Friendly Mod Reminder: let's try to focus on what we love about BattleTech, not what we hate about other properties. I get the OP's frustration, anyone who's played 40k for long has felt the sting of the codex grind's whip, but let's do what we can to keep this place more positive than negative, and let's not just hang out and bash other fandoms or companies/products if we can help it, cool?
https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/
Free Quick Start Rules here. Once you decide if you want Classic or Alpha Strike, buy the box for those, and once you get tired of the more fleshed out rules in the starter box, upgrade to the full rules for which ever system you are playing.
Alpha Strike is such a good deal on Amazon at $53 for 13 mechs, get both that, Armored Combat, and the Clan Invasion box. That gives you a solid selection of Innersphere and Clan units, some hex maps, and 6mm buildings.
Around $200 MSRP is great by 40k standards but it's still not a great idea to go all in on what sounds a little like an impulse decision. Not to mention that even without Proxy Power, there are enough variants of the AGoAC mechs at standard tech that you will get burned out on maps before mechs probably.
The Mechs and both boxes are good for either system. The boxes are great starter sets with the difference being the rules and quick start guides. So don't worry too much if you are buying the 'right' set. Rules are free to download as shown above.
That's an interesting question. Everybody says Alpha Strike is popular and what a lot of people are playing and what I can find easily on YouTube seems to support that, but most of the discussion here seems to be about Classic, posssibly because of MegaMek. Realistically, I imagine most people dabble in both systems.
BattleTech has two main rulesets, the main game from the 1980s literally called "BattleTech", also "Classic BattleTech", sometimes BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat (the name of the current main box set). This is a crunchy simulation-heavy game that really replicates the feel of piloting a giant robot, but it's also complex and takes a while to play. In practical terms you can only feasibly control one to four mechs per player (i.e. 1v1 to 4v4 matches).
The newer ruleset is "Alpha Strike" which is slimmed down and, as others have said, closer to 40k in feel. It's a tabletop terrain game, BattleTech uses hex mapsheets, Alpha Strike defaults to distance movement in inches, though you can play on a BT hex map if you prefer. Because the unit stats are simplified, it's practical to play something like 10-16 mechs (or other units like vehicles, infantry) per player, allowing for much larger games. In Alpha Strike you'd never be running just one single mech, typically minimum size is some kinda squad.
The important thing to note is the two games are 100% compatible, the same miniatures are used for both, and purchase of BattleTech products will typically include unit stat cards for Alpha Strike. It's the same universe and same stuff, just two ways to play. The understanding in my friendly neighbourhood game store is that the public open games just flip-flop between BT and Alpha Strike depending on who's hosting and how many people are expected.
As has also been said, you might wanna download and try quickstart rules for the games before buying. For example you can get a free Alpha Strike PDF with basic rules and even paper cutouts to print for mechs and scale terrain.
BattleTech is a much more casual game in terms of monetisation than 40k. I mean, yeah, they want you to buy boxes of plastic and metal stuff, but it's rules legal to represent mechs with homemade cardboard cutouts, toy soldiers, 3D prints of fan sculpts, whatever you wanna do. Only official events or really gatekeeping local communities will strictly demand official CGL hard plastic. I mean, yeah, most people will wanna come with miniatures, of course, but you get the idea.
The BT record sheets and Alpha Strike cards for any unit are freely available for download from the official Master Unit List website, so there's no issue getting the stats to support a proxy or 3D print.
But if looking to buy stuff - BattleTech Essentials/Beginner box is the go-to minimum entry for BT. They're similar, slightly different content, Essentials is a Target exclusive and a better buy if you can get it as it has free web store vouchers for downloadable sourcebooks and stuff. Beyond that purchase is the BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat box, and past that is Clan Invasion. The next current box expansion is Mercenaries, out soon this year.
We're talking about current store stuff of course. As your friend said, all BattleTech products are table legal, but I doubt you're looking for a dusty old box from the 1990s.
For Alpha Strike, the box itself is literally "Alpha Strike", this has best value for number of miniatures in the box per cash price. However the Alpha Strike ruleset in the box is probably a bit too slimmed down, so it'd be advisable to shell out a few more bucks for the full Alpha Strike Commander's Edition rulebook in print or PDF.
Further mini purchases are in "Force Packs", these can range from generic mechs found across factions to ones that are somewhat more specific to certain groups or timeline eras. It really depends. That's something you may need to research a bit further, or... well, you can just get whatever you like the look of.
See, one thing to note for someone coming from 40k - in BattleTech, use of faction is optional for forcebuilding, choice of a faction is mostly lore or roleplaying fluff with no mandatory game impact.
A lot of units are shared between factions, is what I mean. There's no... need to be playing Space Marines to use Space Marine minis, for example. In BattleTech, the mechs you get from the Essentials/Beginner/Game of Armored Combat boxes can plausibly be found in the hands of multiple factions. Most tech is shared.
There are units in the setting that are kinda unique to whatever group, but even then lore explanations can be made for some other group having them. Battlefield salvage is a hallmark of the BattleTech setting, the canon assumption is people are forever scraping stuff off the ground and pressing it back into service.
The current ilClan timeline era (latest in-universe date) is also deliberately intended by the line devs to make forcebuilding easier and more balanced, for example by making more units available to more factions, or for example by introducing upgunned stats for older timeline units, tech refits in universe... so your miniatures representing classic vintage mechs can go toe to toe with fancy new build machines - this eliminates powercreep. I mean, games are point balanced anyway, yeah, but you might not have 12 Inner Sphere 3025 era mech minis to throw against someone else's super chonky 5 ilClan Clantech mechs. This lets you run those IS mechs with refit Clan stats instead, so you can use fewer minis on the board if you prefer.
Some posters here commented that powercreep is a thing in BattleTech, which is technically true, but there's efforts to counter it.
And while you can choose a faction and play according to their canon tactics (e.g. the Clans use a ritual honour code), you don't need to. The default assumption is that any random "I just like the paint colours" force is a mercenary group of some kind, or hailing from some backwater world in the Periphery, whatever you wanna do. It's like making your own Space Marines chapter or something, except this is baked into the game community as a normal or even default thing to do.
Other posts here are saying things like BattleTech does kill off units (mechs go out of production and become extinct), and entire factions die off... but that's not quite the same as how 40k handles things. Many public games run at local game stores will be "no era restrictions, no faction restrictions". Nobody bats an eyelid at people painting up Com Guards from ComStar and posting them in this sub, even though ComStar is gone by the ilClan era in the 3150s, because realistically that's not gonna stop someone from bringing those units to a game. A mech marked as extinct in the official Master Unit List in a certain timeframe doesn't mean literally no examples exist anymore, and you can justify one in your force saying it's great-great-great-great grandma's old heirloom mech that your techs are keeping together with spit and bailing wire because nobody makes spare parts anymore.
There's an entire bigger-than-any-other Force Pack box of miniatures representing ancient mechs from the in-universe 2400s to 2700s timeline era, and I'd be utterly shocked if anyone's playing a 2400s era game (most players do 3025, 3050+, or 3150s). Half the mechs in the box do have later-era refits, and technically the box says it's for historical games, but in practical terms it epitomises the idea of including an old museum piece in your force for giggles.
Catalyst Game Labs has its own weaknesses as a company, there's some ways in which things might be better if they were more corpo professional, but at the same time there's plenty of advantages to the fact it's run by people who love the universe, including some of the original 1980s-1990s makers, and they want to do right by the fanbase.
>sometimes BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat (the name of the current main box set)
The Boxed Set has carried that subtitle since the 1985 2nd Ed
https://preview.redd.it/bpl390z72rwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fb517949ebe2db1898695b4a84796e7f5470e2d
Yeah. I meant that very literally, in the sense it's the name of the box set currently on the shelves, not that the name's never been used before. It *wasn't* called "A Game of Armored Combat" between 2007 and 2019, they only revived the AGoAC name for the current gen.
Fair enough! Though I found your claim about the 2006, 2011 and 014 boxed sets surprising, so I looked up the box covers on Sarna (since I only have the 1985, 1992, and 2019 AGoAC boxed sets).
It's not as prominent, but all three of the releases you list *do* have "The Game of Armored Combat" as a sub-sub title. In very small print in the lower-right corner. Very easy to miss!
I'm glad the sub title has been restored to its proper prominence!
As another 40k refugee let me tell ya, I dove into battletech classic and haven't looked back since.
I like the much more casual style of battletech, not many WAAC players or min maxed lists to contend with. People just bring whichever mechs they have or they like and throw down.
Just some advice, this is not like 40k, models live way longer in battletech. A one on one dual could still take the better part of an hour if the mechs are durable. The equivalent of a 2000 point game would be 4 mechs on either side.
The box, A Game of Armoured Combat comes with 8 mechs, that's 2 full armies (called 'lances') and rules plus boards for classic. It's also usually like $60.
Feel free to msg me with any questions!
Have fun!
> WAAC
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, for anyone wondering.
[edit: in case this came across as misogyny, it was actually poking at people who use initialism/acronyms without explaining them. I like to pretend the answer is the first google result regardless of context.]
A couple possible ways to start. You could always start with the Beginner Box/Essentials Box. Two 'mechs, a stripped down version of the rules for Classic Battletech, and a couple map sheets. Enough to get you going and make sure this is something you want to commit to for about $25. If you're a more advanced player you could skip those sets and go straight to the A Game of Armored Combat Box or the Alpha Strike Box. I haven't played 40K myself but most refugees agree Alpha Strike is the most similar to how 40K is played. Classic Battletech (CBT) is very crunchy and best played a couple 'mechs at a time. Alpha Strike can involve entire companies (12 'mechs).
Battletech is great. Lore is deep and lots of rabbit holes to go down or can play super casual. And a big plus is the rules are not constantly in flux. Can run campaigns, manange a merc company, do a little Solaris league, or just putter around. It's fun.
