Iron Rants: Mechwarrior & Battletech are Cool!

Listen along, as I rant about a setting that I think is really neat! Fair warning: It's unscripted, relies entirely on memory, and is completely unstructured. Just a full diatribe about why I think the universe of Mechwarrior and Battletech is such a cool one. If nothing else, ought to be something to listen to in the background while painting your models, eh? I offer no guarantees about lore accuracy or the like here, so fair warning. But! It is my genuine opinion on the property!
Music Used: ironsmith.bandcamp.com/track/...
Image courtesy of me (Those are my Battletech Models)
Patreon, for those who want to support: www.patreon.com/user?u=602476...
Music site, for those who want to check out more of my music: ironsmith.bandcamp.com/

[@michaelkimberling7307]

They changed the name because the OG creators were working for Lucasfilm at the time and they didn’t want to piss off their boss.

[@thevoiceofiron]

Oh wow, I never realized they WORKED for Lucasfilm! That's awesome!

[@jefferynelson]

2:21 there is a 6 legged walker in the John Deere museum next to their factory in Illinois, it was designed for work in the timber industry

[@thevoiceofiron]

Just looked this up and think I found it: The Timberjack Walker/John Deer Walking Tractor! This thing looks so cool, thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[@calebhebert2733]

Battletech is based. I will hear no dissent. Also it's miniatures agnostic. If your buddy 3d prints put all your mechs and you lend out some cardboard standees to the new kid, you can still play. Oh also the rules don't change on a weekly basis and nine of the factions are special. Oh and you can do full on combined warfare. Wanna throw down the whole toy box, mechs, jets, tanks, trucks and infantry, you can. I haven't played since I was a kid. But I can hear it calling to me. The AFFS keeps calling me to service.

[@thevoiceofiron]

One of the biggest draws for me is that, unlike Warhammer 40k, I don't need to re-learn the game every few years just to keep enjoying the hobby. Plus, the custom 'mech rules/'mech modification rules are really fun to play with!

[@ObiwanNekody]

This is probably the best explanation of the setting and game flavor intended for people that are unaware of the setting that I have heard. Well written and excellent presentation. Good speaking skills 😊

[@thevoiceofiron]

Thank you! I wanted to give a good overview of why I liked it and what made it cool to me, so I'm glad I got that across well!

[@ObiwanNekody]

Thank you for sharing 😊

[@thevoiceofiron]

Absolutely!

[@mattikuokkanen]

According to the rules, BattleMechs can traverse steeper hills and more difficult terrain (heavy woods) where vehicles (even tanks) can't operate. In addition 'Mechs can be dropped off from orbit and land relatively safely with bolted-on rockets/jets. 'Mechs can have jet engines part of their build which can be used to make short distance flights, or jumps. Main battle tanks (Manticore is the gold standard) can have the firepower of a medium 'Mech (Centurion), but 'Mechs still have mobility advantage. In addition even tank, let alone anything wheeled or hovercraft, can be crippled and immobilized in short order. 'Mechs are more resilient.

[@thevoiceofiron]

Exactly! I love how the setting looked at the real, practical problems that face a lot of military vehicles and approached it from the perspective of "what problems would a 'mech solve, and how can we justify big stompy machines and still have it make sense?"

[@dimman77]

Great rant on Battletech. MechWarrior Online is free to play for anyone interested. I love how they realistically handle the differences between ballistic weapons (guns) and energy weapons (lasers and particle beam cannons). One little addition, in both tabletop and computer games "Battletech" usually refers to control of multiple units in a tactical/strategic wargaming situation and "MechWarrior" refers to you taking control of a specific individual person. So in computer games they are first person Mech "simulators" and in tabletop it was tried to make an RPG like space D&D, though I don't think that is anywhere as successful as the Battletech wargaming.

[@thevoiceofiron]

Ah, that makes sense, especially given the scale! As for the actual RPG, if I recall it was called "A Time of War," (not to be confused with Warhammer 40k RPGs "Only War), but other than trying out character creation in the system, I've yet to actually play the RPG portion.

[@dimman77]

@@thevoiceofiron The Time for War was a later edition, I had the MechWarrior 3rd edition book when I was a kid but never got into playing it with my buddies. What's funny is what got me potentially interested in the RPG aspect of the setting was the mini text RPG "story" inside of the ancient first MechWarrior computer game. Gave a flavour of the mercs world.

[@thevoiceofiron]

@dimman77 Oh nice! I'll have to look more into it!

[@andrewduitsman3918]

If you want to play the table top game, the price is amazing. There are two rule sets Battletech the classic og with crunchy goodness and tactics, and Alpha Strike faster paced, less crunch, and less bookkeeping version. The thing is that you can buy the core box for Battletech called A Game of Armored Combat for $40-60, normally 45 bucks. This has 8 mechs, two full lances. You can buy Alpha Strike box for $50-80, normally 60 bucks. This has 13 mechs, 3 full lances. You can spend $110 have the rule set for both versions of the game, and sense the mechs are the same in Alpha Strike and Battletech, you can pick the version you want to play with 5 lances worth of mechs. Other similar tabletop games would charge like $500-1000 for the same size of army. Considering most games are Lance on Lance engagements, you have good value and choices for days.

[@thevoiceofiron]

Oh, I agree! The image I used for this video is actually most of my (painted) collection, and I've played the regular BattleTech ruleset many times. It's a lot of fun! Admittedly, I've yet to try Alpha Strike, though I have the cards for it. I LOVE the value, Having started my warging journey with WH40k back in college, finding out I could buy a perfectly playable force without breaking the bank was a relief!

[@baker90338]

I’ll compare tanks to mechs like this: A myrmidon may be well armed, but a but a panther will be equally if not better armed, and a sentry or watchman will be massively superior for tonnage. I will note, the comparison is made as these came out in a roughly similar era. The panther has been around for the longest thought.

[@thevoiceofiron]

That's a pretty good way to put it!

[@douglascashen8948]

Watch Tex talks battletech, you will love his stuff. Tex rocks. Also Black pants legion he is affiliated with. Visit Dicount Dan's used battlemechs!

[@thevoiceofiron]

Oh definitely! I've listened to many of those guys while painting, and I'm hoping that I don't step on any of their toes as it were as I read more Battletech stuff on my channel here. I love this community!

[@relhimp]

Grass on Atlas base looks like Atlas face. Deal with it.

[@thevoiceofiron]

Goodness I hand't noticed! That was accidental, but it fits!

[@StarUnionPrime]

Great video. I feel you not looked at the armaments of some Tanks and Planes in Battletech. There a reasons mechwarriors fear demolishers 😂

[@thevoiceofiron]

Fair enough! Admittedly my tabletop experience hasn't involved much in the way of tanks, and the MechWarrior games (that I've played at least) seem to make them more killable than they are on the table. I look forward to looking into it more though!

[@graydeath9755]

Urbanmech is law.

[@joshfleming6110]

Just stay with guys. The fan base is almost universally male. Most of the women I've met who play weren't born as such.

[@digitaldynamic3476]

Greetings from the “Cheap Shots” Mercenary Company 😎 Liked and subscribed 🫡

[@thevoiceofiron]

Glad to have your support!

[@calebhebert2733]

Great name

[@digitaldynamic3476]

@@calebhebert2733 Thank You 😊