Know that I am only one, tangent-prone, guy. Your mileage will of course vary and other guides are out there, but thank you kindly, my good man!

I hope to help many more as well! Thank you for the endorsement!

as an old fasa.... lol nm just for the laughs, we were in convesions of 500 ppl paying one map.. there was a grip in a harness Over the map moving thmecha insane how big the map was, 60 by 4 feet or something.... not to mention camping 7 days to complete the match SOMETIMES lol

@@hellkitestudioslooking forward to more battletech videos in the future!

Everyone's gotta start somewhere, and this is where I see SO many people say they did. Good choice

Have you tried getting then running in Dosbox?

Apparently the big guide picture was made for r/battletech, but I lifted it from the helm memory core discord. There are many more sites you could try, but the ones I've had the best results from have been listed. Iron Wind Metals are good, but they sell metal which I have less love for than plastic as I like to cut into and mod my mechs.

Glad it was helpful!

I had been wanting to look at Battletech for awhile and strolling through Target one day I saw that Essentials box and picked it up. I was pretty disappointed to learn it was a cut down version of the game, but it was enough to whet my appetite to research it for real, and thus I'm here :D

In the video I do briefly go over it, but even MORE briefly: Battletech manual only goes over the ways to play with a few 'mechs against a few 'mechs... but it does include some advanced rules for deeper play. Total Warfare is how to play with everything but only on the basic level.

No, it isn't modern marketing. The old rulebooks from back in the day are similar to the battlemech manual, but it contains more equipment and rules, and no construction. Total warfare replaced 3 different rulebooks with one, as it has rules for vehicles, infantry, protomechs, battle armor, aerospace, support vehicles... yeah. At the same time, there are fairly few core rule changes from back in the day. The biggest ones are a change in how partial cover works, changes to charge/dfa, and a massive overhaul of infantry and vehicle damage. The boxes you see here are not required, you could jump in with total warfare or the battlemech manual, and then some minis, and a mapsheet pack / neoprene map (or you can use no-hex rules, which are also in both rulebooks if you have wargamer terrain already)

@@TenkawaBC Thanks!

The clan box expanded rulebook would've had LBX and UAC rules, I'm sure of it. They don't have regular autocannons. If not, then it's the realm of the total war book

Probably it.

Clan 'mechs first!? TEN MILLION YEARS DUNGEON

NO TRIAL

I'm trying to upload frequently but things are taking my time for the next few weeks. Eventually I'll be making vids explaining tricks of the trade in each phase etc.

As well as possibly guides on the new stuff as it comes out, as well as what to look for when it comes to 3d printing

@@hellkitestudios hello there ... by "annual series" I didn't mean to question your output, rather to say this solid this solid video could be revisited in the future, as products and their availability change

which is what I said. You don't NEED those things, but if you want them that box is the only way to get them

You can always develop a split personality to play solo. ^_° Kidding aside. There are solo rules in development. I played the prototype at some point and it looks promesing. No release date yet sadly. There are tons of Campaings and Mission as well as rules to create them. For custom loadouts there are rules and can surely be created. Note that a lot of people don't like playing with them as they tend to be very meta and end up beeing all the same... boring. The rules in "A Game for armored combat" I think cover all the rules you need in the beginning. I think campaing creating rules are in another book. Can't realy say as I tend to just create my own stuff and not use those specific rules.

Not "not making any" money on minis, but the profit margins that don't go straight to Topps is more for the books. This is also more of their own work that doesn't necessarily NEED their parent company to produce. Or at least, I have heard things to this effect. If I am wrong, then I am wrong.

IIRC MegaMek even provides tons of units as a seperate download.

Continue to follow the campaign - you'll be able to make late pledges soon.

Alpha Strike is much closer in the rules to 40k. That being said I am not a 40k player, just quoting a friend who is. As for what to get, I would say it depends on what experiance you want. Alpha Strike is more simple and allows bigger armies on the table as it is played faster. Battletech. It takes a bit more effort to get into. Lots of tables and charts and fewer units BUT its rules are incredible flexible. You can use the basic rules to just go mech to mech and have a fun time or you can start to add more and more rules and you can choose whatever you like. There aren't just mechs. You can have infantry, tanks, VTOL, Battlearmor, mechs, dropships, air-space fighters and so on. Want to fight in a city? There are rules to create building and to tear them down in style. Low gravity? Yah there is a rule for that too and more. Pick the complexety you like and just have fun creating your won scenarios. Also its just so satisfying to dismember your enemy piece by piece. Every mech is kinda lika a complete troop of people in 40k. Armor, internel structure, systems to be damaged and ton of different weapon systems all in one figure. It also has two rules I like so much over other games. First of "You hit a target then its hit" no defance diece to ruin your perfect shot. Secondly, damage is done at the same time. No more "I shot first and now I have won the game".

It is. If you can get a good lance that you like, it only takes 4 machines to play. Maps can be hex-grid or just play Alpha Strike with simpler rules and any kind of terrain you want (paper shapes, 3d-printed or styrofoam, etc.). Sure you might spend like $100-200 to get the right combo from box sets, but in 40k that's barely a combat patrol.

@@hellkitestudios Very interesting thank you

The "BattleMech Manual 7th print" covers a lot of the new tech. Not this only has rules for Mech to Mech combat in it but is easier to read then the following. When you want to expand to tanks, infantry, etc. then I would look into getting "Total Warfare". Its a bit older but still the most complete and complex of the rule box.

I've got a mixed lance that's run by a bunch of filthy pirates who somehow won their stuff in a batchall and now imitate clanners with lots of ignorance about their actual culture, it's nonsense but a pretty fun excuse to paint my mechs however the hell I want :')

Would you really want such a massive (and likely expensive) tome if you're not going to actually _use_ most of these options? Alpha Strike isn't "additional rules" on top of basic BT - think of it as an alternate mode of play.

Battlemech Manual and some dice and pens and paper is all you NEED really. That gives you all tournament 'mech rules and you can just proxy everything else you want. The box sets are just different collections of easy to digest rules. At least you don't need a different book for each faction (cough 40k cough).

Some do for the new gear that got introduced in them. It's nothing on the main rulebooks, but if it's beyond total war-tier they tend to explain themselves

@@hellkitestudios bro, no the newest catalyst series only refers to the book where you can find the rules

Then that's an important distinction to make, and you are right. Good catch.

​@Hellkite Studios the original FASA series of TROs had alot of rules in them. this was because they were introducing a lot of new equipment in them. at this point, CGL doesn't need to put those rules into their version of the TROs.

Given that every single "Gaming" themed thing uses late 80s Chiptunes and 16-bit pixel-art graphics... maybe yes?

To be fair. 100USD will get you everything you need and more to play tournament level Battletech. No need to drop 500 on an army to be competitive, and proxying is written into the rules.

Right? I think I'll just stick to playing MechWarrior.

I'm not a fan of Classic Battletech, but I'm all in for Alpha Strike. It's much closer to the complexity of the clix game, and you have the choice of using a hex map or free movement with rulers

wrong opinion

I'm glad Alpha Strike exists, but no way is it a substitute. Management of weaponry, systems and heat essentially does not exist in AS when compared to Classic.

Classic is beautiful, but not for everyone. Alpha Strike exists for a reason.