Mechwarrior 2nd edition + BattleTech AGOAC

[bpmasher]

So yeah I started digging around after getting my box set, and I gotta say that the BT Universe is huge

Of course as a RPG nerd I want to include roleplaying into my gaming sessions. It seems the 2nd edition Mechwarrior roleplaying game is the simplest of the bunch, but more evolved than the 1st edition.

I'm going to do Succession Wars with the base box and a couple of add-ons from Ironwind Metals, and I'd like some feedback from folks who have done this with the game. I don't know how far into roleplaying territory my group will go (newbies), but I'm hoping a campaign will get the ball rolling in the right direction.

[Greatclub]

3rd is runnable. ATOW is not something I would recommend for newbies.

A new version, MechWarrior: Destiny is going to be coming out soon. My browsing through the preview (included in the kickstarter) has it looking like a cut-down version of ATOW, with a mech combat system between AS and TW in complexity also included.

[Frabby]

From how I understand the OP, he's looking for a boardgame campaign with some RPG context to tie the scenarios together, before diving headlong into the actual roleplaying.
Scenario books with roleplaying potential:

First Strike

Starterbook series:
Sword & Dragon (mind the errata, otherwise the campaign tree is broken!)
Wolf & Blake
Fist & Falcon (PDF only)

If you can read German:
Ronin!
Bruderkampf

[nckestrel]

Chaos Campaign: Succession Wars as a basic campaign system, where you can then tie it to your own particular system/plotline.

[Daryk]

2nd Edition is probably your best bet for what you're looking for.  In my opinion, 3rd was far harder to work with than AToW (4th), not least because it used a different die standard (2d10 instead of 2d6).  I prefer AToW over all others personally, though I will admit character creation can look intimidating.  I built a spreadsheet to simplify the process, and it makes it a breeze for me.