BattleTech

W.I.P.

About

BattleTech^[1] is a cross media franchise^[2] based on 1984 board game originally called BattleDroids^[3] created by Jordan Weisman^[4] and L. Ross Babcock III^[5]. The game and subsequent spin off works is centered on giant piloted robots called BattleMechs^[6] and their pilots the MechWarriors^[7].

History

Board Games

The main board game takes place on hexagonal grid with 1/285 scale miniatures (or markers) of the BattleMechs and other units such as vehicles^[8][9][10] and even infantry squads^[11]. The results of combat and other action are typically resolved by two six-sided dice. Players must keep track of their units’ damage, ammunition, and heat.
The first edition of what became to known as BattleTech was originally called BattleDroids^[3]; it was owned and published by FASA Corporation^[12]. Due to George Lucas and Lucasfilms claiming the rights to the term “droid”^[13] the following year’s second edition’s name was changed to BattleTech^[14]. FASA also created the third^[15] and fourth^[16] editions of BattleTech in 1992 and 1996 respectively. A Japanese edition of BattleTech was licensed by FASA in 1992^[17][18]; it had new artwork provided by Studio Nue^[19].
FASA also released BattleForce (a game simulating larger battles) in 1987 and 1997^[20]; BattleTroops (a game simulating infantry engagements) in 1989^[21]; and BattleSpace (a game simulating space battles) in 1993^[22].
All the BattleMechs (with the exception of the one used as the example of the construction rules^[23]) in the first edition used unmodified mechanical designs from Super Dimension Fortress Macross^[24] (produced by Studio Nue^[19], Artland^[25], and Tatsunoko Production^[26]), Fang of the Sun Dougram^[27](produced by Sunrise^[28]) and Crusher Joe^[29](produced by Studio Nue^[19] and Sunrise^[28]); those designs continued through the following editions (the second edition even used several more outside designs). FASA was under the impression at the time that it had received the rights to use the designs from Twentieth Century Imports^[30]. Around the same time Harmony Gold^[31] acquired the U.S. rights to several animated series (Super Dimension Fortress Macross^[24], Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross^[32], and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA^[33]) from Tatsunoko Production along with the name “Robotech” that was originally used by a line of Revell model kits^[34] based on several different animes (Super Dimension Fortress Macross^[24], Super Dimension Century Orguss^[35], and Fang of the Sun Dougram^[27]). FASA continued to use the design with little issues until the mid-1990s when legal issues concerning a failed pitch to PlayMate Toys to make a BattleTech toy line, designs and story similarities to FASA’s appearing in PlayMate’s ExoSquad line, and Harmony Gold’s involvement in the ExoSquad line resulted in the designs from outside sources being phased out.^[36] These removed BattleMechs became known as the “Unseen”^[37].
In 2001 WizKids^[38] purchased the rights to BattleTech and created MechWarrior: Dark Age in 2002 and its second iteration named MechWarrior: Age of Destruction in 2005^[39]; these game were used WizKids’s Clix System. During this time the original board game was re-branded as Classic BattleTech and published under license by FanPro^[40].
In 2003 WizKids was purchased (and eventually shut down in 2008) by Topps^[41]; and in 2007 FanPro’s license ended and was acquired by Catalyst Game Labs (a subsidiary of InMediaRes Productions, LLC)^[42].
During the board game’s history many smaller supplementary books^{[43][44][45][46][47]} were released (including Technical Readout: Project Phoenix in 2003 that reintroduced many Unseen units with new designs that became known as the “Reseen”^[48]); these supplementary books introduced new unit, equipment, rules, and scenarios. Many of these rules were complied and stream lined (along with the basic fifth edition rules) in the Total Warfare source book in 2006^[49]. Total Warfare serves as the source book for tournament play and BattleTech, 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set (released in 2011) contains the basic fifth edition rule set^[50].

