Classic Battletech?

They have reprinted these books and they are available at the local books-a-million, calling my name. I remember playing some battletech in college and having fun with it, but I can't imagine I would get it to the table very often now.

Is this game so good I should drop money on it even though I will rarely get to actually play it with another person? Why is it so good?

Not sure what you mean by "these books." I like Battletech, though I haven't played it a whole lot, and never tried any of the expansions. It's a pretty simple and straightforward run n' gun type game, but it's got a lot of cool things you can do. Customizing your mech, shooting the other guy's arm off, then picking it up and beating him with it, things like that.

I know that Catalyst has an "Introductory Box Set," which is $40 and comes with a bunch of plastic mechs, but if you don't mind cardboard standups, you should just look around for a copy of the old-school TSR base game, which is the same thing and you can get for a song.

Some of the best gaming sessions I've ever had have been with Battletech. Scenario books offer a wide variety of options, mech construction allows complete customization and the complete rulebook rounds it all out with infantry, air and space rules. The game is pretty dice heavy, and seems to drag, but speeds up very quickly once everyone knows what they're doing.

Unlike common opinion, the game is not better a miniatures game. Miniatures are fine and fun, but the game really works best on a hex-map. It cuts out some of the fudge factor of measuring, and unless you're devoted to miniatures alone, they don't add that much to the game.

Unfortunately, they don't do the counters for infantry and vehicles anymore, so unless you want to hunt down the expansions, you're stuck buying minis.

I have fond memories playing battletech with my dad growing up. Although he would much rather construct mechs than actually play the game.

mjl1783 wrote:

Not sure what you mean by "these books."

I am looking at picking up that one or the introductory box set, but I'm trying to figure out if it is so cool I can't live without it even though I probably won't play it too often.

Well, unless you want to buy all your maps and minis separately, you're better off going with the introductory thing. Looks like it can be had for under $30 if you do the eBay thing. I'd say it's worth it for that kind of dough, even if you don't play it that often.

DO IT!!!

If you have played before and have some Heroscape terrain all you need is Total Warfare (stuffed with fluff text from what I understand) and something to represent the mechs for a satisfying experience. The intro set is great if you have to have some minis, much cheaper than metal and for plastic they seem to be ok sculpts (I am no expert). I bought the intro set for the new style of record sheets as well, though an enterprising individual could probably find a DL of Heavy Metal (PC mech creation software) and not even need the book of record sheets......