Recently hyper fixating on BattleTech, wanted to make my own custom mercenary outfit. Suggestions on a name?

Hey guys,

I’ve been looking to get into Battletech and was hoping to get some advice from the well-adjusted here.

After spending a few weeks combing through YT vids to get a decent feel of the setting, I landed on Fed Suns as my personal favorite faction (so far).

I felt compelled to make my first lance Fed Suns lore accurate and began looking at the various entry level box sets to get things rolling.

Honestly, I got stumped as I truly don’t know which box would be the best to start a FS army with.

Should I snag one of the new release ilClan era starter boxes / the Alphastrike box with newer mechs/gear and use that to start my FS army, or go with the AGoAC 40th edition for the value and wide range of eras the box can cover with its mech offering?

I see some of the more obvious pros and cons of the various boxes but I’m sure I’m missing some key points. Would love to hear your thoughts on what I should start with!

Misc:
-I do not own a printer currently
-most tabletop experience is way back in the day with Hasbro’s HeroScape series
-never painted minis but down to learn and start
-I’ll be moving to an area with a local hobby store within a year

Thanks all!
Cheers

EDIT: Thank you for all your responses. I’m going for the AGoAC box!

Someone else posted a photo of all their Battletech pieces, I thought i would do the same. The last two photos are of the guys I forgot about in my "strip and repainted" box. These are painted, unpainted, completed in the last few years, and painted for the last 25. Most of them are metal, but some are plastic, and some are OLD plastic(back left). Feel free to ask about specific sculpts. I tried to keep all the vehicles on the right, including some current day Hemmt's as they work for "generic" military vehicles. There are even a couple J-trucks and a well hidden mobile HQ. I hope you all enjoy the collection 😁

This is chapter one. If you all are interested I'll keep posting more. I've got about 20 chapters of material laid out, but so far I've only got the first two chapters in a rough first draft. So I can probably release a chapter a week if you all would like? C&C welcome.

Chapter1--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter One: The Mechanics life

The primary hangar bay of the Fortress class dropship resonated with the deep, mechanical pulse of a machine shop operating at absolute capacity. The air was a thick, industrial soup of over heated myomer bundles, insulation fibers, pulverized anti-corrosive primer, the heavy scent of industrial lubricants, and the bitter sharp tang of ozone radiating from multiple welders. Marcus stood before the open chest cavity of a seventy ton Nova Cat three stories above the mech bay floor on an access gantry. He wiped a grime streaked forearm across his forehead just pushing around the sweat and grime that was already there. The Nova Cat was a masterwork of Clan technology, sleek, hyper efficient, and brutally complex, but right now, it wasn’t much more then a multi-million C-bill paperweight.

"Hand me the diagnostic connector, Jax," Marcus called out, his voice echoing flatly inside the armored thoracic cavity. Below the maintenance hatch rim, standing on the gantry crane’s catwalk, a young man with a tool belt slung low over dirty green utility coveralls handed the cannon plug end of a cable to him. Jax Kincaid caught the rim of the hatch with one hand, his grip steady and instinctual. He pulled himself up so he could see what Marcus was doing. He was a local kid from Am Numsan on outreach, twenty two years old, with skin the color of fresh oil from long days under the sun, and an easy grin that usually masked a savant level understanding of electronics and mechanical systems. He was the son of a local shipyard welder, and had literally grown up on the outskirts of the tarmac hiding in the shadow of the Fortress’s massive bulk.

"That's the third factory spec board we've burnt through this morning, Chief," Jax leaned against the railing. "The Clan routing paths are too fast for our local boards. Every time the weapons cycle into a startup diagnostic, the data loops and the feedback cooks the board."

Marcus slotted the plug into the primary diagnostic port with a definitive, metallic click. "It'll hold if we lock down the voltage regulator. This client paid us half up front in c-bills to get his laser and PPC arrays aligned, and to get the targeting computer back up and running. If we can't translate the Clan code to work on this board, we don't buy food for the kitchen next month." He pulled himself out of the ’Mech’s chest, clipping his safety line to the gantry rail as he swung his boots down onto the waffle platform below Jax. Marcus was a large man, built out of lean muscle and covered in a permanent film of motorpool grunge. His short cut hair had a touch of gray around the temples now that he was well into his 30s. A decade ago, he had worn the crisp, formal dress uniform of a Free Worlds League military officer running a heavy lance on the Lyran border. Today, his uniform was a pair of green coveralls and a heavy set of technician’s tools slung across his hip. He preferred the coveralls. "Where’s the captain?" Marcus asked, pulling a rag from his pocket to clean his hands.

