This section lists the sourcebooks created by fans; it includes Sourcebooks, TROs, and other types of products expanding on the Battletech universe. If you have one to add, finished or still in progress, PM me and I'll add it to the list or help you find a copy. I'll add a quick review, so you can tell if its something you want to look at. Keep in mind, its just my opinion.
ARMY REPORTS These small, 28-page books by our own moderator WorkTroll are packed FULL of art and actual TT images, and are professional-quality books, designed to introduce new players to the five Great Houses of the Inner Sphere. They have been compared most often to the WH40K Army Books, not that I've looked at any of those.
TROs
These are the most popular books, canon and fan-produced. Most identify the creators within, and quality varies. I have renamed one or two, mostly to keep the grammar consistent in my collection. Several of them are in foreign languages; they will be also be mentioned in a section dedicated to foreign books. In no particular order, they are:
TRO: 3150 Lyran Commonwealth Supplemental (Final) The Extended version replaces the original, shorter PDF. With about a dozen new artworks, this one is just short of professional-grade quality. As an interesting bonus, it has a file to use these units in Megamek.
TRO: 3063 The standard with which to measure all others. All-new art, with about 100 vehicles and Mechs for the IS, Periphery, ComStar, WoB, and Mercenaries, set in 3063. I have two copies, what I refer to as the "PPC copy" and the "Blazer copy", because my favorite unit has a PPC in one and a Blazer in the other. Comes with a PDF of RS, and a smaller PDF outlining the making of this massive project. There is also an on-line blog, now finished.
TRO: 2830 Early Clan Vehicles Mostly black and white, set in the early years of the Clan homeworlds. Mostly 2750 art, with several new units and art from online-sources.
Handbuch: 3062 A foreign language (German) TRO, mostly B&W. Covers Vees, Mechs, AS, with a Battlearmor gallery, infantry equipment, and a unit outline of some sort with personalities.
TRO:3062 Near-Professional quality, mostly original art and some canon mash-ups, this is a first attempt by the guys that did TRO: 3063.
TRO: Clan Burrock Written in Note or Word by the user Fear Factory on this forum, it combines history, unit info, TRO and some new tech. I'm not sure if I have the latest copy - I'll check with him. Mostly recycled line art from canon, this is good work.
TRO: 3048 FGC Created by the one-time Fan Grand Council, with both new and recycled art, covering IS and Clan BA, Vees, Mechs, and AS. Above average work.
TRO: Nuts and Bolts I and II These are TWO big books, both put together with volunteer writing by the same guy. Art from everywhere, new, canon, and CGI. Covers IS and Clan, Vees, Mechs, and AS. B&W, above average work.
TRO: Shadows of War My second foreign language (Spanish) TRO, professional quality covering Mechs and AS, colorful, with art from both computer images AND a couple pieces from David White. Now in English, too!
TRO: 2800 Exclusively AS-oriented, this one is mostly B&W, with original and canon art. Professional quality.
TRO: Lords of the Battlefield Good quality, B&W, with original and canon art. Produced by the LotB forum
TRO: Defensor Hominum Massive 260 pages, good quality, with some color pages, original and canon art. Some of these units were deliberately given a XL engine that was not a perfect match, to allow new weapon, armor, and equipment configurations.
TRO: 2600 Low-quality, Word file of HMPro designs. Some hand-drawn art.
TRO: IHPF Fair quality, small 26-page TRO, some original computer art.
TRO: 2866 Rise of the Scavengers Professional quality, lots of color, original and canon art. Includes rules for the Scavenger Universe.
TRO: 3028 Reboot of the original canon 3025 with the MWO art. Professional quality, mostly color, canon MWO art.
TRO: 3062 Clan Wolverine Average quality, text only - 94 pages of HMPro entries.
TRO: DDD (Davion & Davion (Deceased) Good quality, B&W, new and recycled art. Written in the fiction universe, it is mostly canon with some alterations.
Field Manuals
These are one of the most popular formats, and it shows, there are almost as many of these as there are TROs. Again, most identify the creators within, and quality varies. In no particular order, they are:
FM: Wolverine0.4 Preview This one is average quality, written in Word and saved as PDF, in B&W, using original and canon art. Rather than a single file, its several small ones I put in a single folder. Includes TRO and RS, Naval Roster (3062), and Random Mech/ASF tables.
CBT Experimental Field Manual Professional quality, colorful, with original and canon art. Optional rules for terrain, movement, and lots more advanced rules.
FM: Clans (Kepteyn) Professional quality, colorful, original and canon art. Part of the Kapteyn Universe AU.
