Hey Game Fans, we’re back with a quick review of the Technical Readout: Succession Wars book for Battletech. Like the other books in the Technical Readout series, this book gives you access to more combat units for your game of Battletech. Let’s dig into the book, the units presented, and have a bit of a discussion about what’s in here, and what you’ll need to pick up next.
Technical Readout: Succession Wars
This book is a 192 page guide to some of the most commonly found battlemech units in the Battletech universe during the Succession Wars span of time. This spans between 2786ish and right up until the Invasion of the Clans starting in late 3049. What this means to a new player is that some of these units are available in earlier periods of time (when their advanced technology still exists) but die out in later years as the erosion of technology follows the ravages of the Succession Wars.
Unlike previous books in this line, this book features battlemech units only. There are no combat vehicles, or aerospace fighters to be found anywhere in the pages of this book, and that’s an interesting change of pace. I believe that this book was written as a companion piece to the BattleMech Manual, which parses out the rules for Battletech that are most applicable to ‘mech on ‘mech violence and presents them in a concise way. From that perspective, a TRO that focuses exclusively on Battlemechs is a pretty solid foundation for increasing player interest.
The Pros
This book contains 92 different battlemechs with complete technical breakdowns and histories. The book follows the same pattern as other TROs, with one page featuring all the writing from an in-universe perspective and a second page with the game statistics and a nearly full page artist rendering of the design. These cover a lot of the basic units that are common in each era and give you a range in each weight class to pick over. There are a total of 23 lights, 27 mediums, 19 heavy, and 23 assault class machines from a variety of eras and factions. The art style for this iteration of the book is a fairly decent grab of the last 30 years of battletech art. Most of the art fits together, but there are a couple of mechs that look a little out of place compared to the others (the Black Knight and Flashman for example look a little dated compared to the more modern art for the Hammerhands or the Battleaxe).
On a personal note, i am pleased to some the Locust, the Griffin, the Wolverine, the Shadow Hawk, and a few other old classics re-emerge with brand new art. I particular like the blocky Thunderbolt and the redesigned arms on the Locust. If you are brand new to Battletech, this is a remarkable resource for getting together with your friends and figuring out what mechs you want.
The Cons
There are a couple of concerns about this book, and they relate to two key questions. Firstly, none of the mechs in this book are new designs, and they have been featured multiple times in other books. The other key concern is that even with these entries, you’re still going to either need blank record sheets or the record sheet pack that corresponds to this book in order to actually play the game. This may add an extra level of complication if you’re wanting a pick up game with random units. This is further complicated by the fact that there currently isn’t a Record Sheet Pack that goes with this book means you’re going to have to hand write your own record sheets for these units.
My personal concern are the units that are omitted from this book. The Stinger, Wasp, and Phoenix Hawk mechs are missing, as are the OstRoc, the OstSol, the Marauder, Warhammer, Rifleman, Crusader and Archer. These are often described in the fiction as being the most common units in existence, and their omission from this book leaves odd gaps in the weight classes. (For those of you looking for statistics for these units, they are in the TRO: 3039 book).
Overall Verdict
For a brand new player looking to get into the game for this first time, this book gives a wide assortment of potential units to play with. There’s a lot of experimentation you can do with this book for the Succession Wars period of time. There are no Clan mechs in this book, as they do not feature into the Succession Wars period of the Inner Sphere. For a new player, i’d rate this book at 4 stars. There are some missing components that make this resource harder to use than other TROs, and the missing units are often considered to be Iconic. If you don't already have the companion volume the Battlemech Manual, I'd certainly make that my next purchase.
If you’re a veteran player, i’d rate this at a 2 star purchase. You’ve probably already seen all of the Mechs in this collection. The art isn’t new, and this “Greatest Hits of the Succession Wars” anthology is probably a book you don’t need unless you collect every battletech book ever. That’s our look at the Technical Readout: Succession Wars. Game On, Game Fans.
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