BattleTech is awargaming andmilitary science fiction franchise[1] launched byFASA Corporation in 1984, acquired byWizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired byTopps in 2003;[2] and published since 2007 byCatalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for video games,Microsoft Gaming; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.
The series began with FASA's debut of theboard gameBattleTech (originally namedBattledroids) byJordan Weisman andL. Ross Babcock III and has since grown to includenumerous expansions to the original game, several board games,role playing games, video games, acollectible card game, a series ofmore than 100 novels, and an animatedtelevision series.[3]
In its most basic form,BattleTech is played on a map sheet composed of hexagonal terrain tiles. The combat units are roughly 12-metre-tall (39 ft) humanoid armored combat units called BattleMechs, powered by fusion reactors and armed with a variety of weapons. 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 first edition included small scale plastic models originally created for theMacross 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. The game is played in turns, each of which represents 10 seconds of real time, with each turn composed of multiple phases.
BattleTech's fictional history covers the approximately 1,150 years from the end of the 20th century to the middle of the 32nd. Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the 31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages.[4]MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in the mid 3100s.[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. Generally,BattleTech assumes that its history is identical to real-world history up until approximately 1984, when the reported histories begin to diverge; in particular, the game designers did not foresee the fall of theSoviet Union, which plays a major role past 1991 in the fictionalBattleTech history. 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. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, butfeudalism is widespread, with many states ruled by hereditarylords and other nobility, below which are numerous social classes.
A key feature of theBattleTech universe is the absence ofnon-human intelligent life. Other than one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the onlysentient species.
Above all, the central theme ofBattleTech is conflict, consistent with the franchise'swargaming core.[1] Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles,factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests andduelling, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.
The level of technology evident inBattleTech is an unusual blend of the highly futuristic and the nearly modern. The universe leans towardshard science fiction concepts. Much of the technology is either similar to that of the present day, or considered plausible in the near-future, such as therailgun. There are exceptions such as faster-than-light travel and communication, without which the setting cannot function. Radically advanced tech mixes with seemingly anachronistic technologies such asinternal combustion engines and projectile weapons.Artificial intelligence,nanotechnology,androids, and many other staples of future fiction are generally absent or downplayed. Incessant warfare is generally blamed for the uneven advancement, the destruction of industry and institutes of learning over the centuries of warfare having resulted in the loss of much technology and knowledge. As rivalries and conflicts have dragged on, advanced technologies are redeveloped for the battlefield.[7][8]
Chicago-based FASA Corporation's original 1984 game focused on enormous robotic, semi-humanoid battle machines battling in a science-fiction feudalistic Dark Age setting. The game was at first calledBattledroids.[9] The name of the game was changed toBattleTech in the second edition becauseGeorge Lucas andLucasfilm claimed the rights to the term "droid";[10][11] the machines themselves were renamed BattleMechs from the second edition onward.
The game components included:
Rather than create their own original robot art, FASA decided to use already-extant designs that had originally been created for a variety of different Japaneseanime, includingDougram,Crusher Joe, andMacross. The rights to these images were licensed fromTwentieth Century Imports (TCI). In later years, FASA abandoned these images as a result of a lawsuit brought against them byPlaymates Toys and Harmony Gold over the use of said images.[15]
The anime-sourced BattleMechs continued to be referenced in-universe, but their images were no longer seen in new sourcebooks. This led them to be termed by fans as "the Unseen". WhenFantasy 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. Catalyst Game Labs has continued this practice.[16]
The game's popularity spawned several variants and expansions to the core system, includingCityTech which fleshed out urban operations, infantry, and vehicle combat,AeroTech which focused on air and space-based operations, andBattleSpace 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. However, despite the large number of such pre-designed BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units and other military hardware, the creators also established a system of custom design rules, enabling players to generate their own units and field them in combat. 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.
FASA launched two additional systems to complement the core game:BattleTroops, an infantry combat system, andBattleForce, a large-scale combat simulator governing the actions of massedBattleTech units.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).The Succession Wars is played on a politicalstar map, with players trying to capture regions of space.