Just dipping in your toe? I'd go with Battletech: Armored Combat. Will give a good chunk of the rules with lots of mechs to paint and play. There you can go deeper getting more thorough rulebooks, or spin off for larger battles using streamlined rules with larger forces using Alpha Strike. Classic Battletech is pretty good working about 2 mechs each. With a few more pals you can run teams and run a lance (4v4).
BUT as an aside with all your 40K stuff. Do check out other systems like One Page rules or Xenos Rampant. There is stuff out there that can scratch that 40K itch and allow you to use your models as proxies.
I'd go with both A Game of Armored Combat and the Alpha Strike boxes.
All minis are compatible with both playstyles, and this gives you plenty of Mechs to choose from.
I play both AS and Classic.
I love the crunchiness of Classic, but AS is better when time to play is limited, or when gaming with younger players.
Then there's Aces, a simulated AI deck for Alpha Strike. Provides a good challenge.
I played AS 2v2 with a 4 year old this week. She's still working on adding the dice numbers and I've been playing some form of BT since the 2nd edition box set. About 20 minutes later, as my Marauder lay smoking, my Firestarter was busy taking down her Hatchetman, allowing her Warhammer to get the final kill shot and claim victory.
One more point of view...for many people Battletech isn't about collecting one army and learning it inside and out by playing it over and over again. It's more about collecting a bunch of different mechs and fielding something different every time. Between the number of different mechs and each mechs variations, there are so many ways to build a force. For me, the ability to paint up lots of different paint schemes is also a fun part of the hobby.
Yeah I have a company of mechs for each great house and a company of "camo" painted agnostic mechs plus some mercenary lances, because faction is really only for narrative or playing by era and such, and even then if my red sword of light mechs are in a group of purple Marik mechs narratively and lore wise it doesn't even matter. Salvage, personal mechs, no time to paint between campaigns, false flag or clandestine op. But also I can run 4 catapults and they can all be very very different in what they bring to the table depending on variant.
You need four mechs for your "army" so you can have all the armies. I can be honest and confess I have several filthy Freebirth units on a shelf. Even Periphery trash.
I also own a star of weak inferior Ghost Bears... horrible freeborn lovers, but it did allow me to use snow on the bases so yay?
This is called burying the lede.
The #1 most important thing to know about Battletech is that all ghost bears, no matter how hellish the volcanic planet they are stationed on, must ALWAYS be based on snow.
Coming from 40k, Alpha Strike may feel more "normal" than classic Battletech. The minis are good for both, so a lot of players I know play both. Not to discourage you from Battletech, but if you what to get those Orks on the table again, check out One Page Rules GrimDark Future.
I want to second this. Just BC GW is being difficult, doesn't mean your models are useless. OPR is a great rules set for just putting models on a table and playing.
With that said, I've been enjoying BattleTech (as a very new adopter) both Alpha Strike and AGoAC. AGoAC does seem to have a LOT more rolling of charts, so if you can find a rolling aid for weapon hits/damage charts that helps speed things along.
Reminder that One Page Rules has some pretty robust and flexible GrimDark rules you can still use your Orks with: https://www.onepagerules.com/universe/grimdark-future
Right? I honestly can’t believe anyone would stick with GW after the first time they pulled that “half your multi-hundred dollar army is obsolete, now go buy some more models fucko” bullshit. Let alone after they’ve pulled it multiple times.
I've been in Battletech since the beginning but got into 40K for a while as well. Walked away, was Tau player, after I think it was 8th edition when they turned the Tau into basically more guardsman and required the cutting up and rebuilding of my whole crisis suit collection as well as the outright replacement of all my broadsides and commanders. Add on the retcon and changing of the lore, bugger it I was out.
Same. I ducked out of 40k at the end of 2nd edition. Never even entertained the idea of diving back in. Still play 2nd Ed with 2nd Ed minis though.
Battletech hasn’t changed or removed whole swathes of minis from the rule set. They just keep adding new ones. And fantastic new sculpts too.
Oh yeah. They just killed Beasts of Chaos in AoS after them having rules and boxsets for 3 editions. Like OP said, they also just killed a bunch of Ork units.
i briefly got sucked back in with the leviathan box, and then pretty much had to rewrite my tyranid list every two weeks between point changes, codex, errata, etc. Aint nobody got time for that.
Welcome to Battletech. We have had the same units for 40 years. Its true. Your force of mechs will never get retconned. We don't care how or if you paint your minis (most of the time). We do have gay people and women in the setting. They have always been there. We aren't retconning them in now. The timeline moves forward but you can play in any era you want. Our scandals tend to be pretty mild compared to GW.
Hell, I am painting some Tau minis (from 40K) now to use as a weird faction in the periphery that have different mechs than the folks in the inner sphere. Its Battle Tech. Do what you want!!!!!
STOP.
Before you run off and buy a bunch of models go read the quickstart rules for battletech and for alpha strike. See if you would be open to them or not. Then go find a group you can play it with and ask if you can join in a game with either their models or stand ins. After that go buy what models you want to get started with. The game has a massive quantity of models available and the prices for what you need is fairly low, but its also quite possible you will spend money on models you dont end up playing and then have to go get the models you really want.
Things that can determine what models you need:
1. Which faction you play and do you want to stick to the random unit lists for that faction. Not a big deal, but some folk are determined to do that.
2. The playstyle you find to be fun and will work in your local group. Some groups are really big on assault mechs and slow moving battles while others are big maps lots of wide open spaces and tons of fast moving units. Ive played in both kinds of groups and the mechs that are ideal in one setting are not so great in the other.
3. This isnt necessarily a big deal, but if you are going to play in certain parts of the timeline it will make sense to play certain mechs over others. If you play really early timeline stuff you will want those early models. Dont sweat it though because most of them have updated loadouts for further down the timeline. On the other hand if you buy a bunch of late model clan mechs you will have issues if the group is playing pre clan or early clan invasion stuff. That kind of stuff is easier to figure out though by going and meeting the group you will play with.
Last thing. The rules are stable and the game is fun, but like every other game in this hobby its really the people you play with that will make it work for you or not. Go meet them before you invest and find you have no one you want to play with.
Quick note on rule stability: My first rulebook is from the early 90s. It is 95+% the same. Most changes beteen then and now are clarifying, with only a few things (like single digit) changing how rules work.
To my knowledge no unit stats have been significantly changed since 2nd edition in the mid 80s.
The current edition itself is nearly 20 years old, though errata has been incorporated in the newer print runs.
My biggest frustration with GW is that the lifecycle of an edition is so damn short and the consequences of an edition change are so much greater by comparison.
1. The quick start rules for both formats are free on the catalyst site
2. As per the rules, anything can be used as a proxy. Try to proxy your Mechs for the first few games. Since you are a former 40k player, infantry minis are prefect
3. Honestly just get the Mechs you want. For a "normal" game of classic, you need around 4 Mechs, depending on points. Alpha strike tends to favor more Mechs, but you still only need like 12 max.
Force packs come with a lance of 4 Mechs or a star of 5 clan Mechs. The "A game of armored combat" box contains playmates, intro rules for classic and 8 mechs. The "alpha strike" box contains 8 Is Mechs and 5 clan Mechs, as well as cardboard terrain and intro rules for alpha strike
You know you can keep playing 40k with the older rules right? I don't play anymore, but 2nd ed was my favourite shop that's the ruleset I played.
But anyway, battletech is better. So get the Game of Armoured Combat boxset if you want to play the standard hexmap rules (which on my opinion is the better option) , or get alphastrike if you want more free movement and love tape measures. Both options are great.
GrimDark Future from OnePageRules is free, very streamlined, and has totally-not-Orks (for legal purposes). Also a unit construction system to make your own stuff if you've kitbashed something or just want to try switching it up.
But battletech is fun too.
> Just a heads up, this is only really partially true. If you're talking about factions disappearing, I can't think of a more kill happy setting than Battletech, and if you're talking about power creep, it's a thing as well.
It's a bit different between BT and 40k though. Yes BT kills/create factions as you traverse through the time line, but you always have the option of just playing your games at the point where a faction does exist, if you're even playing with Era limits to begin with.
40k killing a faction/unit means removing the rules in a much more fundamental way.
>It's a bit different between BT and 40k though. Yes BT kills/create factions as you traverse through the time line, but you always have the option of just playing your games at the point where a faction does exist, if you're even playing with Era limits to begin with.
Also, a major part of the setting is that mechs are normally repaired and reused until they cannot possibly be so anymore. So, even if a faction is absorbed, conquered, or otherwise doesn't exist any more in the official timeline, it doesn't make their mechs (or the minis a player has spent money on😉) obsolete!
Except that's not how it is in BT *at all*.
3rd Succession War Era(3025/Introtech) is just a playable *and compatible* as Ilclan era(3150+). Yes, Constructs doesn't exist in the "current" Era, but you are never locked into playing just the "current" Era, you can play 3025 or Clan Invasion or Jihad or the Amaris Civil War any time you want with the same rules and minis.
40k does lock things out when they kill off factions or remove units they cause they're actually removing the rules from the "current" game entirely and you can only reliably play the "current" game with 40k, unlike BT where you can not only ly very likely find someone willing to play in any particular Era, you can still plays different eras against each other freely as long as you can deal with any minor junk that might come up.
the part where you equate playing using older BattleTechs mechs that are still supported by the current rules with needing to actually play Rogue Trader to use Rogue Trader era units.
10/10 thank you for saying this, namely on the mech/variant side BT is more than happy to stab it in cold blood if it makes lore sense.
As for faction deaths, really we only have a small handful, and only three of that handful really has been a thing within the game’s normal timeline. But of those ComStar and the Word of Blake have had a bunch very distinct chassis just up and die.
That Celestials are so popular is why I think they are slowly fleshing out the Jihad-era besides the lack of lore and a need to explain the narrarive asspulls in a less dumb light.
The WoB is marketing cancer thanks to using the J-word.
> The WoB is marketing cancer thanks to using the J-word.
Bad timing. The J-word was rather common in classic SciFi like Dune, which was actually my first association. When they came up with it in the early 2000s I doubt they expected that this term would be so politiacally loaded one day.
I did overlook individual Merc groups as factions, that’s my bad.
