Everything about Battletech totally explained
BattleTech is a
wargaming and
science fiction franchise, launched by
FASA Corporation and currently owned by
WizKids. The series began in 1984 with FASA's debut of the board game
BattleTech (originally named
BattleDroids) by
Jordan Weisman and
L. Ross Babcock III, and has since grown to include numerous expansions to the original game, several
computer and video games, a
collectible card game, a series of more than 100
novels, an animated
television series and more.
Overview
Original game
Chicago-based FASA Corporation's original, 1984
BattleTech game focuses on enormous robotic, semi-humanoid battle machines called
BattleDroids.
Their name was changed to
BattleMechs in the second edition because
George Lucas and
Lucasfilm held the rights to the term "
droid." The visual design of the earliest line of BattleMechs were taken from
Macross and other
anime, including many signature images. In later years FASA abandoned these images as a result of a lawsuit that was brought against them by
Playmates and
Harmony Gold [USA] over their use. The BattleMechs taken from Macross were then considered "Unseen". When
Fantasy Productions licensed the property, these "Unseen" images were expanded to include all art produced "out-of-house" – that is, whose copyrights resided with the creators, not the company. Catalyst Game Labs has continued this practice.
Expansions
The game's popularity spawned several variants and expansions to the core system, including
CityTech which fleshed out infantry and vehicle combat, AeroTech which focused on air- and space-based operations, and BattleSpace which detailed large spacecraft combat. FASA also published numerous sourcebooks that featured specifications for new combat units that players could select from. However, despite the large number of such pre-designed BattleMechs, vehicles, aerospace units and other military hardware, the creators also established a complex system of custom design rules, enabling players to generate their own units and field them in combat. This engineering aspect of the game, itself expanded by several design and technology sourcebooks, has proven to be enduringly popular and may explain BattleTech's longevity.
FASA launched two additional systems to complement the core game:
BattleTroops, an infantry combat system, and
BattleForce, a large-scale combat simulator governing the actions of grouped
BattleTech units.
The Succession Wars, a board game released in 1987, is one of only two purely strategic titles of the series (the other being "The Stars At War" from the Combat Operations book).
The Succession Wars is played on a political
star map, with players vying to capture regions of space.
Recent years have seen a trend of consolidating the expansions into the core products, beginning under FASA's aegis and continued by both FanPro and Catalyst Game Labs. Of the current set of core rules,
Total Warfare includes elements originating in
CityTech and
AeroTech 2 (itself a consolidation of
AeroTech and
Battlespace), while
Tactical Operations and
Strategic Operations are slated to include remaining
AeroTech 2 elements and a version of
BattleForce.
Spin-off games
The
BattleTech franchise first extended beyond the tabletop wargame format with the release of
MechWarrior, a
role-playing game in which players portray BattleMech pilots or other characters in the
31st century. The RPG system has been republished in several editions and expanded by various sourcebooks and supplements. In 1996, FASA also introduced the
BattleTech Collectible Card Game, a CCG developed by
Wizards of the Coast, creators of the popular .
WizKids, the owners of the
BattleTech franchise since 2001, introduced a miniatures-based variant of the classic tabletop game called in 2002 (later renamed ). The game incorporates WizKids' "
Clix System", a means of tracking the combat statistics and abilities of each figure by turning a dial in its base.
BattleMechs, the hulking flagship units of the franchise, made a natural subject for computer emulation, and so in 1988 InfoComm Studios released a PC based RPG called, which took place in the canonized BattleTech story universe. It was later followed up with a sequel, in 1990. Both games were reasonably well received, although aside from storyline continuity the second game held few similarities to its predecessor.
The first pure simulation of BattleMech combat, however, was released for computers in 1989. Entitled
MechWarrior and published by
Activision, the single-player game gave users the opportunity to pilot a range of 'Mechs and engage in combat against computer-controlled opponents. Sequels
MechWarrior 2 (1995),
MechWarrior 3 (1999) and
MechWarrior 4 (2000) created progressively finer and more engaging simulations.
The franchise saw its first online-dedicated game with in 1992, which was followed by in 1996. 1994 saw the series' first console original title, the simply titled
BattleTech for the
Sega Genesis. Other notable titles include the
MechCommander series for the PC (
MechCommander in 1998 and
MechCommander 2 in 2001) and the
MechAssault series (
MechAssault and
MechAssault 2 in 2002 and 2004, respectively, for the
XBox, and in 2006 for the
Nintendo DS).
