Is Battletech better with low or high technology?

[chaosticket]

I very much like progressed with technology, but reading the oldest stories and even more about the Word of Blake Jihad it seems as some people like the original setting of well ATOMIC KNIGHTS.

Theres something cool about irreparable piloted robots handed down through families.

But then you go and add some science and think "Hmm can technology really be extinct across the whole galaxy?" and so people actually start having factories and making spare parts.

Then you go further and Poof, there are vaults with even more advanced technology.

Oh and then there are also people who never lost the technology and actually made it better.

But does having advanced technology and making things into complex tactical strategic wargames ruin the old 1 V 1 battlemech duels?

[Major Headcase]

 :-X

[Charistoph]

Story-wise, Battletech's rules suit the introtech of 3025 the best.

That having been said, if you want the quickest games, go Clantech.  Highly efficient killing machines (and good shots) make for quickly downing the oppenent's 'Mechs.

If you want to have some firepower and fun, but still like the "Mad Max" atmosphere, then go with the post-Helm 3039 tech.

[marauder648]

Both works out fine, depends on personal preference but mixing the two is good.

[Frogfoot]

BT has such a long and varied setting that you can find something to suit just about anyone. It's all good to me.

Even in 3150 you'll find places out in the Periphery with that 'Atomic Knights' old school thing if that's what you're after.

But does having advanced technology and making things into complex tactical strategic wargames ruin the old 1 V 1 battlemech duels?

I don't think so. Solaris and the Clans are still around. The tech level doesn't make all that much difference in a duel IMO, assuming it's the same for both sides of course, it comes down more to the individual mechs. Two Clantech 'zombies' with high mobility will probably take longer to kill one another than two Introtech mechs packed with explodey ammo.

In the end, any given game of BT only has to be as complex as the players want it to be.

[Major Headcase]

BT has such a long and varied setting that you can find something to suit just about anyone. It's all good to me.

Even in 3150 you'll find places out in the Periphery with that 'Atomic Knights' old school thing if that's what you're after.

I don't think so. Solaris and the Clans are still around. The tech level doesn't make all that much difference in a duel IMO, assuming it's the same for both sides of course, it comes down more to the individual mechs. Two Clantech 'zombies' with high mobility will probably take longer to kill one another than two Introtech mechs packed with explodey ammo.

In the end, any given game of BT only has to be as complex as the players want it to be.

Well said. Battletech can be shaped by gameplay style or storyline preference or a mix of the two to find the best balance for you and your gaming cohorts. There is no wrong way to Battletech. 😁!
*a campaign based on a lone Clan warrior, disillusioned by the corruption of his Clan ideals in the Inner Sphere, traveling the Deep Periphery, "Kung Fu" style, righting wrongs and being a badass, and stumbling on a hidden pocket of WoB survivers, would be a cool way to mix the wondering knight with the high tech aspects of Btech... 😮
....must  write this as serial short stories... 😍

[mbear]

BT has such a long and varied setting that you can find something to suit just about anyone. It's all good to me.

Even in 3150 you'll find places out in the Periphery with that 'Atomic Knights' old school thing if that's what you're after.

In the end, any given game of BT only has to be as complex as the players want it to be.

Agreed. The Brotherhood of Randis is one excellent example of 'Atomic Knights', IMHO. And there's the Knights Defensor, a group of MechWarriors associated with the New Avalon Catholic Church who wander the Outback and defend people.

[Jellico]

Story-wise, Battletech's rules suit the introtech of 3025 the best.

That having been said, if you want the quickest games, go Clantech.  Highly efficient killing machines (and good shots) make for quickly downing the oppenent's 'Mechs.

If you want to have some firepower and fun, but still like the "Mad Max" atmosphere, then go with the post-Helm 3039 tech.

Yes and no. 3025 games feel like whacking each other with whiffle bats until someone hits ammo which ends things quickly. It is very much about consistency and hammering those same arcs again and again. Side arcs actually mean something.

Good Clan combat (and large formation combat in any era) is about not getting hit. Use cover and range to limit exposure until you can get an overlap and smash some isolated target.


The big issue with a low tech era is that it doesn't go anywhere. Without tech development you can't get new Mechs and sell new TROs.

[Alsadius]

I like high myself, because I tend to care a lot about the economics of a setting, and low-tech BT has deeply insane economics. But the mechs built for low-tech gameplay are usually more interesting, instead of just being Clan DHS laser bricks.

[Kovax]

I'm just grateful that we've got the option to play any point along that technology gradient.  If you want big battles with more advanced equipment, play the industrialized center of the Inner Sphere and their House armies.  If you want that gritty "scrounge-tech" feel, play further out toward the Periphery (or in it).  The ability to choose the pace of the game through unit selection, date, and locale pretty much leaves it up to the players.

As long as both sides have a similar vision for the game, it works beautifully; if they don't, then it's sometimes difficult to reach a consensus, and the suitability of BV as a balancer is highly subject to the effects of terrain.  Put a Clan force up against an IS one, and the availability of dense cover versus clear lines of sight make all the difference in the world.

Overall, I'd say the low versus high tech setting is a matter of personal preference.  The game developers seem to have done a reasonably decent job of making it at least playable for both ends of the player spectrum, although with a few compromises to both as a result.

[chaosticket]

In later Eras the overall plot seems heavily focused on either in-universe or in gameplay balance on limiting advanced technology.