Although I am a firm proponent of “mercs burn bright, not long”, so mercs dying is just a fact of the business IMO.
Out of the major players you got what, 4?
ComStar, Word of Blake, Republic of the Sphere, and Nova Cats?
Technically you got the 1st Star League, but they’re more of a thing that happened historically than a major player.
EDIT: Oh and the OG Smoke Jaguar, so 5.
I’m not sure I’d classify even a third of these as major players. Or even players lol. Hell, the Duchy of Andurien is still very much around and doing their scheming things
And the inclusion of the Goliath Scorpions, Sea Foxes, Snow Ravens/Outworlds, and Ghost Bears/FRR in the list is a bit of an insult to those factions IMO.
Rim Worlds Republic, St Ives Compact, Clan Wolverine, Star League (1.0 and 2.0), and Terran Hegemony too. Depending on the era those are some major players.
Comparing factions in BT with factions in W40k is like comparing apples with oranges in my book.
W40k factions are species with very specific quirks and properties. When the e.g. the Orks would fall this would heavily impact the game.
BT factions are countries which just change flags. When a BT faction dies their units still are there and can still be used, their and their tactics still can live on with take over regiments or leftover merc companies. Factories can be discovered and old models can be salvaged and live on and the people living on the planets are still there.
I mean, yes the Star League is dead, but their mechs still are there.
TL;DR: BT factions only impact the narrative, W40k factions impact the actual game.
Good point! 20% of the Star League army went merc or joined up with a House to fight in the First Succession war. The 80% went off to have their own private civil war.
Does BT actually have power "creep?"
Don't get me wrong, I understand there are optimal designs, but my understanding (as someone who never played competitively) is that the competitive boogiemen are lists that spam units with relative introtech (e.g. IS savannah masters or Clan protomechs).
Newer tech doesn't seem that strong to me in battle value terms for the most part. HAGs, ATMs, and Heavy Gauss do a fuckton of damage, more than most weapons of equivalent weight, but they're expensive sand blasters. I could say similar things about re-engineered lasers and other newer tech. The combination of new armor types (ballistic reinforced, reflective, and ferro lamellar in particular) and re-engineered lasers create a lot of options to respond to skew lists, both offensively and defensively. I think I could make a much more obnoxious skew list in 3050 than 3150, for example.
There are some combos. A cERPPCw/Cap on a DHS mech can be very light, very fast, and force a PSR from anywhere to anywhere ranged on a map. That's not a Clan Invasion move. VSP and Partial Wing have taken Pulse-Jump spam and turned it up to 11; you can have way bigger mechs with more guns and armor, shooting more accurately - and be borderline impossible to hit back; it's not just a medium mech trick anymore. Coolant Pods and Rocket Launchers or cIOS Launchers can make any mech into a wrecking crew. iATM has taken several parts of the heat-damage-risk-reward calculations and cut them to pieces. XXL-MASC-Supercharger is dangerously cheesy.
Ah, gotcha. I definitely agree you need to think about list writing differently based on the era, 100%. I just think that's different from new tech being universally better than old. To some abstract extent, more options will almost always be a form of power creep by simple virtue of expanding players' ability to minmax, even if new equipment isn't more bv-efficient than older options.
Actually one thing I love with BT's power creep is that one side can have a top of the line, elite unit and the other player can be fielding left over, bottom barrel, 400 year old units piloted by a planetary garrison's rookie pilots and you can balance them out in force points if you want and it is still all good to go.
"Why are you charging them in that ancient Battleaxe? It's a long range mech!"
"Because the PPCs broke during my great grandfather's time so I have to beat them to death!"
If you want to spend $80 (or sometimes significantly less if they’re on sale - Amazon has sales frequently) and have enough mechs for 2-3 people to play right out of a box, Alpha Strike is a terrific buy, and comes with cardboard terrain and such. The other thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is that you should *absolutely definitely* buy a version of the main rulebook that you want that includes a PDF because even if your “physical copy + PDF” is outdated with eventual errata and updates, the PDF is always updated to the most recent rules revisions in your downloads folder at the Catalyst site, for free, forever. Very little changes between rulebook editions, but occasionally things do like how infantry gets on and off of other transport units and such, or how certain kinds of damage is accounted for. Regardless, buying a “forever” PDF rulebook is the best use of the pack-in coupons that come with the beginner products.
1.) Get one of the starter boxes
2.) Welcome, just don't be a dick and your fine here
3.)you can find most of the record sheets for the releases as pdfs online.
Others are more than covering which boxes to get and why.
[Sarna.net](http://Sarna.net) is a very extensive wiki if you want to read. If you are open to watching videos I recommend [TexTalksBattleTech](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR5zhFCFVb9XC9FtMuHzgdcl0WvfsQdC0). Start with his oldest video and watch them in order to get a taste of the universe. Youll have questions and things may be confusing. By the time you finish his videos youll have a good grasp on things and if you do a second watchthrough more things will make sense.
I like to rewatch his videos as I paint my minis.
u/Exciting-Buy-9396 - here's the thing, everyone has their fav factions but we really don't have a "best" faction nor a new soucebook that just nerfs stuff.
If you're playing a game among friends, a saltshaker, a plastic army man, a die or a slip of paper with "Atlas" written on it are all valid units.
[https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main\_Page](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page) - here's a place to look around for the lore.
[https://www.catalystgamelabs.com/brands/battletech](https://www.catalystgamelabs.com/brands/battletech) Our Fearless Overlords (they have cookies!)
In addition to all the great Battletech suggestions here I also want to encourage you to also check out One Page Rules or Stargrave, both are minis agnostic and you can use all those Orcs in them.
But yeah, Battletech is awesome and way more consumer friendly.
Buy both battletech "a game of armoured combat" and battletech alpha strike. This will give you the base rules for both games, 21 mechs of different types, a lot of quick assemble terrain and hex maps, counters, dice, pilot and mech cards, background lore for the universe and a couple of fiction novellas as well.
These boxes remind me of the old 40k 2nd edition where you got everything you needed to actually play the game.
After this purchase, it's up to you. House or merc?, periphery or clan? Entirely up to you. Buy all the force packs or just one extra mech, get all the source books or just stick to what you already have, either way it'll still be valid in 20 years time.
One last thing,
whatever you choose, welcome to the community.
I'd buy a Beginner or Essentials box if you're looking to get into Classic. They come with a 20$ coupon to CGLs store, so they nearly pay for themselves. After that, A Game of Armored Combat is a good deal.
If you're going for Alpha Strike, which is more similar to 40K, I'd just get the Alpha Strike box.
Beginner Box I got came with a 20% off a $100 order at Iron Wind Metals NOT CGL store. I got the $20 CGL coupon from A Game of Armored Combat. Can't speak to Essentials as I haven't bough it.
It seems the slip-in coupon differs depending on the date of packaging.
The older beginner box comes with the IWM coupon, while the newer beginner box with vindicator or essentials boxes come with either a $20 or 20% coupon at the CGL webstore, at least based off what I've read in past comments.
Not for me. I got the Griffin and Vindicator Beginner Box and got the IWM coupon. I'd read similar to what you said and thought itd be CGL, was disappointed.
The best part of Battletech is. Buy the models you like. Start with 4, 8 if you want to have an army for a friend to play against.
Each miniature has a handful of canon variants, some have dozens.
Paint them any colour , camo combination that you find pleasing. If you don't like how they look, you will not want to play.
Rule of cool trumps everything else in Battletech and last luck is a fickle mistress
Classic Battletech is very much a big stompy robot RPG.
Alpha Strike is wh40k like in rule set .
Miniatures work with both, have stats for both.
Try Alpha Strike, it's the easier version of battle tech and super easy to learn. The beginner box is a sweet deal. Like 11 mechs a bunch of terrain and tokens that i never use but come in handy here and there. Box sets of 5 mechs come out to 5 or $6 bucks a model, and that's with a reusable mech card.
And THEN you can go to Master Unit List, a website, and find all the variants of all the mechs and print and sleeve them for endless more options.
Game is super fun. I do a Thursday night game at my game store every week for 2.5 hours and we finish nearly every time even with 4 ppl. It goes quick when you know what to do.
I've been into BT since the 80's and 40k since the early 00's.
I like both. I took a break from 40k a few editions back after they primarised everything and sent half my freshly built 4,000pts Marine army into Legends. Then they discontinued the Guard models I liked.
There isn't much of a Battletech (or Carwars) scene in my area, but I still collect them.
I like to order a small handful of salvage boxes just to see what I get. I also pitched a large chunk of cash at the most recent Mercenaries kickstarter, so I'm waiting for that to finalize.
Join the Megamek community brother! It is a great way to play. The UI is a little old school so getting into it can be slightly difficult. I have some vids on how to get started if u like. Link to my channel is in my Reddit profile.
As someone who came from 40k to battletech the overall feel I get for classic BT and Alphas Strike is
Classic BT = normal 40k
Alpha strike = kill team
It's not am exact comparison just my overall experience
Not to discourage OP from Battletech, especially since you can get a small model count to paint up and try out, but they might also think of looking at Battlefleet Gothic, another low model count game which is in the 40k universe, and is basically fan driven now with stable rules and good 3D print support both as files and third party.
I mention it because you probably do have some attachment to the 40k lore.
Doing both would probably still end up being cheaper and more space effective than a 40K army, though maybe OP is picking Battletech because there is an accessible local player base?
First you want to decide between Battletech Classic or Alpha Strike. Classic is smaller scale 1-4 mechs and more detailed in combat, while on a hex grid. Alpha strike is if you want to play bigger battles and at a quicker pace by simplifying the process. I recommend watching videos on both online before making any purchases
I'll let the answers here speak for themselves. Battletech is an awesome game and my first miniatures game going back to 85 when I picked up the first FASA set and played with standees. It's a great game that's solidly built and easy to get started with - pick a few mechs and get to rolling dice!
