The Battletech Board

As far back as I can remember I have been a fan of Battletech, even without knowing it for most of that time.  My introduction came in the form of video games, namely my Dad's copy The Crescent Hawks Revenge back in the 90's;

I'll most likely do another post at some point detailing the history and setting of Battletech but is has such a vast amount of lore that I won't be going into it here.

There are so many PC and console games based within the Battletech Universe but most recent ones have been a first person style simulator game which come under the title of Mechwarrior.  Mechwarrior 4 was my first real introduction into the world of Mechwarrior games and thouroughly enjoyed both it and the resulting spin off - Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries, where you took command of your own mercenary group in the Inner Sphere, earning cash and influencing politics on planets by choosing sides.

The most recent game has been Mechwarrior Online (MWO).  I love the art direction the developer went with and I really feel the 'mechs have been brought up to date as some of the designs were starting to look a little dated but the game itself really doesn't do much for me.  For one thing the game is multiplayer only which is fun for a little bit but I personally prefer a more story driven campaign and the game mechanics themselves dont make it feel like you're piloting a giant 'mech, it feels more like a battlefield FPS style game.

That being said, the developer has recently announced Mechwarrior 5! Which should be a game with the art style of MWO but the story driven campaign of Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries and if it lives up to the hype it should be amazing.

The other game coming out soon is the new Battletech top down RTS from Hare Brained Schemes which I actually backed on Kickstarter and should also be coming out this year.

I'm hoping to do a review of both of these games later in the year once they are released.

However! Battletech began as a tabletop game back in the '80s, created by Jordan Weisman, yes the same Jordan Weisman who is working on the new Battletech RTS game with HBS.

A star of Clan Ghost Bear Mechs

The game is hex based and the intro box set did come with some maps to play on, however I prefer something a little more tactile and reckoned I could do better...

Require materials;

• Hundreds of laser cut hexes which I managed to find on ebay.
• PVA glue.
• A large flat base board, I used MDF.
• Wood edging.
• Self adhesive felt sheets.
• Paint.

First I started gluing the hexes together, I decided two layers would be standard terrain height so this made up the bulk of my hexes.  one layer would be water or depressions in the terrain and three or four would be hills or raised terrain.

So much gluing!

Timberwolf and some Elementals guarding my hexes

I then painted one side of the single layer hexes blue to represent water, whilst I could flip them and also use them as depressions in the terrain.

Quick layout test on my desk

Layout test on the MDF baseboard

I did actually play a few games at this stage, however setting up the hexes on the board was really time consuming and it was also annoying that when the board was knocked, all the hexes would move out of alignment so it was time to add a border and paint the board black. 

To ensure that the border was in the right place, I glued one edge in place, set the board up with all the hexes and then glued the other edges down. (see above left for the finished border).

Once I sprayed the board black and added the felt to the bottom of the board to protect any surface it was placed on, it was done!

Pretty happy with how it turned out but let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts.

See you all next week!

Troez.