Battletech Essentials - My Review

 It truly is the Golden Age of Battletech. We have so many new products coming out, not to mention the exceptionally successful Mercenaries Kickstarter. One of the newest products to come out is Battletech Essentials.

Battletech Essentials, from Catalyst Game Labs is a new starter set, with an MSRP of $25. 

The boxed set incudes:

• Quick-Start Rules booklet
• 2 high-quality (unpainted) fully assembled Miniatures.
• Punchboard, including additional playing pieces as well as terrain
• 18" x 12: full color, double-sided game map
• Instant Guide to the Inner Sphere
• 24 page novella
• 4 'Mech record sheets
• 4 MechWarrior cards
• Solaris VII Arena Map Sheet Rules
• 2 six-sided dice

The Good:

• For me, I like the focus on Solaris VII, the gaming world. Here, MechWarriors will duel in the arena, seeking fame, fortune, and glory. Solaris VII is a fun place, and for me it hearkens back to MechWarrior IV Mercenaries. The maps and the House stables give that feel for the arena. 
• You get two new 'Mechs. One is the Legend Killer, which really just a standard Rifleman in an alternate pose. The other, is the Yen Lo Wang, which is a new sculpt for the Centurian. 
• It's available through Target. Imagine our surprise when we found out that Catalyst Game Labs had partnered with Target, and not only that, Target was getting 60K units. For context, since A Game of Armored Combat came out 3 or 4 years ago, they have just NOW sold maybe 60K units. 
• It has a great price point for entry. At $25 you get a fully functional game. Everything you need is included, and you can get started right out of the box.
• The Novella. Essentials comes with a novella by Mike Stackpole (yes that one), and is a fun read. It helps build the feel for Solaris VII and adds to the richness of the universe. I hope Stackpole comes back to expand upon it because if finished it wanting more. 

The Bad:

• Target. Yes, I know I had this in the Good, but there is a downside. For the foreseeable future, Essentials will only be available through Target. Your LFGS won't be able to stock this until that exclusivity clause is done. On top of that, it's only available in the United States, even online. That's great if you are a Yank like me, but if you are anywhere else, you are looking at having to wait, hope you have friends Stateside who can ship to you, or pay scalper prices on eBay.
• It's a starter set. That means you have rules, but they are a more basic ruleset. It does not handle things like heat or internal structure. That's not that bad, but if you are looking for that more crunchy feel for Battletech, you miss out on some of it.
• The Stable rules. They read fun, and I did have fun using them, but some stables are way better than others. If you are Silver Dragon Stables (House Kurita) you get a +1 to hit modifier against you if you are in woods. The big thing is - the Arena map has ZERO woods. You have no bonus if you are SDS and are on the Arena. 

Who is the Battletech Essentials boxed set for?

I would say it's for most Battletech players, especially collectors of all things Battletech. It's a great entry point into the universe of Battletech. Players will get both a Heavy and  a Medium 'Mech. You'll get the maps, tokens, and cards. I can also see why some players would not want it, namely it is another starter set. It has the slimmed down rules. Despite the negatives, for this MechWarrior I think it's a great buy.

Final thoughts

For me, Battletech Essentials is a great box, and an excellent way to get into the universe. The 'Mechs, maps, and Novella are worth the price of admission. I certainly hope it successful, and Target starts to carry more Battletech products. I feel the Solaris VII rules are a good starting point, but I hope there are new maps and updates to the rules to help integrate with Classic Battletech and Alpha Strike. 

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts on the Battletech Essentials boxed set!