I remember reading a while back that the Word of Blake basically being formed as Comstar no longer having the highest technological level in the Inner Sphere, and even being behind the Clans. Looking at the new Inner Sphere technology around the Jihad Inner Sphere technology is disappointing. I dont expect everyone to suddenly convert everything to clan standards, but with all the reasons not having advanced technology being removed it more about gameplay to not have Inner Sphere "clan" weapons. Its almost like a magical attribute, everything made by the CLans is a "clan Weapon" while the Inner Sphere all becomes common technology.

For gameplay 1v1 scale rules work pretty well especially 3025 equipment that is mostly short ranged. Larger battles  with more advanced technology require simplification so you have Battleforce or Alpha Strike.

The rules are more focused on close range fights. Solaris fights seem to be what the designers and player want, not wargames where someone snipes their cockpit and uses artillery.

[Frogfoot]

I remember reading a while back that the Word of Blake basically being formed as Comstar no longer having the highest technological level in the Inner Sphere, and even being behind the Clans. Looking at the new Inner Sphere technology around the Jihad Inner Sphere technology is disappointing. I dont expect everyone to suddenly convert everything to clan standards, but with all the reasons not having advanced technology being removed it more about gameplay to not have Inner Sphere "clan" weapons. Its almost like a magical attribute, everything made by the CLans is a "clan Weapon" while the Inner Sphere all becomes common technology.

The Successor States do eventually produce small amounts of their own Clantech.

For gameplay 1v1 scale rules work pretty well especially 3025 equipment that is mostly short ranged. Larger battles  with more advanced technology require simplification so you have Battleforce or Alpha Strike.

Am I misreading this? Are you saying that anything other than an Introtech duel should be played with BF or AS?

The rules are more focused on close range fights. Solaris fights seem to be what the designers and player want, not wargames where someone snipes their cockpit and uses artillery.

This really comes down to player preference and how much time they're willing to dedicate to a single game of BT. You do get people who'll happily play company vs company fights (or even larger) with aerospace support and artillery using the TW rules rather than AS.

[Charistoph]

Yes and no. 3025 games feel like whacking each other with whiffle bats until someone hits ammo which ends things quickly. It is very much about consistency and hammering those same arcs again and again. Side arcs actually mean something.

True.  Maybe I should have stated that it fits the base Battletech lore better.  Let's face it, 2 3025 Banshees going after each other is going to be a long fight, while 2 Dire Wolves are far more capable of slagging each other quickly.

Good Clan combat (and large formation combat in any era) is about not getting hit. Use cover and range to limit exposure until you can get an overlap and smash some isolated target.

Nevertheless, those are game components you still use in IntroTech, but they are more obvious because Clantech usually hits harder with more weapons and the distance between trees isn't as insurmountable.

The big issue with a low tech era is that it doesn't go anywhere. Without tech development you can't get new Mechs and sell new TROs.

A lot depends on if you're looking for a hammerfest or a slugfest.  I think there is a place for low tech and high tech in TROs.  The Periphery tends to go more low tech (with some Clannish exceptions), not to mention it would suit some militias better.  A Timber Wolf Prime versus a Lance of Watchmen would actually be a normal fight in some areas and time periods of the Inner Sphere.

[chaosticket]

Its that from what I hear the Commonwealth Civil War, JIhad, and Dark Age were different degress of knocking the setting back in terms of technology and storyline.

I like when a setting advances...just not when it advances by going backwards to reset things to a Status Quo.

So its as much as if you want a Wargame with big "real" robots, or if you want Mad Max with robots.

[idea weenie]

Low tech at least helps explain why the ranges are so short

[HMS_Swiftsure]

As someone that will play just about any era and like it, I find the low-tech BT to be more moving as a theme.  As a ruleset?  I prefer later eras for the variety they offer.

[House Davie Merc]

The big issue with a low tech era is that it doesn't go anywhere. Without tech development you can't get new Mechs and sell new TROs.

IMHO-while it's VERY  true that the room for new units and TROS for the lower tech
eras is extremely limited- there is still unexplored territory that could/should
be adventured into .
The biggest example that I can think of is the multiple suggestions of existing additional
variants mentioned in the early TROs .
We've had a trickle released here and there but not nearly enough .

We now know that even during the confusion of the succession wars factories were still
producing mechs and parts at slower rates .
There almost had to be units that had to be assembled with whatever supplies were available
instead of what they were supposed to have .

I have LONG awaited a TRO describing less produced variants and/or common unit mods
to make up for a lack of supplies . Alternate units that would still be considered canon
for in game use .
I'm not asking for uber munchy stuff here-just different units produced out of necessity .

[Hominid Mk II]

At an intellectual level, I can theoretically understand people who started right at the beginning in the 3025 era, with Level 1/Introductory tech, being nostalgic for it. Emotionally, as somebody who started with the Clan Invasion in 3050 and cut my teeth on Level 2/Tournament Legal tech, I can't. It's inferior. I hate having to be so preoccupied with heat management all the time with obsolete Single Heat Sinks. And I always thought that something like CASE was so obvious a way of reducing pilot mortality from ammo explosions that it should never have been allowed to become Lostech in the first place, even with ComStar manipulating events behind the scenes.

But at the end of the day, it's your game. Play with the tech level you want to in the era you want to.