"Battletech has infantry!?" Topic

So I'm totally new to Battletech and I discovered that there is infantry. What does infantry do in the game?? Or am I wrong and there isn't infantry anymore.

Basically, if I remember right big clumps of infantry (like three stands each the size of a mech stand/hex) form a unit that has some minor chance of damaging a mech before being wiped out. If I remember right there are a couple levels of quality, and some are heavy weapon infantry, etc.

In the rules as written they are cannon-fodder.

If you try to run infantry like tanks or mechs they will die. To use infantry effectively you have to take advantage more of terrain & other special rules. In poor terrain (like heavy woods) or in urban areas infantry can be much more effective. If you run them like any other unit in the open, they will die.

Battlearmor is also infantry.

Damon.

Battletech was created as a combined arms game. People just like to play mecha more. There are tanks, vehicles, infantry, helicopters and fighters. There are even naval rules if you want your mechs to tussle with gunboats, frigates and submarines.

Also Aero-space fighters, armed drop-ships and orbital bombardment from Spaceships.
But to answer the OP, yes, infantry is there. SRM and Inferno SRM armed infantry can annoy Mechs until the infantry die horribly.Depending on whos version of fluff you buy into, even the machine guns mounted on mechs are more like Bushmaster 25mm Chainguns.. infantry get pasted.

I have effectively challenged Mechs with equivalent tonnages of tanks before, but the Mechs will win out in most of those match ups,too.

Battle tech like many other systems expanded as the years went along. Mechs were introduce first. Tanks and hovers were introduced in a later expansion. I think the infantry became common in the CityTech expansion. Air Support was intercede in the AeroTech expansion.
So we played for many years using only Mechs as Ral Partha did not make infantry and very few vehicles. I sold the Skytrex 1/200 series modern to use back in the 1980s and early 1990s. No reason that you cannot run all Mech actions.

Long ago there was a Battletech inf vs. inf game called Battletroops. You could even fight against lighter mechs…

Battletech is like a big ole' smorgasboard. Play what you want, ignore what you don't. I've been playing since It was Battledroids, and I still play more often than not just mech on mech.

It all depends what you enjoy (no one mentioned elementals yet- they are battle suit infantry, and they can mess up your whole day.)

Most people in Battletech are really easy going so don't be afraid to just get out there and play. I've rarely seen anyone insist that the game be played any one way.

Basically as long as it was mech vs mech the game was simple. When infantry, tanks, anti mech (tank) guns, mines and other "things" were thrown in the games got interesting.

Little thing that we used to throw in was mines. Ether command detonated or booby trapped. One time a car was wired so when a mech stepped on it it went off. Another time a tank would fire and pull back and a mech chased after it and command detonated mines were used and the mech was dropped.

Some young players challenged some older wargamers to a match. They purchased heavy mechs with there points. The elder gamers purchased bomb cars. A vehicle was wired with explosives with some armor to the front and driven in at high speeds and exploded. The cars were cheep and numerous and all the damage was to the legs so one or two hits and the mech dropped and then one hit to the head and goodbye. The elder gamers won.

Sneaky elder gamers!

I used to play with armor, artillery, and air against mech forces, and do well. Infantry if there was a urban area. FASCAM pre-registered arty is really nice. 😁

Infantry in Battletech are like infantry in the real world;
dangerous at close range, a threat in large numbers and difficult to dig out of terrain
they are great at holding objectives

cmdr kevin

I never was a fan of BT though. But they do have some neat models of AFVs, aircraft, etc.

And in may games regardless of the rules many don't know how to use Infantry effectively. Plus in some games the rules for Infantry are poor. AFVs and "tall walking targets" are easier to use/play for many …

And if you start using Clan Elementals, you start getting infantry that can be pretty dangerous at times, if used correctly.

Infantry are poorly represented in Battletech, but I have some in play as I have always liked the concept of combined arms (which as stated above is how many large units or regiments are fielded in the Battletech Universe… well, at least per 3025 and 3050 eras…. not as familiar with the post Jihad era).

But infantry in the open just get obliterated. Find terrain to hunker down in and hope your opponent forgets about them.

Chal

I stopped playing when the Clans invaded. Spoiled all the fun of the background era.

even had 25mm figures link

"even had 25mm figures" Yes they did! I even had some of them (though I used them for "Stargrunt". But I did have some all the same :)

Cheers Roger.

Chalfant +1 Yes and those are some reasons I think BT is a poor set of rules. Any rules that don't try to accurately portray Combined Arms. Is not worth consideration.

If you have infantry and have to move them over open terrain, get them some APCs. They won't stand up against a mech or heavier tank, but the APC will get infantry to where they're needed faster.

I stopped at about 100 mechs when the clans came out. My friend continued and when he died I inherited 500 painted mechs and I found 270 mechs still in there packages. Sold the packaged mechs to a hobby shop and have been selling 24 mechs twice a year at an auction. still have about 500 painted and mounted mechs to sell.

I do have many tanks, APCs and specialized vehicles that I plan on keeping. Just bought a monorail for my city.

I bought a bunch micro armor back in the day to have nicer vehicles than the cartoonish ones that FASA created. Loved using A-10s for mech buster aircraft.

I inherited a company of mouse tanks (yes the German Mouse tank) as one of the tank companies. The armor and vehicles are from many companies not just FASA.