Hey Everyone! Adam, FLG Head Judge and TFG Radio host, here to talk about some things you may not know about Battletech.
If you haven’t noticed, Battletech has been making a big splash lately. Their recent kickstarter amassed over six million dollars and I contributed to that amount. I have been playing Battletech on and off since almost the beginning and still enjoy a game of the classic version once in a while. When talking with newer players about the game, or even some of the most experienced players, there are a few topics that come up that people may not realize. Here are a few of them.
If you are interested in Battletech, you can pick the up from Frontline here:
It was Originally Called “Battledroids”
Waaay back in 1984 a new game came out that took advantage of the then nascent fascination with giant robots by Americans. The game would allow to play as giant robots against your friends and was called “Battledroids”. This first edition of the game was pretty popular. How popular, you might ask? It was popular enough that a small independent filmmaker named George Lucas had them change the name because he owned the trademark of “droids”. Hence, a year later in 1985, the second edition was called “Battletech”.
It’s a Boardgame
Whenever you play the game you pull out the rules, measuring devices, if needed, and of course the miniatures. Even though miniatures have been available since the beginning, it has always been considered a boardgame. I believe the reason for this is because of the hex maps that the game is played on, although you can play on actual terrain instead of a hex map. I don’t agree with the assessment but to this day you can find Battletech under the boardgame category, and sometimes the miniature game category as well.
The Unseen
At one point there was a period of time when certain models, around 40, were no longer available. These models were ones that were licensed from a number of model manufacturers and shows from Japan that were popular at the time, with probably the most recognized show being the mechs from the Macross series (Robotech in the USA). Eventually there was some litigation regarding these models so they were removed from the game. Players called them the “Unseen” You can see the full list HERE. Eventually there came the Phoenix Project, which reimagined the Unseen for use in the game. Now they are back, although not as good as the originals, in my opinion
Well those are a few things you may not know. There are a few other things so maybe I’ll come back with another article in the future. In the meantime, keep you mech together and always watch your heat.