Virtual World Entertainment
The
BattleTech creators' goal of creating an immersive BattleMech simulation came to fruition in 1990 with the opening of the first
BattleTech Center at the North Pier Mall in Chicago. The BattleTech Center featured 16 networked, full-sized cockpits or "pods" that resembled a fully functional BattleMech cockpit with over 80 separate controls. Each player selected a 'Mech to pilot into combat against up to seven other human players in the other cockpits.
Virtual World Entertainment, the company that managed the centers, later opened many other Virtual World centers around the world. It eventually merged with FASA Interactive Technologies (FIT) to form Virtual World Entertainment Group (VWEG) to better capitalize on various FASA properties. In 1999,
Microsoft Corporation purchased VWEG to integrate FIT into Microsoft Game Studios and sold VWE. VWE continues to develop and support the current
BattleTech VR platform called the Tesla II system, featuring
BattleTech: Firestorm.
Beyond gaming
The popularity of the
BattleTech games and the fictional universe it inhabits has led to a number of related projects in other areas. By the far the most active of these is the line of popular science fiction novels, with
more than 100 titles published to date. The novels are set in both the
Classic Battletech era (mid-3000s) and the
Dark Age era (3130s).
BattleCorps(External Link
), an online writing community, is another fertile source of
BattleTech fiction.
, a 13-episode television show produced by
Saban Entertainment, aired on
Fox in late 1994. Plots centered around the character of Major Adam Steiner and his First Somerset Strikers, and their conflict with
Clan Jade Falcon.
Electric Entertainment, a company under contract to
Paramount Studios, has leased the rights to produce a motion picture based on the
BattleTech universe, but development has been slow and little is known about the project's status.
The BattleTech universe
The breadth and volume of material written for
BattleTech has yielded a
fictional universe with a richness and complexity that rivals
Star Wars and
Star Trek. A detailed
timeline stretching from the late
20th century to the mid-
32nd describes humanity's technological, social and political development and spread through space both in broad historical terms and through accounts of the lives of individuals who experienced and shaped that history. Individual people remain largely unchanged from those of modern times, due in part to stretches of protracted interplanetary warfare during which technological progress slowed or even reversed. Cultural, political and social conventions vary considerably between worlds, but
feudalism is wide spread, with many states ruled by hereditary
lords and other nobility, below which are numerous
social classes.
A key feature of the
BattleTech universe is the absence of
non-human intelligent life. Despite one or two isolated encounters in novels, mankind is the only sentient species, making the incessant warfare among humanity's feudal empires seem a more realistic and direct extension of the past and present. Though not the norm, fictional futures in which humanity is alone have been explored in a number of other popular series, including
Frank Herbert's
Dune,
Isaac Asimov's
Foundation, Grant Naylor's
Red Dwarf, and Joss Whedon's
Firefly.
Above all, the central theme of
BattleTech is conflict, something to be expected given the franchise's
wargaming core. Interstellar and civil wars, planetary battles,
factionalization and infighting, as well as institutionalized combat in the shape of arena contests and
duelling, form the grist of both novelized fiction and game backstories.
History
BattleTech's fictional history covers the approximately 1150 years from the end of the 20th century to the middle of the 32nd. Most works in the series are set during the early to middle decades of the
31st century, though a few publications concern earlier ages, including a technical readout describing 2750s-era technology.
MechWarrior: Dark Ages and its related novels take place in the mid 3100s.
Technology
The level of technology evident in
BattleTech is an unusual blend of the highly futuristic and the nearly modern. Radically advanced tech like
faster-than-light interstellar travel and
superluminal communication mix with such anachronisms as
internal combustion engines,
projectile weapons and
artillery.
Artificial intelligence,
nanotechnology,
androids, and many other staples of future fiction are generally absent or downplayed. Incessant warfare is generally blamed for the uneven advancement; military spending exhausts funds that could be used to generate scientific advances, and those with military purpose are often fielded as prototypes, generally leading to their incapacitation and/or loss altogether. As rivalries and conflicts have dragged on, the most advanced technologies - used to gain military advantage - are lost on the battlefield.
Because the BattleTech universe reached a pinnacle of scientific achievement before it collapsed in strife, there's an element of
LosTech that's sometimes used as a tool in fiction and/or gameplay to add new dimensions to the storyline.
LosTech represents designs and occasionally implementations of technological advances that were at some point achieved, but believed to have been lost over the ages.
LosTech is frequently found in
Star League-era caches, the locations of which have been forgotten or have been made inaccessible for various reasons. When designs and schematics are found, the most common source are old
ComStar locations, as their organization held the majority of the most powerful and best-maintained computer systems.
Political entities
BattleTech's universe is governed by numerous
interstellar human governments that vie for supremacy. Described below are the major areas into which these factions fall.
