BattleTech

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This article is about the franchise. For 2018 video game, see BattleTech (video game).
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Former BattleTech logo

BattleTech is a

FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003;[2] and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for video games, Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios
; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.

The series began with FASA's debut of the

role playing games, video games, a collectible card game, a series of more than 100 novels, and an animated television series.[3]

Gameplay

Further information: Classic BattleTech

In its most basic form, BattleTech is played on a map sheet composed of hexagonal terrain tiles. The combat units are roughly 12-metre-tall (39 ft) humanoid armored combat units called BattleMechs, powered by fusion reactors and armed with a variety of weapons. Typically, these are represented on the game board by two-inch-tall miniature figurines that the players can paint to their own specifications, although older publications such as the 1st edition included small scale plastic models originally created for the Macross TV series, and the 2nd and 4th edition boxed sets included small cardboard pictures (front and back images) that were set in rubber bases to represent the units. The game is played in turns, each of which represents 10 seconds of real time, with each turn composed of multiple phases.

Setting

BattleTech's fictional history covers the approximately 1,150 years from the end of the 20th century to the middle of the 32nd. Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages.[4] MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in the mid 3100s.[5]

A detailed timeline stretching from the late 20th century to the mid-32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history,[6] with an emphasis on (initially) the year 3025 and creating an ongoing storyline from there. Generally, BattleTech assumes that its history is identical to real-world history up until approximately 1984, when the reported histories begin to diverge; in particular, the game designers did not foresee the fall of the Soviet Union, which plays a major role past 1991 in the fictional BattleTech history. Individual lifestyles remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, but feudalism is widespread, with many states ruled by hereditary lords and other nobility, below which are numerous social classes.

A key feature of the BattleTech universe is the absence of non-human intelligent life. Despite one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the only sentient species.

Above all, the central theme of BattleTech is conflict, consistent with the franchise's

wargaming core.[1] Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles, factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests and duelling
, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.

The level of technology evident in BattleTech is an unusual blend of the highly futuristic and the nearly modern. The universe is largely based in

projectile weapons. Artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, androids, and many other staples of future fiction are generally absent or downplayed. Incessant warfare is generally blamed for the uneven advancement, the destruction of industry and institutes of learning over the centuries of warfare having resulted in the loss of much technology and knowledge. As rivalries and conflicts have dragged on, advanced technologies are redeveloped for the battlefield.[7][8]

History

Further information: List of BattleTech games

Conception

Chicago-based FASA Corporation's original 1984 game focused on enormous robotic, semi-humanoid battle machines battling in a science-fiction feudalistic Dark Age setting. The game was at first called

BattleTech in the second edition because George Lucas and Lucasfilm claimed the rights to the term "droid";[10][11]
the machines themselves were renamed BattleMechs from the second edition onward.

The game components included:

Illustrations & Imagery

Rather than create their own original robot art, FASA decided to use already-extant designs that had originally been created for a variety of different Japanese

Dougram, Crusher Joe, and Macross. The rights to these images were licensed from Twentieth Century Imports (TCI). In later years, FASA abandoned these images as a result of a lawsuit brought against them by Playmates Toys and Harmony Gold over the use of said images.[15]

The anime-sourced BattleMechs continued to be referenced in-universe, but their images were no longer seen in new sourcebooks. This led them to be termed by fans as "the Unseen". When Fantasy Productions licensed the property, these "Unseen" images were expanded to include all art produced "out-of-house" – that is, whose copyrights resided with the creators, not the company. Catalyst Game Labs has continued this practice.[16]

Expansions

The game's popularity spawned several variants and expansions to the core system, including CityTech which fleshed out urban operations, infantry, and vehicle combat, AeroTech which focused on air and space-based operations, and BattleSpace which detailed large spacecraft combat. FASA also published numerous sourcebooks, known as Technical Readouts, which featured specifications for new combat units that players could select from. However, despite the large number of such pre-designed BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units and other military hardware, the creators also established a system of custom design rules, enabling players to generate their own units and field them in combat. In addition to game rule books, FASA published several background books detailing the history, political and social structures of various factions in the game, including all five Great Houses of the Inner Sphere, ComStar, the Periphery states and the fallen Star League.

FASA launched two additional systems to complement the core game:

star map
, with players trying to capture regions of space.

