I understand why TRO:SW is in the form it is - it was the last release meant to come out on the heels of the first printing of the BMM and would be the last product for nearly a year when tptb went into the lab to work on the box set and the 35th anniversary lineup. It had to be produced quickly and cheaply. That said... I want to fix it because I think it could do a better job as "the perfect 'first Technical Readout' companion to the BattleMech Manual." As I am constrained by neither time nor practicality, I took neither into account. because i don't have to. so there.
Adjustments
*Equivalent exchange - 93 mechs. no more, no less. one gets added, one has to leave. Hello macross mechs. goodbye (most of the) stuff extinct by the succession wars. also a few stinkers. the contents should be playable in a GoAC or Clan Box timeline context.
*All 2750 mechs included get their original lv2 variant featured.
*A less scatter-shot narrative in the text. purely sorting by weight while mixing units with unannounced narrative perspectives from four different sources spanning 3039-3071 is disorienting - especially to the new player that has no grounding the chronology.
The hoplite, for example, taken from 3050U references the star league, wolf's dragoons, the battle of Luthien (obliquely), and the sneak attack of Outreach in 3067... to say nothing of the fact that the variant presented in the TRO isn't even from the Succession Wars - it debuted in 3050
Ideally, the narrative would actually be from Loremaster Roshak or one of his subordinate's perspective in 3250. Failing that, the book could be the unreleased manuscript of a comstar adept prepared on the dawn of the jihad. this allows for a discussion of variants that appeared through the clan invasion and even into the civil war (SYNERGY). also background weaved into the famous pilots from different eras. Regardless, a single voice would make much better sense.
*Weight class intro pages with a short descriptions... maybe some insight into change over time (eg how the XL engine transformed heavy cav)
*New art at minimum for the Duane Loose 3025 gang.
ADDITIONS
Stinger
Wasp
Valkyrie
Phoenix Hawk
Rifleman
Crusader
Archer
Warhammer
Marauder
Longbow
Marauder II
Cronus
DEPARTURES
Thorn
Falcon
Firebee
Icarus II
Kyudo
Talos
Phoenix
Gladiator
Battleaxe
Hammerhands
Rampage
Ymir
The ostroc and ostsol were deliberate omissions as we don't know what their ultimate fate is yet.
thus concludes another Bad Idea™