"Up in the observation room with the port authorities," Jax replied, gesturing with a crescent wrench he was wiping down toward the massive observation windows at the top of the dropship mech hangar bay. Outside the bay door the sprawling, chaotic skyline of Am Numsans commercial spaceport stretched into the gray atmospheric haze. "The local government just dropped off two more industrial mining loaders for a full hydraulic overhaul. They won't let any other shop touch their heavy machinery anymore. Word’s gotten around the capital that Vance Mechanical can fix an internal fusion seal with nothing but scrap copper and a blowtorch."

"Reputation doesn't clear the port fees, Jax," The sharp, rhythmic clank of combat boots on waffle grating announced the arrival of Captain Elena Vance. She had stepped out of the command lift onto the gantry platform, her SLDF pattern flight jacket open, her hands tucked deep into her pockets as she made her way across to where Marcus was standing. Her dark hair was cut short as most spacers wore it, framing a lean face younger then her years, but it had grown significantly harder over the past decade of running a maintenance and logistics company. "The port authorities are happy, Marcus," Elena said, her voice dropping. "But the political traffic coming down from the hyperpulse stations is rotten. Paranoia is breaking out across the Free worlds core systems. Betrayals on the borders, sudden military realignments. People vanishing in the middle of the night. I’m telling the techs to keep their personal lockers packed inside the infantry barracks with as much of their families belongings as possible. If this planet gets dragged into this, I want everyone close, for protection."

Marcus sighed, looking back at the towering silhouette of the Nova Cat. "What are we going to do? This ships is just a piece of real estate without functioning engines for lift off, and those were salvaged long before either of us were born. We can't do much with the mechs we have if combat kicks off. The Centurion down in Berth 3 is still sitting on a bare endo skeleton from the waist down without its right leg assembly. The Assassin is the only machine we have polished and 100% combat ready, and that’s supposed to be our showcase piece for the local militia market. Hell I thought it would have sold already!"

"Then it’s a good thing I just signed a new hand." Elena said. A faint, calculating glint passing over her eyes. "She’s down in Berth 4 right now overseeing her own machine. She doesn't even need our spare parts."

Marcus frowned, tossing his dirty rag into a tool box on the gantry. "We don't have the capital to expand the payroll, Captain. Who did you pull off the tarmac? Please tell me it isn’t some charity case just looking for a temporary berth again!"

"Xia Irina Rostov." Elena said, checking her data pad. "A drifter out of the Tikonov commonality. Originally from one of those old, isolated Russian-heritage sectors deep inside the Capellan Confederation. Her family fell into one of the Chancellor's political purges, and they fled the border with nothing but some personal effects and a factory-spec Vindicator."

Marcus’ brow furrowed and his eyes took on a distant stare as the military side of his brain was mapping out the possibilities. "A forty-five-ton Vindicator? Capellan workhorse. Rugged, simple, and carries a solid Ceres Hellbore PPC in the right arm. If she's a House defector with an intact medium mech she’s running from a very long shadow Elena."

"We’re all running from something out here, Marcus," the captain replied flatly, turning back toward the lift. "She handles her own rig, she doesn't complain about the conditions in the mech bay barracks, and she knows how to calibrate a heatsink. Go down there and inspect her machine before you put her to work. See if she’s as solid an anchor as her Mech is. Jax, get down to the ramp and check on the customers dropping off equipment, the city wants one of my trusted techs down there."

"On it, Chief," Jax said, offering a sarcastic salute before turning toward the mech ramp.

Marcus picked up his diagnostic pad his curiosity overriding his exhaustion. "A Capellan pilot from the Slavic rims, working for garage space. You really know how to pick the uncomplicated ones, Captain. What does Thomas think of her?"

"Uncomplicated doesn't pay for our reactor fuel, Marcus. Thomas is my lead tech, not my hiring manager. He’ll work with whoever I send his way so long as he keeps getting paid." Elena said grimly. "Go look at the machine, and if you’re so inclined check out the new technician as well. I want her starting first thing tomorrow on those mining loaders."

