Tabletop_Gaming__April_2019

68 April 2019

PLAYED

WHAT’S IN

THE BOX?

◗ Eight mech

miniatures

◗ 16-page record

sheet booklet

◗ 16-page

universe primer

◗ 24-page novella

◗ Eight pilot cards

◗ Two reference sheets

◗ Two 18-by-22-

inch double-sided

paper hex maps

◗ Punchboard of

additional mechs

and terrain tokens

◗ Two six-sided dice

BEGINNER BOX(£19)

◗ Two mech

miniatures

◗ One 18-by-22-

inch double-sided

paper hex map

◗ Die-cut mech and

terrain tokens

◗ Quickstart rules

◗ Universe booklet

◗ 24-page novella

◗ Record sheets

◗ MechWarrior cards

◗ Six-sided die

TRY THIS IF

YOU LIKED...

BattleTech

(1984)

Loved the original

game? Can’t find

your old minis and

rulebooks? Well,

you’re in for a heavy-

metal treat. Unless,

that is, you were

hoping for its rules to

feel as modernised

as its looks.

on dice feels at best quaintly retro and

at worst downright tedious. Add that to

the fact that the gameplay requires turn

after turn of declaring actions before then

actually getting to execute those actions

and, unless you’re an old pro, have perfect

recall or just love ddly arithmetic, you’ll

nd each battle dragging inexorably into

thrill-sapping overtime.

It’s a shame. Diehard fans might argue

that if you want it streamlined then there’s

already Alpha Strike. But with a universe

this detailed and engaging, you can’t help

feeling publisher Catalyst should have at

least made some eort to modernise this

old favourite in its core form. As it is, once

you set your nostalgia aside and get over

the cool minis, the gameplay feels about

as elegant as an Atlas with a giro hit.

DAN JOLIN

W

ho doesn’t love a mech?

From Gundam to Scythe, those

titanic, battleeld-stomping,

cannon-blasting robo-warriors have been

a huge part of our gaming culture for

decades. And, for many of us, our rst

taste of mech-piloting was BattleTech.

Published 35 years ago, it served up a

rich and detailed space-operatic universe

(think intergalactic Game of rones)

while oering an attractive visual and

thematic point of dierence to the troop-

heavy antics of Warhammer. It focused

on fewer, bigger, more powerful units,

but these weren’t just tanks with legs. You

could get up close and scrappy with your

BattleMechs, tearing limbs o your foes.

And then pick those limbs up and use

them as a club to deliver a head-crushing

coup-de-grace. Ah, good times.

Well, for anyone of a nostalgic bent,

those good times may be here again

thanks to the latest re-release of BattleTech.

ere have been other iterations over the

years – on PC and games consoles, as well

as an RPG spin-o and the streamlined,

more card-based Alpha Strike variation

• but this is, if you like, BattleTech Classic.
  Which is both a good and bad thing.
  Let’s start with the good. e
  worldbuilding is as detailed as ever, with
  the Beginner Box and regular set each
  even including a novella to get you in the
  MechWarrior mood. It’s an easy setting
  in which to immerse yourself even if
  you’re not willing to do all the lore-
  hoovering homework, and with its solid
  mech designs and attractive minis and
  standees, the game retains that vicarious
  thrill of placing you in the cockpit of a
  30-foot-high robo-monster.
  e careful management of your heat
  levels gives an added dimension to your
  strategic choices, meaning there can be
  dire consequences for going all-out with
  your particle projector cannons round
  after round. And there is a lot of fun in
  landing crits on your foes, then rolling
  to nd out exactly how severely you’ve
  buggered up their precious Wolverine.
  But there is a lot of rolling. Far
  too much, in fact. In this glorious,
  modern-day golden age of gaming,
  BattleTech’s unmitigated dependence

PLAY IT? MAYBE

You can’t fault the setting, but

BattleTech’s old-school appeal has firm

limits, which makes its mechanisms

feel anachronistic on the modern

tabletop and off-putting to newcomers.

P L A Y E D

ose 31st-century heavy hitters are back

BATTLETECH: A GAME OF

ARMORED COMBAT

2h+ 2+ 12+ £58