Day 49: Once More Into the Cockpit

 

A Blackjack, piloted by one of my lesser-experienced pilots lives to fight another day.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/40, ISO 1000)

Well, at least in miniature form.  Spent the afternoon at my buddy Dave Leaver (who was briefly mentioned a few weeks back when his younger brother Greg was featured on Day 32) and some others in a familiar situation: overlooking a hex grid with mech minis, plenty of dice, paper, and pencils.  The game was Classic BattleTech.  For the unfamiliar, Classic BattleTech (hereon referred to as BattleTech or BT) is a pen and paper combat-strategy game involving the militaries of futuristic 31st century nations as they duke it out over a myriad of planets both near and far to good ol' Terra.  Now isn't that a mouthful?

My forces lined up.  In focus is a Hunchback, a mech known for moving slowly, and carrying a big "stick".

 (Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2, 1/80, ISO 1000)

Of course, the game is deeper than that.  Sure, you can play pick-up games of straight up mech-on-mech action.  That alone is plenty of fun, but what I love most about this game is just how far in-depth you can take your game.  Beyond mechs, you have tanks, infantry, massive naval ships in both space and on surface.  Hell, you can even drop a nuclear weapon on your battlefield.  It doesn't stop off the mapsheet either.  Once the smoke has cleared the technicians, medics, and support staff go to work - you could go so far as to install a beer cooler into your mech's cockpit.  There even exists an entire RPG game in this universe for those more into roleplaying than lasers, autocannons, and good ol' fashioned Rock-em' Sock-em robots.

The opponents lined up on their end.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/2.8, 1/100, ISO 1000)

BattleTech kicked off over twenty-five years ago and excluding a bit of a mid-life crisis involving copyright issues it has picked up, significantly so in recent years thanks to Catalyst Games.  While not as extensive, my own history with BattleTech has been somewhat long and colourful.  I started off never even knowing about BattleTech.  A fluke birthday present from a childhood friend was what got the ball rolling.  My first Mech' game was Earthsiege 2.  I loved it so much, that one day my brother took notice and asked me if I had ever checked out the Mechcommander or Mechwarrior series: I had not.  A couple weeks with the demos of both Mechcommander 2 and Mechwarrior 4 later, I had the purchased the mech-compilation packs containing Mechwarrior 4: Vengence, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, and Mechcommander 2.  Several months after the final incarnation of the Mechwarrior 4 series of video games landed in my lap - Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries. 

Getting down n' dirty!

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/60, ISO 1000)

It was December of that year (I think it was 2003?) that I then came across NetBattleTech (NBT), an online league comprising of (at the time) hundreds of players largely from North America and Europe playing out their own variation of the BattleTech universe via Mechwarrior 4.  Prior to that I had generally kept away from gamer groups (commonly referred to as "Clans" in Internet jargon), albeit largely due to my age.  I was on top of the world when I easily made it into one of the teams that I tried out for.  It began a long three yearish stint where I played for three teams.  For those in the "BattleTech-know-how" that would be a small Mercenary group (called the 58th Northland Berzerkers), the Capellan Confederation, and the Draconis Combine (the last of whom I also played Battlefield 2 with after Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries fell out of favour for most of us).  Most of my gaming companions have since scattered, with only a few of us managing to keep in touch.  That said, I will never forget the height of my gaming days.  It's something that I still somewhat yearn for, although I have doubts that I will come in contact with such a close-knit group of online individuals ever again - to get on weekday nights on Teamspeak, get organized, discuss plans of action, and then execute them in-game, with various but often memorable results.  It was far from the usual anarchy that one would find in your typical online gaming experience where you're more likely to die in the first five seconds than anything. 

Mr. Hunchback after the fight; he's been beat up pretty bad, but far from mangled.

(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/4, 1/125, ISO 1000) 

Of course, along the way I also came to know BattleTech through Mechwarrior.  It was bound to happen, considering the latter is based on the former.  I started off not knowing very much playing the online version (referred to as MegaMek) and eventually transitioned my way into the local Toronto scene about three or four years back.   I had a bit of a falling out with it though around mid-way through my last semester of High School, and haven't really picked it up again until today.  Thankfully I didn't get royally screwed over by my luck (BattleTech involves a lot of dice rolling to compliment the strategy portion) today; I came through my game relatively unscathed.  Win or lose though, it was great getting reacquainted with an old favourite.  I imagine this will be the first of several more BattleTech-related posts throughout the year.  Thanks to Dave for having me over for some mech-crunching action!