What can 2089 offer me?

[Dag'Nabbit]

Ok, a question for all you avid Armaggedon 2089 players out there. I am a very avid Classic Battletech player and I was wondering what 2089 could offer me that Btech doesn't? Help me out a little as I am thinking about picking up the main book, but not sure if I should spend the money.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[Elfman]

I also was a classic BT player, and I prefer A2089 because it is more than just fighting anime-style mecha.

Basically, as we are all aware and try not to admit to ourselves, BT was fun for it's simplicity. No worries about radar lock. All missles are fire and forget. No real countermeasures. Sure there were cool ideas and neat toys for blasting your enemies, but that's about all it was.

A2089 is giant robot combat grown up. It's not as simple as BT, but it's got way more depth. Electronic warfare. Power availability determines what you can do each round, not a nebulous "heat" score. Countermeasures and smart armor. More realistic ranges. And to top it off it's an RPG to, not just a giant robot battle system.

Regarding the book itself, te artwork is average, except for the meks which are fantastic. some minor errors in the text, but easily worked around. All in all I highly recommend it if you want something with more depth of play than BT.

 

[Dag'Nabbit]

How big, on average, are your fights in number of mechs/vehicles? How long do they take?

I would gather that the play is a little slower than Btech, but I am wondering if this gets too cumbersome at a certain point?

 

[Neo]

How big, on average, are your fights in number of mechs/vehicles? How long do they take?

I would gather that the play is a little slower than Btech, but I am wondering if this gets too cumbersome at a certain point?

Combat isnt really any slower than it is in say D&D, marginally more book keeping involved but time wise its about on par with a normal game. Definitely helps to use miniatures though I use my supply of Battletech minis for when we play A2089.

Our Group has 7 players and typically 1 NPC about 6 of which were mek or vehicle based characters.. so similar number of enemies.

 

[Jonathan]

In all reality, though, you could (given the time and motivation) design most of the Battletech mechs via the Armageddon rules... and have a solid RPG system running it to boot. They might not be spot on, but you could certainly get the concepts close enough (for example, the Longbow or Archer- sorry, I truly enjoyed B-tech before the whole legal dispute, only got back into it thanks to Project: Phoenix- would be SCARY with lock-on missiles)...