41 Texts

[ColonelCrow]

As near as I can figure, from 1985 to the present day, around 500 texts have been produced physically and electronically by FASA, ROC, FanPro, and Catalyst Game Labs, which, taken all together, constitute “BattleTech.” Note that I am not including many, many other products: including such things as miniatures, patches, comics, video games, maps, and various gaming aids.

I took a look at those ~500 products and, since I’m really only interested in the most recent rule set but am interested in the “lore” across the whole history of the property, was able to narrow the “core” down to exactly 400 texts (as of this writing). I did this mainly by eliminating boxed sets and older rules editions.

My goal is to collect all 400 of these texts by the means of paying for legal digital copies through the Catalyst Game Labs webstore, amazon.com, and DriveThruRPG. I want to have them all on my iPad Pro so that I can read them, mainly through the Kindle and GoodReader apps (GoodReader is a pdf viewer), though I may also use iBooks or other apps in some cases. I’m dipping in and out right now, but plan to make a project of reading them in chronological order according to publication date.

So far, I have collected 162 of the texts, and have determined that the three venues listed above offer 197 of those remaining for purchase. That means I’ve not been able to find, as you’ve no doubt guessed, 41 of them. I’m hoping that I overlooked at least some of these, and that somebody reading this will be able to point me to a venue or venues where I may purchase legal copies. Or else tell me the long, sad tale of why text X will never be available digitally for some reason so I can hare off to AbeBooks for used physical copies.

The bulk of the 41 missing texts are the 30 MechWarrior: Dark Age novels published by ROC from 2002 to 2008 (beginning with Ghost War and concluding with To Ride the Chimera). The remaining 11 are these:

(1)   The Sword and the Dagger – a novel published in 1987 by FASA
(2)   Technical Readout: 3050* -- a technical readout published in 1990 by FASA as product 8614
(3)   Bloodright – an adventure published in 1992 by FASA as product 1666
(4)   Blood of Heroes (Gray Death #4) – a novel published in 1993 by ROC
(5)   Royalty and Rogues – an adventure published in 1994 by FASA as product 1676
(6)   Technical Readout: 3055 (The Future of Warfare), Revised Edition* – a technical readout published in 1996 by FASA as product 8619
(7)   Field Manual: Periphery* – a sourcebook published in 2001 by FASA as product 1726
(8)   The Dying Time (Gray Death #7) – a novel published in 2002 by ROC
(9)   Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3025, Revised* -- a technical readout published in 2003 by FanPro as product 10985
(10)   Lawyers, Guns, and Money – an adventure published in 2003 by FanPro with no product number
(11)   Front Lines (BattleCorps Compilation Anthology #6)** – an anthology published in 2016 by Catalyst


*I anticipate hearing that the material in these products is wholly repackaged in later revised or “upgraded” products, which is fine.
**This one really surprises me.

[YingJanshi]

I'm not sure we'll ever get a reissue of Sword and Dagger: there seems to have been some behind-the-scenes issues with that one.

And I believe Lawyers, Guns and Money is available on Sarna.net. (It was a free scenario FanPro released.)

[SteelRaven]

Yeah, The Sword and the Dagger had some real convoluted deal when it came to publishing rights that I don't know enough to explain fully myself.

[Sartris]

you're definitely going to need to raise a warchest for Sword and Dagger and get ready to overpay on an auction site or battletech international buy and sell on facebook

[Jaim Magnus]

Yeah, Sword and Dagger is incredibly rare. It can be found, but not cheaply.

[Sartris]

at least op isn't looking for the original house marik sourcebook...

(2)   Technical Readout: 3050* -- a technical readout published in 1990 by FASA as product 8614
(3)   Bloodright – an adventure published in 1992 by FASA as product 1666
(5)   Royalty and Rogues – an adventure published in 1994 by FASA as product 1676
(6)   Technical Readout: 3055 (The Future of Warfare), Revised Edition* – a technical readout published in 1996 by FASA as product 8619
(7)   Field Manual: Periphery* – a sourcebook published in 2001 by FASA as product 1726
(9)   Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3025, Revised* -- a technical readout published in 2003 by FanPro as product 10985

most of these can be had fairly cheaply on the secondary market ($10-15). the most expensive one for me was the fanpro 3025 at around $20-25

(10)   Lawyers, Guns, and Money – an adventure published in 2003 by FanPro with no product number

pretty sure this was PDF only and distributed for free back in the day. you'll have to rely on your google-fu or the kindness of strangers.

[ColBosch]

Front Lines was only released at GenCon 2016, so far. It was supposed to see a more general release, but I'm not sure what's going on with it.

[Doom]

Sword and Dagger can be found for cheap. I got it at a used book store that was closing down. Fifty whole cents. Sadly, the first couple I bought were about one hundred times that...

[Scotty]

at least op isn't looking for the original house marik sourcebook...

Got mine, plus an original SL SB, for a total of $16 about a year and a half ago from one of the local game stores.  Walked in, and there it was sitting on the shelf with a "half price" sticker.

That was a good day.

[Sartris]

Got mine, plus an original SL SB, for a total of $16 about a year and a half ago from one of the local game stores.  Walked in, and there it was sitting on the shelf with a "half price" sticker.

That was a good day.

That may qualify for one of the best BT shopping days ever...

And here I thought I had done well getting both of those books for ~$125

[ColBosch]

I think I got my HMSB and SLSB for about $40 combined. It's really annoying how the scalpers seem to have decided that the House Marik book should be the "expensive" one when, to the best of my knowledge, it's no rarer than the others.

