/m/Battletech Guide to Materials
Last updated July 16, 2023
Good day fellow MechWarriors and welcome to the /m/Battletech sticky for new and returning players! Here I hope to help spell out resources for new and advanced players alike. Like you, I started my Battletech career from resources on the site-that-shall-not-be-named, and so this list may have some resemblance. But I aim to follow the recommendations from Catalyst Game Labs itself. But feel free to add any additional thoughts or ideas in the comments below and I'll add to this list as necessary! In the mean time, I'll post links to the Catalyst store for each of these items (unless it is not available there). Many will be out of stock, but the books should have PDF versions. Catalyst is great in that when they release updated books they will let you know and let you download those updates for the future.
Beginner's Resources
These resources are for those starting from the ground up. Maybe you've played one of the video games, read the book, or got hooked on a YouTube video.
Box Sets
Box sets come with mechs, rules, fiction, a set of two six-sided dice, and usually some cardboard proxies. Great places to get started, or just to collect things if you're a big fan.
Battletech Beginner's Box
Average price: $25 USD
tl;dr: Simplified rules and a few mechs, maps and a little more.
Available online and at many bookstores and retailers, the Battletech Beginner's box provides new players with two Battlemechs, a map, quick-start rules, two dice, paper cut-outs, fiction and more.
This is a great way to get started in the game. The quick-start rules omit certain challenging rules like missiles groups, levels, movement dice, and a few others. However, they include rules like trees. With these rules you can really get going in Battletech, see if it fits your interests, and not over-spend. Additionally, with two mechs and some dice, you can use some of the items in this box onward into your career should you choose.
Battletech Essentials
Average price: $25 USD
tl;dr: Target-only beginner's box and Solaris rules.
A second option for a beginner's box. Available at US retailer Target's site and in-store, the Essentials pack provides a similar setup of the Beginner's Box, but also includes advanced rules for Solaris matches from the game's gladiatorial setting.
Included in the pack are the same as the Beginner's box, though the mechs included are special sculpts of the Warhammer and a heavily-modified Centurion. Each have a detailed backstory and history in the setting.
Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat Box
Average price: $40 USD
tl;dr: Complete rules for Classic and lots of extras.
This is the way to get started in Battletech Classic (also known as AGOAC). Classic is hex-based and the oldest version of the game, and the most commonly played throughout the world. Rules from Classic have barely changed in the 40 years since the game came out. Games can last several hours and involve complex considerations of angles, movement, armor, heat, weapons choices and positioning. Basically, everything is important.
Complementing the Beginner's Box and yet also replacing it, AGOT really is the best way to go from 0-100 on playing Battletech with anyone for any reason. All of the mech-related rules are there, with nothing removed and nothing missing.
Of course, this is just a single box set, so additional details can always be added from the many rule books if you desire. But if you're just looking to get going at full speed, this is a great place to look.
Battletech: Alpha Strike Box Set
Average price: $80 USD
tl;dr: Complete rules for Alpha Strike and LOTS of extras.
And this is the best way to get started in Battletech: Alpha Strike (commonly known as just Alpha Strike). Launched in the 2000s, Alpha Strike is a ruler-and-inches game with options for many of the same situations found in Classic, but with a faster spin.
Alpha Strike allows for shorter games and bigger armies all at the same time. While many players favor the extreme strategy of Classic, others prefer having the option to just have their mechs dish it out in a way that would be familiar to most tabletop wargamers. Strategy is there, the tabletop can be covered in gorgeous landscaping and scenery, there's room for heroics, but you're doing less math while still engaged in a complex tabletop wargame. Boards can have structures and terrain taken from other games as well to handle height and other details. This can give it a more 'realistic' feel.
Most rulebooks are written for classic, but include conversion details for Alpha Strike.
This box set includes Alpha Strike rules, fiction, cards, pilot information, and many different battlemechs for your use, alongside a pair of dice.
Rulebooks
Rulebooks are just that: books with rules. These are as complex as you need them to be, but always have more information in them than you can find in a box set. Support your friendly local game store! But if you buy these from Catalyst, they'll include the PDF and updates to the PDF for free. (Writer's note: I buy the books locally then spend for the PDF later when I need it.) PDFs run about $15 USD, hard copies run about $40 USD.
These go out of stock on the Catalyst store a lot, so if you can't get one but really need it, just grab the PDF. It can take a while for more to come in.
Battletech Manual
tl;dr: Complete rules for mech-vs-mech combat.
A very, very handy book for breaking down Classic mech combat. This is set up much like the A Game of Armored Combat box rules, but goes on for many more pages. Convenience is key here, and it provides the best way to go through each of the steps of running a battle between mechs.
This book has all the rules of the AGOAC book, thus making it not entirely needed if you already have that set. Yet it can be handy as well because it goes into some additional details if you want them. It includes a list of "common misconceptions" to help one clear up certain issues in play. The book is the current source of quirks that can be found in certain mech descriptions. Additionally, it includes details of weapon quirks, types, technology bases, and more.
Battletech: Alpha Strike Commander's Edition
tl;dr: Complete rules to play Alpha Strike.
Much like the Battletech Manual, the Commander's edition provides a complete set of rules to run games in the Alpha Strike game format. This is still Battletech, but as mentioned with the game box, it goes by a different set of rules and playstyle than found in the regular Battletech Classic game.
