5. (Classic) Battletech, 1986I chose the cover of this technical readout because this was the first kind of supplement I had bought for a miniatures game, and memorized it cover to cover.
Battletech was my first minis game, ever. I played it with the same neighborhood kids that introduced me to #3 on the list, and I see a trend developing here. Not only are these my 'foundation' games, but almost every entry has "blown me away" in one fashion or another.
Classic Battletech (we just called it Battletech back then) was just such a game. It was sci-fi, it had minis that you bought and painted, and it used terrain. This was it, this is the game that had me putting figs on the table and going "pew pew" to a complicated set of rules. We would spend whole weekends playing this game, often leaving the table setup to finish the game the next day.
Never got into this one but loved the miniatures...
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun, last night at the game table I even contemplated aloud if we should look back into it.
DeleteI bought a battletech box set with the atlas on the cover after a buddy of mine loaned me his. It was the first time i saw miniature games as something besides just a boardgame. I also bought a couple of the technical readouts, my brother and i (not jarom, a different brother), poured over those things for days
ReplyDeleteExactly, these minis weren't for Heroquest or whatever, these *were* the game itself, a true miniatures game. I don't know what it was about those technical readouts but they were quite engrossing.
DeleteNice looking figs but not something I played personally. Closest thing to this was Adeptus Mechanicus with there knights and titans
ReplyDeleteAdeptus Mechanicus is a game I never got to play. I came very close to getting into Epic Space Marine at one point, but that ship has sailed.
DeleteI remember riding my bike to the game store to buy the box set with card fold-over 'mechs.
ReplyDeleteThat might've been the rules we started with, I remember all of those cardstock mechs, unused, floating around in the box every time we broke out the rules.
Delete^^ yeah I played the fold-over card version, with transparent overlays and grease pencils! (do people still use those?)
ReplyDeleteI loved this game to death, but wasn't into minis at the time. Funny how the best designs for Battletech were the anime-ripped ones.
When I finally got around to seeing some anime for the first time I was like, "Hey, that's Battletech!" Then found out they had been around first.
DeleteDEATH FROM ABOVE!
ReplyDeleteOh snap, I forgot all about jump jets!
DeleteThe two best things in original Battletech (or Battledroids before Lucas lawyers made them change it) were the DFA and beating a mech with a severed leg you picked up. Then the clans arrived and ruined eveything.
DeleteFor some reason I always thought it was neat that you could cool off your overheating mech by standing in a pond. I don't know why that concept appeals to me now, but back then it was really cool.
DeleteIt's back to being just Battletech now. Did you get the first or second printing of this TRO? Apparently the first one has some hillarious errors in it. The second one just has the normal kind of error :(
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't know which printing it was, maybe first considering how long ago I bought. Hilarious errors make for entertaining reading!
DeleteMik, thanks for these posts. Brings back some awesome memories. I have to ask ... were you in my group of friends? You have hit all my games so far ... lol
ReplyDeleteNow the field narrows, we'll see how the rest pan out. I think we would've meshed just fine back in the eighties.
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