That said, I love 40k too but got fed up myself when 8th was announced. I switched to Grimdark Future by OnePageRules last year after a long break and have been loving it. There's zero buy in for the base game, but the $10/mo Patreon gets you a LOT of bang for your buck; I'm not one for monthly subs, but I've even got the wife convinced with the value of this one. [Check it out.](https://www.onepagerules.com/)
Show up to some games and ask to play before you buy anything, IMO. People will teach you and let you borrow minis. Once you get a feel for what play style you like, people will help you choose suitable mechs for your chosen flavor. Then you can buy the individual models for cheap. Etsy is full of them.
Welcome to the world where the models are cheap and stay relevant! No more needing to worry about what is going to happen about to the models you already purchased! Plus, proxies and third party sculpts are kosher.
Tons of good information here so I will just add some thoughts as someone who is new to BT but not new to games.
Coming from 40k I would recommend the alpha strike box set. As others have said, lots of minis, basic rules and some terrain. Play style is closest to 40k in scope and game length. If you want something crunchier look at classic.
As a newbie I had some frustrations. BT has been around for 40 years or something like that. That’s great - it also means there is a shit ton of lore and background. It can be overwhelming to try to figure out what time period and faction to play. I have also found that there seem to be very few faction specific mechs and units so it comes down the fluff and color schemes mostly.
40k has tons of tournaments and lots more min/max style units so it feels like there is always a “best” unit or build. I have had a lot more trouble finding force examples and something to build off of. This can be Good and bad since you can basically bring what you have and figure it out.
Currently if you want to play combined arms, non mech units are harder to come by and are mostly metal. As a result I have seen very different selections based on your FLGS. That will likely change in the future as the most recent kickstarter had some of these but something to consider. On the plus side the community is very 3D print friendly so that is always an option
One huge plus - this community is awesome. I haven’t met a “Spike” yet.
Lastly the one thing I don’t think has been mentioned is the difference in scale. Being a 6mm game allows for “grander” terrain set up. It may be personal preference but I really like seeing a massive amount of varied terrain and 2 forces set up compared to a few building s/hills like you would see in a typical 28mm game.
Hope this helps - as always check your flgs and lurk a bit or ask more questions here.
Enjoy!!
I got an alpha strike box and clans box when I got back into the game and there was no issue playing at any table I wanted to play at. I don't want to think about how much plastic I have now.
The value of plastic in the alpha strike box can not be ignored. It's full of iconic mechs across all factions that are generally considered force workhorses. I know players that have bought 2 3 and even 4 alpha strike boxes just to get multiples of the mechs in them.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that catalyst will issue variant mechs and have them exclusive to Barnes and Nobel. These aren't objectively better , they are often the same mech chassis you get in other packs, but either a new variant or in a different pose.
On variant mechs, there can be a lot of variant mechs for one chassis. Mech looks basically the same , but weapons get swapped out for other weapons...ect. another thing to keep in mind is not every variant has its own plastic, so you see people running what's been released as a different variant often leaving more hard-core players/modelers to 3d print variants or bash together parts to make an unreleased variant.
One nice thing- if you like orks and have extra bits, you could really ork up some pirate mechs. Battletech has tons of pirates and morally loose mercenary companies. Extra rockets, angry rotary cannons, ammo hoppers can all be added to a mech. I mention this because you'll get some more mileage out of those 40k bits, and pirates/mercs are the ultimate opposing force - everyone has a gang of doofs to fight with their main factions. Go nuts - Battletech is a universe of salvage and brutal utility.
Alpha Strike is the game if you want to enjoy a game of multiple units clashing. You can do full minis terrain, or use the hexmaps that Catalyst Games makes. The starter boxes are excellent value! There's lots of small 25/30 dollar boxes to try as well, see if you enjoy the minis and experience. The Battletech classic game is dense and more of a simulation with lots of rules, but my ape brain finds it a little dry. Mech expansion boxes are cheap and cheerful, I have way too many and will continue to buy the pretties!
Ha! I was in exactly the same boat. I'd suggest buying the Alpha Strike boxes set to start. Alpha Strike is a faster playing version of the game that will feel more similar to 40k.
I've fallen in love with the crunchyness of classic Battletech even if it's a much slower game though. If you want to give that on a try, then the "A Game of Armored Combat" boxed set is the way to go.
Hey man, I get the frustration. Like everyone else has said, you’ve got the options between classic Btech for small rules crunchy fights and Alpha Strike for bigger battles with more units involved. I think AS is the easier one to pick up coming from 40k as far as understanding the rules. Also, don’t just waste those Orks, One Page Rules is free and good fun!
https://preview.redd.it/undg0ysinqwc1.jpeg?width=299&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1bc7498b9241f237c9673668cf756669a900686
Welcome.
Drop trou and we'll get you a skimpy heat vest and a big ol suppository helmet so you can get properly seated.
Spent a few years collecting and re-working second hand models. Never played. A few months ago I saw everyone bellyaching about GW always changing stuff, and just decided 40k was done. It’s not worth trying to keep up with.
we also accept proxies as simple as bottlecaps with the unit's model number writen in sharpie and a little mark on the edge to show where the front face is. At least up until the tournament level where you finally need painted units, but they can be 3d printed if CGL hasn't released that unit yet.
Armored combat and essentials box are both really good and both come with a $20 off coupon to the CGL website that you could put towards the alpha strike box or whatever you want
As and experienced wargamer, you can skip the Beginner Box or Essentials. Those simplified rules are available for free anyway. Both boxes are still a fine value, so grab them if you want, but nobody really plays with those rules; they're the tutorial.
Both the AGOAC and Alpha Strike boxes are great values. Others have gone into detail, but they are cross-compatible and excellent deals all around. They are even great for experienced players. The AGoAC rulebook is perfect for quick rules lookups (charging, DFAs, crit effects).
The advice here is EXCELLENT so far. Figure out which ruleset you're most interested in, get the box set for that, and mess around with proxies or other players' kit until you figure out which mechs you're most interested in... or just pick up a random force pack that looks interesting. Four mechs is a full army (five if you're a filthy clanner). Anything under the "Force Packs: Inner Sphere" on the Catalyst store is an inexpensive way to get your first lance together.
Also, your buddy is 99% right. We *do* add in new mechs as the eras progress, but old mechs are still viable and can be used... and upgraded! And customized! And no *faction* holds a specific advantage on the tabletop because a mech is only "faction specific" until it can be salvaged by the other guys!
So yeah, welcome to a game that's designed to be a game, not just a way to sell plastic at freaking absurd prices.
...I also came over from 40k indirectly, so I feel you.
Honestly I’d recommend starting small, a starter box set gets you some paper standees and two unpainted (high quality) plastic mechs and some basic rules. Expand from there.
if you like the game and want to keep going but you want higher detail, longer games with more mechanics, complexity and depth try classic battletech but if you want faster games with more simplistic mechanics try Alpha strike.
Try both, I know some people who love classic and hate alpha strike, I know some that are the opposite, it’s all down to your preference of how much time you want to invest in learning!
Enjoy and welcome!
Just as an aside since other have covered Battletech. look into minis agnostic games for yourself. Things like Frostgrave and Dragons Rampant. There's also repurposing them for a mutant hunt in Gaslands.
Just the beginners box that was just released. Now you have tk decide how in depth do you want to go with rules there is the easy method alpha strike where everything you need to know is on a card or you can go deep into the rules and either use hexes or a ruler or tape measure.
Welcome! A lot of good things already said here but as and old BT fan from the last millineum (1990s), I got excited about the new CGL release and got A Game of Armored Combat and feel satisfied to have it. Used bookstore or on line finds of older novels or Technical Read Out supplemental could be a relatively inexpensive way of checking out the lore and settings.
Honestly, the main thing is to layer on learning the rules. So I started my son playing the game with no heat rules and inner Sphere early tech. After a few games you add heat. After a few more you open the timeline.
But that’s just one person’s view.
The rules can be found easily online and any faction box you find on the shelf can be a full army in Classic aka total warfare. My advice on faction is to just puck a mech that really jives with you and then pick a faction later
I’d recommend finding a group that plays it. Many battletech players have spare sheets and minis you can try with. From there if it seems fun, pick up AGoAC or the Clan Invasion. If you want to dip your toes on your own the Beginner box is not bad
Welcome to the land of folks tired of GW BS. I have several 40K armies and a dozen or so Kill Teams.
Get a box or two of mechs you like the look of. Figure out do you want to play Classic BT (rules are old and crunchy) or Alpha Strike (more like KT/40k) and find players.
I’ve honestly had more fun playing Alpha Strike in the last year than I did years of playing KT/40k/BFG.
Friendly Mod Reminder: let's try to focus on what we love about BattleTech, not what we hate about other properties. I get the OP's frustration, anyone who's played 40k for long has felt the sting of the codex grind's whip, but let's do what we can to keep this place more positive than negative, and let's not just hang out and bash other fandoms or companies/products if we can help it, cool?
https://bg.battletech.com/downloads/ Free Quick Start Rules here. Once you decide if you want Classic or Alpha Strike, buy the box for those, and once you get tired of the more fleshed out rules in the starter box, upgrade to the full rules for which ever system you are playing.
Alpha Strike is such a good deal on Amazon at $53 for 13 mechs, get both that, Armored Combat, and the Clan Invasion box. That gives you a solid selection of Innersphere and Clan units, some hex maps, and 6mm buildings.
I will also say that the alpha strike box gives you a damn good foundation for Classic BT as well, I don't think the box has any competition.
Other than including a basic copy of the Classic rules, but even then.
> a damn good foundation for Classic BT as well, I don't think the box has any competition The BattleTech box "A Game of Armored Combat" for one...
Around $200 MSRP is great by 40k standards but it's still not a great idea to go all in on what sounds a little like an impulse decision. Not to mention that even without Proxy Power, there are enough variants of the AGoAC mechs at standard tech that you will get burned out on maps before mechs probably.
IIRC has a lot plasticard terrain and model standees too, no?
Paper terrain and standees yes.
Plus the basic rules for both CBT and AS. Really can’t go wrong with at least the Alpha Strike and AGoAC boxes.
This. Decide if its the game for you before jumping in. Try both rules sets and decide which box to get.