Pen and Paper Roleplaying Game

As of July of 2013 there have been four editions of the roleplaying game each of which tend to take place primarily in a different eras of BattleTech history. In the RPG the players typically took the role of a BattleMech pilot (the often titular MechWarrior) but could take other roles.
The first edition titled MechWarrior: The BattleTech Role Playing Game released in 1986 by FASA^[51] and took place during the Third Succession War era^[52]. It’s more centered around the board game than later editions with the player character being part of a larger military unit^[53].
The second edition came out in 1991^[54] and reworked much of the basic rule set taking it further away from the board game allowing for more leeway with player characters.^[55] It took place during the Clan Invasion Era^[56].
The third edition was released in 1999^[57]; due to the “MechWarrior” title being used by MechWarrior: Dark Age the third edition was re-released by FanPro under the title of Classic BattleTech RPG in 2006^[58]. Again, it changed much of the mechanics. In addition the core book allowed for a player character outside the main Housed or a Clan^[59]. It took place during the FedCom Civil War Era^[60].
The fourth edition titled A Time of War was released by Catalyst Game Labs in 2009^[61]; much of the mechanics were once again reworked.^[62] It takes place during the Jihad Era^[63].

Centers

BattleTech Centers are entertainment venues that feature enclosed cockpit simulators (referred to as “pods”) used to play multiplayer matches of mech on mech combat. The first center opened in Chicago, IL, USA in 1990 followed by centers in Japan in 1992 and 1993. At their height there were 26 BattleTech centers. ^[64][65] The centers in Japan had all closed by 2000. By July of 2013 only a hand full of centers^[66] along with groups of pods that travel from convention to convention in the US^[67] and only a few pods in private hands in Japan.

Video Games

Over the years there have been numerous BattleTech based video games across many platforms; it should be noted that the story lines and events contained in these games are consider apocryphal^[68].

BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Series

This series consist of two RPGs developed by Westwood Associates^[69] and Published by Infocom^[70]: BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Inception released in 1988 for Commodore 64, Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, and MS-DOS based PCs^[71][72] and BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks’ Revenge in 1990 for MS-DOS based PCs^[73][74]. Both games use an overhead view for combat (along with navigating the world in the first game) with the first game being turned based and the second game being real-time with pausing.
The story follows Jason Youngblood, a MechWarrior from the Lyran Commonwealth^[75], from a cadet to fighting against an invasion of the Draconis Combine^[76] while rebuilding his father military unit (the titular Crescent Hawks) in the period of the Succession Wars^[52] during the events of Inception then to a branching series of battles starting two years after the end of the previous game and into early part of the Clan Invasion^[56] in Revenge.

MechWarrior Series

A series of vehicular simulation games typically featuring 3D polygon graphics, customizable mechs, and a default first person view.

The Evolution of MechWarrior: 1989 – 2012

The first game in the series (simply titled MechWarrior) was developed by Dynamix^[77] and published by Activision^[78] in 1989 for MS-DOS based PCs. The game featured an non-linear campaign where the player traveled the Inner Sphere^[97] completing contracts for the various Great Houses, buying and selling mechs, hiring other pilots, and avenging the death of the family of the player character (Gideon Braver Vandenburg) along with finding the chalice that proves his lineage within five years inside of the Secession War Era^[52].^[79][80] In 1992 a Japanese port of the game was released for the Sharp X68000 under the title バトルテック ～奪われた聖杯^[81](BattleTech: Holy Grail Deprived); the 2D portion of the graphics that appeared between missions during the campaign were redone by Victor Musical Industries to look more Japanese.^[82]

In 1993 MechWarrior for the SNES developed by Beam Software^[83] and published by Actision^[78] was released. Instead of 3D polygon graphics it featured 2.5D Mode 7 graphics but the mission were still played in first person perspective inside the cockpit. It has a different story with a different protagonist (Herras Ragen) from the PC game; although it was similar (avenge the protagonist murdered family) and takes place during the same era. The game lacked the PC’s version larger campaign but it did feature a roster of highly customizable BattleMechs developed specifically for it.^[84][85]

The next entry in the series was MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat developed and published by Activision^[78] in 1995 for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation.^[86][87] In the single player campaign the player took the roll of a Clan MechWarrior for either Clan Wolf^[88] or Clan Jade Falcon^[89] during the Refusal War^[89]. The Windows version came with the “NetMech” software that allowed for player vs. player matches over a network. It was one of the most widely played MechWarrior games and helped to make the Timber Wolf^[90] one of the most iconic mechs of the franchise. The same year an expansion, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear’s Legacy, came out (but not for the Sega Saturn or PlayStation) that added more mechs, weapons, environments (including underwater and outer space), music, and missions. In the expansions campaign the player took the role of a Clan Ghost Bear^[91] warrior attempting to recover his/her Clan’s genetic legacies^[92].