Recent years have seen a trend of consolidating the expansions into "core products" for efficiency. Beginning under FanPro's aegis, then continued under Catalyst Game Labs, the various rulesets have been combined into a series of Core Rulebooks:[17]

  • Total Warfare (TW) integrates the original boardgame with CityTech, BattleTroops, and parts of AeroTech 2 (itself a consolidation of AeroTech and BattleSpace) pertaining to atmospheric operations (such as simplified rules for Dropship operations, and the use of AeroTech Fighters in atmospheric combat).
  • Tactical Operations (TO) supplements Total Warfare with rules for expanded game-play (advanced rules). These include an expanded weapons / equipment table listing (Lostech), advanced unit types (such as "mobile structures", planetary fortresses, and "large support vehicles") as well as numerous optional gameplay enhancements for planetary-level conquests (consolidating Maximum Tech and other expansion packs, like Explorer Corps).
  • Strategic Operations (SO) consolidates the rules for multi-game campaigns within a single star system (such as unit morale and management, repair and maintenance, equipment salvage, in-game construction, and unit-level economics) with the remaining AeroTech 2 rules omitted from TW. These include the introduction of
    space warfare
    rules, and the use of space travel as a gameplay element. A revised version of BattleForce is also consolidated into the book.
  • TechManual (TM) consolidates the customization rules with technical fluff from various products for units compliant to Total Warfare rules. (Construction rules for the missing units are listed in TO or SO, as these units are not considered to be "tournament legal" for gameplay).
  • Interstellar Operations (IO) was originally a project that had been available in beta form. The book was designed to introduce rules for faction-wide operations (such as entire Clans / Succession Houses / Empires) across multiple campaigns and star systems—up to and including the entire Inner Sphere. The book itself would have also included an expansion of additional technologies which stipulated per time period in the game universe's history, including revised rules for more advanced types of vehicles such as Land-Air 'Mechs, Superheavy BattleMechs, and unique period technologies. The size of the materials slated for the book forced its splitting into two volumes; the second, which was initially known as the Campaign Companion, was renamed.[18][19]
  • Campaign Operations (CO) is the self-contained companion book to Interstellar Operations. The book provides core rules handling player campaigns, using different rules sets. Taking older legacy rules found in previous source books, CO presented them in a singular core rulebook for better accessibility for the player. Included in the publication are rules to build environments for players to create and maintain combat units to be played in the game universe and rules allowing them to design their own worlds and star systems if desired.[20]
  • BattleMech Manual is an alternative Core Rulebook to Total Warfare. Unlike Total Warfare, the Battlemech Manual ignores all elements of combined operations, instead presenting concise and developed rules for playing games of Battletech focused exclusively on BattleMechs fighting against Battlemechs. The book is marketed as "table usage friendly" [21] and serves as a complete, standalone game experience for players who want a single book for Mech focused combat.

After FASA

After the FASA Corporation closed in 2000, Wizkids bought the rights to the game in January 2001.[22] They reworked the IP to launch their MechWarrior: Dark Age collectible miniatures game, but licensed the rights to continue to publish products for the old game to FanPro (itself a subsidiary of Fantasy Productions). Topps bought Wizkids in 2003, but this did not change any publishing agreements at that time. FanPro held the license to the original tabletop game (which they rebranded as "Classic BattleTech") until 2007. At that point Catalyst Game Labs (CGL) acquired the license from Topps. CGL continues to hold the license to this day; with the end of the MechWarrior: Dark Age miniatures game, the name of the traditional tabletop game has reverted to simply BattleTech.

On 24 June 2009, Catalyst Game Labs announced that they had secured the rights to the "Unseen" art. As a result, art depicting the original 'Mechs could be legally used again.[23] However, an update on 11 August 2009 stated that the part of the deal regarding designs that originated in images from Macross had fallen through, returning the original images to Unseen status once again. Since then, designs that originated in images from Dougram and Crusher Joe are no longer considered Unseen.[24]

Reception

In the March 1988 edition of Dragon (Issue 131), Jim Bambra called the first edition BattleTech tabletop game "a brilliantly conceived and presented game of robotic combat set in the war-torn universe of the Successor States", and complimented the high production values of the game components. Bambra concluded with a recommendation: "Try the Battletech game. If you like it, it might inspire you to form your own BattleMech unit and battle your way across the Successor States."[12]

In the June 1993 edition of Dragon (Issue 194), Rick Swan reviewed FASA's third edition and liked the rules revisions "presenting the fundamentals in clear, simple language." Swan also admired the game's post-apocalyptic vision, calling it "one of the hobby's richest settings." He concluded with a recommendation to buy the third edition: "While the previous version was a class act ... the third edition stands as the definitive treatment, a handsome upgrade worth the purchase price even for owners of the old editions."[13]

