Battletech: BattleMech Manual

¡Hola fanáticos del "heavy metal mayhem"!

Con la entrada de hoy (tardía), os vengo a enseñar y comentar un poco uno de los nuevos libros de reglas que Catalyst publicó el 24 de Julio. Os hablo del nuevo "BattleTech: BattleMech Manual".
Desde la web de BattleTech se nos ofrece la siguiente información sobre este nuevo libro:

Your Avatar Awaits!

• Standing from seven to sixteen meters tall, and weighing from twenty to one hundred tons
• Powered by an armored and shielded fusion reactor
• Skeleton of honeycombed, foamed aluminum core wrapped with stressed silicon carbide monofilament and sheathed by a rigid, titanium-steel shell
• Locomotion generated via bundles of polyacetylene-fiber myomer muscles
• Protected by aligned-crystal steel over a layer of boron nitride impregnated with diamond monofilaments Mounting a swath of powerful weapons from charged particle beams to lasers, missiles to rapid-fire autocannons
• All at the command of the noble elite, the MechWarriors

The modern BattleMech is the end result of more than three thousand years of battlefield technology development. Combining awesome destructive power and unparalleled maneuverability, the BattleMech is perhaps the most complex machine ever produced. The undisputed master of thirty-first century warfare, the BattleMech seems destined to reign supreme for centuries to come.

—Excerpts from a promotional pamphlet originally distributed by Defiance Industries of Hesperus, Lyran Commonwealth, 3007

Using the most up-to-date rules text, the BattleMech Manual has been designed from the ground up to cater to the BattleTech player wanting to engage in an all-’Mech battle. Includes a variety of optional rules, terrain and more. Welcome to the most table-usage-friendly BattleTech rulebook ever published!

Índice del libro:

Mostrar / Ocultar ▼▲

• INTRODUCTION
  • • Vs Total Warfare
    • Optional Rules
  • Game Terms
    • 'Mech
    • Four-Legged 'Mech
    • Movement Points
    • Target
    • Target Number
    • Modified Target Number
    • Attacker Movement Modifier
    • Target Movement Modifier
    • Margin of Success/Failure (MoS/MoF)
    • Armor Value
    • Damage Value
    • Location
    • Slot
    • Level
    • Mapsheet
    • Playing Area
    • Scenario
  • Components
    • Counters
    • Dice
    • Mapsheets
    • 'Mech Record Sheet
  • Scale
    • A Note on Realism and Scale
    • Level
  • The MechWarrior
    • Skills
    • Damaging A Warrior
• PLAYING THE GAME
  • Deploying 'Mechs
  • Sequence of Play
    • Initiative Phase
    • Movement Phase
    • Weapon Attack Phase
    • Alternate Initiative
    • Moving Multiple ’Mechs
    • Segmented Fire
    • Physical Attack Phase
    • Heat Phase
    • End Phase
  • Victory Conditions
  • Unequal Numbers Of 'Mechs
• MOVEMENT
  • Movement of Modes
    • Standing Still
    • Walking
    • Running
    • Piloting Skill Rolls
    • Movement Dice
    • Jumping
    • Sprinting (Optional)
  • Movement Basics
    • Facing
    • Ground Movement
    • Terrain
    • Level Change
    • Stacked Terrain
    • Minimum Movement
    • Immobile
    • Stacking
  • Jumping Movement
  • Prone BattleMechs
    • Dropping to the Ground
    • Moving While Prone
    • Standing Up
  • Movement in Water
  • Movement on Pavement
    • Road Movement
    • Bridge Movement
    • Skidding
  • Reckless Movement
  • Other Actions
    • Hidden 'Mechs
    • Lifting Items (Simplified)
    • TAG Designation
• COMBAT
  • Line of Sight
    • Levels and Height
    • Intervening Terrain
    • Intervening 'Mechs
    • Water Hexes
  • Firing Arcs
    • Forward Arcs
    • Left Side Arc
    • Right Side Arc
    • Rear Arc
    • Arcs and Torso Twists
    • Arcs and Reversing (Flipping) Arms
  • Attack Declaration
    • Reversing (Flipping) Arms
    • Expended Arm Flipping (Optional)
    • Torso Twists
  • Firing Weapons
    • Making the Attack
    • G.A.T.O.R.
    • Base Target Number
    • Target Number Modifiers
    • Combat in Water
    • Prone 'Mechs
    • Specialized Attacks
    • Rolling to Hit
    • Ammunition Expenditure
  • Hit Location
    • Attack Direction
    • Determining Hit Location
    • Damage Resolution
  • Physical Attacks
    • Making A Physical Attack
    • Different Levels
    • Physical Attacks And Prone 'Mechs
    • Physical Attacks And Water
    • Charge Attacks
    • Club Attacks
    • Death From Above Attacks
    • Kick Attacks
    • Physical Weapon Attacks
    • Punch Attacks
    • Push Attacks
    • Damage Resolution
• DAMAGE
  • Damage Resolution
    • Step-By-Step Damage
  • Damage Timing
  • Hull Integrity And Breaches
  • Location Destruction
    • Transferring Damage
    • Head Destruction
    • Leg Destruction
    • Torso Destruction
  • Critical Hits
    • Floating Criticals (Optional)
    • Applying Critical Hits
  • Critical Hit Effects
    • Ammunition
    • Arm Blown Off (Arm)
    • Cockpit (Head)
    • Engine (Torso)
    • Foot Actuator (Leg)
    • Gyro (Torso)
    • Hand Actuator (Arm)
    • Head Blown Off (Head)
    • Heat Sinks
    • Hip (Leg)
    • Jump Jet/UMU (Leg/Torso)
    • Leg Blown Off (Leg)
    • Life Support (Head)
    • Lower Arm Actuator (Arm)
    • Lower Leg Actuator (Leg)
    • Sensors (Head)
    • Shoulder (Arm)
    • Upper Arm Actuator (Arm)
    • Lower Leg Actuator (Arm)
    • Weapons and Equipment
  • Destroying A 'Mech
• HEAT
  • Heat Points
    • Building Up Heat
    • Dissipating Heat
    • Recording Heat Building-Up
  • Effects Of Heat
    • Movement
    • Weapons Attack
    • Shutdown
    • Ammunition
    • Damaging To MechWarriors
• OTHER ACTIONS
  • Piloting Skill Rolls (PSR)
    • Making Piloting Skill Rolls
    • Piloting Skill Roll Timing
  • Displacement
    • Domino Effect
  • Falling
    • Location After a Fall
    • Facing After a Fall
    • Falling Damage to a 'Mech
    • Falling Damage to a MechWarrior
    • Accidental Falls From Above
  • Damaging a MechWarrior
  • Dumping Ammunition
  • TAG Designation
• THE BATTLEFIELD
  • Planetary Conditions
  • Terrain Types
    • Clear
    • Jungle, Light
    • Jungle, Heavy
    • Pavement
    • Rough
    • Rubble
    • Sand
    • Water (Depth 0)
    • Water (Depth 1)
    • Water (Depth 2)
    • Water (Depth 3+)
    • Woods, Light
    • Woods, Heavy
  • Terrain Modifications
    • Ice (Simplified)
    • Mud (Simplified)
    • Smoke, Light
    • Smoke, Heavy
    • Snow, Deep
    • Swamp (Simplified)
  • Weather Conditions
    • Extreme Temperatures
    • Fog
    • Light
    • Rain
    • Snow
    • Wind
  • Fire and Smoke (Simplified)
    • Wind Direction
    • Starting a Fire
    • Effects of Fire
    • Spreading Fire
    • Extinguishing Fire
  • Underwater Combat
    • Attacking Underwater
    • Hull Integrity and Breaches
• URBAN COMBAT
  • Building Types
    • Construction Factors
    • Building Levels
    • Basements
    • Simplified Buildings
  • Movement Effects
    • Moving into Buildings
    • Changing Levels in Building
    • Skidding
  • Combat Effects
    • Attacking Building
    • Attacking 'Mechs Inside Buildings
    • Combat Within Buildings
    • Collapse
• SPECIAL CASE RULES
  • Battlefield Support
    • Before Play Begins
    • During Game Play
  • Dropping 'Mechs (Simplified)
    • Drop Times
    • Arrival
  • Ejection (Simplified)
  • Forced Withdrawal
    • Crippling Damage
    • Broken Moral (Simplified - Optional)
  • Hidden 'Mechs
    • Point-Blank Shots
  • Design Quirks
    • Positive Design Quirks
    • Negative Design Quirks
    • BattleMech Quirk Listing
    • Master Unit List
• WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
  • Basic Information
  • Weapon Types
  • Artillery
    • Arrow IV Homing Missiles (Simplified)
  • Autocannons
    • Autocannon
    • LB-X Autocannon (LB-X)
    • Light Autocannon (LAC)
    • ProtoMech Autocannon (PAC)
    • Rotary Autocannon (RAC)
    • Ultra Autocannon (UAC)
  • Flamers
    • Flamer
    • ER Flamer
    • Heavy Flamer
  • Gauss Rifles
    • Gauss Rifle
    • Anti-Personnel Gauss Rifle
    • Heavy Gauss Rifle
    • Hyper Assault Gauss Rifle
    • Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle
    • Light Gauss Rifle
    • Magshot Gauss Rifle
    • Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle
  • Lasers
    • Laser
    • Binary Laser (Blazer) Cannon
    • Chemical Laser
    • Extended-Range (ER) Laser
    • Extended-Range (ER) Pulse Laser
    • Heavy Laser
    • Improved Heavy Laser
    • Pulse Laser
    • Variable-Speed Pulse (VSP) Laser
    • X-Pulse Laser
  • M-Pod
  • Machine Guns
    • Machine Gun (MG)
    • Heavy Machine Gun (HMG)
    • Light Machine Gun (LMG)
    • Machine Gun Array (MGA)
  • Missile Launchers
    • Advanced Tactical Missile (ATM) Launcher
    • Enhanced LRM Launcher (NLRM)
    • Extended LRM Launcher (ELRM)
    • Improved One Shot (I-OS) Missile Launcher
    • Long Range Missile Launcher (LRM)
    • Medium Range Missile (MRM) Launcher
    • Multi-Missile Launcher (MML)
    • One-Shot (OS) Missile Launcher
    • Rocket Launcher (RL)
    • Short Range Missile (SRM) Launcher
    • Streak LRM (SLRM) Launcher
    • Streak SRM (SSRM) Launcher
    • Thunderbolt Missile Launcher
    • Torpedo (SRT, LRT, NLRT) Launcher
  • Narc Missile Beacon
    • Narc Missile Beacon
    • INarc Launcher
  • Particle Projector Cannons
    • PPC
    • ER PPC
    • Heavy PPC
    • Light PPC
    • Snub-Nose PPC
    • PPC Capacitor
  • Plasma Weapons
    • Plasma Cannon
    • Plasma Rifle
  • Rifles (Cannons)
  • Special Munitions
    • Autocannon Munitions
    • Missile Munitions
    • Narc / iNarc Pods
  • Physical Weapons
    • Claws
    • Flail
    • Hatchet
    • Lance
    • Mace
    • Retractable Blade
    • Sword
    • Talons
    • Vibroblade
  • Electronics
    • Active Probes
    • Artemis IV Fire-Control System
    • Artemis V Fire-Control System
    • C3 Computer System
    • C3 Boosted System
    • C3I Computer System
    • ECM Suites
    • MRM “Apollo” Fire Control System
    • Target Acquisition Gear (TAG)
    • Targeting Computer
    • Watchdog Composite Electronic Warfare System (CEWS)
  • Structural Components
    • Armor
    • Cockpit Systems
    • Engines
    • Gyros
    • Maneuverability Aids
    • Structure
  • Miscellaneous Equipment
    • Actuator Enhancement System (AES)
    • Anti-Missile System (AMS)
    • Armored Component
    • Laser Anti-Missile System (L-AMS)
    • Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment (CASE)
    • CASE II
    • Coolant Pod
• WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT TABLES
  • Weapon Types
• COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS
  • Playing The Game
  • Movement
  • Combat
  • Damage
  • Heat
  • Other Actions
  • Special-Case Rules
  • Weapons and Equipment
• RECORD SHEETS AND TABLES