Terra
Terra is the homeworld of mankind (no longer commonly called Earth, although this name is very occasionally used) and former capital of the
Star League. Many planets around
Terra were rendered uninhabitable during the first two Succession Wars, and surviving planets suffer from the damage even centuries later. Several dozen of these worlds, in what came to be known as the
Chaos March, briefly gained their independence between 3057 and 3081. Historically, whichever faction controlled
Terra has held more political power than any single Great House. Several groups have held
Terra, including the
Terran Alliance,
Terran Hegemony,
ComStar,
Word of Blake, and
Republic of the Sphere; most of these nations fought bitter struggles upon
Terra, scarring the world.
The Inner Sphere
The
Inner Sphere, heart of the BattleTech Universe, contains all worlds within 500 light-years of Terra. It is dominated by five "Great Houses":
House Davion,
House Liao,
House Marik,
House Steiner and
House Kurita. (The term "Inner Sphere" sometimes refers to these houses collectively). The leader of each Great House claims to be the rightful successor to the rule of the Star League, and so their nations are known as the Successor States.
There are few other significant nations in the Inner Sphere. The
St. Ives Compact was a short-lived state that broke away from the
Capellan Confederation after the
Fourth Succession War, and was reabsorbed following a brief war in 3062. The
Free Rasalhague Republic was created in 3034 by a deal between the
Draconis Combine and the
Lyran Commonwealth. It rivaled the Capellan Confederation for size, but by 3052 it had been almost entirely conquered by the Clans; in the 3070s, much of it was incorporated into the
Ghost Bear Dominion (which is known as the
Rasalhague Dominion by 3130).
The Periphery
The space surrounding the Inner Sphere contains a number of independent nations, known collectively as the Periphery. The largest of these nations (the
Outworlds Alliance,
Taurian Concordat,
Magistracy of Canopus, and
Rim Worlds Republic) predate the Star League and rival the Successor States themselves in size, but are inferior economically and militarily. More moderately sized nations, such as the
Marian Hegemony or
Bandit Kingdoms, also lie near the
Inner Sphere.
The Periphery contains countless other independent nations, many consisting of a single star system each and rarely playing a significant role in
Inner Sphere politics. The mostly uncharted space beyond the nearby Periphery states is known as the
Deep Periphery and contains numerous pirate havens and lost
Star League colonies.
The Clans
During the Fall of the above-mentioned
Star League, the
Star League Defense Force exiled itself and eventually settled in the Deep Periphery. They reformed into
the Clans, a warrior-centric
caste society relying on
genetic manipulation and artificial birth. The four strongest of these Clans returned to the Inner Sphere as would-be conquerors in 3049, were reinforced by three more Clans a year later, and were joined in the late 3060s by another two. Of the original twenty Clans, by 3067 three were
absorbed, two were
annihilated, two fragmented, two defected, and one was
abjured. The Clan Occupation Zones together occupy a region roughly equivalent to one of the Successor States.
Mercenaries
Inner Sphere has many
private military companies. Some of them are quite powerful, and their actions have influenced the history of the known universe. Among the most famous mercenary groups are the
Wolf's Dragoons,
Eridani Light Horse, Kell Hounds, Northwind Highlanders,
Gray Death Legion, The
Minnesota Tribe, and
McCarron's Armored Cavalry.
Miscellaneous
- BattleTech has won three Origins Awards and its various expansions and spin-offs several more.
- Many of the novels and sourcebooks incorporate pop-culture references, in names and places. Anime and manga seem to be a popular source of names for minor characters, as does true history.
- FASA, the company that produced BattleTech, sued Playmates for trademark infringement for using several mecha designs that FASA developed for their battletech game for their ExoSquad toyline. The resulting counter suit from Playmates targeted mecha images taken from Macross and other anime series used in Battletech. The related lawsuits were settled and later products of BattleTech don't use the designs under contention. In the Japanese edition of BattleTech, all of these designs were redesigned by Studio Nue, creator of Macross.
- An estimated twenty-five million people have played a BattleTech or MechWarrior RPG or read a BattleTech or MechWarrior novel, and at least ten million people have played the BattleTech-based computer games. More than eleven million copies of MechWarrior PC games and a similar number of Collectable Miniatures Game figures have been sold to date. Over three hundred and fifty different BattleTech/MechWarrior game and toy products have been produced to date; several products, such as the Technical Readout series, the core rulebook and base box set, have been in continuous print (in one form or another) since publication. More than five thousand World Wide Web pages have been created to date by the online BattleTech community.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battletech'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://battletech.totallyexplained.com">BattleTech Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
