Any good old magazine articles to recommend?

[BerserkMech]

Just happened to find out there were a few (unofficial?) discontinued magazines for BT. Have no idea of what they were really about and how they fared.
Despite the voluminous Catalyst rulebooks, are there any particular articles that are worth checking out and may even fill some of the "gaps"?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

While they were entertaining, they were never officially canon.  However some things have since originally being published in fanzines become canon. (under-wing pods for fighters, numerous battlemechs, and more)

BattleTechnology was a 'zine that presented itself as an in-universe periodical. Some very fun "journalism" from an in-universe perspective.

[Mendrugo]

A comprehensive guide to the old magazines may be found here:  https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=437.msg6457#msg6457

Of those, one of my favorites was "Tricks of the Trade" by Mike Speca in Dragon Magazine 166, which introduced home rules for what we know refer to as "Quirks" for individual 'Mech designs, based on the fluff.  Dragon 161-163 had some bare-bones campaign rules, though nothing close to what you'll find in Campaign Operations.

StarDate Vol. 1 Issue 5/6 also had a fascinating "History of the Inner Sphere" that shows a first draft of the BattleTech universe that diverged wildly from what we have now (for example, the Rim Worlds Republic was one of the Inner Sphere states, bordering the Hegemony, and its slot in the Periphery was taken by the Rift Republic).  Stardate Vol. 3 #6 had an interesting NAIS MechWarrior Training Manual in which Blaine Pardoe writes about battlefield repair theories, the utility of different formations (based on real world tank tactics), cockpit layouts, and quick-start time requirements.

[Daryk]

Two articles spring to mind from BattleTechnology:
1) The original extreme range rules (which are a little more detailed than what was put into TacOps)
2) A very detailed article on targeting and tracking systems (along with rules!)

[BerserkMech]

Two articles spring to mind from BattleTechnology:
1) The original extreme range rules (which are a little more detailed than what was put into TacOps)
2) A very detailed article on targeting and tracking systems (along with rules!)

I am very interested in 2). It's from BattleTechnology: the Lost Issues p.60.

[BerserkMech]

A comprehensive guide to the old magazines may be found here:  https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=437.msg6457#msg6457

Of those, one of my favorites was "Tricks of the Trade" by Mike Speca in Dragon Magazine 166, which introduced home rules for what we know refer to as "Quirks" for individual 'Mech designs, based on the fluff.  Dragon 161-163 had some bare-bones campaign rules, though nothing close to what you'll find in Campaign Operations.

I have taken a brief look at the Dragon issues. The campaign ideas look really neat. Though I agree it's not as full-blown as CO, but for beginners or those who want to run a campaign without that level of complexity it looks like a decent option. I guess it should also work well with Warchest and the Chaos Campaign System.

[Highball]

The old post has been locked and a new and improved list is available if you have not seen it.

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=59470.msg1366022#msg1366022

[Frabby]

If you can read German, Wunderwelten had a bunch of great campaign rules and scenarios for BattleTech.
My old group used the logistics rules from issue #16, and we also played the Drachentrick campaign (and failed abysmally, but that's another story).

[Sigil]

I love the "Tales from the Cobalt Coil" series from BattleTechnology.  One of the best, if not the best,  BattleTech short story series ever published.

[BerserkMech]

The old post has been locked and a new and improved list is available if you have not seen it.

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=59470.msg1366022#msg1366022

The index is an indispensable reference (should have pinned!). Thanks!
Instead of indexing the articles (which is the focus of that thread), I suppose discussing the hidden gems there separately would be a better option than conjuring up a mega thread mingled with all sorts of topics.

[Caedis Animus]

The Early Years issue of Battletechnology (And the only issue I've ever owned/read through) is a pretty good one. It has rules for jumpship mishaps, and a few interesting specialist mech designs-plus a list of quirks for some introtech mechs.