Battletech: Davion Force Manual - First Look

[@KerenskyTheRed]

I really hope these force manuals do well and they complete the full series. Marik in particular could use a little love in the support material.

[@MechanicalFrog]

Finally, the pirate house manual...

[@br7693t]

This Taurian fanboy appreciates you

[@rylian21]

The Fedrats prove that when you need a villain, you can never go wrong with a bad British accent.

[@117Aster]

I got one at GenCon. Great book filled with lore, painting guides, force building rules, and record sheets (including the Blackjack Arrow from MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries!)

[@LiberalApplicationOfThud]

I will be getting all of them, but I am looking forward to the Mercenary book the most.

[@tibour007]

Thank-you for doing this! I have been waiting to see these and hoping that they weren't just re-prints. I was happy to see the lance break down section. I now know that I will be picking these up.

[@madcat3525]

Great video! Looking forward to getting the Davion manual. Looking forward to more videos.

[@dr.h6493]

I’m really glad you did this: I have been eyeballing some of these as they come out. I like that they’re optional rules to spice up your games instead of a codex requirement. Thanks Justin!

[@Deusorum]

As a GM for a narrative campaign, this looks immensely useful! I just hope the other ones come out quickly, and hope the same happens for the later-era force generation information. I'm super excited to get this book!

[@Thearmedpainter]

I’ve heard rumors the Kurita print won’t be widely available until February :/

[@Deusorum]

@@Thearmedpainter Yeah, it is going to be a bit of a slow drip I'm told. The ones I'm really waiting for are even further out. At least with Kurita and Mercenaries we have the old first iteration versions.

[@lord17c]

it's a cool looking book. I look forward to seeing more of them

[@Avtarangel]

This & the Kurita book are one's I'm looking forward to getting

[@ObiwanNekody]

I've been wondering about this... Thank you for sharing 😊

[@brianadmire1583]

I am looking forward to getting my hands on this book.

[@Tyrannosaurus_Mechs]

I really love the pages with all the examples of different regiments painted up. I got strong Warhammer 40k 3rd edition codex vibes when I was initially going through my copy of the book. I haven't dove in too deeply, but I am excited to get into this once I finish the Universe book.

[@mikefenton5961]

Tough to tell from the quick youtube look, but that painting guide looked to be better than ones I've seen from BT (CGL, FanPro, FASA etc) before. Did you get a chance to look at it in depth and have an opinion?

[@Thearmedpainter]

I haven’t, only has time for the cursory glance.

[@rburt3]

Battletech rarely says "do this" and nowhere more than Campaign Operations/Chaos Campaign. Those are more frameworks to build campaigns on rather than a fully fleshed campaign system

[@JamesKelley-b4z]

Good job on the review of the Davion Force manual. I have the original Davion House Book, but it is nothing like this new book. Appears lots in it.

[@jmartin4396]

In our group, we do include the SPA points into the total points for our games. We typically do 250 PV per player. We can use one special Pilot and their SPA points goes against the 250.

[@Thearmedpainter]

I hope you guys say no to Range Mastery. It breaks the game awfully.

[@jmartin4396]

@@Thearmedpainter If you combine it with Sniper, it is beyond ridiculous. Medium Ranger Master/Sniper has a 0 mod out to 24". Crazy.

[@rburt3]

So glad these are finally coming out! Now gimme Hinterlands!

[@m3rcier808]

Davion is my favorite House; though I still prefer the SLDF if given that option!

[@BrotherKarr22]

I want both of these when they hit the market. The older combat manuals are great.

[@Tjet247]

Thank you....been waiting for this one.

[@usekungfu]

Looking forward to one of these for the FWL.

[@sebastiang.5032]

Looking forward to receiving this with my Mercs Kickstarter - whenever CGL decides to finally start shipping out orders for the rest of the world.

[@wikiwing348]

I like the book especially which mechs to use and how common they are. Muls can be misleading not stating the frequency of mechs used

[@warlok363]

SPAs are not balanced and stated as such in both AS:CE and Campaign Ops. Same as for quirks. It's all just a gentleman's agreement stuff.

[@RecklessFables]

Yeah, "Competitive Battletech" isn't a thing under any rules version. The game balance is just good-enough to have fun without ROFLStomping your friends.

[@Thearmedpainter]

I get a lot of requests to include them in my events, they are so out of balance they cannot be allowed even in my casual event. If they could tighten those up a bit it would be awesome and would also help get them used in more pick up games. I can be hopeful :)

[@maxbrooks5468]

Sounds like a pretty good book,

[@amoryburgess]

Monumental shirt! You're like a NASCAR!

[@Thearmedpainter]

lol!

[@jgnunan]

Interesting subject good dive

[@thedocklighter]

Goes in the optional sourcebook column, so probably only make it into my PDF collection if there is one available.

