Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

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baelthazar
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Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by baelthazar »

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/cat3500b.html

Woah... this has me mighty tempted, as I was a BT fan back years ago (despite rarely getting to play it). I'm wondering if the system holds up well and is fairly newbie friendly, because I am going to have to coerce someone I know into learning it? Anyone comment on this? They say the new minis are improved from the older Starter Set, so that is pretty nice.
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IceBear
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by IceBear »

I want to say there's a free download of the quick start rules out there if you want to review to see how complex it is.

Edit: You can look at all the free quick start rules here http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=27
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Zarathud
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Zarathud »

I picked up the box a while back -- a fair amount of plastic minis and lots of tables. We had a fun time until person in the group started to get into heavy min-maxing and crazy custom combos. The game still takes a while if your opponent can force you to spread out the damage.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
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“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
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baelthazar
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by baelthazar »

Zarathud wrote:I picked up the box a while back -- a fair amount of plastic minis and lots of tables. We had a fun time until person in the group started to get into heavy min-maxing and crazy custom combos. The game still takes a while if your opponent can force you to spread out the damage.
Does the box come with the book needed to create one's own mechs? Also, the quick start seems to dispense with Heat tracking, but I assume it is still in the advanced game?
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Zarathud
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Zarathud »

It turns out that I have the regular Introductory Box Set, not the anniversary edition. My box includes a nice workbook with the rules and basic information on mech creation, including 2 pages with the basics of heat.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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IceBear
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by IceBear »

Oh, didn't realize there wasn't heat in the quickstart rules. Yes, that's still in the main game.

I had a box set from the 80s and I can't remember if it had rules for creating your own mechs. I sort of remember needing to get the main rulebook to really get the details on creating your own mech.

Personally, we didn't use them much as in the mythology of the battle tech universe no one really understood how to make them anymore. Everything had been destroyed by centuries of war except for a few automatic factories that pumped out the known designs.

Since I had that box set I just bought the core rulebooks in pdf form a couple of years ago when they were on sale to get the latest rules

http://bg.battletech.com/?page_id=481

As you can see from that link even the new core rulebook doesn't contain the construction information; there's a completely separate book for that (though, if I remember correctly it contains rules for not only mechs but for vehicles, aerospace fighters, elementals, and protomechs)
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Turtle
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Turtle »

I have a set of all the plastic mechs from this set if anyone's interested in a trade/sale. Picked it up at an auction at my FLGS, then realized I didn't really want to get back into Battletech.
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baelthazar
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by baelthazar »

Thanks for the feedback guys, and I'm glad to know that what you get in the box is not viable for long-term or serious play. What I'm reading here and in other places on the internet is that I will eventually have to thrown down another $60-70 for the Core book and the Tech Manual. Oh well, I doubt I could find players anyway.
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IceBear
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by IceBear »

I think I found them both for $25 on sale awhile ago on drivethrurpg. The good thing about the box set is the plastic minis of the mechs. All you get otherwise are the cardboard counters
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Zarathud »

Custom mechs are where you can break the game. The min-maxer discovered two ridiculous builds. One small laser scout mech build that got in one rear shot before shutting down. On a tonnage battle, he usually had another mech cruising up your backside. The other was a melee Axeman that just pounded the enemy cockpit open.

There's enough to play and the books have great pica of painted minis but you're going to end up buying more books. At least the Tech Manual fits in the box. :)
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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NickAragua
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by NickAragua »

That game is really not newbie friendly at all. Especially when the guy running the game spends about ten to twenty minutes each turn looking into the rulebook and muttering to himself.
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IceBear
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by IceBear »

Really? It's a pretty simple game at its core (you can add more and more complex rules as you go, but it's pretty much roll for initiative, move your mech (winner moves last), shoot (winner shoots first), check on tables if you hit and where, do physical combat if close enough (same as above), then track heat.

I print off a page that has the tables for movement, hit rolls, and hit location and a mech record sheet to everyone and we don't need to look at the rulebook. Again, that's just the basic game
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Zarathud
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Zarathud »

Battletech is one of those games that someone will learn the tables quickly and become the Mentat for the game. A two-sided reference sheet pretty much covers the must-know rules.

For us, it took a while because we never had the skill to line up good shots that would maximize hitting the same facing of the mech.
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Harkonis
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Harkonis »

This is one of many games that you need to just keep playing and it gets faster. Don't spend too much time between gamign sessions or you're back to square one :)
I loved DP too! :P - ChesspieceFace
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El Guapo
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by El Guapo »

This is only marginally related, but this discussion has given me traumatic flash backs to trying to read and understand the Car Wars manual.
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Zarathud
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Zarathud »

Wait...one of the OGRE Deluxe stretch goals was a reboot of Car Wars. You can make that flashback a reality soon...

My favorite Car Wars rule was the Shatter Rule. -- objects exceeding the mass multiple of an object in its path continue as if unobstructed, destroying the object in its path. Somehow riding a motorcycle became much less appealing....
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein
"I don't stand by anything." - Trump
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” - John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews, 2/1/1867
“It is the impractical things in this tumultuous hell-scape of a world that matter most. A book, a name, chicken soup. They help us remember that, even in our darkest hour, life is still to be savored.” - Poe, Altered Carbon
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Benhur
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by Benhur »

Does anyone know how to tell the difference between the 25th anniversary edition and the improved 25th anniversary edition? I reserved what I hope is the improved version at Barnes and Noble but I'm not 100% sure. Is the cover different or can I just look for the publication date?
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IceBear
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Re: Battletech 25th Anniversary Starter Set!?

Post by IceBear »

No idea. From the following url the improved is a reprint of the 25th anniversary that came out in the fall of 2013 so if they're ordering it in for you I would think the improved is all they would get. Maybe the date of printing?

http://bg.battletech.com/news/battleblo ... d-reprint/
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