Product Review : Hot Spots Hinterlands

Hey Folks, quick hit today.  We know the holidays are rapidly approaching (and we love every holiday and excuse to hand out presents), so we're going to spend some time covering things we think are great for the BattleTech Fan in your life.  Hot Spots Hinterlands is a modern iteration of old, classic idea, the sourcebook, rebuilt for the 2020s gamer.  I like this  book a lot, and let me see if i can explain why.

BattleTech is often called the “historical” Sci-fi wargame.  The reason for this has a lot to do with the way BattleTech has been written from its earliest days and source material.  Players are actively encouraged to play through scenarios based off of events that have happened in setting. 

 “We’re going to refight the battle of Coventry?”  

“Which one?” 

This may be a low attempt at Battletech humor, but it exists in the same head space as civil war reenactors and folks who build dioramas of famous battles.  We already know the historical outcome of the event (usually revealed to us in a novel or sourcebook set after the scenario being played), but we’re going to see if we can do it differently for different results.

Enter, Hotspots Hinterlands. 

What is this?

Hotspots HInterlands builds off the rules found in the Mercenaries Boxed set and takes the barebones off those rules and turns them into a full gaming experience.  One part historical guide for the area (The Hinterlands of the Lyran Commonwealth), one part scenario pack (the Mercenaries Campaign is fully vitalized and comes into its own) Hotspots Hinterlands is a throwback to several different Battletech products of yesteryear that have been tweaked for ease of play, what folks would call quality of life improvements. 

What does that actually mean?

The BattleTech campaign included in Hinterlands is a complete framework for campaign game play in BattleTech.  BattleTech, for a lot of folks, operates at its very best within a narrative framework, and Hinterlands provides that framework in great detail.  For the first time in what i am describing as the Plastics era, CGL has a full, robust campaign system that a player can pick up one book to build a narrative spine for their games around.  (Yes, Turning Points do exist, but those are digital only and much narrower in scope than Hinterlands).  

So, who is this book for?  

This book checks a lot of very interesting boxes as a BattleTech fan.

• It is a sourcebook covering material relevant to the Hinterlands region (So it builds off of the excellent Tamar Rising Sourcebook).  It moves time forward a little bit in that region so that folks who don’t follow the novels (which, honestly, you should), can catch up on the story. 

• It is a Campaign framework of narrative scenarios.  More importantly, the campaign is flexible enough to accommodate a lot of different play experiences.  It is a full execution of the Mercenaries rules set book from that boxed set turned up to 13.  

• The book also gives a sandbox experience for gamers who are looking to experience the most recent era of BattleTech as it develops.  Maps change, worlds change owners, and events are occurring that the players can directly interact with.

Overall Rating: 5 stars.  

It builds off of two very strong Products (Tamar Rising and Mercenaries) and makes them into a coherent sourcebook full of gaming experience. 

Make sure to order your copy from your Local Game Store.  If you don't have one of those, you can get it from Catalyst directly here.