BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat - The World's Greatest Miniature Wargame for BattleMech Beginners and Veterans By Catalyst Game Labs

The 31st century. A time of war and intrigue across the stars. Many factions, nations, even mercenary and pirate outfits are savagely laying waste to one another to further their own agendas. Battletech is a universe like no other and has been for the past 35 years. With this set you can start your own foray into it's universe or expand upon your collection with some very nice additions. This boxed set is the ideal entry point for those who have a serious desire to get into the Battletech tabletop wargame, but have either already picked up the beginner box or wish to simply buy in with more content. It comes with everything you need in the box to play. You get a number of very well sculpted, highly-detailed miniature battlemech models to use in your games. These come fully-assembled and will even look great painted if you so choose to customize them to your favorite unit or faction. Also included are numerous booklets for rules, explanations on the Battletech universe itself, and a couple of great hex maps to play on. You also get cardboard punch-outs in the way of even more battlemechs to add to your battles as well as terrain tiles to customize your battlefields with. It's a great, well-rounded package that could literally keep you playing for the years to come if you have no inclination to buy other products. This is a full, stand-alone boxed game of battlemech combat if you want it to be, or the start of a very impressive collection of miniatures, maps, rules, and more. Battletech is a game that scales very nicely. You can make your games of Battletech as simple or complex as you see fit. With the set you have here you've got everything you need to slug it out on the battlefield with massive, multi-ton mechs that come bristling with high tech weaponry. If you want to take it further down the road, you can add battle tanks, armored fighting vehicles, infantry, aircraft, naval assets, artillery, and more to your games and even make them span an entire campaign with additional rules for things like mech salvage and more. Battletech makes the 31st century your oyster and you can take your experience as far as you want to go. All told, this set is a great value. While it may not offer as many miniatures as past starter boxes have, it makes up for it in quality and substance. You've got a lot to get started with here, and if you're already a Battletech collector you have the opportunity to add some brand new hex maps and incredibly gorgeous, newly redesigned plastic mechs to your lineup. No box set is perfect, but this is honestly about as close as we've gotten in awhile as it adds so much of a "refresh" to the game with the all-new components. The new mech redesigns look SO GOOD. Battletech has never been this pretty. If I had one gripe I would say I really wished the maps had been the thicker, board game style maps of the past, but I understand some decisions had to be made to keep the price reasonable for everyone to be able to pick this one up at retail. In closing, no regrets here! This boxed set is an excellent buy in my opinion even just for the mechs alone and I really think anyone who plays or is thinking of playing Battletech should give it a go!

There are a lot of people who believe that BattleTech is a new game, but it actually has a lot of history. This new iteration, unlike a lot of other games, does not completely change the rules. It tweaks them. The materials have improved greatly over the years, and the new miniatures are very nice. This set is a great value, as well - consider any one of the miniatures included in it would sell for $8-$15 and you understand what I mean. It's not quite a game you just pick up and play like many on the market. It does, however, offer a lot of replay value and the ability to expand far beyond the limits of this set. There are *hundreds* of 'mechs, scenarios, maps, expansions, and even different eras in which to play. Glad to see it being well-received and that new people are coming in to enjoy a game I've been playing for nearly 30 years.

Now, I've known of Battletech since I was a kid in the 90's/early 00's, but my experiences were with the video games and some random games of the old CCG on the school yard. However, it wasn't till this box set was released did I ever think of getting into the tabletop wargame of this. If you're at all like me, or are younger and find yourself drawn to big mechs blasting each other with a backdrop of galactic wide conflict, then this is the perfect way to step into the game. The miniatures are all really detailed and overall top quality for single piece miniatures (meaning you don't need to worry about gluing these together like other miniatures games). Also included is a paper hex mat, as well as some cardboard standees of other mechs so you can try out different teams and strategies before deciding to pick up more models. On top of all that, there's even a little short story to give you a taste of the Battletech Universe. Overall, a fantastic starter set and entry point for those interested in this classic, but still active game.

This is the intro box for a very long running, deep sci fi universe. You can use it to play games and ignore the lore, but almost everyone who has started down this path has found their own little niche of the universe and lore to enjoy. Small community, great game! The miniatures are very detailed and great quality! I haven't had a single issue with any of my miniatures from this box or the other packs so far, all detailed and well built. The game itself has two versions: The original rules haven't changed in a long time and are very crunchy, but with an amazing level of detail. The second rule set is called Alpha Strike and greatly simplifies the game while maintaining the fun and incorporating easy to follow play for miniatures instead of a hex map. I've loved this game for a long time, and this starter box is by far the best they've ever made.