In the August 1997 edition of Dragon (Issue 238), Rick Swan reviewed FASA's fourth edition of BattleTech, and called it "A snap to learn... as exciting as it is addictive; there are few gaming experiences more satisfying than blasting giant robots into scrap metal." However, for people who already owned the third edition, Swan suggested that "there's no compelling reason to invest in version four."[14]

Reviews

Spin-offs

The BattleTech franchise first extended beyond the tabletop wargame format with the release of

BattleTech Collectible Card Game, a CCG developed by Wizards of the Coast, creators of the popular Magic: The Gathering
.

Clix System
", a means of tracking the combat statistics and abilities of each figure by turning a dial in its base.

BattleMechs, the hulking flagship units of the franchise, made a natural subject for computer emulation, and so in 1988

Mechwarrior Online, set around the start of the clan invasions.[34] The game was published in 2013 by Infinite Games Publishing,[35] the same company which later published MechWarrior Tactics. IGP filed for bankruptcy and sold off the rights in December 2014. Piranha Games continued work on MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries
, was released as an Epic Games exclusive in December 2019.

The franchise saw its first online-dedicated game with

turn-based strategy game, simply titled BattleTech, was released in April 2018. The game was developed by Harebrained Schemes, and led by Jordan Weisman, the creator of the series.[36][37]

Magazines

BattleTech material appeared in various publications from other companies, ranging from articles in professional gaming magazines to fanzines devoted exclusively to the game. FASA provided some material to gaming magazines, allowed associated fan clubs like MechForce to publish newsletters, and treated some magazines like BattleTechnology as semi-official publications. Some of this material was treated as canon at the time and some of it, especially 'Mech designs, came to be used in official product.

An exhaustive list is impossible but more notable publications are listed below.

Magazines with some BattleTech articles:

  • Challenge (Game Designers' Workshop) - #30, 35, 36, 38, 39, 44, 47, 48, 51, 54, 55, 60, 61, 67–70, 71, 73
  • Dragon - issues #114, 144, 161–163, 166
  • Mecha Press (IANVS) - issues #0, 1, 3, 4, 7-17
  • The Space Gamer (Steve Jackson Games) - issues #75, 78–80, 83, 85
  • Stardate (FASA/Associates International/Reluctant Publishing) - issues Volume 1 #5/6; Volume 3 #1-6
    • StarDrive a one-shot from Reluctant Publishing
  • White Wolf - issues #7-10, 33, 41

Fanzines and magazines dedicated to BattleTech:

  • BattleTechnology (Jeffry Tibbetts/Pacific Rim Publishing, 1987–1995, 23 issues) - had semi-official status and featured material from several writers of official BattleTech fiction.
  • Commando Quarterly (FanPro Commandos, 7 issues, 2003–2006)
  • Future Wars (Herb Barents, 42 issues) - 41 regular issues and a best-of
  • Mech (MechForce North America, 1990–1995, 18 issues) - newsletter, replaced by MechForce Quarterly in 1995
  • MechForce Quarterly (21 issues, 1995-?) - newsletter of MechForce North America
  • Shrapnel (Catalyst Game Labs, 2020-) - ongoing digital house publication

Other media

BattleTech Center

The BattleTech creators' goal of creating an immersive BattleMech simulation came about 1990 with the opening of the first

CRT monitors with modern LCD ones[38]
) for both private, commercial, and convention use.