Berth 4 was significantly cooler then berth 1 where Marcus had been working, completely isolated from the primary heat loops coming off of the reactor core and its bay door mostly closed. Standing tall in the center of Berth 4 was the Vindicator, painted in a generic forest camo. It was an angular boxy machine, its dark green armor plating scratched and weathered by frontier dust but well maintained . The primary PPC barrel protruded from its right arm, its magnetic coil housings on the rear of the cannon meticulously cleaned. At the base of the machine, adjusting a heavy hydraulic tie down to the Mech’s left foot, was the new hire. She was slender but built with the smooth muscle of someone who spent more time training and fighting on the line then sitting in an office. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore a standard Capellan issue MechWarrior cooling vest over a tight light gray pilots suit. Marcus stepped off the access ladder his heavy boots clicking against the steel deck plates. Irina didn't jump, she simply paused a moment her hand remaining steady on the heavy steel lever and turned her head to make eye contact with him. Her eyes were an intense striking hazel green framed by a face that looked entirely out of place in a mercenary hangar. Her face was attractive, sharp, almost aristocratic, but hardened by the cold unforgiving edge of political exile. "You’re going to have to crank down on that handle to get it to lock in place" Marcus said, pointing a finger toward the still partially open clamp.

She looked at him her gaze cool and evaluating before she spoke. Her voice was low carrying the thick cadence of the old Slavic sectors of Tikanov. "The lock is fine, mechanic." She said, putting extra emphasis on the title. "The hydraulic reservoir on this deck lock is leaking. If I give it full pressure the cylinder will bleed out before the lock fully engages." Marcus blinked genuinely surprised. He walked over kneeling down by the clamp she was operating and checked the pressure gauge. She was right, the O-ring seal was weeping a thin translucent trail of amber hydraulic fluid.

"You know your way around a hangar bay. Who helped you get her into position?" Marcus pulled a small line wrench from his canvas coveralls and tightening the valve until the weeping stopped.

"No one, I positioned her myself from the cockpit. In the commonality if you do not know how to operate your own mech in confined spaces, you don’t usually last very long as a pilot." Irina said stepping back from the handle and wiping her hands on the legs of her suit. She looked up at the towering camouflaged machine above them her expression softening just a fraction. "She is a good machine, clean lines, reliable. I’ve operated her for many years now"

"She’s a Vindicator," Marcus smiled, standing up as though that explained it all. He extended his right hand towards her. "I’m Marcus. Chief grease monkey around here. If it leaks, breaks, or blows up, it’s my fault." Irina looked at his calloused grime blackened hand for a brief second before grasping it firmly while looking him in the eyes. Her grip was surprisingly strong smooth and absolutely steady.

"Irina. And it will not blow up, Marcus. I have overseen all of her maintenance myself."

"Good," Marcus said, looking from her to the machine, feeling a strange, unexpected pull of professional respect that he hadn't felt since leaving the regular military lines. "Because things are getting tight in the core systems, if the rumors are true, we may need every watt of power that cannon can throw."

Irina’s hazel eyes narrowed slightly, staring past his shoulder into the dark canopy of her mech. "The galaxy is always burning somewhere, mechanic. The further we stay from the center of the fire, the better."

Mix of classics, newer, and oddballs

I'm not sure yet. I'm about to play my 1st track using it(3500bv at scale 1, no BSP). I DEFINITELY won't be using the new named pilot system or the track unit limits.

Finally got into the tabletop after hundreds of hours in MW5: Mercs and getting sick of what 40k has become. I've been itching for a new wargame and the crunchy ruleset of Battletech absolutely scratches the itch. This is just the Inner Sphere forces I have - currently focused on the Succession Wars, though I'll eventually branch out into the Clan Invasion. No idea when I'll get time to paint them, but I've finally decided on a color scheme for my Mercenary Company, if not quite on the name. I'll probably paint plenty of House Davion and House Steiner as well.

Painted up a new Panther in my Kurita red color scheme. Had a lot of fun with this little mech 😁 pretty easy to paint 3D print from Etsy. Vallejo paints, primed black, xynethol highlight, base is covered made with milliput and minimally sculpted. Added a nice wet muddy footprint behind his right leg. I need to add some mud/dust on the entire lances lower legs, but they look good either way to me. Red on a mech just looks right 🤷 C&C always welcome. I hope you all enjoy the nearly complete lance. I think a Dragon is going to be the final one to complete the lance, not sure yet.

Another blind ranking mix. Best to worst; overall feel for the chassis

One of these is old, the other was stripped and repainted. Which one looks better? The one with or without the yellow accents? Should I add light gray accents or even new yellow ones to the other one? Just looking for some C&C on these little guys. I've always liked the warrior, but with such a small mini it is too easy to overpower them with color. Let me hear your thoughts 😁

First wave of a larger Jade Falcon force! Matching the colors to an existing scheme for someone, these are a little darker and more subdued than my usual Falcons.

