BattleTech 25th Anniversary Box Set - For those Who Missed it in 2007, its Back!

[kronovan]

This one slipped under the radar for me, but Catalyst Games Labs started shipping their 2nd printing of the 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set at the beginning of February. I missed scooping a copy of the 2007 release before it sold out, so I'm thrilled its back and even more thrilled that my FLGS is carrying it. For anyone wondering what you get in it, the answer is a lot; in fact everything you need to play Mech -on- Mech action in the Battletech universe.  Here's the contents listing from the product announcement on the BattleTech website:

* 24 unpainted, ready-to-play plastic BattleMech minis
* 2 unpainted, premium-quality plastic BattleMech minis
* One 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook will have players into the action in minutes
* 36-page book of pre-generated BattleMech Record Sheets
* One 80-page full-color rulebook
* Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe background and BattleMech technical data
* One 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide
* Two heavy-duty cards of compiled tables
* Two 18″ x 24″ game-board quality maps

I can only comment about prices in my city, but the box set retails for about $50.

What has me most pumped about finally getting it is that a team of fans for one of my favorite PnP RPG's (Savage Worlds) have adapted it to that rule system making it much easier to play and run a RPG campaign.

[Harkonis]

I bought all the stuff they had in 2007 and haven't played a single match with them.

All my friends that play games are online anymore, it's a bit of a bummer.

Some of my favorite gaming experiences were BT games, and I loved mech creation.  Only MTG came close to the feel.

[kronovan]

I hear you Hark, this game system is very daunting for any player that isn't really dedicated. I'm lucky my son is keen on it and a buddy in my gaming group is a real master with it having played it from its 1st year until the early 90's. There's a lot of Vassal modules for it, so that's 1 option if you need to play it online.

I've been told the key is to aim for a longer campaign, so that players eventually get fluent with the system. I figure the RPG route is propably the best way to keep a campaign going, which is why I'm going to use the Savage BattleTech rules. Of course it helps that everyone in my group has played in at least 1 Savage Worlds campaign.  

[Harkonis]

That's how I had the best luck getting new players into it.  Let them actually progress pilots, salvage parts and modify mechs while earning cash from contracts.

Playing the game like a PnP version of MW:Mercenaries works well to suck people in.

Also blind rules are amazing fun if you have the ability and patience for the setup.  This is one of the reasons I hope we get a computer version soon because blind can be the default with no extra hassle if the computer handles it.