So I sat down the other day to teach my son BT...

[Cowdragon]

I have most of the older books, although some are tucked away in inconvenient storage places. So a handful of more essential favorites are all that is out. I also have hardcopy of Total Warfare and the trilogy newer books all on PDF (which I cannot currently access as they are on a dead computer).

Things I discovered:

While absolutely beautiful to look at, the newer books SUUUUUUUCK for finding any relevant information. Seriously. What kind of formatting is this? Nothing is in the same place. Want damage? Turn to page 48965 want heat? Turn to page 98098 Want weight? Check another book. Want movement modifiers for combat? They are divided into 13 locations depending on player level, patience, and date of birth.

How I solved this? We used the older books. They were easy to reference and find the rules we needed. The rules were all in one convenient location.

Conclusion: I'm not sure I will be buying any new books if they continue with this format. To be fair, I'm not a big spender, so I'm not threatening as if losing me will break BT somehow. But I', saying I'm not impressed in the slightest with the layout and won't waste my time.

Can you make newer books in a real-life format that makes sense? Please?

[RunandFindOut]

Yeah this is one of my biggest issues with the newer products.  Formatting and layout is pure shit, it's like they're intentionally making things as difficult to reference as possible.

[Tymers Realm]

At least the BattleMech Manual seems better laid out.

[Cowdragon]

At least the BattleMech Manual seems better laid out.

Haven't seen that one. Went back to The Battletech Compendium and The The 3rd Edition green rulebook. ;)

[Tymers Realm]

The BMM is a new Mech-focused rulebook that came out last year.
It cleans-up and streamlines, to my understanding, Total Warfare and added rules. It also contains, as I understand it, all current available in the Dark Age weapons and Equipment. The BMM also has a detailed list of Quirks and a list of what Mechs carry what Quirks.

I had picked up the PDF after the BMM was released at Gencon and got the physical copy as a Christmas gift. And as someone who's last rulebook was the compendium as well, I'm quite pleased with the BMM.