[@Reywind_PL]

That Davion Code... Force Manual, the Davion Force Manual look nice. :)

[@RecklessFables]

It's kinda amusing how the hardcovers lately are so thin the binding looks oversized when you look from top down. And by that I mean, they are charging a lot for the privilege of buying a hardbound pamphlet. Dominions Divided was only 155 pages and it felt like it was missing a ton of content and details that should have been included. They also sold the first two ilClan Gray Death Legion novellas separately. The third novella is only available in the compilation, so you have to buy two of the three stories again to read the third story. I try to be super-positive about Catalyst but they are starting to make me feel a little abused.

[@Thearmedpainter]

Im very critical of them because I vote with my dollars and they should care what I have to say, you are no different. I call out the bad and the good as I see it and seeing as I’ve voted with my dollars, I’m not just complaining to complain ya know? Make your voice heard and let them know how you feel, they should care what their customers have to say.

[@androssthered1157]

Ahhh the GOOD GUYS book 😂

[@workshoptelescope]

Book looks awesome.

[@logosonfire2481]

awesome book! Good job!

[@o-Maulwurf-o]

Never used one of them. I think they are an interesting read, but too expensive for me just to read once.

[@Thearmedpainter]

If you play the faction and intend to use the rules it’s likely a solid pickup, if it’s just for fluff it’s probably a solid pass.

[@KeithCrowe]

I hope they do one for Marik

[@androssthered1157]

Dang, lots of cool stuff coming out of GenCon huh. Gonna have to take a look and see if any worth picking up.

[@unnerv76]

I do like the idea of Battletech getting it's own Codex books with some extra rules and fluff. Think it is a much safer environment to do that in vs say how the 'Codex' book as been done in other games. I think just having a physical reference is great as well for the different models in the 'Art' section of the book.

[@Jaster7LID]

The Sun and The Sword shall prevail!

[@Zac_Bracher]

A couple of guys in our local Alpha strike group pick this up at Gen Con and unfortunately the PV values for a lot of units are wildly off evidently

[@Thearmedpainter]

The book may have been printed before an MUL update occurred, that’d be my guess on that one.

[@JamesGarner-dn2mk]

The good guys.

[@djbgpc5779]

Thanks for this review. When a review of Battletech Universe book ?

[@Thearmedpainter]

Coming up ;)

[@James-io1pk]

Does it also have ilclan formations?

[@Thearmedpainter]

Not that I could find :/

[@Thearmedpainter]

From what I can tell it looks like Clan Invasion eras.

[@James-io1pk]

@@Thearmedpainter dang. Seems shortsighted, especially if they are attempting to move the story forward. Hopefulky future sourcebooks will come with similar force addendums

[@OurCreatorsHouse]

Would like to pick one up

[@Impossible_Emporium]

My only concern about CGL following the GW Codex model is that it leads to powercreep and unballances the rules... Which in tern leads to a new edition... Overall, I'd rather see an expansion of fluff that references the rules in Alpha Strike (& includes a copy of the rule in question). This way there is cool rules linked fluff without bloating the rules themselves.

[@Thearmedpainter]

These are optional as it stands. Until they balance formations and SPAS these books will be reserved for casuals games and gentlemen’s agreements only. I’d love for them to do a comb over the AS rules to tighten it up but until then most of the cool optional stuff is not usable for events and definitely not good for casual play unless you and your opponent have a chat ahead of time.

[@kikainonakanoakuma]

I want one...my source at Gencon missed it by 20 minutes 😢

[@mattcarper9853]

Lucky!

[@kikainonakanoakuma]

Looking Good 👍

[@DDVargas1983]

There needs to be a Force Manual Marik. It's a shame that I know it'll come after Force Manual Arano

[@robbendig]

I'm interested in getting one when it hits retail but its going to take f o r e v e r for them to publish these for all the major forces.....

[@ooftaZone]

Narrative Play = Only Way To Play Running Classic Battletech Chaos Campaign - SPA is really not much of a issue. Can be expensive investment so not likely every MechWarrior will have one. One SPA can be active per company. Most of time CB Chaos Track is for a single Force Lance. Generally when Chaos Player invest so much in the MechWarrior. Has signed their death warrant. Least for the unlucky ones.

[@craigl1641]

Now do Kurita :)

[@Thearmedpainter]

I’ll have a video up for that next week ;)

[@warlok363]

Looks decent, but my beloved Capellans are not even on the release schedule. CC and FWL taking the product Ls, *again*.

[@agamelift]

It looks like a neat book but the price point is way too high for what it is. $40 is an era report or field manual or rulebook. This is a $25, maybe $30 book value wise. Good review though. It was one of the few cgl products i was considering purchasing but ill pass.

[@Thearmedpainter]

Least it’ll be a little cheaper when Fortress snags it and can sell it.

[@agamelift]

@@Thearmedpainter That's a good point, might be a feasible option then, thanks!

[@nyandyn]

Flechs Sheets > official ones any day.

[@Aaron-hn9hv]

"With that being said" is not actual words in any language and is meaningless gibberish.

[@Thearmedpainter]

Not sure this feedback is that helpful but comments drive engagement so…thanks!