Battletech Beginner Box Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review the Battletech Beginner Box from Catalyst Games. This version of the classic skirmish game Battletech eases players into the gameplay by providing a streamlined ruleset to get started with.

In 1985, a now-defunct publisher created a skirmish game of giant mechs called Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat. I’m guessing at the time, they had no idea it would survive another 35+ years in a variety of different editions. Today, the current publisher of Battletech is Catalyst Games. A few years ago they helped celebrate the anniversary of Battletech with a new slate of releases. The one that intrigued me the most—having never played the game—was the Battletech: Beginner Box. The thought of giant mechs shooting and destroying each other bit by bit definitely piqued my interest, so I picked up a copy of this entry-level game. Does it really deliver on the Battletech experience in a package designed for newbies? Let’s find out!

Battletech is a game that has a lot going on, so explaining all the rules here would take forever and a day. While the Beginner Box does streamline a lot of the original game, it’s also not shy with throwing piles of tables at you. But here is the basic structure of the Beginner Box gameplay. If you want the full rundown, you can download a PDF of the rules here.

Each player will field a group, called a lance, of one or more mechs. Usually, a Lance maxes out at 4 mechs. For the first scenario in this box, they recommend a Griffen mech and a Wolverine mech in a 1v1 matchup.

Each round has a structure of:

1. Initiative Phase: roll 2d6 and the player with the higher roll wins initiative.2. Movement phase: Each player, starting with the loser of initiative, can move their mechs. Mechs move a