In the following year of 1996 MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, once again developed and distributed by Activision^[78], came out for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, and Apple Macintosh. It was a standalone expansion that shifted the focus of the game back to the Inner Sphere^[97]. The single player campaign takes place in the years leading up to and the early parts of the Clan Invasion (making this game a prequel to 31st Centry Combat/Ghost Bear’s Legacy) with the player character taking contracts from various Inner Sphere^[97] factions.^[93][94]

In 1999 MechWarrior 3 came out for Microsoft Windows; it was developed by Zipper Interactive^[95] and published by Microprose^[96]. In the single player campaign the player takes the part of an Inner Sphere^[97] mercenary that is stranded on a hostile planet after a botched attack on Clan Smoke Jaguar^[98] and must complete the initial mission objectives. Later in the same year the expansion MechWarrior 3: Pirate’s Moon by the same developer/publisher was released. In the single player campaign the protagonist from the main game was given a name (Connor Sinclair) and was now tasked with defending a planet from pirates; there was also an alternate campaign with a series of mission playing as the pirates.^[99][100] The stats of the BattleMechs and weapons were almost directly translated from the table top but didn’t take into account that player could aim all weapons at one point and a mech could be disabled by destroying a single leg; these factor resulted in legging becoming stigmatized in the multiplayer not only in this game but future MechWarrior multiplayer.^[101][102]

MechWarrior 4: Vengeance was released in 2000; it was developed by FASA Interactive and distributed by Microsoft (due to Microsoft buying out the rights to BattleTech in 1999^[103]). In the single player campaign the protagonist (Ian Dresari) fights his usurper cousin for leadership of his home planet. The following year the expansion, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight, was released.^[104][105] There was also an arcade version of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance released by Tsunami Visual Technologies in 2000.^[106] In 2002 MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, a standalone expansion, came out; in the single player campaign the player plays as an Mercenary traveling the Inner Sphere^[97] during the FedCom Civil War^[60].^[107][108] The multiplayer was known for the prevalence of “poptarting” (the tactic of hiding behind cover, using jump jets to briefly rise above the cover, and delivering a single high damage attack during only a brief moment of exposure).^[101]

In April of 2010 the MechWarrior 4 series was released as a free download by MekTek Studios.^[109] In 2012 MekTek Studios shifted its focus to developing a new game based on the Heavy Gear franchise^[110] and ceased support of MechWarrior 4 along with its availability as a free download.^[111]

MechWarrior: Living Legends is a fan made multiplayer mod officially sanctioned by Microsoft. It started life as a Quake War mod in December of 2006 but eventually moved to Crysis Warhead.^[112] The team was given early access to the Crysis Software Development Kit by CryTek and entered into open beta in 2009; in January of 2012 it was announced that the core team (Wandering Samurai Studios) would cease development on the project and the last update was released.^[113]Livng Legends was noticeably different from previous games in the series (besides being purely multiplayer and fan developed) in that it focused on common canon variants of mechs with no customization (allowing for balancing based on individual units instead of weapons and build rules) and players could also control wheeled and treaded vehicles along with aircraft and infantry battle armors. Dan Tracy, one of the founders of the project, is currently working on Star Citizen: Squadron 42.^[114]

In July of 2009 MechWarrior 5 was announced by developer Piranha Games Inc.(PGI)^[115] but due to difficulties find a publisher and funding MechWarrior 5 was retooled into MechWarrior: Online(MWO) and Infinite Game Publishing was secured as the publisher by October of 2011.^[116]MWO entered into close beta on May 22, 2012, open beta on October 29, 2012, and has a planed launch date of September 17, 2013^[117]. MWO is a match based free-to-play multiplayer game notable for introducing a dual reticule system (one reticule aims the torso and other the arms). The mech concept art is done by former BattleTech fan artist Alex Iglesias^[118] (a.k.a. Flying Debris^[119]).