But then again, aside from a couple of CGL books and a handful of MWDA novels, I've got everything in hardcopy now, so I shouldn't complain.

[ColonelCrow]

Thanks to all posters! To clarify, I'm working on building a digital--not print--library wherever possible. I'll certainly get the books I'm missing in print if legal, purchasable copies prove not to be available, but they'll be at the bottom of my list after all those electronic texts I still need to collect.

Side note: y'know, I'm about 85% sure I bought a copy of The Sword and the Dagger for what, four or five bucks, at the Greenwood Mall Waldenbooks in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1987. But that was many years and many moves ago.

[YingJanshi]

If you have a Half Price books around, keep an eye on it. Got Sword and Dagger for $2 and the Star League sourcebook and the 1st edition Periphery sourcebook for $8 each there last year.

[Pat Payne]

you're definitely going to need to raise a warchest for Sword and Dagger and get ready to overpay on an auction site or battletech international buy and sell on facebook

Try trolling library book sales and used bookshops. Every once in a while used copies appear for a song (that's how I got my copy of TSaTD a few years back)

Please note, by "trolling" I mean "keep searching obsessively" and not "Cause trouble for the lulz " :))

[Sartris]

Try trolling library book sales and used bookshops. Every once in a while used copies appear for a song (that's how I got my copy of TSaTD a few years back)

Please note, by "trolling" I mean "keep searching obsessively" and not "Cause trouble for the lulz " :))

sound advice from someone more patient than I tend to be.

[Kidd]

Try trolling library book sales and used bookshops. Every once in a while used copies appear for a song (that's how I got my copy of TSaTD a few years back)

Please note, by "trolling" I mean "keep searching obsessively" and not "Cause trouble for the lulz " :))

Then the word you are looking for is "trawling"

Just helping :D

[mbear]

Try trolling library book sales and used bookshops. Every once in a while used copies appear for a song (that's how I got my copy of TSaTD a few years back)

Please note, by "trolling" I mean "keep searching obsessively" and not "Cause trouble for the lulz " :))

You know you could always just ask the staff to keep an eye open for those books and if they come in, give you a call. It helps if you're a Good Guy and not That Guy and don't cause trouble for the staff.

[Pat Payne]

You know you could always just ask the staff to keep an eye open for those books and if they come in, give you a call. It helps if you're a Good Guy and not That Guy and don't cause trouble for the staff.

A. We must have a talk about puns (a "pune" or play on words  :P) and hyperbole someday...  ;D
B. Actually, when I found my copy, I wasn't even looking for it. I just happened to be at my local library donated book sale and found one, thought "huh, this is interesting" and walked out with it for $0.50. Same exact thing happened with a copy of the old '83-ish World of Greyhawk boxed set (even the same price).

Then the word you are looking for is "trawling"

Just helping :D

Thanks! I was thinking of the old fishing term "pole and troll", but "trawling" works that much better  O0

[Moonsword]

Stay on topic, please.

[skiltao]

(2)   Technical Readout: 3050* -- a technical readout published in 1990 by FASA as product 8614
(6)   Technical Readout: 3055 (The Future of Warfare), Revised Edition* – a technical readout published in 1996 by FASA as product 8619
(7)   Field Manual: Periphery* – a sourcebook published in 2001 by FASA as product 1726
(9)   Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3025, Revised* -- a technical readout published in 2003 by FanPro as product 10985

*I anticipate hearing that the material in these products is wholly repackaged in later revised or “upgraded” products, which is fine.

The original version of Technical Readout: 3050 had some sizable overview chapters which I don't think were ever republished anywhere else. They *might* have been republished unaltered in the 3050 Era Digest. I believe the content of individual unit entries will be similar to their entries in TR:3050:Upgrades, but it's been ages since I looked and I no longer recall what significant points of difference might exist.

The revised version of TR:3055 removes some 'Mech entries from the original version. It does not add any content. TR:3055 Upgrades doesn't wholly reproduce the original material, but (largely because the original entries were so short) it does preserve many of the original concepts.

Some of Field Manual: Periphery's content might reappear in Handbook: Major Periphery States, but I doubt most of it's been reproduced anywhere. (The first edition Periphery book covers the history of the Periphery from its first settlements through to 3025; the second edition repeats a little of that history, but focuses more on the events of 3025 to 3058; Field Manual: Periphery repeats some of the second edition's content verbatim, but the historical material focuses on the events of 3058 to 3067. Later Field Manuals--FM:Updates, etc--continue the progression along the timeline.)

The revised edition of TR:3025 removes some of the original entries (including one for a Repair Facility) and replaces them with entries for different units (modified from TR:2750). Abridged versions of the entries from TR:3025:revised appear in TR:3039, but the abridgements are imperfect, and there are some deliberate historical changes as well.

(TR:2750, like TR:3050, also had some overview chapters and I don't think the book's material has ever been wholly reproduced anywhere either. It *might* be republished unaltered in the 2750 Era Report. I believe the content of individual unit entries will be similar to their entries in TR:3050:Upgrades, but again, it's been ages since I looked.)

...I thought I'd be able to link you to a more thorough listing of TRO content differences, but it turns out that thread was lost three or four forums ago. :(

[NeonKnight]

With Regards to SWORD AND DAGGER, i'm not sure but maybe the reason we are seeing issues with a 're-release' is the author passed away in 2012.

Could also be the author Randall alluded to back at GenCon 2016 when he had mentioned that they had come to agreements with all the current authors except one for re-release.

Anyways, just some thoughts...now to go Trawl the local used book stores.