Wednesday 30 March 2011

Battletech: 25 Years Young


It's back! The game of mechanised mayhem involving giant walking fighting machines piloted by a single crewman - Battletech. A new starter set has been issued by Catalyst games of this classic sci-fi hex based game to mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of the game. Alongside of OGRE this was one of my favourite games and although the science aspect could best be described as tenuous (in the extreme) this small fact never got in the way of a good game. This new edition contains the following:


24 unpainted, ready-to-play plastic Battletech minis 2 unpainted, premium-quality plastic Battletech minis One 12-page full-color quick-start rulebook will have players into the action in minutes 36-page book of pre-generated Battletech Record Sheets One 80-page full-color rulebook Inner Sphere at a Glance, a 56-page full-color book of universe background and Battletech technical data One 16-page full-color Painting and Tactics Guide Two heavy-duty cards of compiled tables Two 18″ x 24″ game-board quality maps


The retail price of this USD 49.99 which means it should be around the GBP 40 level which is a pretty good value considering the kit you get in the box.

This does put me on the horns of a dilemma again though as my plan was to tackle an OGRE set up after the ACW ships had been completed (the next 4 vessels are now at the fitting out stage and should be ready in the next few days). I want a tactical sci-fi set up of some kind so I suspect I will have to reconsider my plans once again in this regard in the light of this new and most welcome release.

4 comments:

Paul O'G said...

Dude - it aint back, it just never went away. :-) I too grew up to this an OGRE. In fact I vividly recall saving my pennies up to buy Citytech when it first came out.

I've firmly got my eye on introducing the Lad to this one - probably next year. In fact, you may recall I bought this the last (and only) time we met up and you took me on the awesome DC tour of Londinium! Bteween the ales there was some gaming purchases :-) At the Orc's Nest I think. Sadly my mug hasn't survived the years and frequent house moves though.

Anonymous said...

£30 plus P&P from:-

http://www.gameslore.com/acatalog/PR_Classic_Battletech_RPG_25th_Anniversary_Introductory_Box_Set.html

David Crook said...

Hi Man Cave,

Ah yes, I remember it very well - it was a great day and the ale flowed freely! The lad will enjoy this one for sure (your education of him has thus far been oustanding in this respect!)and I am certain many drubbings at his capable hands will result!

The great thing about this game is the fact that you certainly do not need a lot of kit and the models are really nice. As a one stop purchase this has much to commend it.

Lock and load I say!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Anonymous (not really 'cos I know who you are!),

Many thanks for the heads up - this is under very serious consideration and should it come to pass I will make sure that some interesting posts follow....;-)

All the best,

DC (tongue firmly in cheek....)