There's a couple decades worth of stuff out there for both BattleTech and the Mechwarrior RPG and I'm wondering if any experts can point me to the right edition.

What I would like is the version that best integrates the RPG with the wargame without diluting either too much.

2nd. 2nd has some warts re: character creation. That is, if you allow full point buy customization, min maxing can occur. Easily remedied and if restricted to Archetypes no problem whatsoever.

1e has too few skills and offers not all options, Clans are "missing". 3rd is an abomination and 4th a bloated mess by some third grade fanficcers.

Why is MW3 an Abomination?  Isn't Mechwarrior 3 the one that maps to the Battletech 4th Edition and Battletech Master Rules?

Gotta go with Sett on this one; Mechwarror 2e is the best.

I don't remember what edition it was, but the edition of mechwarrior that introduced the Clans in it was absolute garbage. If you weren't a clan elemental, then there was zero point in playing.

As a long-time battletech player, the 3025 era is my absolute favorite. Once they introduced the clans, everything went to shit. I have no problem with Star League tech, but with the clans, it's basically pointless to be Inner Sphere until the 2078 technical readout.

Oh, and the whole Jihad war and aftermath is crap.

Quote from: everloss;506826I don't remember what edition it was, but the edition of mechwarrior that introduced the Clans in it was absolute garbage. If you weren't a clan elemental, then there was zero point in playing.

As a long-time battletech player, the 3025 era is my absolute favorite. Once they introduced the clans, everything went to shit. I have no problem with Star League tech, but with the clans, it's basically pointless to be Inner Sphere until the 2078 technical readout.

Oh, and the whole Jihad war and aftermath is crap.

I agree about the Clan thing; but I also think the 2e rules are the most solid.  Nothing says you can't play 3025 era with the 2e rules.

Any ideas or reasons why 2e trumps 3e?

3e used 2d10 and is therefore incompatible to all the wealth of Battletech games.

Also recommend 2e as I had a lot of fun with that. The character creation was simple to use and had no problems with the rules. As for 3e the character creation made me want to pull out my hair and it was just a pain in the ass. A case of fixing something that was not broken.

Robot Warriors by Hero Games.
https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=183897

Robot Warriors was a mid-80s Champions spinoff like Danger International and Fantasy Hero. For our group, it was far better for playing Battletech than the actual Battletech rules. If you like the core of the Hero System, its worth hunting down.

Quote from: Spinachcat;506857Robot Warriors by Hero Games.
https://www.herogames.com/viewItem.htm?itemID=183897

Robot Warriors was a mid-80s Champions spinoff like Danger International and Fantasy Hero. For our group, it was far better for playing Battletech than the actual Battletech rules. If you like the core of the Hero System, its worth hunting down.

I like the core Hero System, and RW is junk.  It's unsuited to playing Battletech with, fighting robot battles with "RKA this" and "stun that" and "go on this phase the other" is a pain in the butt when you wanna roll up your sleeves and get your Mechwarrior on.

Quote from: Shawn Merrow;506855Also recommend 2e as I had a lot of fun with that. The character creation was simple to use and had no problems with the rules. As for 3e the character creation made me want to pull out my hair and it was just a pain in the ass. A case of fixing something that was not broken.

I must have been thinking of the 3rd edition then. Character creation made no sense, and the game didn't feel compatible with Battletech.

Quote from: everloss;506988I must have been thinking of the 3rd edition then. Character creation made no sense, and the game didn't feel compatible with Battletech.

That's the exact impression I got; 2e was by no means perfect but it was fast and furious and let you create just about any character you wanted.

Of course the problem was if you weren't playing a mech-jock when you picked your Primary attribute you'd wind up with some ungodly score in something;  "Well I'm Joe the Garage owner...WHO CAN BUILD AN OVERLORD CLASS DROPSHIP AND OUTFIT IT WITH LOSTECH JUST BY RIFLING THROUGH A DUMPSTER."

I've played BattleTech for quite some time and played all four versions of MechWarrior.

1st Edition was essentially char generator for Mech unit. Personal combat was very lethal. However, the skill system was basicly alright and character progress quite slow.

2nd Edition has char generation system that made everyone a hero at very instant. Personal combat was good. Skill system worked well.

3rd Edition had overcomplex char generator. Personal combat was slow. Skill system was bad. This was complete failure.

4th Edition is third edition ported to 2D6 system. Overall it is better (especially due better char generator) but combat system is still too complex.

All systems suffer from fact that they cannot really work without other BattleTech sourcebooks (for Mech/Aerospace piloting). Thus their popular appeal is going to be low.

If I am going to play those RPG systems right according to rules, the 2nd edition is best and 3rd the worst. I play BattleTech universe extensively (the 3025 setting is superb) but with my own RPG rules.

Quote from: Nikita;507066I've played BattleTech for quite some time and played all four versions of MechWarrior.

1st Edition was essentially char generator for Mech unit. Personal combat was very lethal. However, the skill system was basicly alright and character progress quite slow.

2nd Edition has char generation system that made everyone a hero at very instant. Personal combat was good. Skill system worked well.

3rd Edition had overcomplex char generator. Personal combat was slow. Skill system was bad. This was complete failure.

4th Edition is third edition ported to 2D6 system. Overall it is better (especially due better char generator) but combat system is still too complex.

All systems suffer from fact that they cannot really work without other BattleTech sourcebooks (for Mech/Aerospace piloting). Thus their popular appeal is going to be low.

If I am going to play those RPG systems right according to rules, the 2nd edition is best and 3rd the worst. I play BattleTech universe extensively (the 3025 setting is superb) but with my own RPG rules.

2nd edition was one of the better versions but I do enjoy the latest version by Catalyst Games.