Investigando

 

Buscando por la web y leyendo en distintas páginas, al parecer este nuevo libro de normas solo aplicables a BattleMechs. Es decir, que solo aquellos jugadores que estén interesados en jugar únicamente con "lances" formadas por BattleMech, lo que a mi parecer limita la recreación de combates.
Al dejar todas las demás unidades fuera de este libro, se sabe que no se trata de un libro de normas introductorio como los que Catalys ha venido publicando. En este nuevo libro buscan ser lo más concisos y claros con las normas a aplicar al juego de mesa empleando los 'Mechs.
Este libro de normas rellena el espacio entre el libro del 25º Aniversario (Caja de inicio) y el resto de normas que aparecen en Total Warfare.

En el mismo se incluyen un puñado de nuevas reglas sobre el fuego, humo, artillería, minas, etc. pero todas principalmente para ser simplificadas a diferencia de TW. También se ha añadido toda una sección de rasgos que pueden aplicarse a los 'Mechs; estos rasgos incluyen aquellos que aparecen desde el libro "TRO: Prototypes" (el primer número de TRO donde se añadieron por primera vez rasgos a los 'Mechs).

Conclusión

 

Viendo lo que el libro trae y comprobando que las normas para los 'Mechs (exceptuando las normas simplificadas) son totalmente iguales que las de TW, me parece que es un capricho tonto que algún fan de BT deseé tener en su biblioteca de PDFs. Ya que por el mismo precio, 39.99$, puedes conseguir el libro de TW con todas las reglas para jugar a BT por si en algún momento desease el jugador ampliar su experiencia de juego incluyendo otros vehículos a parte de los 'Mechs.

Una limpieza de cara y un poco de maquillaje para las normas de TW.