Remember what I said about not needing miniatures to play a tabletop wargame? Here's author David V. Stewart talking about one of the games I grew up with that showed me this simple fact: BattleTech.
Catalyst Game Labs did with the current Beginner boxed set does what Games Workshop should do but doesn't: make it piss-easy to get into the property and its core hobby (playing the wargame, not fucking with models). You get a pair of unpainted miniatures, but the core game emphasizes that they are not required and you can use stand up counters or just tokens to mark position and facing.
The ancillary elements--the lore--is also present in the Beginner's set, and as David said this is definitely meant to draw you into their funnel and sell you more stuff that you like about the property: books for the lore nerds, expansions for the gamers, the TV series we don't talk about, etc.
And yes, there's BattleTech cosplay. Not as prevalent as you see with other properties, but it's been there since the '80s--just look at a BlackPaintsLegion video reviewing '80s art--and it's been a steady presence.
I won't bullshit here; I've been mostly out of touch for years so I've been playing catch-up, but if you love Real Fucking Robots, Military Science Fiction, and Neo-Feudalism then this is so much your huckleberry that you ought to hie yourself to Ye Olde Used Bookstore or the local Library and get the books immediately. I started with Decision at Thunder Rift. There are other decent on-ramps; ask around.
And because of course he covered it a while back, here--again--is Marik fanboy Razorfist and his video on it from 2015.
If you do the PC game, that's a fair approximation of how the tabletop plays; it's not exact--the PC game has rules that tabletop literally does not--but close enough that learning tabletop is greatly accelerated.
And as for its anime origins? Look up "Fang of the Sun Dougram". Has most of the original 'Mechs, and all of the setting look and feel.
Bradford,
ReplyDeleteI'm a model builder and enjoy using minis with games. But point taken you don't need minis to play.
I played briefly the Mech warrior video game at the computer store.
It was fun.
xavier
Exactly. Making miniature terrain, assembling and painting miniatures, etc. are a separate and distinct--but related--hobby and it is unethical at best for a company to conflate the two.
DeleteGames Workshop willfully does so as its business model. Catalyst Game Labs does not; they follow a different model.
Bradford
DeleteAs a gamer what's your perspective of making your own buildings and terrain to play games?
For example Larry in one of his posts of one of his games uses minis and some styrofoam buildings and crude terrains he made.
Is that kosher as a gamer?
xavier
It's fine. It's a separate and distinct, but related, hobby. Not required to play, anymore than building your own table is required to play, but a pleasant and complimentary luxury to include when affordable and practical.
DeleteBradford
DeleteThanks. That's a helpful guide.
xavier