The BattleTech: Beginner Box, Second Edition, also known as the Vindicator Edition, is a physical game box containing the necessary pieces, papers, and material to serve as an introduction to the tabletop version of BattleTech. The boxed set is a more compact, lower-priced introduction that complements the fuller BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat boxed set. This edition supersedes the BattleTech Beginner Box. In 2022, BattleTech Beginner Box, Second Edition was released with a Vindicator replacing the Wolverine. A Game of Armored Combat includes everything you need to start tossing dice and moving miniatures on your gaming table. Do you have what it takes to plant the banner of victory and become a legend? Leap into the action and find out! Wolverine-6R– The same as the beginner box, the Wolverine functions in the same fashion but comes with the full game rules including heat and internal structure. Heavy Mechs Printing your own maps and minis isn’t free also. If you start factoring in energy, ink, paper, resin/filament it starts to add up. DYI is not always cheaper.

Battletech has existed since the 1980s, and unlike Warhammer hasn’t had repeated new editions changing the rules, so there’s a colossal pile of confusing books and supplements for a player getting started. There are currently three different box sets commonly available, with a fourth coming later this fall. The fourth, Alpha Strike, adds to the confusion as its a different set of game rules that are cross-compatible with the same models. The BattleTech Introductory Box Set was published in 2014 with miniatures for the standard group of 24 'Mechs that had been in several prior box sets. The molds and sculpts were revised from those used for the Classic BattleTech Introductory Box Set and 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set. Also a different plastic and improved molding process was used. The 2014 BattleTech Introductory Box Set also included two premium quality plastic miniatures: a Timber Wolf (Mad Cat) and a BattleMaster BLR-4S from Project Phoenix. These replaced the Thor and Loki that were included in the 25th Anniversary Introductory Box Set. These two came on dedicated sprues and required assembly, unlike the base 24 models they accompanied. These two form a separate line and are described in the section 'Separate Premium Quality Plastic Miniatures'.In addition, most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of targeted advertising. If you would like to find out more information, please visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/or http://www.youronlinechoices.com. Hit Location and Damage: Once all hits have been determined, you roll 2d6 for each hit to see where it lands on your target. For each hit, you mark off a number of circles on that location equal to the damage of a weapon. Once all the circles in a location are filled, that part of the mech is destroyed. If both legs, the torso, or the head are destroyed, the mech is turned to scrap. Combat is easy to jump in to in the Beginner Box. Game Experience:

Wolverine-6R– More of a brawler with a Medium Laser, SRM-6 and AC/5, the Wolverine needs to get close to use all it’s weapon systems. This means it benefits from cover to prevent it taking a lot of damage on the way in. The main mistake players make is trying to make their games too big too early. Lance vs lance is fine, 2 lances vs a clan star is a big game size, and beginning players fielding light lances against each other is absolutely fine. You aren’t missing out using mechs under 60 tons, playing on a map with a decent amount of terrain, and playing a game of ambush and maneuver. In fact you’ll learn a lot playing with mechs where you have to actively manage heat, hug cover, and play tactically. Mechs aren’t Warlord titans (as evidenced by the fact that Battletech and Adeptus Titanicus is roughly the same model scale) so you don’t have to play them that way.As a whole, the Clan mechs are higher technology than the Inner Sphere, with more range, firepower, mobility, and armor per mech, but get balanced out by not being able to field anywhere near as many. R: Range: Mech weapons have a short, medium, and long range. Medium and Long ranges add +2 and +4, respectively, to your roll. Now Available – BattleTech Adventures: Ghosts of Obeedah; Corrected Rifleman and Phoenix Hawk Premium Miniatures for two minis is an OK price. Add in dice, tokens, a map and a base rulebook and you really have deal. Though you really need to point out that the rules are the bare minimum. Between Beginners Box, the “A Game of Armoured Warfare” box and the “Total Warfare” book are major differences. Walking, running, flying, skidding and all that. But it’s a really solid start. it has stripped down rules vs the full version. It has flat terrain, so no worrying about what different heights have to offer. No heat, so no random bad things can happen to you. No...flanking? Im not sure what else is missing, this is my first time in the game. This is a great way to learn the basics, and left me craving more.

If you are completely new to Battletech I highly recommend you start here. It gives you a taste of the system while retaining the flavour, and you can play a full 4vs4 game using it. 80s style game design is not for everyone, and this lets you try it before you heavily commit. rules are a little hard to follow, there are some good videos to get the handle of it (ill post a few later) The included mech record sheets include an alternate variant for each of the Light, Medium, and Heavy mechs, including the Griffin from the Beginner Box. Unfortunately there’s no included record sheet for the Vindicator, so unless Catalyst puts one online you’ll need the Record Sheets: Succession Wars PDF to be able to use it. The Rules

In 2023 the BattleTech: Essentials boxset was announced for release as part of an exclusivity arrangement with the retailer Target. This essentially served as another version of the Beginners Box. I could talk for a long time about 80s wargame design, and to a large extent Battletech is unchanged from when I first played it (though the miniatures are much better). Modern audiences who didn’t grow up when tabletop wargaming was becoming popular don’t remember the growing pains when non-historical wargaming was working out whether it was an rpg combat system with miniatures or a wargame (see also Warhammer Fantasy Battle 1st edition, Rogue Trader, Laser Burn, Chainmail, Star Fleet Battles, etc). Needless to say a lot of these 80s games featured a character sheet mechanic, and Mech Record Sheets are a fixture of Battletech. Battletech: A Game of Armoured Combat (AGoAC) is a true starter set, providing a bigger, fatter rulebook, 8 miniatures giving two complete Lances, and everything needed to play the game. You have full sized record sheets, points, the ‘full’ rules for mech combat, and even rules for designing your own mechs.

This tournament offers players the opportunity to wage honorable battle to be one of the 25 Bloodnamed warriors sharing in the legacy of one of the Clan’s founders. Genetically engineered and bred for centuries for honor and glory, Clan warriors lust for a Bloodname for years and many never make the cut. Can you win the Trial of Bloodright? Each player will field a group, called a lance, of one or more mechs. Usually, a Lance maxes out at 4 mechs. For the first scenario in this box, they recommend a Griffen mech and a Wolverine mech in a 1v1 matchup. Movement phase: Each player, starting with the loser of initiative, can move their mechs. Mechs move a specific amount of hexes as either a walk, run, or jump.A collection of various scenarios and source material that have been published online. Operation Higashikuni While the rulebook is still slim compared to the full rulebook (Battletech: Total Warfare is the full rulebook, as there are a whole bunch of different rulebooks that can confuse a beginner) it covers mech on mech combat nicely, with close to the full rules. Certainly you have everything you need to play, with two lances of mechs, a map, the record sheets for mechs with variants for many of them, and rules complete enough to be a satisfying Battletech experience.