Recent years have seen a trend of consolidating the expansions into "core products" for efficiency. Beginning under FanPro's aegis, then continued under Catalyst Game Labs, the various rulesets have been combined into a series of Core Rulebooks:[17]
After the FASA Corporation closed in 2000, Wizkids bought the rights to the game in January 2001.[22] They reworked the IP to launch theirMechWarrior: Dark Age collectible miniatures game, but licensed the rights to continue to publish products for the old game to FanPro (itself a subsidiary ofFantasy Productions). Topps bought Wizkids in 2003, but this did not change any publishing agreements at that time. FanPro held the license to the original tabletop game (which they rebranded as "Classic BattleTech") until 2007. At that pointCatalyst Game Labs (CGL) acquired the license from Topps. CGL continues to hold the license to this day; with the end of theMechWarrior: Dark Age miniatures game, the name of the traditional tabletop game has reverted to simplyBattleTech.
On June 24, 2009, Catalyst Game Labs announced that they had secured the rights to the "Unseen" art. As a result, art depicting the original 'Mechs could be legally used again.[23] However, an update on August 11, 2009, stated that the part of the deal regarding designs that originated in images fromMacross had fallen through, returning the original images to Unseen status once again. Since then, designs that originated in images fromDougram andCrusher Joe are no longer considered Unseen.[24]
In 2019 Catalyst Game Labs launched the Battletech: Clan Invasioncrowdfunding campaign onKickstarter. To match its modernization effort around the rules of Battletech, with the Clan Invasion campaign Catalyst Game Labs aimed to update the designs and physical models of a number of classic Battlemechs with modern, plastic kits. While initially the campaign sought only a minimum of $30,000 in funding, over its 30-day funding period $2,586,421 was raised. This success led to Catalyst Game Labs launching a second crowdfunding campaign in 2023. TheBattletech: Mercenaries campaign focused oncombined arms, updating a number of vehicle designs with plastic models in addition to more Battlemechs. The second campaign nearly tripled the amount raised by its predecessor, totalling $7,549,241 pledged in its 30-day funding period.
In the March 1988 edition ofDragon (Issue 131),Jim Bambra called thefirst editionBattleTech tabletop game "a brilliantly conceived and presented game of robotic combat set in the war-torn universe of the Successor States", and complimented the high production values of the game components. Bambra concluded with a recommendation: "Try theBattletech game. If you like it, it might inspire you to form your own BattleMech unit and battle your way across the Successor States."[12]
In the June 1993 edition ofDragon (Issue 194),Rick Swan reviewed FASA's third edition and liked the rules revisions "presenting the fundamentals in clear, simple language". Swan also admired the game's post-apocalyptic vision, calling it "one of the hobby's richest settings." He concluded with a recommendation to buy the third edition: "While the previous version was a class act ... the third edition stands as the definitive treatment, a handsome upgrade worth the purchase price even for owners of the old editions."[13]
In the August 1997 edition ofDragon (Issue 238), Rick Swan reviewed FASA's fourth edition ofBattleTech, and called it "A snap to learn... as exciting as it is addictive; there are few gaming experiences more satisfying than blasting giant robots into scrap metal." However, for people who already owned the third edition, Swan suggested that "there's no compelling reason to invest in version four."[14]
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TheBattleTech franchise first extended beyond the tabletop wargame format with the release ofMechWarrior, arole-playing game in which players portray BattleMech pilots or other characters in the 31st century. The RPG system has been republished in several editions and expanded by various sourcebooks and supplements. In 1996, FASA also introduced theBattleTech Collectible Card Game, a CCG developed byWizards of the Coast, creators of the popularMagic: The Gathering.