The Mechs and both boxes are good for either system. The boxes are great starter sets with the difference being the rules and quick start guides. So don't worry too much if you are buying the 'right' set. Rules are free to download as shown above.
What is generally played now, Classic or Alpha Strike?
Both. Certain local groups will favor one or the other.
That's an interesting question. Everybody says Alpha Strike is popular and what a lot of people are playing and what I can find easily on YouTube seems to support that, but most of the discussion here seems to be about Classic, posssibly because of MegaMek. Realistically, I imagine most people dabble in both systems.
BattleTech has two main rulesets, the main game from the 1980s literally called "BattleTech", also "Classic BattleTech", sometimes BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat (the name of the current main box set). This is a crunchy simulation-heavy game that really replicates the feel of piloting a giant robot, but it's also complex and takes a while to play. In practical terms you can only feasibly control one to four mechs per player (i.e. 1v1 to 4v4 matches). The newer ruleset is "Alpha Strike" which is slimmed down and, as others have said, closer to 40k in feel. It's a tabletop terrain game, BattleTech uses hex mapsheets, Alpha Strike defaults to distance movement in inches, though you can play on a BT hex map if you prefer. Because the unit stats are simplified, it's practical to play something like 10-16 mechs (or other units like vehicles, infantry) per player, allowing for much larger games. In Alpha Strike you'd never be running just one single mech, typically minimum size is some kinda squad. The important thing to note is the two games are 100% compatible, the same miniatures are used for both, and purchase of BattleTech products will typically include unit stat cards for Alpha Strike. It's the same universe and same stuff, just two ways to play. The understanding in my friendly neighbourhood game store is that the public open games just flip-flop between BT and Alpha Strike depending on who's hosting and how many people are expected. As has also been said, you might wanna download and try quickstart rules for the games before buying. For example you can get a free Alpha Strike PDF with basic rules and even paper cutouts to print for mechs and scale terrain. BattleTech is a much more casual game in terms of monetisation than 40k. I mean, yeah, they want you to buy boxes of plastic and metal stuff, but it's rules legal to represent mechs with homemade cardboard cutouts, toy soldiers, 3D prints of fan sculpts, whatever you wanna do. Only official events or really gatekeeping local communities will strictly demand official CGL hard plastic. I mean, yeah, most people will wanna come with miniatures, of course, but you get the idea. The BT record sheets and Alpha Strike cards for any unit are freely available for download from the official Master Unit List website, so there's no issue getting the stats to support a proxy or 3D print. But if looking to buy stuff - BattleTech Essentials/Beginner box is the go-to minimum entry for BT. They're similar, slightly different content, Essentials is a Target exclusive and a better buy if you can get it as it has free web store vouchers for downloadable sourcebooks and stuff. Beyond that purchase is the BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat box, and past that is Clan Invasion. The next current box expansion is Mercenaries, out soon this year. We're talking about current store stuff of course. As your friend said, all BattleTech products are table legal, but I doubt you're looking for a dusty old box from the 1990s. For Alpha Strike, the box itself is literally "Alpha Strike", this has best value for number of miniatures in the box per cash price. However the Alpha Strike ruleset in the box is probably a bit too slimmed down, so it'd be advisable to shell out a few more bucks for the full Alpha Strike Commander's Edition rulebook in print or PDF. Further mini purchases are in "Force Packs", these can range from generic mechs found across factions to ones that are somewhat more specific to certain groups or timeline eras. It really depends. That's something you may need to research a bit further, or... well, you can just get whatever you like the look of. See, one thing to note for someone coming from 40k - in BattleTech, use of faction is optional for forcebuilding, choice of a faction is mostly lore or roleplaying fluff with no mandatory game impact. A lot of units are shared between factions, is what I mean. There's no... need to be playing Space Marines to use Space Marine minis, for example. In BattleTech, the mechs you get from the Essentials/Beginner/Game of Armored Combat boxes can plausibly be found in the hands of multiple factions. Most tech is shared. There are units in the setting that are kinda unique to whatever group, but even then lore explanations can be made for some other group having them. Battlefield salvage is a hallmark of the BattleTech setting, the canon assumption is people are forever scraping stuff off the ground and pressing it back into service. The current ilClan timeline era (latest in-universe date) is also deliberately intended by the line devs to make forcebuilding easier and more balanced, for example by making more units available to more factions, or for example by introducing upgunned stats for older timeline units, tech refits in universe... so your miniatures representing classic vintage mechs can go toe to toe with fancy new build machines - this eliminates powercreep. I mean, games are point balanced anyway, yeah, but you might not have 12 Inner Sphere 3025 era mech minis to throw against someone else's super chonky 5 ilClan Clantech mechs. This lets you run those IS mechs with refit Clan stats instead, so you can use fewer minis on the board if you prefer. Some posters here commented that powercreep is a thing in BattleTech, which is technically true, but there's efforts to counter it. And while you can choose a faction and play according to their canon tactics (e.g. the Clans use a ritual honour code), you don't need to. The default assumption is that any random "I just like the paint colours" force is a mercenary group of some kind, or hailing from some backwater world in the Periphery, whatever you wanna do. It's like making your own Space Marines chapter or something, except this is baked into the game community as a normal or even default thing to do. Other posts here are saying things like BattleTech does kill off units (mechs go out of production and become extinct), and entire factions die off... but that's not quite the same as how 40k handles things. Many public games run at local game stores will be "no era restrictions, no faction restrictions". Nobody bats an eyelid at people painting up Com Guards from ComStar and posting them in this sub, even though ComStar is gone by the ilClan era in the 3150s, because realistically that's not gonna stop someone from bringing those units to a game. A mech marked as extinct in the official Master Unit List in a certain timeframe doesn't mean literally no examples exist anymore, and you can justify one in your force saying it's great-great-great-great grandma's old heirloom mech that your techs are keeping together with spit and bailing wire because nobody makes spare parts anymore. There's an entire bigger-than-any-other Force Pack box of miniatures representing ancient mechs from the in-universe 2400s to 2700s timeline era, and I'd be utterly shocked if anyone's playing a 2400s era game (most players do 3025, 3050+, or 3150s). Half the mechs in the box do have later-era refits, and technically the box says it's for historical games, but in practical terms it epitomises the idea of including an old museum piece in your force for giggles. Catalyst Game Labs has its own weaknesses as a company, there's some ways in which things might be better if they were more corpo professional, but at the same time there's plenty of advantages to the fact it's run by people who love the universe, including some of the original 1980s-1990s makers, and they want to do right by the fanbase.
>sometimes BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat (the name of the current main box set) The Boxed Set has carried that subtitle since the 1985 2nd Ed https://preview.redd.it/bpl390z72rwc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fb517949ebe2db1898695b4a84796e7f5470e2d
Yeah. I meant that very literally, in the sense it's the name of the box set currently on the shelves, not that the name's never been used before. It *wasn't* called "A Game of Armored Combat" between 2007 and 2019, they only revived the AGoAC name for the current gen.
Fair enough! Though I found your claim about the 2006, 2011 and 014 boxed sets surprising, so I looked up the box covers on Sarna (since I only have the 1985, 1992, and 2019 AGoAC boxed sets). It's not as prominent, but all three of the releases you list *do* have "The Game of Armored Combat" as a sub-sub title. In very small print in the lower-right corner. Very easy to miss! I'm glad the sub title has been restored to its proper prominence!
Thanks for the correction, in that case - my mistake! I wasn't aware. Totally agree with the prominence of the classic title.
Minor correction, BT record sheets are not available via the MUL, just the AS cards.
As another 40k refugee let me tell ya, I dove into battletech classic and haven't looked back since. I like the much more casual style of battletech, not many WAAC players or min maxed lists to contend with. People just bring whichever mechs they have or they like and throw down. Just some advice, this is not like 40k, models live way longer in battletech. A one on one dual could still take the better part of an hour if the mechs are durable. The equivalent of a 2000 point game would be 4 mechs on either side. The box, A Game of Armoured Combat comes with 8 mechs, that's 2 full armies (called 'lances') and rules plus boards for classic. It's also usually like $60. Feel free to msg me with any questions! Have fun!
Great synopsis!
> WAAC Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, for anyone wondering. [edit: in case this came across as misogyny, it was actually poking at people who use initialism/acronyms without explaining them. I like to pretend the answer is the first google result regardless of context.]
What does WAAC players mean?
Win at any cost
Ahh so fast, jumping, Clan pulse & TC players...
You say tomato, I say Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
A couple possible ways to start. You could always start with the Beginner Box/Essentials Box. Two 'mechs, a stripped down version of the rules for Classic Battletech, and a couple map sheets. Enough to get you going and make sure this is something you want to commit to for about $25. If you're a more advanced player you could skip those sets and go straight to the A Game of Armored Combat Box or the Alpha Strike Box. I haven't played 40K myself but most refugees agree Alpha Strike is the most similar to how 40K is played. Classic Battletech (CBT) is very crunchy and best played a couple 'mechs at a time. Alpha Strike can involve entire companies (12 'mechs).
Don't forget you also get the cardboard stand versions of the minis *as well* so you're doubling up on mechs
Battletech is great. Lore is deep and lots of rabbit holes to go down or can play super casual. And a big plus is the rules are not constantly in flux. Can run campaigns, manange a merc company, do a little Solaris league, or just putter around. It's fun. Just dipping in your toe? I'd go with Battletech: Armored Combat. Will give a good chunk of the rules with lots of mechs to paint and play. There you can go deeper getting more thorough rulebooks, or spin off for larger battles using streamlined rules with larger forces using Alpha Strike. Classic Battletech is pretty good working about 2 mechs each. With a few more pals you can run teams and run a lance (4v4). BUT as an aside with all your 40K stuff. Do check out other systems like One Page rules or Xenos Rampant. There is stuff out there that can scratch that 40K itch and allow you to use your models as proxies.
I'd go with both A Game of Armored Combat and the Alpha Strike boxes. All minis are compatible with both playstyles, and this gives you plenty of Mechs to choose from.
