A fan community for all things BattleTech, Mechwarrior, etc.
Urbies. That’s all you need for mechs if you want a trash rebel force.
Catalyst Labs even leans into this and sells an Urbie box.
Supplement with modern military infantry and vehicles from GHQ.com.
Lore friendly in almost all circumstances. Especially easy to play as some kind of dirt poor mercenary outfit during the succession wars.
“What great house did you buy all these mechs from?”
“Uhhh it no longer exists.”
Engine stalling noises
“You’ve got to put it in ‘H’!”
happy trashcan noises
Thanks!
The Clint is a 40 tonner basically built for exactly your kind of force. Mediocre 40 tonner that can barely keep itself together. I'd also throw in a wasp or two due to their sheer numbers, a whitworth because, again, freaking everywhere. And maybe top it off with the OG Charger for some heavy metal fun.
The Vulcan is an old mech designed for anti-infantry use, but it often gets pressed into service against other mechs. Which is a bad idea. They're best suited to guard/garrison duty, so they aren't in demand enough to be really valuable.
I would say the majority of your Mechs should be rather old models relative to the timeline you are playing in, e.g. not loads of 3055 designs in 3058. BT is fairly forgiving though in that it is always possible to justify the occasional outlandish out-of-faction Mech - your rebels stumbled over this crashed DropShip and managed to salvage a fancy assault/Clan Mech (good luck with the maintenance... ;-))
And you can alway s add some flavor via modifications and battle damage. Back in the 80s in the scenario/unit books it was quite common for Mechs to have some minor but permanent damage, like a broken heat sink or hand actuator here and there.
What mechs should I look into for this sort of theme?
Urbanmechs, Locusts, maybe a Wasp. If you're thinking slightly heavier tonnage, a clapped out old Catapult is likely.
Also are there any established lore factions that this concept fits into?
Yes. Very yes. Lots of stories in the series are about ragtag little bands of mercenaries having adventures among the constant wars in the Inner Sphere or out in the periphery. For example, check out the origin story of the Grey Death Legion.