BattleTech
[3] In its most basic form, BattleTech is played on a map sheet composed of hexagonal terrain tiles.
Typically, these are represented on the game board by two-inch-tall miniature figurines that the players can paint to their own specifications, although older publications such as the 1st edition included small scale plastic models originally created for the Macross TV series, and the 2nd and 4th edition boxed sets included small cardboard pictures (front and back images) that were set in rubber bases to represent the units.
Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages.
[5] A detailed timeline stretching from the late 20th century to the mid-32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history,[6] with an emphasis on (initially) the year 3025 and creating an ongoing storyline from there.
Individual lifestyles remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed.
[1] Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles, factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests and duelling, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.
Radically advanced tech mixes with seemingly anachronistic technologies such as internal combustion engines and projectile weapons.
When Fantasy Productions licensed the property, these "Unseen" images were expanded to include all art produced "out-of-house" – that is, whose copyrights resided with the creators, not the company.
[16] The game's popularity spawned several variants and expansions to the core system, including CityTech which fleshed out urban operations, infantry, and vehicle combat, AeroTech which focused on air and space-based operations, and BattleSpace which detailed large spacecraft combat.
FASA also published numerous sourcebooks, known as Technical Readouts, which featured specifications for new combat units that players could select from.
In addition to game rule books, FASA published several background books detailing the history, political and social structures of various factions in the game, including all five Great Houses of the Inner Sphere, ComStar, the Periphery states and the fallen Star League.
The Succession Wars, a board game released in 1987, is one of only two purely strategic titles of the series (the other being "The Inner Sphere in Flames" from the Combat Operations book).
"[14] The BattleTech franchise first extended beyond the tabletop wargame format with the release of MechWarrior, a role-playing game in which players portray BattleMech pilots or other characters in the 31st century.
In 1996, FASA also introduced the BattleTech Collectible Card Game, a CCG developed by Wizards of the Coast, creators of the popular Magic: The Gathering.
[30] The game incorporates WizKids' "Clix System", a means of tracking the combat statistics and abilities of each figure by turning a dial in its base.
BattleMechs, the hulking flagship units of the franchise, made a natural subject for computer emulation, and so in 1988 Infocom released a PC/Commodore 64/Amiga based RPG called BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception.
Titled MechWarrior and published by Activision, the single-player game gave users the opportunity to pilot a range of Mechs and engage in combat against computer-controlled opponents.
"Mekpaks" for MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries made by Mektek were released, adding new weapons, Mechs and graphics.
[citation needed] Originally, Smith & Tinker owned the BattleTech electronic rights, but, after failing to find funding for a new MechWarrior game, the rights to the series were bought by Piranha Games in 2011, who had originally been working with Smith & Tinker to create MechWarrior 5.
[citation needed] Members of the "pod" ownership community continue to update the software and hardware for the Tesla II cockpits (e.g., by developing kits that allow to replace the original CRT monitors with modern LCD ones[39]) for both private, commercial, and convention use.