WizKids, owners of theBattleTech franchise after 2001,[29] introduced a collectable miniatures-based variant of the classic tabletop game calledMechWarrior: Dark Age in 2002 (later renamedMechWarrior: Age of Destruction).[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 1988Infocom released a PC/Commodore 64/Amiga based RPG calledBattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception. It was later followed up with a sequel,BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge in 1990. Both games were reasonably well received, although aside from storyline continuity the second game held few similarities to its predecessor. The first pure simulation of BattleMech combat, however, was released for computers in 1989. TitledMechWarrior and published byActivision, the single-player game gave users the opportunity to pilot a range of Mechs and engage in combat against computer-controlled opponents. SequelsMechWarrior 2 (1995),MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (1996),MechWarrior 3 (1999) andMechWarrior 4 (2000), andMechWarrior 4: Mercenaries (2002) created simulations of progressively higher technical sophistication. "Mekpaks" forMechWarrior 4: Mercenaries made by Mektek were released, adding new weapons, Mechs and graphics.[citation needed] A group also moddedCrysis for the release of aBattleTech game known asMechWarrior: Living Legends and the first public beta was released on December 26, 2009.[citation needed] A possibleMechWarrior 5 was being produced, though it lingered in development for about a year and was eventually canceled.[citation needed] Originally,Smith & Tinker owned theBattleTech electronic rights, but, after failing to find funding for a newMechWarrior game, the rights to the series were bought byPiranha Games in 2011, who had originally been working with Smith & Tinker to create MechWarrior 5.[31] On July 9, 2009, it was confirmed that the franchise would be rebooted.[32] Further trailers were released and it was confirmed that the timeline would be set around 3015. Though it seemed that the legal troubles which originally plagued FASA due to the similarities betweenBattleTech mechs and those in Robotech/Macross had returned to cause some troubles for Piranha Games,[33] the company later released a statement noting that their primary troubles had been with finding a publisher, which eventually led to the announcement of afree-to-play reboot calledMechwarrior Online, set around the start of the clan invasions.[34] The game was published in 2013 by Infinite Games Publishing,[35] the same company which later publishedMechWarrior Tactics. IGP filed for bankruptcy and sold off the rights in December 2014. Piranha Games continued work onMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, was released as an Epic Games exclusive in December 2019. Piranha Games released a stand-alone sequel toMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries calledMechWarrior 5: Clans on October 17, 2024.[36]
The franchise saw its first online-dedicated game withMultiplayer BattleTech: EGA in 1992, which was followed byMultiplayer Battletech: Solaris in 1996. 1994 saw the series' first console original title, the simply titledBattleTech for theSega Genesis. Other notable titles include theMechCommander series for the PC (MechCommander in 1998 andMechCommander 2 in 2001), theMechAssault series (MechAssault andMechAssault 2: Lone Wolf in 2002 and 2004, respectively, for theXbox, andMechAssault: Phantom War in 2006 for theNintendo DS). A newturn-based strategy game, simply titledBattleTech, was released in April 2018. The game was developed byHarebrained Schemes, and led byJordan Weisman, the creator of the series.[37][38]
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BattleTech material appeared in various publications from other companies, ranging from articles in professional gaming magazines to fanzines devoted exclusively to the game. FASA provided some material to gaming magazines, allowed associated fan clubs like MechForce to publish newsletters, and treated some magazines like BattleTechnology as semi-official publications. Some of this material was treated as canon at the time and some of it, especially 'Mech designs, came to be used in official product.
An exhaustive list is impossible but more notable publications are listed below.
Magazines with some BattleTech articles:
Fanzines and magazines dedicated to BattleTech:
TheBattleTech creators' goal of creating an immersive BattleMech simulation came about 1990 with the opening of the firstBattleTech Center at the North Pier Mall in Chicago. The BattleTech Center featured 16 networked, full-sized cockpits or "pods" that resembled a BattleMech cockpit with over 80 separate controls. Each player selected a 'Mech to pilot into combat against up to seven other human players in the other cockpits. Virtual World Entertainment, the company that managed the centers, later opened many other Virtual World centers around the world. It later merged with FASA Interactive Technologies (FIT) to form Virtual World Entertainment Group (VWEG) in order to better capitalize on FASA's properties. In 1999,Microsoft Corporation purchased VWEG to integrate FIT into Microsoft Game Studios and sold VWE.[citation needed] VWE continues to develop and support the currentBattleTech VR platform called the Tesla II system, featuringBattleTech: Firestorm.[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 originalCRT monitors with modernLCD ones[41]) for both private, commercial, and convention use.
...many visions of a corrupt future society forsee the return of bloody games in the Roman tradition... The BattleTech shared-world series (see also Robert Thurston) moves the formula on to a galactic stage.
| Tabletop games | |
|---|---|
| Supplements | |
| MechWarrior series | |
| Other video games | |
| Novels | |
| Other | |
