BattleTech Games... Short briefs on each of the BattleTech games and their gameplay characteristics... BattleTech:  A Game of Armored Combat (Now known as Classic BattleTech) This is the game that started it all.  The concept of this game revolves around imagination, strategy and luck.  Each player controls 1 to many Mechs.  Most missions are stand up battles, raids or all out assaults.  The game involves a lot of paperwork, keeping each Mech's statistics on BattleMech sheets.  This game also makes use of the BattleTech pewters, which are currently producted by IronWind Metals.  These require special attention by players, as they are packaged unassembled and unpainted.   However painting and configuring the pewters into unique game pieces can be very fun, and is a hobby in its own right. Mechwarrior:  The Role - Playing Game This is another game that requires vivid imagination.  Using only rulebooks, a pencil, paper, dice, and imagination, players dive into the BattleTech universe in a style different from any other BattleTech game.  As in most Role Playing Games, or RPGs, a gamemaster controls scenarios and creates a story and environment in which a player's characters can act out a variety of situations.  Typical scenarios might involve negotiations with shady NPCs (Non Player Characters), or a fistfight in a dark alley with an unknown attacker.  The only limits in Mechwarrior RPG are the imagination of the gamemaster and the players involved. Mechwarrior:  The Computer Game This game is intended to put its players into the cockpit of a BattleMech, where all the action in the BattleTech Universe usually occurs.  Players are able to fight against computer controlled enemy Mechs or against other live players using online options.  The Mechwarrior line has proven very successful, and includes Mechwarrior 1 - 4 and a variety of expansions for the second, third and fourth games. MechCommander This game allows players to control many Mechs from outside their cockpits.  Most missions revolve around strategy and luck.   MechCommander can be quite frustrating at times because pilots don't always obey their commander's orders. MechAssault Another game console similar to Mechwarrior: The Computer Game, MechAssault is constructed around the X - Box's capability for online competition.  MechAssault offers players dazzling graphics and a unique type of gameplay.  However MechAssault is much more of a video game than its big brother Mechwarrior:  The Computer Game.  One example of this is the game's concept of unlimited ammunition, an option unavailable in the more realistic computer game. BattleTech:  The Collectible Card Game This game holds a special place in the hearts of all the Strider's Strikers players.  This is the game that started it all for us.  The Collectible Card Game's play revolves mostly around strategy and luck.  Card decks are completely customizable and represent the major factions in the BattleTech Universe.  The CCG offers outstanding art that gives BattleTech fans a greater comprehension of the look of the BattleTech Universe.  Major characters from the books and primary storyline are represented with Unique and Rare - type cards.  Decks built around factions allow unique strategic options for winning.  Some decks use techniques like speed or overwhelm, while others make use of subterfuge or delay tactics. BattleSpace, AeroTech, and CityTech These three games are based on the original game, BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat. BattleSpace pits spacecraft such as Jumpships, Warships, and Dropships against each other.  Recently IronWind Metals has created pewter models for this strategy game. AeroTech primarily uses AeroSpace fighters and Dropships.   There are also pewters available for this game, though they fail to represent many designs.  CityTech concentrates on weaker Mechs, infantry platoons, and armor combat. BattleTroops This game seems to be one of the least successful of all BattleTech games, concentrating on infantry versus infantry combat.  The Striders's Strikers have formed their own infantry game, ArmorTech, which allows for Battle Armor such as Elementals to be incorporated into the gameplay.  For more on ArmorTech, visit the ArmorTech link above. BattleForce This game is similar to BattleTech:  A Game of Armored Combat, except it allows players to conduct battles on a larger scale.  Using a concept called Battle Values, BattleForce approximates a BattleMech's ability to wage war.  This game design provides players with a way to control very large battles.   Each Mech's Battle Value is representative of its performance, and helps determine which team will win or lose. Mechwarrior:  Dark Age Dark Age is the newest kind of table top strategy for BattleTech.  Dark Age makes use of a new gaming concept called Clix.  Each figure in Dark Age displays its abilities on a small box which rests upon the figure's base.  This base can then be clicked when the figure takes damage from an attack.  By clicking the base, the figure is provided with new abilities, most of which decrease with additional damage.   Clix is also used in games such as Marvel and DC HeroClix, along with the original Clix game, Mage Knight.  Mechwarrior Dark Age succeeds in becoming an interesting new type of strategy for BattleTech fans.  However its storyline, set in the far future of the BattleTech universe, may prove too radical for fans of the original tabletop game.  Despite this dramatic change in storyline, Dark Age must be acknowledged for its large contribution to building a future BattleTech fanbase, and thereby ensuring a secure future for the BattleTech Universe.