FM: Ripple Effect Professional quality, mostly B&W with color art, this one takes place post-third SW, covering IS, Periphery, and Clan history, personalities, and military.
FM: Non-Canon Clans Professional quality, mostly B&W, with original art. Covers six original Clans, from Kerensky's Founding on.
FM: CC-Burrock Good quality, mostly B&W with colored logos, original and canon art. A more polished version of the TRO: Clan Burrock. I THINK this is his final version.
FM: 4th SW AU Average quality, B&W with some color pieces. It seems to be an early copy of the FM: RE book above.
FM: Unseen Clans Good quality, B&W with some color pieces, original and canon art. Covers six original Clans, again from Kerensky's Founding on. Has a rules section with new Vees and Mech. Not to be confused with FM: N-C Clans.
FM: Supplemental Non-Canon Again, this is another similar title. Good/Professional quality, B&W with some color, original and canon art. Covers fan Mercenary units and non-canon House units.
FM: AFFC Navy - Chris OFarrell's AU, Good quality, some color, original and canon art. Includes home rules for Monitors (parasite ships), etc. This is a magnificent book, and what a re-boot of BattleSpace would hopefully look like in which WarShips were more influential. I keep this one on my desktop and most of the concepts have been drafted to include in my own AU.
Alternate Universes
These cover a wide variety of possibilities. Again, most identify the creators within, and quality varies. These will be covered in order of size and complexity, largest first.
Shattered Sphere AU Professional quality, full color, with original and canon art. Covered by three Sourcebooks (Terran Republic, Project Phoenix, Mercenary Guild), it includes the TRO: 3028 and RS: 3028. The Shattered Sphere AU is available for download at ourbattletech.com.
Kapteyn Universe AU Professional quality, full color, with original and canon art. Covered by several fiction books (The Other Option, book I and II), Sourcebooks (Field Report: AFFS, FM: Clans), and a couple of background books (CISA (Center for Interstellar Strategic Analysis.") Year In Review: 3023 (Revised) and YIR:3024).
The New Clans Average quality, single folder of Word documents. Large 'Unique Technology' section. This one is my project, but its too big and will probably be abandoned someday.
Sourcebooks
House Amaris Sourcebook Professional quality, full color, with original and canon art. My first and personal favorite.
Objective Raids: 3067 Professional quality, B&W with some color, with original and canon art. A fan update of the canon OR.
Mercenaries (Supplemental) 0.5 Preview Good quality, mostly B&W, original and canon art. Clearly an unfinished project detailing Mercenary units.
Free Catalyst Downloads
These are the canon products released on AFD or Halloween by Catalyst, available for free at the Battleshop.
Bruderkampf This is a non-canon, but official foreign language (German) Scenario book. I'm can't read it, so I can't tell if it's any good, but it seems it.
Necromo Nightmare This one is more Halloween, but it got lumped in here.
XTRO: 1945
Empires Aflame
Welcome to the Nebula California
Third League Turning Point Free Taiw St. Ives
Added May 31, 2015
Unit Dossier: Wilson's Hussars This is a foreign language (Spanish) unit dossier; Professional quality, full color, canon art.
Solaris 7 League This is a foreign language (Spanish) Sourcebook, good quality, mostly B&W with some color, original and canon art. Players represent Stables in a Solaris 7 tournament.
Explorer Corps: Beta Sector This is a foreign language (Spanish) Sourcebook, good/professional quality, mostly B&W with some color, original and canon art. This one looks VERY detailed, but I can't tell much more than that. The individual star charts look magnificent. Clearly this one was a lot of work and comes with a book of Record Sheets. (I think it does.)
Record Sheets: Beta Sector This is a foreign language (Spanish) Record Sheet Book, good/professional quality, mostly B&W with some color, original and canon art. Individual Record Sheets for the EC: BS book, they look good with a new sheet design, but I didn't have time to look at them.
Legionarios de Marshigama This is a foreign language (Spanish) dossier of the Capellan unit, Marshigama's legion. Mostly B&W, canon art.
El Ultimo de los Dragones This is a foreign language (Spanish) book, I think of a mercenary unit in service to House Liao. Mostly B&W, canon art.
*These are from a Spanish website, Nadir Point. It's been added to the list of websites.
Added June18, 2015
TRO: Shadows of War 4.0 This is a foreign language (Spanish) TRO, professional quality, mostly color with original art (mostly computer art with a couple pencil sketches and some normal line art by professional Battletech artists). The TRO comes in at a massive 276 pages.
