4 minutes ago, Democratus said:

FASA did some amazing stuff back in the day. I still think John Ford's take on Klingons was the best ever done.

And, of course, we got: BattleTech, Shadowrun, and Earthdawn.

Was sad to see them go.

Speaking of John Ford, he wrote one of my favorite Star Trek novels: How much for just the planet. That man does not get enough credit.

As a long, long, long time BattleTech Fan... BattleTech itself is still alive and well, and it is very much the BTech it once was - once you accept and agree upon limitations in the gaming group... Its still primarily a 'story' balanced game - in which case, if you decide its not going to be balanced, its not going to be balanced ... But if you accept the limitations of the text, for example, having a Clan Player adhere to their ROEs vs the Inner Sphere player, it ends up being much more fun and entertaining... And again, very muych the BattleTech ofthe past, and not the MechWarrior of the MS years, either.

Just now, GrandAdmiralCrunch said:

Speaking of John Ford, he wrote one of my favorite Star Trek novels: How much for just the planet. That man does not get enough credit.

And my favorite, The Final Reflection!

He made a point to never write the same kind of novel twice. Neil Gaiman had great things to say about him.

BattleTech & Shadowrun were retained by Topps, I think everything else went to NECA in the sale of Wizkids.

1 minute ago, cynanbloodbane said:

BattleTech & Shadowrun were retained by Topps, I think everything else went to NECA in the sale of Wizkids.

You're most likely right. I'll be honest, I only followed BattleTech and its run with Catalyst/Topps out of all of them.

I liked BattleTech before the introduction of the clans. The dark age aesthetic was very appealing (automated factories that nobody understood, mechs passed down over generations, the "church" of ComStar).

It had a great blend of Canticle for Leibowit z meets Robotech .

Ahh Shadowrun. Many were the hours i spent rp'ing with my brother in that game. I f there's a heaven, then i look forward to the massive rpgfest that will follow when we reunite

1 minute ago, Democratus said:

I liked BattleTech before the introduction of the clans. The dark age aesthetic was very appealing (automated factories that nobody understood, mechs passed down over generations, the "church" of ComStar).

It had a great blend of Canticle for Leibowit z meets Robotech .

And with a modicum of Era awareness, you can keep living that.

Heck, most of my games are played within that framework.... Pre-invasion.

But again, it is something to be aware of - you have to respect the lore, to have a lore influenced game... And BattleTech is one of those franchises where I have read in-depth... Feeling like I know more of BTech's history than the Real World's history.

15 minutes ago, Drasnighta said:

And with a modicum of Era awareness, you can keep living that.

Heck, most of my games are played within that framework.... Pre-invasion.

But again, it is something to be aware of - you have to respect the lore, to have a lore influenced game... And BattleTech is one of those franchises where I have read in-depth... Feeling like I know more of BTech's history than the Real World's history.

I'm with ya. I spent so many hours reading the house source books and playing Succession Wars so we could change the course of "history" on the big map.

Just now, Democratus said:

I'm with ya. I spent so many hours reading the house source books and playing Succession Wars so we could change the course of "history" on the big map.

I will be honest though, every once in a while, I'll break out a 3070 scenario... The FedCom Civil War was BattleTech War with absolute Feckless abandon, and it has an interesting feel to it, compared to the limited engagements of the Succession Wars.

That, and since I've always been a Steiner Loyalist, makes me the bad guy .

And I relish it.

Just now, Drasnighta said:

I will be honest though, every once in a while, I'll break out a 3070 scenario... The FedCom Civil War was BattleTech War with absolute Feckless abandon, and it has an interesting feel to it, compared to the limited engagements of the Succession Wars.

That, and since I've always been a Steiner Loyalist, makes me the bad guy .

And I relish it.

If Steiner are the bad guys, what does that make Kurita?

Just now, Democratus said:

If Steiner are the bad guys, what does that make Kurita?

In the FedCom civil war?

Lapdogs of Victor Davion. You know, they sold their Daughter Omi to be a Davion ***** after all.

55 minutes ago, Drasnighta said:

Although at my kiddo's insistance, I switched out Therion for Kamelot today...

I'll take it, not bad as far as the derivative generation of power metal goes. I'd agree with eclectic, I listen to a genuine small bit of literally everything.

I think I may have to break out my copy of Mech Commander II and re-play the campaign.

Just now, Darthain said:

I'll take it, not bad as far as the derivative generation of power metal goes.

This Album (Karma) was their turning point.

The next one (Epica) was a full Faustian story. Followed up with Black Halo as the continuation of that.

Gets Darker with their latest stuff though.

Just now, Drasnighta said:

This Album (Karma) was their turning point.

The next one (Epica) was a full Faustian story. Followed up with Black Halo as the continuation of that.

Gets Darker with their latest stuff though.

I'm quite familiar with Kamelot, Khan was a solid singer. More that they were part of the second wave, so to speak. And the 2nd wave never did match the grandfathers.

4 minutes ago, Democratus said:

I think I may have to break out my copy of Mech Commander II and re-play the campaign.

I really wish I could get my copy of the first Mech Commander to run. I loved the **** out of that game, (and I still prefer the pixel graffics to early 3D. I know I might be alone)

Just now, Darthain said:

I'm quite familiar with Kamelot, Khan was a solid singer. More that they were part of the second wave, so to speak. And the 2nd wave never did match the grandfathers.

Fair.

I got in on the 2nd wave.

Also, I don't like things too heavy in the gutterals overall, so that flavours me more towards the melodic.

Just now, GrandAdmiralCrunch said:

I really wish I could get my copy of the first Mech Commander to run. I loved the **** out of that game, (and I still prefer the pixel traffics to early 3D. I know I might be alone)

Mech Commander series was my favorite RTS of all time. I like MC 2 because of the cool video stuff. Katrina Steiner was awesome.

1 minute ago, Democratus said:

Mech Commander series was my favorite RTS of all time. I like MC 2 because of the cool video stuff. Katrina Steiner was awesome.

Honest question - Is that your only exposure to her (as a character)?

1 minute ago, Democratus said:

Mech Commander series was my favorite RTS of all time. I like MC 2 because of the cool video stuff. Katrina Steiner was awesome.

One thing I did really like about II was the load out mechanic. I thought the puzzle aspect of fitting weapons and systems in was cool.

Just now, GrandAdmiralCrunch said:

One thing I did really like about II was the load out mechanic. I thought the puzzle aspect of fitting weapons and systems in was cool.

The fact that the system was simplified for the MechWarrior series is what sets most true BattleTech-ers on edge.

1 minute ago, Drasnighta said:

The fact that the system was simplified for the MechWarrior series is what sets most true BattleTech-ers on edge.

I've only gotten the chance to play battletech once with a former friend and had a lot of fun. It did seem to be a lot more complex. I wish I'd gotten to play more.

If someone was wanting to dig deeper into the Battletech universe, is there any recommendations on where to start?

7 minutes ago, GrandAdmiralCrunch said:

If someone was wanting to dig deeper into the Battletech universe, is there any recommendations on where to start?

Nic Jansma runs the BattleTech Wiki over at Sarna

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/

Outside of hitting up individual novels for stories (which is also super-recommended), its also difficult, as they tend to jump in-and-out of print, and can seem to lack a cohesive timeline unless they're in an actual set (like the Warrior Trilogy, for example).

The lore was otherwise generated very similarily to the EU in Star Wars... Fairly Organically with only a heading to an "overall timeline plan".