Unlike other games it is not about throwing dice and move. It is a game for those who like details and realism. It is not the simpler of games. But it is famous for a reason. It has lots of rules and it does not need a dungeon master, you you can even play alone, pretending to be the enemy if you wish. It is some sort of chess with math. I know parents who use it to keep their kids sharp in math at school and give them some family moments when playing. I can recommend the board game for kids, but Battletech novels have adult content, so I do not advice to buy the novels for kids. Novels are great, but for adults, this tabletop game is good for kids and adults. The only weak spot is that board is made of paper, unlike a Monopoly board that is stronger. It has been the norm since forever for this game. As for the product itself, Battletech a game of armored combat is the standard game with a full set of rules to play combat between robots (they call mechs). It includes 2 light mechs, 2 heavy mechs and 4 medium mechs. It has record sheets for many mechs, including the Griffin that is not included as plastic miniature. I recommend to photocopy the sheets. Also buy pairs of colored dice. Having many pairs of different colors allow you to throw many pairs at once to speed up the game. Also, you need 3 colors of dice per mech, so you can keep track of the 3 types of movement. If you want a set with simplified rules, good for newbies, or you want a Griffin miniature, or another map to play, you may want to buy the Beginner Box. This is what I did. I bought the Beginner Box that has 2 plastic miniature mechs. The rules of this standard game are many more than I expected, for a casual board gamer like me, whose most complex game has been Monopoly or chess (I always lose in chess). The issue is that these rules bring overwhelming realism to the game. And strangely I am bad at chess, but in Battletech moves make sense. This standard box takes place in a time right before the clan invasion, during 4th succession war in the lore. This game does not include any rules to play with vehicles, infantry, dropships (descent vehicles), jumpships, etc. So some mech variants that include flamer or machine gun are diminished in usefullness because of lack of infantry and vehicles. As I said, the rules are overwhelmingly complex for a casual board gamer. What you can do is to search youtube for "battletech fan" that explains rules in a very visual way, like a Lego instruction manual. There are other tutorials, but are not so visual and a bit boring. Playing a single turn takes a lot of time. So those players who are not willing to so much realism and attention to detail, may feel bored. This game was designed for people who love attention to detail. For players who want simplicity, the beginner box will do. For the rest, this standard box will do. The game includes pilot cards with special abilities, but the manual does not explain how to use cards, this is explained in the rules of beginner box. The difference between the beginner box and this standard game is that beginner box does not have internal armor, you cannot damage equipment inside and have machine malfunctions due to damaged hardware, and heat is not a problem. Heat can slow your mech, hurt the pilot, cause ammunition explosion. Also, in the beginner box you cannot conduct physical attacks, like kicking, punching, and many others. The standard game does not allow to jettison ammunition, so when it explodes, it could blow your mech straight to the stars. As casual gamer, be prepared for the steep curve of learning many rules. Normally the order I would recommend to buy is: * Battletech beginner box * Battletech a game of armored combat * "Alpha strike commander's edition" book Alpha strike offers a fast paced game, with alternate rules, so a game that would take one week to play with standard rules, will take 4 hours with Alpha Strike rules. With these 3 products you will have a complete set to play. But if you wanted even more, I would recomment the following products in the following order: * "Total warfare" book. Rules that include aerial, space units, vehicles, infantry * "Tech manual" book. How to create and configure your own unit * Clan invasion expansion boxset. Clan mechs, more maps. It has no rulebook. * "Tactical operations advanced rules" book. Expand your rules with cool new rules. * "Tactical operations advanced units and equipment" book. Add some fancy equipment to your game * "Campaign operations". Plan your campaign with budget and costs. * "Strategic operations". Space combat. * "Interstellar operations" You play as the leader of one of the great houses. The "dungeon master" plays all NPC factions. Basically it is like playing Risk in the Inner Sphere. Aside of these, there are 2 alternate separate game systems to play stories and characters. * "A time of war" RPG game very similar to Dungeons and Dragons but in the Battletech universe. * "Mechwarrior destiny" RPG game more narrative oriented The right price for this game is $59.99. That is the price that the publisher of this game has in its store and every other store in the internet. If you pay more, that is a rip-off by a scalper seller.

This is the latest version of the introductory game, and Catalyst's third try at it, and it's excellent. The minis have never been of a higher quality, there's a fun story included, and the rules are presented in a clear and easy to grasp way. The only knock I could give it is the quality of the included maps, which unfortunately are just paper. It might be a good idea to laminate them if you have access. It's a shame, since they're new designs, and double sided. It's a good value for the money, and I look forward to many new players finding their way into this old school gaming universe with this fantastic new product.

I'm the guy that started playing the Fasa version of this game in the mid-80's when I was 13 and never kept up much with it beyond that, other than buying the video game releases as they came out. Honestly, I carted this awesome game all through college (along with original CityTech) and into my adult life. I haven't played in 20 years either and (stupidly) sold off all my Ral Partha minis 15 years ago. So ultimately I decided to make the jump from 1st Edition to 9th Edition and see there are few changes. The good: -The minis that come with the game are great. The cardboard backups look good too. This is where the 1st edition was not nearly as good. -I also like the cardboard map pieces that allow you to make alterations to the maps. -Rulebook (compared 1st to 9th) is little changed. The only glaring item I saw missing, was the optional (but important rule) of starting fires. -The Mech Record sheets have been rearranged and changed slightly, but ultimately are still the same. So if you are like me and still have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 blank Record sheet copies laying around, just make sure you have a good pencil and even better eraser. The bad: -Where's the Mechs with the new edition? Phoenix Hawk, Crusader, Archer, Warhammer, Stinger, Wasp, Rifleman, and Marauder are all gone. -The 9th edition maps are good looking but cheap looking construction. The 1st edition maps are compatible and much more resilient to damaging. I recommend taking the ones with the 9th edition to a local office supply store and getting them laminated if you plan to use them. -Not enough additional cardboard cut outs of mechs. The 1st edition and CityTech literally came with about 50 each. So you could easily play full lances of 12 mechs per side. -No fire/smoke tokens. Meh: -The 1st ediiton rulebook was more succicnt and had more mechs (see missing list above) options, but the new rulebook is great having the diagrams in color and does a good, if not overly repetitive job of explaining the rules.

Battletech classic is great- I recommend giving alpha strike a look though if your more familiar with the 40k scene