RS: Shadows of War 4.0 The RS for the TRO: SoW; files come in .MTF (record sheets can be opened with megamek and megameklab) or .ssw and .saw (for solaris skunk werks and solaris armor werks). If you don't have these programs, they are free to DL, or you can just use a blank sheet like I do.
TRO: Shadows of War (English Translation) The English versions of the TRO and RS come with an additional, bonus unit, the 40-ton Spirit Vision. The accompanying RS comes with sheets for the updated 4.0 edition, or so I understand - I don't have any of the programs needed to open then on the new box.
Added June 26, 2015
Field Manual: Terran Supremacy Set in Catalyst's Empires Aflame setting, this FM was created in Word (saved as .pdf) and is of good quality, mostly B&W with some color, original and canon art. Comes with deployment tables, and expanded information on the setting.
Added July 2,2015
From Dragon41673 comes a bunch I never even heard of, and you can thank HIM for sharing with me!
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Inner Sphere Similar to the Army Reports, the HGTTIS is for new or prospective players looking for a faction. Set in 3025, Good-to-Professional layout, mostly B&W but with color faction logos.
The Martial Olympiad (2004) Apparently a Fanpro Commando product with a set of 4 scenarios to be played at GenCon 2004, so its probably too late to register. O:-) Average quality, colored cover page but no other art, mostly text. About what you'd expect. Scenarios look interesting, but I don't have an opponent to let you know.
TRO: 2600 Average quality, a couple pieces of pencil art, mostly text. One of the few I've seen to page L/R instead of U/D.
TRO: IHPF This looks like an abandoned project, with a blank cover page and a couple other little details. Good quality, B&W, original art (including a VERY nice forward-swept winged ASF with two images).
TRO42 From the website of the same name. Good quality, original computer art, lots of color. Set about 3058.
TRO: Defensor Hominum The star of the group, this one is a massive 270 pages. Professional quality, Color plates, new and canon art, covers Vees, Mechs, and ASF. And let me say, I think Wizkids/Catalyst really lost out with the idea behind TRO: Defensor Hominum; a crash program by ComStar to create a series of post-Star League 'Royal' variants (or 'Clanbusters' if you've read the Tukayyid book) exclusively for the Battle of Tukayyid and Operation: Scorpion.
Standouts include the Vedette with Turret-mounted GR and PPC, the 12/18 movement of the Cameroon variant, and a 4/6 Battlemaster with twin ER-PPCs, 7 MLs, and 4 MpLs.
*-Many of the units with this TRO were updated using ComStar's inventory of spare parts - which had massive numbers of certain common engine sizes, but only a couple of the 'oddball' ones found in several different units. These units were deliberately given a XL engine that was not a perfect match, to allow new weapon, armor, and equipment configurations.Oversized engines are possible as a FrankenMech conversion. p. 189, SO.
Added Sept 17, 2015
TRO: 2866 Rise of the Scavengers Professional quality! MWOnline screenshots, canon art, and more. Comes with Historical development of the Battlemech, Successor State maps of production facilities, Scavenger Universe refits (including cost, BV, Alpha Strike info), and optional rules.
Added May 7, 2016
Empire's Aflame - FM: Rim Federation Good to Near-Professional quality, mostly B&W canon art.
Empire's Aflame - FM: Confederated Suns Good to Near-Professional quality, mostly B&W canon art.
Empire's Aflame - Map
EA Supplemental: Star's Aflame Fair to Good quality, B&W canon art with some color, some AU history but mostly Fleet listings for the factions.
EA Supplemental: Star's Aflame RS LAMs, PWS, and WarShips
EA Supplemental: Star's Aflame RS2 LAMs
Deck plans - Manatee DropShip Average quality, PDF, computer draft of the floor plans of the Manatee DS.
Deck plans - Mark VII Landing Craft Average quality, PDF, computer draft of the floor plans for a MVII LC.
Added April 1, 2017
Delranes Fighting Ships 3061 - Professional quality, all-original art by Matt Plog with both canon and AU WarShip designs. The actual stats aren't included, just the fluff, but its a very enjoyable read. A user on the site, marauder648, is the one behind this project.
* - Several small TROs (Fabrsynth militia, TRO 3063 Battlearmor RPG) and a couple others. OF COURSE, I check to ensure they're uploaded, but didn't check here, so I have to go through the hassle of checking the actual Dropbox files with the TROs listed here.
** - this format is a bit messy, I'll start thinking about single headers for TROs, FMs, and Other instead of adding by date. Should be easier.