Tie-in fiction

  • More than 100 tie-in novels. The novels are set in both the Classic BattleTech era (mid-3000s) and the Dark Age era (3130s). The original (Classic) BattleTech novels were produced between 1986 and 2002, while the Dark Age era Novels were produced from 2002 to early 2008. Publication of titles under the Classic BattleTech and MechWarrior lines resumed at the end of 2008.[39]
  • An online writing project named BattleCorps produces novelettes set in different eras. The subscription-based BattleCorps offers monthly stories set across the history of the fictional universe. As of mid-2017, no new stories have been released in the first two quarters of 2017.[40]
  • The Spider and the Wolf, a comic book-style sourcebook published by FASA in 1986 as a supplement to the original board game. It depicts the inception of the "Black Widow Company" in 3015 and offers a brief introduction to the BattleTech universe as a prelude on the inside cover. Three potential game scenarios are presented in the back of the book.
  • A series of licensed comics, published in the late 1980s by Blackthorne Publishing under the BattleTech and BattleForce monikers. The BattleTech comics included an "annual" and a "3-D" special issue, while the third of the three-issue BattleForce comic was left unpublished. The comics are not officially dated, but due to real-life publication date and plot context, speculation suggests that setting is circa 3025.
  • A five-issue comic book limited series based on BattleTech: The Animated Series, BattleTech: Fallout was published by Malibu Comics from 1994 to 1995.[41] The series is set in early 3050 during the Clan Invasion and depicts a group of disparate fugitives pairing with the Belt Pirates. The two parties form an irregular BattleMech force to remove the Clans from the Star's End system. The first issue has two special editions, one with gold print ("gold edition") and one with a holographic cover. The fifth issue (titled "Issue #0"), offers three very short supplemental stories outside of the main plot of the comic.
  • A 13-episode television show,
    Clan Jade Falcon
    .
  • Paramount Studios
    , has leased the rights to produce a motion picture based on the BattleTech universe. Development has been slow and little is known about the project's status.

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-312-09618-2
    . ...many visions of a corrupt future society forsee the return of bloody games in the Roman tradition... The BattleTech shared-world series (see also Robert Thurston) moves the formula on to a galactic stage.
  2. ^ "Topps Acquires WizKids". icv2.com.
  3. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0
    .
  4. ISBN 978-1-55560-089-1
    .
  5. ^ "WizKids: MechWarrior". Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
  6. ISBN 978-0-9792047-3-9
    .
  7. ^ "Combat Equipment"
  8. ^ "Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex"
  9. ^ Weisman, Jordan; L. Ross Babcock III (1984). Basic Battledroids. Chicago: FASA Corporation.
  10. ^ "DROID (Original registration)". United States Patent and Trademark Office. September 22, 1977. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  11. ^ "DROID (Current registration)". United States Patent and Trademark Office. September 26, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  12. ^
    TSR, Inc.
    : 74–76.
  13. ^
    TSR, Inc.
    : 33–35.
  14. ^
    TSR, Inc.
    : 112.
  15. ^ Harmony Gold U.S.A. and Playmates Toys v. FASA Corporation and Virtual World Entertainment, 95 2972 (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division 1996-06-12).
  16. ^ Record Sheets: Phoenix Upgrades. BattleCorps. 2006. pp. 1–2.
  17. ^ "Core Rulebooks | BattleTech: The Game of Armored Combat". 26 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  18. ^ "Interstellar Operation Open Beta Begins". Battletech News. Catalyst Game Labs. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Interstellar Operation". Battletech News. Catalyst Game Labs. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  20. ^ "Campaign Operation". bg.Battletech.com. Catalyst Game Labs. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  21. ^ "BattleMech Manual". bg.Battletech.com. Catalyst Game Labs. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Wizkids Acquires Battletech". The Miniatures Page. 2001-01-25. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  23. ^ "Catalyst Game Labs". Catalyst Game Labs.
  24. ^ Sometimes Things Just Don’t Go As We Want Them To | BattleTech: 25 Years of Heavy Metal Mayhem Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Têtes d'Affiche | Article | RPGGeek".
  26. ^ "Têtes d'Affiche | Article | RPGGeek".
  27. ^ "Magia I Miecz 1993 04". April 1993.
  28. ^ "Jeux & stratégie 51". June 1988.
  29. ^ WizKids Games Archived November 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ WizKids Games Archived March 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Bullock, Russ. "President". Piranha Games. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  32. ^ Plunkett, Luke (July 9, 2009). "New Mechwarrior Game Confirmed, Will Reboot Series". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
  33. ^ Brudvig, Erik (3 September 2009). "MechWarrior 5 Trouble Brewing?".
  34. ^ "MWO: News". mwomercs.com.
  35. ^ "IGN". Archived from the original on 2011-11-08. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
  36. ^ Futter, Mike (September 28, 2015). "Returning To Battletech 31 Years Later". Game Informer. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  37. ^ Matulef, Jeffery (August 14, 2017). "BattleTech reboot delayed until 2018". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  38. ^ "MechJock.Com the home of Virtual World Entertainment LLC. - Tesla II Cockpits getting custom MFD LCDs".
  39. ^ Administration, Catalyst (27 June 2008). "Catalyst Game Labs bring Classic BattleTech, Shadowrun, and MechWarrior novels back to bookstores".
  40. ^ "BattleCorps:/". Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
  41. ^ "BattleTech: Fallout".

External links

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