The only constant in life is change.

After twelve years of playing Battletech at 21st Century Comics and Games, the sun has finally set on our favorite Friday night hangout. 21st Century had survived two economic downturns, a leaky roof, the closing of a sister store in Ann Arbor, and multiple owners. But alas, all good things must eventually come to an end as there was noone found whose shoulders were broad enough to carry the load that Andy had shouldered for the past six years.

So last Friday night, players old and new from across the State said 'goodbye' with a brutal skirmish between Wolf's Dragoons and the Ryuken on the planet Misery. Noone held back as the night was filled with ammo explosions, successful charges and Death-From-Above attacks, and even the ultra-rare 'punch leading to a cockpit critical hit' as we rode the heat curve and pushed our machines to their limits.

Thank you to Andy, Damon, Lon, and all the other owners and employees of 21st Century over the years for giving a bunch of gamers a place to spend their Friday nights. East Lansing is diminished by your departure.


(l to r) Deputy Chuck "IronSphinx" Wilson, Andy Morrow (21C owner), James, J.J., Aaron "Gravedigger" Pollyea, Jeff. Darlene "Scourge" Morgan-Pollyea (seated)

I will not be running any Battletech games until after the Fourth of July holiday weekend when we start up at our new location: Replay Entertainment Exchange. The new game schedule will be announced on July 1st.

June 2013 Schedule

BATTLETECH NIGHTS, CATALYST GAME LABS

DATE/TIME	GM	GAME	DETAILS	VENUE
06/07 - 6:30p	Aaron Pollyea	Battletech	Wolf's Dragoons vs. Draconis Combine (circa. 3025)	21C
06/14 - 6:30p	Chuck Wilson	Battletech	Wolf's Dragoons vs. Draconis Combine - Battle on Misery	21C

Rules standardization for Battletech games

Since we have been using Advanced rules on-and-off for the past few years, I would like to codify and standardize what rules players can expect to use at my Battletech games. All the following rules, save one, can be found in Tactical Operations:

Backward Movement (Expanded) [changing levels while walking/driving backwards] (p.22)

Movement Dice [white=walk, red=run, jade=jump, blue=level] (p.27)

Floating Critical (p.77)

Firing When Down [one-arm prop and fire] (p.85)

Expanded Flip Arms [torso-twist AND flip arms at the same time] (p.87)

Rapid Fire AC [light and std AC's can double fire] (p.100)

Energy Weapons [dialing down lasers] (p.102)

Gauss Weapons [powering-down gauss rifles] (p.102)

Rapid Fire Machine Guns [higher rate of fire] (p.102)

Hot-Load Missiles [no minimum on LRM/ATM] (p.102)

Disengage PPC Inhibitor [no minimum on PPC] (p.103)

Retractable Blade [possible critical hit] (p.104)

The following rule is a "house" rule and is used simply to ensure that the entire mapsheets are available for use:

1/2-hexes and 1/4-hexes are to be treated like full-sized hexes for purposes of gameplay.

Note: If there is any question about the disposition of the underlying terrain, then the GameMaster will have sole discretion for deciding what said terrain is (if the "majority terrain" rule doesn't resolve the disposition of said hex).

While I may add special rules that are specific to the scenario, these rules are what players can expect to be used in every game that I run. Please take the time to review said rules and bring any and all questions to the GameMaster "before" the game begins. In future games, I will bring a copy of these rules for quick reference.