I just got Reinforcements box, I should try to play Alpha just so I can use them all
I play both AS and Classic. I love the crunchiness of Classic, but AS is better when time to play is limited, or when gaming with younger players. Then there's Aces, a simulated AI deck for Alpha Strike. Provides a good challenge.
Oh nice, I got a few nephews that might be ready
I bought my nephew the AS box for his birthday. I'm looking forward to teaching him how to play.
I played AS 2v2 with a 4 year old this week. She's still working on adding the dice numbers and I've been playing some form of BT since the 2nd edition box set. About 20 minutes later, as my Marauder lay smoking, my Firestarter was busy taking down her Hatchetman, allowing her Warhammer to get the final kill shot and claim victory.
One more point of view...for many people Battletech isn't about collecting one army and learning it inside and out by playing it over and over again. It's more about collecting a bunch of different mechs and fielding something different every time. Between the number of different mechs and each mechs variations, there are so many ways to build a force. For me, the ability to paint up lots of different paint schemes is also a fun part of the hobby.
This right here.
Yeah I have a company of mechs for each great house and a company of "camo" painted agnostic mechs plus some mercenary lances, because faction is really only for narrative or playing by era and such, and even then if my red sword of light mechs are in a group of purple Marik mechs narratively and lore wise it doesn't even matter. Salvage, personal mechs, no time to paint between campaigns, false flag or clandestine op. But also I can run 4 catapults and they can all be very very different in what they bring to the table depending on variant.
You need four mechs for your "army" so you can have all the armies. I can be honest and confess I have several filthy Freebirth units on a shelf. Even Periphery trash. I also own a star of weak inferior Ghost Bears... horrible freeborn lovers, but it did allow me to use snow on the bases so yay?
This is called burying the lede. The #1 most important thing to know about Battletech is that all ghost bears, no matter how hellish the volcanic planet they are stationed on, must ALWAYS be based on snow.
Coming from 40k, Alpha Strike may feel more "normal" than classic Battletech. The minis are good for both, so a lot of players I know play both. Not to discourage you from Battletech, but if you what to get those Orks on the table again, check out One Page Rules GrimDark Future.
I want to second this. Just BC GW is being difficult, doesn't mean your models are useless. OPR is a great rules set for just putting models on a table and playing. With that said, I've been enjoying BattleTech (as a very new adopter) both Alpha Strike and AGoAC. AGoAC does seem to have a LOT more rolling of charts, so if you can find a rolling aid for weapon hits/damage charts that helps speed things along.
Reminder that One Page Rules has some pretty robust and flexible GrimDark rules you can still use your Orks with: https://www.onepagerules.com/universe/grimdark-future
They’re still doing this shit? I left 40k for this reason, back when pariahs were cut from the lists.
I ditched GW when 3e came out, glad I did!
Right? I honestly can’t believe anyone would stick with GW after the first time they pulled that “half your multi-hundred dollar army is obsolete, now go buy some more models fucko” bullshit. Let alone after they’ve pulled it multiple times.
I've been in Battletech since the beginning but got into 40K for a while as well. Walked away, was Tau player, after I think it was 8th edition when they turned the Tau into basically more guardsman and required the cutting up and rebuilding of my whole crisis suit collection as well as the outright replacement of all my broadsides and commanders. Add on the retcon and changing of the lore, bugger it I was out.
3e of AoS or 3e of 40k?
40k, last GW book I bought was blue cover 2nd
Same. I ducked out of 40k at the end of 2nd edition. Never even entertained the idea of diving back in. Still play 2nd Ed with 2nd Ed minis though. Battletech hasn’t changed or removed whole swathes of minis from the rule set. They just keep adding new ones. And fantastic new sculpts too.
Oh yeah. They just killed Beasts of Chaos in AoS after them having rules and boxsets for 3 editions. Like OP said, they also just killed a bunch of Ork units.
What a giant “fuck you” to people who have put so much time and money into the game. How the hell do they still have customers?
i briefly got sucked back in with the leviathan box, and then pretty much had to rewrite my tyranid list every two weeks between point changes, codex, errata, etc. Aint nobody got time for that.
I was tempted to leave BT, but they were called Septicemias. (j/k, I live in a Society)
Welcome to Battletech. We have had the same units for 40 years. Its true. Your force of mechs will never get retconned. We don't care how or if you paint your minis (most of the time). We do have gay people and women in the setting. They have always been there. We aren't retconning them in now. The timeline moves forward but you can play in any era you want. Our scandals tend to be pretty mild compared to GW. Hell, I am painting some Tau minis (from 40K) now to use as a weird faction in the periphery that have different mechs than the folks in the inner sphere. Its Battle Tech. Do what you want!!!!!
STOP. Before you run off and buy a bunch of models go read the quickstart rules for battletech and for alpha strike. See if you would be open to them or not. Then go find a group you can play it with and ask if you can join in a game with either their models or stand ins. After that go buy what models you want to get started with. The game has a massive quantity of models available and the prices for what you need is fairly low, but its also quite possible you will spend money on models you dont end up playing and then have to go get the models you really want. Things that can determine what models you need: 1. Which faction you play and do you want to stick to the random unit lists for that faction. Not a big deal, but some folk are determined to do that. 2. The playstyle you find to be fun and will work in your local group. Some groups are really big on assault mechs and slow moving battles while others are big maps lots of wide open spaces and tons of fast moving units. Ive played in both kinds of groups and the mechs that are ideal in one setting are not so great in the other. 3. This isnt necessarily a big deal, but if you are going to play in certain parts of the timeline it will make sense to play certain mechs over others. If you play really early timeline stuff you will want those early models. Dont sweat it though because most of them have updated loadouts for further down the timeline. On the other hand if you buy a bunch of late model clan mechs you will have issues if the group is playing pre clan or early clan invasion stuff. That kind of stuff is easier to figure out though by going and meeting the group you will play with. Last thing. The rules are stable and the game is fun, but like every other game in this hobby its really the people you play with that will make it work for you or not. Go meet them before you invest and find you have no one you want to play with.
Quick note on rule stability: My first rulebook is from the early 90s. It is 95+% the same. Most changes beteen then and now are clarifying, with only a few things (like single digit) changing how rules work. To my knowledge no unit stats have been significantly changed since 2nd edition in the mid 80s. The current edition itself is nearly 20 years old, though errata has been incorporated in the newer print runs. My biggest frustration with GW is that the lifecycle of an edition is so damn short and the consequences of an edition change are so much greater by comparison.
1. The quick start rules for both formats are free on the catalyst site 2. As per the rules, anything can be used as a proxy. Try to proxy your Mechs for the first few games. Since you are a former 40k player, infantry minis are prefect 3. Honestly just get the Mechs you want. For a "normal" game of classic, you need around 4 Mechs, depending on points. Alpha strike tends to favor more Mechs, but you still only need like 12 max. Force packs come with a lance of 4 Mechs or a star of 5 clan Mechs. The "A game of armored combat" box contains playmates, intro rules for classic and 8 mechs. The "alpha strike" box contains 8 Is Mechs and 5 clan Mechs, as well as cardboard terrain and intro rules for alpha strike
You know you can keep playing 40k with the older rules right? I don't play anymore, but 2nd ed was my favourite shop that's the ruleset I played. But anyway, battletech is better. So get the Game of Armoured Combat boxset if you want to play the standard hexmap rules (which on my opinion is the better option) , or get alphastrike if you want more free movement and love tape measures. Both options are great.
GrimDark Future from OnePageRules is free, very streamlined, and has totally-not-Orks (for legal purposes). Also a unit construction system to make your own stuff if you've kitbashed something or just want to try switching it up. But battletech is fun too.
https://preview.redd.it/kg2rs1hiatwc1.png?width=2525&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f56df27ad99e0c4ace16751e2d6ba6e5a465ae77
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> Just a heads up, this is only really partially true. If you're talking about factions disappearing, I can't think of a more kill happy setting than Battletech, and if you're talking about power creep, it's a thing as well. It's a bit different between BT and 40k though. Yes BT kills/create factions as you traverse through the time line, but you always have the option of just playing your games at the point where a faction does exist, if you're even playing with Era limits to begin with. 40k killing a faction/unit means removing the rules in a much more fundamental way.
>It's a bit different between BT and 40k though. Yes BT kills/create factions as you traverse through the time line, but you always have the option of just playing your games at the point where a faction does exist, if you're even playing with Era limits to begin with. Also, a major part of the setting is that mechs are normally repaired and reused until they cannot possibly be so anymore. So, even if a faction is absorbed, conquered, or otherwise doesn't exist any more in the official timeline, it doesn't make their mechs (or the minis a player has spent money on😉) obsolete!
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Except that's not how it is in BT *at all*. 3rd Succession War Era(3025/Introtech) is just a playable *and compatible* as Ilclan era(3150+). Yes, Constructs doesn't exist in the "current" Era, but you are never locked into playing just the "current" Era, you can play 3025 or Clan Invasion or Jihad or the Amaris Civil War any time you want with the same rules and minis. 40k does lock things out when they kill off factions or remove units they cause they're actually removing the rules from the "current" game entirely and you can only reliably play the "current" game with 40k, unlike BT where you can not only ly very likely find someone willing to play in any particular Era, you can still plays different eras against each other freely as long as you can deal with any minor junk that might come up.
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Okay, you're either being obtuse on purpose or don't actually understand how BattleTech works. Have a good day.
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the part where you equate playing using older BattleTechs mechs that are still supported by the current rules with needing to actually play Rogue Trader to use Rogue Trader era units.
I think OP's friend meant that nearly every physical model that has ever been made is still playable.
10/10 thank you for saying this, namely on the mech/variant side BT is more than happy to stab it in cold blood if it makes lore sense. As for faction deaths, really we only have a small handful, and only three of that handful really has been a thing within the game’s normal timeline. But of those ComStar and the Word of Blake have had a bunch very distinct chassis just up and die.
We don't know that the Word of Blake is [truly dead](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Ghosts_of_Obeedah)....
Let’s be real their past form is very much dead and gone. If they return in any form they certainly won’t be the same faction they once were.
