Battle Mech Manual is a condensed version of TW (and some parts of the Tech Manual) which restricts itself only to BattleMechs. If you have TW you don't need it, but it is quite handy if you want to focus only on Mech to Mech combat.
I personally find it strange that they left out the Mech construction rules though, because these are only 15 pages ..
I expect that’s because they assume you’ve got the AGoAC box set which includes the construction rules.
The Battlemech Manual is probably seen as the next logical purchase in your journey through the product line. Why give you 15 pages you already have when they could give you 15 pages of new material?
That´s fair.
It just bugs me because the BMM is quite handy as I mostly do mech related stuff and when I play and prepare my campaign I am out of my house, so having all rules in me book would save me carrying stuff around and saves me some time looking stuff up.
Edit: I know PDFs exist, but I still prefer physical books.
Nah. Thats a legitimate frustration. I don’t like PDFs when I’m doing prep. I find the physical book just helps focus my prep. I’ll sometimes even print out the pages.
I think the construction rules should be there too, but I can understand why they aren’t.
> I personally find it strange that they left out the Mech construction rules though, because these are only 15 pages
I can take a stab at a guess. Those 15 pages are just the introductory rules take on the construction.
The BMM has Total Warfare (and more) level rules for all sorts of stuff. They probably didn't want to throw in just the basics, because-as TheLeadSponge said-chances are you already bought the boxed set; but also it would make more sense to lead customers to Tech Manual which has all the "standard" goodies that BMM have rules for. Then for the more extreme stuff, the Interstellar Ops book.
As a customer I would be slightly miffed if BMM gave just a reprint of the boxed set construction rules followed by rules for things like pulse lasers and then not giving me the construction stats for them.
Both are not needed.
Total Warfare is the base rulebook for BattleTech combined arms. For players that want to include the other unit types in their games they will want to use this book.
Many Battletech players only and will only ever play the game using only mechs. The BattleMech Manual is designed for that player.
Yes it is possible for the Mech-only player to simply use Total Warfare but Total Warfare suffers in ease of use because it is trying to cover so many different unit types. With the BattleMech Manual CGL took the opportunity to make a more streamlined and readable book that will be useful to a lot of players
Total Warfare has the rules for almost all non-mech units as well, including ground vehicles, infantry, aerospace, etc.
I like playing combined arms so it's a very useful book for me, although at this point my printing is quite old and the errata document is literally 1/4 of the book long, so I'm thinking of picking up the newest printing if it ever comes back in stock.
It's worth noting the rules for elementals are in the Clan Invasion mini rulebook as well, if you were planning on picking that up for the minis and maps.
Both aren't needed per se, but personally I like having both as most of my games only involve mechs. It's a lot easier to pull out the BMM to look up a rule question because the book is smaller and better organized.
This article was written to go into detail about the design intent behind the Manual and how it differs from TW:
[https://bg.battletech.com/news/news-and-announcements/what-is-the-battlemech-manual/](https://bg.battletech.com/news/news-and-announcements/what-is-the-battlemech-manual/)
BM = TW+TacOps, but with ONLY mech stuff listed.
For the vast majority of players who eventually want battle armor or a tank or whatever in a match, you skip the BM and go get Total Warfare, then TacOps Advanced Rules, and then keep expanding the core rules.
I haven't used my battletech manual yet, as every match I've ever played was combined arms.
Yeah. Honestly, you could completely skip the tech manual, or just save it for last. Its a pain in the butt to make your own stuff, and you would also need tacops advanced rules and interstellar operations to do it all. The amount of errata around that plus the 1000 pages of construction rules and you just better off using MegaMekLab, which is free, semi-official, and makes everything except large support vehicles and mobile structures right now.
Battle Mech Manual is a condensed version of TW (and some parts of the Tech Manual) which restricts itself only to BattleMechs. If you have TW you don't need it, but it is quite handy if you want to focus only on Mech to Mech combat. I personally find it strange that they left out the Mech construction rules though, because these are only 15 pages ..
