Bringing Together Tactical with Strategic / Developing a League

[michaelnace]

Hello, BattleTech community!

I'm a noob here. I was very into BattleTech in my tweens/teen years (late 80s to early 90s), but never really had anyone to play with. Now, I'm trying to re-enter the game with my son, and eventually connect with other legacy players in our area, possibly forming a league.

I've lost 90% of what I remember about the board game, but I'm very confident that I can read back up on it and get going with tactical battles on hex maps. What I'm interested in is combining strategic play with tactical battles.

I used to have a few books (technical readouts, the compendium as well as other books I cannot remember) that not only detailed 'Mechs, but also which companies manufactured them, what planets their plants were located on, etc. What I'd really like to do is eventually develop a "grand game" that includes different players playing a specific house or merc group, managing finance, mech production, engaging in politics, and advancing war -- including actual tactical games on planets.

I'm sure this can be done, but I have no idea if there is any kind of "roadmap" for constructing and managing such a game. For the more strategic play, is there a draft- or turn-based structure for managing clans/governments/merc groups, etc? Like where you have a certain number of allowed resources per "turn" and you use these to build Mechs and other equipment? I can't find a straight answer to this.

It's a big question, I know. But I think for starters, it'd be great to have a list of books to consult, and any additional insights that you could offer. Thanks in advance -- glad to have found you all!

[Bedwyr]

Welcome.

Your questions are a better fit for the player community rather than the official rules questions forum so I moved the topic here.

[Colt Ward]

So to get started . . . I would recommend 3 or 4 things.  First, the new starter box is coming out around now- it has the new Wolverine & Griffin plastic minis, what many are calling 'Classic' because they are a throw back in looks to the original images without that whole copyright problem.  The box also has punch outs for putting additional mechs on that map.  The rules present are simplified for learning purposes.  January will see the release of the Armored Combat box which has 8 mechs, more maps and closer if not the standard rules.  Folks who actually saw the boxes at GenCon, and have them!, are probably better sources for details.

Then . . . the BattleMech Manual, known as BMM, will cover tournament level rules, simplified artillery & airstrikes, and other options that can make it more challenging if you wish.  With those tools in hand the book that directly answers you question would be Campaign Ops, the latest iteration of what you are seeking.  Other books (some out of print) like Tactical Operations, Strategic Operations, Interstellar Operations, Combat Operations and Total Chaos all offer options & ideas for doing strategic overview campaigns.  Campaign Ops lets you put together map based campaigns as well as setting up the foundation for simplified strategic logistics.  From there you may want to look into Interstellar Operations as that gets into the 'empire' running side of the universe though it will not list production- aside from a very few products or even fan built guides, TPTB are extremely hesitant to commit to locations and abandoned production numbers of any sort.

[michaelnace]

Colt, this is extremely helpful -- thank you. Between all of the OP books and generations of books, it's hard to know which books will get me to where I want to go. I downloaded the quick start rules and, immediately after game 1, already wanted to get back into heat, critical hours, etc. I found  a cheap, used copy of "Classic Battletech: Master Rules." How does this book compare to your suggesting of getting to the standard set of rules?

Thanks again!

[Colt Ward]

A few things have changed though most was with the conventional arms.  One question that is important, how comfortable are you with Kindle/Nook/iPad/tablets?

[michaelnace]

Very comfortable.

[Colt Ward]

Okay, while some books are out of print they have made a big effort to get old books into PDF and new releases as epub/PDF that are searchable.  Some niche information is only available as PDF.  For example, the old Objective Raids is available that way.  A fan built Objective Raids update was also made, and then the fain went on to help make a official Objective Raid series for post-Jihad, broken down by faction.

[michaelnace]

It's coincidental that you Brough up Objective Raids, because I had that book as a kid and loved it. It is the book that really made we want to play the game on a grander scale. I recently read that there are inaccuracies/missing info in it, and it seems that you've confirmed that by stating that it only runs up to the Jihad period. Can you tell me exactly what years/era Objective Raids covers? I'd definitely like to find it online in digital form and access it.

Also, can you explain how the information in that book (such as the various mech-building facilities on specific planets and the mechs they produce) inform/interact with a more strategic form of the game? Do you, as a player of a specific House, assume control of the facilities that are on the planets within your control and leverage them to build X amount of mech per "turn?"

[Colt Ward]

Well, the FASA Objective raids is set for 3055-ish.  It is inaccurate or missing information though it can be waved away as a IC POV or some of what was determined to be missing was in a House's interior which would not be struck on border raids.  MadCap's fan Objective Raids list is set '66 or '67, and was built by a collection of fans sort of duplicating CGL's fact checker set up (and some of them might have been).  The new factional Objective Raids: Faction X is set after the Jihad, so it gives you a snapshot of their efforts to recover.  It has some real gems (a few groans too) but is PDF only and is broken up by faction as stated though a few get lumped together like the Clans.

Since I have not really looked in depth at the latest strategic game offering, all I can do is use a version a few years past that I looked at closely.  The Combat Ops book's Battletech Strategic Game (BSG!  ironic b/c it was at the same time as the TV show rebooted) had a listing of major factories with a footnote that minor factories & assembly points existed but were outside the scope or such.  Each production line was used to grant SP or RP, I cannot remember the term precisely b/c its flipped back and forth.  You used the SP/RP to build a new mech regiment, repair one or maintain one.  But it also provided targets, consider how the 4SW had Nanking and Tikonov targeted as some of the largest producers to be taken away from the CapCon.

My suggestion would be to look in other topics in this sub-forum if you want to know a bit more about setting up a strategic game- MOO/Hearts of Iron/etc.  I would have to look up my copy of Interstellar Ops beta or the final PDF to be able to answer your questions in more detail- best to talk to the folks who actually used it and their feedback built on it.  Battletech has been adjusted however to allow you to scale from the strategic moving markers around the map to fighting either battalion (AS) or smaller (TW) scale fights.