MechCommander

The MechCommander series consist of two (and an expansion) real-time tactics games developed by FASA Interactive. The first game came out in 1998 and was published by MicroProse^[96]: the player took the part of an Inner Sphere^[97] mechcommander^[120] that commanded a company during operation to take a planet back from Clan Smoke Jaguar^[98]. An expansion came out the following year and continued the story with the reclaiming of another world in the Periphery.^[121][122] The sequel, simply titled MechCommander 2, was released in 2001 published by Microsoft (that controlled the BattleTech rights since 1999); the single player campaign followed a planetary conflict between House Steiner^[75] and House Liao^[123].^[124][125]

MechAssult

A series of third person shooters consisting of two games developed by Day 1 Studios^[126] and published by Microsoft for the Xbox in 2002 and 2004 respectively, and a Nintendo DS game developed by Backbone Entertainment^[127] and published by Majesco Entertainment^[128] released in 2006. The first game’s single player was about a Wolf’s Dragoons^[129] mercenary fight against The Word of Blake^[130], and in multiplayer it was one of the first games to use the Xbox Live service.^[131][132] The second game, MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf, featured a single player campaign that continued the first game’s story on a new planet and with an experimental Battle Armor^[133]; it featured Xbox Live multiplayer much like the first game.^[134][135] The DS game(MechAssault: Phantom War)’s single player was about an Inner Sphere^[97] MechWarrior (Vallen Brice) quest to prevent the weaponization a malfunctioning interstellar communications node^[136]; it was not as well received as the Xbox titles.^[137][138]

Multiplayer BattleTech

A series of massively multiplayer online vehicle simulation games developed by Kesmai^[139] that consisted of Multiplayer BattleTech: EGA for the GEnie gaming network that ran from 1992 to 1996^[140]; Multiplayer BattleTech: Solaris for AOL and GameStorm that ran from 1996 to 2001^[141]; and Multiplayer BattleTech 3025 that was in beta in 2001 before being canceled the same year.^[142]

Other

MechWarrior 3050 is a 1995 isometric action game for the SNES developed by Tiburon Entertainment^[143] and published by Activision^[78]. In the game the player takes the role of Clan Wolf^[88] pilot during the Clan Invasion^[56]. There is a Sega Genesis version developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Extreme Entertainment Group simply titled BattleTech.^[144]

There have been many smaller fan made projects dating back to early 1990’s text based games (if not before).^[145] One of the most notable currently active fan project is MegaMech: an online open source freeware version of the table top game using the Total Warfare^[49] rules set along with many of the more advanced rules from Tactical Operations^[146].^[147]

MechWarrior Tactical Command is a 2012 real time strategy game for the iPad developed by Personae Studios.^[148] It was set during the Clan Invasion^[56].

MechWarrior Tactics is an free-to-play browser based turn-based tactics game based closely on the board game. It’s in development by Blue Lizard Games and Roadhouse Interactive and being published by Infinite Game Publishing. As of July 2013 it is in closed beta.^[149]

Collectable Card Game

In 1996 Wizards of the Coast^[150] created the BattleTech Collectible Card Game for FASA. The game was designed by Richard Garfield^[151], creator of Magic the Gathering (MTG), and featured game play similar to MTG. It went out of print in 2001.^[152][153]

Novels

There have been over a hundred full-length, canonical, physically published novels^[154] under the name of BattleTech and MechWarrior since the first novel, Decision at Thunder Rift^[155], in 1986. The novels were initially published by FASA until 1991 when Roc Books^[156] took over the publication.
One notable author is US science fiction and fantasy writer Michael A. Stackpole^[157]. He wrote The Warrior Trilogy(1988-1989), the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy (1989-1991) , and eight other BattleTech/MechWarriors novels from 1992 to 2007.^[158] In his novels mechs that had their nuclear fusion powered engines breach would frequently experience large and dramatic explosions; they did not do this in the board game. This mech explosion phenomenon became known as “stackpoling”^[159]; optional rules for the table top game were released to recreate stackpoling along with MechWarrior 3 and 4 featuring Stackpoling.
One of the most infamous novel among fans is 1993’s Far Country by Peter Rice^[160]. While alien life including sentient races are known to humanity in the BattleTech universe they are usually so far and separate from human held space they play no part^[161]: Far Country is the only time a sentient alien race played a significant role in any novel. In the novel an elite military team is stranded on a planet in unknown space after a botched hyperspace jump; the planet is inhabited by a race of primitive bird-like aliens called the Tetatae. The Tetatae are one of the primary reasons The Word of Lowtax (a group of MechWarrior: Online players based out of the Something Awful forums) have adopted bird imagery and the battle cry of “SQUAWK!”.^[162]