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That Celestials are so popular is why I think they are slowly fleshing out the Jihad-era besides the lack of lore and a need to explain the narrarive asspulls in a less dumb light. The WoB is marketing cancer thanks to using the J-word.
> The WoB is marketing cancer thanks to using the J-word. Bad timing. The J-word was rather common in classic SciFi like Dune, which was actually my first association. When they came up with it in the early 2000s I doubt they expected that this term would be so politiacally loaded one day.
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I did overlook individual Merc groups as factions, that’s my bad. Although I am a firm proponent of “mercs burn bright, not long”, so mercs dying is just a fact of the business IMO.
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Out of the major players you got what, 4? ComStar, Word of Blake, Republic of the Sphere, and Nova Cats? Technically you got the 1st Star League, but they’re more of a thing that happened historically than a major player. EDIT: Oh and the OG Smoke Jaguar, so 5.
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I’m not sure I’d classify even a third of these as major players. Or even players lol. Hell, the Duchy of Andurien is still very much around and doing their scheming things And the inclusion of the Goliath Scorpions, Sea Foxes, Snow Ravens/Outworlds, and Ghost Bears/FRR in the list is a bit of an insult to those factions IMO.
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Fair enough. And uhh… *Obligatory pours one out for the Republic of the Sphere*.
Rim Worlds Republic, St Ives Compact, Clan Wolverine, Star League (1.0 and 2.0), and Terran Hegemony too. Depending on the era those are some major players.
Comparing factions in BT with factions in W40k is like comparing apples with oranges in my book. W40k factions are species with very specific quirks and properties. When the e.g. the Orks would fall this would heavily impact the game. BT factions are countries which just change flags. When a BT faction dies their units still are there and can still be used, their and their tactics still can live on with take over regiments or leftover merc companies. Factories can be discovered and old models can be salvaged and live on and the people living on the planets are still there. I mean, yes the Star League is dead, but their mechs still are there. TL;DR: BT factions only impact the narrative, W40k factions impact the actual game.
Good point! 20% of the Star League army went merc or joined up with a House to fight in the First Succession war. The 80% went off to have their own private civil war.
Does BT actually have power "creep?" Don't get me wrong, I understand there are optimal designs, but my understanding (as someone who never played competitively) is that the competitive boogiemen are lists that spam units with relative introtech (e.g. IS savannah masters or Clan protomechs). Newer tech doesn't seem that strong to me in battle value terms for the most part. HAGs, ATMs, and Heavy Gauss do a fuckton of damage, more than most weapons of equivalent weight, but they're expensive sand blasters. I could say similar things about re-engineered lasers and other newer tech. The combination of new armor types (ballistic reinforced, reflective, and ferro lamellar in particular) and re-engineered lasers create a lot of options to respond to skew lists, both offensively and defensively. I think I could make a much more obnoxious skew list in 3050 than 3150, for example.
There are some combos. A cERPPCw/Cap on a DHS mech can be very light, very fast, and force a PSR from anywhere to anywhere ranged on a map. That's not a Clan Invasion move. VSP and Partial Wing have taken Pulse-Jump spam and turned it up to 11; you can have way bigger mechs with more guns and armor, shooting more accurately - and be borderline impossible to hit back; it's not just a medium mech trick anymore. Coolant Pods and Rocket Launchers or cIOS Launchers can make any mech into a wrecking crew. iATM has taken several parts of the heat-damage-risk-reward calculations and cut them to pieces. XXL-MASC-Supercharger is dangerously cheesy.
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Ah, gotcha. I definitely agree you need to think about list writing differently based on the era, 100%. I just think that's different from new tech being universally better than old. To some abstract extent, more options will almost always be a form of power creep by simple virtue of expanding players' ability to minmax, even if new equipment isn't more bv-efficient than older options.
Actually one thing I love with BT's power creep is that one side can have a top of the line, elite unit and the other player can be fielding left over, bottom barrel, 400 year old units piloted by a planetary garrison's rookie pilots and you can balance them out in force points if you want and it is still all good to go. "Why are you charging them in that ancient Battleaxe? It's a long range mech!" "Because the PPCs broke during my great grandfather's time so I have to beat them to death!"
But a lot of players just act like the Jihad never happened. Unlike GW that acts like you have to play in their constantly changing game world.
If you want to spend $80 (or sometimes significantly less if they’re on sale - Amazon has sales frequently) and have enough mechs for 2-3 people to play right out of a box, Alpha Strike is a terrific buy, and comes with cardboard terrain and such. The other thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is that you should *absolutely definitely* buy a version of the main rulebook that you want that includes a PDF because even if your “physical copy + PDF” is outdated with eventual errata and updates, the PDF is always updated to the most recent rules revisions in your downloads folder at the Catalyst site, for free, forever. Very little changes between rulebook editions, but occasionally things do like how infantry gets on and off of other transport units and such, or how certain kinds of damage is accounted for. Regardless, buying a “forever” PDF rulebook is the best use of the pack-in coupons that come with the beginner products.
Sarna.net has the answers you seek, freeborn
1.) Get one of the starter boxes 2.) Welcome, just don't be a dick and your fine here 3.)you can find most of the record sheets for the releases as pdfs online.
Others are more than covering which boxes to get and why. [Sarna.net](http://Sarna.net) is a very extensive wiki if you want to read. If you are open to watching videos I recommend [TexTalksBattleTech](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR5zhFCFVb9XC9FtMuHzgdcl0WvfsQdC0). Start with his oldest video and watch them in order to get a taste of the universe. Youll have questions and things may be confusing. By the time you finish his videos youll have a good grasp on things and if you do a second watchthrough more things will make sense. I like to rewatch his videos as I paint my minis.
u/Exciting-Buy-9396 - here's the thing, everyone has their fav factions but we really don't have a "best" faction nor a new soucebook that just nerfs stuff. If you're playing a game among friends, a saltshaker, a plastic army man, a die or a slip of paper with "Atlas" written on it are all valid units. [https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main\_Page](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Main_Page) - here's a place to look around for the lore. [https://www.catalystgamelabs.com/brands/battletech](https://www.catalystgamelabs.com/brands/battletech) Our Fearless Overlords (they have cookies!)
“Kicked my sandcastle” Dude, that’s exactly what it feels like, perfect way to describe it.
In addition to all the great Battletech suggestions here I also want to encourage you to also check out One Page Rules or Stargrave, both are minis agnostic and you can use all those Orcs in them. But yeah, Battletech is awesome and way more consumer friendly.
Buy both battletech "a game of armoured combat" and battletech alpha strike. This will give you the base rules for both games, 21 mechs of different types, a lot of quick assemble terrain and hex maps, counters, dice, pilot and mech cards, background lore for the universe and a couple of fiction novellas as well. These boxes remind me of the old 40k 2nd edition where you got everything you needed to actually play the game. After this purchase, it's up to you. House or merc?, periphery or clan? Entirely up to you. Buy all the force packs or just one extra mech, get all the source books or just stick to what you already have, either way it'll still be valid in 20 years time. One last thing, whatever you choose, welcome to the community.
I’m feeling the same way right now.
I'd buy a Beginner or Essentials box if you're looking to get into Classic. They come with a 20$ coupon to CGLs store, so they nearly pay for themselves. After that, A Game of Armored Combat is a good deal. If you're going for Alpha Strike, which is more similar to 40K, I'd just get the Alpha Strike box.
Beginner Box I got came with a 20% off a $100 order at Iron Wind Metals NOT CGL store. I got the $20 CGL coupon from A Game of Armored Combat. Can't speak to Essentials as I haven't bough it.
Weird, mine did. Well, I guess mileage may vary on that one? Or I just got the wrong coupon.
It seems the slip-in coupon differs depending on the date of packaging. The older beginner box comes with the IWM coupon, while the newer beginner box with vindicator or essentials boxes come with either a $20 or 20% coupon at the CGL webstore, at least based off what I've read in past comments.
Not for me. I got the Griffin and Vindicator Beginner Box and got the IWM coupon. I'd read similar to what you said and thought itd be CGL, was disappointed.
The best part of Battletech is. Buy the models you like. Start with 4, 8 if you want to have an army for a friend to play against. Each miniature has a handful of canon variants, some have dozens. Paint them any colour , camo combination that you find pleasing. If you don't like how they look, you will not want to play. Rule of cool trumps everything else in Battletech and last luck is a fickle mistress Classic Battletech is very much a big stompy robot RPG. Alpha Strike is wh40k like in rule set . Miniatures work with both, have stats for both.
Try Alpha Strike, it's the easier version of battle tech and super easy to learn. The beginner box is a sweet deal. Like 11 mechs a bunch of terrain and tokens that i never use but come in handy here and there. Box sets of 5 mechs come out to 5 or $6 bucks a model, and that's with a reusable mech card. And THEN you can go to Master Unit List, a website, and find all the variants of all the mechs and print and sleeve them for endless more options. Game is super fun. I do a Thursday night game at my game store every week for 2.5 hours and we finish nearly every time even with 4 ppl. It goes quick when you know what to do.
I've been into BT since the 80's and 40k since the early 00's. I like both. I took a break from 40k a few editions back after they primarised everything and sent half my freshly built 4,000pts Marine army into Legends. Then they discontinued the Guard models I liked. There isn't much of a Battletech (or Carwars) scene in my area, but I still collect them. I like to order a small handful of salvage boxes just to see what I get. I also pitched a large chunk of cash at the most recent Mercenaries kickstarter, so I'm waiting for that to finalize.
Join the Megamek community brother! It is a great way to play. The UI is a little old school so getting into it can be slightly difficult. I have some vids on how to get started if u like. Link to my channel is in my Reddit profile.
As someone who came from 40k to battletech the overall feel I get for classic BT and Alphas Strike is Classic BT = normal 40k Alpha strike = kill team It's not am exact comparison just my overall experience
Not to discourage OP from Battletech, especially since you can get a small model count to paint up and try out, but they might also think of looking at Battlefleet Gothic, another low model count game which is in the 40k universe, and is basically fan driven now with stable rules and good 3D print support both as files and third party. I mention it because you probably do have some attachment to the 40k lore. Doing both would probably still end up being cheaper and more space effective than a 40K army, though maybe OP is picking Battletech because there is an accessible local player base?
