"Does BattleTech Need More Structure?" Topic

TMP member Pythagoras once wrote:

…the game had no structure. You had to set up the game and each person had a different idea how to do that. Other than the published narrative missions, there is no consistent way to play on the table.

Do you agree that the current ruleset fails to provide sufficient structure?

From a tournament perspective sure.

From the target audience's perspective? Naw, it's fine.

First they complain about no scenarios, then they complain about too many.

Battletech has always been a bit of a mash-up, ruled more by enthusiasm than editing. While in better shape now, its balance has generally been dodgy even within a particular period, taking more of a historian's view of warfare than a gamer's view. That makes it less suited to high end competitive play than some might want, but that's an affliction of many games, including some very popular on the tournament circuit.

Structure is in the eye of the beholder. As a game of duels that has delusions of mass combat adequacy, Battletech may not need more structure than it has.

Maybe if you are inner sphere.

Not at all. The current edition of Total Warfare has a scenario generator in it starting on page 256.

I'm sorry, I've played Battletech since it was BattleDroids. I just don't get the premise. There's quite a bit of structure to Battletech, more than many other games I've played. I'm not sure why you would state that. Has it sometimes been a bit all over the place, sure, but it's always had quite a bit of structure.

Premise makes no sense.
No.

I think it is better now than it was back in the good old days. However I don't think we had issues even back then. It was a fun game of stompy robots and everyone grabbed their favorite 'mech, we tossed out a few game boards, and then went to town for a couple of hours. It was a blast.

Now you have the scenario sections with various scenarios that use BVs, points, whatever. I'm not sure just how balanced it is, but it looks like every other game out there to me.

No, not really.

No, it's a sandbox game intended for accountants and engineers. Very much a 'make your own fun' with giant robots, tanks, and ASFs.

I think it would help the game/company if it had clear point costs and missions as an option. Most games seem to have this nowadays