Animated Series

After a failed attempt to pitch a toy line to PlayMates FASA successfully managed to convince Tyco Toys^[163] resulting in a 1994 toy line^[164] and accompanying Saban Entertainment^[165] produced animated series^[30] that aired on Fox and in syndication. BattleTech: The Animated Series lasted for 14 episodes and told the story of MechWarrior and minor House Steiner^[75] royal Adam Steiner^[166] in his quest to liberate planet Somerset (or as the protagonist referred to it “MY HOMEPLANET!”) from Clan Jade Falcon^[89]. The animated series is not considered canon but does exist in universe as a badly reviewed attempt at anti-Clan propaganda.^[167]

Comics

The first BattleTech comic (and the only comic considered cannon) is 1986’s The Spider and the Wolf; this standalone comic was published by FASA and also served as an introduction to the BattleTech universe and as a scenario pack.^[168]
From 1987 to 1889 Blackthorne Publishing, Inc.^[169] put out a comic series consisting of six regular issues, two special issues, and two issues of a BattleForce comic.^[170]
From 1994 to 1995 Malibu Comics Entertainment Inc.^[171] published five issues of the Fallout series inspired by BattleTech; The Animated Series.^[172]

Online Presence

Notable Fan Sites

BattleTechWiki (a.k.a. Sarna)^[183] is a popular long running wiki started by Nicholas Jansma. It began as Slayer’s BattleTech page on GeoCities in 1996.^[184]

Fan Forums and Mercenary Units

There are BattleTech and MechWarrior presents on many popular gaming forums often with a clan of players attached to the particular forum. The name clan is already taken in the context of the BattleTech universe so they are more commonly referred to as mercenary corporations. Conversely there are smaller mercenary corps with forums.
Reddit has a Subreddit for BattleTech^[185], MechWarrior^[186], and MechWarrior: Online^[187] along with the cReddit Mercenary Corporation^[188][189].
Gamers out of the Something Awful forums^[190][191] have formed The Word of Lowtax^[162].
MWO players based out of the Penny Arcade forums^[192] have formed the Oosik Irregulars^[193].

Fan Art

As of August of 2013 there are over 9000 results for “BattleTech”^[194] and over 8000 results for “MechWarrior”^[195] on DeviantArt; although many of the works featured on the site are works that have appeared in official BattleTech products from the original artist.

Let’s Plays

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Fan Fiction

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Notable Sub-Memes

Alpha Strike

While the term “alpha strike” likely originated as a United States Navy carrier action from Vietnam War era where an aircraft carrier would send all available aircraft to strike a target leaving none for defense^[173] BattleTech used the term to describe an attack were a battlemech would fire all its weapons usually generating large amounts of heat^[174]. “Alpha strike” has been adopted by many other games for an all-out aggressive attack or strategy that leaves the unit, force, or player venerable; TV Tropes attributes the use of term as used in gaming to BattleTech.^[175]
YouTube gaming commentator and reviewer (and known BattleTech/MechWarrior player^[176]) John Bain (a.k.a. TotalBiscuit^[177]) currently calls his early look video series “Alpha Strike”^[178].

Lyran Scout Lance

The Lyran Commonwealth^[75] (dominated by the Steiner royal family) is an Inner Sphere Successor State^[179] that is known for being wealthy, favoring larger mechs (because they can afford them due to the wealth), and has the in-universe reputation for incompetent commanders. These factor have lead players to joke a typical lance (a unit of four mechs)^[180] employed for scouting and recon by Lyran forces is composed of four Atlases/Atlai (a 100 metric ton assault class mech^[6] making it the heaviest and often slowest weight class typically available)^[181] or of other configurations of four assault mechs. Scout Lances are typically composed of fast light and medium battlemechs, and the Lyrans manufacture and deploy the 25 metric ton light mech the Commando^[182] (which may be refereed to as a Lyran Battle Armor^[133]), but the assault dominated scout lance is the joke.
“Lyran Scout Lance” my also be refereed to as “Steiner Scout Lance”, “Lyran Recon Force”, “Steiner Recon Force”, and similar.

External References