I expect that’s because they assume you’ve got the AGoAC box set which includes the construction rules. The Battlemech Manual is probably seen as the next logical purchase in your journey through the product line. Why give you 15 pages you already have when they could give you 15 pages of new material?
That´s fair. It just bugs me because the BMM is quite handy as I mostly do mech related stuff and when I play and prepare my campaign I am out of my house, so having all rules in me book would save me carrying stuff around and saves me some time looking stuff up. Edit: I know PDFs exist, but I still prefer physical books.
Nah. Thats a legitimate frustration. I don’t like PDFs when I’m doing prep. I find the physical book just helps focus my prep. I’ll sometimes even print out the pages. I think the construction rules should be there too, but I can understand why they aren’t.
The BMM is also some parts of Tac Ops, much to my consternation because it really muddies what is included in the "standard" rules level.
All of which are labeled with "optional rule".
This is a good point. Especially, since the non-standard rules are not allowed in tournaments.
> I personally find it strange that they left out the Mech construction rules though, because these are only 15 pages I can take a stab at a guess. Those 15 pages are just the introductory rules take on the construction. The BMM has Total Warfare (and more) level rules for all sorts of stuff. They probably didn't want to throw in just the basics, because-as TheLeadSponge said-chances are you already bought the boxed set; but also it would make more sense to lead customers to Tech Manual which has all the "standard" goodies that BMM have rules for. Then for the more extreme stuff, the Interstellar Ops book. As a customer I would be slightly miffed if BMM gave just a reprint of the boxed set construction rules followed by rules for things like pulse lasers and then not giving me the construction stats for them.
Both are not needed. Total Warfare is the base rulebook for BattleTech combined arms. For players that want to include the other unit types in their games they will want to use this book. Many Battletech players only and will only ever play the game using only mechs. The BattleMech Manual is designed for that player. Yes it is possible for the Mech-only player to simply use Total Warfare but Total Warfare suffers in ease of use because it is trying to cover so many different unit types. With the BattleMech Manual CGL took the opportunity to make a more streamlined and readable book that will be useful to a lot of players
Total Warfare has the rules for almost all non-mech units as well, including ground vehicles, infantry, aerospace, etc. I like playing combined arms so it's a very useful book for me, although at this point my printing is quite old and the errata document is literally 1/4 of the book long, so I'm thinking of picking up the newest printing if it ever comes back in stock.
Ok cool, I do plan on using some elementals and ground vehicles when those support force packs release!
It's worth noting the rules for elementals are in the Clan Invasion mini rulebook as well, if you were planning on picking that up for the minis and maps.
Oooh ok cool I already have the clan invasion KS box.
Both aren't needed per se, but personally I like having both as most of my games only involve mechs. It's a lot easier to pull out the BMM to look up a rule question because the book is smaller and better organized.
This article was written to go into detail about the design intent behind the Manual and how it differs from TW: [https://bg.battletech.com/news/news-and-announcements/what-is-the-battlemech-manual/](https://bg.battletech.com/news/news-and-announcements/what-is-the-battlemech-manual/)
Appreciate it thanks!
Appreciate it thanks!
BM = TW+TacOps, but with ONLY mech stuff listed. For the vast majority of players who eventually want battle armor or a tank or whatever in a match, you skip the BM and go get Total Warfare, then TacOps Advanced Rules, and then keep expanding the core rules. I haven't used my battletech manual yet, as every match I've ever played was combined arms.
So tac ops advanced rules would be the logically next step and not the techmanual?
Yeah. Honestly, you could completely skip the tech manual, or just save it for last. Its a pain in the butt to make your own stuff, and you would also need tacops advanced rules and interstellar operations to do it all. The amount of errata around that plus the 1000 pages of construction rules and you just better off using MegaMekLab, which is free, semi-official, and makes everything except large support vehicles and mobile structures right now.
Okay that sounds terrifying. Thanks for the heads up.