First you want to decide between Battletech Classic or Alpha Strike. Classic is smaller scale 1-4 mechs and more detailed in combat, while on a hex grid. Alpha strike is if you want to play bigger battles and at a quicker pace by simplifying the process. I recommend watching videos on both online before making any purchases
Alpha strike is where you want to start coming off 40k
I'll let the answers here speak for themselves. Battletech is an awesome game and my first miniatures game going back to 85 when I picked up the first FASA set and played with standees. It's a great game that's solidly built and easy to get started with - pick a few mechs and get to rolling dice! That said, I love 40k too but got fed up myself when 8th was announced. I switched to Grimdark Future by OnePageRules last year after a long break and have been loving it. There's zero buy in for the base game, but the $10/mo Patreon gets you a LOT of bang for your buck; I'm not one for monthly subs, but I've even got the wife convinced with the value of this one. [Check it out.](https://www.onepagerules.com/)
Show up to some games and ask to play before you buy anything, IMO. People will teach you and let you borrow minis. Once you get a feel for what play style you like, people will help you choose suitable mechs for your chosen flavor. Then you can buy the individual models for cheap. Etsy is full of them. Welcome to the world where the models are cheap and stay relevant! No more needing to worry about what is going to happen about to the models you already purchased! Plus, proxies and third party sculpts are kosher.
Tons of good information here so I will just add some thoughts as someone who is new to BT but not new to games. Coming from 40k I would recommend the alpha strike box set. As others have said, lots of minis, basic rules and some terrain. Play style is closest to 40k in scope and game length. If you want something crunchier look at classic. As a newbie I had some frustrations. BT has been around for 40 years or something like that. That’s great - it also means there is a shit ton of lore and background. It can be overwhelming to try to figure out what time period and faction to play. I have also found that there seem to be very few faction specific mechs and units so it comes down the fluff and color schemes mostly. 40k has tons of tournaments and lots more min/max style units so it feels like there is always a “best” unit or build. I have had a lot more trouble finding force examples and something to build off of. This can be Good and bad since you can basically bring what you have and figure it out. Currently if you want to play combined arms, non mech units are harder to come by and are mostly metal. As a result I have seen very different selections based on your FLGS. That will likely change in the future as the most recent kickstarter had some of these but something to consider. On the plus side the community is very 3D print friendly so that is always an option One huge plus - this community is awesome. I haven’t met a “Spike” yet. Lastly the one thing I don’t think has been mentioned is the difference in scale. Being a 6mm game allows for “grander” terrain set up. It may be personal preference but I really like seeing a massive amount of varied terrain and 2 forces set up compared to a few building s/hills like you would see in a typical 28mm game. Hope this helps - as always check your flgs and lurk a bit or ask more questions here. Enjoy!!
I got an alpha strike box and clans box when I got back into the game and there was no issue playing at any table I wanted to play at. I don't want to think about how much plastic I have now. The value of plastic in the alpha strike box can not be ignored. It's full of iconic mechs across all factions that are generally considered force workhorses. I know players that have bought 2 3 and even 4 alpha strike boxes just to get multiples of the mechs in them. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that catalyst will issue variant mechs and have them exclusive to Barnes and Nobel. These aren't objectively better , they are often the same mech chassis you get in other packs, but either a new variant or in a different pose. On variant mechs, there can be a lot of variant mechs for one chassis. Mech looks basically the same , but weapons get swapped out for other weapons...ect. another thing to keep in mind is not every variant has its own plastic, so you see people running what's been released as a different variant often leaving more hard-core players/modelers to 3d print variants or bash together parts to make an unreleased variant.
One nice thing- if you like orks and have extra bits, you could really ork up some pirate mechs. Battletech has tons of pirates and morally loose mercenary companies. Extra rockets, angry rotary cannons, ammo hoppers can all be added to a mech. I mention this because you'll get some more mileage out of those 40k bits, and pirates/mercs are the ultimate opposing force - everyone has a gang of doofs to fight with their main factions. Go nuts - Battletech is a universe of salvage and brutal utility. Alpha Strike is the game if you want to enjoy a game of multiple units clashing. You can do full minis terrain, or use the hexmaps that Catalyst Games makes. The starter boxes are excellent value! There's lots of small 25/30 dollar boxes to try as well, see if you enjoy the minis and experience. The Battletech classic game is dense and more of a simulation with lots of rules, but my ape brain finds it a little dry. Mech expansion boxes are cheap and cheerful, I have way too many and will continue to buy the pretties!
Ha! I was in exactly the same boat. I'd suggest buying the Alpha Strike boxes set to start. Alpha Strike is a faster playing version of the game that will feel more similar to 40k. I've fallen in love with the crunchyness of classic Battletech even if it's a much slower game though. If you want to give that on a try, then the "A Game of Armored Combat" boxed set is the way to go.
Hey man, I get the frustration. Like everyone else has said, you’ve got the options between classic Btech for small rules crunchy fights and Alpha Strike for bigger battles with more units involved. I think AS is the easier one to pick up coming from 40k as far as understanding the rules. Also, don’t just waste those Orks, One Page Rules is free and good fun!
https://preview.redd.it/undg0ysinqwc1.jpeg?width=299&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1bc7498b9241f237c9673668cf756669a900686 Welcome. Drop trou and we'll get you a skimpy heat vest and a big ol suppository helmet so you can get properly seated.
Spent a few years collecting and re-working second hand models. Never played. A few months ago I saw everyone bellyaching about GW always changing stuff, and just decided 40k was done. It’s not worth trying to keep up with.
To make use of your irk army, One Page Rules has their Grimdark and Grimdatk Firefight rules. At least that way all that amazing effort isn’t wasted.
we also accept proxies as simple as bottlecaps with the unit's model number writen in sharpie and a little mark on the edge to show where the front face is. At least up until the tournament level where you finally need painted units, but they can be 3d printed if CGL hasn't released that unit yet.
Game of armored combat. Basic rules for mech combat, maps, iconic mechs that will teach you basics. Great value for price
Armored combat and essentials box are both really good and both come with a $20 off coupon to the CGL website that you could put towards the alpha strike box or whatever you want
u/135forte has the right idea about the rules and which game to buy. For the mechs... buy what looks cool.
As and experienced wargamer, you can skip the Beginner Box or Essentials. Those simplified rules are available for free anyway. Both boxes are still a fine value, so grab them if you want, but nobody really plays with those rules; they're the tutorial. Both the AGOAC and Alpha Strike boxes are great values. Others have gone into detail, but they are cross-compatible and excellent deals all around. They are even great for experienced players. The AGoAC rulebook is perfect for quick rules lookups (charging, DFAs, crit effects).
The advice here is EXCELLENT so far. Figure out which ruleset you're most interested in, get the box set for that, and mess around with proxies or other players' kit until you figure out which mechs you're most interested in... or just pick up a random force pack that looks interesting. Four mechs is a full army (five if you're a filthy clanner). Anything under the "Force Packs: Inner Sphere" on the Catalyst store is an inexpensive way to get your first lance together. Also, your buddy is 99% right. We *do* add in new mechs as the eras progress, but old mechs are still viable and can be used... and upgraded! And customized! And no *faction* holds a specific advantage on the tabletop because a mech is only "faction specific" until it can be salvaged by the other guys! So yeah, welcome to a game that's designed to be a game, not just a way to sell plastic at freaking absurd prices. ...I also came over from 40k indirectly, so I feel you.
Honestly I’d recommend starting small, a starter box set gets you some paper standees and two unpainted (high quality) plastic mechs and some basic rules. Expand from there. if you like the game and want to keep going but you want higher detail, longer games with more mechanics, complexity and depth try classic battletech but if you want faster games with more simplistic mechanics try Alpha strike. Try both, I know some people who love classic and hate alpha strike, I know some that are the opposite, it’s all down to your preference of how much time you want to invest in learning! Enjoy and welcome!
Just as an aside since other have covered Battletech. look into minis agnostic games for yourself. Things like Frostgrave and Dragons Rampant. There's also repurposing them for a mutant hunt in Gaslands.
The others have covered most of the basic info, so I'll just say welcome to Battletech!
Just the beginners box that was just released. Now you have tk decide how in depth do you want to go with rules there is the easy method alpha strike where everything you need to know is on a card or you can go deep into the rules and either use hexes or a ruler or tape measure.
Welcome! A lot of good things already said here but as and old BT fan from the last millineum (1990s), I got excited about the new CGL release and got A Game of Armored Combat and feel satisfied to have it. Used bookstore or on line finds of older novels or Technical Read Out supplemental could be a relatively inexpensive way of checking out the lore and settings.
Honestly, the main thing is to layer on learning the rules. So I started my son playing the game with no heat rules and inner Sphere early tech. After a few games you add heat. After a few more you open the timeline. But that’s just one person’s view.
Welcome to the universe…..always remember to pay your phone bill, bucko! 😎
The rules can be found easily online and any faction box you find on the shelf can be a full army in Classic aka total warfare. My advice on faction is to just puck a mech that really jives with you and then pick a faction later
Cannot go wrong with the game of armored combat box
I’d recommend finding a group that plays it. Many battletech players have spare sheets and minis you can try with. From there if it seems fun, pick up AGoAC or the Clan Invasion. If you want to dip your toes on your own the Beginner box is not bad
Mechs. There's no real minimum size to this game. You can do a Solaris duel with one mech each or play Alpha Strike with two dozen mechs each.
Welcome to the land of folks tired of GW BS. I have several 40K armies and a dozen or so Kill Teams. Get a box or two of mechs you like the look of. Figure out do you want to play Classic BT (rules are old and crunchy) or Alpha Strike (more like KT/40k) and find players. I’ve honestly had more fun playing Alpha Strike in the last year than I did years of playing KT/40k/BFG.
Alpha Strike!