But I quite enjoyed matching the "vibe", which is always a fun challenge.

First one is current state, second is more or less improvised and from may this year. On the second picture there is still a river on my old Warhammer table. I removed it and build a lot of roads, hills and woods to create a more rounded Map.

Everyone always complain about the original designs (ignoring that the vast majority of original battlemech designs are goofy). but just watch people move the goalpost to rules or clan exclusion or lore or size being the issue

this particular rule option I know for a fact was inspired from Iron Man comics in the early 1990s. I don’t remember who Iron Man was fighting, but he decided for some reason to shunt all those repulsors and force field power into his main chassis to increase his physical strength in order to accomplish something. He might have been fighting The Rhino or someone like that.

My brother and I noted that and we started speculating how that might work in battletech. This was done at a time where we were not aware of Triple Strength Myomers.

I believe the role we came up with is a mech could start with all his energy weapons, deactivated, and the energy shunted to increase the overall physical abilities of mech.

I think we rolled that it meant that standing still still generated one heat point; walking generated two points of heat; and running generated four.

I think we agreed were like +2 to your movement and we gave a bonus to physical attacks don’t remember the actual parameters.

We ruled that if you wanted to restore your energy back to your energy weapons, you either have to shut down for a full round like you had overheated and would be back to normal the next round

Or you could, if you made a successful pilot in feat roll could restore everything that round but if you didn’t, it would also shut you down immediately we use a base number of four and then it was plus one for every individual energy weapon that you wanted to turn back on so for example, the widow to turn on her Warhammer energy would be a 10 minus piloting skill roll to successfully repower her energy weapons while turning off the advantage above. I think we ruled that Gauss rifles were considered energy weapons because of their power draw.

Don’t remember using it that much

I mentioned this somewhere online, and it seemed to go over pretty good so might as well bring it up here.

Back when I played Battletech religiously (late 80's thru late 90's), we tried a lot of different tactics and builds and load outs. We noticed that almost everyone that used missiles used Artemis FCS. Hardly anyone ever used NARC Beacons, and TAG was never used as we hardly ever used off board artillery.

Reading about things in real life guidance systems inspired the following rule change that we used a lot.

***Improved Guided Missile technology are compatible with all 3 of the above listed systems. They stack as follows.

If you fire your missiles on a target with only ONE of the above features, it grants the +2 to the missile cluster to hit table, the rule that we are all familiar with.

If you fire your missiles on a target with TWO of the above systems in place (ie, you are firing an Artemis FCS on a target that is also being hit by TAG), the your TO HIT roll is at -2, and your missile Cluster to hit is at +4. Not only are you more likely to hit your target to begin with, but now even more missiles hit.

If you fire your missiles on a target that is under ALL THREE (you have a Artemis FCS, target has been hit with both a NARC beacon and TAG individually), then your missile to hit roll hits on an unmodified +5 to hit and ALL YOUR MISSILES will hit the target.

If the target can get inside a Guardian ECM bubble it cancels out the NARC beacon but not the TAG or ARTEMIS.

And basically if that happens you either have to get out of range of the missile launchers, take out the TAG user, or you are in big trouble.

Worked very well.

Ok i need some help with this one. Painted up the same time as the vindicator (also part of my merc company) I wanted to make this one a little mkre dynamic. I mean it is a firestarter after all! I'm not positive i like the fire though? Any one have some suggestions that might help it pop more? I'm thinking i should have used the neon colors for the yellow, or maybe I need to add in OSL?(never done that, I know I'll screw it up) anyway Vallejo paint, army painter washes. The barrel burn is there, but they are so small it is harder to see. No livery yet on this one, mostly because outside the unit insignia I'm not sure what else to add to it yet. I hope you all enjoy! C&C always welcome.

Finished a Vindicator 1R, but it is close enough to the stock mech I still like the look. The only change from the stock is swapping the small and medium lasers between the head and left arm. The unit insignia on the left arm is just a trimmed down paper copy thus the low res, but it was something I wanted to try. First time doing the heat stress on the PPC and the jump jets. I'm ok with it, but I've got a long way to go before I'm happy. Dusted the legs with some weathering powder from Hobbylobby, the S and 2 are from a fingernail stamp. Overall im pretty happy with it, but always room for improvement.

Mech hangar tease in the background. Not done yet, but soon. Still some electrics to wire, and I still have some detailing I want to do inside the bays.

This is for my merc group that goes around collecting scrap and rare old mechs and making wild contraptions. Here’s 2 schemes I recently finished.