first experience with Battletech was in about 1994 when I picked up the 3rd edition boxed set from my local Virgin Megastore (back when they stocked miniatures for a bit) for £20. I had recently got out of the Warhammer hobby for various reasons but still wanted a miniatures game to play and Battletech was the first one I found.

I must admit that when I got home and opened the box, I wasn't too impressed with what I found as the miniatures were pretty poor quality plastic and for some reason wouldn't take a coat of paint no matter how hard I tried. The game seemed interesting with the hex map and record sheets but I never really engaged with it and moved on to other wargames such as Void, Vor, Warzone and Chronopia.

Over the ensuing years, I picked up the odd book or pdf when they were on promo from places like Drivethru RPG and so on but I never really got past a glance at the artwork before moving on to some other game that had caught my eye. This changed in 2020 with the Lockdown meaning I was furloughed from work and stuck in the house and while looking for something to watch on Youtube happened upon DEATH FROM ABOVE WARGAMING. Here was a new channel showing battle reports which actually made the game look fun!

This gets me onto the main reason for starting this blog. I want to try playing Battletech, immerse myself in the background and explore the setting and even explore the different methods of play.

Now I am going to be starting things with the basics as I need to familiarise myself with the core game so will no doubt be making some newbie mistakes along the way!

Looking around the interwebs, I was surprised to see that older editions of Battletech are really hard to find, not to mention super expensive so I'll be making a start with the new intro set,

There are two different versions, the Beginner Box and the Game of Armored Combat which has more miniatures as well as complete rules but I figure the Beginner Box will do to get me going and if needs be, I'll see if I can find my old 3rd edition rulebook which I'm sure I have somewhere!

I'm also swithering about miniatures at the moment as whilst the figures are nice, they are a wee bit expensive for my tastes and the sculpts seem to be getting a much needed refresh as some of the original ones are showing their age.

At present, I'm planning on using the paper tokens I've made:

Wilson's Hussars

They're cheap and cheerful and I think I'll be able to play some games with them without spending a fortune as a regular lance will set you back about £25-£40. I had hummed and hahed about individual mechs costing between £5 and £10 but as you only need four miniatures for a complete lance, which is pretty much all I'd be fielding, I may crack and pick up a few once I get the hang of things as there is something visually appealing about having actual mech miniatures on the table that paper cannot do!

 I'm also keen on exploring the different eras of Battletech, be it the Star League, Succession Wars, Clan Invasion, Jihad or Dark Age and the assorted tech levels for each.

This is going to involve an awful lot of reading as I try to digest the massive amount of information that the books cover but plan on starting small with a general overview of the 3020's as it has the lowest level of tech and some iconic mechs to play around with.

Hopefully folks will find my meandering through the Inner Sphere interesting and do feel free to post any comments you may have.

In the meantime, All the best!