This book is more directly comparable to Total Warfare, but scratches much of the same itch as the Manual does as well: Convenient yet thorough. Rules included cover vehicles and aerospace, and there are additional box sets for those vehicles as well if you desire to purchase them.
As this is just a book, there are no additional resources that come with it, it does spell out the entirety of what's needed to play a game of Alpha Strike.
Battletech: Total Warfare
tl;dr: Complete handbook for mech-scale combat.
Onward from the Battletech Manual, this book provides complete rules for running Battletech Classic games. Covering everything from turn order, skids, vehicle movement, aerospace battles, painting, battle armor, and more, this book is a huge and can be considered the entirety of Battletech Classic as a game itself. Other books simply provide addenda for creating campaigns and customizations. It can be generally understood to be the main handbook of Battletech.
Unlike the Manual, however, this book is not broken down in an easy-to-read format, and works better as a reference booklet for game play. If you already understand the sequence of play and how things go, Total Warfare provides you with a book that you can refer to to answer nearly all your BT questions. But the Manual will make things smoother if you are just looking for a pick-up-game of Battletech. Recommended for intermediate-to-advanced players looking to go beyond Mech fighting into awesome stuff like vehicles and power armor, or who want to try out weapons and/or eras that the Manual doesn't cover.
Battletech: Tech Manual
tl;dr: Making a mech and determining BV rules.
This is the second of the main handbooks, providing details on Battlemech construction This book will not help you play a game of Battletech in either Alpha Strike or Classic, but it will help you understand battle values, customization, mech design and more. I'll note this one can be a bit of a challenge to find, so snapping up a copy isn't a bad idea. Considering it's a Core rulebook, kinda wish they made more prints of it.
Considered a supplement to the Total Warfare book, there are some important items in this book that make the game go more smoothly, particularly the battle value multiplier table on page 315. MegaMek does bypass the need for this book somewhat, but as this is an official document, it can go into greater detail with explanations and overviews of how our favorite stompy robots work.
Additional resources:
To be completed soon! This is a loooong document.
Tactical Operations: Advanced Rules
tl;dr: Additional rules for playing mech-scale combat.
The first supplemental book to the series, Tactical Operations: Advanced rules is the first in the two-part Tactical Operations books. This starts the adventure into advanced rules, and can help add things to your matches and campaigns that you simply won't find in the regular handbooks.
TO:AR covers additional rules for combat itself. These things add color and detail to what's going on in a battle, and can make things more realistic. This includes stuff like sprinting rules, weather, acid pools, throwing, morale, and way more than that. It's a great book for people looking to make a battle even more resemble what happens in the fiction.
Tactical Operations: Advanced Units and Equipment
tl;dr: Rules for other types of equipment, like trains and stuff.
The second of the Tactical Operations books, this book provides resources for the addition of things like satellites, trains, and other support vehicles. It also includes the foundation of how to create stats for a vehicle of your choice. (Who doesn't want a Battle Blimp?) The focus of this book is combat, as the last book was, so information contained provides stats for these for use.
There's also stats for some regular equipment, too. This includes things like turrets, capacitors, super-light mechs, and more. Another good way to expand and make your games more real.
Strategic Operations
tl;dr: Rules for space battles.
This book provides advanced rules for aerospace, and covers simply everything you could want if you wanted to conduct battles in that theater. This book probably covers things that were formerly called "Aerotech," the old Battletech sister game. Instead, this (rightfully in my opinion) pulls the game in with, and adjacent to, it's robot-based counterpart.
While Total Warfare provides some aerospace rules that allow you to conduct battles or include fighters in your ground-based operations, this book goes into the high detail of using these on an aerospace-specific scale. Warships, dropships, jumpships, etc., are all included in this book.
Interstellar Operations: Alternate Eras
tl;dr: Tech level spread for what can be used based on what era.
Ever wanted to know what makes Star League technology different? How about what you need to get rid of to stick to Succession Wars Battlemechs? What technology makes the Dark Age unique? This is the book for you. As a supplement, this book goes through the different tech levels of each of the current BattleTech eras, up until Dark Age. Il Clan is still being defined, so it is not included here.
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Great thing about this book, too, is this includes equipment like sidearms and rifles, things that would go great in writing your own fiction or attaching to RPGs.
Options include: radical heat-syncs, cybernetic enhancements, gauss rifles, drones, impact-resistant armor, and way more.
Interstellar Operations: Battleforce
tl;dr: A complete set of rules for a large-scale strategy game.
This is an interesting one, especially in regards to the other books. Still working through this as of early July, but this book covers planet-scale operations and battle rules. Basically, if you want to have a battle that more resembles a game of Civilization than chess.
A lot like Strategic Operations, this could be a new game in itself.
Campaign Operations
tl;dr: Want to build an army or mercenary company but don't know how? Here you go.
The final of the advanced rulebooks, this book is designed for those who want to run and manage campaigns as a Game Master, especially that of a mercenary company.
Things that make this book special include details on initial force building, managing salvage and repairs, company morale, and creating star systems for your campaign to operate in.
This is a really important and interesting book for those of us not interested in running just pick-up games.
Technical Readouts
Campaign Books
RPG Books