Battletech: Clan Invasion

One of the bad parts about getting into Battletech Classic today is the original "classic" plastic miniatures sets are out of print. Today, you can only get the Clan Invasion miniatures in any quantity and availability (and as I write this, one of the Com Star packs is out of supply until the new year, but I managed to find one). So if you want to play with miniatures, you need to find a source of them elsewhere, 3d printing, or pick up metal ones. They say the original plastic classic miniatures were of lower quality and detail, so while it would be nice having these, I can live with playing Clan for now.

I know, as much as I don't prefer the Clan Era if it is a choice between no minis and Clan Era minis, the products I can buy win the battle, and I will play that. Otherwise, I am stuck with the eight minis in the base set plus two in the beginner's - while they are nice, I like miniatures.

I wish they did paper pawns like Paizo does nicely, like those in the starter and beginner box sets. I would buy these to have them, and I know you can find some online, but I don't feel like investing in a heavy cardstock printer to make my own - though honestly, with how much I do tabletop these days (and how many 3d resources I have to create them) it would probably pay for itself.

I hear they reduced the ER PPC damage, and that interests me. Did they balance Clan versus Inner Sphere play? I am a bit wary because I remember the original experience and how everything seemed to fall apart for the older mechs we loved.

Playing "as" the Clans will feel strange, especially since today, the map of the Inner Sphere resembles the battle map for Ukraine, and I can't really shake the "evil invaders" feeling. Ugh! This is not the same! Even though, yes, we did play the Clans as evil invaders back in the day. We had ongoing stories inside the Inner Sphere with those characters and factions, so naturally, the outsiders who ruined our stories were cast as the bad guys.

I am playing alone these days, so if I wanted an alternate universe where the Clans were the good guys, I could experience that. Still, I would not make it easy and handicap any Clan battle against them to account for the better gear. The Inner Sphere forces should have the advantage of massive amounts of infantry, paper-thin tanks, older mechs, artillery, aircraft, cheap flimsy units, and defensive terrain on home turf. If the Clan forces stayed around too long, they would get swarmed.

These days, I have the perspective of time, and while my feelings back then were what they were, I can play the game again and try to see it in a new way. One could argue that one side or the other are the bad guys of the setting, and seeing how the original five warring factions caused untold billions of lives of casualties in the civil war, they are all the bad guys, I can sort of see both sides.

This will be fun and a break from fantasy for a while.